(Just) Popped in My Head

Weird movie trivia...

2012-02-12T17:25:00.001-06:00

Okay, weird movie trivia time: What is the name of an indie film (a short, I think) about a family cut off after the US falls under new rule (er, I think that's why supplies were cut to rural folks). In the film, a guy thinks he is a dog (dressed in a dog suit and everything).

The father is finally convinced he should eat the "dog" to survive. Anyone know? I can't remember.

And why this popped in my head, I have no idea...

Apple Updates iBooks Author EULA

2012-02-05T16:32:00.000-06:00

Mashable reports the changes in Apple's iBooks Author EULA (see link below), which essentially has Apple clarifying what they "meant" to say. In a nutshell, if you use iBooks Author, you own the content. Well, that's nothing new. What is new?

Well, you can distribute your work, so long as it does not include the files contained in the iBooks compilation file. For those new to iBooks, files ending with the iBook extension, you can simply change ".iBooks" to ".zip" and have access to everything inside the iBook itself - PDF, images, text, etc.

And here is the rub: Apple says, "provided, however, that this restriction will not apply to the content of the work when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author." The key words: "...does not include the files in the .ibooks format..."

So, the files included... Images, actual text files, included PDFs, videos, etc. If you include those in your iBooks creation, you cannot distribute those outside of the iBookstore, according to my interpretation of the new EULA.

Remember, this is about DISTRIBUTION. If you don't like it, don't use iBook Author. It really is that simple... My take is this: if I only want to sell my books on iTunes, then what difference does it make? If I want to sell my books in other venues, then I won't make the iBook format using iBook Author.

Yes. It is that easy to understand.
(http://mashable.com/2012/02/03/ibooks-author-eula-update/)

Skyvi and Evi - Siri for Android?

2012-01-24T12:30:00.000-06:00

I've been playing with two apps for Android that mimic what Siri does for iPhone. You know Siri, right? The sassy little app that responds to your requests and commands. Well, Skyvi and Evi try to do the same thing. How do they stack up? Let's see...

Skyvi (free) - Very quick to respond, even in low data areas. That is, it seems to be able to respond even when a data connection is tough to come by (something that happens frequently in Lower Arkansas). I asked it to "find McDonalds" and within seconds, the female robot voice responded with WHERE it was and then provided touchable icons to get me there, based on which one I wanted. I asked, "How are you?" Skyvi responded, "You know, you deserve to have fun! Just say: Tell me when I am near Fun."

I tied to repeat what it had said, but was laughing so hard, my response came out somewhat garbled. Skyvi replied, "Hum. Holla if you need directions!" HOLLA!? Awesome.

I asked it to "Create a meeting at 1pm in Hope Arkansas." It understood all of the words, but simply asked me, "What do you do in your spare time." That's not very Siri-like. So, I tried, "create an appointment," to which Skyvi answered, "I don't think many people do that."

So, for lunch, I headed out to Mickey D's and put Skyvi to the test:

David (Me): "I'm hungry."
Skyvi: "What will you be eating?" (If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you! - I thought)
D: "Burger"
S: "How does it taste?" (At this point, I'm a little peeved.)
D: "I don't know. Find a burger joint."
S: "Would you like to know? That input matched my default category." (What the...??)
D: "Okayyyy..."
S: "Here's something: Beacons can help you find your way..." (then it blathered on about beacon features. I was hoping it was BACON... Nope)
D: "Find McDonalds"
S: "I found McDonald's 2.5 miles from you." And then it also listed other area eateries, which I thought was a nice touch.

D: "Find El Agaves" (A local Mexican food joint)
S: "I couldn't find any el agave within 30 miles..." (Stupid computer)

D: "Find Holiday Inn"
S: "I found Holiday Inn Express 2.9 miles from you." (Each time it finds something, it provides links for calling, directions, a quick map, or allows you to create a beacon for that location)

From there, I tried Florist, Pharmacy, Wal-Mart. Each time, it came back with an appropriate response and several locations. And then, I got silly...

D: "Where to babies come from?"
S: "From their mothers." (Courtesy of Wolfram Alpha, which Siri also uses when it doesn't know)

D: "What is the meaning of life?"
S: "42" - ROFL, best answer yet! Nice!

D: "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?"
S: "The whole forest." - Once again, NICE!

D: "How much is a peck of pickled peppers?"
S: "I'm a chatting app, not a shopping app." - I found this reply both annoying and funny.
D: "Lovely."
S: "What are you saying is lovely?"
D: "Clouds." (why not, right?)
S: "What are you saying is lovely, clouds?"
D: "Yes."
S: "Aha."

D: "I used to be an adventurer like you."
S: "Maybe I can help you call places quickly. Say: Call McDonalds"
D: "I took an arrow in the knee."
S: "I can update your Facebook..."
D: "No, I don't think so."
S: "Why do you disagree?" (Suddenly, this was taking back to the days of ELIZA, the computer program that pretended to be a therapist.)

D: "What is a tough it?" (Though what I said was, "What is a tuffet?"
S: Responds with a web-based definition of "tough."

D: "Holy crap."
S: "Your criticism is noted." - Again, funny under the circumstances.

D: "Where does milk come from?"
S: "Well, to see my abilities..." blah-blah, more features. Yeesh.
D: "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"
S: "Your question is unrelated to the current topic of discussion."
D: "What is the current topic of discussion?"
S: "I believe we were talking about milk." - Ah, VERY nicely done ala ELIZA.
D: "Yes. Yes, we were."
S: "Come on. Far out. I thought we were." - Cute.

D: "Where's the beef?"
S: Responds with a local beef ranch. Impressive, though I was hoping it would give me directions to Wendy's.

D: "Define irony." (Hoping to get the quote from "Con Air." Instead, I got...)
S: A web-based definition of IRONY

D: "Who sings Billie Jean?"
S: "Michael Jackson"

D: "Who sings any way you want it?"
S: "Do you often seek pleasure?" - HUH!? I repeated the question several times, using quotes around the song title, etc. Nothing ever gave me the answer.

I tried a few other things, then opted to break out some old school Spanish:

D: "Como Se Dice Biblioteca?"
S: "(After converting it to 'Komo se do you say biblio tech') - I can Tweet. Just say: Tweet I'm having a great time." - Yeah, right.

I tried to make appoints, told Skyvi to call people from my contacts, etc. Nothin.

I tried the same questions and comments with Evi and got mixed results, mainly because most of the commands were never completed. I was OFTEN faced with "Cannot communicate with our servers right now. Try again later." WASTE of time.

Evi (Free, Beta) - Evi couldn't find McDonalds. As noted, much of the time, it couldn't even find its own servers. All I got was frustrated. I will try Evi again after the Interwebs have all dies down from reviewing it, abusing it, etc. I figure since word is just getting out about it, their servers are flooded. We'll see in a couple days.

Siri notes - In the name of fairness, I borrowed a co-workers iPhone 4S and fired up Siri to ask the same questions. Essentially, I got the same (or similar) answers that Skyvi gave. Though the question regarding the meaning of life was met with something about deep, philosophical blah blah... "42" is a much better answer. When asked about babies, Siri used the same Wolfram Alpha response as Skyvi. And, milk? Siri gave me a couple of grocery stores to check out. The big difference was that Siri offered to search the web when it can't find an answer, rather than droning on about its cool features. Also, Siri DOES call contacts, make appointments, etc.

Android knock-offs of Siri have a LONG way to go. But, in the end, as far as general chit-chatting, they exhibit about the same level of competence.... Barely passing. Of course, as life would have it, I managed to get an object lesson out the experiment...

When I got to McDonald's, I pulled up and ordered a McDouble with no onions and no pickles. The burger had pickles. Really, these apps aren't that different than humans after all.

On the iBooks Author EUA

2012-01-22T23:17:00.001-06:00

Okay, this was a response to a post about the "whining" going on regarding the Apple iBooks EUA which states clearly that works published with iBooks Author, which are SOLD (not the free ones), then the author is not allowed to publish their own work on any other ePub site for sale.

Specifically, it says:

“IMPORTANT NOTE: If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a “Work”), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple.”

A colleague of mine, Tim Holt, (who I think is convinced I am some kind of Apple-hater, when in fact, I am platform neutral and don't give a rip as long as the platform gives me what I want), posted his findings/response to my gripe. The link to his piece can be found at the end of this response.

In general, the arguments made regarding this part of the agreement are summed up here (taken from Tim Holt's Tumblr):

If you create a book using iBooks Author and you plan to sell it, you have to sell it through Apple. (You can’t for instance, also sell it on Kindle, or Nook, or in the Android market.)
It only works on iBooks 2 for iPad.
You CAN give it away for free to whomever you want to. You can export it as a PDF file and give it away. But you have to use Apple if you want to sell it.

The responses to those of us opposed to that little piece generally include things like:

You don't have to use iBooks Author.
Go back to Word, you PC-loving moron (paraphrasing for the purpose of keeping things clean)
The output is akin to creating an app. If you create an Android app, you can't just sell it on iOS just because you want to. The output is not something like regular word processing output.

And, thus, my response was born:

First of all, I see no correlation between what Apple is doing and PC users. I use a Mac and a PC and my gripe with Apple has nothing to do with the software being "Apple-only." I don't use Microsoft Word on my Mac. I don't use Pages, either. So what? That has nothing to do with it. I am sick of Mac fanboys crying "PC" and "Microsoft" just because someone doesn't agree with the almighty Apple.

Secondly, this is not about how the content is created, but rather the distribution of the content. In fact, if I do NOT use the program at all, I can not only sell the book through iBooks, but I can sell it in any number of open or device-specific formats I choose! My books are currently available through ePub format on Lulu, Smashwords, iBooks, Kindle, and a myriad of others.

Thirdly, I know I don't have to use it. In fact, I can't use it because it requires Lion, which is a piece-of-junk GUI overlay - Apple's equivalent of Vista. Yay for us Mac users. I can (and do) use a variety of products to create my electronic documents. And, like it or not, an iBook is just that - an electronic document. iBooks Author ties the creation process to the distribution process. Many folks believe it should be no different than choosing which program they'd like to use for their next presentation: be it Prezi, Powerpoint, Keynote, FlipCards, etc.

Fourth, I see tying the program to distribution as ludicrous. What would you all say if Adobe required you save any and all photos you edit with their products to their site only? Yes, there are other programs, but humor me. The output is open-source JPEG/PNG/you name it (in that example). Now, if iBooks Author ONLY outputs the file as some proprietary Apple-only format, then by all means, have at it (though such user agreements are ridiculous in today's connected, digital world, but we'll save that for another day).

What does the PRICE have anything to do with anything? Ah, yes, because if it is FREE then Apple isn't missing out on reaming its customer base (that is, its status quo modus operandi). But, if Apple thinks it is going to miss out on 33% of your sales, then, by golly, it will do what it can to keep that from happening! As an aside, if you choose to publish your work through Apple (outside of iBooks Author, I mean), Apple "requires" that you do not sell your book any cheaper than the price you have listed in the iBookstore. Ridiculous.

iBooks Author may be a "cool tool," but self-published authors who wish to reach the widest possible audience will happily use the myriad of other solutions anyway. The fact is, Apple limits its own users (again, standard for its own operating procedures). You can cut the EUA any way you want, it still spells out a restricted distribution channel in black and white.

Now, being a self-published author, the Apple EUA *does* make sense if one compares it to that of a traditional publisher. If my book is published by Random House, for example, then I can't very well load it up on iBooks, Lulu, CreateSpace, Smashwords, or anywhere else without RH's permission - which they would never give. And *THAT* is exactly what the Apple EUA is telling us.

This is very much about the DISTRIBUTION of the content one creates using the program. The arguments made above really have nothing to do with what people seem to THINK Apple is doing. What they ARE doing is providing a tool to their distribution channel. You don't have to use it. But, if you *DO* use it, then you agree to sell your books ONLY through Apple's distribution. Frankly, I don't see why "free" makes a hill of beans difference. I suppose that was Apple's bone to the user. I dunno. They should just say that ALL WORKS created with the program require their own distribution system. I don't think anyone would have said much. Well, yes, they would. Why? Because we hate being forced (used loosely here) into some corporate mold.

User beware: If you choose to use the program, you choose to have your distribution limited to Apple. Plain and simple.

Tim's article appears here: http://holtthink.tumblr.com/post/16238066331/ibooks-author-eua-much-ado-about-nothing

How the "Facebook knows you cell name" works

2012-01-22T08:51:00.000-06:00

Much of technology is the modern-day equivalent to a vaudeville magic act in so many cases. It uses lights, a flashy gimmick, and the audience (that's you and me) sits there stunned, shocked and amazed at what is actually something pretty simple.

Today, I bring you the wonders of the latest Facebook "feature:" Facebook Knows Your Cell Phone's Name.

Here is the premise: By entering the last three digits of your cell phone into a carefully, and purposefully, crafted formula, Facebook will return the "name" of your cell phone. If you haven't seen it, here are the steps:

1st step: from your mobile number number, take the last 3 numbers. Example- 780-496-9684 , take "684"only
2nd step: Write this @*[684:0] in the comment box below, replacing the 3 numbers with your own.
3rd step: remove the * sign and press enter in the comment box.

Now, go ahead and try it. Open a new browser tab, window, whatever. I'll wait for you...

Scary, right? Not really. The formula simply provides a shortcut to a Facebook ID, returns the user's real name, and provides it to you. The ":0" at the end removes the hyperlink to the user's account/page.

So, if you do NOT add the :0 in there, you will actually get a link (or should, anyway) to the page that matches your three digits.

It also works for many, but not all, 4-digit numbers, 5-digits, etc. Why? It ties back to a Facebook ID, remember? We *all* have Facebook IDs. That's how FB keeps track of its users.

Now, the next part took a bit of thinking, and I am not 100% sure it's right, but I'd be willing to bet it is: Where did your "cell phone" go to school? I bet Harvard. Or, Harvard is in your "cell phone's" network, anyway. Well, so long as you only use the last three digits. How do I know this amazing information? Is it magic!? Some kind of weird sorcery? No.

Take the digits you used to find your cell phone's "name," and add it to this:

Open a new tab, window, whatever in your web browser
Copy the following URL into your newly opened web browser tab, window, whatever: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=XXX,
Replace the XXX with your numbers. Ex: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123
Press enter

Did you get someone's page? Did they have Harvard listed in their networks? Probably. Why? How?

Stop and think a moment. Where was FB developed?? Harvard. So, who would have low-number IDs? Harvard students. Anyone *not* in the Harvard network either removed Harvard at some point (early FB required a school network, remember?) or was an outside invite in the very early days, though that is highly unlikely - it was specifically for Harvard students to rate each other, remember? TheFacebook was a knock off of "Hot or Not."

Oh, and if you try the last 4, 5, or all 10 digits and come up empty? Most likely, that user has either completely deleted themselves from Facebook or that number just hasn't been used yet.

Ah, yes, I know - I just pulled the curtain back on the ol' wizard.

AIM-ing for a name

2012-01-13T06:04:00.001-06:00

When Entergy shut down the town's power last night, Emily crawled into bed with me and my wife. She brought her stuffed penguin, "Pengy" with her. My wife asked how the penguin got its name.

Emily said, "In the book, Clementine, the girl names her stuffed animals by going into the bathroom and reading words. She named on animal, 'Moisturizer.' So, I went into our bathroom to try find a name for my penguin. I was gonna name it 'AIM' because we don't have a lot of words in our bathroom."

We're glad she chose "Pengy." :-)

Daily Devotionals for Razorback Fans

2012-01-10T22:42:00.002-06:00

One of the things the kids and I got Shan for Christmas was a daily devotional. The twist is that each day connects a Razorbacks moment, thought, etc with the scripture for the day. We actually got it on sale at Lane's Toys and Gifts in Texarkana, but you can find the book online at the link below. Note: I get no proceeds or anything for mentioning the book. No, I'm not the author or connected in anyway to the author. I just think some of the stories in the book are worth sharing!

http://www.edmcminn.com/arra.html

RPC Error trying to renew IP address

2012-01-07T13:33:00.000-06:00

While working on a computer this weekend, I came across a problem I had not encountered before. The computer would not connect to my local wireless network. The machine had been infected with a virus/malware but had been cleaned prior to coming to my possession.

I finally got it to connect to my network (it was an adapter setting), but the computer would still get online. I dropped to a command prompt and saw the machine was using a self-assigned IP address. That's no good.

When I tried to renew the IP, I got an error: "The RPC server is unavailable." After searching for a while, I came across several back-up related forum posts about the error. None of those applied. Start again.

I searched around some more, changing the terms a bit, and came across a post with people having the same problem. Okay, getting warmer.

One suggestion was to run sfc /scannow. That usually cures system file issues, but it did nothing for this situation. However, one of the comments to the article had exactly what I needed!

I looked in SERVICES and saw that DHCP Client was not started. When I tried to start it, I got another error: 1075 Dependency is not loaded. The fix is actually pretty easy:

"Just delete the registry entry and reboot the system. It should work just fine. it worked for me.

Click Start,

click Run,

type regedit in the Open box,

and then click OK.

In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dhcp

Right-click the DependOnService entry,

and then click delete.

Click OK enough times to get out.

Reboot the computer."

That worked! Once I rebooted, the computer and it (eventually) found my network and connected. Whew!

Hope this helps someone else.

Black-Eyed Peas, who knew!?

2012-01-06T12:00:00.000-06:00

I grew up "Yankee" as they say here in the South. That means I grew up eating pork, sauerkraut, and hot dogs for New Year's. But, in the South, they have a tradition of eating Black-Eyed Peas for luck. My Aunt sent out a neat story about the tradition, and I started checking it out to get more info. Well, that opened up a whole can of, er, well, peas I guess. Here are several takes on the tradition of eating BEP:

From my Aunt:

"The Real Story is much more interesting and has gone untold in fear that feelings would be hurt. It’s a story of war, the most brutal and bloody war, military might and power pushed upon civilians, women, children and elderly. Never seen as a war crime, this was the policy of the greatest nation on earth trying to maintain that status at all costs. An unhealed wound remains in the hearts of some people of the southern states even today; on the other hand, the policy of slavery has been an open wound that has also been slow to heal but is okay to talk about. The story of THE BLACK EYED PEA being considered good luck relates directly back to Sherman 's Bloody March to the Sea in late 1864. It was called The Savannah Campaign and was lead by Major General William T. Sherman. The Civil War campaign began on 11/15/64 when Sherman 's troops marched from the captured city of Atlanta , Georgia , and ended at the port of Savannah on 12/22/1864. When the smoke cleared, the southerners who had survived the onslaught came out of hiding. They found that the blue belly aggressors that had looted and stolen everything of value and everything you could eat including all livestock - death and destruction were everywhere. While in hiding, few had enough to eat, and starvation was now upon the survivors. There was no international aid, no Red Cross meal trucks. The Northern army had taken everything they could carry and eaten everything they could eat. But they couldn’t take it all. The devastated people of the south found for some unknown reason that Sherman ’s bloodthirsty troops had left silos full of black eyed peas. At the time in the north, the lowly black eyed pea was only used to feed stock. The northern troops saw it as the thing of least value. Taking grain for their horses and livestock and other crops to feed themselves, they just couldn’t take everything. So they left the black eyed peas in great quantities assuming it would be of no use to the survivors, since all the livestock it could feed had either been taken or eaten. Southerners awoke to face a new year in this devastation and were facing massive starvation if not for the good luck of having the black eyed peas to eat. From New Years Day 1866 forward, the tradition grew to eat black eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck." (Source: email, unknown origin)

According to TexasScapes.com, the tradition was invented by Elmore Torn, Sr (who happens to be the dad of Rip Torn). It is rather lengthy, so I'll just provide a link. In essence though, he invented the story as a way to sell a product no one wanted.(http://www.texasescapes.com/CFEckhardt/The-Great-Blackeyed-Pea-Hoax.htm)

Still, someone else wrote the following on a discussion board about the subject:

Not true. The "good luck" traditions of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud (compiled ~500 CE), Horayot 12A: "Abaye [d. 339 CE] said, now that you have established that good-luck symbols avail, you should make it a habit to see Qara (bottle gourd), Rubiya (black-eyed peas, Arabic Lubiya), Kartei (leeks), Silka (either beets or spinach), and Tamrei (dates) on your table on the New Year." A parallel text in Kritot 5B states that one should eat these symbols of good luck. The accepted custom (Shulhan Aruh Orah Hayim 583:1, 16th century, the standard code of Jewish law and practice) is to eat the symbols. This custom is followed by Sepharadi and Israeli Jews to this day. The first Sepharadi Jews arrived in Georgia in the 1730s and have lived there continuously since. The Jewish practice was apparently adopted by non-Jews around the time of the Civil War. (Posted by pippinsrosy on http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/584205)

Still, another person responded with the best reason anyone does anything because of "tradition:"

People invent traditions because they have hope... they believe and want future generations to carry on these things.
My Great Grandmother was born in 1901 and told me (before she recently passed) that EVERY New Year's in her life included blackeyed peas... for luck in the new year. One pea for every day of good luck in the New Year. Unless she didn't start getting lucky until '47 (and she had two teen daughters by then, so I'd say she got a bit lucky) then I'm sticking with her rendition. And I have at least two hundred blackeyed peas as leftovers to eat tomorrow. :-) Happy New Year, everyone! (Posted by Ideabaker on http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/584205)

Well, whatever reason you have for doing it, I still think Black-Eyed Peas are nasty. However, I did eat two over-sized spoonfuls. Just in case. I also had my dawgs and kraut!

The "Un-Internet" and educational application

2012-01-03T09:46:00.000-06:00

I posted this to a statewide edu-tech list to which I belong. I thought I would post here for another avenue of discussion. This is in response to (or rather, a sharing of) an article published yesterday (Jan 2, 2012).

This article (linked below) is mainly about business practices, but I can see some of the same discussions surfacing in education circles regarding content (bandwidth not withstanding and bandwidth quickly becoming a non-issue), blocked sites, etc. Sure, we have CIPA and COPPA to contend with, but the days of "Network Nazism" are quickly coming to an end. As well they should be. I enjoy seeing the emergence of actual Technology Committees at various districts: Administrators, teachers, community members all reviewing sites submitted by teachers and students to be reviewed for educational use. This has worked very well in the district for which I am one of the "community members." In fact, we recently blocked one site and opened another based on that group's input. We have to protect our students, but we also have to realize that our teachers and students *ARE* the users/customers, and unless we work WITH them, they will find ways to work around or without us.

http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/01/the-un-internet/

Welcome to 2012

2012-01-01T14:50:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

First, a look back and then a look ahead.

On January 9 (just a few days away), Commodore revealed the Commodore 64. The computer cost $299, which was not horrid back then, but not exactly peanuts either. The real downside was that EVERYTHING was extra - floppy storage was another $179 for the original 1541, if you could find one. Most folks started off with the $99 tape drive. Yes, kiddos, before games came on DVDs (or there was anything remotely referred to as 'the cloud,'), we had games that were stored on cassette tapes. Oh, wait. You might not even know what cassette tapes are. Yeesh. Before MP3s and CDs, we had these plastic cases with a think ribbon of 'tape' that held our music. Well, the same technology to store music was used to store data.

Aside from the affection Mac owners are known to have for their computers, Commodore owners probably 'loved' their computers the most. No other company (again, aside from Apple) garnered such admiration for a line of computers as Commodore. Even today, you can ask people about their old '64s and watch as their eyes glaze over, their head tilts slightly to one side and their mind wanders back to a time of 8-bit wonders.

Some time ago, several years actually, several groups/companies came up with C64 emulators that would run on PCs. Now, you could have all the nostalgia running in a window on your computer while you surfed the web, played other games, or did just about anything else you wanted to. The entire C64 collection of games fits on a series of DVDs.

And then, Commodore was reignited and a new company brought forth a C64 clone. The new machine is a PC running the emulator. It also costs over 3x as much as the original, listing for $999 from CommodoreUSA. No thanks. Even if I bought the emulator and the DVD series, I'd still have change left over for my card hobby. So it wouldn't LOOK like a C64. Who cares. I digress.

As for looking ahead, I managed a paltry 80 posts in 2011. I posted more than that during my first year of blogging when I really had no idea what I was doing or why. I am not a "resolutions" kind of person, but I absolutely resolve to post more in 2012. What accounts for the lack of posts? I'm ashamed to admit it, but Facebook and Twitter have become my main outlet streams. That's not a bad thing, really, but I am a huge proponent of blogging, especially in education, and so I need to champion that which I, er, champion.

Of course, the first round of solid postings will come from the annual "American Idol" rundown. I also plan to post some of my more in-depth musings on here and let those take on a life of their own here and in the social networking realms. For instance, my thoughts on public breastfeeding sparked quite a conversation on Facebook. It would have been fun to start that here and then follow it in both circles, possibly cross-posting back here as to additional comments, etc.

I have been putting off two novels as well. I don't mean reading them - I mean writing them. So, the next "resolution" on my list: Write 'em. I've actually decided that "Summer Breaks" will become a larger version of itself to be entitled, "Extended Summer Breaks." It will be cleaned up and several elements expanded based on feedback I've received from friends and reviews. The other novel, "Somewhere Main and Maple Meet," is already 2/3rds complete in first draft, so I'm looking to finish it up and get it published as well. In fact, I plan to shop that one through Christian publishing circles to see if I can get a tradition publisher to pick it up. I'll keep you posted.

My final "real" resolution relates to my bucket list. I am picking one item to cross off the list and will focus my attention throughout the year to make it happen. Not sure which item yet, but once I choose, that will be the one I try to knock off.

Thanks to everyone who comes by to read my ramblings and musings, and I hope to provide you much more entertainment in 2012 than in 2011.

Fixing "Blindsighted" in Skyrim

2011-12-27T23:39:00.000-06:00

Good heavens. Skyrim is full of as many glitches as it is guards who have taken an arrow to the knee! The latest 'discovery' is during the Blindsighted mission where you finally face off against Mercer Frey. In some circumstances, he never shows up at the 'final' showdown! He speaks for a moment, but is not there and the player cannot move anywhere. Enter the console yet again.

I have heard of two ways to make this work: 1) Bring Mercer to where you are, 2) go to where he is and follow him until he gets to where he is supposed to be.

As for (1), I did not try that. I read too many people having no luck with it.

As for (2), here is what you need to do: Once you enter the room where Mercer says something about getting the drop on him, your character is frozen. Sorta.

Press the tilde (~) to open the console and type: epc
Press ENTER. This will free you up to move freely.
Type: player.moveto 00022651
Press ENTER (the game will load to where Mercer is in the world)
Follow Mercer until he he gets to the right room *OR* until he suddenly disappears from you
*IF* he disappears from you while you are following him, type: player.moveto 00022651 and press ENTER. This should teleport you back to the room with him and the other NPCs and start the dialogue. Be sure to get to where he can see you so the auto-conversation can take place. Once it does, finish out the scene as you wish.

This is one of the most ridiculous glitches out there. How he goes from one cut scene to being totally removed from the quest area is beyond me. That has got to be some kind of scripting glitch. In any case, the fix above worked for me multiple times. I repeated the steps a couple times from older save games just to be sure it worked. NOTE: You may have to fight several things along the way. One "option" is to put yourself into "god" mode until you get back on task. I don't generally suggest going into "god" mode because it is too far down the cheating path, but since the is a glitch in the game, I see no problem using it to avoid getting killed while chasing doofus around the map.

Keywords: Mercer Frey, Blindsighted, "get the drop on me", glitch, bug, Thieves Guild

Review: Need for Speed The Run

2011-12-27T09:41:00.000-06:00

One of the video games I received for Christmas this year: Need for Speed-The Run. I had seen several previews, videos, etc for the game, and being a fan of the NFS franchise, I had to put it on my Christmas wish list. I got the Limited Edition, which gives access to a bonus set of cars and Challenge Tracks that the "regular" edition doesn't. I put regular in quotes because I have yet to see an edition with the words "limited edition" printed on the box. I digress.

The game has three modes, basically: The Run Storyline, Challenge Mode, and Multiplayer. I'll start with Multiplayer because, well, I haven't used it yet. It connects to EA's AUTOLOG system for game matches. You race against your friends. As I understand it, you can jump into games at any point - no more of the Autolog lobby. I'll play with that and let you know.

The Run Storyline is the main game. You play a scruffy nerfherder named Jack. You have to race across the country in order to win a boatload of money to pay off the mob. It's Rat Race meets Cannonball Run meets... I dunno. During the game, there are cut scenes and screenshots featuring various characters that really have no bearing on the game at all. In the midst of your racing across the country, you are tossed into these weird mini games where on-screen prompts show you when to hit the space bar, arrow keys, enter key, whatever. During one scene, you jump from building to building, avoiding helicopter gunfire.

The mini games, to me, are a waste. I came to race, not play some loosely constructed story. I know, many people like having a backstory to go with their racing. I am not one of those. I came to race my car. And, HOLY SMOKES do you race! Now, this is not the "simulation" style that many NFS games are known for. This is arcade racing. If you slide off a mountain while driving through Colorado's beautifully-rendered high country, you get a RESET to try again from your last checkpoint. You get 4 or 5 (I can't remember just now) resets per section before you have to start the section over from the beginning. Let me tell ya, it can get VERY frustrating: To be on the last leg of a section only to miss a turn with no resets left will have you screaming at the monitor. I kept running into/off of obstacles that caused resets on some levels but not on others. It was hard to figure out where I could scrape some paint and where I had to stay between the lines. This especially held true where my car would slip off the road into a patch of grass only to have the screen go black and the dreaded "RESET" appear. The other area to watch are telephone poles. In some areas, you can blast right through them, while in others, they are as solid as a building. And, you have no idea which is which until you run head-on into a pole.

The handling is pure arcade, and once you get the feel for controls, you can drive any of the cars because they all drive the same. At least, it felt that way to me. Some people have posted that they hate this and that it is unrealistic. LOL, "unrealistic." It's a GAME, people. Of course it isn't realistic. Would you realistically be driving half these cars in your life, ever? Nope. Anyway, there are sports cars, exotics, and racers. It doesn't matter. Hop in and drive.

The biggest complaint I have about the game: I can't enjoy the views. You race from San Francisco to New York via Las Vegas, Colorado, Chicago, Cleveland, and other locales that fly by at 240+ mph and you don't get to enjoy the nuances that make those places what they are. I would love a free-roam mode where you could grab a car and just drive around. Ah well, this *IS* an arcade racer, after all. I will say, though, that driving through the subway is one of the coolest sections of all - sightseeing or not!

The game progresses through 10 levels. You have meet certain goals to continue: beat 8 racers, beat 6 time trials, whatever. You cannot progress without beating the goals, and it only takes a few tries to beat the goals. A couple levels are harder than others, but once you've "Beat 6 Racers" once, you've done it a hundred times. I did not realize this was how the game was played. I was hoping you started off the race and then tried to beat everyone to the end - open-ended style: that is, whatever position you were in at the end of each leg, that's the position you started the next one. I think that would have added so much more to the game. They didn't ask me.

You eventually win the race - because you have no choice, really. Oh, wait, is that spoiler? Of course not - you eventually (hopefully) win any racing game, right?

Challenge Modes are unlocked as you progress through the story. Each Challenge features several tracks/goals for you to beat. You get to race the same locales you did in the story mode, but with different tracks, different goals, etc. You can also try to best your Autolog pals.

The game is a lot of fun, and can be extremely frustrating. For me, that's what I like about it most - figuring out just what's going on. Now, I think I'll go back and play through the story and locales with some sightseeing in mind. Who cares if I win or not. I want to see some sights.

Response to "Ten tech items you won't be needing"

2011-12-19T09:08:00.000-06:00

The LA Times published an article (see end of this response for link) about the 10 tech items you won't need anymore. Like the last one of these responses I did, let's take a look:

1. Flip Cam - I half-agree with this. Pocket cameras are still a lot cheaper than an iPod, cell phone, etc. The pocket cameras also tend to be a whole lot easier (in my experience) to pull the video from the device into one's computer for editing. On the other hand, nearly every other device you buy has a built-in video camera, so why bother carrying around another piece of equipment. See, half agree...

2. Portable DVD player - One day, this will be true. Not any time soon, however. Why not? because there are many families that bought as many DVDs for their kids as possible and, dang it, we are going to watch those in the car if it kills us! I am one of them. Of course, Shan's van has built-in DVD players, so we don't need a separate portable one. Okay, I'll give them this one.

3. Flash drives - BZZT! Wrong answer. People still need a way to access their files when the "cloud" is not available. The evolution of portable media dictates that SOMETHING will replace flash drives, but it will still be something people can carry on their person.

4. GPS for your car - BZZT! Wrong answer. I can use the GPS in my car in more places than my phone because of cellular data coverage, or more specifically the lack thereof. With my in-car GPS, I can find my location, get directions and route my course without worrying about dropped signals or getting a call while trying to navigate (which on many carriers will kick one out of the GPS app).

5. Small digital cameras - They are talking the small-form point-and-shoot. I have to agree. Cell phones now boast 8 megapixels, which is still more than most people would ever actually use anyway. The only thing holding me back here is that small point-and-shoots are coming with better and better optical zooms - something that our cell phones just can't handle. But, I certainly see the demise of those little cameras in the future. Now, pro-level or pro-sumer level cameras? Those will be around a long time, well, relatively speaking.

6. FAX Machine - BZZT! The fax still can be one of the most secure ways to send a document - encrypted, secluded, direct. Now, the machine itself may go, I suppose. With unified communication systems, we can have fax-to-desktop, thus eliminating the physical machine. I dunno, maybe I'm a half-and-half guy on this one after all.

7. Netbooks - Yeap. These are going, going, gone. Now that you get a case, a keyboard, a stylus, and maybe even a mouse for your tablet, who needs a netbook?

8. CD player - Yeap. Gone. Convert your CDs and (GASP!) records over to digital and kiss the physical CD players goodbye. Oh, never mind the deterioration of your MP3 files. That's just a normal part of data corruption. Besides, you can always download the songs again or convert them from CD.. wait, no more CD players? Oh. Nevermind. You're just outta luck.

9. Voice recorders - Are these even still around? Wow. I thought these were already dead and gone.

10. PDA - Palms? What? Like voice recorders, I thought PDA's were already a thing of the past. Well, they are now for sure.

The original article can be found here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/12/ten-unneeded-tech-items.html

Why LIVE.COM should be taken to the BBB

2011-12-18T10:17:00.001-06:00

After MONTHS of trying to get an account issue resolved, all Microsoft's LIVE.COM support will give me are automated, useless replies. I need to talk to a human. We tried using XBO support, but when it came down to fixing the actual problem (an errant email address entered when signing up), they couldn't do anything because LIVE.COM has no actual LIVE people for support. Ironic, no?

Anyway, here is the latest reply, which is totally useless because GMAIF.COM (notice the problem there?) is a squatted domain, and efforts to contact THEM have come up empty as well....

Ridiculous.

Unfortunately, we could not verify your ownership of xxxxxxx@gmaif.com using the information you provided. Your account recovery request with issue number xxxxxxxx has been closed.

In keeping with Microsoft's commitment to protecting online privacy, Windows Live takes account security seriously. Passing the account recovery process can be difficult. Please reconsider your originally submitted information, as well as provide any additional information when submitting a new account recovery request.

Here are some suggestions to assist you in submitting a new request:

Answer questions using the information you used when you created the account or last updated it.
Submit the recovery request from a computer you frequently use for Windows Live services.
Answer as many questions as you can and be as precise as possible.
For questions with multiple answers, such as email subjects and contacts, provide as many answers as you can.
If you have difficulty remembering email subjects or contacts, try reaching out to family, friends, or business contacts to verify.

Ready? Click here to submit a new Windows Live account recovery request.

Please do not reply to this message. Replies to this message are routed to an unmonitored mailbox.

Thank you,
Windows Live

Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
USA

Why I don't like the new GMail

2011-12-15T16:00:00.000-06:00

I've switched to the new GMail because, well, they will eventually force me to anyway, so I figured I had better jump on it so I can support the folks at work.

First of all, let me make this clear: I hate the new GMail. There. I said it. Now, brass tacks time:

For starters, I had to switch to "compact view" so that I wouldn't have a bunch of wasted space on my screen. One of the things I liked most about GMail was the simple, clean interface. No frills, no nonsense. Bye-bye. Now, we have views with more white space between messages than the actual length of the messages themselves. Luckily, GMail must have known some people didn't care for all that "breathing room" and gave us an option that is close to the original layout (though not exactly).

I hate CHAT. I don't use it. I want to be able to turn the dumb thing off. Again, it is a matter or screen real estate. I'd rather have my label list down the side than have that dumb chat gizmo there, or anywhere. Users should be allowed to turn that off.

I hate cute little icons where words work perfectly well. maybe it is because I like to write and enjoy reading. Maybe it is part of the whole 'streamlined' thing I enjoy. Whatever the reason, I *HATE* stupid little icons that are supposed to represent the tasks I want to perform. See them up there? The irony is that you have to hover over them so that a TEXT BOX will appear to tell you just what you are supposed to do with them. Stupid. I like my words. I like menu systems. One of peeves with Office 2007 was the whole "icons on ribbons" thing. UGH. Show me the words that tell me what I want to know, what I need to do. I think cutesy little icons just waste space and waste time because I have to now figure out what each one does or means or represents. have we fallen so far as a society that we can't have actual WORDS anymore!? Soon, our writings (electronic or otherwise) will revert back to cave drawings - icons that show and tell our life stories. instead of Facebook, we'll have.. Imagebook or Iconbook or Cavecarvings or some other wordless means of "communicating." Supposedly, a picture's worth a thousand words. In this case, it barely even covers one.

I am not a fan of the whole 'theme' thing. I never have been. I like certain things neat and clean, no frou frou. Email is one. i want my email to be...(GASP! SHOCK AND AWE!) **EMAIL** I don't want little dancing smiley faces in my emails, I don't want a pink background with falling hearts from the sky. I don't really even like the 'desktop' background I have in mine right now, but it was the easiest to look at for more than 5 minutes.

I know Google isn't switching it back, and that's fine. Since we switched to Google Apps for our corporate mail system, I have to take what they give me - a certain drawback to going to "the cloud." It is a drawback that no one talks about until after the fact.

Oh, I know, in the scheme of life, this is petty and small and doesn't amount to a grain of rice for a starving child (go to freerice.com to help with that, though!!), but I am free to express myself. And for that, I am eternally grateful to people like my Father, Grandfather, Uncle, and the other millions of people who have served in our military so that I *can* say what I feel. The sacrifices made by those folks in uniform amount to much more than email interfaces, cloud computing, and even food on the table. They served (and serve) OUR country for all the good, all the bad, all the freedoms, and all the choices we have as Americans. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, knowing full well that my petty rant is nothing but a grain of sand in the scheme of life.

Dungeons and Dragons Dichotomy

2011-12-12T18:36:00.003-06:00

I recently took part in a discussion about playing "Skyrim" which involved a young college student (female), a high school student (male), and myself. We talked for a good while about various game-playing adventures, glitches, and general mayhem we've each taken part in while playing the game. Then, a comment (made by the female college student) out of the blue: "Yeah, he and his friends are all playing D&D. (Dorks!)" (I put "Dorks" in parentheses because I cannot remember the exact word used, but that was general gist).

And, thus enters the dichotomy: It is apparently COOL to play Skyrim, but DORKY to play Dungeons and Dragons. Until this comment came out of the college student's mouth, I hadn't really separated the two. I mean, aren't they basically one in the same? There are dungeons, dragons, magic, swords, and sorcery in both games, right? So, what, then *IS* the difference?

I'm going with perception. Perhaps, D&D as seen as VERY 'old school nerdy.' Or maybe the fact that there is a group of people playing rather than a single person playing. Maybe it is the whole experience of D&D: sitting around a table, rolling dice, acting things out. I don't know. I played D&D as a 5th Grader and played off-and-on through my freshman year in college. I don't know how most people play the game, but everyone I ever played with really never "slipped" into our character modes. It was very much like we were simply acting on behalf of the imaginary people we had written on paper. In a way, it was much like playing "Skyrim" on the computer.

Perhaps the perceived "dorkiness" of D&D comes from the fact that is is all (er, okay, mostly) pencil and paper and dice. I mean, there are no cool graphics, no multi-voiced character actors as NPCs (unless you are playing with a very talented pool of people), and no sound effects (refer to previous parenthetical comment) when playing ye olde pen-and-paper D&D. You have a group of people sitting around a table, talking, rolling dice, drinking sodas (or whatever), and (GASP) interacting with each other! Yeap, truly old school stuff.

I don't really have a solid answer so much as a very puzzling question: Why is playing "Skyrim" COOLER than playing D&D? Hmm... Thoughts, comments?

Skyrim: Markarth Guard Glitch SOLVED (UPDATED!)

2011-12-11T00:18:00.001-06:00

So, I finished off one of the missions in Skyrim (where you have to raid an underground prison) and afterward, the Markarth guards always told me to "HALT!" and no matter what I tried to do, they attacked. Paying the fine didn't work, taking me to jail just stuck the game in some weird loop, etc.

This fix worked for me, but I had to do it TWICE. You may need to do it more than once as well. I think it has to do with the particular hex code for certain guards (male/female).

Here is the Markarth Guard fix:

Walk up to a guard
When the guard says, "You've committed crimes against Markarth," DO NOT choose any options.
With the dialog waiting, press the tilde key (~) to open the command console.
Click on the guard's HEAD (note: must be HEAD!) and you will see a hex code on the screen.
Type: paycrimegold and hit enter.
You will be teleported to a new, random location in Markarth.
Press the tilde (~) key again (this will exit the command console).
IF YOU ARE ATTACKED, keep looking around for a guard to question you then repeat the steps above.
UPDATE NOTE: If this doesn't stop some guards from attacking on spot, try this:

Press the tilde key
Type: setstage MS02 250 and hit enter
This should set the game to the "Thonar has granted me pardon" though no actual on-screen message will appear.

Like I said, I had to do this TWICE (once on a female guard and once on a male guard) before they stopped attacking me all the time.

Hope this helps someone out there. I found the original info on Neoseeker or some other forum, but it did not say anything about possibly doing it more than once.

**Disclaimer: there a LOT of things you can do inside the command console. What you do in there is on your own head, not mine!

The Sky(rim)'s the limit

2011-11-23T10:56:00.001-06:00

Yes, that is an in-game screenshot (as posted on GiantBomb.com). And, yes, I have been to that very spot.

Where is that, you ask? Why, it's in Skyrim. Skyrim came out on 11/11/11 and it is an open-world, mostly open-ended role playing game. I say "mostly open-ended" because, like all adventures, you ultimately walk through a series of scripted paths. Well, might. It is open-ended in that you don't *have* to do anything. You decide to accept a quest or not. You decide, once you have accepted a quest, to complete a task. Heck, even after you complete a task, you decide whether or not you want to finish it - for example, do you *want* to give the recovered gauntlets to the requestor or do you want to keep them for yourself? You decide.

It's not a new concept. In fact, Skyrim is the next in the Elder Scrolls series of open-world games. But, after playing Morrowind and Oblivion, I have to say, I like Skyrim A LOT! Sure, it's got glitches... One of the first sequences had me talking to a woman who faded into the wall behind her, only to "materialize" after the conversation. And, okay, so you find randomly floating weapons, armor, bottles, plates, and even animals, during your romp through the countryside, but so what. The scenery is flat-out gorgeous, the characters are mostly well-created, and exploring the unknown digital realm of Skyrim will suck hours out of your day that you didn't even know you had. Granted, those hours may be the wee ones after everyone else in the house has gone to bed.

From the first dragon appearance to the bowels (yes, I said bowels) of various and sundry caves and dungeons, Skyrim sucks you in. I've only played a few days worth. I bought this past weekend and have played off and on since. It is the kind of game that could make a person happily use up a week's worth of vacation time and not regret it.

There are definite improvements in gameplay over Oblivion (the game's predecessor):

No more "Too encumbered to move." In Skyrim, if you are overloaded, you simply cannot run. You can still walk (er, shuffle more like it). You also cannot "fast travel" which can be a particular annoyance when you are carrying a bunch of loot down from a remote mountain top. In games before, once you reached your carrying capacity, you had to drop stuff because you weren't allowed to move at all. "Fast travel" just means you pick any discovered location (one to which you have actually visited) and get there with one click instead of walking there in-game.
Skill trees have been reworked. I'm not sure they are 'trees' so much as convoluted constellations with stars upon which you study to learn skill enhancements (like a percentage increase in two-handed weapons, summoning spells, etc). I like the depth and breadth of skill development, though I have to admit it can be a bit overwhelming.
"Cleared" areas (caves, dungeons, etc) are actually cleared. I always hated going back into areas that I had already supposedly cleared (in Oblivion, etc) only to return to find it inhabited by more creatures. I do understand that a cave might not remain empty forever, but it just annoyed me.
Combat seems much more fluid in Skyrim. That may be bad memory on my part (that is, not remembering what combat was like in Oblivion etc). I definitely love the hot keys (you can assign weapons, armor, spells, etc to a key 1-8), though that was also in previous games. In Skyrim, changing between items is pretty quick and can mean the difference between life and death. Of course, the fact that you can get down to your last few health points, call up the menu and save yourself with potions has always been a little wacky to me, but if the game lets you do it, then better to take advantage!
The graphics, of course. Everything has been update with new textures. Some people don't like the "dirt" effect the characters have (everyone has a level of dirt on them, making everyone look a bit gritty) and you can download a "clean" mod for your game if you want (it removes dirt and fixes a few blocky areas like noses). I prefer to play it like the game maker intended. Besides, the effect gives the game a darker feel which fits well with the theme.

One of the biggest complaints buzzing about always comes with the Elder Scroll games: system requirements. The game requires multi core processors. The game requires a DirectX9 video card. The box says the video card must have 512MB RAM, but Tyler got his to run on his dual-core laptop with a 256MB video card in it. Granted, he had to dumb-down all the settings and ramp up mouse sensitivity, but it actually looks okay and plays very smoothly from what I've seen him play.

For the record, yes, we bought two copies - one for him and one for me. Target had a gift-card offer when you buy two games and since we both knew we wanted to play it, we each bought a copy. Besides, there's the whole Steam thing. I hate Steam. I've said that before.

Overall, though, I'm liking me some Skyrim. And, having a Thanksgiving holiday come around the week after I bought a copy ain't bad, either!

Disaster Recovery Plan

2011-11-17T21:42:00.001-06:00

I don't see what's the big deal with Disaster Recovery Planning. It's pretty simple:

Fire: Get out!
Tornado: Get under!
Earthquake: Get down!
Flood: Get up!
Pandemic: Get home!

And, if all else fails: Run.

Evidently, Apple does not like credit

2011-11-12T09:42:00.001-06:00

I received an email from Apple, letting me know that they are not too happy with me...

Apparently, Apple does not like its customers to carry a balance on their store credit. How many other retailers do you know that send a friendly reminder for their customers to spend the money they have just sitting out there. Perhaps, dear friends at Apple, I haven't found anything lately WORTH spending my iTunes credit. Maybe the finger should be pointing the other way.

The Secret of Black Socks

2011-10-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

No, this isn't some deep, thought-provoking post regarding the White Sox of yesteryear. This is actually about black socks.

I always wondered why men, especially older men, hung out in their black dress socks. Now I know why. The simple fact is that many guys wear black socks as part of their work dress code, for church, etc. When we get home and change out of our daily work clothes, we are loathe to take off our socks. Frankly, the socks we're wearing are already "broken in" for the day - they are soft, comfortable, warm. Taking off one's socks means exposing our warmed, comfortable feet to the elements. Well, okay, maybe not the elements, but certainly the unpleasantness of taking them off only to get out another pair of socks to put on. Why bother with all that?

Instead, we change out of our stuffy clothes and leave on our comfy socks. Sorry, women of the world and children/grandchildren, but you're stuck with us and our black socks...

The Ugly Beast (aka "The Stomach Bug")

2011-10-03T15:22:00.002-05:00

I left work early today. Basically, this is why... (And, I'm not quite rid of the beast yet)
------
The beast within awakens slowly, almost gently. A low, slow grumble begins as the hideous creature starts its journey to escape. Before long, however, the low grumbling turns into a full out chorus of moans, groans and roars. A deep, sudden pain from inside, and the bearer knows something is not right. Then, with no further warning, the beast churns and turns, unleashing itself in a violent fit. It seeks a rapid, explosive exit from its prison.

The first exit is finds comes at the south end of its victim. The passages twist and turn and the beast breaks apart trying to expunge itself. With incredible force, the beast liquifies itself, rendering its victim helpless to move. No, the victim becomes a prisoner to the beast, forced to remain seated, unmovable. If the beast should find its way clear of the body, things would be over as suddenly as they had begun. Instead, the beast comes in fits and starts, providing a false sense of relief and security for the being in which is inhabits.

The beast rests. Or so it seems.

Soon, however, the victim discovers that beast is merely changing directions! Just as quickly and violently, the beast races its way upward to find another exit. The victim has no choice but to bow before the porcelain urn placed before him or her, forcing the beast to leave the body. The body shakes and shutters, rocking harshly with each attempt for the beast to remove itself from its host. The beast comes again and again.

Finally, in an all-out attempt to free itself, the beast seeks any and all possible exits, trying to remove itself from its carrier. The victim is forced to abide in the beast's bidding. Holding a pot while sitting on another, the victim has no recourse other than to endure the pain, the violence, the seemingly endless onslaught.

And, just as quickly and violently as the beast arrived, it departs. For most victims, the beast's temporary residence lasts but a day's time. Once it is gone, it seeks out its next victim - young, old, rich or poor. The beast cares not.

Governor Beebe Hoses The Little Guy

2011-09-22T21:01:00.000-05:00

While trying to add Amazon ads to my posts, I noticed I no longer had access to the ad program. I logged into my account only to find my account disabled! Say what!? Well, I contacted Amazon support, and this is what I learned:

Hello from the Amazon Associates Program,

Thank you for contacting us regarding your concern for the status of this Associates Account. I apologize for the frustration and inconvenience this situation may have created for you.

For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with a large number of Arkansas residents. Unfortunately, a new state tax law signed by Governor Beebe compels us to terminate this program for Arkansas-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers - including but not limited to those referred by Arkansas-based affiliates like you - even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

We opposed this new tax law because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It was supported by big-box retailers that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that its enactment forces this action. The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on Arkansas residents like you were explained to the legislature, including Senate and House leadership, as well as to the Governor's staff.

As a result of the new law, contracts with all Arkansas residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program will be terminated on July 24, 2011. Those Arkansas residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned on or before July 24, 2011 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of Arkansas. If you are not currently a resident of Arkansas, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. And if you relocate to another state after July 24, 2011, please contact us for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.

To avoid confusion, we would like to clarify that this development will only impact our ability to continue to offer the Associates Program to Arkansas residents and will not affect their ability to purchase from www.amazon.com.

We have enjoyed working with you and other Arkansas-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to Arkansas residents.

So, thank you, Mr. Governor. If I had paid attention, I'm sure I would have known about the law. Even so, I don't know that I would have realized the impact this would have on people like me: a blogger trying earn a few pennies with click-through ads. I can see why we are no longer the "Land of Opportunity."

Now, I need to see what I can do to have this ridiculous law repealed.

No significant difference...

2011-09-22T08:20:00.001-05:00

The phrase, "No significant difference" has been tossed around for years, usually in relation to something education-based: technology in education, technology in higher education, pay-for-merit teacher salaries, distance learning programs, etc.

The kicker is that the phrase itself can be used to prove a particular point or to disprove the same point. For example, a decade ago, studies suggested that students taking classes through distance learning (more specifically, through interactive live video services) produced "no significant difference" in grades, assignment completion, etc compared to students who attended 'traditional' classes (that is, teacher live in the room).

This finding was used to convince schools that putting in distance learning systems would have little to no impact on graduation rates, grades, etc. and that they should jump on the bandwagon.

The same is being said for "target testing" these days, what with NCLB, AYP, API, and a myriad of other acronyms.

Maybe it's just my particular viewpoint, but my response to "no significant difference" surfaces as "then why bother?" Why spend all the money to implement programs that ultimately show no significant difference than the programs already in place? Why add to the already overworked, overstressed workload of teachers, principals and students if there is no significant difference between what they are already doing and instituting some new program that will cost the district (and/or state taxpayers) additional money? What is the point?

As for distance learning, I see the implementation as one of providing opportunity. That is, schools should only use distance learning programs as a way to enhance student learning. Many small schools cannot offer the same variety of classes as many larger ones (different foreign languages, various alternate career courses, etc). I see that as a HUGE benefit. Small schools (also any-sized economically challenged ones, etc) cannot afford to hire a fulltime teacher to reach 5-10 students interested in taking a particular course (or to take college credits while still in high school, etc). In these cases, the cost of a distance learning teacher can be shared among several districts for one teacher to teach multiple sites.

As for testing? I have no idea. I would love some input, insight, direction on that one. If target testing (target assessment or whatever your district may call it) is showing to have no significant difference (NSD), then why bother?

Now, I do understand that the problem with 'no significant difference' centers upon the question(s) being asked and upon the population of respondents/study subjects. That is, NSD would be much more pronounced over a larger population surveyed than a targeted one. I know of many teachers who love the assessments because they use the data to help reach their students where the students lack skill and understanding. Other teachers might read this and have no idea what I'm talking about. Perhaps the issue is not that testing makes NSD, but rather what is *done with* the information the testing provides.

In general, though, if a program (ANY program) is shown to make no significant difference, then I question the costs, the time, the resources involved with implementing and keeping up such a program. Sometimes, NSD is not a good thing, but should instead serve as the point at which administrators, legislators, and taxpayers stop and say, "then why are we doing this?"