Hello World, Once Again....

If you can see this, then I've succesfully installed OpenSuSE on my tower. Still can't get blogilo to work, but Firefox still works, so I can blog from the website. Blogger still works from my phone and tablet, so it's not really a big deal. And let's not forget Windows Live Writer.... I'm not yet that advanced to go full Linux yet (and to be honest, I still have concers about my tv tuner, and my game controllers), but I have two 1 tB hard drives (plus a third as an external back-up), so I can still dual-boot with Windows XP (yes, I'm still running XP)....

Edit: my t.v. tuner now works. Reception is little spotty, but I think that's because I have use a splitter (because I have another tv card I use in Windows).

More Misadventures on the Internet....

About three years was the last time I tried running OpenSUSE on my tower. I eventually have up because I couldn't get my t.v. tuner to work with it. Since then, I've put a few upgrades in with my hardware. So I'm now giving it another try. I still have the same tuner card that gave me fits the last time, so I don't think I'll be watching tv in Linux anytime soon. But everything else works (even my printer and wifi card)...

So far, so good. And I still have a working Windows install so I can do with Windows what's it's best for: Flight Simulator X....

So the shutdown is over...

The government shutdown is over. The US won't default on it's debt. I'm not going to bother posting links, just go to your favorite news site, it should be all over the headlines...

Obamacare is still in force, despite all attempts to stop it (in fact, this shutdown was a result of trying to tie the defunding of it to a spending bill which would've kept the government running).

Basically, the losers of this shutdown were the same people who lost the last one: Republicans. The biggest threat the Republicans have come from the Tea Party. Abd the Democrats know it...

Pierce Transit is a fucked up clustermuck

This just happened a half hour ago. So I get to the Parkland Transit Center. I see a bus in the 410 bay about the time the 410 is about to leave, but it's sign is out. So I assume that it's a 410, like a reasonable person would, and the driver doesn't say anything otherwise about it being another route. The bus pulls out, and it turns turns out that it's the 204, which goes in the opposite direction. And, of course, the driver has nothing but excuses about the bus not being able to start and/or his sign not working. But that doesn't answer the question about why shit-for-brains parked in the wrong bay to begin with. Needless to say, I'm not going to get to where I'm going on time, and I'm not happy. But this is Pierce Transit we're talking about. They're more about maximizing revenue, while minimizing service...

I know that calling it in won't do any good, and supervisors will just ignore it; so I'll just remember this the next time I see a ballot measure for Pierce Transit.

And I give a special regard to Lynn Griffith, the CEO of Pierce Transit: you're an incompetent jackass.

What a difference a year can make...

A year ago, I posted that Tavaris Jackson should be cut, and I made some smartass comment about sacrificing Tim Tebow. Fast forward to today, abd Tim Tebow is cut, and Jackson is still a Seahawk...

Them 'hawks went 4-0 this year in preseason, and I think they'll make the playoffs again. After all, we did it last year. With a rookie quarterback.

The Sounders FC have also had their best August in club history. It's nice to have a professional sports team the great northwest that can post a winning record in the summer. Unlike a certain other team (The New World Order (Mind-Control Division) confess to mind...

On the Zimmerman verdict

So the verdict came in yesterday. Not Guilty. To be honest, I don't agree with it. He called 911, and was told to confront him, but he did. Abd an innocent life was taken. Yes, I think George Zimmerman is guilty. But I want on the jury. I didn't see all the evidence. And he got his due process of law. So ready the only course of action is to accept the verdict and move on.

The legal system is flawed, but in the long run, I would rather see the occasional guilty person go free rather than one innocent person go to prison.... The system is flawed, but it's still the best one available.

On the use of the n-word...

Much ado has been made in the headlines about Paula Deen getting shit-canned by the Food Network for using the n-word. Here are my two bits:

One upon a time, it may have been acceptable to use the n-word. Then again, it was also acceptable to publicly burn people alive just because somebody decided that they might be a witch...

But times and society have changed. We no longer have public Autos da Fe in the town square. And slavery is no longer practiced. The n-word is no longer an acceptable weird to use. Period. It might have been okay when you were growing up to use it, but not anymore. I think what has happened here is a failure to adapt. Now if she did happen to use it back on a time when it was politically ok to use it & and she hasn't used it since, then I can be ok with that (people can change). However, at age 66, she had spent most of her adult life in the civil rights era, and should've known better. As harsh as it may sound, I would've shit-canned Paula Deen as well.

Once upon a time in some parts of the country, you could be denied fundamental civil rights just on the color of your skin. And to this day, there are people who would still do so. I've seen out both ways. I've been called the n-word myself (and I'm a stereotypical white guy...), and I've seen people play the race card just because things weren't going there way, or they were caught red-handed. But I try to be colorblind in my speech. I try to avoid even mentioning one's race (to paraphrase Martin Luther King, it should be about the content of one's character, not one's skin color).

No one should use the n-word. Ever. It doesn't matter who you are, how you were brought up, or what color your skin is.

All Hail Our New Overlords!

Of late there has been a new UFO sighed in the western Washington sky of late. It has been very bright, enough to make me want to open the window and install the Wally World air conditioning (cheap window fan). It has been bright enough that I've had to pull out the 'shades on my walk to the bus stop. I've heard some conspiracy nuts say that this mysterious object is called the 'sun' but I know better. This so-called Sun is nothing more than an internet fueled rumor. In Washington state, we're more likely to be invaded by extraterrestrials than to have sunny weather.

And I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords....

Bought something online the other day...

When  I've purchased paid apps for my phone or tablet, in the pay I've always bought them through Spamazon, mainly because when I flashed a new ROM, they'd be available to reinstall without any fuss. Last Saturday, I noticed that the Swype keyboard was out of beta, and available at the Google Play store for only 99 cents. I had been using the public beta on both my phone and my tablet (yes it can pre-installed on my EVO 3D, but there were more features on the beta), abd I was sufficiently impressed with it to buy it. But it was only available on Google Play for now. So I figured what the hell, I put my credit card in (ordering it from my computer) abd it was pushed to both my devices.

And I'm impressed. Especially on the tablet (it will work on both the phone and the tablet). It is now my default keyboard. I highly recommend that you buy it....

So I’ve made some purchases the past few weeks…

It started with my tablet (read about it here). I was originally on the Wally World website to get socks and boxers, and I just had to get it (an a 32 gb memory card, the real reason why I updated my tablet being I was running out of the 8gb memory). So I told my co-workers I spent $300.00 on socks and boxers. Anyway I was at Spamazon, and I realized that my tower was a socket 775 motherboard (I learned this a couple of years ago right when I bought my first laptop, and I knew how to change the processor (if you can take the processor out to clean off excess thermal paste, then you can probably replace it). So I searched, and I found a used Intel Core 2 Quad-Core to replace my Pentium 4. And I upgraded the video card, too (still the budget end, but it’s a definite improvement over what I was running).

WIth the upgraded tower and my new tablet, I’m thinking about selling my laptop. It still runs well, but I feel it’s now redundant. I can’t take it to work, as it’s a 17.3” display, and I just don’t have enough space in my locker. I’ve had a couple of people express interest, but if this goes like all my other attempts to sell my electronics, I’m probably just going to end up giving it away.

Technorati Tags: Spamazon,Wally World

A new toy (or hello world)

I had a Kindle Fire. My brother gave it to me. It has served me faithfully, but from the point of view of a tablet, it sucks. It does kindle ebooks pretty well, and you can Netflix on it, too. But beyond that, you're going to have issues.  So I was was at the Wally World website last week too buy socks and underwear, said I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy Tab II 7.0. What can I say? It has Jellybean (the Kindle has Gingerbread), 2 cameras, GPS, and a slot for a memory card. And it has the Google Play store on it (I had to root the kindle to get that installed), as well as the Amazon appstore & kindle app (and I didn't need to root it to get them installed either).

Rooting it was very difficult, but I got it rooted somehow. I'm right now not interested in running a custom rom on this device (which is good, as I could never get a recovery installed). Unlike all the other android devices I used, the /data directory is sized dynamically, so I can use the full 4 gB to install my apps without having to use a 2nd partition on my memory card (which I do for my phone). The email client is the same as my phone (in fact I like the email on the tablet better than the phone because of the bigger screen size...). Netflix is a piece of cake (I was watching little bit of Star Trek last night).

App-wise, it runs more apps than the kindle fire. If I have any regrets about the galaxy, it's that the paid apps that I bought for my kindle aren't compatible with this. But then again, I've more apps available from both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, so there's a lot more versatility.

All in all, I heartily endorse this product. Please go out and buy this. And unlike the iPad mini, you can still keep your man card while using this...

Edit: good tech doesn't need to go waste. My kindle fire will find a new home with my father ...

One Ring to…

Give to Ray Lewis, and tell him not to let the door hit him on the way out. The Ravens won the Super Bowl, and I can think of no better way to go out than on top. A while back the Cardinals won the World Series, and right after that, Tony LaRussa hung up his mitre.

On a not so related story, I think the name ‘Redskin’ is racist. So I will no longer refer to the Washington Redskins as the Washington Redskins. From henceforth, they shall be referred to in this blog as the Washington Colin Mochrie. It’s far more politically correct to make fun of a bald Canadian improv player than it is to use a pejorative term towards Native Americans.

;

And you wonder why I picked him…

I never knew this....

Apparently, yesterday Jim Nabors married his partner. I never knew he was 'out' until now. Well, I think it's great that Gomer Pyle knows the difference between teal and fuchsia as well as Marine issue od green....

Of choose this is yet another example of how I have absolutely zero functioning gaydar. And to be honest, I really don't care either, aside from wishing Jim and his partner the best...

It’s been a week or so

Since we’ve had NHL Hockey back. Personally I’m of the opinion that if the NHL cancelled the entire season like it did in 04-05, it wouldn’t have recovered. The players would’ve found work elsewhere (there are professional leagues in Europe). And the fans would’ve moved on to other sports, like The New World Order (Mind-Control Division). In the end, the NHL would’ve only hurt itself. But cooler heads prevailed, and they got back to the rink.

In a semi related story, the Sonics might be coming back. Oklahoma City poached the Sonics, and it looks like we’re going to poach the Sacramento Kings. Finally, Seattle will once again have year-round professional sports. Though, to be honest I usually end up watching whatever is on Fox Soccer Channel. The one sport that I want to see more of is Cricket. My previous employer was from India, and apparently cricket is to India and NASCAR is to Charlotte….

Yes, i know it's been a while...

I'm at home right now. I could've blotted about so much the past three months, but I stayed silent. There was a reason. Here's the story:

Throughout the last year, I had on occasion noticed that the time sheets at were being edited. And sometimes it was mine that were being changed, usually to knock 15 minutes off. I didn't question it at the time, until the day after labor day when my coworker mentioned that the owner did that whenever we weren't doing our jobs. He never told me what I was doing wrong, or that I was even in error.

So the next day, I asked him about it and he confirmed it. Problem is that it's illegal to alter the time card if an employee has worked the entire shift. I pointed that out, and was promptly pink slipped, told that I would no longer be needed after the holidays. So I started job searching immediately. In November I just stopped posting here. Throughout this time, I held my peace, trying to amicably resolve my differences wig my boss. He still insisted that I was gone. So in December, I formally requested a copy of my time card from both stores that I worked at during the past year, and I indicated that Washington State Department of Labor and Industries would be hearing about this. That got my back pay in question returned, but I was still gone.

So fast forward to New Year's, and I'm now unemployed right when most retailers are dumping there holiday temps. I put a resume on monster, registered with snagajob, started trolling Craigslist. In Washington, when you register for unemployment, you have to be actively searching for a job (the minimum is 3 employer contacts a week). I was dropping about 8 to 10 a week. I saw an ad for an opportunity up near the other store, and so I went up there to inquire about it, and saw a former coworker. We discussed my job search for a bit, and then I left. Owner's wife saw me leave, and asked about what I was discussing with coworker. I got on he bus to go apply at this job (before deciding to pass, as I had also gotten a call for an interview closer to home). While on the bus, the owner called wanting to know what I had said. I told him basically that I no longer work for him, and he can go felate himself. The resulting text from him said I was now persona non grata at his stores. His company was 2 franchises. So I fired up Facebook, and I told them the truth. One of the companies hasn't responded back, so I'm going to folllow up with them. The other one took a week and half to respond, but the shit has hit the fan with the other. They said that it's between him and me (basically lawyer up), but they're doing there own investigation because apparently breaking the law is breaking the franchise agreement....

While all that was going on, I was applied at another retailer and scheduled an interview right away. The morning of that interview, I got another phone call from another application wanting to interview over the phone. So I had a job interview while not wearing pants. Went to the first interview, and got the standard rejection line, and he rejection email to my phone before i had even left the building. Next day, second company called, wanting me to come in for an in person interview (this time with pants on). From that interview, I was sent out for a drug test. That usually means you got the job....

As for the circumstances leading to my original dismissal, I'm reporting them. First to corporate, then to the Labor department. What happened there was illegal, and I was retaliated against for complaining about it....

So there's the story. Hopefully I have a job now. And for the purposes of this blog, all that I will say about where I work is that I'm employed. Nothing else....