Remember how I play in a band? Well that band has suffered quite a bit since the summer, schedules got really busy, and motivation was low for some, we all but called it quits. However we decided to play one last show for you. At least until we decide to play another or after we finish recording the EP. But in all likeliness, this will be our last show. So please come out and sing, and bring a friend. Tell us how much we have meant to you or how much you laughed at us when we played what we call songs! Just show your support.
It was an over all good experience, but I felt like I should write about it and mention the things I found curious about the way I had to cast my ballot here in Utah County.
I decided I would attempt to vote before I had to be to work at 8:30. So I got up and got ready and left for my polling location just before 8:00. It was raining today, which is always a nice thing for me. Maybe I should live in Seattle.
It took me a while to pull into the parking lot of the elementary school that I had to vote in. But I got a place and went on inside. I was slightly distressed when I saw the line. I was thinking I wouldn’t have time but I decided to see how it went anyway. My boss would forgive me for being late anyway. They had three lines broken down by alphabetical order. I made my way to the clerk who was checking ID’s and having us sign the voter book. They gave me a card which looked like a credit card with a SIM card embedded. It reminded me of the old mobile phones that had cards that large in them. I looked at the second line I would have to wait through, and it seemed to be moving right a long. I got in line and had to listen to everyone drop the ‘S’ word, a word that is used to scare people instead of deter. (Socialism) I knew who they were talking about, but it just kept quite. I only had to wait about 5 minutes before I was at a polling station.
I had to insert my card into a slot and then I was able to cast my ballot. The whole process up to this point was really easy, and I had only been there for what seemed to be 10 min. I began to have a since of assurity that even though I live in right wing Utah, they can still do something right. This quickly failed when I began to cast my ballot.
After agreeing to the screen settings the display showed the first ballot option, and to my dismay it was a party line voting ballot. If you want to vote for all republican or all democrat and so forth you can do so here. Voting done in less than 60 seconds. I bet they are so proud of this feature. To me it caused problems though. On the screen there was no indication that I didn’t have to cast my ballot like this. Nothing prompted me except a little square that if I pressed would cast my vote for one party. Being fairly technology capable I performed a test and pressed ‘Next ‘instead of entering in a party line decision. I was relived to see that it actually let me skip to the next ballot decision, but I was left thinking about the people I talk to every day on the phone that have to be told ‘you don’t have to click it’. There seems to be a mentality in some people that you can’t go on unless you choose an option when working with computers or technology. But it gets better. As I finished selecting my candidates and voting on the Utah State Amendments, the voting terminal presented me with a list of my results. I took a quick snap of it with my phone.
I wish I had a better picture of it, but the first gen iPhone has a camera that blows and always has. Not to mention the person taking the picture must have been a child. All that aside there was a big red box for the Straight Party Voting box. Now again speaking to people on the phone about computer problems most of them tend to thing that red is bad. I pressed the red box and was brought back to the screen where I can vote. I again ignored it and was brought back to the ballot screen. My issue with this is that there needs to be detailed instructions on this page, informing people you don’t have to use this screen and can click next. I think a lot of people voting today are going to be confused by this. Although my hopes aren’t high that the people of Utah wouldn’t want this option in the first place. As you most likely noticed, I did vote for Barack Obama, and his puppet Joe Biden (puppet is an term of endearment that I think all Vice Presidents can be called), and I did vote mostly democrat for the first time in my life. I also voted for Governor Huntsman who is a Republican, and I voted to keep the Utah Judges in place.
I wish people really took to look at the issues instead of following a party. Is it right to trade a good econemy to make abortion illegal? I know that sounds ratical, but to me that is what both parties do. They stand for or against core principals that get the american people all pissed off in order to secure a vote, but nobody looks further than that. That is why Utah is a republican state, because they would rather have a polititian in office that would speak out against abortion or gay marriage, but ignore the reckless behavior of Senator Hatch and the now deposed Chris Cannon. Yes they take a moral stand, but not when it comes to how we treat each other.
I also noticed that there were two candidates on the ballot for Utah State representatives that had no opponent. So I gave them one.
If things go horribly I just might be in the Utah State Senate or on the Utah County Commission. My co-worker said he was writing me in too. We’ll see how it goes.
After submitting my ballots I took the voting SIM hybrid card thing and handed it to a poll worker. I was very impressed with how quickly I was able to vote, and the people that worked the polling position did a great job. So I told her that. I got my awesome ‘I Voted’ sticker and was on my way. In all, the whole thing took 20 min and I was able to get to work on time. Well I would have been on time if I hadn’t stopped for a Sonic breakfast!
Party line voting and potentially confusing user interface are the only complaints I have, however I wish that party line voting was not allowed to be on ballots. Convenience should never take priority in these kinds of things.
The moral of this story is, think for yourself and quiestion authority. It’s the only way survive.
Don’t get me wrong, the authors at freecapitalist.com make some good analogies, but they fail to acknowledge that many industries in this nation are what some may call socialistic and they thrive. Two of them are easy to identify and they are the schools and the US Post Office.
Both industries have a lot of funding, and yes they say they could use more, and they would have it except nobody wants to contribute through taxation. The post office has the opportunity to raise postage fees, but the schools cannot. Free education has been a government protected idea since the beginning of this country, and for the longest time America was spewing geniuses out of it’s educational system, but in the recent decades that has declined. Some say because of funding, and critics are quick to point out that social education is failing and will never work. I think it has to do with poor parenting and lack of ethics and motivational thinking being taught in the home. I realize that not everybody has a stay at home parent, and not everybody has both or even any of their parents, but that doesn’t change the fact that if we have better parenting to children in a general since, this country will have a brighter future. Don’t worry about what other they believe, take the time to teach your family and children what you believe.
…all of us must do our part as parents to turn off the television and read to our children and take responsibility for providing the love and guidance they need. Yes, we can argue and debate our positions passionately, but at this defining moment, all of us must summon the strength and grace to bridge our differences and unite in common effort… (Senator Barack Obama 10/29/08 Raleigh, NC)
Yeah I know, most call Barack Obama a socialist, but to me, he’s just making sense. We have an obligation to promote a better life for everyone here in America, and I would love you to give me reasons why absolute Capitalism would work, and even better show me how it is working.
Wealth isn’t the solution to our problems, it is the drive for wealth that has created the current economic problems in this country. “Why are we rewarding a failing business model, by bailing out the banks?” Because in order to preserve a capitalist economy they had to. In order to preserve the ability for the wealthy to get even more wealthy, they had to. In order for us to continue to pillage the lesser classes who are unaware, they had to. The bailout is not a socialist move. It’s an attempt to protect capitalism. So stop complaining that we’re becoming socialist, because we are not. There are a lot of government funded programs in this nation that are not called socialized insert-government-program-of-choice. They aren’t brainwashing our children into thinking of the motherland. They are trying to help our citizens who really need it without doing it for them. This country needs a dose of reality, that you need to work for the things in life that you want.
My life has been on an astonishing ride for the past few days. I had to suffer, but now all the pain is gone and the shaking has ceased. On Sunday God decided to reward me for going to church all three meetings, by setting my MacBook Pro on fire. Now that I have your attention I have to confess that the computer itself didn’t spontaneously combust, but the MagSafe power adapter did. Here is the story.
My Lappy Mac usually accompanies me to work, and does a good job of making me look busier than I am. If I ever want to seem like I’m working really hard, I turn to my notebook and begin furiously typing, then I can go back to reading Wikipedia or Gizmodo when the person I’m trying to impress leaves.
Well Friday I got home from work and set my notebook bag down next to the couch and forgot about it until Saturday morning. That is when I connected it to my stereo system and TV and proceeded to use Plex to listen to music. But simply plugging in my lappy to the power adapter and audio cables was harder than usual this time. The Audio and Video connections worked, but I was for some reason working on just battery life. The awesome Orange and rarely Green LED on the MagSafe power connector was dormant. I checked the wall outlet to make sure it was connected to power and it was. I think unplugged the adapter from my Lappy and examined the connector. It looked fine, so I flipped it over and plugged in reversed than I had it before, and the LED came on. I didn’t think anything of it. I listened to music all day, and even left it there when my wife and I ran some errands around 1 or 2. Sunday morning came, and I left it alone, I figured I could live without reading about gadgets and checking ebay for a cheap Mac Mini. After Church at 2 I picked up my Lappy and used it without the power connected for a few hours before closing the lid and letting it get some sleep. After watching a TiVo’d house marathon with the wife I decided to rip a Coheed and Cambria DVD for my iPhone. I connected it to the power and began using Handbrake to encode the movie. Everything seemed to be going fine until I noticed that the power was running on battery again. I reached to unplug the adapter again and burned myself on the housing with the LED. I noticed that my MacBook was hotter than usual. I could smell burning, which freaked me out. I was thinking, ‘NO BLUE SMOKE NO BLUE SMOKE’ over and over again in my head. I looked closer at the MagSafe connector and noticed flashes of white light coming from under it. I was sure that alien life would be bored by this sort of technology so I finally unplugged the adapter. This is what I found.
A smoldering hole at the base of the connector…
I quickly unplugged the other end from the wall then stopped the Handbrake encode, ejected the disk and shut it down with 30 min of battery life to spare. Awesome. It was 10:30 on a Sunday evening, and at best I could buy a new one from Simply Mac, in the morning for an astronomical amount, or I can call Apple and have a new part here by next week. I did feel some comfort in knowing that I still have 2 years left in my Apple Care agreement.
So Monday morning came and I went about my usual routine, then after a while I contacted Apple to begin negotiations. I reached a person who was extremely understanding, but said I need to reach another department (which I expected), and he transferred me. The next person was even more personable to talk to, he asked me if any of my property was damaged, to which I answered no. Then he asked me if I experienced any personal injury from the malfunction.
I replied, “only if you’re counting pain and suffering from not being able to use my Mac!” He laughed pretty hard, which made me wonder if all Mac users had the same connection to their products like I do. He told me to my surprise I can expect a replacement part on Wednesday or Thursday free of charge.
I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to pay for it. I was fortunate to have witnessed the burning and it didn’t occur while I was sleeping or away.
Well Tuesday morning I show up to work and a package from DHL is waiting for me with my replacement part. Less than 24 hours after calling them I got my part, and sent the bad one back. This pleases me because I have missed using my notebook for a day and a half and it was a day early at best. I plugged it in, turned it on, and couldn’t think of anything to do with it. This is why I will always be an Apple customer.
Alright people. Let’s stir this up. I have been doing a lot of reading on the history of my church (Mormon), and I came across a blog called Mormons Talk. The author totally had my attention when he began to explain how he feels about himself bing a Mormon. I think people often think I’m a radical or in danger of leaving the Mormon church. Well first off that is my business and nobody elses, don’t send me Ensign talks or Journal of Discourses material that proves I’m going to pay for my thoughts. The point is I struggle accepting things I’m just supposed to accept. I do have a belief in a lot of things, some things that aren’t very Mormon to believe are things I can’t deny. But some things that are very Mormon I also can’t deny. I have often called myself a liberal Mormon. Not liberal in the political since, but liberal as in I think for myself and make decisions after personal soul searching and prayer. The author of Mormons Talk, Jay, published a list of things that he believes and does not believe, and things he is unsure about. This was a perfect opportunity to do the same for myself. I am going to publish this list in this article, but I do so with a lot of hesatence. People like me in the Mormon faith have nobody to turn to and saying how you feel usually always earns you some sort of shunning from everyone you know. Including your family and friends, bishop, preiesthood leaders, and anyone else you can think of that won’t be okay with you thinking outside the narrow box. Please don’t call my wife and tell her she’s married to someone who will lead her away, this is already a point of friction in our marriage and we don’t need you sticking your nose in our business. I do think however that the reason these adverse effects occur is due to misunderstanding what I mean. I feel like I’m always misunderstood when I’m trying to explain things to people about this.
I have a dear friend who work with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and meets with one of them every week. In one of the meetings this Apostle, who’s name I am keeping to myself, he said, “the [Mormon] gospel is unique to each member.” Generally saying that it will be a different or personal religion to everyone.
That information affected me in a very personal way. I can’t hide how I feel and I can’t keep my testimony burried anymore. I will share it with those willing to listen, and if you think I’m wrong, that’s your opinnion.
What I believe:
God, Christ and the Holy Spirit are three distinct beings.
Priesthood is necessary to perform ordinances like baptism.
The Priesthood is not necessary to heal the sick, anyone with enough faith can be healed. (you’re taught that in seminary)
The Bible is not perfect but is the inspired writings of prophets and disciples of Christ.
The LDS Church is not perfect and in a few areas has been and may continue to be mislead by the prejudices of it’s leaders, bot on the whole continues to move in a positive direction.
The Holy Ghost can lead us to truth through prayer and studey.
While God prompts us, he wants us to make our own decisions. (Agency)
The Christ of the New Testament is my Savior from sin and death.
The Word of Wisdom is great advice, but drinking beer, coffee or smoking is a personal choice and God isn’t really that preoccupied with it, if done responsibly. However I do respect that to enter the Temple you are asked to adhere by it, so I do to be honest.
Abortion, if not murder, is close to it. However is justified in very rare circumstances after careful thought and prayer.
The Book of Mormon, Peral of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants (Mormon Scriptures) contain many inspired words that can help people better themselves spiritually and temporally.
The LDS Church is lead by men that sincerely seek guidance from God.
As LDS Church members we should be knowledgeable and truthful about all parts of our history.
God used evolution to create us.
What I don’t believe:
Native Americans are Lamanites.
The LDS Priesthood ban on blacks was instituted by God.
Blacks are or were ever an inferior race, or more unworthy than other LDS members.
The Bible is perfect and should be read literally.
The Ensign and talks of genaral authorities, even the prophet, are scripture. (They are good council)
Drinking Coke is a sin.
Tattoos and having more than one set of peircings will keep you out of heaven.
Polygamy is required to enter the Celestial Kingdom (Heaven).
Christ’s atonement isn’t enough for some sins.
Suicide means they won’t attain exaltation.
The earth is 6,000 years old.
The spirit can only be felt in Mormon sunday meetings, and other denominations can’t have the spirit of God.
Mormons have more access to the sprit than other faiths.
That only Mormons can attain the highest exaltation.
What I’m unsure of:
Joseph Smith Literally translated the Pearl of Great Price
The Pearl of Great Price contains the actual writings of Moses and Abraham.
The Book of Mormon is an actual account of the Native Americans.
Brighan Young ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
The manner in which Joseph Smith and subsequent leaders practiced polygamy was appropriate.
LDS prophets have actual face to face communication with Christ.
Adam and Eve had to sin for us to be here.
Why are these statements so taboo? And why are a lot of people threatened by them? I think if God sent us here, he wanted us to figure things out on our own throught the tools he gave us. I also think that God is the truest form of love and compassion, and being a member of another church that is trying to find the answers doens’t prevent you from receiving all of his promises. If you think I am contridicting myself with this list, please point it out and I will expalin it to you. I have read through it carefully and made sure it is my truth and what I personally believe and pray for. I should also point out that some of the things I listed aren’t nessisairly the beliefs of Mormons. I am happy being a member of the LDS Church, and I don’t want to be discredited because I look at what I believe is a broader picture. A picture where I’m not a Mormon but a member of the human race that God created. Where he setup a perfect plan for everyone to succeed not just a few million of us.
Kris Harrison here. Thank you for a 2 min backup of my iPhone as opposed to 2 hours. I was tired of syncing my phone before I went to bed in order to get a backup. Now if only you would give me flash, copy/paste and an OS that works on most chipsets to boot, I would be willing to perform any amount of favors.
Sincerely
Kris Harrison I’m a pretty big deal!
The new firmware was released today along with iTunes 8 earlier this week. I have to say I am happy that I can finally use the backup feature. I used to have to cancel it, or disable the backup attempt all together. Before I updated I did a backup and it took 40 minutes. I realize that’s nothign compared to what a lot of people are experiencing, but after the update the backup only took 2 minutes. Huge difference and I’m no longer reluctant to sync. We’ll see if installing apps or copying music is any faster in the next few days, but my initial experience is poitive. If it’s still too slow and would like to disable the backup this is how you do it. Oh and you have to have a mac:
1. Quit iTunes.
2. Open Terminal.app
3. Copy and paste this in, then hit return:
If you would like to enable backup again follow the same steps but change true to be false
I’m still running on the original iPhone, I hope the other fixes listed in the software update will help out as well. I’m constantly without service in my home. And the word from AT&T about that is, “that sucks.”
Today is always an interesting day for me, I often think about how America has changed since September 11th, 2001 (I refuse to call it 9-11). In thinking about the changes I was reminded of my flying experiences in the past few years.
Before you read the comment let me give you some background on my initial article. In April I had purchased a airfare to travel to Sacrament, CA on Delta Airlines. I was heading out on a Thursday night so I could be there in time for my cousin’s wedding on Saturday. Unfortunately my drivers license was expired and could not be renewed because it was suspended due to a disagreement the state of Wyoming and I were having over a speeding ticket. Delta refused to take my bag and forced me to go home and get my birth certificate and return the next day to fly. I did so, but I also did my research and found out that it was in fact just an airline policy and not a law to have ID to fly. So I wrote a letter to Delta asking why this is a policy when the TSA would have let me through to the gate anyway. If I hadn’t had to check a bag I would have only shown an expired license to the TSA rep and I would have been submitted to additional screening and allowed to fly. Well Delta didn’t answer my question by telling me why this was their policy. But I got over it vowing not to ever fly with Delta again.
Fast forward to August 25th when someone who must have randomly stumbled across my blog just had to tell me how wrong I am.
# dylynn ponzio Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 4:19 pm edit
get over yourself!!! I am a retired Dl employee and everything that is done is to protect you. If your passport { which you don’t have] was expired do you think you could get in or out of this country. You can’t even go the Canada or the Bahamas without one. You are given the requirements when making the reservation and on the ticket it states you need a VALID form of ID. An expired license is not VALID. If someone let it go it was a favor to you but the gov’t sets the rules, not the airline. As far as the other person regarding the shoes, perhaps they forgot the passenger in France that had a bomb in his shoe that he was about to light when passengers took charge and overpowered him. We lve in a lousy and dangerous world and if Delta is following the rules then you should have enough brains to do the same. These “annoyances” are for your safety and the rest of the passengers and crew. I have an employee ID and still have to go through all the same things everyone else does and so does our flight crew. If that minor inconvenience is such a big deal to you then drive from now on and don’t fly. We have all had to deal with the same thing and it is a part of life. Instead of bitching about it do something constructive because if there is another terrorist attack, and it will likely happen again, it could just be the person with the expired license who was responsible. I am proud to have worked 25 years for Delta and respect our policies and that of the govt. Delta has always made safety it’s number one priority and if you can’t understand that then drive or take greyhound or amtrack.
Here is my response:
Dear Dylynn,
Thank you for your comment, I always welcome a friendly discussion, but I don’t know where you think I should get over myself. You stated that an expired ID is invalid, and you are correct. I should have stated that it is my wish that the ID is always good except for the purpose it was created for. I agree we should have to renew a privilege to drive and to pass across borders in the case of a passport. However when it is absolutely clear that my government issued ID that is not a forgery says my name and has my face on it I have sufficiently proven my identification, even if it’s expired by 3 months. I would also like to point out a few things that I disagree with you upon.
Since writing this article I have found that I should have said it was lost, and I have no other form of ID. You see until June 23rd 2008 (I flew in April 2008) the TSA allowed all passengers with a boarding pass through into the sterile area. If you declined or failed to show ID you were submitted to additional screening. However on the previously mentioned date, the TSA issued this press release on their blog.
The press release basically says that you can no longer decline to show ID if you wish to fly.
My response continued…
The legality of this press release can be debated upon, but I won’t get into that right now. Even after the announcement it is still possible to get into the sterile area if you are cooperative and have no form of ID. In a direct quote from the press release: “Cooperative passengers without ID may be subjected to additional screening protocols, including enhanced physical screening, enhanced carry-on and/or checked baggage screening, interviews with behavior detection or law enforcement officers and other measures.” It is even stated that, “This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers,” meaning that if I am willing to assist the TSA officers in establishing my identity I will be able to enter the sterile area upon completing this form of screening. You can read about that screening process here. I ask again, why does Delta require an ID when isn’t required by the FAA, TSA, and DHS? This is why I will not fly Delta ever again, and will do my best to let everyone know why.
I have no problem with screening, I am happy to remove my shoes, even my belt and do this funny dance that the TSA has required us to do. I do disagree with you on the fact that if a terrorist attack ever occurs again they may have an expired license. If I were intending to get into a sterile area to cause some people harm, I wouldn’t want a silly thing like an expired license to hold me up. They are a smart people you know.
Perhaps I should also explain that my comment about things changing after the attacks that occurred 7 years ago today. I wish things didn’t have to change, and it’s frustrating that it even happened in the first place. But you are right, we live in a messed up world with messed up people. I don’t believe we could ever be safe from someone intending harm. We’re gonna have to find a way to coexist.
I will be publishing your comment and my response on my blog at http://thesilent5.net/?p=306 (I changed my blog location), I encourage you to continue our discussion and let me know what you think of my comments today.
Sincerely,
Kristofer Harrison
P.S. The way you spell your name is incredible! I just may use it when I have children!
I mean no disrespect to anyone who is reading this blog, so please put your two cents in if you can prove to me I’m wrong. Maybe if you understand my mantra you may understand me, taking away anyone’s freedom for any reason is and will always be wrong. There is no greater good, there is no such thing as safety.
The First Editoin of The World Would Be Better Off Without… is brought to you by, Kanye West.
I’m not someone that has a low tolerance to stupidity and igorance, but I can no longer ignore the stab of pain in my tolerance gland when I hear his name.
Here is some the evidence I have collected against this waste of carbon.
Said he should win because his video ‘cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons.’ Dear Kanye, like the rest of your career it’s already been done before. Try something innovative next time.
Got into a brawl at the airport with a photographer.
How does he sell records? He’s always doing things to prove that he is closer to a Neanderthal than a human. He is the kind of person that makes life miserable for so many other people.
I can’t wait until I can read this in the news, It’s been six weeks since Kanye West was killed by a pack of wild boars, and the world is still glad to be rid of him.
Like some of you that read this, I use a computer at work all day. I have noticed that there are a few things that I take for granted when using a computer, and these things really make using a computer all the time easier for me. I had also found that if I don’t have these things available to me I have a little micro-seizure before I can calm down and realize that I used to work just fine without these items. They really aren’t much, but I have come to depend on them, and without them everything seems so much slower in the computer world. Here is a small list of these nuisances.
1. Inability to scroll down web pages on a notebook.
I regularly use notebooks at work, I usually remove viruses from one about once a day. Not only are the customers in my profession usually impatient, they are also liars. “I don’t look at porn!” says the customer. Yeah sure. Anyway while I’m removing porn virus #248 from customer X’s computer I usually have to do a few things online. I open up the browser, usually to my dismay it’s Internet Explorer, and try to navigate a web page on a resolution that my blind grandmother could see. I ruined browsing the internet on notebooks for myself the first time I touched a Mac with two finger scrolling on the track pad. Without fail every time I touch a notebook I instinctively place two fingers on the track pad and realize that, sigh, it’s not a mac. I never owned a notebook before I bought my MacBook Pro, and I’m glad because I think I would have gone crazy not being able to scroll down easily. Now I know what you’re saying, “You can! There is a side bar on the track pad on most notebooks.” You’re right, there is, and it sucks. I have never had it work for me without fail, plus you have to have special software installed to use it, which takes up more resources on an already crappy OS.
2. No Scroll wheel on a mouse.
You can pretty much read the above paragraph and maybe you’ll get why this bugs me. I have become accustomed to using the scroll wheel to navigate the internet and other applications. Have you tried to read a long wikipedia article using only an arrow key or the nifty scroll bar in the browser? It can be done, but not in an Computer Eliteist fashion. I need the speed and ease of it. I don’t want to have to remove my had from the mouse to use the arrow and I don’t want to have to drag the cursor all the way across 1440 Pixels just to click some slow and ultimately useless scroll arrow. Yes you can drag the bar, but you still have to drag the mouse all that way! How nice is it to press the scroll wheel then you can gesture whichever direction you want to go?! When I touch a mouse without one I feel so limited in my ability to get around a computer, and I die a little each time.
3. Internet Explorer is the default browser, if not the only browser.
I don’t want to sound like a Microsoft hater. I think if they had actual competition they would be forced to be accountable for their software, and not write code so carelessly, and they might just be good at it. Internet Explorer is the most used browser in the world, and it’s also the reason so many web pages aren’t displayed correctly. IE is usually behind when it comes to it’s ability to display the most recent coding languages. Microsoft like Sony has a hard-on for setting standards and being innovative, the problem is they haven’t been in years. Internet Explorer is constantly playing catch-up with the other browsers. Every feature in IE has been implemented previously in another browser. In Internet Explorer 7 they made it even more difficult for normal navigation. Why would you separate the browser navigation buttons? Does it look cool to you? It may look pretty but is blows. The Stop button is on the right hand side of the browser, and the Back / Forward buttons are on the left. Again 1440 Pixels to cross! I hate IE most when I go to a web page using another browser only to have them tell me that I have to use IE to use their web page. Bull, you just got lazy and sold yourself to the devil by perpetuating the problem.
4. My keyboard shortcuts don’t work.
I use all sorts of cool with my keyboard. Depending on the OS I’m on depends on weather or not I can use some of them. Her is a list of my favorites and what they do.
Ctrl+Enter or ⌘+Enter - What it does is puts the www. and the .com at the beginning and end of whatever word you typed in the address bar, then it initializes the navigation. Ex. if you want to go to http://www.google.com all you have to type is google Ctrl+Enter. On Apple use Command(⌘)+Enter. Try it! This works in pretty much every browser.
Shift+Enter - This shortcut does the same as Ctrl+Enter, except it places a .net at the end of the word. This key stroke works in Firefox on all platforms, but not Internet Explorer, Safari, or Google Chrome. I can’t stand using a browser that does not implement this shortcut. Firefox is my browser of choice and this simple keystroke has been what kept me with using it, even with it’s flaws.
Ctrl+T or ⌘+T - This will open a new tab in any browser. Tabbed browsing is the only way to go for me. I can’t stand a messy desktop with more than one window for the internet open. When Firefox fixed tabbed browsing in Firefox 2.0 it was a good day for the internet, until then only Opera really did it well. Since then Internet Explorer has attempted, poorly, to use tabs and Safari does a great job with it.
Ctrl+Tab - This will allow you to switch between tabs in a browser. Works with IE, Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera. Surprisingly Safari is the browser out in the cold for this feature.
Ctrl+L or ⌘+L - This places your text cursor and highlights the text in the address bar on most browsers. Every browser I have tested this on work with one exception. Internet Explorer. What it does in IE is bring up the Open window, for what I’m not sure. But it’s gay and this also keeps me from using IE. You can do this by pressing F6, but that means potentially straining your index finger, and who really wants to do that for Microsoft?
Alt+Tab or ⌘+Tab - This pulls up a menu that will show you each open application, and while still holding Alt you can press Tab to select the application you want to bring to the front. It’s really easy to do this rather than grab your mouse then find the application in the Tool Bar or hidden behind other applications. Something way cool that Microsoft actually did on Windows Vista was to setup the Windows+Tab shortcut. This gives you a cascading view of each program with an active image of what is going on in the application.
Alt+Tab in Windows Vista
⌘+Tab in OS X
Windows+Tab in Windows Vista
Windows+D - Windows Only - This will minimize all of your programs revealing your desktop.
What I can’t stand is when a browser or OS doesn’t use a universal keystroke. IE / Microsoft tends to be the the one causing all the problems when it comes to my complaints. However there are a few out there that have their own drawbacks.
5. No Exposé except on Mac OS X
I realize that this is a Mac thing only, but it’s sometimes hard to not get results when I slam the cursor of my mouse to the corner of the screen. Exposé is an awesome tool built into OS X that allows you to specify actions when your mouse is placed in a corner of your screen. You can tell it to show your desktop, or show you a tiled view of all of your running applications.
6. Users who have Personal Firewalls as sold by Norton or McAfee
Whoever the bright moron was that invented these, you deserve to have your grave defecated upon. I understand that the basic consumer is not very informed about these things, but do you really think all of them have to have this? Anybody using a DSL modem or a router ALREADY HAS A FIREWALL! The only people that are out of luck are Comcast users that don’t have a brain to use a router. I hope that group is a minority. These personal firewalls do nothing except prevent your legitimate applications from working properly and annoy you with a damned pop-up telling you that when you opened your browser that it tried to connect to the internet. DUH! The few small things that they do prevent do not outweigh how difficult they are to work and the fact that they leave your system usable. To make it worse, now in days any Anti-Virus software that comes pre-installed on your system or you that buy from a web page, already has Internet Securty and a Firewall bundled in. You can’t choose to not use it if you want Anti-Virus software on your computer. You can disable the Firewall on it, but it’s gonna keep telling you that you’re a moron, don’t know what you’re doing and that you have to have a firewall, even though you may already be behind two! Man that is a sore subject. I do know that AV is a good tool in most cases, but Norton/Symantec or McAfee are horrible at it. They can only prevent viruses after you are already infected. It’s like contracting an STD from someone then trying to get rid of it later. Just don’t sleep with them! If you insist on needing AV use software that isn’t bloated and is preventing that doesn’t have Internet Security built in, like Kaspersky.
There you go, if I think of anything more I’ll be sure to rant about it, in the meantime. Try maximizing the time you have with your computer by trying some of these things.
On my way to work this morning, (yes I am a member of a small minority of corporation employees in Utah that have to work today) I noticed something odd. I drive about 3 miles to work every day, but I do a fair amount of that driving through the city or Orem, UT. You see in Utah there is a State holiday on July 24th every year called Pioneer Day. Every year there is a massive parade in Salt Lake City, and usually fire works displays in various cities all over Utah. Why you might be asking? July 24th happens to be the day in 1847 that Brigham Young lead the Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley. Good enough cause to celebrate as any. After all, they are responsible for setting up the government and municipalities in the greater Utah area. Almost every city in Utah can place it’s history at the feet of Brigham Young. The thing I find odd about this celebration is the proud flying of the American flag. As I drove to work today, I noticed that every home on my course through Orem had an American flag proudly flying on their front lawn. Then I noticed that all the street lights on Center Street had flags posted on them as well. I found this ironic. After all didn’t the Mormons of 1847 attempt to leave the United States far behind them? Wasn’t the goal to leave the borders of the nation that had issued an extermination order against them, and had murdered their leaders in Illinois? The tradition of Pioneer Day has been celebrated yearly since the arrival on the Mormons in the Utah area. Only it wasn’t called Pioneer Day then, it was called the Day of Deliverance. Deliverance from what?
After the Mormons arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young and the Mormons set up shop and established the State of Deseret. 3 Years after arriving in the area, they began to Petition the United States for statehood. You see the early Mormons claimed a deep respect for the Constitution, and the rights it protected, including Freedom of Religion, yet somehow the refused to allow non-Mormon leaders to govern, or to respect the laws of the Utah Territory and the United States. There was a constant struggle between the United States and the Utah Territory for more than 40 years. Utah was finally admitted as a State in 1896, almost 50 years after the Mormons arrived. I find it peculiar that the State, still largely governed by Mormons, celebrates the day that the Mormons arrive and not the day Utah became a State. I find it even more peculiar that the day is celebrated by flying American flags, the flag that represents the same country that murdered and stole from the early pioneers. The same country that placed 1/3 of it’s military outside of Salt Lake City and pointed it’s guns at the early settlers of Utah. I hear people all the time say ‘I love this country,’ on Pioneer Day. Things like, ‘I’m so grateful we live in a country where we can practice our religion’. What does this day have anything to do with that? This day was created to celebrate the Mormon’s arrival in the Salt Lake Vally, and independence from the US and it’s religions oppression! I’m not an advocate for the celebrations of July 24th to be an event of insubordination, but don’t pull unrelated themes into it. I think retards sporting a Confederate flag on a pick-up truck are just as ignorant. You are free to fly your nation’s flag whenever you like, I have no problems with that, but do you see the irony of this? If this were a science fiction movie, the flying of the American flag to celebrate Pioneer Day, a.k.a. the Day of Deliverance, would create a tear in the Space/Time Continuum that not even Marty McFly and side kick Brigham Young could escape from.
Like some of you that read this, I use a computer at work all day. I have noticed that there are a few things that I take for granted when using a computer, and these things really make using a computer all the time easier for me. I had also found that if I don’t have these things available to me I have a little micro-seizure before I can calm down and realize that I used to work just fine without these items. They really aren’t much, but I have come to depend on them, and without them everything seems so much slower in the computer world. Here is a small list of these nuisances.
