Sunday, July 12, 2009

Breaking My Addiction to Google

I have made the decision to break my addiction to Google. Despite the fact that I like most of their products, they are gaining access to more information about me than makes me comfortable. They are basically tracking my every move on the Internet, have my main email account (gmail), hold some of my personal documents, maintain my online calendar, house my online videos (YouTube), and even have this blog which contains an advertisement from Google Affiliates which requires that I provide some very private information in order to receive payments. In my opinion, I have given them too much access to my personal life and information, and, thus, have decided to stop using several of their services. Blogger (blogspot.com) is one of those services. I am not certain that this will effect anyone except myself as I do not know of any regular followers of my blog. However, in the possibility that there are people following this blog, I will notify you through an upcoming post as to where my blog will be located in the future.
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

ABC's MOVE Networks Player - The WORST

Like you, over the years I have had the opportunity to see technology advance, making more things possible online and offline. One of those advancements has been the increasing quality and availability of online video, including tv shows from the major networks. Unfortunately, despite these advances, certain companies have ignored the complaints and difficulties that consumers are having with the software or delivery systems that they are using. One of these companies is ABC, of the huge Disney conglomerate. ABC uses software and delivery by a company called MOVE Networks to present their shows online. In my experience, the MOVE Player has to be one of the worst online video products and/or services ever used by a major company. When viewing shows from ABC online, we constantly experience skips and other video quality issues. I know that these problems are not caused by our Internet connection which is provided through our local telephone company, Embarq. We have a DSL connection that regularly tests at above 9 Mbps. Our family also uses the ROKU Player for viewing movies from Netflix, and I can tell you that we have no problems with skipping, hesitation, or video quality with Netflix. Nor do we have any problems when playing games online or viewing videos from other sites like CNN, YouTube, Atom, Sundance Channel. ABC needs to get serious about their online video services if they expect to keep viewers. There are simply too many other options for quality entertainment online than to suffer with mediocre services like those provided by ABC.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Senator Ensign Proves Again - GOP Party of Hypocrites

It's the same thing all over again. How long will it take the GOP to learn that you can only say one thing and do another for a short time before people stop listening to you and believing anything you say? Today Sen. John Ensign admitted a nine month extramarital affair with a member of his campaign staff. This is the same man who called former President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky "an embarrassing moment for the country." No Mr. Ensign, you and the Republican Party are the real embarrassment.

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What "Change" Has Occurred Mr. President?

I'm not seeing - this great "change" that was supposed to happen once President Obama took office. We are still in Iraq with no signs of pulling out. Gays still have to remain silent about who they are to remain in our military and cannot obtain the same rights under the law through marriage. North Korea and Iran still flaunt their missile and nuclear technology without consequence. And now, just like the Bush Administration, President Obama wants to withhold the names of people who have visited the White House (the people's house) since he was sworn in.

Who is this man? He certainly is not the same one who campaigned on issues of transparency, equality, and ending the war in Iraq. Has he been ordered to "play ball" by some higher powers? Has his life or the lives of his family members been threatened by people within
the upper echelons of society? Has he been paid off? I don't know, but I know that he is not the same Barack Obama of a year ago. And I know that I do not like this Barack Obama. It appears that the ultimate "bait and switch" has been pulled on the American public.


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Sunday, June 14, 2009

My Thoughts and Prayers Are With The Iranian People

I pray that the people of Iran will not back down in the face of violence and threats - that they will remain strong in their struggle for truth and the new government for which they voted. May they also remain compassionate when the tables are turned against those who persecute them as can be seen at the end of this video:



Protests in Tehran after election - Riot police caught by crowd

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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Bill Maher Is 100% Correct

In the video posted below, Bill Maher makes the point that "the audacity of hope part is over. Right now, I'm hoping for a little more audacity." President Obama is wasting an opportunity to pass real healthcare reform, end the war in Iraq, protect the environment, stop using oil from the Middle East, and stop bailing out banks and businesses who have no interest nor intention to become fiscally responsible. President Obama is acting less like a president with both houses of Congress on his side, and more like he is bought and paid for by the Republican Party. He needs to get aggressive on these issues or he will find a large number of his supporters looking for a truly progressive candidate to replace him in the next election. Please, Mr. President, get real on energy, the environment, the War in Iraq, the bailouts, and healthcare. There is no better time.
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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Awww... Poor Repubs Upset AGAIN!

  • President Obama speaks
  • Republicans get upset
This time it's healthcare. What's the problem this time? President Obama suggested that the federal government create a healthcare program to compete with the insurance companies - the same companies who will not insure you if you have a pre-existing condition or have a lapse in your health insurance coverage. Republicans don't want the government to compete with the "for profit companies" and provide better coverage than what those companies provide. They don't want Americans to have the kind of coverage that they receive as members of Congress. HYPOCRITES!!! That's all Republicans are anymore. HYPOCRITES! I am sick of their whining about the "destruction of capitalism" while they continue to give subsidies to huge corporations and accept their own perks and benefits from the government while cutting trying to keep everybody else else from receiving the benefit of quality healthcare. These Republicans and their families should be put on basic Aetna policies for a couple of years and see what tune they are whistling then. We have over $20,000 of debt because of Aetna's so-called "coverage."

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Network Magic – No Magic Here

Although I have been using HomeNet Manager on our wireless home network with success for the the past year, I thought I would try Network Magic since we use a Cisco/Linksys Router (WRT54G2), and since Pure Networks has recently come under the Cisco umbrella. I thought that this switch might clear up some minor issues I have had with SingleClick Systems HomeNet Manager. NOT TRUE! I completely uninstalled HNM from all our computers, rebooted and installed Network Magic. The problems were immediate. Network Magic could not identify my router – not a good start. It then could not recognize that Network Magic was installed on the other computers – giving warnings that Network Magic needed to be installed. Finally, it could not access the HP printer connected to one of the computers. I went through the help files to attempt to resolve these issues with no success. I have since reinstalled HomeNet Manager, and things are working once again. No, it’s not perfect, but it is immensely better for our wireless home network than the “magic” of Cisco.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

War in Iraq - Clock

6 Years & 64 Days since the start of the War in Iraq

U.S. Military Casualties since the start of the War in Iraq

(Includes casualties from fighting in Afghanistan)

Deaths – 5,553

Wounded – 31,249

Iraqi Casualties since the start of the War in Iraq

Deaths – well over 1,000,000

Wounded – No Mechanism to Track (conservative estimates are in the millions)

Visit Anti-War.com

President Obama, why is there still no end in sight for this war?