Category: General

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It’s been a month since I killed Facebook

Honestly I don’t miss it at all.

I’m finding myself shutting down or simply ignoring other social media sites where I used to be very active.

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I’m not missing those sites either.

What does that say?

That perhaps I prefer the company of real people instead of the infamous “Hi”?

I’ve written about the annoyance of “Hi” elsewhere in this blog.

Perhaps the quality of the conversation isn’t nearly as stimulating over chat, email, instant messages as having to defend my position IN PERSON.

You will notice that I have an iSpQ badge to the left…. Hey, video chat and perhaps even a nasty video chat is still fun! I’m not doing social media but I still like to be an exhibitionist!

Today I closed or severely minimized all the rest of my social media accounts.

I guess I’m just flat out over it.

Talk about a time suck! Then there was the whole bullshit thing about people wanting to meet and be friends. Yeah, RIGHT!!!!

I guess I got sick of being jerked around feeling like I was somehow obligated to answer people that I really don’t know and who despite my best efforts I wasn’t likely to meet.

Perhaps, I’m a little depressed about the fact that I’ve been making a good faith effort to reach out using the tools at hand to make healthy friendships. But in reality… I’ve come to believe that you’re better off planting your ass on a barstool in your local sports bar. Than trying to get anyone to actually meet somewhere… even if the meeting place is a sports bar.

I’ve also noticed that I’m really sensitive to comments made after news articles and I even burned someone down on an Apple discussion group the other day.

This person had previously in the thread corrected other peoples spelling… and been generally an asshole, then they replied specifically to me about a little piece I’d written.  I posted the piece intending to help the discussion group get around an issue in some software.

I simply wasn’t in the mood to deal with this persons snippy ass comment or the fact that they’re obviously still under the delusion that Apple can do no wrong. So… Flame ON!

I don’t typically read the comments after any news article. The rampant moronism displayed in such comments is actually painful to read.

I’m recognizing elements of cabin fever and depression. Neither of which is helped by being stood up for simple things like coffee or having demands placed on me by trying to keep the conversation going over social media.

So I’m disconnecting from those sources of annoyance. I’ve been thinking that perhaps I’d be better off going to a Starbucks with my computer and trying to write in a new environment. 

I will keep on blogging…

 

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I think it’s time to start an UN-Occupy movement in California

Let’s face it, California is in the news again and not in a good way.

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One of the news headlines this morning was “California’s Insane Gas Prices Just hit a New All-Time High” Photo credit AP Images

$6 a gallon there on the sign. Wow!

Given the high unemployment and the insanity of the price of gas. It’s time for Californians to stand in solidarity.

I suggest the following.

Nobody go to work!

Take a few days off.

Don’t occupy anything!

Avoid, Businesses, Schools, Malls and Freeways.

Stay home, watch TV. Play with your kids and don’t go anywhere.

The Oil companies and the State government want to play games with the state economy… FINE, Lets Play! 

We the people of California still have the ability to make a major impact on these people. What do you think they’ll do when no-one reports to work, or buys gas, or does anything?

Without people buying gas, the Oil companies don’t make a profit.

The state government loses out on tax dollars. The People of California can kick off the Holiday season with a Bang. The losses can be laid right at the feet of big oil and over regulation.

The PEOPLE can have the satisfaction of flexing their muscle reminding the “Players” that we still hold their leash.

Remember the infamous “Day without Mexicans”?

Folks noticed… 

How about making a Day without Californians?

Just a thought…

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Riddle me This?

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A recent report from Bloomberg reports that Oil Prices (Meaning Crude Trading) is currently at a Two month low, and that as the US output has risen, the Demand has eased.

So Why are we still seeing gas prices that are 4.99 for a gallon of regular?

Really?

The oil futures and price per barrel jumps if there’s the slightest change in the breeze, or a Congressman farts. Driving the cost of a gallon of gas up…

So why isn’t the converse true? More supply means that the cost of gas shouldn’t be as high, isn’t that economics 101?

This leads me to think, contrary to what the Oil Companies have reported for years… Gas prices are directly tied to the cost of crude and the anticipated supply that there’s really a far more insidious conspiracy of artificial controls actually keeping the gas prices up.

Lets see…

Obviously, Obscene Profits are a huge motivator.

Keeping fuel prices artificially high would play out nicely for Corporate America in an election year, since fuel / transportation prices directly affect every aspect of the economy.

Think about it, If a cabal of American or International businesses were to decide that they didn’t want a particular President in office, one way to get that president out of office would be to strangle an already weak economy.

When the preferred candidate was elected, then fuel prices drop and the economy spins up again. People go back to work, new jobs are suddenly created and voila… The new President has turned things around!

I don’t know if this line of reasoning is anything but a trip down conspiracy lane… but I do think that EVERY American should remember that regardless of what the press tells us, and regardless of what the Oil companies tell us…

There is no direct causal link between the cost of a barrel of crude, and the cost of gasoline at the pump… At least not anymore.

When the Oil Barons are testifying before congress and poor mouthing that they have no control over the prices of fuel, I pray to GOD that at least one congressional committee member has the balls to stand up and call BULLSHIT right to the Oil Executives faces on CSPAN!

What would be even better would be if the Oil Executives were clapped in Irons and dragged out of the hearing chambers for lying to congress.

Hell I’d PAY to see that!

Occupy Wall Street should be Occupy EXXON, British Petroleum, Atlantic Richfield, ConocoPhillips, and all the other bastard Oil companies as well as Wall Street futures traders…

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I call Bullshit on Oil Companies

An article in the Christian Science Monitor talking about the gas prices in California has really convinced me of a couple of things. Read the article here

Gas prices california e1349449021752

First, I’ve come to believe that the oil companies USE California as a test bed to see how the public will respond to ever increasing gas prices. They raise the prices till the bitching gets really loud and the people of California start demanding hearings in congress.

Then the oil companies back the prices down after apologizing and giving some lame ass excuse.

At the same time they’ve modeled how fast the gas prices can go up before people start really bitching. Then they halve that rate of increase and apply it to the rest of the country. But… and this is the interesting thing… The cost of gas never returns to it’s “Pre-Crises” value.

If the crises is over why doesn’t the cost return to the previous level?

Second, California environmental regulations play directly into the hands of the oil companies. Fully .50 of every gallon of gas is nothing but state taxes. Which means that even those people in California trying to pay attention to the actual price of a gallon of gas have to separate out the state, county, and city taxes on the price per gallon and since those rates are all over the map depending on where you fill up in your 4 hour commute per day you may have all or only one or two of those additional fees.

Southern California is particularly vulnerable to this kind of manipulation. Because the mass transit system SUCKS!

Yes… the politicians would have you believe that mass transit in Southern California is wonderful…

But the reality is; If you happen to live in the Inland Empire (Pomona, Glendora, San Dimas, Riverside, Ontario, Corona, San Bernardino, or Fontana) and you work by necessity in Orange County or Los Angeles you’re kinda screwed. If you live in Orange County and work in LA you’re just as screwed.

 Taking a train to Orange County is pretty much pointless because after you’ve gotten there the transit system is unreliable as hell and you’re talking busses or calling a taxi… there’s nothing else. If you’re trying to get from OC to LA that’s an expensive and painful trip via train, provided you don’t get a message like this;

Trip Options

TripMaster found NO trip(s) leaving from ORANGE COUNTY AIRPORT to LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. You are traveling on Saturday and Leaving at 12:12PM . Fare class: Regular. Max walk: 1/3 Mile. Mode: ANY. Try changing walking DISTANCE or travel TIME or MODE or FILTERING. Make sure the locations are correct.

Getting to LA from the Inland Empire via train isn’t that bad then you can grab a metro rail (like the “L” in Chicago but not elevated) the problem is that using the train/metro rail system/bus can literally add hours to your commute and god help you if you have to work late, or you have a swing shift you might get to work but you can’t get home.

Essentially, the people of Southern California are faced with spending 5 or 6 hours commuting via train versus 4 hours commuting via their cars. Which would you choose, given that you do want to spend some time with your loved ones. You’d like to see your children and perhaps have an opportunity to have sex. Then there’s the issue of maybe trying to work out and get some exercise.

I know… I’ve done that madness for years! Give me my car not because I like sitting on the freeway but because I like getting home before 10PM.

The point is the Oil companies have a mostly captive audience.

Los Angeles, Orange County, The Inland Empire are these wonderful petri dishes where Big Oil can float higher gas prices and see just what kind of lame assed excuses the moronic public will accept.

The article I referenced above says that three factors are driving the cost of gas up in California.

1) State refineries have lowered production as they get ready to switch to “winter blend” (This is all about California regulations and pollutions controls. It also causes excessive wear & tear on our engines and a commensurate drop in our MPG. So we’re at the gas stations more often buying more shitty gas.) This is a yearly event and yet… The Oil companies always shut the refineries down at the same time. How about this MORONS? Try scheduling one refinery at a time being shut down then when it’s switched to winter blend, and running again take the next one offline to make the switch and so on. You can do the same damn thing when you switch to Summer Blend so you don’t screw the hell out of the public as they’re trying to get set for their paltry 2 week vacations. (Don’t forget it’s not just Gas. It’s also Airline fuel, and diesel that are suddenly in short supply twice a year.)

2) A power outrage at a Torrance Refinery, and partial shutdown at a Richmond refinery. Really? Just how long was the refinery without power? Months? I think not… And why is the Richmond refinery partially offline?

3) Several refineries in the Central Valley have been shutdown for weeks because of “High Organic Chloride Levels in the Crude”.  SAY WHAT??? So what exactly does that mean? Are they shipping the High Organic Chloride crude to another refinery? Are they throwing it away? What EXACTLY does that mean?

 SO I call BULLSHIT on Big Oil and think that everyone else should too.

Time to BITCH LOUD LONG and HARD

Write your representatives and demand the oil companies stop fucking with us. 

Off to write a letter to politicians

Because I’m not going to pay 4.99 a gallon for gas. Oh and don’t even try to make me say “Oh goodie” about 4.99 a gallon by pointing out that Europe is over $8 per gallon.

Big Deal! So What? 52% of their oil isn’t coming from under their feet.

Don’t even mention a Prius, or accuse me of driving a gas guzzler. I’ll give you an earful that will feel like an ice pick through your brain.

 

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Legalese!!!! Everywhere you look…

I understand that we live in a litigious world. 

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I get that people and companies want to protect and preserve their rights.

But FUCK!!!!

Ever tried to wade through a Microsoft agreement? You have to BE a lawyer to understand what the Lawyers wrote.

Worse yet, are the Apple Agreements that are in your face all the time. If you use iTunes, have an iPod, use an iPad or god help you have an Apple Computer every time you bring up a piece of software it seems, you’re confronted with YET Another licensing agreement from Apple.

Enough already!

These agreements are so ubiquitous to have become irrelevant. I have no idea what I’ve agreed to anymore!

I used to diligently read them start to finish but they became longer, more complex, filled with more legalese and longer still. Now I don’t even try. Invariably I’m confronted with a document that is as long as War & Peace which might as well be written in Aramaic when I’m just trying to do something simple…

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You know, something like sync my iPod before I head out for the day. More than once I’ve said screw it! just leaving the iPod sitting on the desk.

This morning was a classic example. I fired up iTunes to listen to some music, My iPad started syncing. I noticed that there were a bunch of application updates. Oh, I thought, I’ll start those downloads while I’m eating breakfast.

I come back to the computer 30 minutes later to discover that NOT One of the updates have downloaded. Why? Because Apple made some changes  to the terms of use, or the licensing  agreement or they changed the toilet paper in Cupertino or something!

What ever it was that they changed, required that I accept a document as cryptic as the writing on access hatch to the Alien ship that crashed in Roswell. This document is  longer than the recorded history of mankind. I’d be better off, and have several Phd’s to my credit if I read half as much.

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The practical upshot is that I scrolled & scrolled & scrolled & scrolled to the bottom of this overly complex tome, found the little checkbox next to agree, clicked it and then the aptly named “submit” button.

I have no clue what I agreed to. Did I just give Apple my left testicle?

These agreements aren’t fair!

I, like most consumers just want my damn computer to work. I want my software to work.

I honestly don’t give a crap about the companies that are oh so intent on protecting themselves.

If they make good shit I’ll buy it, and use it. If they don’t… or their shit stops being good, or they update it and I don’t’ like the update I’ll find something else. In fact I’ve done exactly that.

We all know that Quicken Products have become something to be replaced as quickly as possible. It’s interesting that Quickbooks (Which BTW I paid $300 for 10 years ago, and then $149 for 7 years thereafter) is discounted on the Intuit site to $199. I know a lot of people that are searching for less expensive alternatives, and they’re finding them.

Those of us that helped the Omni Group build the popularity of their products aren’t updating their products anymore unless we absolutely have to. Mainly because the Omni Group is greedy, charging WAY TOO MUCH for upgrades. 

Several years ago I had enough, I no longer have any Omni Group programs on my computer.  I was a serious fan. At one point I owned the professional editions of all their core applications. Now, I use Powerpoint, or Adobe Illustrator instead.  

The cost of upgrades aside, I absolutely can’t stand being held hostage to an agreement from Apple so that I can update applications I purchased from 3rd parties. The agreement Apple threw in my face this morning was exactly that. Had I not agreed to it, I wouldn’t have been able to update the applications that I’d purchased.

And people talk about Google being “Evil“… 

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Apple really needs to understand, they’re the ones that created the app store / update mechanism.

They probably shouldn’t remind all us Sheeple that we’re hostages. Otherwise we’re likely to see what alternatives are available.

Wha… I see an update server… Baah Baaaaahh.