Just a bit of something...

It has definitely been an interesting year so far, more on the general news front rather than anything in specific.  I really hope the US stops chasing Snowden quite so rabidly, as it is making the US look really pathetic, after he made the US look really stupid.  Honestly, at this point, at least domestically, he brought about a bit of discussion on the government spying on US citizens, which regardless of what sort of greater protection doublespeak they wish to wrap it in, is still absolutely something that should be scrutinized in the press and in congress, much more than it has been, and much more than it likely will be.  Internationally, Snowden said we were spying on China, as if that is an earth shattering revelation.  I am not sure when common sense national security issues became top secret, but obviously with no brains in the security apparatus, such things have happened.  Also internationally, and a bit embarrassing to boot, was the revelation that we are spying on our allies.  That is the black eye on the world stage, and that is something that will likely require more than just a few platitudes to clear up.  Hero or not, and I won't go there, I do believe some of the issues he brought up, like the possible abuse of powers granted by the Patriot Act, needed to be brought up, and needed to be discussed.  I also think before the US uses any political capital, like that issues with the Ecuadorian presidential jet, it should really review what has been in the press, and decide if what was revealed was really top secret, or if it was honestly just something everyone knew, but disclosure of it in the press just made it an issue that could not be brushed aside.  I have heard for years about some government agency or another culling email and such, but had never much thought about it, or even if it was more than just the proverbial internet myth, so now we know it isn't a myth, but a rumor confirmed-- hardly top secret stuff there, but then the US government has a tendency to over-react, just look at the TSA.

The is enough for this morning.  Waiting for Skyrim to update while drinking my coffee is sort of what led me here today, so I won't promise another update anytime soon, though such things do cross my mind periodically.

Just another Sunday

It seems I am finally getting over whatever pseudo-cold/flu thing that hit me. Most of this past week I haven't felt like much, and perhaps even gave the awfulness to my trainer at the gym, as he cancelled Friday's session, sounding on the phone as bad as I did Wednesday, so it is nice to be done with that. Since I have a trip coming up, it is even better that I feel good, but now I have to get more done this week than I had originally planned.

Ecosystems

I am beginning to wonder if the Internet is going to continue to get bigger or rather if it will become fragmented again, much like the beginning with various walled gardens.  What made me consider this is the new Chrome-book, as well as Surface, and whatever new product (small tablet?) that Apple is planning to announce soon.

While I know that there isn't really any pressure for me to use any one platform over another (I have a PC, and I am writing this on my Macbook), it isn't that difficult to notice that Google and Apple are both doing what they can keep you in their respective spheres, and with Surface, will Microsoft be far behind.  This blog is here, rather than somewhere else, because I chose not to move it when Google bought Blogger, and I am on Blogger because the friend who talked me into this was on here.

I think I need to be a bit more specific about what I mean, as even if Apple does have the equivalent of Blogger, I have no clue as to what it is, and don't really care.  The thing with Apple is the thing with apps, which, if you have Flipboard, or something similar, means you don't really need to go outside into the real Internet, on your phone or iPad, if you load the feeds on an app with sites you regularly go to for news or whatever.  It is really little more than a customized favorites bar with previews, but it does narrow what you see, though on my phone, that is plenty fine with me, but on my computer, I rather like the exploration aspect that is still there in the "you might be interested in" links.

I wonder if I should have chosen Google for my first example, though considering how sloppy my thought processes today, I likely will mess this up by adding extraneous information.  The reason I think Google may support this hypothesis a bit more than Apple is that while it doesn't feature a walled garden quite as strictly defined as Apple's, it does gather enough information on users that links and such will be those your habits have lead Google to believe you want to see.  Let's face it, whenever your insurance is up for renewal, if you use Chrome and flow your quote requests through a Gmail account, you will be seeing insurance commercials for the next six months, or perhaps longer.  While not strictly delineated, this would be Google curating your ads and perhaps links as well, based on some activity recorded by its data cruncher algorithms.

What part of the pie this leaves Microsoft is a good question, and one which I guess only time will reveal.  Whether the future of Internet is some Flipboard style app, or something based on your viewing history data being crunched, and then you fed those results as to where you should go, or perhaps Microsoft has something in mind beyond just getting into the game, some view of how they see people, computing devices, and the Internet , and how all three fit together to form someplace that people will continue visiting via the Microsoft way, rather than the Apple or Google way.  It will be interesting, and while Surface looks really neat, if there isn't much beyond a tablet with a fancy keyboard, I think Microsoft will have another Zune.

I wonder if the reason Google's Chrome-books haven't been extremely successful is that people don't really view them as much more than another way to view the web, and not the best for so many other things people use laptops for, since wifi is pretty much a prerequisite, and you can't count on it free everywhere.  To be honest, I haven't used any apps for my Macbook, as I am not even sure mine would support them, as it is an older model, so I am not sure what the app even offers, but Apple has effectively made their hardware work well together, so even though this is old, it still works for my Apple TV, and I like my laptop better for blog posts because I can sit in the living room and compose, rather than at a desk, looking at a wall.  I have done blog posts from my phone, and they aren't that fun, and I can't imagine the experience would improve from my iPad.  While I think Surface, with its keyboard, would be a great Internet thing, for me it would be less so, since I can't quite use the keyboard from my lap, and for the screen to stay up, there needs to be something for the stand to use as a base.

Now this is just how I use the tech that I own, and I can not say if others use their tech in the same fashion.  Considering the number of hardware and software companies out there, I am sure that not everyone uses their tech toys in the same fashion I do, so there should be plenty who will explore what Surface has to offer, though whether it will replace tech from other companies or co-exist with them, each performing a slightly different function, is impossible to predict.

Fluidity of Time

I guess I will find out the hard way just how this looks, as it seems that Blogger has altered the controls some since I last posted a picture.  Since I am not a daily poster, I guess I will continually log in and think it would be good to add something, only to discover it has been several weeks since I posted.  I think I have a harder time of keeping track of time than I do of keeping track of my keys.  Of course, since inception, I have never had a firm purpose in mind for this blog, so the good thing about large breaks between entries is that is means I don't have even larger amounts of drivel to post.  On the flip side, there are probably too many posts much like this one bemoaning the lack of purpose, and just filling up space because it is a Saturday morning, I am drinking coffee, and I feel the urge to do something that might be vaguely termed productive, that doesn't include running the vacuum.  Aside from it being Autumn, it is also the presidential election season, and I will refrain from much more comment on that, since nothing has much changed since my last comments.

Why not support?

I was reading coverage of Paul Ryan on CNN, and they quote Ryan as saying, "I think it kind of goes without saying that there's definitely a media bias." A follow-up asked him to cite specific examples, which he seemed unwilling to do, as he didn't want to "litigate this thing." Perhaps I am mistaken, but if the bias is out there and obviously in plain sight, then an example should have been easy to provide, even off the cuff. It isn't really a big deal, and it fit right into their play book, since they won't specify tax loopholes they intend to close, why would they bother to specify media bias.

Since I am not quite app-smart enough to figure out how to copy from Twitter to Blogger in my phone, a link to the appropriate political ticker post will have to wait.

Art 21, Serra

Last night I watched an old episode of Art 21, which was originally presented by PBS during the early part of the new century.  Richard Serra was one of the artists mentioned, and it showed him sketching some of his work in his journal.  At least for the drawings made during the filming of this documentary, Serra's line-work is as subtle as his building material.  That seems appropriate, but thinking of either of those doesn't really give you a  feeling of actually encountering his work, which has a great deal of subtlety in how it affects one's senses.

Interesting Conversations from Work

Last week one of my colleagues, upon discovering that I was disinclined to vote Republican, told me that I really needed to see these Allen West videos. (I am on my phone, so I am not going to link them.)

Anyway, I watched them, and managed to get through the first one, though I had to work to maintain interest after the democrats are communists initial comments. After not very many minutes, I had to do a double take, as the inestimable speaker was clarifying how exactly the Democratic Progressive Caucus was related to Communism. It seems in West's mind progressive is code for communist. With this just being correlated, he goes on to imply President Wilson was a communist. Now this didn't seem accurate, and low and behold, Wilson was a fervent anti-communist, at least according to several biographers and Wikipedia. With this in mind, I listened to the rest of West's comments, though I had to chuckle when he advised the reporters there to do their homework and research stories.

Corporate Culture

Not that anyone really wants to hear anything on politics, but there is something about Romney that is bothering me, so I figure it may be worth my while to spell it out. He has been claiming that he hasn't had any direct input into activities at Bain Capital since 1999 -- the precise month, I don't recall, but it isn't relevant to my purposes in this post. Whether he was directly responsible for any activity there or not, since he founded the organization, he also established the culture of that corporation, and by that I mean a set of acceptable business practices and a standard operating procedure. Claiming that he didn't sign off directly on any off-shoring of jobs formerly done in the United States after 1999, doesn't relieve him of the responsibility that he established a corporate culture at Bain Capital where such activities are considered perfectly acceptable, and perhaps even encouraged if they can be proven to be profitable. Currently there is a big hubbub in Illinois over closing down a profitable business, moving it to China, and then making even more money on it. So the culture at Bain isn't just to move failing businesses to China, but ones that are succeeding as well. Amid a poor economy, moving jobs that are already yielding profits in order to make even more money is pretty heartless, and perhaps it is why I really don't care for Ayn Rand's philosophy, and why I don't mind a bit of regulation, since I won't trust business to do what is best for anyone but the current CEO. This sort of decision isn't one you can regulate, but I think it reflects poorly on the corporate culture established by Mitt Romney, and maybe even gives a clue as to what sort of culture he would plan to install in the executive branch during his administration.

If the man created a company that doesn't look at the human costs of its business decisions, then how can anyone expect him to be a successful president when it doesn't appear that he cares about the human costs of decisions placed before him, whether the people who form the ranks of the military, those who have retired, or those on welfare.

Just Playing

I can see how Twitter would be a better medium for posting if one is typing on a virtual phone keyboard. I have Twitter, but have used it less than my blog, though I do enjoy the news and pictures of those that I am listed as following. Following is not the best word, since in most instances it just fills up into my Flipbook, and I check that as I go along during the week, but that is seldom more than twice a week, so less a follow and more of a feed. At some point I may try a bit of streamlining, so I don't have a dozen things going at once, but that isn't a priority, because I don't connect with all the services often enough to be overwhelmed.

Blogging from the Phone

I just discovered that there is an app that allows me to update this on the go. Since I don't take the time to update it when I am at home, there is no telling just what sort of update rate will actually follow. If nothing else, it gives me something to do while waiting in a restaurant.

Benign Neglect

I look at the date on the previous blog post and realize it was done about the same time as I had my automobile accident. No one was hurt in the accident, but it seems that one effect was this blog being dropped almost totally from my awareness. Writing must not be one of those things I just have to do, though I do enjoy it as a release now and again. Six to eight weeks after the accident I also changed positions at work, and have been working nights. Before that shift change though, I did need to purchase another vehicle due to the aforementioned accident. The picture is of my new vehicle, and I am enjoying it -- 2012 Mocha Latte Pop.

Sitting and Pondering

I have been debating on whether or not to replace my aged PC in the living room that serves as the access point to anything other than DVDs for the television, and also the sync station for my iPod. It doesn't run as well as it could, has a tendency to drop the wireless connection, and takes a fair amount of time to boot up iTunes. All of which seem to be good reasons to replace it, but I just can't figure out what would serve me best as its replacement. If I buy a replacement, I have been thinking about a mac mini, as I think it would do what I needed it to do, work well with my laptop (macbook) and also have minimal issues when it came to syncing either my phone or my iPod, and of course it would take up less space. The current PC just sort of sits on the floor next to the television. While I do use the drives to transfer music from Cd's to iTunes, I don't really use them for much else, so I don't see great issue with not having them. It is really just a minor decision, but one that I will eventually sort out.

A bit baffled

At one point this evening I may have had a topic that fit the heading, but not really so much anymore. I have been reading online news, and whatever insight I may have had from dinner that I wanted to carry into my blog have vanished. I do recall really enjoying some lines from the 1st Elegy in Rilke's 10 Elegies, but don't feel like transcribing them here. If memory serves, they were the last 3-4 lines, and I am sure they can be found somewhere-- and, any other day, I would probably be willing to locate and link to them, or even transcribe them, but not tonight. Tonight is staying awake another 30 minutes or so, and doing what I need to do that, and while it should probably be exercise, at least part of it is going to be spent typing. I rather wish I actually had something to write, but lamenting work and politics seems just a bit too typical, and it doesn't necessarily make me feel better. That being said, perhaps I will do a bit of yoga, as that normally does make me feel better.

Slow picture weekend

While I went to a birthday party at a friend's last night, I took no pictures. I haven't taken many pictures at all this last week, perhaps the fact that continuing Summer hasn't seemed to change the local landscape enough for me to see something new and striking worth the pixels. Who knows, as it could also be that my phone has been left at home often, since I get tired of carrying it about, and enjoy being non-connected every now and again. The weekend has been pretty quiet, and aside from the birthday party, I haven't done much aside from speak with Mom a bit earlier-- always nice that, but it doesn't exactly make for a noteworthy day.

Thursday...

Really, there isn't much to say, except that it is Thursday, and I felt compelled to drop a message of some sort on here. The week has been pretty unexceptional, and there isn't really enough to write to fill more than a paragraph, but the urge was there, so I am fulfilling it. Truthfully, aside from filling a few more minutes prior to bed, I can't think of a single reason for this entry, but, also, for some reason it feels really nice to just type a bit of nonsense and call it a day. The end of one, with only one more until the weekend, and all the promise it supposedly holds.

Beautiful day, didn't get much done

Well, it was a beautiful day, and I didn't get much done-- the bike ride didn't happen because I am not accustomed to the hard saddle on my bike, and my backside was telling me not to repeat that just yet, and other stuff didn't happen because I was reading on the balcony, napping, or finding some other distraction for my time. I still have laundry, but enough clean clothes for the first part of the week, if not the entire week. Since I finally bought some new sandals this past week, I don't use socks on the weekend, which gives me a few extra days with regard to those, but that isn't the real reason for sandals, just a bonus.

The other day I did hit Sonic Boom Records and did some old fashioned music shopping, and ended up with a Klezmer compilation, MGMT, Florence and the Machine, and Hey Marseilles, and today got around to uploading them to my iPod. I don't really know percentages and what not, but since I enjoy the record shop (CD shop) experience, I will continue to buy the old fashioned way, and hope the shop stays in business, as too many shops have closed due to Internet purchases. One of my pet peeves is people who love to go browse in bookstores, find something they want, then buy it at Amazon, or some online channel, other than the store they found it in. When the store vanishes, most likely complaints will ensue, and hopefully they will review their actions and see how they contributed to the store's demise, though I doubt it. I am becoming a bit cynical in my view of many people, who seem to want the convenience and benefits, but are unwilling to pay for them. (If I were to transfer that thought into the political realm, then this entry would devolve into a rant.)

Still Summer

Perhaps it will be more than a tease this year, as the gorgeous weather is continuing once the morning clouds get burned from the sky. I took my bike out yesterday to Gas Works Park and got this photo of Seattle from there. I also managed not to get a sunburn, though my arms definitely got a bit of color. Since I was doing that, I didn't really work on any sort of art, or actually think much about it. The day was pretty and I was enjoying the moment, taking care to enjoy myself, and not worry too much about else. Unfortunately, that makes for a dull blog post, but I wanted to add something, before the time between posts appeared to be more benign neglect on my side.

I did learn something interesting, as I haven't really ridden my bike much, but in one of the stops I made, the bike riding owner of Hub and Bespoke advised me to get lights if I planned on riding much past dusk, as the police do ticket riders for that. That is nice to know information, and since I haven't ridden much, something I should definitely consider if I am still riding regularly come fall and winter. I have always been a fair weather rider, so I don't really know if I will need them, as if I am riding this fall and winter, I will probably want fenders too, to keep splash to a minimum, since I can't imagine there not being water on the roads.

Gorgeous Saturday

It is a nice day outside today. I was out and enjoying it for a bit. I strolled down to the Ballard Locks, but didn't take pictures of anything but flowers, though people were out in force as well. (There is a black and blue bird sunning itself on my balcony right now, but I can't tell what type and since he just flew away can't take a picture of his backside for folks to guess.) As the afternoon progressed and I was reading CNN or BBCNews, I stumbled across some article on Facebook, and there came a mention of Instagram and all the hipster over-processed photos there as a result, and all I can say, is that I don't recall ever seeing any of my friends post something that looked as if it were processed using Instagram. My guess is either none of my friends use that photo app on their iPhone, or else since my friends aren't the twenty-somethings mentioned by the author, they are all too old to be taken in by such trendiness. Oh well, shallow or not, the app is fun, and that is really all that matters to me.

iPhone App stuff

I have been enjoying some new photo apps on my iPhone lately, Instagram is one of them and the other is Nofinder. Instagram is what I have been using for the square photos in all the posts this week. Kind of a neat program that gives a choice of filters for immediate gratification in the processed style of your choice, though there is a no filter option. Nofinder is a different beast, as it really makes your camera a point and shoot and you don't really know what that shot will be since you viewfinder is blacked out.

What really struck me today was how cropping and processing can really change the way things look. These two pictures were taken twenty feet or so apart, but with the same two people walking in the same direction both times. One really looks suburban desolate, in my opinion, while the other isn't quite so bleak. The Nofinder picture with the greenery in the foreground took me by surprise. But I think it makes a nice contrast.

With the phone cameras I can see that I am taking more pictures, and they tend to be of more mundane things, but so many great pictures aren't great because the subject (physical) is great, but because mood, light, and subject all fit together with a degree of serendipity that qualifies the whole as extraordinary. (None of my experiments so far qualify.) Even without qualifying as art photographer, I am having fun with the camera on the phone, and will continue to putter about with it, as long as I am enjoying the results.

Another day, another entry

Perhaps not interesting in and of itself, but I find that when I am making a conscious effort to avoid the time sink that is MMO gaming, I tend to create more blog entries. Gaming is fun, but it is very easy to lose way too much time doing it. After so many levels and whatnot, there doesn't seem to be much to do, unless you have friends online and can chat with them. The games themselves are very similar to each other, and the rewards are as virtual as you can imagine, perhaps if you are lucky, and upgrade to your armor that allows you better use of the skills the game has gifted your character with. There is nothing inherently wrong with spending time like this, but when most of one's time is spent there, there is nothing really gained either. Aside from the social aspect, reading gives better rewards, and forcing oneself to actually do something, even something like typing up a blog entry, I think may be even better, as it is engaging your brain in forcing it to create, rather than just blithely gorging on content.

It seems summer is going to be an "on again, off again" sort of affair this year, as the evenings seem very summer-like, and the mornings do not. Considering I work days, this state of affairs is somewhat satisfactory, though I want my weekend to be all beautiful, all the time-- but that is just me being greedy.

One last thing, I did get stopped by that bridge this morning on the way to work, but rather than the usual single sailboat going by, a larger ship did, so I had a pleasant surprise early in the day.