Posts

Showing posts from 2012

Newtown Connecticut

Memo to all you "Cold Dead Hands" heroes out there.   Since it is clear that you intend to kill yourselves if the government decides to inject sanity into our gun laws, please plan to do it in a concerned and efficient manner:  1) Choose your spot carefully, I would suggest out in the open so that your loved ones will not have an onerous clean up job  2) Select your weapon with care for the same reason, use a small caliber to prevent widespread blood and brain spatter.  3) Also if you score a through and through you will not endanger your neighbors  4) I realize that you are making a statement to protect your rights to semi and full automatic weapons, but select single shot please to avoid accidental overspray as you fall on the gun 5) Please advise the proper authorities via time delayed email where they can pry your weapon of choice from your cold dead hands. It will make it easier for them to comply with the law and remove one more gun from society . 6)

Defaulting to Stupid

A long time ago when notebook computers were just starting, I worked with a small Japanese company that made one the first and possibly one of the best notebooks at the time.   We had just launched our Intel 386 model, and were gearing up to produce a faster, more powerful, 486 processor based unit. I was in charge of Public Relations for the company and was very involved with all aspects of the developing machine.   So I was not surprised to be invited to attend what was termed a “Key Product Definition” meeting.   KPDs were very important, very confidential and very technical and terminology such as interface algorithms, clock speed and PCMCIA soft interface were discussed.   The topic sounded innocuous enough, “Default Settings, Definition and Recommendations”. What that means is that whenever something weird happens inside the computer, or when the customer buys his computer, the default settings are the basic instructions on how the machine will start and run.   Defaults

Getting a Hand on Gun Control in America

The subject of gun control in America draws a lot of attention. When attacking the National Rifle Assosiction (NRA) on Huffington Post I am certain that I will get more abusive mail than for almost any other topic and there is a reason for this. The NRA is a thinly disguised front for the arms manufacturers of America and that should raise a huge red flag. The most often quoted reason for not allowing anyone to think about abolishing weapons in America is the faded and pathetic Second Amendment to the Constitution adopted on December 15, 1791 which states: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. This seminal piece of imbecility was passed and approved by our founding fathers at a time when America faced threats from within and threats from outside. They had a very small standing army and the natives were restless. They also had a budding arms industry that needed the busines
I was asked by a niece to review my teenage years, this is what came out 1: How do you remember your teenage years? The best year of my life was 12, because at that time I was in full possession of faculties, I had no insurmountable problems, relationships were easy and simple. As I moved ahead life became more complicated, but I remember my teenage years as being an incredibly wonderful period of my life with very few negatives in it. I had good friends; my parents were not too involved in my life because frankly they had their own dark secrets. I also was forming a philosophy of life that has stood me well over time. There is no god, killing others is wrong, I control my destination, others control my destiny etc. 2: When you were a teenager, what age did you consider old? Honestly, I thought 30 was old because I had friends of that age who seemed to be moving into a weird twilight of marriage and responsibilities. 3: Did you know your grandparents? What do you remember about