Warning! F-Bombs
After seeing the video of Lars playing double bass, this video was "suggested" as the next one I watch.I'm serious re: the f-bombs....
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Don't Call This That
LL Cool J & Five Finger Death Punch began ringing in my ears - specifically, the lyrics "Don't call it a comeback" - when I learned that vinyl is still popular, per this article. When wasn't it popular?
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Brothers are NOT Brothers
I'm going to let you in on a secret. Professional wrestlers "Kane" and "The Undertaker" have been known as a tag team called "The Brothers of Destruction" but they are NOT brothers. I always liked the duo as a tag team and for so many matches, they were an intimidating duo.
With that in mind, I call your attention to this article that would have you believe that it makes sense for Kane to battle the Undertaker "one more time" as the respective ends of their in-ring performance years near the end. The article advocates for this because of their past as enemies, as shown in the first video below.
After considering the idea, I would actually advocate for Kane and the Undertaker to end their in-ring run as allies. Vividly, I can see the reunion of the "Brothers of Destruction" on the 1000th episode of Raw as they worked together to take down a bunch of other professional wrestlers. As far as the storyline goes, they are allies. The crowd responded enthusiastically to their appearance together.
Certainly, WWE is entitled to milk their history, but it should also be done with the idea that fans probably want to remember the duo as a powerhouse team than as enemies. It's not the same as other rivalries, such as Ric Flair and Sting. It worked for them to face each other on the last ever episode of WCW Nitro. The two had battled each other, off and on, for years and so seeing them battle in the final match on that show was fitting. WCW, for all of its booking missteps, actually made things right by showing the two hugging and showing respect for each other after their match.
With that in mind, I call your attention to this article that would have you believe that it makes sense for Kane to battle the Undertaker "one more time" as the respective ends of their in-ring performance years near the end. The article advocates for this because of their past as enemies, as shown in the first video below.
After considering the idea, I would actually advocate for Kane and the Undertaker to end their in-ring run as allies. Vividly, I can see the reunion of the "Brothers of Destruction" on the 1000th episode of Raw as they worked together to take down a bunch of other professional wrestlers. As far as the storyline goes, they are allies. The crowd responded enthusiastically to their appearance together.
Certainly, WWE is entitled to milk their history, but it should also be done with the idea that fans probably want to remember the duo as a powerhouse team than as enemies. It's not the same as other rivalries, such as Ric Flair and Sting. It worked for them to face each other on the last ever episode of WCW Nitro. The two had battled each other, off and on, for years and so seeing them battle in the final match on that show was fitting. WCW, for all of its booking missteps, actually made things right by showing the two hugging and showing respect for each other after their match.
Pain
Sean Waltman is a former WWE professional wrestler. He is in the hospital with a torn pectoral muscle. Sounds like a situation in need of a painkiller. Before viewing the graphic picture of Sean Waltman's injury, here are two songs called "Painkiller."
Warning
This picture is not overly graphic, but not something to look at while eating - click here.Monday, September 28, 2015
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Bah
Yeah, this makes NO sense.
http://lastresistance.com/13894/school-district-bans-game-of-tag-for-students-emotional-safety/
Proud Papa
I was at the Iowa City West football game last night. I took videos of the band. The first one I've uploaded is the one on this page.
Friday, September 25, 2015
This is NOT That
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/revamped-ratt-to-embark-on-re-invasion-tour/
Always a Bobby Blotzer fan, but to say that this group of musicians can accurately be called "Ratt" isn't right. It wouldn't be right for me to start a new band and call it Lou's Classic Ride. LCR is ONLY Joe, Brian, and Matthew.
Burdened
From my Fox News First Daily Politics email newsletter:
Today is the birthday of William Faulkner. Born in 1897, the Noble Prize winner is the definitive voice of the American South in the 20th century and best known for his Shakespearean portrayals of Southerners of castes high and low and both black and white in novels like “Absalom Absalom” and “The Sound and the Fury.” But Faulkner may have reached his highest heights in short stories. Faulkner despised the necessity of turning out smaller pieces to pay the bills, an act he referred to as going “whoring” and “boiling the pot.” The University of Mississippi tells the story of his short stories here.
I read "Absalom Absalom" and "As I Lay Dying" when I was an English major at Mount Mercy College. I know I didn't care for him nearly as much as my professor...
Today is the birthday of William Faulkner. Born in 1897, the Noble Prize winner is the definitive voice of the American South in the 20th century and best known for his Shakespearean portrayals of Southerners of castes high and low and both black and white in novels like “Absalom Absalom” and “The Sound and the Fury.” But Faulkner may have reached his highest heights in short stories. Faulkner despised the necessity of turning out smaller pieces to pay the bills, an act he referred to as going “whoring” and “boiling the pot.” The University of Mississippi tells the story of his short stories here.
I read "Absalom Absalom" and "As I Lay Dying" when I was an English major at Mount Mercy College. I know I didn't care for him nearly as much as my professor...
AVH and DLO
Alex Van Halen is a legendary drummer and, despite what Karen would say, he is the reason I wanted to name any son of mine "Alex" - that's the truth. Naming a son Alex is actually a compromise as I would have loved to have named a son "Lars" - after Metallica's Lars Ulrich. Meanwhile, Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer) really has it as well. He is amazing in the video below.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Prince
Another Feud
Many "music news" websites - for example, this one, are churning up controversy about a Tommy Lee tweet. It started with this:
Of course, then I had to go look at Tommy Lee's Twitter page. Lots of responses. The ones below were hilarious and worthy of capturing here on this blog. My favorite is the "Straight Outta Breath."
The absolute best one on the page is Tommy Lee's own response. Sorry for the F-bombs...
The absolute best one on the page is Tommy Lee's own response. Sorry for the F-bombs...
Nevermind
Editor's Note: Today, on the 24th anniversary of Nirvana releasing their album called "Nevermind" is the first time I've ever felt the need to have a "Nirvana" tag on this blog.
Nirvana sucked. They had odd guitar tones, their singer mumbled, and their drummer (Dave Grohl) played too simple and didn't contribute to what I heard when I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" the first time. Then I heard the entire release. I wasn't any more impressed. At an Old Stew gig at Bonehead's in 1992, our guitarist Bulldog started to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit" only to generate our vocalist Shoebox remarking that "you can't understand what he's singing anyway" - that sums up what I thought of them as well.
Nirvana sucked. They had odd guitar tones, their singer mumbled, and their drummer (Dave Grohl) played too simple and didn't contribute to what I heard when I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" the first time. Then I heard the entire release. I wasn't any more impressed. At an Old Stew gig at Bonehead's in 1992, our guitarist Bulldog started to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit" only to generate our vocalist Shoebox remarking that "you can't understand what he's singing anyway" - that sums up what I thought of them as well.
Nearly My Heart
Both my nephew Jonathan and I really dig this tune from Soundgarden's Chris Cornell's solo release.
Helluva Circle & More Coulter
Part of what I've been complaining about is how the Republicans just don't know when they have it good. This article essentially says the same thing. If you are a politician and you want your legislative agenda to become the law of the land because you're convinced that your fellow lawmakers on the other side of the aisle are up to no good, then you want a majority in Congress.
And the Republicans have it.
Yet, there are these RINOs (Republican In Name Only) that insist upon folding. One of the candidates in last week's debate - maybe Ted Cruz? they all blended together after awhile - stated that he wanted to play poker with President Obama because he folds every time. I think that candidate should play poker with Mitch & John in Congress. They're already talking about being strong 'the next time' or 'when such-and-such bill comes up' instead of focusing on the present.
What was it that Yoda said about Luke Skywalker in the swamp? Oh yes. Yoda criticized his student for focusing on someplace else, but not where he was (that's poorly paraphrased) because that meant he wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing at that present moment. Frankly, that is Mitch & John.
Then you have Ann Coulter, who I really liked not all that long ago, criticizing the Pope in public. From the link on that article, I got to this page which included this quote:
Ann Coulter makes a living from bashing liberals–it’s something she says she greatly enjoys –and she takes a conservative/Republican position on just about everything, except incidentally her music tastes.
Of course, if it's about music, I have to look at it. Turns out she's a Grateful Dead fan, or at least she was when that article was published on 2006/06/23. Just for the record, I think that is how all dates should be communicated because sorting is a lot simpler when it is YEAR/MM/DD. Just saying.
And the Republicans have it.
Yet, there are these RINOs (Republican In Name Only) that insist upon folding. One of the candidates in last week's debate - maybe Ted Cruz? they all blended together after awhile - stated that he wanted to play poker with President Obama because he folds every time. I think that candidate should play poker with Mitch & John in Congress. They're already talking about being strong 'the next time' or 'when such-and-such bill comes up' instead of focusing on the present.
What was it that Yoda said about Luke Skywalker in the swamp? Oh yes. Yoda criticized his student for focusing on someplace else, but not where he was (that's poorly paraphrased) because that meant he wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing at that present moment. Frankly, that is Mitch & John.
Then you have Ann Coulter, who I really liked not all that long ago, criticizing the Pope in public. From the link on that article, I got to this page which included this quote:
Ann Coulter makes a living from bashing liberals–it’s something she says she greatly enjoys –and she takes a conservative/Republican position on just about everything, except incidentally her music tastes.
Of course, if it's about music, I have to look at it. Turns out she's a Grateful Dead fan, or at least she was when that article was published on 2006/06/23. Just for the record, I think that is how all dates should be communicated because sorting is a lot simpler when it is YEAR/MM/DD. Just saying.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
The Two Bs
I read this article which includes a link to this article where I noticed this:
Myth: Increasing the minimum wage will cause people to lose their jobs.
Not true: In a letter to President Obama and congressional leaders urging a minimum wage increase, more than 600 economists, including 7 Nobel Prize winners wrote, "In recent years there have been important developments in the academic literature on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment, with the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front."
Myth: Small business owners can't afford to pay their workers more, and therefore don't support an increase in the minimum wage.
Not true: A July 2015 survey found that 3 out of 5 small business owners with employees support a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $12. The survey reports that small business owners say an increase "would immediately put more money in the pocket of low-wage workers who will then spend the money on things like housing, food, and gas. This boost in demand for goods and services will help stimulate the economy and help create opportunities."
When I got in the van with Ben, I said to Ben, "What's this crap about you moving out of town?" He knew I was joking immediately. The 10 minute ride to work with Ben is one of the highlights of my visit to Brian's business. Both Ben and I like to talk. I don't think there's ever been silence during the ride to work with Ben driving. Ben and his wife are moving to about 10 miles outside of Kirksville, MO.
I will miss Ben.
Myth: Increasing the minimum wage will cause people to lose their jobs.
Not true: In a letter to President Obama and congressional leaders urging a minimum wage increase, more than 600 economists, including 7 Nobel Prize winners wrote, "In recent years there have been important developments in the academic literature on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment, with the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front."
Myth: Small business owners can't afford to pay their workers more, and therefore don't support an increase in the minimum wage.
Not true: A July 2015 survey found that 3 out of 5 small business owners with employees support a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $12. The survey reports that small business owners say an increase "would immediately put more money in the pocket of low-wage workers who will then spend the money on things like housing, food, and gas. This boost in demand for goods and services will help stimulate the economy and help create opportunities."
I am perplexed. Here's why.
I've been taking all three of our vehicles to Brian for at least a couple of years. He services the GMC Canyon, the Ford F-F150, and the Dodge Grand Caravan. Over the years, I've had the honor of meeting Ben. He drives me to work in the shuttle. When Brian told me that Ben was moving (I promise I'll get to that), I asked Brian if he was going to hire someone to replace him. Without going into a lot of detail, Brian vented about how the minimum wage increase was making it more difficult to hire people. He said that what he pays his employees is above minimum wage and when calculating what an employee is being paid, it rarely includes when the employer pays for a portion of insurance (health & dental, for example).
That triggered a vivid memory. Several years ago, I was in the CEO's office at a former employer. He held an annual meeting with each of his employees to show each employee the amount of money the company had deposited into our individual 401(k) accounts. Each year, the CEO used a sheet of paper to show me the 401K contribution, the portion of the insurance premiums the company paid, and other "things" I can't recall at the moment. All of those were added to my salary to show me my compensation for being an employee was much higher than my salary. I've never forgotten those yearly conversations with that CEO. It instilled in me the idea that while the minimum wage will help some people, it also means that the prices for services will go up.
Here's what I think about. I am Bryce, a business owner. I have three employees. I pay them $7.25 / hour. For those three employees to work an 8 hour shift, I need $174 in revenue a day just to pay them. That's calculated by this formula:
$7.25 / hour x 3 employees x 8 hours a day x 5 days / week x 52 work weeks / year.
It costs me $45,240 / year to pay those 3 employees to work full-time.
There's a local minimum wage increase where Johnson County will pay a minimum wage of $10.10 / hour. Replace 7.25 with 10.10 and do the same calculation.
$10.10 / hour x 3 employees x 8 hours a day x 5 days / week x 52 work weeks / year.
The answer is $63,024.
Now, as Bryce, a business owner, I need to generate $17,784 / year more in revenue to pay those employees. How do you increase revenue? Raise prices for your services. Reduce the number of employees. What if when one of the 3 leaves for a different job, I don't replace him? I then have two employees.
$7.25 / hour x 2 employees x 8 hours a day x 5 days / week x 52 work weeks / year.
The answer is $42,016.
Do the same work with 2 people and I save $21,008 in labor costs. How are businesses going to generate $17,784 more / year in revenue without increasing costs?
Today, as I write this, Brian and his staff are doing the following services to my GMC Canyon:
- changing my oil
- looking at the front bumper to see if it's going to fall off
- checking for any codes that would trigger a Check Engine light
- checking out a squeak I hear when I turn
- checking the life expectancy of the tires
When I got in the van with Ben, I said to Ben, "What's this crap about you moving out of town?" He knew I was joking immediately. The 10 minute ride to work with Ben is one of the highlights of my visit to Brian's business. Both Ben and I like to talk. I don't think there's ever been silence during the ride to work with Ben driving. Ben and his wife are moving to about 10 miles outside of Kirksville, MO.
I will miss Ben.
Fascinating Achieve
It's fascinating to see this tour of Office 2016 and to read how Microsoft has added the ability to collaborate while writing a document in MS Word. In my world, that is a huge reason why there was a push to use Google Docs instead of MS Word. As a professional technical writer, I don't believe Google Docs has the ability to replace MS Word. Today.
There's three things that Google Docs needs.
See the tour of Office 2016 here.
There's three things that Google Docs needs.
- The ability to create user-defined styles. I want character styles for UI elements so that if I have 100 references to a check box, I can create a character style (which I already have in my MS Word file) and control all 100 instances of that style with a single change to the document's template.
- Building off of the previous item, I want a template. I want to control what styles are available and I want to have consistency across all of the Google Docs.
- I want a better understanding of how to transfer (convert?) the MS Word macros I have into a format that is usable in Google Docs. This has more to do with me learning than it does with Google Docs as a product.
See the tour of Office 2016 here.
Ooh! Yeah!
Jim Breuer is coming to Riverside Casino & Golf Resort Event Center Riverside, IA, on Friday, October 23, 2015 8:00 PM. Who's that? This guy....
Rearranging Music Files
When I write about reorganizing my music files, I am writing about moving files from one netwrok drive to another. An example is the following screen shot which shows my current Desktop background in and among the messages about the status of moving files. When I was given the 4TB MyCloud drive, I created several partitions with the idea that each member of my family would use that partition. As time has progressed, that really hasn't happened. Thus, another reason I want to consolidate files is because I'd like to remove several, but not all, of the partitions I created and have two partitions: one for music, one for all other files. That ties into the idea of purchasing another 2 TB (maybe larger if I tie its purchase into a birthday / Christmas present!) external hard drive. I realize that I made a lot of my backing up of files more complicated than I needed to make it. I also factor in that I have had 3 external hard drives crash as well as how I reformatted our family laptop twice. The mess I am still trying to clean up is a mess of my own creation. Sincerely, I am hoping that the mess is cleaned up sooner than later!
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
I ALREADY SAID THIS!
I AM SHOUTING because I want to convey how STRONGLY I agree with David Limbaugh's article (link below). His hypothesis is that the Republican debate last week was long on drama. Where were the solutions? Months ago, I ranted about the need to lock all of the Republican candidates in a room together, and now, David Limbaugh's article - read the article here - essentially says the same things I thought when I posted that post back in July.
Last night, I spent over 3 hours watching last week's debate with Alex. He had an extra credit assignment, worth 12 points, and had to fill in a worksheet about what questions each candidate was asked and their responses. Candidate Carly Fiorina had two really strong sound bytes:
After this page was originally published, I came across another article. A memorable quote from it?
Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican:
Rea=d the full article. Be sure to read the comments. This is a pro-Republican article, published on the Huffington Post, a pro-Democrat website.
Last night, I spent over 3 hours watching last week's debate with Alex. He had an extra credit assignment, worth 12 points, and had to fill in a worksheet about what questions each candidate was asked and their responses. Candidate Carly Fiorina had two really strong sound bytes:
- 1
- .... I would ask your audience at home to ask a very basic question. Why have Democrats not solved this problem? President Obama campaigned in 2007 and 2008 on solving the immigration problem. He entered Washington with majorities in the House and the Senate. He could have chosen to do anything to solve this pro — this problem. Instead, he chose to do nothing. Why? because the Democrats don’t want this issue solved.
- 2
- .... if someone’s been in the system their whole life, they don’t know how broken the system is. A fish swims in water, it doesn’t know it’s water. It’s not that politicians are bad people, it’s that they’ve been in that system forever. The truth is 75 percent of the American people think the government is corrupt; 82 percent of the American people think these problems that have festered for 50 years in some cases, 25 years in other cases. The border’s been insecure for 25 years; 307,000 veterans have died waiting for health care. These things have gone on for so long because no one will challenge the status quo.
After this page was originally published, I came across another article. A memorable quote from it?
Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican:
Rea=d the full article. Be sure to read the comments. This is a pro-Republican article, published on the Huffington Post, a pro-Democrat website.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
PP
Pro-life... it's not just a catch phrase. A baby in the womb has no one to help. http://crooksandliars.com/2015/09/clinton-calls-out-fiorinas-irresponsible
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
Why Did they bother to Offer a Search button
I don't know the answer. When I searched for "Open the Printers window" in this doc, these are the results. The first result even has the word "Printer" in the text of the page! Why take up space on the page with a search field if it doesn't even work?!? Wasteful.
Night of Champions Prep
This quote:
"No wrestler has fought in more 3-hour PPV events without ever competing for the WWE than Sting has."
came from this page this page.
"No wrestler has fought in more 3-hour PPV events without ever competing for the WWE than Sting has."
came from this page this page.
Finally
It's always interesting how much people that use the Internet think they know about things they do not. Especially when it pertains to movies that are being filmed, theories are always being floated. I have been paying attention to the upcoming Star Wars VII movie as well as the Batman v. Superman movie. This page has pulled a possible plot of the SW VII movie out its arse and published. it here.
RN = R
Release notes are equal to the rage around work. There's different ideas about what should be included within them and what should be reverse included. I shared an article with my co-workers - link below - and pointed out that we are doing at least one, if not more, things better than Microsoft: we actually distribute release notes to our customers. We may be trying to feel our way through the appropriate content to include, but we at least realize that it's good to let the customer know what is different in a newly released software version! Here's the link.
Third Place Earns Zilch Primetime Game Starts
With the release of the Iowa Hawkeye men's basketball TV schedule, it's clear to me that no matter how great the season ended last year with its NCAA tournament participation, it wasn't enough. Third place in the Big Ten earned zilch for starting games. Not only does the team not have a Saturday game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, they also do not play in the early slot. Their home games during the week start at 8 PM. There's little likelihood that I will attend any home games during the week with Alex because getting home at 10:30ish on a school night isn't the best choice I can make for him. It's true that he has become a night owl - he was awake at 11 PM last night. Read all of the details here.
Another Odd Anniversary
Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of the release of the "Use Your Illusion I &II" from Guns-n-Roses. I remember when it was released. I was a senior at Mount Mercy College. I was the Arts & Entertainment Editor for the Minstrel, the campus newspaper. I was under a lot of stress and wasn't able to devote a lot of time to fulfilling that role. With a deadline approaching, I created a very short article of about 5 lines. I know I clipped the article from the newspaper and I know it was along the lines of this:
The new releases from Guns-n-Roses are called "Use Your Illusion I & II."
You should buy them.
Is there any more to say?
No.
Told you it was short and sweet. I only recalled this line of thinking because Loudwire, once again, posted an article about the anniversary of its release here. If I would have been involved in this release cycle, I wouldn't have allowed it to go out the way it did. Instead, I would have had a single release with these tracks:
1. "You Could Be Mine" Stradlin, Rose 5:43
2. "Live and Let Die" Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney 3:04
3. "You Ain't the First" Stradlin 2:36
4. "Back Off Bitch" Rose, Paul Tobias 5:03
5. "November Rain" Rose 8:575. "Don't Damn Me" Slash, Dave Lank, Rose 5:18
6. "Civil War" Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan 7:42
7. "14 Years" Izzy Stradlin, Rose 4:23
8. "Yesterdays" Rose, West Arkeen, Del James, Billy McCloud 3:14
9. "Get in the Ring" McKagan, Slash, Rose 5:42
10. "Don't Cry" Stradlin, Rose 4:45
11. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover) Bob Dylan 5:36
I always thought these two releases should have been stripped of the filler....
The new releases from Guns-n-Roses are called "Use Your Illusion I & II."
You should buy them.
Is there any more to say?
No.
Told you it was short and sweet. I only recalled this line of thinking because Loudwire, once again, posted an article about the anniversary of its release here. If I would have been involved in this release cycle, I wouldn't have allowed it to go out the way it did. Instead, I would have had a single release with these tracks:
1. "You Could Be Mine" Stradlin, Rose 5:43
2. "Live and Let Die" Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney 3:04
3. "You Ain't the First" Stradlin 2:36
4. "Back Off Bitch" Rose, Paul Tobias 5:03
5. "November Rain" Rose 8:575. "Don't Damn Me" Slash, Dave Lank, Rose 5:18
6. "Civil War" Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan 7:42
7. "14 Years" Izzy Stradlin, Rose 4:23
8. "Yesterdays" Rose, West Arkeen, Del James, Billy McCloud 3:14
9. "Get in the Ring" McKagan, Slash, Rose 5:42
10. "Don't Cry" Stradlin, Rose 4:45
11. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover) Bob Dylan 5:36
I always thought these two releases should have been stripped of the filler....
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
It's Political Seasoning at its Best and Worst
Articles about political candidates that I thought were interesting enough to create a blog post about in case I want to look back at the differences and similarities between all of the current candidates and the filtered version of "all of the current candidates" that are still trying to be elected president in the 2016 election cycle.
- Bernie Sanders
- http://www.redstate.com/2015/09/14/remember-bernie-sanders-socialist
- http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/15/1421562/-Bernie-Sanders-will-not-cost-the-nation-18-trillion
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/09/15/no-bernie-sanders-is-not-going-to-bankrupt-america-to-the-tune-of-18-trillion/
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerald-friedman/the-wall-street-journal-k_b_8143062.html
- http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-to-introduce-bill-targeting-high-drug-prices-1441839693
- http://fortune.com/2015/09/15/bernie-sanders-cost/
- Donald Trump
- http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/will-anyone-fact-check-donald-trump--525585475813?cid=eml_mlw_20150915
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-to-handle-donald-trumps-bullying/2015/09/15/6f0baeec-5bcf-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop_b
- http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/texas-trump-gop-frontrunner-goes-hard-immigration-texas-rally-n427381
- http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/boom-donald-trump-announces-5-point-plan-about-illegal-immigration/
- Syrian refugees
- http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/truth-behind-picture-claiming-show-6447418
- http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/officials-warn-20000-isis-jihadis-6443516
- Uncategorized
Automatically Generated Garbage
One of the challenges in my daily work is balancing "automation" and authentically trusting that the software I use (Confluence) will do what I want it to do when I use it the way their documentation tells me to use it. For example, their documentation told me that I could generate a PDF from a Confluence site. Their documentation is correct as the functionality to generate a PDF *does* exist.
What the documentation doesn't tell you is that you can't trust the result of the functionality. I did not glance at any other pages in this PDF. I found the following examples and realized I had content for a blog post. I immediately realized that a promise wasn't broken to the user. The documentation promises that the functionality to generate a PDF from your Confluence site is present. Definitely, that promise is kept. What the documentation doesn't do, though, is tell you that you should spot check the generated output for issues.
I spent less than 5 minutes looking at the content and I found issues. Professional documentation does not have dumb issues. Freely, I admit "professional documentation" is a judgment call so maybe my opposition to how these pages look and read is off-base. That said, I'm not wrong about this. Any professional writer or person that works with content that honestly believes the following are examples of "professional documentation" are flat-out wrong. But that's just my opinion so I could be wrong. Except I'm not. Here's the examples:
- Why is the heading row for this table on the previous page? At the bottom of the same page, a graphic doesn't display and, if it did, it appears as though the graphic would be cut off as it extends beyond the page margin.
- On the very next page, where is the graphic at the top of the page?
When I read this ad on Craigslist, David Lee Roth popped into my head. I didn't think about DLR because of his technical writing skills. Instead, I thought about him because of this song:
Here's the ad:
Technical Writer (Port Hueneme, CA)
compensation: Negotiable
employment type: full-time
Requires:
• High School Diploma/GED
• 1-3 years' specialized equivalent work experience
• DOD Background Check
• Full-Time
Candidate must have a good understanding of the work done at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Port Hueneme Division. Requires an above average working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook). Must have an excellent command of the English language, both verbal and written. Must have good knowledge of grammar, composition, spelling, and punctuation. Must use strong writing skills to communicate complex technical and/or Navy/Public policy issues to a diverse audience; this includes writing news releases, articles, talking points, and social media messages. Must be able to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Functional Responsibility:
Serves as a technical writer and reporter performing facets of journalistic writing styles and supports communications initiatives. Researches, writes, and edits internal and external written products such as magazine/newspaper articles, talking points, statements, speeches, presentations, website material, operations, news releases, fact sheets and other materials for publication or posting electronically. As required, represents customer at meetings, conferences, committees, within Ventura County and with external organizations. Identifies opportunities for positive media coverage. Assists in developing, reviews, and analyzes command communications plan, identifies necessary resources and submits recommendations for customer final approval.
Please visit our career center to apply:
https://workforcenow.adp.com/jobs/apply/posting.html?client=qisolution&ccId=19000101_000001&type=MP&lang=en_US#
Disclaimer:
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned this classification and are not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employees so classified. Other duties may be assigned. Job Descriptions are subject to change at any time. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, Veteran, or disabled.
Could you ask for any other requirements?!?
Here's the ad:
Technical Writer (Port Hueneme, CA)
compensation: Negotiable
employment type: full-time
Requires:
• High School Diploma/GED
• 1-3 years' specialized equivalent work experience
• DOD Background Check
• Full-Time
Candidate must have a good understanding of the work done at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Port Hueneme Division. Requires an above average working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook). Must have an excellent command of the English language, both verbal and written. Must have good knowledge of grammar, composition, spelling, and punctuation. Must use strong writing skills to communicate complex technical and/or Navy/Public policy issues to a diverse audience; this includes writing news releases, articles, talking points, and social media messages. Must be able to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Functional Responsibility:
Serves as a technical writer and reporter performing facets of journalistic writing styles and supports communications initiatives. Researches, writes, and edits internal and external written products such as magazine/newspaper articles, talking points, statements, speeches, presentations, website material, operations, news releases, fact sheets and other materials for publication or posting electronically. As required, represents customer at meetings, conferences, committees, within Ventura County and with external organizations. Identifies opportunities for positive media coverage. Assists in developing, reviews, and analyzes command communications plan, identifies necessary resources and submits recommendations for customer final approval.
Please visit our career center to apply:
https://workforcenow.adp.com/jobs/apply/posting.html?client=qisolution&ccId=19000101_000001&type=MP&lang=en_US#
Disclaimer:
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned this classification and are not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employees so classified. Other duties may be assigned. Job Descriptions are subject to change at any time. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, Veteran, or disabled.
Could you ask for any other requirements?!?
Nation of Our Youth
Given that the nation of our youth are continuing to learn how to play music, I think our future will continue to hear brilliance. Personally, in 2000, I was playing with three (at the time) co-workers and, flat-out, I couldn't play the Tool tune that is embedded below. I would get to the end solo and blam! I fell apart. Years later, I saw a transcription of what he's playing and I felt slightly better. There's all sorts of odd time signatures that I freely admit are beyond my drumming abilities.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Progressing DAMN Progressing DAMN (and Repeat)
The title of this post reflects the way I feel about the reconstruction of my music collection. As I've mentioned previously, I have backups scattered across the multiple partitions of my MyCloud drive and, as I've previously mentioned, I am consolidating a lot of folders into a single folder structure. I've not yet begun to weed out duplicate files as I'd like to have a single folder structure first. Once I have that folder structure, I plan to eliminate duplicate files. Then, when I have a single folder structure without duplicate files, I want to purchase a new external hard drive so that I can take music with me back and forth to work.
In the meantime, I tolerate the lack of access to a single folder structure with 100,000 files....
In the meantime, I tolerate the lack of access to a single folder structure with 100,000 files....
Monday, September 14, 2015
Passing
I think my sobriety (as of today, 4 years, 8 months, 2 weeks) is the
only non-5 year anniversary I think about on a yearly basis. Over the
weekend, surrounded by tailgating festivities at the UNI v. Eastern
Washington game in Cedar Falls and seeing Megan marching on the football
field during half-time of the game, I realized I just do not miss
drinking booze. I don't miss being hung over or saying or doing or thinking or even writing the stupid things I did for all of those years.
It used to be that anniversaries were celebrated by 5s. Celebrations are often conducted on the 10th or the 15th or the 20th or the 25th anniversary of an event, whether it is related to death (so-and-so died 10 years ago) or life (so-and-so has been married 10 years). Compared to the 7th anniversary of an event, there was no hoopla and no celebrations. Personally, except for knowing the number of years I've been married to Karen (22),
That all said, it seems like the Loudwire website would be intentionally pulling out a random anniversary and writing about it because they need content. And, on the surface, this article about the 7th anniversary of the "Death Magnetic" release from Metallica would fit that generalization. Except this 7th anniversary is significant. Some Metallica fans are upset that the band hasn't churned out a release since "DM" as they grumble about touring overseas and playing festival shows instead of working on new material. They've released a movie, they've released 5 demos - a new tune called "The Lords of Summer" and demo versions of 4 tunes that didn't make it onto the album as "Demo Magnetic" in December 2011. To a lot of fans, they've done "nothing" in 7 years. Of course, as a fan of the band, I don't see it that way. I'd much rather have them take as long as they need than to churn out an album of songs that sound like they didn't need to be released in the first place.
I do wish that more tunes "Death Magnetic" would be played on a regular basis, specifically "All Nightmare Long" and "The Judas Kiss" getting into the setlist instead of (gasp) "Enter Sandman" and "Nothing Else Matters" and yes, I realize those two tunes are what a lot of fans come to hear. But for the fans of the band since hearing "And Justice for All" and earlier releases, I'd much rather hear "Harvester of Sorrow" than "Sad But True," which I like as a tune, but not at the expense of not adding "ANL" and "TJK" to the setlist. I do want to hear "Creeping Death" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" but I don't need to hear "Fade to Black" at the same concert as "Nothing Else Matters" or "The Unforgiven" (or any of its sequels). All that said, I certainly do not envy Lars Ulrich when he is trying to determine what tunes to play.
It used to be that anniversaries were celebrated by 5s. Celebrations are often conducted on the 10th or the 15th or the 20th or the 25th anniversary of an event, whether it is related to death (so-and-so died 10 years ago) or life (so-and-so has been married 10 years). Compared to the 7th anniversary of an event, there was no hoopla and no celebrations. Personally, except for knowing the number of years I've been married to Karen (22),
That all said, it seems like the Loudwire website would be intentionally pulling out a random anniversary and writing about it because they need content. And, on the surface, this article about the 7th anniversary of the "Death Magnetic" release from Metallica would fit that generalization. Except this 7th anniversary is significant. Some Metallica fans are upset that the band hasn't churned out a release since "DM" as they grumble about touring overseas and playing festival shows instead of working on new material. They've released a movie, they've released 5 demos - a new tune called "The Lords of Summer" and demo versions of 4 tunes that didn't make it onto the album as "Demo Magnetic" in December 2011. To a lot of fans, they've done "nothing" in 7 years. Of course, as a fan of the band, I don't see it that way. I'd much rather have them take as long as they need than to churn out an album of songs that sound like they didn't need to be released in the first place.
I do wish that more tunes "Death Magnetic" would be played on a regular basis, specifically "All Nightmare Long" and "The Judas Kiss" getting into the setlist instead of (gasp) "Enter Sandman" and "Nothing Else Matters" and yes, I realize those two tunes are what a lot of fans come to hear. But for the fans of the band since hearing "And Justice for All" and earlier releases, I'd much rather hear "Harvester of Sorrow" than "Sad But True," which I like as a tune, but not at the expense of not adding "ANL" and "TJK" to the setlist. I do want to hear "Creeping Death" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" but I don't need to hear "Fade to Black" at the same concert as "Nothing Else Matters" or "The Unforgiven" (or any of its sequels). All that said, I certainly do not envy Lars Ulrich when he is trying to determine what tunes to play.
Familiar
I think I sat by a bunch of "Mark Bogdanski" clones at the Iowa City West football game on Friday night. It wasn't just the spotting of the football that I heard complaints about - pass interference was a common cause of anguished discontent. For the record, Iowa City West was thumped by Cedar Rapids Washington.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Holy Buckets of Forgetfulness!!!
One of my recent rediscoveries in life is how damn much Bigwig, that punk band from New Jersey that taught me there are alternates to Green Day's commercialized - no, I'm specifically saying "commercialized" because I like Green Day and would never use adjectives like "bad" or "awful" to describe them - punk rock. Years ago, seeing Bigwig at Gabe's Oasis was beyond awesome. I wrote about their debut on dailyvault.com and the rest of their releases here. I happened to come across a concert on youtube that they played in 2015! I didn't know they were still a band!!!
Never Too Early
... to think about Iowa men's basketball. Since the outing of Todd Lickliter, the excitement that surrounded the hiring of his replacement has yet to dissipate. Fans, like me, go to home games. This article breaks down the keys to a successful season. On top of the reasons cited in the article, I think this season has the makings of a breakout year. The first and fourth game of the season are against MSU, first at home on 12/29, second at East Lansing. Team chemistry will be crucial during both of those games. If team chemistry is there, the outcome could be two victories over Tom Izzo and, of course, without team chemistry, the outcome could be two defeats. Worst case scenario is to split the two games with a win at home at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and a loss on the road. Personally, I'm very excited for the season to commence.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
What We've Got here is [a] Failure to Communicate
I have zero idea what Krauthammer is trying to communicate - it's really confusing.
Did you as a criterion for erasing stuff on the grounds that it is not public, was one of those criteria references to the foundation?’ And if her answer is yes – who knows what it will be? – but if the answer is yes, that’s what she is trying to hide.
Did you as a criterion for erasing stuff on the grounds that it is not public, was one of those criteria references to the foundation?’ And if her answer is yes – who knows what it will be? – but if the answer is yes, that’s what she is trying to hide.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Seriously Awful
From http://www.kcrg.com/subject/news/man-seriously-injured-after-falling-off-golf-cart-20150905
"Jessie Philiph, 29, was riding with fell off while riding with two men in the vicinity of Creek Ridge Drive and Meadow Creek Drive in Palo."
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Hot
No. 1 Valley topples Iowa City West (Sent from The Gazette) http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/preps/football/no-1-valley-topples-iowa-city-west-20150905
Friday, September 4, 2015
An Original Fable
Once upon a time, there was a wife whose husband passed away unexpectedly. Soon after his death, she began attending bereavement sessions to help overcome her grief. As time went on, she felt as if she would never get over her husband's death. He had not been perfect, but he was an awesome lover and she missed the way he could make her feel when they were intimate. She had been attending these bereavement sessions for over ten years and nothing was helping her overcome her grief. One afternoon, a couple of hours before a scheduled session, she said to herself, "I am gaining no benefit from going to these sessions. I go week after week and I sit and wish I were somewhere else. I will go to this session tonight but it will be my last one. Because I don't feel a benefit from going, I will stop wasting my time and stop wishing for my beloved husband to come back from heaven. I will be glad when this night is over." Later, at the session, the wife spoke up to the other attendees and stated that after over ten years of grieving for her beloved husband, she was no longer going to attend the sessions. She stated that she realized she would never stop grieving for her late husband and it had taken her over ten years to realize that. The other attendees murmured softly as she said her farewell to the group. At the end of the meeting, after everyone had appeared to leave, the wife locked up the room and turned around. Sitting outside was a woman, sobbing. This woman had sporadically attended the bereavement sessions over the last ten years. While she was not as much of a regular attendee as the wife had been, this woman had never said a word during the sessions. She would sit in the back of the room and listen. Even after a session, this woman had never spoken directly to the wife. The wife knew that this woman had lost her husband around the same time that she had lost hers and had began to attend the bereavement sessions around the same time. Now, this woman approached the wife. "I heard what you said. Did you learn nothing? You still think these sessions are for you?" And with that, the woman walked away from the wife.
The End
The End
Thursday, September 3, 2015
In the Works
This was on Craigslist. I'm trying to set up its purchase today! It's not exactly what I want because it will go in my dock and not be an external hard drive I can take back and forth from home to work.
New Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal - $40
Hi, I'm selling New Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive.
I ordered from Amazone, but I didn't open. Please text me
Thanks.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T3GRNW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
I'm to the point where my Cloud drive (at home) has copies of copies of copies of files and I need a fresh location to sort through the chaos. Then, when the chaos has been sorted out, I'll look into a new and portable external hard drive for taking to work for listening to tunes as I work.
New Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal - $40
Hi, I'm selling New Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive.
I ordered from Amazone, but I didn't open. Please text me
Thanks.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005T3GRNW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
I'm to the point where my Cloud drive (at home) has copies of copies of copies of files and I need a fresh location to sort through the chaos. Then, when the chaos has been sorted out, I'll look into a new and portable external hard drive for taking to work for listening to tunes as I work.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
GTR
Wow, does this bring back memories! GTR has been criminally overlooked. No, they were not a major player when they released their self-titled album in 1989.
http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-09-01/hackett-and-howe-in-gtr-reissue
http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-09-01/hackett-and-howe-in-gtr-reissue
Memories of the Twins
I was trying to remember a name that I knew Jeremy, my co-worker and guitarist / vocalist in Rattlebox, would know. After telling me the name, we had the following chat:
Me: are you in the Twin Cities?
Jeremy: Yes, that's where we are staying.
me: I have fond memories of downtown Twin Cities for a few reasons.
Me: are you in the Twin Cities?
Jeremy: Yes, that's where we are staying.
During my freshman year of [Mount Mercy] college (1988), Karen and I met on a bus trip from CR to Mpls to see the Twins play the Chi White Sox. The guy down the hall from me was from Waukegan, IL, and coaxed me into going. Life-changing. My brother lives in a northern suburb - Rogers - and we had his bachelor party downtown. I don't remember much except that there's a bar called the Library In 2012, my friend Kevin and I drove up to see Opeth / Katatonia @ First Avenue. That was a good time.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Seven Days, Seven Awesome Tunes
It's 9:15 PM and I'm organizing the files on my network Cloud drive. On one of the drives, I have 10,735 PDFs. Before feeling impressed, realize that most of these PDFs are copies of copies. I have files called:
But all of that is not what I wanted to write about. Instead, I wanted to write that one week from tonight is the Bayside concert at Wooly's in Des Moines. I am journeying to Des Moines with Chris, my friend from QDS. I look forward to both aspects of the evening: the nearly 2 hour car ride conversation and seeing one of my favorite bands live.
The following are the seven songs I really, truly, hope they play next week.
- 2007_02.pdf
- 2007_02 (2).pdf
- 2007_02 (3).pdf
- 2007_02 (4).pdf
- 2007_02 (5).pdf
- 2007_02 (6).pdf
But all of that is not what I wanted to write about. Instead, I wanted to write that one week from tonight is the Bayside concert at Wooly's in Des Moines. I am journeying to Des Moines with Chris, my friend from QDS. I look forward to both aspects of the evening: the nearly 2 hour car ride conversation and seeing one of my favorite bands live.
The following are the seven songs I really, truly, hope they play next week.
- Devotion and Desire
- They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns
- Blame It On Bad Luck
- Montauk
- I and I
- Masterpeace
- The Wrong Way
Resurrecting the Curse and Fishing for Data
Two quick things from my email inbox this AM that warrant a few words.
- Sometimes, I wish it were easier to turn off the internal editor / critical thinker / text analyzer aspect of my self that I have nurtured by working as a technical writer for 20 years. In at least one way, it would make life easier as I wouldn't feel compelled to notice websites and writing that are blatantly wrong. Maybe, and I'm just throwing pasta against the wall to see if it sticks, the recent "Back to the Future" marathon on AMC interrupted the writing of the first sentence to the extent that it felt so perfect to write and so comprehensible to the writer that there would be zero need for an editor.
- Look at the bottom of this screen capture. See the hyperlink code that is behind the link? Yeah, that's not Bank of America's URL. Someone sent that email in the hope that I would click the link and submit my personal data. Not going to happen!
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