First of all I want to say that this post is nothing negative towards Twitter as a service, company, or concept. I love Twitter and I still continue to embrace it (even if it is sometimes unreliable). What this post is about is how the human race continues to self-destruct because of a growing "logic" that is counter to what we are designed for.
When I first started using Twitter it was only because I thought it would be a way of updating my clients to let them know which building I was in and whether I was able to take on extra projects that day. As for the concept of Twitter, I thought it was absolutely retarded. I had the reaction that pretty much everyone that hasn't tried Twitter has: "Why do I care that someone is eating a cheese sandwhich?" It wasn't until I set up my Twitter account that I realized the community was a breeding ground for very strong relationships because what everyone's tweets were was simply daily life. It was them in a very unfiltered way. Because of this you start to understand a lot more about people and you find ways to connect with them that you never would have in any other fashion. Sure there are blogs but the majority of blogs are passed through our internal editor (aka, IMO, the frontal lobe) and is dulled down and made to be exciting or made to hide true emotions. It wasn't until what happened with the Frozen Pea Fund that I fully realized the potential of what the community inside of Twitter held. A couple years ago everyone would have said it was crazy to want to tell the world that you are holding a bag of frozen peas against your breasts.... but now we see where the "stupid" little things make a huge difference when a single tweet, stating just that, launched a movement that has raised many of thousands of dollars for breast cancer research.
But what happened? One of my tweets last night said "Starting to feel like I'm tweeting to the wall".... and I started thinking about that. Twitter used to be a place where I had a lot of encouragement when I was down. If I said something was bugging me, there were people that responded with advice or even just a simple "I'm thinking of you" but now I notice less and less replies to anything that I am saying. Interestingly enough, I start feeling this way around the same time that "Follow Spam" is becoming a heated topic. On top of that, it seems like the people that embraced Twitter for the community that it was are now more concerned about their "numbers" than about what is actually going on in people's lives. The concept of more followers is interpreted as cash value to so many people now and it's gone so far as someone selling their Twitter account on eBay.
So now it appears that Twitter has progressed into a medium to make money while losing the concept of community and compassion that was what brought people to Twitter in the first place. I think its great that there are people who have Twitter accounts to broadcast news and I think its great when a person shares a story that really jumps out at them because these are all part of the community but where the community is starting to self-destruct is when the focus becomes getting more followers rather than recognizing the followers that you do have. More and more tweets are being consumed by "I'm almost at 500 followers and need 8 more" while 492 people now don't matter because they already are a follower. Of course once you have someone following you it's rude not to follow them and now it's also a sure sign of many spammers so you, in turn, have to follow the 500 people that are following you and, in doing so, you eliminate the ability to genuinely care about the people you follow simply because you are overloaded and don't have the time to care about the person that is eating the cheese sandwhich and we revert back to life before Twitter except that now we drive ourselves to post tweets and now it's another "task" that we have to do rather than something we want to do.
The whole timeline of Twitter has displayed exactly why we, as humans, simply can't seem to be happy anymore. We focus on everything in ways that it can be turned into money, add stress to our lives, and lose any kind of compassion that we have on anyone else. Interestingly enough I think the reason why Twitter and just about any other social network gains such a following in the beginning is because our human emotions are so starved for interaction in this face paced world. Social networking allows us to interact with real humans while being "on the go" but the problem is that the world teaches us that the most important thing is to make money so we end up self-destructing any process that gives us that interaction by trying to monetize the most important thing to the human race: emotional stimulation. Once emotional stimulation is monetized it becomes a job rather than an enjoyment.
In 1997 after Steve Jobs rejoined Apple Computer, he made an annoucement at his keynote that Apple Computer was joining forces with Microsoft. Steve, who has an almost cult-like following, was literally booed. Steve's response was "we have to let go of this notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose". Steve went on to say if someone wants to help them then that's great because they need all they help they can get. The reality of the human race is just that. We all truly do need all the help we can get. I don't care how much money you make or what you have -- you still need other people's help and they need yours. When those 492 people don't matter because you are trying to get a mere 8 more and you focus on those 8 people you are trading 492 people that could potentially be those that will help you in exchange for only 8. It's so true that everyone's focus is on acquiring more that they lose any consideration to what they do have and it creates a perpetual greed cycle which, sadly, is becomming just as true with regards to emotions and compassion than it is with money.
Our society certainly is self-destructing and we're doing it because we turn our advancements into things that only set us back because the prize is always what is ahead and never what is already there. We're in a vicious cycle that is only gaining more and more force with each advancement and, while we are solving one or two problems with advancements, we are creating 5 more. The end result is that we display an image of advancement but in each person's lives we realize that it really is just that: nothing more than an image.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Giving birds vitamins (in a way they love)
I have sworn by Hagen Prime
because of the mixture of vitamins in it as well as the fact that it also provides amino acids and other things that birds need which most supplements don't include. My cockatiel has always been especially picky with eating and I had resorted to mixing Prime in all of my birds' water dishes but it can sometimes create an unpleasant odor after some time and with 2 of my 3 birds loving to dunk their food in their water it got ugly after less than a day at times. I tried putting the powder on top of certain treats but they were smart enough to eat around the powder. I finally came to this conclusion.
Get a slice of bread (See Note Below) and sprinkle about a tablespoon of Hagen Prime all over the slice and then rub it in with your fingers making sure that the entire face of the bread is covered. Seal the slice in a zip lock bag and leave it sit for at least a few hours or overnight. Because of the contents of the powder and the moisture in the bread the soluable parts of the Prime work their way into the bread reducing the areas that the bird can eat around. Once it's disolved overnight you can break off a small peice of the bread and feed it to your bird and then refrigerate the rest in the zip lock bag.
Important notes about bread:
First of all it is important to understand that bread it's self has health benefits for birds such as calcium and fiber, however, you have to remember that most breads contain yeast and will generally expand in the stomach. Because of this you do not want to feed your bird a large amount of bread. If you were to give your bird an entire slice of bread he may eat more than he should. This is especially true with smaller birds such as cockatiels.
Secondly, you can use pretty much any bread for this that you'd like but I use Potato bread for a couple of reasons (other than the fact that I usually have it). Because of the potato mixture of the bread it remains lighter and fluffier and holds moisture longer. As a result it absorbs the prime better than white bread (as far as I've noticed).
I'm sure there are some wild opinions on the use of certain types of bread because of sugars and such. In my opinion, however, the amount of sugars and other "non-healthy" substances in a tiny peice of bread is low enough that it won't make much difference. My birds absolutely love this, seemingly even more than plain bread at times. The Prime does have a pleasant scent and taste for birds so I'm sure that helps.
Any comments on this are welcomed! If you have birds and try this, please leave a comment and let me know how they like it.
because of the mixture of vitamins in it as well as the fact that it also provides amino acids and other things that birds need which most supplements don't include. My cockatiel has always been especially picky with eating and I had resorted to mixing Prime in all of my birds' water dishes but it can sometimes create an unpleasant odor after some time and with 2 of my 3 birds loving to dunk their food in their water it got ugly after less than a day at times. I tried putting the powder on top of certain treats but they were smart enough to eat around the powder. I finally came to this conclusion.Get a slice of bread (See Note Below) and sprinkle about a tablespoon of Hagen Prime all over the slice and then rub it in with your fingers making sure that the entire face of the bread is covered. Seal the slice in a zip lock bag and leave it sit for at least a few hours or overnight. Because of the contents of the powder and the moisture in the bread the soluable parts of the Prime work their way into the bread reducing the areas that the bird can eat around. Once it's disolved overnight you can break off a small peice of the bread and feed it to your bird and then refrigerate the rest in the zip lock bag.
Important notes about bread:
First of all it is important to understand that bread it's self has health benefits for birds such as calcium and fiber, however, you have to remember that most breads contain yeast and will generally expand in the stomach. Because of this you do not want to feed your bird a large amount of bread. If you were to give your bird an entire slice of bread he may eat more than he should. This is especially true with smaller birds such as cockatiels.
Secondly, you can use pretty much any bread for this that you'd like but I use Potato bread for a couple of reasons (other than the fact that I usually have it). Because of the potato mixture of the bread it remains lighter and fluffier and holds moisture longer. As a result it absorbs the prime better than white bread (as far as I've noticed).
I'm sure there are some wild opinions on the use of certain types of bread because of sugars and such. In my opinion, however, the amount of sugars and other "non-healthy" substances in a tiny peice of bread is low enough that it won't make much difference. My birds absolutely love this, seemingly even more than plain bread at times. The Prime does have a pleasant scent and taste for birds so I'm sure that helps.
Any comments on this are welcomed! If you have birds and try this, please leave a comment and let me know how they like it.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Lisa layed eggs
It seems there always something new around the corner to be learned and its funny how sometimes you know things can and probably will happen but you seem unconcerned until it does happen. The last couple of days Lisa had been acting.... well, just not herself. Today I took her outside for a while and she was a lot more aggitated than she had been before.... when I took her in to the bird room she flew to her cage -- which is somewhat odd. I just now noticed that back in the corner of the cage there are 2 eggs that she had layed. This explains a lot.
A little information about cockatiels is that they usually will still lay unfertile eggs even if they don't have a mate and, as with a human mother, this is an emotional period. The thing that I need to do is figure out if she realizes that the eggs are unfertile or not. Even if she does know it its important to allow her to become bored and uninterested before I remove the eggs. Its crazy.... *I* feel bad that they arent fertile eggs. It would be totally awesome to have little baby cockatiels but that would, of course, be a lot of work for me if I wanted to hand feed them.
Should be an interesting week or so for me....
A little information about cockatiels is that they usually will still lay unfertile eggs even if they don't have a mate and, as with a human mother, this is an emotional period. The thing that I need to do is figure out if she realizes that the eggs are unfertile or not. Even if she does know it its important to allow her to become bored and uninterested before I remove the eggs. Its crazy.... *I* feel bad that they arent fertile eggs. It would be totally awesome to have little baby cockatiels but that would, of course, be a lot of work for me if I wanted to hand feed them.
Should be an interesting week or so for me....
Thursday, April 24, 2008
"What Do You Think About That?"
I heard it through the grapevine
My new neighbor don't like my big red barn
A '47 Ford, bullet holes in the door
Broke down motor in the front yard
I got half a mind to paint a plywood sign
And nail it up on a notty pine tree
Saying I was here first
This is my piece of dirt
And your rambling don't rattle me
Some people care about what other people think
Worry about what they say
Let a little gossip
Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day
Say, blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws
Got a letta roll off-a my back
I don't give a dern what other people think
What do ya think about that
I wear what I want to, overalls work boots
Crank my music up loud
Like to sling a little mud in my four wheel drive
Trek it all into town
Shot a little eight ball down at the pool hall
Drink a beer with my friends
Now don't judge me and I won't judge you
Cause we all get judged in the end
Some people care about what other people think
Worry about what they say
Let a little gossip
Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day
Say, blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws
Got a letta roll offa my back
I don't give a dern what other people think
What do ya think about that
Some people care about what other people think
Worry about what they say
Let a little gossip
Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day
Say, blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws
Got a letta roll offa my back
I don't give a dern what other people think
What do ya think about that
Say, I don't give a damn what other people think
What do ya think about that
What do ya think about that
"What Do You Think About That" by Montgomery Gentry
My new neighbor don't like my big red barn
A '47 Ford, bullet holes in the door
Broke down motor in the front yard
I got half a mind to paint a plywood sign
And nail it up on a notty pine tree
Saying I was here first
This is my piece of dirt
And your rambling don't rattle me
Some people care about what other people think
Worry about what they say
Let a little gossip
Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day
Say, blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws
Got a letta roll off-a my back
I don't give a dern what other people think
What do ya think about that
I wear what I want to, overalls work boots
Crank my music up loud
Like to sling a little mud in my four wheel drive
Trek it all into town
Shot a little eight ball down at the pool hall
Drink a beer with my friends
Now don't judge me and I won't judge you
Cause we all get judged in the end
Some people care about what other people think
Worry about what they say
Let a little gossip
Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day
Say, blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws
Got a letta roll offa my back
I don't give a dern what other people think
What do ya think about that
Some people care about what other people think
Worry about what they say
Let a little gossip
Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day
Say, blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws
Got a letta roll offa my back
I don't give a dern what other people think
What do ya think about that
Say, I don't give a damn what other people think
What do ya think about that
What do ya think about that
"What Do You Think About That" by Montgomery Gentry
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Clinton doesnt see what she's doing . . .
I really have always believed the the democratic party was just a 3 ring circus (tho I'm not saying that the republicans are much better). Something happened this year that really changed my view on a lot of things -- and the view of MANY MANY other people. The biggest change I think happened in my generation. Barack Obama has really presented himself as someone who believes that both parties are out of control. He has been as real as I think he can possibly be. What has happened over the last year is that the democratic party has brough a lot of new people into their camp.... and I mean A LOT!
But here is the problem. Right now Clinton is being the perfect stereo-typical democrat in the eyes of anyone outside of the democratic party. She has conducted a 3 ring circus over the past month or two and has been caught in a whole slew of lies as she changed her views on things depending on which way the blows. Watching her in the debates was painful because she displayed the same exact sensationalism that the media thrives on and displayed a clear point that she is very capable of changing her mind on anything for any reason at all -- and this is what the people who have moved into the democratic camp did so because they were looking to change this very thing. I mean, she changed her slogan to an almost exact copy of Obama's after she saw that the concept is what the people wanted. I dont think she has anything that defines her but she is defined by what everyone projects to her.
I really think that the Democratic party is really destroying it's self. It is completely ruining any advantage that it was starting to gain. The people that have moved into the democratic camp are now seeing first hand the things that they always believed about the democrats. At the end of the day all that has happened after watching the circus that has been Clinton's campaign the democratic party has proven that they really are everything the republicans has said they were.... the real problem is that it is now not just speculation but it has been proven to them.
I am still really holding out hope that Obama will be the next president because I think that he really is a refreshing change to politics in general but if Clinton continues this game and she becomes the democratic nominee I'm not sure what I will be doing in the general election. I am fed up with the Republican party but I absolutely DESPISE the attitude that Hilary has right now. What scares me is the fact that after seeing all of this I may well go into the "screw it" mode and just quit caring anymore because the only two parties that have a change really are republican and democrat and both are just a freaking disaster, well, why should I care?
Somewhere in the distance I hear Canada calling my name..... I think it started with a voice from a canadian doctor's office and its spreading to about every other aspect of life.
But here is the problem. Right now Clinton is being the perfect stereo-typical democrat in the eyes of anyone outside of the democratic party. She has conducted a 3 ring circus over the past month or two and has been caught in a whole slew of lies as she changed her views on things depending on which way the blows. Watching her in the debates was painful because she displayed the same exact sensationalism that the media thrives on and displayed a clear point that she is very capable of changing her mind on anything for any reason at all -- and this is what the people who have moved into the democratic camp did so because they were looking to change this very thing. I mean, she changed her slogan to an almost exact copy of Obama's after she saw that the concept is what the people wanted. I dont think she has anything that defines her but she is defined by what everyone projects to her.
I really think that the Democratic party is really destroying it's self. It is completely ruining any advantage that it was starting to gain. The people that have moved into the democratic camp are now seeing first hand the things that they always believed about the democrats. At the end of the day all that has happened after watching the circus that has been Clinton's campaign the democratic party has proven that they really are everything the republicans has said they were.... the real problem is that it is now not just speculation but it has been proven to them.
I am still really holding out hope that Obama will be the next president because I think that he really is a refreshing change to politics in general but if Clinton continues this game and she becomes the democratic nominee I'm not sure what I will be doing in the general election. I am fed up with the Republican party but I absolutely DESPISE the attitude that Hilary has right now. What scares me is the fact that after seeing all of this I may well go into the "screw it" mode and just quit caring anymore because the only two parties that have a change really are republican and democrat and both are just a freaking disaster, well, why should I care?
Somewhere in the distance I hear Canada calling my name..... I think it started with a voice from a canadian doctor's office and its spreading to about every other aspect of life.
GBMH211W6 Review (Bluetooth Headphones)
As you probably know, I am a data center technician. I have long been frustrated that I was never able to listen to music without a headset but when I would do that I suddenly lost the ability to hear things such as IMs or my cell phone ringing. Of course you can only pair a bluetooth headset with one device -- until the GBMH211W6 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones from IO Gear.
I easily paired these headphones with my MacBook and my BlackBerry Pearl and they do exactly what they say. I can listen to music through iTunes and have the ability to hear IM alerts and such and I can control the music volume and track as well as play/pause all from the headset it's self. If a call comes into my cell phone these headphones automatically pause the music on my computer and allow me to take the call and will unpause the music whenever the call is complete. I am also able to place a call using voice dialing without going near my computer or my phone. The way this is able to work is these headphones support 2 different bluetooth profiles. One is the headset profile and the other is the headphone profile. Your cell phone will pair with the headset profile and your laptop with the headphone profile.
Aside from the incredible advantage that the above options provide the headphones are very comfortable and they sound great. I'm sure if your an audiophile who swears by Bose you will probably find something wrong with the quality but for what the normal mobile person uses these types of things for I think they far excel. Being surrounded by thousands of computers has always been an issue for me with the background noise but I am able to hear music just fine and I've had a couple conversations on the phone using these that the other party had no issue hearing me.
And beyond all of that... the battery life is AWESOME. I used these for about 8 hours in the data center and had it paired with both devices the whole time.... at least 7 hours of that was with music playing and when I left for the day the headphones gave no indication that the battery was running low. Oh.... and range is far better than any bluetooth headset I have used with my phone.... I've gone well over the 30ft range that it claims and the connection was still stable.... and this is in a building where the 2.4ghz spectrum is quite crowded.
I easily paired these headphones with my MacBook and my BlackBerry Pearl and they do exactly what they say. I can listen to music through iTunes and have the ability to hear IM alerts and such and I can control the music volume and track as well as play/pause all from the headset it's self. If a call comes into my cell phone these headphones automatically pause the music on my computer and allow me to take the call and will unpause the music whenever the call is complete. I am also able to place a call using voice dialing without going near my computer or my phone. The way this is able to work is these headphones support 2 different bluetooth profiles. One is the headset profile and the other is the headphone profile. Your cell phone will pair with the headset profile and your laptop with the headphone profile.
Aside from the incredible advantage that the above options provide the headphones are very comfortable and they sound great. I'm sure if your an audiophile who swears by Bose you will probably find something wrong with the quality but for what the normal mobile person uses these types of things for I think they far excel. Being surrounded by thousands of computers has always been an issue for me with the background noise but I am able to hear music just fine and I've had a couple conversations on the phone using these that the other party had no issue hearing me.
And beyond all of that... the battery life is AWESOME. I used these for about 8 hours in the data center and had it paired with both devices the whole time.... at least 7 hours of that was with music playing and when I left for the day the headphones gave no indication that the battery was running low. Oh.... and range is far better than any bluetooth headset I have used with my phone.... I've gone well over the 30ft range that it claims and the connection was still stable.... and this is in a building where the 2.4ghz spectrum is quite crowded.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Comcast vs Comcast?
Anyone that has talked to me since I moved into my house knows that I have an ever growing hatred for Comcast and it's business practices. They have violated so many people on moral issues that its not even funny. My biggest problem with the company is that they put a ton of money into figuring out ways to keep traffic off their network (read: screw their customer) instead of using that money to actually build a network capable of supporting what the customer wants to do with the service that they are paying Comcast for. It doesn't make sense that you would work on finding ways to force someone to stay with you (monopolies, legal issues, etc) instead of actually creating a product that people want to stay with. This is why we are falling behind in internet access.
So isn't this Comcast vs All and not Comcast vs Comcast? Well, it depends. Recently there is a new twitter account, @comcastcares, that has really been showing a different side of Comcast. What's so different? Well, the username that Frank Eliason (the owner of the account) picked is actually a true representation of him. He works for Comcast and he actually does care. My first interaction with him was less than a week ago and we debated for about an hour on Twitter about topics ranging from net neutrality to business practices, etc. Many did see me as outright attacking him but the truth was I really wanted to see how the response was handled... and I have to say I was VERY impressed. Frank responded as best he could to all of my comments and, as he should as an employee, he never once bashed what Comcast was doing but he was very understanding of the concerns that I was bringing up. That night I had a slightly new view of Comcast. A few days later I explained the customer service scenario I had when I called because my rate doubled and the CSR I spoke with literally told me to cancel my account and, when I asked for a manager, was told that no manager can speak with me but she assured me that the manager would say the exact same thing that she did. Frank was infuriated over the situation and said that he was going to pull up my account and look into the matter. Yesterday he got back to me and told me he was going to put me on a promotion of my choice and I selected a 16meg down and 2meg upstream connection for $24.95/mo for 6 months. Surprisingly my bandwidth test this morning is showing that I am getting the full 2meg upstream (which is actually more important to me than the downstream since I use remote access software) and I am getting 25 meg down. I'm impressed.... but I really am not going to comment until I see that speed sustained because I've noticed a lot of packet shaping in my bandwidth and I've seen connections during downloads start out super fast and then slow to almost unbearable before.
But while Twitter is being used for good by Frank to help Comcast, it also is allowing consumers to share their experiences with Comcast and yesterday and today we were painted a picture of who Comcast is and, well, it's still the same old Comcast business practices that are consistently reminding customers of how horrible it is being trapped with a company and having no alternative.
It's really sad when the only way to get any comfort from a company is to find a person that works for the company that is more excited about the product than the people who actually run the service. Business take such a focus on the financial aspects of their company that they are blinded from seeing what it's supposed to do to keep that product desirable. Fortunately, for now, we have Frank and his @comcastcares account on Twitter helping us out. What worries me is that he is single-handedly holding up a huge monster that's only desire is to crush people and I don't know how long he will be able to keep that up without the corporation actually getting behind him. Comcast should certainly take notice of Frank because he is literally the only good news that has come from Comcast in YEARS but, sadly, I'm more worried about the company attacking him eventually instead of embracing him.
Either way, Frank, I appreciate what you have done and I hope that Comcast improves and that the company honors you for what you have been doing. With so many corporations grabbing twitter accounts in the interest of spamming people it is refreshing to see a corporate presence on Twitter that is actually a real live human being who is interested in helping. Kudos to you.
So isn't this Comcast vs All and not Comcast vs Comcast? Well, it depends. Recently there is a new twitter account, @comcastcares, that has really been showing a different side of Comcast. What's so different? Well, the username that Frank Eliason (the owner of the account) picked is actually a true representation of him. He works for Comcast and he actually does care. My first interaction with him was less than a week ago and we debated for about an hour on Twitter about topics ranging from net neutrality to business practices, etc. Many did see me as outright attacking him but the truth was I really wanted to see how the response was handled... and I have to say I was VERY impressed. Frank responded as best he could to all of my comments and, as he should as an employee, he never once bashed what Comcast was doing but he was very understanding of the concerns that I was bringing up. That night I had a slightly new view of Comcast. A few days later I explained the customer service scenario I had when I called because my rate doubled and the CSR I spoke with literally told me to cancel my account and, when I asked for a manager, was told that no manager can speak with me but she assured me that the manager would say the exact same thing that she did. Frank was infuriated over the situation and said that he was going to pull up my account and look into the matter. Yesterday he got back to me and told me he was going to put me on a promotion of my choice and I selected a 16meg down and 2meg upstream connection for $24.95/mo for 6 months. Surprisingly my bandwidth test this morning is showing that I am getting the full 2meg upstream (which is actually more important to me than the downstream since I use remote access software) and I am getting 25 meg down. I'm impressed.... but I really am not going to comment until I see that speed sustained because I've noticed a lot of packet shaping in my bandwidth and I've seen connections during downloads start out super fast and then slow to almost unbearable before.
But while Twitter is being used for good by Frank to help Comcast, it also is allowing consumers to share their experiences with Comcast and yesterday and today we were painted a picture of who Comcast is and, well, it's still the same old Comcast business practices that are consistently reminding customers of how horrible it is being trapped with a company and having no alternative.
It's really sad when the only way to get any comfort from a company is to find a person that works for the company that is more excited about the product than the people who actually run the service. Business take such a focus on the financial aspects of their company that they are blinded from seeing what it's supposed to do to keep that product desirable. Fortunately, for now, we have Frank and his @comcastcares account on Twitter helping us out. What worries me is that he is single-handedly holding up a huge monster that's only desire is to crush people and I don't know how long he will be able to keep that up without the corporation actually getting behind him. Comcast should certainly take notice of Frank because he is literally the only good news that has come from Comcast in YEARS but, sadly, I'm more worried about the company attacking him eventually instead of embracing him.
Either way, Frank, I appreciate what you have done and I hope that Comcast improves and that the company honors you for what you have been doing. With so many corporations grabbing twitter accounts in the interest of spamming people it is refreshing to see a corporate presence on Twitter that is actually a real live human being who is interested in helping. Kudos to you.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Facing the Opposition
There a a few things that we truly are not capable of until we are put into a certain situation. For example, moms have lifted cars off of their child or the nicest person in the world shot and killed someone in the act of defense. In these scenarios we will never know what we are capable of until it actually happens. This is how our minds work. In James 1 it explains how we need to consider it joy when we face trials and tribulations because it is strengthing us but it's hard to see how this can be until later. If we are wise, we will realize that some amazing things couldn't happen until some negative things happened first.
A little while ago I wrote a blog titled "Living for Life" in which I talked about a lot of things that I believe were important to life. It's obvious that most people do not share the same views and that is awesome because that is part of what makes life exciting because the dynamics of people keep us entertained. Earlier today I received a comment on that post reporting that Jesus was sweet and that He jumps on pogo sticks.... I thought it was awesome that this person decided to break this news on my blog. Who could have even imagined that he would pick me. Ok, so there was more to his comment than just that breaking news. Logically I should have been offended but this is just another example of where our logic often throws us of course of just living life for life and, ultimately, leads us to feelings of worthlessness. In a way this goes back to my analogy of a surfer who harnesses the awesome (and many times negative) power of waves and has fun with it -- and the bigger the wave, the bigger the thrill. It's a lot like this in life too. If we are to really enjoy our lives we need to learn to harness the power of our opponents who attack us and have fun with it.
In high school I was picked on a good bit and, yes, it did bug me. I guess it's also true that no one totally gets over the fact that people attack them but it's really an issue of how you respond to that attack internally. I've had a lot of people tell me that I have matured just about every year that has gone by and I think one of the key points to this is that I've learned how to better harness this power and allow it to not upset me but to confirm that I have a purpose in what I am doing. I think just about any blogger would agree that the worst type of comment is the one that isn't left. I gave up caring what people thought of me a long while ago. I've realized that the logic that our society uses is what is hurting us the most and if I want to deviate from this logic in any way then I really need to understand that people are going to attack me and disagree with me and I need to understand that if I really believe the words that I say then I need to realize that when words I say strikes a chord with someone then I am actually making an impact on someone's life which is exactly what I am hoping to do. When I receive a negative attack I think the more negative that it is the more it gives me purpose and fuels me to keep doing whatever it is I do here.
Back in 2006 I wrote a blog based on starfish that I think also captures what I am trying to say here. The people that are constantly picked on tend to be the people that make the largest impact in this life. You may want to consider it a phenomenon but I really believe that its because these are the people that have the potential to become extremely motivated for the right reasons in life. They have experienced first hand that attacking someone for their beliefs doesnt get anyone anywhere so they embrace their own beliefs, become proud of who they are, and they work towards the things they believe are important. Those same people end their lives knowing they lived a full and worthwhile life and having made a great impact on this world. It's never about what bad luck comes your way or how much people hate you but its about how you feel about you and how you take the things that come your way.
Opposition fuels advancement. The human race has invented things the fasted out of mother necessity. The more that we have an opposing force the more that we will work towards answering that force. I'm sure the Wright brothers faced a lot of opposition but I'm also sure that when people attacked them they didn't argue with them.... in fact, maybe they listened to what someone was saying and maybe the person calling them stupid actually gave them a new perspective. Ultimately, they flew..... and I'm sure there were people that were humbled.
It all boils down to believing in who you are and what you believe. If you doubt yourself then anything that is said to you will cause you to falter in what you are trying to accomplish. On the other hand, if you truly believe in whatever it is that you are doing then the only thing your opposition does is confirm that you are working on something that is worth noticing and, in that realization, understand that negative comments and attacks really are a cause for celebration.
A little while ago I wrote a blog titled "Living for Life" in which I talked about a lot of things that I believe were important to life. It's obvious that most people do not share the same views and that is awesome because that is part of what makes life exciting because the dynamics of people keep us entertained. Earlier today I received a comment on that post reporting that Jesus was sweet and that He jumps on pogo sticks.... I thought it was awesome that this person decided to break this news on my blog. Who could have even imagined that he would pick me. Ok, so there was more to his comment than just that breaking news. Logically I should have been offended but this is just another example of where our logic often throws us of course of just living life for life and, ultimately, leads us to feelings of worthlessness. In a way this goes back to my analogy of a surfer who harnesses the awesome (and many times negative) power of waves and has fun with it -- and the bigger the wave, the bigger the thrill. It's a lot like this in life too. If we are to really enjoy our lives we need to learn to harness the power of our opponents who attack us and have fun with it.
In high school I was picked on a good bit and, yes, it did bug me. I guess it's also true that no one totally gets over the fact that people attack them but it's really an issue of how you respond to that attack internally. I've had a lot of people tell me that I have matured just about every year that has gone by and I think one of the key points to this is that I've learned how to better harness this power and allow it to not upset me but to confirm that I have a purpose in what I am doing. I think just about any blogger would agree that the worst type of comment is the one that isn't left. I gave up caring what people thought of me a long while ago. I've realized that the logic that our society uses is what is hurting us the most and if I want to deviate from this logic in any way then I really need to understand that people are going to attack me and disagree with me and I need to understand that if I really believe the words that I say then I need to realize that when words I say strikes a chord with someone then I am actually making an impact on someone's life which is exactly what I am hoping to do. When I receive a negative attack I think the more negative that it is the more it gives me purpose and fuels me to keep doing whatever it is I do here.
Back in 2006 I wrote a blog based on starfish that I think also captures what I am trying to say here. The people that are constantly picked on tend to be the people that make the largest impact in this life. You may want to consider it a phenomenon but I really believe that its because these are the people that have the potential to become extremely motivated for the right reasons in life. They have experienced first hand that attacking someone for their beliefs doesnt get anyone anywhere so they embrace their own beliefs, become proud of who they are, and they work towards the things they believe are important. Those same people end their lives knowing they lived a full and worthwhile life and having made a great impact on this world. It's never about what bad luck comes your way or how much people hate you but its about how you feel about you and how you take the things that come your way.
Opposition fuels advancement. The human race has invented things the fasted out of mother necessity. The more that we have an opposing force the more that we will work towards answering that force. I'm sure the Wright brothers faced a lot of opposition but I'm also sure that when people attacked them they didn't argue with them.... in fact, maybe they listened to what someone was saying and maybe the person calling them stupid actually gave them a new perspective. Ultimately, they flew..... and I'm sure there were people that were humbled.
It all boils down to believing in who you are and what you believe. If you doubt yourself then anything that is said to you will cause you to falter in what you are trying to accomplish. On the other hand, if you truly believe in whatever it is that you are doing then the only thing your opposition does is confirm that you are working on something that is worth noticing and, in that realization, understand that negative comments and attacks really are a cause for celebration.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Living for life
I still think it is amazing to watch how animals behave. There are distinct ways of telling when an animal is happy and when an animal is upset. While I don't think that animals experience emotions, per se, I do believe they experience euphoric states as well as states of fear. I love watching Lisa go about different things and just by watching her feathers and the position her crown is pointing, I almost instinctively know how she is feeling. I also know the reaction when I give Lisa her favorite egg crunch treat or I give Bacardi peanuts or I give Cracker, well, anything edible :)
I also think about the joy of seeing a newborn or seeing a child learn all of the amazing mysteries of this world. To a 2 year old a yoyo is an amazing thing and there is this desire to learn about the world - and we smile at watching that amazement. That same 2 year old doesn't understand that she shouldn't put the yoyo in her mouth. Eventually she grows up and learns that its wrong and figures out that she, too, can make a yoyo go up and down on her own and suddenly that amazing toy is now just a boring piece of plastic on a string.
What is it that turns something so exciting into something boring? Its the lack of wonder or mystery. With my birds I need to give them new toys and I need to confuse them so they have something entertaining to figure out - and one of the best ways to do this is to create foraging situations which is basically making them work for their food and figure out how to get it.
In almost all cases we will see an underlying need for survival in just about everything. The greatest sci fi and mystery films all have an aspect of a human surviving. Make a sci fi about someone that can't find an object (that's not crucial to their life) and you have a poor movie.
What is it that differs between us and animals? And does that difference mean we're better off or is it just something that simply makes us different. One of the fundamental differences is that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But why is it that this tree was the subject of a curse? Isn't that knowledge good to have?
Consider this. In the Bible sin is not based on laws in the new testament but on what is in someone's heart. Basically this means that if you don't know something is a sin then it really is not committing a sin if you do whatever it is. So one could come to the conclusion that if we didn't have the knowledge of good and evil then we obviously could not sin. And yes, this is why dogs can hump anything and still go to heaven. They don't need to be judged because there is no right or wrong to them. If Adam and Eve hadn't eaten the fruit then the result would be that permarital sex would not be a sin. The sex the human race would have would be completely different but it would still be euphoric.
So why is foraging such a great way to keep birds entertained? Simply because food is essential to life. When you hide food then they have a desire to find it because they need to survive. When they find it, it is euphoric. Sex is essential to life so when animals mate it is euphoric because it is carrying on the race. Seeing a newborn baby is euphoric because its our race continuing.
The problem that us humans have is that we are so confused by things going on because we now have a "logic center" that has to weigh the appropriateness of each situation before acting upon it and to further confuse that the same logic system is trained by those who came before us using their logic system. Every generation that goes by we get further and further away from who God intended us to be. I believe we were created very similar to animals in that we were not intended to have this logic system - we were intended to live for life. The simple things in life are what are supposed to make us happy. Simply surviving another day is meant to be exciting. Every generation that goes by we're seeing more and more distortment of what life is supposed to be. In today's world our logic systems are telling us that we need to do everything that our boss says no matter what because we can't survive without that job but we just end up living for our boss instead of life its self. We need to drive nice cars in order to be worth something and we need $100k salaries in order to "make it". All of these are the result of our twisted logic.
Most of the world no longer lives life for life. We regress more and more in life the more we progress in society. We are all losing the fact that we are all a team and the greatest way to survive is to work together instead of rising above others in order to survive. We see more and more acts of greed and we covet things more and more. We have truly lost what it means to live and yet we spend so much time figuring out the meaning of life - as we drive by someone stranded on the side of the road. Afterall, according to our logic system, our life can't continue if we don't hurry up and get to work to make money.
Our world is not going to get any better until we all start living life for life. If we can start to realize that survival is survival as the human race and that with that survival comes euphoria and happiness then we might have a shot at making this world a better place. We need to live life for life in general rather than just for our own lives..... This is where we find the meaning of life and become happier people.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Another twitterer fights breast cancer
Just as an awareness post to my friends on twitter and who are part of the Frozen Pea Fund, another one of our community has been affected by cancer. There is a site that is selling pixels to raise money for Tricia and for the Frozen Pea Fund. Please check it out at http://4tricia.com/pixels-4-tricia and buy a pixel for you or your company. Read more information about it here.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
I'm moving again
Most of you know that I've been doing various things in Ashburn over the last few years and I have worked with many companies, however, there is one company that I have not been able to reveal until today.
Google used to have a major presence in Equinix Ashburn and a couple years ago I actually ran into someone working there. We ended up going out for dinner and he told me about a project that they had been working on in association with Virgin Galactic. Many people have been trying to make the space exploration private and Google decided they wanted to jump in on this. They have been putting plans together to build a colony on mars. This is something that I have been working on with them for a while. Many of you have questioned how I was able to afford a house but the truth is that this was part of my training for this project. It was important that Google have everyone on the mission have experience in typical functions of a dwelling. It's also why I have been taking on projects such as plumbin and electrical work that I hadn't ever dreamed of doing.
The target is to have a colony started by the year 2014. I am still in consideration for this colony and the chances are looking good that I will be moving on up, so to speak. This appears to be an incredible opportunity and it has been a very exciting experience just working with Google and Virgin Galactic.
Look for Google to make a press release today about this project. I have seen a preview of the web page for this project and it looks very informative. There is also a video from Google's Co-Founders that will be posted on YouTube sometime today.
Google used to have a major presence in Equinix Ashburn and a couple years ago I actually ran into someone working there. We ended up going out for dinner and he told me about a project that they had been working on in association with Virgin Galactic. Many people have been trying to make the space exploration private and Google decided they wanted to jump in on this. They have been putting plans together to build a colony on mars. This is something that I have been working on with them for a while. Many of you have questioned how I was able to afford a house but the truth is that this was part of my training for this project. It was important that Google have everyone on the mission have experience in typical functions of a dwelling. It's also why I have been taking on projects such as plumbin and electrical work that I hadn't ever dreamed of doing.
The target is to have a colony started by the year 2014. I am still in consideration for this colony and the chances are looking good that I will be moving on up, so to speak. This appears to be an incredible opportunity and it has been a very exciting experience just working with Google and Virgin Galactic.
Look for Google to make a press release today about this project. I have seen a preview of the web page for this project and it looks very informative. There is also a video from Google's Co-Founders that will be posted on YouTube sometime today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)