Misdirected angst

I just watched a report on the network nightly news concerning the marketing and selling of mature video games to minors. At least half of the surveyed minors said that they were able to purchase adult rated games. I agree that this is not good. The news reporter then interviewed a representative from the video game industry to discuss whether the game rating system works. Isn't that a little misdirected? Why not talk to the stores that sold the games? Getting upset at the game industry about minors purchasing adult rated games is like getting upset with Philip Morris because a convenience store sold a minor a pack of cigarettes.

Tribes and Other Whittle Writtings

If you have never had the pleasure of reading William Whittle then you are missing out on some of the most honest, thought provoking and inspired essays available on the web. A prime example is his Tribes essay. He rates as a must read in my book. My only complaint is that he doesn’t post often enough.

Google's gmail service

I recently signed up for one of those gmail accounts from Google. Can’t say yet how I feel about their twist on the mail ‘bag’. Their system does not seem to support folders or other traditional visual categorizing method for messages. They do allow you to give a message a ‘label’ which you can filter on to view groups of messages. It also appears that they track and condense message threads (where you send a message, some one responds, you respond again and so on) into a single message cutting down on the total number of mail messages to display/manage but I have not used it enough yet to decide if I like it or not.

You can sign up for a gmail account here (this is not a promotion of the service, just including it for completeness).

Portable storage on the go

My new job has made me a frequent traveler and I like having backups of my data when I do travel. I was using (and still have) one of those USB memory sticks. It is OK and it holds a Gig which is nice but it was starting to get full so I started looking for another, at a fair price. What I found instead is one of these.

I actually have their 6 gig version and I have to say I like it a lot. It is small and contains a 6 gig hard drive, is totally powered off of the USB port, holds plenty, was not too expensive compared to the memory sticks I looked at, comes with a nice case and (I think) best of all, the actual USB plug-in swivels 180 degrees so you can twist the body to fit into those cramped USB ports. I use it with my laptop to store important files and presentations while on the road and as a general data backup device.

I could have gotten a 40 gig unit for just a few dollars more but all of the units of that size needed external power and I just did not want to go there.

About me...

I am a middle aged, white male. It sounds funny to say middle aged because I don't feel that way in-side. I probably look that way on the outside, like a weather-worn house but you don't see that from the in-side and it is easy to not see it when you look in the mirror. Your mind's eye is a powerful thing and it continues to show you a younger you long after the fact.

I am married to a wonderful woman that I didn't deserve then and still mostly don't deserve now. We have been together for over 20 years, married for 10. We have no kids. We do have two dogs.

I work in the software industry by day and putter with various other activities at night. My wife spends most of her time taking care of me (believe me it is a full time job and I would not want it for anything).

I recently (earlier this year) started a new job after 13 years with my prior company. I have also just started going to collage (online) after more than 20 years out of school. I was able to locate an online program that allows me the flexibility to get the course work done when I can without the scheduling nightmare of trying to get to a brick-n-mortar building X times a week.

My life is good, happy and full. I like who I am, where I am, what I am doing and who I am doing it with.

Everyone should be so lucky.

First Post

This is my first post to this blog. I plan to use this soapbox to spout, shout, talk, mutter, muse, and of course rant. Read, comment, enjoy.