Cyanogenmod

I decided to change the Android OS on my phone. This is somewhat popular these days because Android is an open source OS. Most phones have a modified version of Android full of software a phone carrier or manufacturer puts on. Think of the crapware you get on a PC you buy, that's how obnoxious it can be. These carriers and manufacturers also are known to not update the OS on an older phone, leave phones Sometimes open for security risks. So the option is to install a new version of the Android OS, usually the open source version.

In the past, this wasn't the easiest thing to do. First you had to gain root access to the file system on the phone, usually done with software you put on your computer. Sometimes this could ruin your phone if done wrong. Once you get this done you put the phone in a state where software can be installed, where you then install the new OS.

Cyanogenmod is a popular OS. It's based on the open source version of Android and is the "pure" version of Android for the most part, and runs faster and more efficient. They recently published an android app that along with a Windows app, installs Cyanogenmod OS on your phone (if it's compatible) with little to no work.

I decided to try it, and it worked flawlessly. After reinstalling my apps and setting up my accounts on the phone (all that is wiped after you install the new OS), I found my phone running much faster. Also without the crapware, I had a ton of more free storage. After using the OS for a week, I am happy with the performance. The version available is not the newest version that just was released by Google, Android 4.4, but 4.3.

Battery life for me is a little better, but not insanely different.

Warnings now about doing this. In the old way, you were able to backup the old OS and data so you can go back to that if something goes wrong or you don't like the new OS. The app way doesn't have a backup option. Also, only certain phones will work with it. Look at Cyanogenmod 's site to see what phones work. As with anything with changing major software on hardware, it can ruin the phone.

If you are thinking of doing this, look up info online, especially sites dedicated to Android and things related to modding phones.

Best thing to do for yourself

Walking. It's simple but also an amazing thing to do. I try to walk outside once or twice a day. It helps clear and stimulate my mind. It also helps me get ideas and solve any problems on my mind.

When I worked in an office, I made it a point to walk around my floor or another floor once in a while to clear my head from being stagnate in my cubicle. Occasionally I'd walk down to outside the building and around the block. It helped so much mentally and to get a little physical activity as well.

I wish some of you would try this. Look at it this way: if smokers get to go out every so often, why can't you. Then again if you are a smoker, add a little walking around to it. Even better, if you have a meeting, get the people to go out for a walk around outside to talk. The moving will get the blood going, the fresh air will make you think better, and not being in the building my help people's moods during the meeting.

If I was a manager, I'd require all my workers to get up and walk once in a while to clear their heads and maybe solve that problem they have. I want to point out lunchtime walking or outside doesn't count. Lunchtime is personal time and no work should be thought of. This is during work time.

Soccer and my dad

I was listening the the last "Seeing Red" podcast, hosted by Dave Martinez and Mark Fishkin, and they were reading emails from their listeners about what the NY Red Bulls winning the Supporters Shield-the title for best regular season record and the teams' first major title-meant to them.

Usually I am not big on fans who invest so much into a sports franchise where their lives and mood revolve on how the team did, but some of the stories were nice to hear. They are especially nice to hear because the supporter culture ironically is usually a cesspool of negativity. After finishing hearing the episode my mind could not think about my dad.

My dad wasn't into sports, they weren't his thing. He enjoyed I liked them, especially when I was excited about the World Cup and the start of MLS. In 1996, the first year of the MetroStars and MLS, My dad surprised me and got tickets to a game. It was the famous Giovanni Savarese bycicle kick game vs. Tampa Bay.

Just before that weekend my dad hurt his knee at work and could barely walk. I remember him in pain just moving around the house. I figured we weren't going to go to the game because of this. To my surprise he insisted we still go. So he drove us to Giants Stadium, and we sat in the middle level (the old blue seat level) with a good view of the field, and I got to see professional soccer in the US play out in front of me. It was a great night, the team won in the shootout (something I wish MLS still had since draws suck IMO), and I got to share a great memory with my dad while seeing what a real dad would do for his kid-sacrifice and make sure he didn't make excuses for bringing joy to his children.

That was the only game I went to until 2000 when I got back from college. I came back from college and went to games and joined the ESC. But the catalyst of all that was my dad taking me to a game despite being in pain.

I have many fond memories of soccer. This is the one that always brings up a lot of emotions and I could never thank my dad enough for it. Up until he passed away several years ago, I always made it a point during the MLS seasons to thank him for taking me that one night. He enjoyed seeing me going to games for years after and finding a great group of people to hang out with in the ESC.

In the 12 or so years I have been a member of the ESC, its an amazing thing to see the evolution of the group, team, and league. I have had my issues with some parts of it and people who ran it, and I still have to get over some of it, but I still am proud to be a member. I hope my life calms down so I can come back to games again, but I can say its awesome to see those still there when I was going regularly enjoying the team winning.

All that I just wrote is because of my dad, and its one of many things I thank him for still to this day.

Windows 8.1 review and thoughts

I updated my PC to 8.1, and to be honest it has surprised me. Im surprised how much Microsoft has at least tried to fix the major issues Windows 8 had, though their new philosophy has still made Windows 8 a little annoying.

Obviously, the biggest change is the addition of a Start button. Mind you it isn't a start menu, but a button to bring up the new menu introduced in Windows 8 and Windows Phone OS. By default, the computer boots up into the new, tiled menu that 8 did, but another new addition is the option to boot directly to the desktop. You can make the background of the menu match the desktop so it looks like you are opening it over the desktop, not leaving it as the original menu did. Best way to think of the new menu is the old one but sideways.

One of the pholosophies Microsoft seems to be pushing is that the PC and mobile devices should run the same UI, and they chose the tiles to represent that. What this also leads to is fullscreen apps on a computer monitor. Sure, this works on a smaller, mobile screen, but if you are sitting at a desktop (and for the most part a laptop), this doesn't seem to be productive. On larger screens you have space to have multiple apps/windows/programs open in order to work on multiple things at once, or simply move files around easily. Again, on moble, the idea of a file system accessable to the user is not looked at as useful.

This leads me to another philisophical issue I have with the new Windows setup. A lot of the customization options are still there, but more hidden. Apple has been doing this more and more with their updates to OSX as well. For most people, this is probably a smart idea. For people who know what they are doing or just used to the old way Windows worked, it can be a little annoying. There still is a control panel to access a lot of things that can and need to be adjusted on occasion, but there is also a "PC settings" option on the right side "charm window" (on the sides you can slide out windows with quick options or app switching, depending on what side you do this). "PC settings" is a "dumbed down" control panel, where some of the options are useful but limited. I get the idea, but I wish it could be turned off or at least better unified with the original Control Panel.

I stay in the desktop majority of the time. I'm familiar with it, but I am trying the "newer" way of using windows. I was never a user of the search inside an OS, but I use it a lot with Windows 8, it's easier to find programs or folders, and there are actions/options in the search that make it a little faster to perform what I want. The tile idea is great for a touch system, and to an extent a traditional mouse setup. I still wish the interface for a desktop or laptop without a touchscreen would be more friendly to it, rather than be a compromise of both moble and desktop.

The native apps are okay at best. They are full screen, and really don't add a lot. Again, I use desktop apps more so I can multitask better. The fullscreen apps hava a multitask mechanism-left side window charm-that is like iOS and Android where its a list of open apps you can switch to or close. It works, but more for mobile setups than traditional setups.

I dont hate Windows 8 as much as I did when I first saw it, its either grown on me or I adapted to it, but the unification of moble and desktop doesn't work well. My theory about this trend of Microsoft and Apple is that since most software is going web or cloud based, the OS isnt needed to do as much "heavy lifting" as it used to. That means a desktop, laptop, phone, and tablet could in theory do the same work if the processing is done on a server elsewhere. I don't like this approach since you are relying on an outside computer and an internet connection to both be up all the time. One needs local access and backup for the simple security of not losing your files.

Maybe the trends will shift and the next couple updates will move back to local necessity over dependency on a server far, far, away. It would be nice.

Today's hiring process is more discriminatory today than ever.

I really do think that the modern way the hiring process works is actually more discriminatory than it has ever been.

A long time ago, the hiring process worked like this: 

1.  you contact a company about a job opening they had

2. You get scheduled for an interview with your potential boss, either the big boss or guy you'll work directly under or even both. 

3. after the initial interviews with all applicants, you either were offered the job or given a second interview

4. after potential second interview and quick background check to verify some facts relevant to the job, again either given job or not. 

Today, here's how it works

1. Most times, you "submit" your resume to the "employment opportunity" via a link on a website, where even though you give your resume you have to fill out a long, archaic set of questionnaires that in general make you write your resume into a searchable form for a computer algorithms.

2. If you SEO your resume right, you may get an initial phone interview, again, that's if you are chosen worthy through SEOing your resume to get past algorithms. 

3. If the phone interview goes well, then you might get a face-to-face interview.  Sometimes you are given a "personality test" or another "test", that you can either take honestly, or game it to get to the next interview. 

4. should you get past the BS test, there will probably be 2-4 interviews with people who only see your resume five minutes before you meet, and usually the person you will be meeting with are the "hiring managers/HR professionals" who again, have no clue about you or your experience until just before the interview.  Usually they will get whatever the computer will spit out to them.

5. Now comes the vetting by looking at your background.  That includes calling past employers, references, looking at your criminal record if you have one, and oddly now your credit report irregardless of the position you are applying for.

6. After all this, they may offer you the opportunity to become an "associate" of the company.  Of course, you have to sign a ton of paperwork you will have no time to review or have an attorney review.

See the difference between the modern way of hiring? No wonder a ton of job opportunities are still unfilled, while qualified people are left on the wayside because of how discriminatory the process is.  Notice how little human input from the hirer there is, and it's mostly relying on computers.  Let me go through some points that are the problem in the modern hiring process.

-Lazy, HR professionals.  Sorry any who are reading this, you are one major part of the problem.  You are usually tasked with helping out in finding qualified people for the jobs your company have opened.  Not too long ago, you actually had to speak with us dirty, filthy masses of unemployed people (I know, you think it's all "eww"), and read resumes.  Now you've all gotten lazy and decided to leave and trust computers or farm the work to third parties who have NO clue about the company or who works there, to figure out who's right for a job.  So bullshit artists who can SEO  their resumes and get through.  Also you, or your bosses, figured out it's easier to have the applicant fill out the forms online you are supposed to be responsible for, and then you have all this data to exploit and sell or spam the person with useless emails.  Sometimes that's a nice revenue generator.

But you are saying "but I have no time to go through all the resumes I would get the old way..."  IT'S YOUR JOB TO! You are one of the main person who is to help hire the correct people for the company, but you refuse to now help and leave it up to artificial, flawed systems.  How are you supposed to know if the person knows how to write an accurate, clean resume that search programs just can't read?  You won't see those clearly qualified people. but you will see the bullshit artist's, SEOed resume that you will waste time, energy and money to find him out to be a bullshit artist.  There's one form of discrimination.

-Archaic applications and "tests" people have to take.  Remember in school, you or someone you knew was really knowledgeable in something, but testing showed otherwise?  or the smart kid you knew could go to an elite college couldn't because he didn't do well on the SAT? Some people don't "test" well.  Some people have minds that just don't do well in tests.  It's not a bad thing or a problem, some are not built to "test" well.  But the new system on how companies hire people will discriminate these people.  On top of it, sometimes the questions or forms or in these tests are so poorly written, even people who do well with it can't, and rather than meet with the person and see how he is, the computers hiring people rely on will take more qualified people out because their minds don't like testing/questionnaire formats.

 -The bosses don't get to meet the candidate.  Again, HR/hiring people are the ones who have more power to choose who get hired than the boss or direct manager has.  To me that's so stupid.  Why isn't the manager or boss having the final say after meeting all the candidates going "I like this guy, hire him."?  So you have someone who probably has zero idea what the boss/manager needs or wants, having the say if someone can even meet him.  That's why I advocate going over the HR person's head and find the boss and contact him directly (Linkedin makes this even easier).  HR people are nothing more than a waste of time in the hiring process these days.  They tend to be counter productive.  Best way to get what you want is to ask and also go straight to the person you need to ask, not some underling.

-The vetting process.  Thais is another borderline legal way to quickly discriminate people.  It used to be that if you have a job candidate, you would call his past employers, maybe a reference or two, and check if he has any felonies that would be a problem.  Not that much and pretty quick to do.  Now, it's all that, a ton of references, any infraction you may have had-all of this for the past decade-and a credit check.  I get credit checks if you are in a position where you handle money, and even there it's an iffy thing there. Why if I am going for a low level admin job I have to allow them to see how good my credit is.  What if I do have a missed payment on something-maybe it's from being out of work at the time-have to do with my ability to get the job done?  Again, discrimination of possibly the perfect candidate because of a irrelevant reason. 

Hey companies, THIS IS WHY YOU CAN'T GET PEOPLE INTO YOUR COMPANIES!!! it's not the lack of qualified people, it's the moronic, BS, gatekeepers you put up that ineffectively screen candidates.  Go back to the old days and actually have your HR or hiring people in your company actually do their jobs, as well as have the managers or boss see all the candidates and let them figure out the right guy for their department.  Maybe they find someone who hasn't have the experience asked for, but has that "it factor" the boss sees in the guy that will fit in the company. 

Why hasn't this been looked at as a massive discrimination issue?  it astounds me.   

Finally, When I apply to a job, I"m applying, not submitting, to a job.  The term submitting means a company wants you to "submit" to them.  I don't, I just apply for an open job position.   That's another entry in the future where I'll tel you the difference.

This week is probably the most frightening one I can remember for some time

I say that without hyperbole.  First off, because a terror cell in the US government called the Tea Party decided to throw a hissy fit and hold everyone at gunpoint with their big talk.  These are the people who usually represent the inbred, racist, ignorant Meth heads that, while are vital for the reality TV and TV talk show industries, still can't get over a non-white is in charge and-ironically-wants to help them with his policies.  But because of the race thing, anything Obama says or does, the Tea Party goonhands the entire Republican party to go against everything he wants  Because of this negligent and dysfunctional way the government is being ran, not only is nothing being done, people are out of work for now because of things being closed down, but this minor thing of the US may not be hurtling off a cliff where it can't pay bills. 

I want to clarify a couple things.  First, when the Tea party started I was with them.  At first it wasn't about what "team" you were on, you were the angry kid of a divorced parents of a government that always fought and took it out on the kids.  Then the Republicans, saw a shot to co-opt them when their Vice President nominee started hanging around them.  Soon after the big money Republicans started pouring money into the Tea Party PACs, and then the message got distorted to where now it's just a terror cell threatening anyone who votes against them with sabotaging their next elections.  For God's sake, Ron Paul was the OG Tea party.  He was the basis of a lot of their original morals and stances the Tea Party stood for-practical changes to make the US better.  Then when the Koch Brothers and their ilk got involved, Paul got tossed out you got what you got now.  The only difference between the Tea Party and Islamist extremists is Tea party people don't say "Praise be on him" after they mention their "God" Ronald Reagan-you know the guy who was one of the most diplomatic president in both domestic and international matters where he actually worked with his enemies-like the extremists say after referring to Allah.

That's not to say I"m all about the Democrats.  I still have an issue with the Affordable Care Act.  One gripe is how it seems half-assed, where it guarantees coverage for all Americans, but it's also required and the private, for-profit, health insurance companies is where the Americans are required to get it.  The part where it will be subsidized by the government just screams fraud.  If all Americans are to be required to get covered, then the US should have taken over the insurance companies to keep the (at least) obvious greed out of it.  My other major problem was how it was passed.  from the second the last page was printed, every Democrat ran around like they did a mountain of coke, screaming "WE GOT TO PASS THIS NOW!!! GO GO GO!!!!" When some asked what was in the mountain of paper, Democrats went "NO TIME TO READ IT, WE'LL READ IT AFTER IT'S PASSED, GOTTA PASS IT PASS PASS PASS!!!".  So the Act was railroaded through with almost total disregard about what exactly is the bill.  When the details got out of what was in it, people were divided.  Eventually the Supreme Court said it was Constitutional, and recently it started to go into effect.  I'm still mixed on it, but I'm also waiting to see what actually happens when it's been around for a while.

Why am I worried about this week? The ACA- the law that's the reason all Hell is falling apart in DC and may liquify out credit rating- has already affected the job market where people won't hire full time because of some of the clauses in the Act, or places now are dropping their coverage for their workers and saying "Go to the exchanges and deal with that".  If this week ends how it is now, it looks like layoffs a plenty, and the bad job market here in the NYC area will get much more worse and I'll have to compete with a ton more people just to get a look at. 

I wish this stupid country would stop the "I hate Congress, but I like my local Congressman is OK so I'll keep voting for him".  No he's not! He's like every other person in the House and Senate-a Scumbag that only cares about fattening his pocket with "donations" and will leave his job a millionaire many times over from the insider trading and shady crap they do.  These people don't care about you, or represent you. They are just legal criminals, which shouldn't be a shock since most of them are glorified paralegals called lawyers. 

I'm done ranting.  There is one good thing about this week.  I've enjoyed using Linkedin more, and getting feedback and requests for me resumes.  It's a great feeling to be somewhat wanted. 

Google Alternatives part 2

I wrote fairly recently I am trying to get alternatives to Google services and products, partly to have a backup but also get more open, multi-platform options.  Google is multi-platform, but parts of it seem to be not optimized for non-Google people (Drive sharing comes to mind).  Also Google is trying to merge their system into their social media service, Google+, which bothered me a little.  I think it's a cool service, but like Apple, Google seems to be putting all their security/user identity into one basket a little too much.

I previously said I started another email account on my domain registrar for personal emails while keeping my Google one for "junk" .  It's worked out well so far.  Recently I decided to also find replacements for Google's web browser, cloud storage, and productivity suite.  I"m going to write about them now.

I'll start with cloud storage.  I used Google Drive for a while now, and for the most part it's great, but as I said it seems more geared to work with Google accounts rather than others when it comes to sharing.  I decided to start a Dropbox account, partly because it's the most popular, but also since it was on my phone already and there was a 0deal I can get 50 gigs for 2 years.  So far I like it a lot more than drive.  It's working great, as easy to sync stuff to/form my computer, and it's another place to store pics form my camera (I already back them up to Google Drive, but now with Dropbox as well).  I haven't played with the sharing features too much beyond some testing with my email addresses, but I like what I see so far.  This may stay as my main storage option, and Google drive as a backup.

Next is web browser.  Chrome is great for someone who is deep into the Google world.  It's integrated fantastically, and runs well on any computer.  But, it's only good if you have a Google account.  What if I don't want to live the Google life? I went back to Firefox.  Firefox is always been a great program, though used to be resource hungry.  Today It not different as far as how much it uses to be honest, but with modern PC specs being much more powerful, the performance doesn't suffer.  Playing around with it the past week, both on the PC and phone, it's really fast and responsive.  I forgot how many plugins there are for Firefox, and the bast part is they aren't "apps" like what the plugins on Chrome are.  Obviously Firefox has been around longer, so there are more plugins, but Firefox has a lot more diverse plugins.  Finally, Firefox performs better with a lot of sites, more than Chrome.  Chrome has parts of their code that seems to run bad, like some embedded media players and some formatting on sites.  Firefox seems to handle things better. 

Finally, productivity.  Google has their web-based office suite called Google Docs, which is seemelessly integrated with their Google drive.  for quick and dirty work, it's fine.  But in reality it's limited and frustratingly so.  First you need to be online to use it, and sometimes that's not possible.  Second outside of the word processor part, the other parts are garbage or limited to really basic functions.  Third, relying on your web browser is not the best situation.  My personal beefs are it's doesn't save to my computer until I download it from Google Drive, but then I"m limited to certain formats I can.  I like to have local copies of my stuff in case something happens to my online storage.  When I do download, say my resume, it's only available to be downloaded as a .PDF file or .DOCX file,  PDF is fine for most part, but if someone wants my document as a Word document, there can be a big problem.  A lot of places still use older versions of Word, and they won't read .DOCX files, which has XML crap in the file.  I can't tell you how many times I got answers back form people saying "file won't open, send as regular .doc file".  SO I went with my fave, Apache OpenOffice. 

OpenOffice is an open source office suite that works with everything, and can make things in any format you want.  It works fast, and I can do everything I can in MS Office as well, if not better.  It's free, and is updated and supported well.  I've been editing and opening files I downloaded from Google drive, and worked without any issue,  and saving them into formats I need to,  Finally, I can save LOCALLY without doing extra steps. 

So that's what I have been using.  I wanted to find open, multi-platform programs that are easy to use.  These are mostly free, but I really wish if you do use this stuff, throw a couple bucks to the developer when you can.  Think of it as a "thanks for working on this, and I support what you do."  It pisses me off when people have this attitude of "it's free, why should I donate to them if they are giving it away."  It's called value for value: give then as much as you get from the product.  Most of the developers who make these things are doing it as a hobby, or side project for no money.  Why not give them something for their amazing work?

Another audio entry attempt

Tried doing an audio entry again as I was walking on the Upper West Side Wed. night.  Just more of a mental dump than anything, absolutely no structure.  Just creating content

My attitude to working

Yesterday I was in a discussion with someone about philosophies of work and how someone should look at work.  I have a totally different attitude to work and it's value in one's life than this other person (and given how certain memes have been propagated in society, most people) .

I simply see work as something one has to do to make money to live their lives how they want it.  I never looked at work in that romantic, Pollyanna way of "I am doing something to move and change the Earth".  Work is something for one to monetize their skills, and when the workday is done, go live their lives without their work influencing, even dictating, how they live.  

To me, my workday is this: I get in, do what I have to do that day, at the end of the day prepare for the next workday and maybe get a jump on what I am going to do then or in the future, then clock out and go home or wherever I want after.  That's it.  I am not interested in having some relationship with my job or the people there that blurs the lines of personal and professional life.  I rarely go out for drinks or any social situation with co workers, because that would blur that line.  I also didn't want to be reminded of my job on my time, which is any time I am not on the clock.  

I never liked the slow erosion of the line between business and personal.  It started when companies and society pushed this "we are a family" mentality at jobs.  I get we are a team in the sense of a professional group working for something, but teams break up, people opt for free agency, and teams are just a professional relationship.  This BS that your job is a second family I actually find insulting to be completely honest.  Families don't disown you if household income dips a little. Families don't take away family benefits/rights because those rights would take away from Mommy or Daddy's bonus at the end of the year or quarter.   Families, at least ones that really love each other, don't prey or exploit emotional or personal attachments to make sure that the family lives on.  If you are in a company that uses the term "family" to describe the workforce, remember that if it truly is a "family", it is an abusive, dysfunctional one that will turn their backs on you when it comes time to protect the bottom line.  Then that family crap goes out the window and it's "just business".

The "Family" lie also has led to the rise in companies guilting their workers to work extra hours "for the good of the family".  Well, I don't mind working extra hours if I have to, provided I'm PAID for it in money, not time off.  The rise of the Salary payment had really pushed this "work long hours and get paid regardless" meme, but usually it means no OT payment.  What companies will do is try to pass off giving time off for your extra hours of work as "payment".  It's BS.  This crap is in theory supposed to even out the hours you work and don't, but it really devalues the salary you make.  your work more hours than the 40, but you are paid as if you are working 40 regardless.  Along with that, some places won't give 1:1 hours work extra to hours given off.  Extra time off don't pay bills or properly compensate the inconvenience of infringing on my time.

This is why when I work, I focus on my work, and if it gets done in the time I had to finish it that day, cool.  If not, there's always the next day.  If I am given extra work because someone can't handle their workload, it doesn't get done until my work is done.  I'm not going to work extra time because someone else can't cut it and I have to cover for them.  If they can't get it done, get someone who will.  Don't burden those who have their work to do.

Does this mean my network sort of suffers, yeah.  But at the same time, it also cuts through the BS and fake emotions one would feel to people who are the predators on the weak.  The management that exploits any personal relationship to further their professional lives.  Trust me, keep business and such, and when things go bad, emotions won't be in the way to see the truth of the matter.  

Another part of my discussion that came up was is this mentality healthy, to be in essence a drone working and punching out.  After some of the jobs I've worked, it's a perfectly good way, as long as you got outside interests to do/focus on.  The key is to keep those outside things OUT OF THE JOB.  When you punch in at the start of the day, it's just work and nothing else.  Lunchtime, and from the time you punch out until you punch back in, keep work OUTSIDE OF YOUR TIME.  

Another question brought up is how one would look to others at work with this mentality.  First off, who cares as long as you get your job done.  If you get the job done, everyone should shut up and appreciate your work.  Also, at work you will have relationships with your co workers, but again, keep it at the professional level, never make it personal.  I usually say this because at some point, if that line is crossed, the dynamic of the relationship you have changes and usually diminishes due to human nature.  One person may get promoted before their friend and that could cause friction, as well as the simple reason why you don't get into business or work with significant others: all that time together-in and out of work-will grind you two against each other and eventually will turn to hatred or great dislike of each other.  

Keeping things with your co worker at a professional level works fine.  It means when you or the other guy screws over the other, or one has to fire the other, it's just business, nothing personal or emotional should be involved. The best way to be at a job is not at the top, but a level or tow below who is considered "the good guy/worker", who does his job, has everyone at the company on his side and respected by all.  That position has a TON more power and flexibility than being "the man".

In my perfect job, it would be treated as a pro sports team, where we work together to get the job done the best we can, then when the workday is done, we go our own ways.  If teammates get fired/replaced, or decided to be a free agent and go somewhere else, only his professional skills are missed, it's not some deep emotional thing.  All the teammates pull their weight, and if they need help they get it only after everyone else get their work done first, not put the other person's work first.   

I don't think I'm odd, I just know how things should be.  Life is very limited in time.  One should be spending as much of it as they can following their dreams and passions, not toiling at a cubicle or whatever job making money for someone else any longer than they have to to make theirs.

Joe Lhota has lost the NYC Mayoral race.

http://gawker.com/trailing-bill-de-blasio-by-huge-numbers-in-the-latest-p-1338890148

Heres an article about NYC Mayoral candidate Joe Lhota meeting with Al Sharpton in hopes to court the black vote.him doing that I think caused him to kill his shot at winning. Granted, this meeting could be two things: first Lhota is desperate and is scraping the bottom of the barrel to get the minority vote, or Sharpton is doing what he's good at-extorting stupid, weak white people.

Sharpton scam is simple. He hides behind his questionable reverend status, then go to a company or get involved in a crime investigation, cry racism, then say if the white people involved "donate" to his church he won't protest.

Maybe Sharpton is doing this to Lhota, maybe he is trying to con a political position from Lhota in exchange for an endorsement. Or simply Lhota figures racist assholes should stick together, he's still friends with Rudy Giuliani.

I think it's extortion, seen Sharpton-and also Jesse Jackson when he needs cash-do this to often. I wish white people would stand up and tell these race baiting extortionists and profiteers off the ills and pain of the black community. In fact, I always thought these self-appointed leaders still holding on the coattails of MLK are part of the problems in the black community, and won't do positive change in their community. They won't clean up the garbage in the black community, just pass the buck to make money if blaming White people and prey on white guilt.

Net neutrality case

Probably the biggest case about the Internet and if it stays as open as it is. Verizon wants to be able to throttle/limit/block sites or services from its customers, as do many other ISPs. Hopefully sanity prevails and the courts stop ISPs from being allowed to do it.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/09/verizons-bid-to-kill-network-neutrality-law-goes-to-court-monday/

Don't fully trust the cloud, but I use it

Google, the biggest company on the Internet and internet services, has a saying "don't be evil".  They try to act as this is their credo and they always follow that.  For the most part, to be honest, they have.  I say for the most part because as much good they do, don't forget they are a publicly held company, and have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders.  So they do some things that aren't cool.  An example came to my attention as I listened to the No Agenda Podcast (which I wish you who read this do as well. http://www.noagendashow.com).  The hosts were talking about the news letter they send out to people telling them what's going on with the show and preview what topics they are going to discuss.  The hosts were noticing less and less people were reading their newsletters (they use MailChimp, a mass emailing service and they can track how many open the email).  After a couple shows, people responded to them that the newsletter email was either automatically put by Google (or whatever web based email service) in the spam folder, or wasn't even delivered.  A little digging into the subject showed that Google and other web email providers (the free ones), take payments from marketing companies to promote their emails, while any other mass email won't be prioritized to be received by the people wanting it.  It's a sort of "hey, you want this delivered pay up".  It's a shady thing that most internet companies do.  Ever wonder why not all your Facebook or Twitter posts don't show up in your friends timeline, while ads surely do?  This is why.  It's a grimy way to monetize your product, and it's extortion if you are a small marketing company.

I've noticed that other companies emails or even people's emails I should get in my inbox either never show up or always end up in the spam folder.  Gmail, along with the other free email companies are a convenient thing, but "free" means you pay with allowing them to scan and advertise to you in your email and market you to marketing firms in order to advertise to you.  After a few times in the situation where certain emails are prioritized that shouldn't, I decided to not stay "all in" with Google or any cloud service.

What I am going to do is the following as far as my cloud services I use.  I will continue to use them, but in these ways:

Email: I will keep my Gmail account for access to other Google services, but also the "junk/spam" email account (and the one I give out to people I don't think deserve my new email account).  I"m going to my domain registrar and paying for an email account. 

Storage: I will use Google drive/docs for storage, but also keep local copies of whatever I have up there.

Pictures: I sync my phone's photos with Google+, but I'm going to download them to keep on my computer.  I'll also on occasion delete all the cloud ones 

Backup: I use Carbonite, but I also have a hard drive in my computer for backup and images.  Eventually I may try to make compressed drive images to keep on DVDs or USB sticks.

Media: I have local copies of my music.  I use Spotify for music discovery and eventually I'll buy the music I find and enjoy on there to have a copy on my PC. 

I don't fully trust cloud computing, but I see a some good with it.  I is a great idea, but I think people need to try to keep from depending on them for everything.  Just because it is free, means it isn't.  Look at any Terms of Service for most of the services, you "pay" by giving up a level of privacy and allow them to sell you to marketing firms.  If you are cool with that, then it shouldn't be an issue.  I don't really have a ton of issues with it: they got to make money somehow.  I want them more transparent with what they do behind the scenes as well as how much they will fight government requests for information.

I ask those who read this to think about what your use and put in cloud services, and try to figure out how comfortable you are with it.  I also hope you think about other alternatives and back up strategies should these services shut down suddenly or get bought and changed, or God forbid if someone steals your log in info.  Be smart and don't put your full trust in a "free" product or a "convenient" product or service.  That's all I ask.

Sexual orientation means nothing in politics

Articles like this bothers me. Who cares if someone's gay or straight, and why would that matter if this person can do the job or not. It amazes me when people say he's dodging the question. No, he's not. Its called "Mind your fucking business.". There are other issues to be worried about.

If he's gay so what? People bring out the "gays in politics will push the gay agenda.". The gay agenda is nothing more than gays wanting to live like everyone else with their much higher level of disposable income to spend in the economy. THAT'S the gay agenda, and if you are against that, you are a fool.

http://gawker.com/cory-booker-gay-or-not-gay-round-1-452-1215153879?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gawker%2Ffull+%28Gawker%29&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

Action park

I remember the ads for this place. Never went, but knew a few people who have. I heard many stories about the place. This piece sort of confirmed those stories

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/08/inside_action_park_the_worlds_most_dangerous_park.html

Senior encounter

I went to Archbishop Molloy High School.  It was ran by the Marist brothers.  They had a retreat house and complex in Esopus, NY. several times a year, they held weekend retreats for students to help them grow as people and their faith-though many went up to hangout with their friends.  They had a special retreat for seniors, called Encounters.  These were done a couple times a school year.  These were a little more special than the regular retreats, especially since it was usually the last one for seniors.   

I was going through a bunch of papers and found an envelope.  Its an envelope full of letters I was given at the Encounter I went on.  The letters were written by those who knew you at the Encounter, those who were on a previous one this year that knew you were going on yours, and your parents.  In the letters were nothing but positive things and some intimate, personal thoughts (mind out of gutter, yes Molloy was an all boy school, but not that kind of intimate).     

I learned what some people have thought of me, and I remember at the time I remember being surprised.  I was surprised by not only so many people would take the time to write, but write more than like a formal "hey, you're doing good".  I remember the feelings it made me feel.  It was one of the high points in my high school time.     

Probably the more emotional part was my parents' letters.  They hit me in the heart most.  It especially hit me reading my dad's letter.  Partly because he's gone now, but also it showed me a side of him and his thoughts I didn't know about.   

I kept this envelope for a reason: its to help me remind me of who I am, though changed a little over the years, and I'm doing OK.  It also reminded me how good there was during high school, not just the BS and pain I had to go through during that period.         

Optimism

This week I've had a real sense of optimism and positivity. I can't put a finger on where it comes from, but I've felt like I'm in a good place lately. Could some things be better? Sure. But where I am now I am not only in a good place, but where God or whatever higher power wants me. From this place, I am not in a state of complacement, but I'm ready for whatever the next step is. What is the next step? Its the step wherever the wind blows and what my gut tells me. Its a good and exciting time. Good attitude and new beginnings in some aspects.

Oprah Winfrey

She claims she was discriminated at a store in Europe. She then today apologizes for the incident blowing up in the media. SHE PLAYED THE RACE CARD, WHAT THE HELL DID SHE EXPECT!?!?!? The scumbag profiteering media LOVES race stories. So the scum did what they usually do.

I question if Oprah was really discriminated against, given it just happened around her movie of race relations through time is coming out. Its funny when a movie, show, or book is about to come out, SOMETHING just happens to happen to someone involved with the book/movie/show/event.

Always question what is in the news when something happens to a "celebrity." I bet you 9 times out of 10 its close to their next project. If it is, discount it as a pathetic publicity stunt. That includes deaths of stars or something as extreme as that.

New York Cosmos thoughts

I watched the videos of the first two NY Cosmos games, as well as the old NASL archived stuff.  I like the idea of the Cosmos being around in the sense of having a team on Long Island.  It's a nice alternative to MLS.  The league is ran how I'd like a league to be ran (split seasons, where the "season" is played in halves, and the winners of the halves meet for the championship, autonomous teams).  Sure, the level of play isn't the worlds best, but it's still damn entertaining.   

It bugs me that some fans in the area dismiss it as "minor league", or have some sort of hatred to the Cosmos.  I don't get it where the fear of them comes from.  I don't have an issue with the team here, more soccer in the area the better, and I want to go see a game one Saturday.  My only issue is their using the pat as a crutch.  It's OK to acknowledge it, as they should, but they should not use it as the basis of their marketing.  First it's insulting to the current team and staff.  Second, this is a remake (or reboot as they put it), and using the history can lead to unattainable goals and expectations that could lead to some fans to be let down and stop following the team.  Look at the majority of remakes of movies where you have seen the original and the new one, and how disappointed you were with the new one.  I really hope they move from relying on their past and focus on the local players, and potential stars, on today's team.

I have followed soccer in this area for decades, and it's an exciting time these days.  I am a fan of the Red Bulls, and I may be a fan of the Cosmos also.  I will support local soccer in this area, something local Eurotrash or wannabe Eurotrash seem to not want to do.  I have tones of more respect for someone who would   come out and say they are RBNY and Cosmos fans, than saying they are "diehard" supporter some Eurotrash team.

I encourage you to go support the local soccer team, be it an MLS, NASL, USL, or any team.  Get involved with the local soccer community.  Stop trying to be Eurotrash, and be proud of soccer in this country and do your part to make it grow. 

The Grand Funk Railroad of world soccer

MLS is an American league. Its a shame many in this country aren't proud of it, or at least appreciative of it. I've watched this league since its birth, and its somewhat of a miracle It's still going strong.

Recently some American players have returned to play in it after some time overseas. They had opportunities to play at some major teams in Europe, but the wanted to come back. Some have complained that MLS teams shouldn't pay big bucks for them, and should get some washed up Eurotrash instead.

That bothers me as much as the MLS "All star' game being MLS all stars against some Eurotrash team, like the entire MLS is weaker than one Euro team. Teams do games like this in their world nations for a quick paycheck and an easy training session. Well the US is not a third world country, and MLS is not a third rate league. I find it insulting that MLS goes that route.

Another irksome thing is the fact that a good number of the teams are foreign owned, or not locally owned. To me that isn't good when a team's owners are not a part of the community, or at least won't hire locally. It kills me seeing so many ex-MLS players who want to be coaches in this league get passed over by someone who does not know anything about MLS or American players.

Above all, I hate how the fans and people in the American soccer scene wants it like Europe. Last I checked, we are GODDAMN Americans, Europe-especially the UK-would be nothing but a rest stop for the Germans if Americans didn't do the hard work for them. But this country has some sick "I wish they were our daddy" attitude. It is disgusting.

I want American soccer distinctly American. I want some of the old MLS and NASL rules, like no ties-after 90 mins there is a shootout. I want a best of three playoff format, not a boring "aggregate goal" format. Accepting ties in a game is a world thing, and the world is mediocre and never going for the win.

FTW, WE ARE THE MIGHTY US. let's do things out way.

My PC

  So its been a while since I built my PC. I took it apart to see if there is any dust or dirt in it, given how much venting there is,  I decided to take some pictures, since I forgot to when I built.

First here's the specs of it:
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200r Motherboard: Gigabyte z77x-d3h
Cpu: Intel i5-3570k
RAM: 8GB Corsair
Hard drives: 2 Seagate 7200 500 GB
GPU: evga Geforce GTX 660
Power supply: corsair CX 600
DVD drive: LG
WIFI CARD 

For the most part, the build went well, aside the mother board I first got, an AsRock motherboard, was shot.  Actually the pins where the processor was bent,  I spent a day going through every situation I could think of that could be wrong. Once I got an new motherboard, everything worked.   

So far I'm loving it.  It plays games at almost, if not at, the highest graphical settings.  It runs quiet and cool, and every task I throw at it, its done well.