Peons Dictating Policy

The parentheses are my corrections on this person's jumbled grammar, but the point they are trying to make is noteworthy.

(I) have no idea what a person goes thru (through) in the Armed Forces. They get shit given to them on a plate long before they get their first buzzjob. It does not matter what U.S. Policy is, if we have a Dem or Rep Admin, they are Gov. (government) Property. They don't choose what happens to them. They honor there (their) contract with you the people. So if you propogate that bullshit regarind (regarding) anything you really can't control, remember, you are insulting a normal guy or gal who stood up and said what the fuck, I will fight to the death for you.

The reason I put this quote from the Rants and Raves portion of San Diego's Craigslist up here is because I've heard a grumble from people (including my favorite comedian, the late Bill Hicks) about soldiers being to blame for the overall idea of war. Let me be the first to burst that bubble. People in the military are NOT to blame for going to war. The administration is. As for all the little things that happen during the war, like "friendly fire" (what a phrase), that is the military's fault. But the overall strategy is set by the head honchos. They dictate policy, they send us to war, and they tell us where to go. We do the job they tell us to do. End of story. This should be apparent to anyone with a modicum of cognitive abilities, but I've actually heard people on radio talk shows talking about how it's the soldiers who are to blame for going to war. I really find this hard to believe that someone thinks that a peon in the military is dictating policies and setting up major strategies. And even moreso because they have a popular medium to get this to the people. It's pure drivel.

A minor update to this: In my experience in the Navy, I have not ever thought of it as "fighting to the death" for anyone. It was more like the segue (and financial help) to get into college and also to get out of the shithole town I was living in at the time. The Navy isn't like that at all and I don't want someone to get that impression. This was meant for the people who have or are fighting for a war, as in ground troops. Not that you shouldn't appreciate what the Navy does, but at least consider the fact that for the most part, Navy people are well taken care of and don't really think of it as being in the military. It's more like a bad job that you can't quit and it takes a lot to get fired from.

To All my PC/Windows Using Friends

If you were ever considering (which you should for many reasons) trying out the Macintosh, but shied away because of the price tag, the Mac mini is the computer for you. The idea is that you can either add this to your existing computer setup or have it replace your Windows machine totally, by using your old monitor, keyboard, and mouse and this, well, basically replaces that old ugly clunker of a desktop that is taking up way too much room. The other thing here is that you are getting a nice computer for a small price, and not to mention the OS. The operating system OSX for Mac beats the shit out of Windows by a landslide. I think this will be the computer that will make Apple more popular than it has ever been in 20 years. If I had only bought their stock a year ago...it's already tripled since then and I would imagine this will cause it to go even higher. Apple is slowly but surely making inroads into the PC market. The computer world is abuzz with news about this, for sure. I've already read at least 20 posts on message boards where people have just today (they announced this just over 12 hours ago) convinced their Windows using friends who were always curious about Macs (but didn't want to spend $1000+ to find out) to switch and order one.

It's 6.5" X 6.5" X 2" and it costs $499 for a 1.25G processor (double that for Pentium equivalent) and a 40G hard drive, and $599 for a 1.42G processor with an 80G hard drive.

If Everything Else Wasn't Enough...

I could hardly contain myself from laughing at this one:

During his annual keynote speech at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates suffered technical glitches thanks to his Windows operating system. "During a demonstration of digital photography with a soon-to-be-released Nikon camera, a Windows Media Center PC froze and wouldn't respond to Gates' pushing of the remote control. Later in the 90-minute presentation, a product manager demonstrated the ostensible user-friendliness of a video game expected to hit retail stores in April, Forza Motor Sport. But instead of configuring a custom-designed race car, the computer monitor displayed the dreaded 'blue screen of death' and warned, 'out of system memory.'"

I've seen a video where this happened during a presentation and he just started laughing.

Also this one from Mac Daily News:

Microsoft's Bill Gates' opening keynote at CES did not go entirely to plan, but, then again, when does it ever when Windows is powering the show?

"Bill Gates's legendary luck failed him during his keynote presentation at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas," Iain Thomson reports for vnunet.com. "His demonstration of Microsoft Media Center crashed during the presentation on integrating digital photography, and later a Microsoft product manager failed to access the internet with a Tablet PC."

"The presentation started on a jokey theme, with late-night TV host Conan O'Brien presenting a mock version of his own show and a video diary of his and Bill's 'lost weekend' in Las Vegas. 'I got too drunk, I woke up with a hooker,' O'Brien said. 'Bill got too drunk, he woke up with an Apple computer,'" Thomson reports.

In other news, Microsoft is offering a free security program. Weird.

But a senior Microsoft executive confirmed the company's plans to sell its own antivirus software, which would compete against programs from McAfee, Symantec and others.

It seems just like the ol' doctor-patient relationship: the DOCTOR DOESN'T WANT THE PATIENT TO GET BETTER. It's in the doctor's best interest NOT actually treat the patient back to health. With Microsoft, the more confused and annoyed you are, the more you'll buy "upgrades" and other nonsense they try to sell you, only to make you more confused. Uh, the Mac works out of the box, and you don't have to update and patch it constantly. And it DOESN'T get spyware, adware, viruses, or other malware. This is why the IT world hates Mac, because it works. And when something works, the people who "fix computer problems" are out of a job. It is in their best interest to keep Windows because it keeps them employed. Imagine that: there is a whole subculture of people who have jobs precisely because Windows is so shitty. There are a lot of people who are very, very thankful to Bill Gates for making such bad software and keeping their families fed and a roof over their head. Chew on that one for a while.

Funny side note: on Christmas day, my future in-laws computer had updates to install for Windows. There we were, downstairs playing GameCube, waiting to open gifts when I looked at the computer and the updates window was begging someone to update the computer. I damn near laughed out loud. Of course, this was probably because they had been putting them off for so long. I'm quite sure that Microsoft didn't actually put out an update on Christmas, but even the thought is still funny.

For those of you that are reading this and at any point in the future might be considering buying a computer, will you please, for your sake, at least CONSIDER buying a Mac. You will be glad you did.

My Old Printer on eBay

This is my old printer for sale on eBay. If you or someone you know wants it, please bid on it. If you win and you mention that you read this on my site, I will ship it to you for free. If you are in the San Diego area, I do deliver. As of right now, it has the second highest bid of any printer like it on eBay and there are still 5+ days left.