No Absolutes?

Ask someone if they are absolutely sure of it the next time they assert that no absolutes exists.  That statement is self-contradictory.

Projection

One underlying human trait is that we usually project our own thoughts onto others.  We expect others to be trustworthy if we are trustworthy.  We expect others to cheat us if we tend to cheat others.  It is interesting how many human relations are colored with this.

How Much Can Discrimination Explain?

I always enjoy Walter Williams. I find his ideas to be very cognizant and well thought out.

How Much Can Discrimination Explain?

It is worth the time to listen to this, especially if you believe that the modern idea that the outcomes imply discrimination if they differ from the population distribution.

Make Sure Things Work the Way You Think

I have become very much of a contrarian as I have grown older. I have found much "common wisdom" to be far from accurate, especially in our modern society where the rules are drastically different than most of recorded history. It can be dangerous to comment on any specific ones of these, especially since so many take offense to those who don't agree with them today, in spite of the wide openness everyone is supposed to be following. I would encourage everyone to really look at things that you have taken for granted and make sure they really work as you think they do. Figure out which of your "core beliefs" are reliable and which are built on a faulty foundation. That will put you in a much better stead in life. This does not mean that everything is relative, but the our understanding of things is often off the mark, especially in certain situations. The absolute truths may still be there, but they may not be the exact things you thought they were. Keep that in the forefront of your mind!

Free from All Risk?

One of the areas where I do a lot of work is in information security. We learn there that a key underlying principle is that we can never completely remove risk, we can only reduce it to an acceptable level. This is a principle that needs to be spread throughout more of life. We live in a time when we try to completely eliminate any risk. Not only is this not possible, it costs a lot of money to find that out. We can never completely remove every harmful substance, no matter how hard we try. Don't give into the rhetoric that claims you can do so. Instead, turn the conversation toward the goal of finding the proper level of risk.

Not Dealing with Reality

I am not optimistic that it can change, but I am still very discouraged that our country (the United States) is not dealing with its overspending problems. No one should be surprised that the Debt Commission failed in its effort to find an acceptable compromise to fix our problems. I just read an editorial by my own Congressman and while he noted his disappointment that no deal was made, he credited Democrats with trying to do what they could. Balderdash. No one is trying to deal with this. The only one I have seen admit that we need massive spending cuts is Ron Paul and he faces a huge uphill climb, even if he somehow managed to win the presidential election. Too many people benefit from government's redistributing money. The problem is that no one has enough money to keep the game up, so it will crash in one way or another. I tend to agree with those who believe we will inflate our way out of this, which will make everyone who has savings much, much poorer, as their money is worth far less. Some say we just have to make "the rich pay their fair share," yet few can answer what that "fair share" is. We would still have a huge deficit even if we took 100% of the earnings of "the rich." How can people be so ignorant of that? Ultimately, the middle class will pay the price and may even end up not existing in the same way in a few years. We are in for quite a wild ride.

Why is "Her" OK, but "His" Isn't?

I notice a lot of hypocrisy in writing today. I regularly read blog posts and online articles that use "her" for the generic human pronoun, eschewing the more traditional "his" in attempt to not imply that all the targets of the topic are male. The root challenge is that English does not have a generic pronoun for this. "Its" might be accurate, but doesn't work well. "His" was the traditional word for centuries, but the modern politically correct movement has proclaimed that it is no longer acceptable. You would likely get outcries of complaints if you used "his" that you will not get if you use "her." How stupid can we be?

A Ponzi Scheme

Does anyone really think that Social Security is not a Ponzi Scheme? It relies on current contributions to make its payout. How is that any different? The only thing it has in its favor is that the government is a legal counterfeiter, unlike Ponzi and Madoff, the poster children of this same scheme. We simply don't have the money. How will we magically get it?

Problems with the Death Penalty

I just listened to a news story about someone in Georgia who has had significant doubts raised about his guilt. The only person speaking on camera in favor of carrying through the death penalty was the mother of the slain officer. She said that it should proceed and she wanted to ask those who questioned it how many of them had their sons shot. What difference does that make? Likely kill an innocent man because your son was shot? Are people really this stupid? I am in favor of the death penalty when it is properly applied, but I find that our modern legal system allows the rich to buy their way out of it and the poor to get railroaded. That is flawed. We must protect society, from cruel predators in society and inside prosecuting offices.

Wishing Scary People Were Far Away

A recent Economist article noted that a lot of the responses to the riots in England were merely "wishing scary people far away." What exactly is wrong with that? I certainly want scary people to be far from me!

It can be dangerous when this is merely a method to close our eyes to danger, but it is completely valid when legitimate things are done to protect ourselves. You must protect yourself, your family and your neighborhood first. Not doing so is far more immoral than anything else.

Hopefully people learn this before society completely falls apart.

NCAA

I grew up in Columbus, so I have a soft spot for Ohio State even though I went to another Big Ten school, Illinois for my degrees.

I don't watch a lot of football, but I happened to pick up their game today against Akron and some of the talk was on the penalties they faced for past actions.

I know that many, especially in the NCAA, want to pretend that college football is purely amateur, but they are total idiots. I have not delved deeply into the issues, but the things that happened seemed to be pretty minor compared to the penalties, and potential future penalties, that were put on the team. I would say the same whatever school it was, I just noticed it because it was Ohio State.

Have some consequences, but require flagrant violation of rules for such penalties, not the things most schools are certainly getting away with.

Controlling Our Lives

We live in an era of the freedom to do whatever you want, unless it is on the list of "incorrect" things that are OK to control. Eat some food that is not healthy for you? Hold some beliefs that others strongly oppose? You can be freely opposed in many cases.

This is the hypocrisy that gets to me. You are horrible if you are a certain way, but you are fine if you fit in their box. I never liked being stuffed in a box.

Are we really that different than the rest of history or do we just favor different things? People always want to control others. Stop it!

Everything is a Trade-Off

I am going to write a few blog posts on the trade-offs inherent in life. Some of these may touch on what we see as given rights and even discussing them ends up causing a bunch of people to get uptight unless you repeatedly stress what "should be."

What "should be" is completely irrelevant. I may think I "should be" able to walk off a tall building and float through the air, but we still know this is not possible.

Unfortunately, we do not know this for many of our choices in life. The best choice may still be to jump off that building and into a nearby lake to escape the building fire, but the jump will still impact us.

We want to "have it all" today and that never works. Everything comes at a price. There is no such thing as a free lunch. This is a message we need to drill in our heads: "No free lunches!" Everything comes at a price.

What prices are you paying today for your past choices and those of others?

Who is the Crazy One?

Many people believe:

- Life spontaneously organized itself. Experiments show life doesn't proceed from non-life, but they believe it happened anyway.

- This belief is sometimes based on an experiment where heavy human interaction (outside intelligence) was needed to get the "right" ingredients separated. Though the right ingredients may not all have really been right since the had both right- and left-handed ingredients, one being the building block of life and one being fatal to it.

- Little things change (cats changing to different cats) so big things must change (dogs changing to cats). No clear cut examples of this shift exist, but science channels can make up shows that show it with lots of "and then a miracle happened" steps in between.

- In a related manner, lots of time produces order out of randomness. This doesn't work anywhere in real life without external intelligence, but hey, the theory is true so it MUST happen.

- Sometimes "outside energy" (unorganized) is brought in to produce that order. So that's why my lawn dies off (or at least turns quite brown) in the heat of the summer. It is really organizing more with all that energy.

- Organization and brilliant design imply randomness. Except that is when such came in a signal from outer space. Then it would imply a really smart civilization.

- Those who find their views stupid are afraid of them. It couldn't be that they find their views completely ridiculous, could it?

- It is science because they say it is science. They don't have to perform falsifiable experiments like are required for all other areas of science. If something fails, make up a new explanation for how it is still true.

We have a modern high priest cast. They are called "scientists" and we are supposed to bow down at their proclamations. They can sometimes argue amongst themselves on the really weird things (string theory, multiple universes, etc.), but we have to believe their ultimate proclamations of how it happened because that is "science" and it is the way it is.

How is this any different than ancient civilizations when they believed some really odd things and insisted they were true because that is what their high priests said?

Lots of faith in all of them, even while claim not to have faith.

Those of you who stumble on this while investigating me may not agree with my views, but they are built on a whole lot more logic than I see exhibited in the "science" high priesthood.

More to come....

Why is Crass so Funny?

I was listening to a podcast just now and they were cracking up about getting drunk and singing foul lyrics. I realize some people revel in such, but how is that a sign of anything but immaturity? Anyone can lose control of themselves and act obnoxious.

Only those able to control themselves can have quite a bit of fun without acting like juveniles.

If We Can Just Spend a Bit More....

While a few new members of Congress took a token stand, for a short time, we are back to "business as usual" with the bi-factional ruling party. When will we realize that we cannot spend more than we take in and we can never take in enough to ever meet all the pandering of numerous elected officials? They will promise unlimited benefits, but lack the ability to pay for those benefits.

We are destroying our children's future....

Teachers Cheat? Imagine That!

With all the pressure on our flawed educational system to get good results has led some teachers to cheat on student test scores.

Are we surprised?

I had a few really good teachers during my slave days in the government school system, but I also had quite a few who were barely making it. This is what will happen whenever the government takes over something. The mediocre rise to the top, since you cannot reward excellence and still have everyone do well and feel good.

The system encourages cheating, however much we may act in pretend shock when it happens.

Why is Spending Less Such a Radical Idea?

Why do so many, especially in the traditional media, fail to realize that we will ultimately have to spend less to balance our budget. Tax increases may fit an urge to "stick it to the rich," but they can only bring in so much money, if they work at all.

I have read that the overall tax take tends to stay the same, regardless of the tax rate. If true, that would mean all this talk about using higher taxes to balance thing is just fairy tale thinking, though that would be the norm for government.

Impartial News?

How can those involved over the long term with news still cling to the claim that they are in any way impartial?

I am currently listening to The Economist's report on the modern news field and it is amazing how they can slam Fox News for being "conservative" yet claim that others are unbiased. Give me a break. I don't appreciate all of Fox News, especially their drum banging for war, but they are far more "fair and balanced" than the more traditional news outlets, including the vaunted Economist.

All journalists have their biases which impact what they chose to report and how they report it. Facts left in or over amplified provide spin even while claiming neutrality.

Get real. Admin that who you are impacts what you do!

A Balanced Budget Ammendment Would be a Waste

I am completely in favor of the federal government starting to live within it means. No one, not even the government, can continue spending more than it takes in forever. We have become addicted to debt and it will cost us serious withdrawal pains when we ultimately have to go "cold turkey" in the whole area.

(I see no other way to quit this addiction.)

Many cry that we need a Balanced Budget Amendment to solve this problem. I completely oppose that because I fail to see how it would stop us attempting to spend much. These are the politicians who claimed we had a "Social Security Lockbox" with lots of funds to cover the payments that are now hitting. Only IOUs filled the box, not anything of value. Games would be used to pretend things were balanced while the debt piled up.

The question of who would enforce it makes it flawed as well. Congress has the power to pass budgets. Who will force them to do what they won't do on their own?

I would say we should push for those in office who will truly cut back the government, but I fear that is impossible now. Too many people are dependent upon a large and growing government. Everyone wants cuts, but not in programs that impact them.

I see this as a part of the flawed "just pass a law" theory that is so prevalent in modern society. We fail to realize that a law can only punish those it catches, it can't prevent the activity.

Get ready for some rough times as stuff hits the fan.

The Economist Magazine is Against Big Government?

I have subscribed to the audio version of the Economist for several years and find it gives me a good view of world news. They have their biases, but they are far less than the other traditional media.

One thing I do find ironic is that they regularly say that "this newspaper is opposed to large government." They may be in theory, but not in practice. I rarely hear them mention any program they really want to cut and they regularly bang the drums for higher taxes to balance out budgets.

I am listening to the end of June now (yeah, I am behind) and they are continually whacking the Republicans for opposing tax increases (which the Republicans have caved on) and say very little about the Democratic refusal to cut programs. It would be more honest if they would be complaining about the Democrats refusing to consider serious spending cuts as well, but that doesn't seem to fall within their vision of less government.

What exact small government do they want?

Software Patents are Stupid

Martin Fowler has an interesting article on software patents. He does note the common claim that patents in general enabled the Industrial Revolution, something I am not completely convinced of, but he makes the great point that they were a limited scope item back then. While 14 years is forever today, it was barely a blip with the very slow rate of change at the time.

I do think that people still would have invented things that would make their life and work simpler, with patent protection, though it may (or may not) have gone a bit differently than it did.

I especially like his note

The tragedy is that patents have become a source of reinforcing existing powers. A big company may find patents a significant inconvenience, but in the end patents are good for perpetuating the current power-holders because they can snuff out the smaller ones. This is why it's hard to change the system, those with the power have no incentive to give it up.


Whatever its origins, it is really a tool of big businesses and large organizations to squish the competition now, rather than to provide for a growing competitive marketplace.

The goal should be enabling innovation, not rewarding those with the legal resources to bash those who would compete with them.

Kill the software patent now!

A Single Party State

Contrary to popular misunderstanding, the United States is currently ruled by a single party. Sure they put on the motions of being for different things, but they are really two wings of the same party. The latest cave in adding even more debt to future generation shows that.

Even those elected under the mandate of "no new debt" caved in and voted for more debt.

The problem is that the people don't want the hard choices and frugality that truly cutting back would cost. They want "the other guy" to take the fall. They don't realize they are the other guy and have had their pockets fleeced for years.

It is not really liberal vs. conservative, it is big government versus individual freedom. Few are in the second camp these days, however much they claim to be so. Notice how much they are both happy to tell you what you can do with your own body when it comes to cigarettes, for example?

They pretend to hold radically different positions, yet we creep to the point of more and more control over our lives each and every day. I wish we would truly wake up, but too many are dependent on government filter dollars. Only a serious crash will change things and that will likely leave a mess.

Though it is coming at some point.

Does Tech Make You Liberal?

I was listening to a video of a recent conference and in the course of their talk, the speaker noted that the future (with technology) would allow for a more equitable distribution of resources. Unless I completely misunderstand the point, this is a very left-wing idea, even communistic, though I am sure the speaker would deny that.

I have seen this in a wide range of tech individuals. I do not like the liberal-conservative scale as I feel it distorts many things, but I will use it briefly in this post. Even a so-called conservative seems as rare in tech as in Hollywood.

It is quite ironic since most of these people have their money because of the few remaining elements of a capitalistic system that we still have today. (We are far from a true capitalistic system, but I will leave that for another post.) Yet they are more than happy to in essence proclaim that they, or their cohort in government, know better how to spend our money than we do.

It is ultimately all about control I suppose. They have made money and have tasted the control that comes with that money. Now they want to control others. Whatever they may proclaim, evaluate how much "freedom to fail" they will allow and that will reveal their desire for control.

You must be free to fail if you are to be truly free to succeed!

I have been playing World of Warcraft a bit too much in the past few months, but I am seeing a trend that is common throughout many things in life today.

Instead of providing a platform and letting users find their own way around, the developers seem to have too deep a compelling need to control how people use their product. So they continually make changes to make "their way" the easiest/best/whatever way to proceed through the game.

I like things like this because I like building things. I don't play with Legos much, but this is in many ways a quite similar area. Their tweaking to push me to play "their way" is really annoying.

It is also a lot like the rest of life today, unfortunately. Note that you can carry out almost any form of sexuality you like, but if you want to smoke you are the worst person in the world. Soon we will likely see an effort to stamp out certain food choices.

All this comes from those claiming to want freedom. Yet they continue to limit it by those who don't fit with their definition of freedom. Their actions don't fit their words.

Stop the nanny state, in life and World of Warcraft!

Expensive E-Books

Why are e-books so high priced? I would buy a lot more at $0.99 to $2.99, but not for the $6.99 and up many of them charge. Technical ones are even higher priced. It is too expensive to build up a good digital library today.

I wish publishing companies would realize that some of us would buy a lot more at a much lower price point. Here they have drastically reduced costs and they only seek to jack up their profits instead of increasing adoption. Most paperbacks can be bought cheaper than the e-book version, especially at a used bookstore.

Their loss.

Why Do We Have a Debt Ceiling?

So much talk is saying we have to extend the debt ceiling. Why do we have a ceiling at all if that is the case? A ceiling that always moves is not a ceiling....

Government Overhead

We believe so many foolish things in life. The ongoing belief that the government can provide "free benefits" is one of those things. Too many people think this or that program is just and proper, not realizing that whatever the government does it must take from other people.

This can be directly, in the form of taxes and such, or it can be indirectly in the form of inflation, primarily by printing more money. Both steal from one group to pay benefits to another group, with the government skimming off a portion along the way.

In fact, this skimmed amount can be really bad.

Wake up and realize that everything has a price.

Why are You Here?

What is your point for being alive? Do you know?

I would strongly argue that anyone who can't answer that is living a very pointless life.

Some things must be pushed through, even painful things, but a true purpose makes it all bearable!

How Intolerant are You?

While it doesn't completely surprise me, I find it interesting that those who are supposedly the most tolerant are completely intolerant of anyone who doesn't accept their belief system. They may claim that we can all "believe what we want," but if your beliefs including thinking you are wrong, you are worse than an infidel to them.

How tolerant is that?

It is really a human problem. No one can really completely accept anything, so they only claim to do so until their hypocrisy is exposed. Unfortunately, most people don't currently hold others accountable for such hypocrisy.

How honest are you about your intolerance?

Imagine if This Were the Tea Party

Look at the coverage of the effective riots in Wisconsin. Imagine these were Tea Party members. The media would not be off the "bad people" argument. Yet they say barely a peep about the far worse behavior and even death threats of those involved here.

Couldn't be bias, could it?

Most of you have probably seen the demonstrations (and worse) going on in Wisconsin. Those who had negotiated quite cushy perks are really upset that they may lose the right to negotiate those in the future.

Whether you are in favor of unions or not, having them in the public sector (the only place they are growing or maintaining strength) seems a bit wrong. The can organize and support candidates who will give them more benefits. That is a kind of self-feeding system, for the worse.

The state is broke, they need to tighten their belts and live without things they may have claimed as their right in the past, just as all of us are doing now. They don't like it, so they are "throwing a tantrum." What is not surprising, but still saddening, is how many liberal apologists proclaim they have the right to everything.

Brad

I am Awed by Design

It never ceases to amaze me that men can look at the complex designs in nature and yet credit them to random chance. This is in spite of the fact that nothing in life that they can observe works that way! I have worked many years in software development and information security and neither of those areas will work right if you don't put a lot of effort into designing things to work properly.

Even the "simple cell" is complex beyond our imagination. Yet we maintain the persistent myth that random forces caused all this.

Talk about believing "its turtles all the way down"....

Content "Piracy"

We regularly here that accessing content "illegally" is stealing. We really need to reevaluate this stance. While we have certainly "owned content" for the past several decades, this was not the historical norm. Prior to this, anyone could reprint just about anything, though the costs of doing so were the more limiting factor. Now, the duplication costs are effectively zero, so it is much harder to keep control.

One serious flaw in the argument is that stealing takes something from someone else. If I steal your phone, you don't have a phone. On the contrary, if I copy your mp3 file, you still have full access to your own. By this logic, if I hear you singing a new song I will have "stolen it" if I sing it myself.

This doesn't hold up to logic and I suspect that it will not hold up in the long term.

As with much of life, those arguing for the "new order" are not looking for the good of society, they are looking out for their own pocketbook. While this is to be expected, we should keep it in mind when deciding what is the right thing to do.

NOTE: I am not advocating the copying of material. I am just discussing the reasoning behind things.

Focus Pocus

I believe I have written before that this is my biggest challenge. I do great once I have a clear goal (whether I generate it or it is given by others), but I can have a hard time getting to that point if nothing is driving me there.

That is the biggest challenge in life too!

In fact, each of us must ultimately decide what to focus on. Allowing others to do that will almost certainly take us to a place where we do not want to be. While the individual decisions may seem fine, each one may take us farther from a goal that we would be really satisfied with.

I do not believe you can really plan your entire life out, though a few people do seem to come very close to that. Life has a way of stepping in the middle and messing up the best plans. That should not be used as an excuse to not do anything though. It is far better to aim at something and adjust your aim, than to aim at nothing and hit it!

"I Don't Want Anything"

Most people loudly insist that they don't want any outside support. They will often proclaim, "I don't want anything." Yet I think this is far from reality. What is much more likely is that they don't want any "strings" with what they get. They want an ATM machine that they never put money in, but that they can take it out without even a receipt saying, "be thankful for what you got."

In the past, I believe some really did want to "do it on their own," but that inner drive is largely missing. While I am an incredibly motivated individual, I have to constantly watch myself, how much more for someone that really isn't interested in things?

Look at all the programs (government and otherwise) to help people out. None of them (that I know of) are hurting for applicants. If anything, we are constantly told we need to "do more" even though the need will never be filled. Some people are in truly rough situations, but the answer is to help all of us learn skills to get out of the mess, not just throw money and resources in to let us keep the same attitudes that kept us in the mess in the first place.

We need to have an attitude shift. We need to stop doing the things that poor people do and start doing the things that enable people to gain wealth. Everyone will never be "above average," but we can certainly do much better.

Life is about always improving, yourself and your relationships with others. How are you furthering that goal today?

NOTE: The reason it is impossible for everyone to be "above average" is because average just means "in the middle." Someone will always be in the middle. Some will always be above and some will always be below average. Nothing can change this. The key is to raise the tide, not just specific boats.

I suppose this is why "the poor will always be with us." Poor is often a relative term, even though a mindset is often what keeps people stuck there. The poor of today have far more than even the rich several hundred years ago, but we don't have a gratefulness for that, which goes back to the start of this entry. Thus the circle continues.

No More Collections?

I was just listening to a podcast and one of the comments was that the transition to purely online media faces a challenge since it goes against the human desire to collect things.

How many of us have at least a small collection of CDs and DVDs. While all are not as compelled to collect things as I am, we all tend to collect some things. With the "pay per use" method, you no longer will have that option.

I wonder how strong this collection desire is in everyone. If it is as strong as I suspect, this transition may not ever be complete, no matter how much the producers and studios want us to change to renting what we watch.

Focus

This is my biggest area of challenge these days. Though I suppose I would have to say that in relationship with my life. I can do well at a wide range of things and enjoy almost all of them. That is good in one sense, but it is hard when I face decisions about where to really focus with my life.

No answers here, but perhaps by writing about it some direction will come out that helps me and those who may read this.

How Have You Improved Yourself Today?

What have you done today to make yourself a better person? This is a key thing all of us should keep in mind. Our most limited asset is our time and we need to use it the best we can.

Make sure you do something each day, however small, to improve yourself. Take a step toward being the person you want to be!

How Certain is "Natural History"?

I was watching a show tonight on the beginning of the oceans (I missed the first part). It was full of tiny bits of facts stuffed with lots of "scientific imagining" at its own admission. (I may have the exact word wrong, but they basically admitted to making a lot of it up.)

It is amazing how certain they are of so many things, without any solid evidence to back them up, just their own guesses.

It was interesting to note their focus on the shift to plate tectonics. They noted the clever "everything fits together" without noting the size differences of the continents. Its kind of like taking the pieces from several different sized puzzles and then insisting they all fit together. Though perhaps they did, that doesn't prove the stories they weave.

Clearly, the plates move, but they were quite far from proving that all we can see can be explained by slow gradual processes. It is ironic that they claimed the alternative was a belief that "God made it static" when that doesn't fit with what even the most hard core Creationist believes. (Check out the Flood of Noah for lots of shifting, for example. See also the Mount St. Helens eruption for fast-forming canyons.)

My wife asks me why I watch these shows. I like true science, yet find little of it. Lots of myth telling though. I am not sure, though maybe she is correct when she says it is so I can argue with the TV! :)

Brad

Today's Election

I have tuned out of a lot of political hype in the past few years. I used to be a lot more concerned about things, truly believing the idea that my vote mattered. I no longer am convinced it really matters, except as much as it is following the overall trend in our culture.

Right now many voters are "mad" about some things and many felt they were sold a bunch of junk with our current president. However, I am not convinced that most of those really want the radical cut back of government that would be required to have a more balanced society.

We rely on government to do to much for us, not realizing that we are ultimately responsible for ourselves. A big danger is that many will step forward claiming they can help us manage things better, in spite of reality.

The only time letting someone else handle things is appropriate is when you are a child. The modern American citizen needs to grow up and stop being a child. We all need to realize that while we should personally help each other out, our own future is pretty much in our own hands. No one can manage it better, nor should we ever give up our freedoms to attempt to reach that.

Droid X

I got tired of my Samsung Omnia phone and replaced it with a Droid X.

The Droid X gets hot, though looks like it will be a great phone, if I can keep the heat away from me. :)

The Omnia had high ratings, but I don't believe it lived up to its hype.

Blaming God for Life's Troubles

I was listening to a PBS show on Mark Twain (via Netflix) while doing some work tonight. The biggest thing that struck me is that on the one hand he blamed himself for all bad things, but on the other he blamed God.

I suspect this is a problem with those who claim to always blame themselves. They ultimately know they are not as wrong as they think, so they have to blame someone. Since God is not there and usually gets the burnt of everyone's blame, they then dump on Him.

This completely ignores their own role in things and also the results of sin in the world. How few of us acknowledge that we are really getting far better than we deserve? It is quite common in the modern world to think we all deserve perfection. Some think that everything should go well, all the time. Ultimately, this is normally just selfishness. I have especially seen this in those who don't work hard for their own advancement, instead thinking someone else "owes them" merely because they "suck air" as Dave Ramsey says.

If this fits you, consider that perhaps you are not seeing the whole picture. Sure you can blame God, but He has already taken action, yet few of us accept His Son and what He has done for us. Then we blame Him because we don't get the good times we think we are due.

While I have faced my own series of troubles, I will never bow to the temptation to blame God for them. Sure, He knows everything, but He has chosen to let us face the lives we mostly make ourselves.

Stop blaming Him and start thanking Him for the good things you do have. Countless stories show that those who do so face better lives, even if they end up going through even worse troubles.

Time Keeps on Slipping into the Future!

I am constantly reminded of the song by the Steve Miller Band, Fly Like An Eagle. Time certainly slips away quickly.

My life is much more flexible now than it has been at times in the past when I was physically "on site" for an employer for 40 or more hours a week, yet I find my time vanishes just as fast now as it ever did. In some ways, it seems like it goes quicker.

Not sure the point of this post, but something to ponder. We need to use our time wisely. It slips away and is gone before we know it. We can never get it back. It will be spent regardless.

Are you spending your time wisely?

Tea Party Haters

I am a fair bit behind on listening to my Economist subscription and just came across the Letters section for an issue in early May. One of the letter writers complained that the Tea Party members only complained about their lot in life.

His solution, get more informed instead of just complaining. And what exactly would the point of that be? Or is that just another command to "shut up and get with the program of having the government take over more and more of life"?

Is he as critical of anti-war protesters, those who protest the oil spill and drive to the events in their gas-guzzlers, etc.? I doubt it, since those are more correct causes.

I am not a Tea Party member and I am unlikely to be, since I think politics today is largely a waste of time. We are given the illusion that we control things, not the reality.

Why is the "complaining" against the Tea Party any worse than the complaining Mr. Curcio and others in his party have likely done against Texas governor Rick Perry? They seem to always be complaining about something in the little bit of Texas politics I hear.

Complaining about the direction of your country/state/city/whatever is a perfectly valid use of our right to free speech. How ironic that those who want to "free" us don't want the same rights of free speech for those who disagree with their goals and methods.

Some day we will wake up and realize that a strong controlling government is a very dangerous thing. Unfortunately, that will probably be after it is far too late to do anything about it. It is probably too late now in fact. Too many people have become dependent on all the things that government provides (at a horrible ultimate price and one forceably extracted from others via taxes).

The freedoms we have can be lost very quickly and it is looking more and more like I will live to see that day. Big bummer on that one.

People like Mr. Curcio need to get a life. Instead of seeing their schemes of more Nanny State control in our lives as the only way, they need to wake up and see that shrinking back the power of our rulers would really be a good thing and that protesting against a state that sticks its nose in all things is a good thing.

The Amazing Variety of Life

I was just watching the first part of the deep ocean episode of The Blue Planet. It is a look at the wide variety of life in the deep ocean. The narrator notes that the attack and defense methods were developed in an "evolutionary arms race". While this sounds good, it fails to note the incredible difficulty of this working in practice. A partial attack or defense method would almost always (if not always) be useless.

We would never look at a computer system that had strong defenses and think it just happened. We also know that those who attack computer systems either use their own intelligence or that of those who designed their tools.

How can we look at the incredible complexity and functionality in life and think it "just happened" with a straight face.

I Bought an iPad!

After being intrigued but largely not focusing on it, I got spurred into getting an iPad the very same day they happened to be releasing the 3G version. Naturally, I needed the biggest one they had, a 64GB 3G one.

I love it! While it isn't perfect and learning the controls can take a brief bit of time, I am finding it much more effective at things than either Kindle (I have both versions) ever was. I did get GoodReader based on a recommendation I saw on the web and I love the way it presents PDF files. They are very viewable and it works great for reading them.

Reading PDF files, which I need to do for classes I teach, is a significant motivation for having such a device, but I am also finding that it is a great game playing machine.

I had also noticed the Small World game came out. It is one of the few board games by that publisher that I don't have, but I will note that the iPad implementation is great. I do wish I could toggle off the stupid sound that plays on the screen when you start the app, but that is fortunately not part of the normal gameplay. I had steered away from it because of the fantasy theme, but that is mostly just a mechanic in the game, not a principle focus. It is all about taking territories and collecting residual income.

Highly recommended!

I am looking at getting a Mac now so I can play around with developing some of my own iPad apps as well. Looks cool. I have been "away from the Mac" for almost a decade now too!

Brad

Frontline Slams For-Profit Colleges

I just got done listening to the Frontline show "College Inc." It is an examination of the for-profit education business. It is certainly a business and that clearly bothers some people, especially those from more traditional education.

The show did show many good things and probably gave as unbiased a view as they could, given their mindset. I would be most of those involved with the show's production were very used to only the more traditional academic environment.

A couple of things bothered me about the show and I am listing them in the order I think of them, not necessarily their order of importance.

- They continually complained that the cost of a for-profit education is much more than that at a more traditional community college or regular university. In this, they failed to note how it compared to the cost of each student in such organizations when you factored in the money such schools receive from government at all levels. Is it really so different in that case? Perhaps, though I have my doubts. While government money to education is being trimmed in some places, it still amounts to a lot of money. Tuition costs are also rising rather rapidly from what I have seen.

- Many of the "sad stories" they give of people who made poor choices were truly sad. Unfortunately, the real problem is getting too much debt, something that plagues our society in so many ways. A significant cause of the current credit crisis was too much credit for a wide ranger of things. Are the producers really certain that this is the only stupid thing people have done and are paying the price for now? How about even interviewing those who have huge amounts of debt and possibly no degree from a large state school? How about an elite college, like Harvard?

People run up bills for stupid things all the time. We should be actively telling people to not fund an education, or much else for that matter, on debt. Staying debt free is much more important than just picking apart specific examples.

- The regulators on the show seemed no different than the ones in other areas who want to assert their power and ability to rule the area they are over. Does anyone really trust that government regulators are always correct? Maybe they are in this case, maybe not, but where were the questions about how this could be getting spun the wrong way?

- What about the large number of failures in more traditional education? I am sure they could fill a whole show with those. That would probably not fit their anti-business (at least in this area) bias though.

- A question was asked near the end, "Is education a business?" Who can really say it hasn't been for many years? The interviewer needs to go back to school himself if he doesn't think traditional education is a huge business. It is also a monopoly in places, with false shortages, encouragement that "only the elite can make it" and other such "pressure" items to get parents and others to pay the huge costs for such education.

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The biggest thing the show indicated is that the traditional establishment doesn't like change and that people need to pay attention before they commit. On the latter, individuals need to realize they are responsible for their own lives. No one will look out for all problems for you. Unfortunately, we live in a society where no one really wants to take ownership and responsibility for their own life!

If someone promises you something that seems too good, it probably is. You should deeply investigate anything before signing on the bottom line.

The fact that traditional education is against this is not surprising at all. They get huge amounts of money from the government now and they have largely been a monopoly for many years. They would definitely not want anyone to step in and interrupt their ability to control all aspects of education as much as they have for the past hundreds of years.

If you want to compare both "education industries," you should compare the full costs on all the parts, not just the money paid up front. Factor in the money colleges get from government at all levels. Evaluate the promises that all colleges and schools make to prospective students.

When they take the same spotlight on so-called non-profit education I will take them more seriously. Though they might also have to start looking at how much "non-profit" non-profit TV really is these days as well, though that would be against their own interests so I don't expect to see a show on that any time soon.

I remember the outcry about the commercialization of the Internet in the early 1990s. Many proclaimed how unfair it was to make money on the Internet and how that would ruin it. I think the naysayers really missed the boat on that one. Could it be the are in the same spirit and wrong on this one too?

I will probably write more about this later.

I do want to note that these thoughts are my own and do not represent those of any organization I may have a relationship with.

Disclaimer: I do some teaching and other work for a well known for-profit university and may do other teaching in this field in the future. My goal is to help people learn, however I can!

Dealing with Your Core Traits

Many people want to completely discard their past. They want you to judge them today only by today, not by anything they did in the past. If they had personally harmed you, they usually have a general apology, but one that don't go into many specifics.

On the one hand, I am all in favor of this. No one should have every mistake brought up all the time. We have to be able to work past our past and advance into the future. That said, we cannot completely ignore what we have done in the past if we want to avoid the core of the same problem in the future.

Our basic tendencies and ways of doing things almost always remains the same, even if we change the focus of our lives. Our basic way of responding is likely to be the same. If we were quiet and contemplative, we are unlikely to react quickly and loudly. In the same way, someone who decides not to harm others may still do annoying things if they have an aggressive personality.

We may also find that our decision to "do right" is not built on as firm a foundation as we want to believe. While we may want to do right, we have to change our habits and fill our lives with "good things" before we can be sure to keep the bad habits out.

I find I am knowing that habits and our deep character are different, but I know that many people see them as the same. This is ultimately not correct. I may decide I am not going to try and push you into an action, but I also know that I could push you to "hurry up" if we took a road trip across the country. My desire to not force your decisions would not outweigh my desire to "get moving" when the time to do so came.

I do not see a conflict with this. I am all for people changing and think that is the only way we will find our way out of many modern troubles, but I also know that such change will have to take into account that we are still the same people.

This brings us back to my starting thought. You cannot completely ignore your past. If you try to do so, you will not account for important elements in your own current actions and behaviors. You are still you. This means you must make sure you deal with those core issues, not just ignore them.

All of us want to be past our past problems and mistakes, but make sure you don't set yourself up to repeat them because you never recognize a core personality trait!

A character trait is based on doing good or bad and can be changed. A personality trait will always be with you and must be considered. Character traits can also be more persistent than we realize. Acknowledge the character traits so you can see the warning signs that you are about to repeat them. Acknowledge the personality trait so you can learn to keep it controlled, but realize you will never eliminate it without eliminating who you are.

In the same manner, realize when someone's personality trait is coming up and don't get offended. Work with them to find a way to funnel it properly rather than rejecting them. This will help you all relate in a much more effective manner.

Fscination with the Supernatural

We supposedly live in a modern age where science has proven that we are all just the (ultimate) result of mindless processes over many, many years. No guiding intelligence above us, just cold, hard science. Many of these "scientists" actively devote their lives to slay the "demons of superstition" of those who believe in a god of some sort, especially the Christian One. They find that it is completely intolerable that anyone with such views might influence government, the media or anything else "important". Such beliefs are not even tolerable in the churches, since they ultimately lead to all kinds of bad things (in the eyes of these evangelists).

Yet, in spite of all this, what are the most popular entertainment choices now? Vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural things. The very things many of these religious views oppose have become dramatically more popular at the same time a more "rational" view of the world is supposedly prevailing. The local cable company keeps pushing "ghost story" movies and other tripe, in the same vein.

We need to come to the realization that the elite priest of scientific atheism are wrong. Everything cannot be explained by purely natural processes. Things exist outside what our senses can directly interact with. Close one avenue off and society will seek others.

Man inherently knows the supernatural is real. Some is good, some isn't. We need to instead focus ourselves on learning what really is accurate and building a life in balance with the universe, not one that leaves a huge part of it out. People will seek the supernatural, so we are better off pointing them to the proper things rather than fighting that and only leaving the more dangerous aspects.

Guidance

I find it very ironic that many things are described as "evolving", especially in the tech industry. Computer interfaces, systems, applications, whatever. Many people associate the growth and change in these areas as proof that nature has Evolved (big E) over the years, yet it is an entirely different thing. The growth and advancement in technology is all guided by someone, normally in response to a real or perceived market need. It is not unguided and just "happening by chance." Yet people equate the two.

Some people need to think a bit more....

Brad

People with Half a Brain?

What is it with all these tech people who seem to have a knee-jerk opposition to Bush and Republicans, yet swallow the same line of junk from a Democrat administration? Do they really think that Bush was evil in a way that Obama could never be? Don't they realize that the problem is power corrupting? It doesn't matter who is in charge, power will be abused today. Too many "good things" depend on the abuse of power. After all we have to do ________ for the sake of our country! Fill the blank with whatever good thing you are in favor of and the same actions that are horrible by one person become acceptable by another.

The better approach is to be skeptical of them all. Realize that no one, no matter how good or saintly, can be successful in the modern political climate. Too much is built on secrecy and dong things behind the scenes. It has always been that way and it will continue to be that way.

I wish this left an opening for hope, but I don't see the change. Ironically, many people both mistrust government and want it to do more. You can't have both! We would be far better off with a limited government, but then we couldn't do all the "good things" that must be done, so government grows and grows. What will many of these cheerleaders do when their heroes are found to have clay feet as well? Probably give some good excuse and go on.

No one will cry out that we should not put so much power into anyone's hands. While it sounds great to have a central control, that doesn't work. Only massive failure is likely to finally wake people up, but then it will be too late to do much about it. :(

Brad

E-Book Pricing is Lousy

I have been reading recently that many publishers are fighting with Amazon to be able to price their books at far more than the $9.99 Amazon has for most books now.

I would ask them one thing: Are they trying to hasten their death? I have bought several books for my Kindle (I own the DX and the original), but I have only spent over $9.95 twice. Once was for the CISSP study book and once was for a secure development book. I am not sure I have gotten my money out of either. Ironically, I own both in paperback, but that didn't save me a penny on the electronic purchase. I am sure these same publishers would like to bill me a few more times for the same book as well!

Sure, they may get some readers to pay more, but how many people are actively reading these days anyway? I find that I tend to listen to audiobooks instead anyway, though that is tough with most technical books. Who has the time for lots of reading? Who has the inclination? Most will watch a TV show or movie, or even play a video game, before opening a book. I am the exception, but they are doing their best to push me away.

I don't know the exact margins for ebooks, but I know they were really tight for hardcopy ones when I was looking at writing one many years back. So they would make a whole lot more on an ebook than they would on the hardcopy version. Yet, they don't want me to see any price savings. Ironically, I might even be able to go into a Sams Club and get one cheaper than I could on the Kindle. What kind of logic is that?

Ah well, turn off those customers publishers! We don't need you anyway. I have too much information to read as it is. I just wish blogs didn't cost a minimum of a dollar a month on the Kindle or I would use a whole lot more....

Your Reaction Matters

How do you respond when you are accused of something you didn't do? Do you try to respond calmly, figure out the facts and then provide light on the situation? Do you jump right in, proclaiming your innocence and letting everyone know how offended you are that they even dreamed you might have done anything wrong? If you don't do the latter, do others think you do that?

I would have to admit I have been guilty of the second choice far more often than I would like. in fact, it is one of the things I have to watch myself closely with when my wife is talking with me. It is far too easy to be offended and kill a relationship than to risk being wrong and keeping things much better.

Sometimes I find that I really was right, the other individual just understood. Sometimes they come around and see that, sometimes they don't. Either way, a calm reaction leaves a much better taste in everyone's mouth.

Sometimes I find out that I really was wrong. I may have misunderstood what they were saying at first, something that can happen because I normally will admit when I am wrong. Being right in this case, by admitting I was wrong, is more important to me than trying to cover it up.

No matter what, a calm reaction is much more likely to produce a good response in others. Reacting harshly, whatever the method (anger, sarcasm, something else), is more likely to produce much more trouble than the whole situation was worth.

It also makes others think you really were guilty. "Methinks he doth protest too much" comes to mind!

Brad

Letting Students Earn Their Grades

Other than grading papers (my least favorite activity that takes time), perhaps the worst part of teaching college courses is allowing students to earn their scores. Sometimes this can be great, especially when a struggling student scores a partial or full grade over where they were headed. Even better is the student who earns an A through consistently high quality work and participation.

Unfortunately, these are far outweighed, at least in my mind, with those students who either earn an F or who get caught with material that can only be explained as plagiarism. Some students try to change things at the last minute, often after the course is over. No work can be taken after the class ends if an institution wants to keep its accreditation (except when an official extension was granted of course), so such work can not be evaluated, no matter how good or bad.

A tragic part of this is that every time I have seen had the student skipping very easy to earn points (things like participation, easy assignments, etc.). Thus they made their own shortfall, but found out too late.

A few get very mad about it, but what can an instructor do? The numbers show what the numbers show.

No specifics in this post, I am just venting a general frustration. I am a very tough instructor (or so I have heard), but virtually everyone comes out of my classes having learned something. Most learn far more than just "something". I don't want to just be someone who pushes people through. I want to be someone that has an impact!

This means I have to work past those who fall way short, out of their own choice. I am glad to work with anyone, but I can only do so with those who recognize they need help and then take advantage of that help! Isn't that true of life? How many times have we missed the best because we thought we knew it all and didn't want to take input from others?

Design -> No Designer?

One of the things that amazes me is that so many people look at the wonders of design we see all around us and can't see a designer. Yet, we search space for designed signals to prove another civilization. Design there would prove a designer to us, but not in nature.

I have yet to find a thing in life that spontaneously produces order, yet that must be what happened.

Why can't that work in my work area sometime? It takes constant outside effort to maintain any order. None comes about on its own, nor would it if I applied a bunch of general energy, like a really strong heat lamp. The most that would bring is to run up my electrical bill and possibly burn the house down when things caught fire. But that is what happened, we are told, as the energy in stars made more organization.

Yeah, right.

We Will Mak It Fit!

Slashdot recently had an article Darwinian Evolution Considered As a Phase that presented a link to the idea that Evolution as we know it (and currently worship) only applied to recent history. Prior to that it is supposed to have worked differently. The reasoning, the best I can tell, is that things worked differently because they must have worked differently. Everything is fit into the "theory" or the "theory" is tweaked to account for what is found.

I read a few of the comments and of course it had to degenerate in many places into slams against those who see design and credit a designer. It is quite ironic that those who claim the most intelligence can lack it so much. Perhaps early evolution didn't work (in the since of a gain in information and changing one thing to another) because it doesn't work. Of course, this is not an acceptable answer, so some way must come to show that the fraud really is true.

Exactly who is the religious one here? The god of Evolution cannot fail. All must bow to this golden idol....

Going Forward

Many people deal with tough situations in their lives. While these can certainly make life miserable in some ways, they can also be used to allow us to have more compassion for others going through their own struggles. After all, it is easy to say, "Just keep your chin up," without a thought if we have not faced our own challenges.

While I am sure I can lack compassion in some areas, my experience in the adoption arena (see Brad on Adoption, my blog on that topic, for more details) has definitely given me more compassion for those going through their own adoption struggles.

An interesting outcome is that I am less tolerant of those who claim to understand what I am going through because they faced (or face) struggles with their own grown children. While some things are similar, many things are different when someone else can be legitimately called "dad" in your place. That changes the equation greatly.

I suppose I need to watch my own compassion in that case. I have been trying to not argue how I am different in those cases and just focus on being friendly, but it can be challenging to not just shot off, at the least. How ironic that compassion gained in one area reduces it in another.

Something to think about whenever you think you are becoming compassionate. Check that your compassion for one thing doesn't become intolerance for another!

Brad

Keeping a Mental Focus

One thing I have found in my own life is that I usually learn better in a live environment if I am doing something relatively simple to engage my mind while I am listening to the instructor. Playing Farmville while someone is speaking usually allows me to get more from what is being said that keeping my whole attention and focus only on the speaker.

This seems wrong in some ways and certainly would concern some instructors. After all, how could I be focusing when I am playing a completely unrelated game? Ironically,. I think the mental activity keeps my mind sharp while keeping it from getting bored and wandering much further.

Unfortunately, such things were not available when I was in college, though I did try Rubics Cubes and other twisty toys, but I never found anything that was engaging beyond a few minutes, at best. I did great in most classes, but paying attention to the lecture was never my strong suite, though I could usually master the material easily in spite of this.

I do have to watch out here. It is very easy to use something that requires too much focus, such as an online game of Bejeweled, so this is not without its hazards. Still, I think the fact I can keep my brain running is ultimately a worthwhile effort.

I do listen to a lot of podcasts and different kinds of teaching as "background music" during my work, so I wonder if this has any impact to things.

Brad

Productive Motivation

We all face the same problem. Everyone has the same 24 hours each day, plus or minus an hour on some days when the clock changes. What we do with that time now determines what we will have in the future.

That focus on future reward for actions now is a hard thing to stay focused on in our society. I grew up in a generation that wanted it NOW and we are even more that way today. This aspect of delaying gratification, possibly with hard work now for better results later, is harder to ingrain in when other habits are so common.

We can know what we should do, but we are not going to be well off until we do it. We can read book after book on the topic, but it ultimately does come down the the tired cliche of "just do it!"

A support network that helped us in the process would be very helpful in this, but most of us are missing such support. Even if we have close friends or family, few of them will get in our face and tell us to stop slacking off when we decide to goof off rather than laying a solid foundation for the future.

How do we get that hard support today? I am not sure. Most of us will leave if we don't like what we are being told, making the "kick in the seat of the pants" talk we may need rather ineffective. Most people struggling really do know what to do, they just don't really want to do it. I know I often fall into that camp, even though I want to avoid it.

All we can do is keep pushing forward and trying to find the group of supportive people who will also challenge us to accomplish great things, even if it "hurts" at times.

Are you ready to be challenged? Who do you allow to challenge and truly inspire you?

Brad

10 ways to tame the chaos and organize your office life

I have signed up for too many email newsletters, but I sometimes manage to read them.

10 ways to tame the chaos and organize your office life by Jack Wallen talks about ways to unclutter your life. They all sound like great tips in general, but I suspect that these kind of tips are really ways for those with great organization skills to torment those who are more challenged in this area.

How many successful people are really hyper-organized, like these articles suggest? I don't dispute the fact that keeping good organization is valuable, but is having an ultra-clean desk really that key a factor in success?

The problem is that you only read these articles from those who are neat freaks.

It would be interesting to see a study of how much this kind of organization is really valuable. Is it necessary to do well or is just finding something that works good enough? It is quite possible that those who struggle more with organization are more productive overall. Maybe better organization would help them be even more productive, but perhaps it would just divert them from their strengths.

I will have to dig into this more later....

Brad

Scientific Progress and Atheism

I read another ignorant letter to the editor in USA Today yesterday. The writer was claiming that atheism was the true force enabling scientific breakthroughs.

Have these people studied scientific history at all? Are they intentionally or accidentally ignorant? While the recent scientific world has discriminated against those with beliefs in a creator of some sort, most of the fundemental breakthroughs in science were by those who firmly believed life had meaning because it had a creator and so could focus their efforts on finding that consistent meaning.

What scientific breakthroughs came because of a belief in no creator? Not just an uncertainty of such, but because none existed, the key tenet of atheism? Even breakthroughs by atheist scientists didn't require atheism, so why do some continue to claim otherwise?

I find it amazing that we continually proclaim those who make beautiful things are worthy of praise, yet deny the Creator of the most beautiful thing in existence, the life all around of, of the praise He so richly deserves.

Brad

Empty Nest!

My wife and I finally have an empty nest. A bit quiet, but it is certainly nice. We helped my son, his wife and my granddaughter move several hours away where he is in Army AIT training. He won't have a lot of time, but they wanted to be closer, after being apart for several months during basic training.

Now I just have to finish fixing the house up without breaking the bank! We had a fixer upper we never fixed. :) We are fixing a lot of it now.

Brad

Focus

I am someone who is interested in many different things. While this can be a great thing, since I can be truly interested in what many people are talking about, it can also be a problem when I have to decide where to spend limited time. My life sometimes feels like a commercial I heard about a faithful dog (golden retriever?) that was doing his master's bidding, but then got distracted by a squirrel. Our information age brings up many different, interesting things all the time. Staying focused is incredibly hard.

I suppose this is just another example of a great strength being a (potential) great weakness. The same thing is good and bad, sometimes at the same time.

No solutions here, just some thoughts.

Brad

I am reading Liberal Socialism by Bernard Goldberg now. Its argument is that modern liberalism is really based on the same foundation fascism, with literal effective different between socialism/communism and fascism, since both call for the state to control all aspects of life.

He has an interesting point that one of the reasons that it is hard to pinpoint exactly what is fascism is because it varies greatly based on where it is. Fascism in Italy was very different from that in Germany and from that elsewhere.

I will try to post a more complete review later.

It is interesting how many people who are "liberal" today want to tell people how to live and think. They would raise a stink if the "Religious Right" did so on a moral issue, but they have no problem heading a crusade against handguns, smoking or even how people think. This is worth further thought later, though I am sure to stir up some controversy whatever I say.

It is sad how so many supposedly tolerant people are very intolerant of those who disagree. Why did I get off on this rant? Because they often freely throw out the term fascist for those they disagree with. This is following the trend started by Stalin and hypocritically continued today. Sure, some "on the right" want to control some things, but they are pikers compared to today's liberal. We have to force good, at whatever the cost!

Even Bush went along the path when he called for "no child to be left behind." We can't make heaven on earth, but we sure will try....

Brad

Always the Values....

Marty Nemko makes a few good suggestions for Republicans in a recent post. His idea on pushing accountability on education is reasonable and I definitely like the idea of government spending less money, but why must some people always shove the social goals along with less government involvement in life?

Ironically, many people who oppose anyone pushing their values have no problem when it comes to forcing their own values on others, in this case in the areas of abortion and redefining marriage.

In the former, it will always be an issue of freedom of the most innocent and their right to live, whatever someone may decide is their right to demand. While I could see why some might argue in favor of abortion when a the child is not viable outside the womb, but I find it incredible that people can think that allowing such destruction after a child is viable would ever be consistent with a society that protects the rights of the innocent. And what kind of society is one where the one with the power is the only one who gets to make the rules?

Ironically, while I feel very strongly about this, I also realize this issue will not be resolved any time soon and that pushing through laws either way is a fruitless cause. Nothing will be resolved until hearts change. We rely too much on so-called law today. Attitudes are far more important and I suspect we have a lot farther to fall before we will get anywhere close to a truly tolerant and life-affirming society.

The other issue is that government should not be in the business of defining what marriage is. If someone wants to marry their cat, let them, just don't mandate requirements on other supporting that decision. You can do what you want, but why must others sanction it? Is any side in the "culture wars" really better than any other?

Giving government the power to force things in these contentious debates just ensure more contention, it won't solve them.

Brad

Finding Your Niche

I have been thinking a lot about my niche lately. What can I really do better than anyone else and get paid well while doing it? Money was less of a concern when I was younger and I wanted to work in the games field, but more independent. While I would love to have a well paying games gig now, it is much less likely since I have been out of the field for several years.

The game playing, reviewing and some developing didn't pay all that well, but I sure had fun. I was probably one of the more prolific reviewers at the time, though I don't know how I would do today. My tastes certainly vary from the modern offerings, especially since blood and guts seems to be shoved into just about anything.

I am loving my current work in the information security area, but that is just part of the picture. I tend to pursue something with a passion for a while and then go toward something else. Right now it is learning about infosec and getting a bunch of certifications along the way. I have several SANS/GIAC certifications and will be taking the CISM in June and the CISSP is likely in August (finally). I did get the CSSLP based on my experience, though secure development is definitely both a good fit for me given my experience and what I am digging into.

What will come next? Good question. How can you make really good money and get paid to write all the time? That is the big question. I can communicate, a very valuable skill. Having some technical chops is great too, though I always want more.

My big quest now is figuring out what skills I need to build in the next few years so I can have a much more flexible lifestyle in the future. Figuring that out is the toughest thing of all.

Which gets me back to my point: Finding your niche can be hard, especially if you want to do something unique with that niche. I am confident I will find something unique, I always have. I just want to find it sooner rather than later!

Why have you read this far? Boredom would be one option, but my bet is you are facing similar questions. If I had complete answers, I would already be following it. Though I am convinced that pursuing things with a passion and making yourself the best you can be is still the best thing you can do. The problems come in when picking what to pursue. Too many options means it is impossible to pursue them all.

I will write more later as I think this through.

Brad

Making a test post from my cell phone/PDA.

The Risk of Discussing Your True Thoughts

We live in a very wired world. In the past, it was much easier to separate your work and "other" persona. Now, it is much harder to do that. Take my blogging here. I am sure I have earned some scorn from some because of my thoughts here (or would if they noticed them), but is that just a price I have to pay? Do I need to squelch my contribution to the public discourse of any controversial issues since it could keep me from getting a future job?

As you can tell, especially using this blogging site, all my blogs ultimately link to the others. Someone who reads my Brad on Security blog could also chain here. In some ways I really don't care. I have always marched to my own tune. I do good work, but I don't fit in a mold very well (another problem I am facing while pondering my future career direction in the other blog).

This makes me not want to work someplace that would discount my very strong technical skills merely because of my thoughts posted here. I don't know that it has happened yet, but it is certainly a distinct possibility since a few of the views I hold strongly are certainly against the spoken norm.

I do believe more people agree with me than will speak up, but it is quite possible that a potential future boss would read here and decide I must truly be ignorant in spite of my experience, education and certifications, because I don't believe everything we see in the world is a result of blind chance.

So be it. I could try to purge things I suppose, but that would not be all that fruitful, since the record is out there and Google remembers forever. :)

I also don't want to live in a world where I can't express myself. I may keep some thoughts more private, since I am not independently wealthy at this point, but I refuse to stuff it all just because it might bother someone. If you can't handle a strong thinker, then I don't want to work for you, plain and simple.

I remain convinced that I can add enough value enough places that the risk is acceptable.

Brad

Dinner Impossible is Back!

I normally hold out for complete truth in all that I do and I expect it from others, but I am very glad that Dinner: Impossible on the Food Network now has Robert Irvine back on the show. He was definitely the spark that made the show as good as it was. The substitute (Michael Symon?) just didn't have the same spark and dynamic presence. After all, it is more entertainment than it is really about cooking.

I did see that it was no surprise that Robert's past lying cost him dearly, almost permanently. My own two sons (now both adults) have been known to stretch things a bit, telling some really fancy tales in the past, so I could definitely understand a bit about what Robert did. I can also understand why he was initially canned, but he was the show, so doing without him meant the show was dead.

I still would not be likely go into business with him, but I am glad to have an entertaining show to watch with my wife again! Hopefully he pulls off the same standard of the first season!

Driving Yourself to Achieve

I see two different kinds of people today. Those who are driven to accomplish something and those who just float along through life, at best. While neither group is always successful at its task and a few of the floaters end up doing well in spite of themselves, the first group is much more certain to accomplish something of value.

I am firmly in the first camp, driven to achieve something, though I am often driven to achieve too many things, which can also be a problem with reaching my goals. Still, I would rather be driven than not. Too many people go through life complaining that they just don't have time to do things. Their day job, family life, or something else that is vitally important takes up too much of their mental effort and time in their eyes, justifying their lack of effort.

Clearly you can only work with the time you have, but most people can free up some time to make a positive change, yet many will not. In fact, they will often argue with you about how much they cannot accomplish anything. Even putting that effort into accomplishing the goals would make a change by itself.

I have a lot of thoughts jumbling through my head right now on this, so I am going to stop here, but I wanted to get started actively driving this blog and this seems like a great topic to ponder and write about.

Using a PDA is an Interesting Experience

I finally took the plunge and got a PDA. I had been with Sprint for at least 4 years, but they don't have in network coverage where my mother lives in rural Iowa, so I had to go. Neither did AT&T or I would probably have an iPhone now. Instead, I got the new and high rated Samsung Omnia.

It is a decent phone, though I am still learning my way around it.

My biggest challenge now is to know how to enter podxycasts and RSS feeds. Neither seem to have a way to paste in an address. This makes it very hard to edit them. I also can't figure out how to open and/or edit an OPML file, so I am stuck until I get back home.

It is sure a pain typing thisvin one character at a time. I can go a bit faster now, though well short of my normal typing speed! Hopefully this will help me blog more though.

Twitter Account

I decided to set myself up on Twitter today. My account is bradtalk. My name is not available, but it does not appear to be used, so perhaps I can change it to just bradandrews in the future.

For now, it remains http://www.twitter.com/bradtalk

Let the banality begin!

Keeping Your Focus

One thing I really struggle with in life is to stay focused on just one thing. One the one hand, this ability to jump between things enables me to keep many things going at the same time. On the other hand, it can be really hard when a dedicated focus is required.

My life sometimes reminds me of the people who would spin plates on top of poles on a TV variety show. Things worked well when everything started up, but it would continually fall into peril as plate after plate started slowing down and wobbling, threatening to fall on the ground and make a serious mess. In spite of this threat, the spinner would somehow manage to always get back to the plate just before it fell, saving the day.

This often feels like my life, applying spin to another plate to keep from making a huge mess. While energizing at times (and boy can it be energizing), it can also seem quite discouraging at times, when the end of spinning plates never comes. While that is not accurate, it often seems that way things can run in life, at least for those of us with the ability to focus on many things. This ability to focus on many things often leads us to focus on "just one more thing" before being satisfied.

I am not sure what the complete solution is here. Just saying to "focus on fewer things" is nice in theory, but is highly unlikely to happen. Perhaps I will figure it out someday, though I expect I will be spinning plates until I am no longer able to do so. Not doing so would be far more frustrating anyway!

Brad

Instilling a Love of Learning in Others

One of my biggest "failures" with my own children is that none of them seems to have the passion for learning I have. While I can be a big slacker at times, I am constantly trying to learn something new. Right now I am putting a lot of effort into learning topics related to my career in information security, but I am also trying to learn more about project management, low carb and low glycemic cooking, business in the area, etc.

Unfortunately, I only have so many hours in the day. And I am the only one pushing it, so I can't even feed off others in my family. Sure, they think they know it all, but they need to do some research to validate things and complement their existing knowledge.

This is a mixed post and is not coming out as easy as I thought. I wanted to pose the general question of how to motivate others, but I also wanted to share the frustration of wanting to know more than is possible.

We really need a way to hook people like this up. I would have loved to have someone who would have stirred me on when I was a teen myself (at least I think so). While I did some things well (Eagle Scout, etc.), I didn't have anyone pushing me on in academics. I often wonder if I could have excelled more if someone had taken that level of interest.

This makes me wonder if we could hook such people up. Perhaps such a system exists already, but if I never found out about it, how many others are missing it?

Brad

Have You Improved Yourself Today?

Many people get stuck where they are in life. While this can often be wrapped in terms like "being content", it is often just an excuse to be unmotivated. While you should certainly be content throughout life, you should never grow complacent.

Always ask yourself if you are doing all you can to advance the skills you have. Aim to learn at least one new thing each day. While most of these should be something significant, even small minor steps will ultimately take you to a better place than where you are today. It will also help you be a better steward of the skills and talents you have been given in this life. Note that significant things can often be small!

Avoid the pit that says only large achievements really mean anything. While this sounds great, it will almost certainly result in you not doing anything. Each small step is one step closer to a significantly better place.

You will have to determine what is significant for you. That may take some time, but it is worth figuring out. You also don't have to limit your steps to a single area. Some focus can be helpful to keep on track, but occasionally taking on a different learning goal may ultimately help you reach all your goals quicker. It will provide some needed variety in your life and your success in one area is almost certain to spill over into other areas. Good feelings tend to follow good feelings!

Don't let the size of the goal deter you either. Take a single step toward your goal and you will be one step closer!

Brad

Fitting Desires Into Life

Fitting all my desires into my life has long been one of my strongest challenges. I am interested in so many areas that I often get overwhelmed when I try to focus on just one. I want to know it all, but that is clearly just not possible. Still, I need to keep going. You only get to the end of the journey by taking each individual step. Making sure the steps are all headed the right way can be a big challenge, but what would life be without challenges.

Hopefully I can stir up some interesting thoughts in this blog over the coming months....

Word of Faith Leaders in Trouble?

Anyone who watches any news is sure to know that several prominent Word of Faith leaders are being investigated by the Senate for excessive spending and other "crimes that will make the politician doing the investigation look really good for exposing."

I would note that I grew as a Christian in the Word of Faith movement and I still find many of the core principles to be completely consistent with the Bible (contrary to the claims of many Christian leaders). That said, I had a growing discomfort with the ostentatiousness exhibited by many in the movement that became even more pronounced with the Money Cometh message's growth in the late 1990s.

A big problem for me personally was that money wasn't coming, or at least it wasn't staying. It flowed out about as fast as it came in, and it was coming in at a good pace during those years! The main reason for this was that I didn't tightly control my spending and focus intently on getting out of debt. Instead I focused on living high on the hog and enjoying life, a key tenet the movement pushed during those years. Of course, getting and staying out of debt was always a core principle, but it was drowned out by the idea of really enjoying life.

I am firmly convinced that the generosity of my wife and I is what kept us from serious bad times during those years, but I lament how much better I could have done if I had instead focused intently on debt reduction and elimination.

As I noted in a previous post, I am once again seeking to focus on that goal, but I face the common trouble most in my generation hit: consumption! It is a lot harder to change habits than many think.

Getting back to the current scandal, I would note that this has been going on for many years, why is anyone surprised? While I have serious issues with the flagrant waste of the things given to these ministers, I see completely political motives in pursuing them now. If Congress would start really investigating its own waste and foolishness I might take their self-righteousness a lot more seriously.

I am reminded though that judgment begins at the house of God. I expect this is only the beginning of some cleaning. Unfortunately, it will likely also serve as ammunition for those who claim you cannot trust what God has written, including those within the church who are the most loudly proclaiming false prophets in this context. These people fail to take God's promises of provision and blessing above that seriously. Instead they claim that we can never know what God is going to do.

If God hadn't written it, they might be right, but they ignore countless confirmation of the blessing nature of God. I plan on writing more on this in the future, so I will leave this argument incomplete now.

I do wonder if I am one of the few people who believe as I do though. I a firmly convinced it is God's will for people to prosper and I believe it is sin for so many Christians today to not do so. Most of this failure to prosper is more due to slavery to debt than the will of God that many claim. People do struggle, but how many of those are spending hours in front of the television instead of improving themselves? How many are working 6 days as noted in Genesis? (The sixth day could be spend building a business idea improving themselves for a promotion, etc.)

More to come on this....

Brad

Getting Into Debt?

Earlier this summer I decided to do some work on the house that really needed to be done, but which caused me to (temporarily) increase my debt load.

We had done several things a summer ago, including resurfacing our pool. This left the concrete around the pool in a very poor state. We made it through last winter (a mild one here), though I was concerned about water getting into the open cracks between the nice "new" pool and the concrete this winter. So I found someone who could do the whole job for a very good price. The problem was I figured we should also replace our driveway which was starting to get some serious and large cracks, to the point I was concerned about a tire getting caught on one of the cracks. I also figured I should raise the "patio" floor a few inches to keep water out (which would flood part of it when a heavy rain came). We were already pouring concrete anyway, right?

Well, a $7K project went to about $17K, though we now have pretty good drainage and a lot of good concrete now. The driveway also has room for my daughter's car as well. Now I just have to work to pay all this off.

We did decide to close in the patio as well. The added square footage should increase the value of our home beyond the price of that area, though it may also increase my taxes in the long run. :(

While we may do some smaller things, including inside and outside painting, our major renovation push is over.

The partial moral to this story is that a deal on a fixer upper house may not be such a deal if you are not good fixing things up yourself. While I believe we got our house below market value, we have easily put much more than the difference into it since then. Looking at historical price guesses (such as at zillow.com) indicates it was worth much less than we thought when we bought it. Either way, we have not gained much value in the time we have lived here.

While my last post was about my newly found desire to get out of debt, I really need to stir up that desire again. It is very easy to lose the focus and fall back into old, bad habits.

The good news is that my wife and I like the house, so we plan on staying a while and enjoying all these renovations. :)

Brad

Why You Should Give Your Life Away

I have been reading a lot about personal finance recently, as I have finally gotten serious about getting out of debt.

A recent post on The Simple Dollar leads to a good discussion of if someone is really "good" if they only think about themselves. I see a common claim, in many areas of life, that you can be a "good person" even if you don't do X, Y or Z. While that may be true, I think a lot of it is based on our skewed value of what "good" is. Saying someone who never gives anything outside of themselves is "good" seems a bit in error to me. Of course you can do good things and be pleasant to be around, but are you really doing anything to justify your taking up space on this planet.

I suppose I could go with the libertarian argument that you are enabling others to work for your consumption, but life should be about more than just taking care of yourself. Since I reject the evolutionary philosophy, I also reject the idea that just caring for yourself is a valid approach to life. (This would be the so-called selfish gene.)

It also is an issue of what is really good. That is something I may post about later.

Brad

Keeping Up to Date is Hard to Do....

So much for my committment to write regularly, at least so far. I haven't given up, but I figure I may as well write about why keeping a blog going is much more of a challenge than it seems at first.

The main problem is that you have to write something. That means you have to consciously break your routine and post something. While this may become simpler once this is a true part of my routine, I am finding it harder to fit in one more thing than I thought I would.

You also need to cover some useful topic. That is also a challenge. I am full of ideas, but figuring out which ones to discuss here is another challenge. Though that is not completely accurate. I can do stream-of-consciousness writing at almost any point if I have overcome the first hurdle of making the time for it as noted above. The problem here is that such writing is not always that worthwhile to read. In fact, I don't know how this will come across since I am creating it on the fly.

Though I think I will reach my goal of blogging better if I just start writing. The way you master something is to start doing it. The refinement can come later. Whether anyone reads this or not is another story, but that is not my concern now. :)

Brad

Time to Start This Up Again

I have let this blog lapse. Life has a way of being more important than my own ramblings. :)

A big question is if life is really busier today. We certainly do not have to scramble most of our waking hours for food anymore. Most of us are even beyond needing to work the Biblically proscribed "6 days." Most of us have more time than we really realize - we just waste a lot of it. I am bad at this at times. Over the holiday I found myself playing rather pointless games of Age of Kings (AOE2). I managed to fritter a way a good portion of my holiday beating up on the computer.

While many people play for a challenge, I just play to beat up on the computer for a while. This seems fun enough to me, and I still like that the best of all the "Age" games. (I own AOE3 and my son got the expansion for Christmas, but I haven't tried it yet.)

It makes me wonder how many others are like me? The magazines and websites are full of people who want to play the ultimate challenge, but how many are like me and just want to relax for a bit and beat up the computer.

Another one of my top games is Settlers IV, though it does not have an "easy" mode or any really good cheats. Playing through a game of it can eat up the good part of a day or two, as I end up botching it and keep restarting (along the way or at the beginning) until I figure the correct strategy. I always tend to build too many things and end up slowing myself down while they are completed.

I do wish the bugs in this game could be fixed. While it isn't perfect, it remains a fun game and is a good diversion from the normal conquer the world games.

Enough comments on this for now. :)

Brad

The idea of a creator must scare a lot of people. Look at how frenzied they get when something dares to even raise the problems with the Theory of Evolution.

A recent article on slashdot talked about an article claiming that discovering how bees fly put a "nail into the coffin of ID." http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/10/1950222

Right. I know how my computer works, so it must have just come together by "time and chance"....

Another recent story shows how much of "science" is full of mythical stories: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/15/1921258

From the article: 'The team believes the plane could have formed in several ways. In one scenario, the galaxies may have fallen towards Andromeda along an invisible filament of dark matter. Computer simulations show these filaments can form a cosmic web along which galaxies flow.'"

The original article is at http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8571.

Note how believing in a creator is anti-Science, but believing in mythical "dark matter" (which has never been seen) makes perfect sense to many people. And we trust these people as our modern high priests?

I think I will stick with "The Heavens declare the glory of God." :)

Brad