July 2007 Archives

The upshot of the article is that the surge is working. That we are making a difference in and around Baghdad and the worst areas of Iraq. I wonder if anyone in Congress will read this article?

The US military has fought long and hard to win this while so many people at home have been stating openly that we, the military, are running a fools errand. If we had the support of Congress and the American public this would be easier and happen faster. We haven't been blest with popular support, so to hell with you. America isn't at war. The American military is at war while the American public sits in their la-z-boys and their Barcaloungers playing armchair General and armchair President. We'd should do this and we should do that when in fact they know exactly JACK about military operations, police operations or the area of operation.

Congress is playing this war for its political value, hoping that it will be the level with which to gain the advantage in the next election. The American public believes the slogans on bumper stickers and the 8 second sound bites but can't be bothered to read the history and understand the complexity of the situation. It's easier to listen to those with political agendas spout their rhetoric and take it at face value.

So, I'm glad these two pundits have finally decided that we might be able to win this war. I hope that maybe the sentiment will spread and America will, at least for a moment, believe it its military again. America would be damned surprised to discover what we could do with a united and supportive home front.

aloha

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[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: iraq, military, politics

"For all the attention on the love-hate relationship between Apple and Microsoft, there's another software superpower with which Apple is increasingly butting heads, Adobe."

So, the upshot of the article is that AppleTV and iPhone are in a weaker position because they don't support Flash. Yet, YouTube is converting it's library of video to h.264 in order to be compatible with AppleTV. Oh, and we all get better video quality as a byproduct.

Apple choses not to support Flash and the Internet begins switching from Flash to a better standard. Where does the 'weak' part come in again??

aloha

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[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: computers, geek, mac os x

I used to smoke cigarettes. At one point in my life I smoked about 3 to 4 packs a day. Fortunately for me, I didn't smoke that much for very long. For most of the time that I smoked, it was about a pack a day.

I would occasionally run into to people who claimed they didn't smoke but who did use marijuana. In some cases, they were quite proud of the fact that they didn't smoke cigarettes. "I'd never harm my body that way." Inituition told me that smoking one substance had to be the same or at least similar to smoking most other substances. It seemed to me that sucking the smoke from burning leaves into your lungs on purpose probably did the same or similar damage regardless of the type of leaf. A lot of the dope smokers who did not smoke cigarettes I met seemed had an air of superiority about them in relation to us cigarette smokers.

Turns out, smoking mary jane is not only as bad as smoking cigarettes. It worse.

aloha

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[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: health

Another long, hard road for the American military. However, it seems that we have to revisit this particular issue every time there's a war. The stories of society's miserable handling of the war wounded and disabled date back to the Napoleonic wars and before. The issue is made worse during unpopular wars when there are fewer volunteers stepping up to help.

aloha

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[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: health, military, politics

"Treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers." From the last sermon of Prophet Mohammed

We keep hearing that Islam is the religion of peace. And then we keep hearing stories like this. Stories about people getting killed because they have converted to some other religion or abandoned the Islamic faith.

If you repeat anything enough, you'll begin to believe it is true. When society repeats something enough, it becomes the truth.

aloha

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[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: family, psychology , religion, sociology

First, congratulations to the Iraqis. There are numerous stories coming out about how this is uniting Iraq, supposedly where politics could not. Maybe. I think it is significant to see the Iraqis on the international sports scene. I think it is important. It is one more step on the path to becoming a nation taken seriously in its own right.

Congratulations Iraq, well done.

aloha

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[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: iraq, politics, sociology

This is the result of American pressure - primarily coming from Congress - to build an instantly successful and effective government. Self-fulfilling prophecy. If opponents keep enough pressure on, Iraq will indeed fail, just as they are saying it will.


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[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: iraq, military, sociology

I love my iPod. I work on a competing product but the simple fact is the iPod fits my usage model perfectly. Or maybe my usage model has been molded by iPod. One place I like my iPod most is in the car. On my drive to and from work I listen to podcasts of news (podcast), Mr. Osgood, Chip Ingram and Ravi Zacharias. It's like having a radio station that programs especially for me. I love it.

The problem is getting the iPod connected to the car stereo. I've tried all of the methods that I know about. FM modulators, FM transmitters, cassette interface, and stereos with an aux in on the faceplate. An FM Modulator is a device that goes between your radio and the antenna. When turned on, it disconnects the antenna and feeds a signal directly into the radio on a preset frequency. The freq doesn't really matter because the radio effectively has no antenna. You still have to dial in the right freq in order to hear the audio signal from the iPod. FM modulators are pretty good but the solution feels like a hack.

FM transmitters transmit a low power signal like a miniature radio station. Supposedly, if you can find a segment of the FM dial that has no signal, they work pretty well. Here in the Northern California bay area, finding a segment of the FM dial that isn't cluttered is more challenge than I care to face. In my area, FM transmitters always sound like the radio station from the last town you passed on a road trip. Not really the listening experience I'm looking for.

Cassette tape interfaces work well if your car has a cassette tape drive. Mine doesn't.

An auxiliary in on the face plate is what I just replaced. These work pretty well but, it turns out, the stereo manufacturers don't really intend for you to have something plugged in all the time. The eighth inch plug is not designed to stand up to daily use. The Sony unit that I bought gave out after about a year. There are other third party stereos that are designed to integrate an iPod. These systems are beyond my budget for incorporating my iPod into my car audio.

My search for the perfect method of integrating an iPod into the car audio system led me to USA Spec. They make two devices of interest; an auxiliary audio interface and an iPod interface. According to the web site, the iPod interface will connect, control, charge and play an IPOD through a factory radio. This interface also gives you an auxiliary audio in. I chose to install the auxiliary audio interface.

I drive a 2002 Mazda B-3000 truck which is, in most ways, identical to a 2002 Ford Ranger truck. So, with a bit of trepidation, I ordered the DF-Ford20 from Crutchfield. Crutchfield offered instructions and a universal DIN removal tool. I took the instructions and refused the tool. The instructions turned out to be worthless since they did not cover the device I was installing. The instructions were free, no loss.

The device installed in about 30 minutes. There are no installation instructions included in the box but it is very intuitive. Do the obvious. It is that easy. I am currently using an RCA connector to eighth inch stereo plug cable to connect my iPod to the aux audio interface. The radio thinks the iPod is a multi-CD changer. The sound quality is very good. Better than any of the other methods I've tried so far.

To switch to the device connected to the interface, hit the CD button on the car stereo. I'm not sure how you would switch between two devices connected to the interface. I haven't tried that yet. The one problem I've noticed so far. If, while listening to a device connected via the USA Spec interface, you hit the "SCN" button on the radio, you will lose audio. There is no indication as to what happened or what the radio is doing so this can be disconcerting. Hit the SCN button again, maybe twice, and the audio comes back.

Main points for the USA Spec DF-Ford20:

• installs quickly and easily with no special tools
• audio quality is very good to excellent
• works flawlessly in the 2002 Mazda B3000
• hghly recommend the product

aloha

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: audio, iPod, review

...hi, Jake.

aloha

[posted with ecto]

Every family has two sides. There's dad's side of the family and mom's side of the of family. I haven't know very many families where the two sides meld into one. Families are always having to spend Christmas Eve at Dad's house, Christmas afternoon at Mom's or whatever. In my family growing up, we lived near and among my mother's side of the family. My dad's side of the family lived in Phoenix. When I was young we wen to visit them fairly regularly, once or twice a year. We saw my mom's side of the family on all the holidays. Christmas Eve was the big Anderson family gathering. I have fond memories of those Christmas Eve's. They were fun. They were the official start of Christmas.

Phoenix July 2007 #1 - 22
Originally uploaded by smittie

Going to Phoenix was better than Disneyland! Dad's side of the family had all the fun. The folks in Phoenix were the party crowd. Even when the grown ups were sitting around talking there was something for the kids to do. Play in the pool. Ride a mini-bike. Play pool. Play pinball (without needing a pocket full of quarters). Play with the slot machines (never had to use my own money but I always got to keep anything I won). And then there would always be at least one day when we'd head out to the desert to ride motorcycles, dune buggies and Jeeps - the didn't have four wheelers yet. The Phoenix crowd also went to the lake and river a lot but, for whatever reason, they never did that when we were there. Nonetheless, the Phoenix side of the family was a hell of a lot more fun than the Southern California crowd.

Returning from White Sands, New Mexico we drove through Phoenix and I thought of my family that still lived there. We didn't have time to stop on that trip but I continued thinking about it. I was getting the week of the 4th off at work so I suggested that we contact the Phoenix Crew and see if they'd be interested in getting together that we. "Sounds like fun, come on out." So, on Monday we left at 0500 headed for Phoenix, Arizona. After an uneventful eleven and a half hours, we arrived. The first thing we noticed is, it is hot in Phoenix in July. Really hot.

We landed a great hotel deal. We stayed at the Homewood Suites (yelped). A two room suite in a Hilton hotel for $120 a night. In January, that same suite costs $290. It was great. However, Phoenix is hella hot in the summer. It was a 115 degrees while we were there. Staggering heat. Brought back memories of my time in Kuwait. I understand now how all the guys from Phoenix were able to manage so well. They were right. It's about the same. Damned hot.

Phoenix July 2007 #3 - 4
Originally uploaded by smittie.

The trip was a smashing success. I contacted a cousin of mine and set the trip up with him. I hadn't seen him in 19 years. I told him we should get together and see if we like each other. He and his wife thought that was pretty funny but it's true. Very often families don't like each other but feel they have to spend time together. That sucks. So, we spent three rather short days together. The Phoenix Crew is a little older but still the same fun crowd that I remember. My cousin and I turned out to be the most markedly different if only for the fact that the last time we were together, he and I were kids. Everyone else looks and acts very much the same as I remember them from my childhood. Our families - mine and the cousin's - got along very well. We're looking forward to the next get together, though it will have to either wait until fall or be here where the weather is not so hot. We're hoping to spend Labor Day together.

aloha

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: family, friends, middle-age, parenting

Here in the second most liberal city in the nation there is a bumper sticker that I see fairly often. It says, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if schools had all the money they need and the Army had to have bake sales to buy bombs?"

For the last two Army training courses I've been to, I wonder if that is not the case. At both courses the leadership complained about not being able to get proper funding. In the case of WTC, a good portion of the staff had just been mobilized in support of OIF. Both schools were very obviously lacking funds to operate effectively. Both schools also suffered a compressed schedule which was the result of the Army attempting to avoid paying soldiers attending the course the higher BAH rates they get when on orders for more than 29 days.

It is a mantra of Army training to teach to standard not to time. Yet, the Army seems to being setting schools up for failure. In this last course that I attended, the schedule allowed for one day off in a 29 day course. This means that the instructors only get one day off as well. And still the pace was so fast that many simply memorized what they thought they needed for the test so that they could pass the class. Few of us actually retained the information that was disseminated. Moreover, in order to understand Civil Affairs it is important to grasp the concepts involved which is much more difficult than simply digesting information. It is impossible to teach to standard when you are not provided the time necessary.

It is a pity really. The 38B Reclassification Course has some very dedicated people who would very much like to train and develop skilled Civil Affairs operators to send down range. They work very hard to do a good job with the limited resources that they are given. The same was true of Warrior Transition Course. The Army needs to deliver on its own doctrine and provide the time and resources so that the trainers can spend their effort on training soldier rather than on compensating for the limitations that the Army puts them under.

aloha

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: military, politics

The popular press has finally fingered Michael Moore as a propagandist. MTV's review of Michael Moore's latest attempt at movie making actually identifies the fact that Michael Moore is not being honest in his presentation of the topic. Kurt Loder does a great job of dispelling Moore's assertion that socialized medicine is what America should be aiming for. Like Loder, I agree that we need something better but Canada, Britain and France are evidence of direction that we need not bother with. In my opinion, Japan might be worth a look.

More significant is the fact that a popular news organization is publishing an article that points out the flaws in Moore's message. I did not see an such articles addressing Fahrenheit 9/11. Yet, that movie had the same issues. Fahrenheit 9/11 was not a presentation of all the facts but rather a careful presentation of only that which supported Moore's political message. Public reception of Fahrenheit 9/11 seemed to treat the movie as a documentary, an attempt to provide a factual record. In fact, Moore's movies are propaganda, promoting and publicizing or popularizing a particular political cause or point of view. As Loder makes clear in his review of Sicko, Moore has little regard for the truth or, is so arrogant as to consider his opinion to be truth.

Ravi Zacharias often makes the point that Western society in general and American society especially has given up critical thinking and rational argument and replaced it with popular opinion. Public reaction to Moore's movie is a prime example of this. The American public is willing to treat Moore's claims as fact without verification or justification. Whether it's Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher or Michael Savage it is critical to verify their points before subscribing to their view or regurgitating their message. They all have, first and foremost, a political agenda that they are putting forth. Disseminating truth is slave to that agenda.

aloha

[posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: philosophy, politics, sociology