It’s a marked change for me…for about 20 years now², I’ve worked in some form of tech support.  Even up to the last 8 years as a trainer.  I wasn’t always on the front lines, but I was always there, fighting to make Windows PCs work for users who’d rather be doing something other than fighting with their PCs.  Now, I’m doing a variety of things: installing services and daemons on UNIX servers, packaging and deploying windows software, and on and on.

I’ve been working so hard to reach a point where I felt like I was accomplishing something on more than just a person-by-person basis.  In Training, I felt I was going to reach that point…but I didn’t.  Lots of reasons, and I might do a post-mortem some time, but not now.  Suffice it to say, I need to grow.  I needed a change.  My new job is fantastic.  I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water some days, but on others I do feel occasional bursts of brilliance.

Sometimes, when you’re in a comfortable little groove, you forget how exciting and thrilling leaving that groove and striking out in a new direction can be.

1. Yes, this is an ITIL term. ↩
2. ouch…now I feel old ↩

I just started typing some examples but realized:  1) I can’t make them funny, even in a sarcastic manner, because it’s just that bad.  And 2) I don’t want to run the risk of that sort of thing getting crawled by a search engine.  All I know is,

• People hate the president.
• People hate congress.
• People hate Muslims.
• People hate Tea Partiers.
• People hate same-sex couples wanting to marry in California (or pretty much anywhere).
• Any of the above are destroying our country, our values, our very way of life!

When did ideological differences boil over into outright hatred?  When did republican vs. democrat, or conservative vs. liberal turn into a shootout at the OK Corral?  Or maybe I should say, “when will…” because as the rhetoric keeps getting cranked up on TV, blogs, et. al., it’s only a matter of time before someone out there takes it out of words and into action.  And it won’t be a protest, it won’t be some sign or t-shirt with an offensive slogan.   It’ll be someone with a gun going after a high profile target.  A politican or pundit, most likely.

We’ll be forced to admit, we saw it coming.  “It’s a horrible tragedy,” they’ll say, “but…”

but…

No more “but” anything, people.  Look at yourself.  Look at the message you’re sending.  The ideas you’re embracing.  Is it full of hate?  Probably not.  Is it full of fear?  You know, from the outside, it’s hard to tell the difference.

Here’s the deal. On my mouse, and indeed most computer mice produced in the last 10 years, I have a scroll wheel. This little wheel allows me to scroll up and down web pages incredibly fast, without regard to where on the page my little mouse pointer might be.

Your slideshow, on the other hand, requires me to find the tiny buttons you’ve set out, click and wait for new content to load, and be mindful of the really clever gits among you who think I’m too lazy to do that much, and so advance their slideshows automatically to some arbitrary timer!

Remember that click wheel? Well, in most modern web-browser, it’s not just a wheel – it’s a button. A magic button which opens links in new tabs or windows. So in my daily browsing, I don’t usually open one web page or web link at a time – I open several. Then I browse through each one in my own arbitrary way, opening new tabs however my whims might dictate.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I like your content and I appreciate when you deliver it in a clean, efficient manner with a hint of style. I don’t appreciate it when your stylistic impulses take over, and you feel the need to force feed me your content with a mallet.  Please stop.

Especially with the timers.  Half the time, I don’t even remember why I opened that tab, since it’s usually moved on from “Cheerleaders of the National Curling League” or whatever, to “Tree Frogs of Out Mongolia” or something silly like that, and I’m left feeling morally ambiguous towards a bunch of amphibians.  Which reminds me.  Hey, YouTube!  Every other video site has learned not to start downloading/playing web videos until that page becomes the active window (i.e., someone’s looking at it?), when will you?

This week finds me back at work, settling into my old routine.  I won’t deny, like many I succumb to New Year’s reflections, although it’s been some time since I actually tried making a resolution.  I deeply resent the guilt I feel as December turns to January, and I think of everything I didn’t do over the last year.  I feel bad enough about this stuff on a regular basis, I’ll be damned if I’m going to feel extra guilt just because the last digits on my calendar changed too.

But then, I suppose that’s what we’re doing with our calendars…marking time as our lives go along, noting where we are and want to be.  If I take each day as it comes, and ignore the things in my life I desperately wish to change, maybe I need that extra jolt at New Year’s to make me focus.

So at the risk of being hypocritical (for I have little faith in myself, which is why I normally avoid this), I am actually looking at the new year and figuring out goals for myself.  Things I wish to do, things I wish to change, dare I say it: I’m looking for the resolve within myself to be better.

No, I probably shouldn’t say that, it sounds pretentious.  Still, it’s what I’m doing.  If I’m feeling really brave, I might even post some of it here and hold it out for the world to see.

Until then, take care of yourselves and be good to one another.  I’ll be here.

Oddly, I don’t discuss my own dreams that much.  Few stay with me beyond waking.  But I do love good stories, and in addition to a good book, I love a video game that tells a real story.

Which reminds me, I hope Assassin’s Creed II is out soon…

What I don’t entirely get, however, is this chain of thought: I keep seeing pundits ask, “why did we pay people to buy cars? Why not…” washer/dryers, sofas, pizza, etc.

Call me dense here, but I figured we were going for stimulus, right? Maximum economic impact? So, I buy a new car, saving over $4 grand, I’m pretty happy. I’m going out to drive around my new little car, eating out more, seeing movies, generally being a good little consumer.

You pay me to buy a new washer/dryer? I’m…doing my laundry. Nice and all, especially if I don’t have a washer/dryer now, but the likelihood of it changing my spending habits is pretty low. Oh, I might buy detergent now. The makers of Tide are happy.

Cars are major purchases, and the Cash for Clunkers is a significant rebate…enough that, in my humble opinion, recipients are more likely to redirect that back into the economy than $150 off a washer/dryer or sofa.

A side link on Digg led me to the article Seven (More) Reasons to Ditch Your iPhone.  I’ll point out now, for full disclosure.  I own a cat.  Oh, and an iPhone, too.

So far as I know, the cat is not impressed by my iPhone.

Anyhoo, the author of said article has lined up his reasons why we should be throwing the torches and pitchforks Apple’s way, and abandoning ship for a cheaper, more friendly cell phone & carrier.  Although, he’s directing his ire at Apple, not AT&T, but I digress.  I’ve read the article, and I have to call “crap!”

Let’s look at his points, shall we?

1. They’re anticompetitive.  Here, he points out that the FCC is asking Apple why they rejected Google Voice.  Wow.  One sternly worded letter, and suddenly Apple is the new Microsoft?
2. They’re targets.  Hey, iPhones have an SMS vulnerability!  But we won’t mention it was patched yesterday.  We’ll especially not mention the same vulnerability threatens other smart phone platforms like Symbian, Google’s Android, and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.  Really, it’s just iPhones we have to worry about.  You know, they one’s who have patched already.
3. They’re dicks.  After Apple pulled Google Voice, they also pulled any other app related to Google Voice, including some paid apps.  After people yelled, Apple said, “sure, you deserve refunds” and threw angry customers at the developers, who were still trying to get a straight answer from Apple as to why their apps were pulled.  For this one, I agree.  Apple, you’re being real dicks about this.
4. Apps are mayhem.  OMG, there are, like, too many apps out there!  About 50,000+ according to the article.  Wah.  I broke down and got an iPhone because I finally decided I wanted decent internet on my phone.  You want to whine about too much variety?  Geez, what do you do with your phone, then?  Organize your recipes?  Stay off the internet, your head will explode.
5. You can’t find anything…in the Apple store.  I’ve heard people complain about iTunes before.   I just don’t get it.  Oh, wait, I use the internet and learned how to use a search engine when I was a teenager.  Doh!  Well, maybe our author can buy a smart phone for his smart phone.
6. Android is beautiful.  No rational here.  He apparantly just likes Android.  Um, yay for him?
7. T-Mobile is cheaper. Yep.  It sure is.  Me and my iPhone (on T-Mobile) are quite happy here.  Whilst it’s a steep barrier for entry, it’s not impossible to take your iPhone to other carriers.  In fact, it’s another reason I bought one – I was tired of phones I had no control over.  I can hack my iPhone any which way I want, and there’s a thriving community out there (in that big, scary internet) that’s happy to show me how.  Now, maybe Android is free and open and easy to port between carriers.  I don’t know…hey, maybe he could have filled out number six with something more objective than, “ooh, shiny!”

Still, at the end of the day it’s all right.  As the author says, some of his best friends are black.  I mean, gay!  I mean, he owns his own iPhone!  Yeah, that’s it.  He can write a poorly thought out article bashing Apple because he owns one himself.  And that justifies it all, right?

It’s a work in progress, so I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Rule the First:  Superhero Movies should begin with the origin story. Sounds obvious, right?  To an extent, it is.  Let’s face it, movie studios aren’t catering only to the comic book fans.  They want to draw in everyone who loves a good action hero movie.  More than this, though, that first movie really ought to focus on the origin story.  For most superheroes, that’s the most interesting, most important story there is.  Movies which try to skim over the origin to get to “the good bits” are usually cheating themselves, and us.

Rule the Second: One villian at a time. Please!  Multiple villians crowd the story, especially in the sequels.  You start with one, then the sequel gets two, part three gets four, and on, and on, and…let’s face it, looking at X-Men and Fantastic Four, Hollywood has enough trouble juggling multiple heroes, we don’t need to try throwing in multiple villians.

Actually, it might be fairer to say X-Men is the exception to the rule…sort of.  The X-Men movies were intended to be ensemble pieces, and to that end, their cast of villians didn’t do too bad.  Not as bad as the heroes.  Far too many heroes, particularly big name actors, and the writers just didn’t seem to know what to do with all of them.  That’s not a superhero problem, that’s a “writing for ensemble characters” problem, which is an entirely other post.

Rule the Third: You get one to two sequels, that’s it. Why?  It goes back to the first rule about origin stories.  Past that, your first sequel is usually adressing the fallout of the first.  Our hero accepts their new purpose, and must reconcile it with their pre-hero selves.  The second sequel usually sets up an “ultimate enemy” or other obstacle to overcome.  Some franchises compress these into the same sequel, which can cut yourself quite short.

• Superman I sets up Superman’s origin.  The sequel has Superman fighting to reconcile his dualing personas (at one point choosing Clark over Superman), while also facing his greatest enemy: General Zod.  After this, the franchise goes downhill rapidly as none of the other storylines can compete.
• Spiderman I sets up Spidey’s origin, and the first sequel deals with Peter coping with his new superhero identity.  Good enough.  Spiderman 3 tried to set up “Spidey’s Greatest Enemy,” but broke rule #2 and could decide if it was Venom, Harry Osborn or Mary Jane.  Just kidding on that last one, but really, Sandman wasn’t even in the running.  In fact, why was he even there?
• Batman’s first run had origin story, then flounders with a sequel which doesn’t really do anything.  So the next sequel brings in new villians, a new sidkick, a new main actor, and still accomplishes nothing.  So next up? More villians, more sidekicks, and superhero nipples!  Yeah, let’s stop there.
• Batman’s next run, Batman Begins, starts over with a different look at the origin story.  The sequel introduces an ultimate enemy in the Joker.  To my mind, this limits the next sequel a bit – since I can’t see a villian topping the joker in that one.  They’ll have to put the focus on Bats, either with a “fallout” story featuring a love interest, or some sort of “personal challenge” story where Batman’s greatest enemy is himself.  The comic’s Breaking the Bat story might work, if Venom didn’t look so cheesy on the big screen.  The more recent RIP storyline has some potential, if they can strip out the baggage of the comics, like the alternative bat-men, the sidekicks, etc.
• Iron Man, Hulk and Wolverine have all had their origin stories, even if Wolverine got some screen time in the X-Men movies.  Early reports from Iron Man 2 suggest it’s a fallout story.  Hulk might get a sequel if Marvel works things out with Ed Norton (note to Marvel: DO THIS!), and Wolverine is a shoe-in.

So that’s what I have so far.  Like it? Hate it? Got ideas of your own?  Post, I command thee!

It feels an awful lot like reading your horoscope in the newspaper and going, “that is so MEEEEEE!”

There are four categories in the MBTI, so I’ll run down each one with my scores here.  The first is “Where I focuse my attention” and is the one most people pounce on first: extrovert or introvert?

Probably at little surprise to most, I’m an Introvert with a score of 25 out of a possible 30.  Yes, if I was anymore introverted, I probably wouldn’t leave the house.  And it’s true…I tend to live in my own head, rather than the world around me.  I find myself drained by social situations, and can only handle large crowds in small doses.  I do attend some big events, like the North Texas Irish Festial, or the Texas Renaissance Faire.  I also go to concerts, like the Police reunion tour or, most recently, Jeff Dunham.  But at the end, I go home and soak up the silence for awhile.

Next up, the “way I take in information.”  For this, I ranked Intuition with a score of 11.  They describe the alternatice, Sensing, as focused on facts and details.  They describe Intuition as looking for patterns between those facts, and taking in the bigger picture.  I don’t know about the “bigger picture” stuff, but I do enjoy looking for patterns and extrapolating.

The “way I make decisions” is evaluated as Thinking at a score of just 6.  This category is, to me, kind of the weakest.  It divides “thinking” (being logical and objective”) from “feeling” (being subjective and based on values), as if they’re naturally opposed.  Now, I can agree there’s a difference between logical, reasoned thought, and spontaneous, intuitive leaps.  I can also agree that the logical side might tend to be more objective, wereas the intuitie might be more subjective…but I don’t agree that’s necessarily a causal link.

Yes, I tend towards logical, rational thought…often taking entirely too long to make decisions.  However, that doesn’t mean I reject my emotions or values.  Even the Vulcans, if I can be excused a sci-fi reference, held to values and discipline.  They recognized the existiance and affect of emotions, even within themselves – although they tried to minimize them as much as possible.  To me, I don’t consider emotions to be illogical, or irrational.  They’re a part of us, our selves, and to ignore them in the decision making process – whether you’re trying to be objective, or go with your gut – is folly.

Ah well, moving on, then.  The last is “how I deal with the outer world.”  With the lowest score yet, I ranked as Perceiving at just a 4.  Perceiving is described as spontaneous and flexible, and the opposite, Judging, as planned and organized.  I can see myself as in the middle.  I’m a procrastinator, who struggles with organization to keep myself going and not lose momentum.  In some aspects, I’m meticulous with planning – like on vacations, I like to have room and transportation down far in advance.  But dining and activities, I like to leave open and vague.  It’s a balance, I suppose, but I can’t lie: I definitly lean towards the chaotic.

So, my overall evaluation:

INTPs are rational, curious, theoretical, and abstract, preferring to organize ideas rather than situations or people.  They enjoy working alone with ample autonomy for their own ideas and methods.

I’ll let you decide how accurate you think this is…

The author of MSNBC’s column calls it “condesending”, and “just plain dumb.”  It’s offensive, it seems, because Dell’s first marketing targeted to women highlights a specific subset this author doesn’t associate with.  But it’s their only effort targeting women, so therefore it must be about her.

Not that I recall an outcry when Dell targeted gamers, or music fans, but it seems they cross a line trying to appeal to a specific demographic of women.

In other news, Condé Nast Publications, published of Wired, The New Yorker, and GQ also publishes Vogue, Glamour, and Modern Bride.  Goodness, it’s like they’re trying to reach different audiences!  Should I be offended if they don’t have something for me?  Actually, I’ve never bought any of those magazines, or anything else I see on the Condé Nast website.  I relate to GQ about as much as I do to Vogue¹.   I have read the occasional article on Wired, that’s about as close as I’ve got.

Back over at Dell, I see nothing in Della or their Dell Lounge that appeals to my tastes, but I might in their gamer sub-site.  Yay for me.  Over time, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dell keeps branching out to other areas.  I do not mistake their meager offerings for gross oversimplification or stereotyping.  Nor do I think Dell’s attempts to relate computers to other topics like fashion or fitness are exclusive.  They’re attempts to be inclusive to people who might not have related those topics to computers before.

Should anyone be offended by this?  If Dell was offering an inferior product to a select market, I’d be right there with you.  But the Mini’s and other laptops are the same products offered elsewhere on their own site, and it doesn’t look like Dell is stripping out any features to deliver a sub-standard product to this one demographic.  If anything, I’m a bit jealous there’s more color options for accesories through this portal than the normal website².

Dell isn’t out to insult you, or anyone.  They’re doing what companies have done for ages: targeted marketing.  And the ads they’ll run in magazines like GQ, or Vogue, or Wired will reflect the same audiences as well.

1. They both seem to feature Jessica Alba equally, which is fine by me. ↩
2. just a bit…I mean, pastels? ↩