Saturday, November 28, 2009

Movember - facial hair for a cause

Lance Armstrong Foundation (laf.org) and Prostate Cancer Foundation (pcf.org) have an event each November (or Movember, mo being short for mustache or in French and in the Queen's English moustache).

According to the wikipedia article (linked above), Movember has been around since 2004.

The idea is to start November cleanly shaven and grow a moustache during the month. Friends and colleagues will likely ask if you're growing one, why, etc. which is a good way to bring up the event and raise awareness. The official site logs donations and there are prizes for the most donations. I have no fear of coming close to prizes but I wanted to participate.

I let my moustache grow in and didn't shave it until I was 33. So knowing I can grow one (and also having grown a full grizzly beard in 5 weeks in 2006 pretending to be Iraqi Police in a Marine training exercise) I thought maybe if just a couple of people hear about it, think about the problem, tell a friend or two, then the snowball effect begins.

There will also be events and local competitions. Some with the chance to go to an event where Lance Armstrong will be.

Here's my profile page on the US site http://us.movember.com/mospace/346240.

There's an app on facebook to help make a time-lapse of the moustache growth. The intro video wasn't working until the day before so I didn't try to use it, plus my laptop isn't stationary (for once). I've taken webcam pics and posted some progress on my profile. I've taken pics with a tripod camera but they will likely be too dissimilar to make a time lapse.

If you can grow facial hair, or think you might be able to by next November (or Movember) we need all the help we can get "to change the face of men's health."

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Black Friday

Fewer than 32 shopping days until Christmas.

The day after Thanksgiving is now known as Black Friday and has been the top selling day in retail. (The day after Christmas has also claimed that spot.)

Safety is a concern as stores open earlier and earlier, as early as 4am (JC Penney) and even 12am (Toys 'r Us). Some 24-hour Wal-Mart stores might also be open Thursday or at least at 12am as well. Some Wal-Mart stores will allow "camping out" next to items that will be on sale but not available to cart until the sale begins.

The stores create safety concern by making huge savings on a seriously limited quantity of items and/or limited time of the savings.

Car dealers are getting in on the Black Friday buzz. I saw a news bit about it and it was never mentioned that maybe instead of a TV you could put a down payment on a better than average car deal. They talked about clearance of 2009 models but I've seen commercials for deals on 2010 models.

Verizon is advertising a netbook for about $30 online starting Thursday evening (two-year contract I'm sure). The service is where they make their money anyway, but almost full function laptop with small screen but bigger than smartphone, carry anywhere and go online. Try to find a deal that is not $60 for unlimited net access on top of $30-$40 phone plan.

walmart.com already lists sales for their 5-11am door-buster sale. I doubt they will refer to it as "door-buster" anymore since the tragic incident 2008 at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, NY. They make such limited great savings and there are only 2 stores close to Long Island (at least as of 2006). You enter your zipcode because the prices will vary.

Wal-Mart commercials already boast Emerson 32" LCD flatscreen TV 720p for only $248. This is good enough for most people, especially those still viewing standard definition. Make sure you don't want full 1080p before spending the money and end up wanting a new one again right away. Emerson 42" PLASMA 720p is $448 (locally anyway) and Sony Bravia 1080p 46" LCD is $798. Magnavox BlueRay player only $78. Nintendo DS Lite $98. They have an eMachine laptop for $198. Wireless Kodak ESP all-in-one printer that uses less expensive ink for only $98. iPod Touch $195 with $50 iTunes gift card. A Miley Cyrus Wal-Mart exclusive CD for $5. Over 100 DVD titles at $2 and over 30 Blu-Ray titles at $10. Will this be the last Christmas of the DVD? There's too much stuff to list it all, just go to their website to look at the actual print ad that will come in the Thanksgiving newspaper.

KMart seems to have online-only specials in the spotlight and not their black friday deals. I'm sure they can be found elsewhere online though.

Facebook has fan pages for Black Friday deals:

http://www.facebook.com/blackfridayinfo
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Friday
http://www.facebook.com/BFAds

Happy searching, be safe, find deals (without the crowd mobs if you can).

Monday, November 23, 2009

Too Good at Internet Searching

I'm way too good at internet searching for my own good. Quickly weeding out the chaff and finding what is appropriate to the context.

This seems to apply to medical and technical subjects (only?). Maybe it's because I know enough about what I'm looking for to narrow down key words to get better results.

I searched some more and found that Cervical Vertebrae (neck bones) play a role in the vestibular problems. UGGH! My 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd are fused, presumably congenitally.

Anyway I was searching for Stevia news in soft drinks to see if they are still being made, better formulations in the works, etc.

Blog stolen and hacked content fills the search with pure garbage. A bit or two from some unnamed source to actually get some real info.

Of course 99.9% of the population has ADD or ADHD and cannot read more than one sentence at a time. (So you twitters who send 60 tweets per hour -- they aren't being read.)

BTW Truvia and PureVia both use a sugar alcohol with stevia. Sun Crystals uses a small amount of sugar cane with stevia.

Plan to try Zevia soda soon and see how horrible it is. :)

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Facebook Viral SPAM

I got a notification on FaceBook today that someone had sent me a MultiMedia Message.

As usual, some crApp had to be loaded so somebody can get some advertisement money.

After adding the app, a notice says that I have to click the link. Since I already play MafiaWars I clicked the link. Then it says my message moved and to install another app that was very similar.

The first app sent 1 friend a notice, the same one I had received.

The second app sent about 6 friends the same notice. One friend also had the app installed, not the one who "sent" it to me.

HERE's WHAT TO DO:

1) If you get a notice like this, ask your friend if they sent something before clicking.

2) If you do click and it sends friends a notice:

--------Open the small Notifications tab on the bottom right.
--------Click "See All"
--------Hover over Notice you did not send.
--------Click the X to close/delete.
--------Select I DID NOT PERFORM THE ACTION THAT SENT...
--------Click Report and Delete app.

Hopefully reporting SPAMmers will help keep them off.

Does FaceBook not have an approval process for apps???

Sadly these SPAMmers will make ad money from doing this.




Also DON'T click on advertisements (which might look like a legitimate Windows notice) reporting that you need AntiVirus. These are Virus and Malware programs themselves. Only load authenticated security programs.

Microsoft's website even recommends some free versions. Watch those because it might be a trial period. Most security programs act a bit like viruses monitoring system level actions. (I currently use Commodo's free version for what that's worth.)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Sucralose and why Natural is Important

First of all, is "sucralose" just a made-up word? I know scientific words are technically made up whether for natural things or synthetic.

Sucralose as it is branded and sold as a 0-calorie sweetener is NOT really a sugar (despite the sugar-sounding name ending in -ose).

Instead it's a chlorocarbon. Three OH ions in the sugar molecule are replaced with three Cl¯ ions. The resulting chlorocarbon is in the same family as carbon tetrachloride (carbon tet used to be used in dry cleaning but wasn't safe) and DDT. The current PERC (perchloroethylene) C2Cl4 would also be a chlorocarbon. This family of chemicals are known to be carcinogens.

I don't know which is worse, aspartame or sucralose.

There is a sweetener from a plant called stevia. The sweetener comes from the leaves and is processed similar to making tea with leaves.

I don't know the extraction process. I'm hoping it is nothing like the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) process which reused fungi until they stop "processing." HFCS starts as mostly glucose and is concentrated into fructose. I wonder if this causes much more incidence of diabetes than sucralose ("table sugar").

Even natural things in excess can be bad, but when you start messing with nature, you just have to wait and see what happens, and disturbance is usually not karmically so good.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Overactive Nerves

When I was listing all of the factors that play into the Meniere's, I forgot TMJ (jaw misalignment, popping, etc.). Of course I have that one too.

I searched to see if there were any new info in the last 5+ years and there isn't much. There's a distinction of Vestibular Hyperacusis where sound causes dizziness. (Ding, Ding, Ding. we have a winner.) Most VH patients have little or no tinnitus (yup). I have some symptoms of the other, Cochlear Hyperacusis, but that can probably mostly be attributed to any hereditary irregularity and the blood pressure problems added to all the other crap.

Anyway my last post mentioned other conditions that have similar sensitivities to sound: migraine and autism, but epilepsy also, in addition to light sensitivity.

Isn't it strange how in a few short years we've discovered all sorts of new conditions with overactive nerves: Fibromyalgia, Restless Leg Syndrome, what about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder, ADHD, PMDD, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, numerous anxiety disorders. There are probably dozens I don't even know about.

What happens to nerves from ingesting chemicals in odd combinations? The movie "The Incredible Shrinking Woman" (with Lily Tomlin) comes to mind.

Aspartame is 10% methanol (wood alcohol) which is a poison regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Consuming 3 - 20 oz. bottles of a soda sweetened with aspartame is more methanol than the EPA warrants as safe.

All politics aside, from the way it was approved and those who became filthy rich from it, what is it doing to our bodies? It's playing out right in front of us.

Then enter politics again as the government tries to regulate healthcare. I don't see how they could possibly manage that when we see what they allow in food, and we see how pitifully they monitor things they do not allow in food.

When they won't bother to put enough research on things that are killing us, and allow things in or food that might be doing just that, how can we expect research on quality of life for those of us who are not yet dying.

CEOs of charitable organizations make millions. Don't we wish we all could make millions helping people? Or are we then helping ourselves more? Every member of congress and the house should be asking themselves the same questions, as well as agencies and committees who ultimately answer to no one.

Are all the overactive nerve diseases just too much caffeine and sugar? Not likely as these have been around in high consumption for much longer. Of course most of our "sugar" is overprocessed corn.

Are 5th graders conducting the experiments that claim that something is safe or harmful? (assuming they are ever done) Vitamin A has toxic levels (as do many other vitamins). So that means Vitamin A is toxic. Uh, no it doesn't. Humans can drink formaldehyde and methanol in small quantities and not show immediate effects, so these must be safe for consumption. I must appologize to 5th graders because they are smarter than this.

I think I'm going in circles and not addressing the matter that all the overactive nervous disorders might be related.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Hyperacusis: Wishing you were deaf?

I don't know how many people suffer from hyperacusis, or an abnormal sensitivity to sound. So I don't know how many people can even relate to this.

I know of other similar conditions "noise recruitment" which involves hearing loss and overcompensation at extreme ranges adjacent to the loss to try and accommodate it.

I know migraine sufferers and autistic children also suffer from similar issues. I don't know how closely all of the above are related but I'm willing to bet (don't take it literally, nothing to bet with) that there are links so close it would be eye-opening.

(I dare say all the chemicals we intake and mix as "food" have nerve damaging effects we may never know the extent of.)

I always wish I had normal hearing again, assuming it was ever normal, and since it likely wasn't then just back to normal enough.

A lot of the time I just wish I couldn't hear because I'm sure there are good statistics on the number of deaf people, causes, treatments when applicable, known untreatable or only by surgery. There are people who could help cope with being deaf and teach me how to function.

Hyperacusis offers none of this. You might think ear protection is good, but not all the time or too much. I did that and it became more sensitive the longer and more protection I added. I later learned from an audiologist that this is pretty much always the case.

Realizing myself that by definition only that my problem was hyperacusis and not recruitment, the ear doctor recommended TRT (tinnitus retraining therapy). Primarily used to treat tinnitus (ringing of the ears) it was also being considered for hyperacusis. My tinnitus is minimal.

Insurance didn't cover $1400 devices and $1000 treatment visits, but luckily I had some savings left from the job I could no longer do.

The devices are similar to hearing aids but produce a white noise. Setting the volume not to totally mask noise and being vented to allow noise in make it a retraining tool for the overactive nerves. I wore the devices for two years and they made a huge difference. Worth every penny I would have to say.

But now what. I've been mostly off of them for almost five years to the date. They seem to slowly be getting worse instead of maintaining. One of the devices had a piece break off but should still function. I guess I'll start getting hearing aid batteries and wearing the devices all the time for months to years and see if it helps again.

If I had to go deaf instead (and I knew a nurse who has one of the conditions I have but more severe who had total nerve deafness in one ear) then I would not be able to listen to music anymore. I wouldn't be able to sing (alone where no one can hear me).

I guess I should be thankful that I have hearing, even if it prevents me from doing some things, it allows so much more.



Well, even as I was about ready to post, glass and silverware bang some 40+ feet away and I wish yet again that it was the last time I would even hear that at all.

So I've spent about 30 minutes finding the devices and the decision is made, 2 years more, or whatever it takes.

Having found the devices, putting in new short life batteries, the broken one will have to be superglued to function completely but is doable until then. They can be worn all day or even while sleeping but must be out for at least 4 hours a day to keep from getting an ear infection. My wax is "wet wax" as we found out from the non-custom devices shorting out every couple of months and contact with the manufacturer, so maybe more than 4 for me.

Mind you I already have an air cleaner running and have had the TV blaring over it before and STILL heard the piercing sound of metal and glass banging together from some 40+ feet way.

Living where people need hearing aids and won't do others the courtesy of having their hearing tested is not so good.

Meniere's Disease (or Syndrome in my case) has factors such as the anatomy of the inner ear, element makeup of the fluid there, blood pressure, allergies, heredity. Luck me I get them all. Oh I forgot, barometric pressure and heat and humidity (and I've moved back from dry LA to hot and humid Alabama).

So hears/here's to being thankful for some possible relief.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Mustaches for Prostate Cancer Awareness

Movember, or Mustache November, is underway.

I am growing a mustache this year to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer. I have a donation page us.movember.com/mospace/346240.

If you would rather start your own page or team from their main page, all the better.

LiveStrong foundation is involved, Lance Armstrong's foundation.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

My Domain

I canceled my local IPS account where my webpage was hosted.

My domain registration was separate. It had 15GB storage space but they closed that in October. You now "can" pay a monthly fee for storage.

I made a blog for a lot of the content from my old webpage. channing-humphries.com now redirects to that blog.

I'd like to add stuff without deleting posts to get the main post on top. (11-7-09 case in point, cool flashy ads for movies were showing but disappeared when I deleted main post to put one after it and re-added main post.)

I didn't put all of the photography. Blogspot is a real pain for adding photos. Maybe other settings than the ones I wanted work as expected and don't require a ton of copy/paste/edit text for EACH photo.

Most of the webpage/blog is my extra work. I edit out principal actors where applicable. Many you would have to freeze, knowing exactly where it is to catch me. A few aren't good enough to be there and some others I could ad. I thought about adding a still from a 10-second foreign commercial spot but actors aren't supposed to list commercial involvement (could be an issue, can be checked out or possibly negotiated later).

I kind of wanted to post the NYFA short but want the director's permission. Technically this is required even though it is my image (and others are in it too). She's from France. I got in touch with her online from Qatar I think, working on a reality show. She had worked with the people from Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" but I don't know how long.

So-Called "Credit Reporting Agencies"

Something has to be done about these “Credit Reporting Agencies.” From the days of paying a few cents extra for gas to use a credit card, to today where EVERYONE pays these fees which are much greater now.

The concept of “Instant Credit” where people are made to believe that they have to have it. The status Metric of “credit scores” and how it is all to easy for thieves to apply for credit in someone else’s name with a little information via “Credit Score” and “Instant Credit.”

The “Credit Reporting Agencies” are assisting the banks with predatory lending and Identity Thieves. Then they SELL all these “Products and Services” to allow access to the information. How is the information not your own??? Now they sell “Products and Services” to guard the info to prevent Identity Theft.

IF THEY OPERATED AS A RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS, THE INFORMATION WOULD BE GUARDED AND IDENTITY THEFT WOULD NOT BE SUCH A CRIME WAVE THAT IT IS, but what extra money would be able to be charged that way (rhetorical).

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Fraudulent Service Scam

My dad has open heart surgery tomorrow, a triple bypass.

Today he was trying talking with [first level] support who happened to be an Indian person, who had a horribly thick accent and spoke faster than a New Yorker anyway.

They claimed that someone had clicked a Pop-Up advertisement which had started the "service."

The "service" was billed to their POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) landline phone bill.

I was not aware that landline phone companies were 'in bed' with these types of companies by allowing third-party "services" to be billed through them.

I was aware that some cellphone carriers are 'in bed' with these types of companies by allowing third-party "services" to be billed through them.

At any rate, wouldn't an agreement have to be made where the telephone number was entered, and agreed upon that the "service" would be added to the phone "account"?

No one is looking out for us. We have to look out for ourselves. If we want this to stop, we have to put a stop to it.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Banks to lose $12B a year from new regulations

Some regulations were approved against greedy banking malpractices. By simply "playing (more) fair" they give up $12 BILLION they were essentially stealing from their customers.

One such practice was looking at your credit report and seeing another bank lowered your credit limit OR you were one day late on another credit card ( lowering your "credit score" as much as 50 points!). They call it a general default even when they know late payment and especially lowered credit limit are NOT default. Not even incrementally, changing the rate from 7.99% to 28.99%.

The sad thing is they will keep stealing this money from you until early 2010 when the new regulations go into effect, giving them plenty of time to find new ways to steal from you.

They get 3-6% of every purchase even if you pay off the amount in full each month.

Another theft they will not be able to do anymore is double-cycle billing where the average daily balance is magically bloated to get them more interest and compound interest, ..., ... , and then interest an extra month after you pay it off.

~Channing Humphries (originally posted on my MySpace blog December 21, 2008)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Who You Know

It really is a lot about who you know. There are other things like what you bring to the table or your ticket to the party.

I just got an invite from an acting coach I didn't get to work with long enough before moving back to Alabama. He coached Josh Holloway of TV's "Lost" (maybe still coaches). The final season of "Lost" starts mid-season on ABC.

You never know where you might be invited or who might be there. Holloway will be at the event on Tuesday that I was invited to. He will be doing a Q&A session. I wish I could just jump on a plane and go to the event.

There's also an event at NYFA in CA on Sunday that I got an invite to. It's a screening of "Punchline" from 1988 that starred Tom Hanks and Sally Field. The director of the film, David Seltzer will be having a Q&A session. I could go to that Sunday and the other Tuesday.

I guess there's another reason they say "Location, Location, Location." If I were there I could just go.

I didn't make the most of going to the screenings and Q&A sessions when I was out there. I miss them.

Make the most of opportunities that come your way. Be on an even keel as well. You never know when that butterfly flaps its wings and the perfect storm of better opportunities line up.

They don't come all at once, just one step at a time, moment to moment.

Channing H.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

We Are All One

We don't realize it and try to ignore it but anything you do to someone else, you're doing to everyone including yourself.

We see news stories and have a detached sympathy. Some people have a dissociative, emotionless apathy to it. We get desensitized to all the bad that's OUT THERE that it doesn't affect us.

We tune it out like it's just a TV show or movie.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. who is a Harvard professor was arrested for "breaking in" to his own home.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/harvard.html

I thought it was bad. I don't know the whole circumstance. Maybe he should have called police before trying to get in his own home like people get help when locked out of their cars.

I imagine he didn't think it was a police issue, and that officers were better serving the public elsewhere.

I saw an interview on CBS Early Show with Elizabeth Gates, his daughter. When I realized that I knew her from when I lived in California and we took an acting class together (5 nights a week for 4 weeks), I got chills.

It was so much more personal when I actually knew the daughter of the arrested professor.

It should not have to be someone we know directly affected by things before we really care.

We should be able to put ourselves in other people's "shoes" without having to pretend it is a friend or relative in pain.

We are all connected and simply treating others as we would want to be treated, how far away is that to be in majority?

Channing H.

Monday, July 20, 2009

If it's cheaper, why isn't it being used?

There's a commercial telling how train transportation gets over 400 miles per gallon of fuel. The train can carry a large number of ConNex boxes, untold tons of goods.

The commercial doesn't say what type of fuel, the cost of that fuel, the difference in environment impact. But wouldn't it be cheaper to have tons of goods moving together for long distances and trucks only move to local warehouses, distributors, etc.?

Would actually working together get goods moved cheaper than all of these giant companies with billions in profit (and corporate jets) save money that MIGHT be passed along to the consumer and lessen dependence on foreign oil?

I say "might" because while COSTS are always passed along to consumers, savings aren't as quick to be shared.

(More on that line of thought in the next post)

Channing H.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Flex Fuel Vehicles, Where's the Ethanol

My dad has a Flex Fuel pickup truck. It's a 2001 Mazda. For all intents and purposes it's a Ford before Ford bought Mazda.

The truck will burn gasoline or ethanol. The problem is there wasn't anywhere to buy ethanol. Even now, the closest station is about 60 miles away.

Here's a link to find alternative fuel stations close to you:

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/locator/stations/

The cheapest source of ethanol would presumably be processed from corn. Supply and demand would seem to make it cheaper if much more were produced. If many people used ethanol to fuel their cars gas demand would go down and could cause its price to drop. That would be good but could curtail efforts to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

So mass production of corn into ethanol would likely make for cheaper ethanol which would be replacing the use of gasoline.

So 8 years later, why are we still not seeing ethanol on every corner along with gas as long as gas would still be in demand?

Is there not enough profit to be made from corn? Is it not insanely cheaper to grow and process corn than to drill, pump and refine oil?

Interestingly enough, corn is SO cheap that it is processed into a substitute for sugar. The US government subsidizes a large amount of corn farming (which means tax dollars pay for it). Over-processed High Fructose Corn Syrup seems to be perfectly fine for consumption, even processed with a genetically modified enzyme and a fungus that gets reused until it stops giving results to get maximum profit. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup.

So it sounds like the only reason we are still dependent on foreign oil is that we want to be.

Channing H.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Twitter Fodder

The new age of narcissism continues to grow. As regular people get more and more followers through odd, spammy, or normal means, it seams to go to their head. Suddenly it validates that x thousand people must really want to follow me playing a game of 'who can tweet the most times in one hour' or other ridiculous drivel.

There's been a blog article naming types of tweeps (twitter peeps, or twitter people). It's odd how these get generated and propagated by those falling into the "negative" categories. The above vanity, RT every reply to everyone because everyone must want them, RT everything that pops up in your stream (following thousands of people).

The ranking analytics, are you kidding me? Now they have SO much more bloated egos. Not only that, some claim to be all about sharing and caring and instruct everyone on propper use of #FollowFriday so that it COUNTS. That's hardly all about caring or sharing. That's about getting themselves in the top of analytic lists to validate that they are ELITE.

Maybe it works a bit for building self-esteem and getting a lot of ELITE and celebs to RT and advertise for them. One of the negative tweep types is people who only seem to care while self-promotion is their true agenda.

So all SPAM is not created equally. We also have people posting, mostly automated, every single song they add to a "dj" playlist. Again assuming if someone follows them that they must want 12 posts in a row with song links.

One nice thing about twitter is that you can Unfollow people with inconsiderate tweeting habits. The Golden Rule (found in many disparate religions) of treating others as you would want to be treated totally escapes some.

OK I have a little OCD tendency and contests bring out the worst in me and I'll tweet constant nonsense. I tend to do that in the middle of the night when hardly anyone is online. Then they might not ever see those tweets. I considered opening a separate account for those type things but technically I think that violates the TOS, though so many people do it that aren't SPAMmers in the traditional sense that it is almost commonplace.

I may have lost people doing those. I will have to ignore and/or limit from now on thinking of my followers. Those doing contests encouraging SPAM are likely violating TOS.

We need tools to filter out repeated autotweets. It's just absurd. Some might have a reason if spaced out enough time. Some tweeps have multiple FollowFriday instruction tweets that go out several times every Friday, repeatedly. Right now our only option seems to be Unfollow.

All or nothing. No middle ground. It's like a bull-headed partisan divide.

I'll sign off with my name in case someone tries to auto-steal my post. Channing H.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Is "Career" a Myth?

My father's father was a farmer. My father grew up on farm but his father did other jobs to provide for the family.

My dad went into the Army for a year and the Air Force for four years. He studied electronics in the Air Force and earned an Associates degree.

It was a different era, but he started a temporary job that turned into contract extension and full time employment. It can still work that way, but it was in a day when companies rewarded people for a life of service. Pension was not just a government term.

I grew up expecting to go to college. I scored a high school level on an achievement test in sixth grade so that didn't seem to be out of reach. Around the same time we got a computer that connected to the TV and I knew what I was going to be when I grew up.

Sure it wavered some with wondering if something else would have more meaning or purpose. But it always came back to computers. Naive think that anyone can do programming, depends on what level, and they don't realize how number systems and theory are a huge part of it.

I got some college credit for computer science and math for high school classes and went to college for a double major in those subjects. Math minor was required so I used my electives in upper level math classes to meet major requirements for both.

I rushed through with the original plan of graduating in three years. It was a bit much and grades suffered so I slowed down and added two terms, still graduating early.

I had friends who co-oped undergrad and I considered it but stuck with my goal. The economy was slow and everyone wanted experience so after a year I started grad school. By the end of the first year I took a co-op position which would pay less than the bachelors degree should but allow me to get experience and possibly a place to work full time.

Each graduation and before we were lectured on how the average person will have 10 jobs to make up their career. So anyone like my dad who stayed with a large computer company for 30+ years means that some people must have 15 or more jobs to average out.

Anyway I wasn't too worried about it then, which is unlike me in general and how I was raised. Besides I guess I figured if my dad could have an Associates degree and work for the same company so long with some changes along the way that surely with a graduate degree I could manage to have at least few job changes.

Enter life I suppose. Some hereditary issues and some environment issues all came into the perfect storm of a health problem. Long story short the "career" ended quite a bit early.

I took an opportunity to help charity and be on the set of a TV show. I was addicted right away, did various volunteer jobs and oddly enough my first paid job on set was in north Alabama.

I moved to California and chased a dream though not fully enough. I guess I wanted an excuse for if/when it ended that it was because I didn't give it my all. Easier said than done but that's the only way to do anything.

I know I did a lot of just what I needed to to get through the subjects or classes I didn't like, but it's totally different in career. Of course you can give it too much and cause problems in personal life, like letting relationships suffer and over-stress yourself. The art is in striking a balance.

I haven't learned quite how the balance is achieved, and maybe never will.

Only a few got to see me perform and stir emotion which is what I had hoped to do on a much larger scale. Health and finance got in the way of just trying to be seen on a small scale.

I needed the unraveling and winding down of so many things and have met some people online who have been encouraging, that I likely would not have met otherwise.

I keep thinking of what I could do related to the old career on my own and run into hurdles that seem to point me into a more creative direction.

Working in Hollywood almost every job was a day at a time, so I've technically had well over 100 jobs. So I don't need to worry about changing jobs. I've balanced out my dads single career job in the quoted average.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Will the Real Requirements Please Stand Up

I got a used PowerMac for hopes of using it to try my hand at iPhone development. I waited too long to get into it.

So when I get ramped up, it turns out that I need OS X.5.6. So I buy that OS which requires an Intel Mac 867MHz or greater. Turns out the dual 512MHz that I had will not load that OS. If used parallel at all, the total 1GHz would be faster as two parallel processors. Nonetheless it would not install.

I bought another used mac. This one is over 1GHz on a single processor. So it will load the OS. I connect it via ethernet to the internet and there is an update to OS 10.5.7 which is thankfully free.

So I had to buy the SDK for OS 3.0 which all apps are required to work on even before OS 3.0 released. Once you have paid for it, the new SDK now requires 10.5.7 so luckily I already had it. Then running the install in the package, the SDK option is not enabled.

There are packages that will install separately but where to put them and how many hoops to jump through to use them from somewhere other than where they are expected to be. Will Apple actually let them be used if not installed from their failure of an install program.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

SAG and AMPTP

The Screen Actors Guild voted unanimously to ratify yet another contract with the AMPTP for TV/theater pretending that AMPTP will look at giving a fair share of profit sometime in the future. Unlike baseball's "player to be named later" which has been the same player, this profit sharing never is revisited.

Media is evolving at such a pace that internet and TV are already combining and soon will be one and the same. You will surf YouTube or its latest incarnation or replacement on your TV/computer.

Small gain was made in this upper class SAG railroaded contract for MADE-FOR new media projects, but no change was made for profits made by production companies from content produced for TV or theaters.

The members of the SAG board, who were elected to represent the membership (much like Congress) ignore the needs of the membership and set up deals for themselves (much like Congress). They also would have you believe that the background (or "extra") actors are the problem blocking the contract and negotiation.

A producer to remain nameless claims are not WORKING actors (I'd like to see the films where they don't work), regurgitates this, not knowing anything about the union nor actors, stating that they should not be allowed to vote. The TRUTH is that background talent does not make enough money for other benefits and their only hope is the 3% raise, barely cost of living. They wanted this last July when the contract ran out.

The million + upfront for film actors do not want to lose a bargaining chip that they aren't getting backend profit sharing. This would cut their upfront rate, some might lose a million or more. If the film or project does very well then they would receive money from DVD sales, ticket sales, etc. and might actually make more money. If the movie flops, they wouldn't make much more than their upfront contract amount. Letting the market decide, hmm sounds like capitalism.

SAG *censored* opposing view where many people will lose their health and pension benefits under the new contract and spewed propaganda largely from producer/actors. Hmm sounds like North Korea and all the countries censoring internet access to keep out opposing idealogies.

The WGA had the cajones to strike for a fair contract. I picketed with them in support for their contract. They only wanted a small percentage and that percentage would be $0 if no money was made. SAG did not have the cajones to demand the same thing.

The AMPTP will not take SAG seriously as they join AFTRA in putting BOARD members first. They left out "board" when trying to get members' votes to place them on the board.

I was skeptical about SAG president Alan Rosenberg until sitting in a meeting with him. He knows the union from top to bottom, the rich and middle-class and background and struggling actors. He sought to UNITE and address issues at all levels. He was railroaded by [Board] members first who had barely a majority of the board, about 52%. They stalled until they could get organized and have enough members bother to show up to a meeting and fire the chief negotiator, making a joke of the union.

Then they concede to AMPTP and wink at the "we'll look at that later" clause as if the big production companies were bankrupt like the car industry. % of zero is 0 never gets revisited, not with VHS, DVD, now new media. Besides allowing multiple airings within a week and 3 weeks for cable, which might play twice a day for those 3 weeks, or more. Besides that, the networks brag to shareholders how much money they are making on the internet. NONE of the multi-airing in the time period and internet streaming revenue is shared. Reruns are covered, however, and residuals from the additional advertising profits are shared.

If the union isn't going to stand up for anything, they might as well concede to a 20 year contract with the current rates and a fixed percentage bump. Leave a clause open for change for all the things that are never revisited.

So the totally ignorant may think that SAG got its act together. But in reality the AMPTP will not take SAG seriously and the disarray and fallout could be much worse than any strike ever could have been.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

PC Mac

I think I've already said how annoying it is that Apple has gone to Intel processors (PCs) yet require their OS to run on an Apple branded machine. They need to catch up with the times because IBM lost the clone war over 20 years ago and it's the same issue. Besides, what part of anti-trust and free enterprise do they not understand?

I didn't jailbreak my phone, after all it's already a refurb so who knows what problems I'd run into, and I'd have to be 10x as careful loading apps. I didn't try to get a hack patch to load my legal copy of MacOS 10.5.6 Leopard on Vista as dual boot, even though it can generally be done.

The used mac I bought a little over a year ago isn't up to date enough to run the latest MacOS, which requires 867MHz processor or better. The used mac I have has TWO 512MHz processors. Do the math, that's 1024MHz total (or 1GHz), and if the OS actually uses them in parallel it's faster with the two.

I haven't gone back to reading the SDK documentation yet but there's plenty of it to waste time while deciding whether to buy another used intel mac or see if I can replace the processor in the one I've got.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

iPhone app developing First Glance

I haven't even gotten my iPhone yet which I ordered Tuesday and should get today, and I am already obscenely disgusted, to the point I might just return the device in the first 30 days and avoid the contract and "Early Termination Fee."

The used Mac I had bought to possibly get into developing for iPhone is no longer supported. Maybe I didn't look into it enough and it wasn't supported in the first version. I have to think about getting an Intel-based Mac. I have more than 4 Intel processors in machines that are fully functional, besides some in partial configs.

Using Windows PC with the same processor supported but not bought from Apple and not containing Apple OS, what about "anti-trust" and "free enterprise" so they not understand?

Why did an iPhone app post turn political? Because they made it political. They artificially limit the device's capabilities in order to create demand so that they can sell new devices every year for 2 or 3 hundred dollars. Either you pay more for the newer model actually using capabilities the old device had but now licensed in the OS or you commit to another long term contract and AT&T (monopoly on iPhone service) pays part of it (as their write-off to advertising) which is likely negotiated much less than what you would pay (or nothing at all considering the business AT&T gets in this exclusive monopoly).

I cannot recommend "jailbreaking" the device. I don't even have one yet. But shouldn't the consumer who paid so much money for the device be free to use all of the functionality of their device? That's really rhetorical but it apparently must be posed as a question. With the new Mac clones, they violate the terms of the OS license that it it not to be installed, used, or allowed to be used on machines not bearing the Apple brand. How absurd is that? Especially since they've begun exclusively using Intel processors, the PC monopoly of processors just now getting some competition after all these years.

Sadly the largest of corporations become more and more like the government. They pretend that they have the right to force consumers to give away Constitutional rights, as if they could be waived. For example giving up the right to sue started with credit cards and now filtered through every "service" contract. Some now add small claims court, as the minimal amount in the Constitution is low, but what of limits by small claims courts, the Constitution says nothing about limits.

What can we do? We can only vote with our wallets. Stop paying companies who require leaching agreements, including using credit cards even if you pay them off every month. It the convenience worth the loss of liberties?

------
PS I forgot to bring up the documentation which contains hundreds of files many with hundres of pages that appear to be a competition on who can wrote the most content and say nothing. They try to be high level new user technical info, then they delve into low level UNIX structures. ???

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

iPhone development

I've been poring through literally hundreds of iPhone SDK (Software Developers Kit) files.

I have a LOT of reading to do.

I can't wait to get my iPhone. I just ordered it and it should be here Thursday.

So it won't be the newest model in a couple of months. Maybe I'll have an app ready before then, who knows.

Monday, April 6, 2009

How to be a Movie/TV extra during a Vacation to LA

Since I lived in LA doing extra work, and actually did my first gig unpaid by paying charity (different rules apply), I know lots of people would love to be an extra on TV or in a film. Sorry but this is for people 18 and older. Some stuff applies to kids as well but there are so many more laws and the legal parent has to be there and I don't know all the details for children. Currently only US residents too or at least legal work tax number not requiring sponsorship.

You might not be able to work on your favorite show and you aren't likely to get to meet any actors. Working as background/extra means part of your job is not to bother the principals (actors). No cameras on set, no picture-taking of celebs, no asking for autographs, etc.

Now that your expectations are lowered a bit, you also have to know that you might not be made visible at all, there's a chance you could be hired and never go to set, sometimes they do all day what they wanted to get done by lunch for various reasons, etc. Even if you make it on camera, and it is VERY important to remember NOT to look at the camera unless that is your explicit instruction, it might be edited so that you don't get seen, the scene might get dropped, etc.

Now that I've burst your bubble, there is a chance you could be seen and recognizable in a shot or more than one shot. There's a small chance you could be close to the actors and even interact with them, no speaking of course unless explicitly directed to do so.

Maybe this should be in multiple parts, but I'm going to try to get enough info in here.

Given hiatus (scheduled breaks) the best months to plan such a visit would be August through November and February through April for TV shows. There will be some movie work most of the year except holidays but you never know.

Plan your trip around having an early-on Monday/Wed/Fri at the beginning and about 3 days or more afterward. Whatever you plan to do as a tourist, you will probably want unscheduled so that you have whole days available to be on set, or do sightseeing on days when you don't get hired to work on set.

For non-union (not a member of Screen Actors Guild, or if applicable AFTRA) registration with Central Casting is held M/W/F at 10:30am for about an hour or so. The address is 220 S. Flower St, Burbank CA. Be there early, dressed for a photo to be taken how you would like to appear, business attire or hip and trendy and some might have a swimsuit body and have an additional photo taken (might cost more, not sure).

Street parking only, more reason to get there early. Don't park in the bus station lot or any business lot as your vehicle will most likely be towed. If you don't mind walking a couple blocks there is usually somewhere you can park. As always in the area, check for signs about restricted parking by times/days, etc.

You will need either a photo ID such as drivers license along with Social Security card; or a valid US Passport. The registration fee is $25 cash only. The fee is subject to change, don't flash your cash stash when getting the money. There is an ATM a few blocks away, better to go beforehand.

You will be filling out a registration form and asked your measurements, height and weight, plus chest, hat, shoe, bust for ladies, dress coat for gentlemen. They will probably have measuring tapes for you to get the measurements but probably not assist you in getting them.

There will be someone giving an info talk and possibly questions but limited. You will wait in line (likely two lines) to give completed registration forms to people at computers. Have ID(s) ready. Then you will wait in another line for photo. You will pay the $25 (or current registration) at the counter where you will get your photo taken. Stand at the T, look into the camera in this case, and smile your best until the flash goes off (on and back off). They will usually be helpful to make the photo better but don't waste too much time.

There's a chance that a Casting Director (CD) will be lurking to see if there are model types or something special needed for an upcoming episode. Decide for yourself how much to admit if asked about being added to a specialty list (since you are not local, and they will be less inclined to want you, but I would recommend not lying).

Once you are registered, you can usually call in for work the same day. This is the very annoying part. Although they are not the only background casting, they handle probably 90% or more of TV shows in the LA area and some movies. The number they give you will be a recorded line of available background Casting Calls. Unless they have updated their system, there is a lot of dead air because they cannot skip empty "boxes" when cycling through them. Listen carefully to what is wanted for a call.

Have pen and paper ready when calling to jot down details and especially the number to call to try and get booked. If you hear something that matches you, and be totally honest thinking about your age and don't pretend you look more than 5 years younger than that unless dozens of people who don't know you have told you that.

There is a different line for women and men. They will ask for ethnicity and possibly age or age ranges, height, build, wardrobe, distinguishing features, special abilities (and don't claim to be able to do unless you know you're as good as they say they want, they likely need you to bring the prop or equipment and pay a little extra for that). Sometimes you will hear a call that you might have missed, and they've updated and all they need are a certain number of an age range or ethnicity. They really do have a number from production of how to fill the slots based on gender, age, ethnicity, etc.

Back to hearing something you match, on a show or movie you would like to work on. You might want to hear the message more than once before trying to call in. Sometimes it is a nightmare trying to call in. There could be a LOT of people and only a few slots. It's much easier to get booked on a "cattle call" of hundreds or even a thousand or more, but not very likely that you'll be visible in the final cut.

Don't assume you can go buy wardrobe unless you're disgustingly rich and can make anything happen quickly and know where to look and exactly what to buy for anything didn't bring with you.

If the call is for multiple days, they will usually say so, otherwise it is only for one day. Sometimes they know the Call Time (time to be on set and ready to work) and sometimes you have to assume you'll do nothing else that day and get the Call Time in the evening. One reason for this is that consecutive days have a union turnaround minimum and they decide the Call Time for the next day based on when they wrap that day.

Note that you probably have to keep calling the info line listening for Casting Calls multiple times before hearing something that fits. If you happen to be 18, you won't have to listen as long. There are a lot of calls for "18 to look younger" to play high school, etc.

OK say you've found something you fit and a day(s) you know you can commit to, you call the number that they give and either keep trying for the CD to answer or keep trying so you can leave a message. Always when calling, be ready with "First 5" which is what they refer to as the first five digits of your Social Security number. This is how they look you up in the computer. So have ready or memorize them. They'll want First 5, Name, and Project calling about. Sometimes they're only doing one at a time, other times they have multiple things going.

If they pull up your info and photo and think they can use you for the Call, they will wither give you a call time, or just a Tape # for the other info line. The Tape info line will ask for the number, and you will have to have it so write it down. Have pen and paper ready when trying to call the CD or getting a phone call from them. As I said before, all info might not be ready until the evening so you might have to call the number multiple times and enter the # for the Tape/Box. Again you will want pen and paper to jot info about the job.

There will also likely be a second # for Call Time changes. You will be asked to check that before going to bed and again in the morning to be sure it hasn't changed. Other things to consider are night calls where starting time is afternoon/evening and could run 8-12 hours or more, and location.

Probably the best thing for locations if you can afford it is Rand McNally's Thomas (Bros.) Guide. Google maps is often good enough but the actual street number placement is better with Thomas Guide. They often give page and map grid for Thomas Guide when telling you how to get to a location. If the location is a studio, your name will have been added to a list with permission to enter the studio lot. They will likely tell you where to park. There might be additional security (especially Warner Bros.) before entering the lot. Allow extra time for all of this, and finding your way to the sound stage in the lot (could be a long walk).

You will need to take additional clothes with you. There are various reasons for Wardrobe to choose different clothes and it doesn't matter, just wear one and take two changes or more and be ready to change. If they think you look like a cop or military they might have the wardrobe for you (and haircut and sizes were probably already discussed before hiring you).

Once hired, even if your a billionaire, treat this as a job, albeit paying only California state minimum wage. As background/extra you are about the bottom of the hierarchy so don't have attitude about being told what to do or where to be, etc. Also treat it as a priority to be there (allowing for horrible traffic, etc.) on time and quiet when needed available when needed, etc. Don't wander around a studio lot beyond going where you are supposed to be and the restroom, or commissary if there isn't catering.

This might not be the best time to try and do this with unemployment as it is, but maybe keep the info for later. If you want to do this, I know you will.

Know who and/or where to report to when you arrive on set. Many times you're only given the location and if you're early as you should be eager to be on set, you might wait around until more background show up or Production Assistants (PAs). A PA will usually have the vouchers (work payroll data forms) for you to sign in, and tell you where to be.

If you get an item from Wardrobe or Property (Props) you will usually give a copy of your voucher (at least three "carbon" pages) to hold so that you return the item to be paid. Not taking the pay doesn't mean you aren't stealing if you don't return Props or Wardrobe.

The PA (or possibly 2nd Assistant Director, 2nd AD) will tell you where Holding is. This is where you will sit and wait. Hopefully it isn't too close to set and you can talk, but sometimes you have to stay quiet at least while they are Rolling. You will need to be in this are or the restroom or on set at all times. If you want the option of being seen (maybe don't do the school nerd hand-raising thing) you will want to be available and actually volunteer. Sometimes if you volunteer the PA or 2ndAD will use you more often and/or place you more visibly in the shot. There is a LOT of "Hurry up and wait."

If breakfast is provided before shooting, you will be told where, etc. If you are there more than 6 hours you will likely have a lunch break (payment penalty might be chosen instead and you might be there less than 8, but you still get paid for 8 as you were hired for 8). "Come having had" means that a meal will not be provided before any shooting. There are often different lines for union and non-union food, both meals and Craft Services (sometimes called Crafty). Craft Services will have snacks and water and maybe sodas. Sometimes the different lines have the same food, sometimes they do not. If you want to protest conditions, do something when you aren't on the job as non-union. SAG (or AFTRA) regulates conditions but not for non-union. Sometimes there are state law issues. Try not to "rock the boat" unless there is a real reason to.

OK now you get called to set, and you will often single-file into a space and play the quiet game. Go where you're told and do what you're told to do. As I said before, don't look at the camera when rolling unless explicitly told to do so. Pay attention to where it/they are so you won't look for them while rolling (if you look for them, you'll be looking into the camera before you realize it). "Back to One" or "Reset" means to go back to the position you were placed at the top of this scene. Usually you'll either be told to sit at a table in the background and pretend to have a conversation, usually without speaking, or make "crosses" where you are walking in/through the background or possibly even in front of the camera. Pay attention to cues, "Last Looks" usually isn't for background, occasionally they do hair/makeup adjustments on background that is seen well, that is usually called for them to make adjustments to the principals (actors). Sometimes "Background" or "Background Action" is called separate from "Action" to have the atmosphere in motion before the action takes place. Background is there to make it look like a REAL place. Sometimes you will get done with any crossing told to do, other times they will have to "Cut" in the middle. "Places" might be called instead of "Back to One" or "Reset." You will often repeat a scene more times than you would like. Unless told to change, you will try to match the same crossing movement so editing will result in realistic, or more realistic results.

Working background you will meet all types. Try not to be judgmental. Many will be more talented than background and networking. Many networking will aspire to be producers or directors. Some will have talent and low budget projects and some might not have a clue what they're talking about. Take some things with a grain of salt but mainly just try to have a good time and be a good employee.

Hopefully I've put enough info in here to actually register and know what to do to get a job, go to it, and work on a show or movie. There's a lot of info. There are all kinds of things that might come up and I obviously haven't covered every possibility.

If you have questions you can leave a comment and I will try to answer. I would love to hear any success stories whether you just loved working a show or movie or were visible in the final cut or anything exciting you want to share.

Federal Government and Ownership

The US federal government has been taking control of more and more companies lately. Some of these companies have assets that include current mortgaged and foreclosed properties. As we fear the government is bankrupting itself, barring its overwhelming debt to China, what will it decide is necessary to keep from going bankrupt when China call in the loans?

In the past, the federal government has made it illegal for citizens to own gold. Any gold was seized and owners who did not surrender the gold willingly were guilty of treason. If the current federal government were to take possession of all of the indebted assets it currently has available, it would not even have to make ownership of anything illegal (as it has done in the past) in order to amass unimaginable amounts of property.

With North Korea testing rocket launching capabilities and lying to its people, and the 6-member council unable to even formally condemn this act, we see China and Russia very likely to align themselves with North Korea if push comes to shove. If they became allied against us, what of the trillions in debt to China.

Consider all of those assets as collateral for the debt.

Remember that even though Putin is not the principal leader of Russia, he still remains in government and could be elected to power again.

Note that Khaddafi (FKA Qadaffi) is the current Libyan president, and the current rotating head of the African Union. One of the African leaders has been found guilty of war crimes and the Arab nations are divided over how or whether that should be handled. A Mediterranean trade group including some Arab nations could split and/or the African Union split in light of these and other developments in the area.

Tensions are growing among and within groups of nations.

What will the assets be worth that the federal government owns be worth if the dollar is devalued beyond our current belief?

There is already too much availability and control of currency value in the global market. It is too easily manipulation by OPEC (oil cartel) and the International Monetary Fund. Currency can be bought and sold and has speculation and betting as any stock or commodity. Recent ads make available currency trading to anyone who is willing to pay fees to do it.

We are coming to the point where all of the nonsense defining what anything is worth is meaningless. Everything that the free market tries to value is already corrupt with lobbying of the government and/or government officers' ownership in companies.

The conglomerated corruptions that have led the global economy(ies) to recession are leading to global regulations to prevent it from happening again. The global regulations will be a global socialist union and then God help us all.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

How to Track a Vote in the House of Representatives

I know this is quite a convoluted process, which is why it has to be explained in the first place.

Note that this information is subject to change, the website look an navigation can and will likely change. The terminology could change (not that they would make it more difficult to find information, right?).

In the past I have seen House votes listed in a meaningful way, like the Senate's votes (which I will cover in a later post), by state is the most useful as people might not know the name of their representative or their name could be similar to another representative.

Here goes:

To get the proper info "from the horse's mouth" so to speak, start at

http://www.house.gov

Along the left side is a menu list. Under the "Resources" find "Clerk of the House."

Click on that and it takes you to http://clerk.house.gov .

On the navigation bar across the top of this page:

About the Clerk's Office
Member Information
Committee Information
Legislative Activities
Art & History
Public Disclosure
House Library

Hover over Legislative Activities, and the frame underneath changes accordingly.

Under Legislative Activities should be:

House Floor Proceedings
Congressional Schedule
Roll Call Votes
House Documents

Click on Roll Call Votes.

That should take you to a page called "Legislation & Votes."

On the right side of the split layout is "Roll Call Votes." Under this, click the current Congress which right now is

111th Congress, 1st Session (2009)

That will take you to an index, currently http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/index.asp with the most recent votes up to 99 or 100 per page.

The table contains the following items:
Roll Call Vote Number
Date
Issue (e.g. resolution name and number)
Result (P = Passed, F = Failed, A = Agreed-to)
Title/Description

These are labeled on the table.

For results prior to the most recent items, there are links at the bottom for each grouping, e.g. 1-99, 100-199 (to date it is only up to 192). Click on the link and you get a table of those entries.

Then to navigate, use Back because those pages do not have links back or to other pages.




Now, for example we want to look at the vote on House Resolution 1 (first resolution for the 111th Congress).

Click on Roll Calls 1 Thru 99 [sic]

Now scroll down to at least Roll 70 which was 13-Feb and you will see H R 1 underlined as a link. Note that the vote # is also a link to the tally (which is currently a table of names, first and last separate and state listed in parentheses with last name, i.e. a mess).

Click on H R 1 and you get the THOMAS Library of Congress listing with a descriptive title and links to all kinds of good information about the resolution.

Clicking on "Major Congressional Actions" will take you to a timeline of actions in Congress.

For this particular item, you can see the House and Senate vote totals for each time it was brought to a vote. If you click on Roll no. ### you will get the jumbled table mentioned from the Roll # link above.

The Senate vote tallies are also listed along with a link to their vote (Record Vote Number: ### which can also be found starting from the senate homepage). Note how these tallies are actually useful in multiple ways.

The final Txt or PDF is currently not available, but if you go back to the H R 1 info page you can click on Text of Legislation which brings you to an index of all forms and the last is the most recent (though no dates appear on the index). For this one you can see #8 is listed as passed by both House and Senate).

The link takes you to yet another outline of links for the text, but there is also a Printer Friendly Display link which is more of a document form but I wonder if it is the entire text.

Warning: looking through the index table can be nauseating, especially looking at some of the items time is wasted on when they don't bother to read or even give time to read $X trillion spending bills before passing them.

What If

If someone had told you 2 years ago that a simple status update logging site with an additional direct message (both only 140 chars) and followers/ees would be offered $500 million, you would have said they were crazy.

Twitter turned down that offer. You might say that's more crazy, especially with it's "value" at $250 million. (2 more things you wouldn't have believed.)

In the Twitterverse/Twittersphere I ran across an interesting concept for social media and social networking that is just starting out.

It's free to join and you get 100 "shares" for signing up. That might be worth only 10 pence now but imagine if you had that or more in twitter before it might sell for more than $500 million.

You also get bonus "shares" for referring people. The people will later have to complete the sign-up process which will include address as required for share certificate by UK law, and verified as unique individual (no signing up other email addresses as fraud to get more shares).

The video on the site is a bit cheezy and not-so convincing, but if you do the preliminary sign-up you see the experience backing the development of the site.

Imagine a global social network that is also a global marketplace and entertainment centre. After seeing a lot of the bits and pieces, and some conglomeration of them and competing efforts and seeing how all of the things you want to do requires several site registrations so why not make a place to do it all in the same place?

http://me2everyone.com/376203 wants to be that unified place.

Consider signing up and you could own shares in the next Twitter or FaceBook or MySpace that might even replace them. Nearly 400,000 members are already signed up worldwide. As a shareholder you would benefit from profit but not be liable if there are any losses.

You have nothing to lose and might just be ahead of the curve signing up for the next big thing before it makes it big.

At worst it could be part of the New World Order but in that case might be the only means of global capitalism left.

Backing by the UK government displays an effort for entrepreneurial reform to bring some health back to the global economy. This could create millions of jobs for individual entrepeneurs whose companies get big enough to hire more people to keep up with business.

Friday, April 3, 2009

A New Age of Narcissism

I saw Dr. Drew on Carson Daly's show last night. There was some good stuff. Although it isn't totally new for kids to want to grow up and be Britney Spears or whatever teen idol, it has reached epic proportions. "American Idol" and other reality contests and shows are so popular because of that which was already present, yet feeds on it to amplify it.

One major difference in recent times is that we know more and more of the celebs' private lives. So all of the new shows about teen idols from the 70s and 80s and their drup problems and antics are new to most people who saw them when they were stars. These days we usually find out a lot of the worst details that seem to try and destroy careers of the most famous. The problem is that they just linger those careers on much longer after they probably would have been forgotten, replaced by the ever-next best thing.

Dr. Drew was talking about some of the ways current culture promotes this and a shot of twitter was on his computer screen though the name was never mentioned. Perhaps this was a Legal Department recommendation, just in case. However, twitter has obviously plugged into people's desire for others to want to know everything they do down to the slightest detail.

Twitter is not alone in giving voice to the narcissist, as all of the social media sites allow exhibition qualities to go into overdrive. The sites themselves are not to blame for the best or worst uses, though it begs the question whether playing to these desires escalates them.

Dr. Drew tweets his own horn a bit, but he is doing good and helping and trying to help people, and there is a balance with motivation to better oneself. Much unlike such celebs as Ashton Kutcher who use it as a self-controlled paparazzi feeding fans the details they want from tabloids, which he condemns for doing the same thing mainly because he cannot control what they publish and when they might catch a candid, unprepared shot, and he doesn't get profit from it, well not directly as a royalty though it feeds his fans who keep alive their desire to know more about him and keep alive their following him through buying movie tickets and watching advertised shows that he actually does make money from. How much is the performance in a movie or television show worth? The market seems to derive it from what advertisers who waste billions every year are willing to pay, sometimes resulting from what movie-goers are wiling to pay.

All of the social media sites give a venuw for people to share their everyday lives, their passions, their hopes, their boredom. Site allow and are even devoted to home video, some more professionally edited video to showcase ability or lack thereof, to albums of photos for the same purposes or lack of purpose.

The problem is people's addictions and self-delusionment which can lead to serious problems. There is a natural balance to every system known or not yet invented and these things eventually balance themselves out. The problem is that the extreme victims of self will get a balancing blow that they might not survive.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

ER: The End of another Era

OK, so it's just a TV show but how many TV shows last 15 years in prime?

It's been on so long that I've watched it "regularly" at least 3 non-contiguous times. One of the great draws was the frenetic pace with tracking shots of the fast-paced Emergency. Dr. Michael Chrichton envisioned the revolutionary approach to showing the reality of an E.R. many years before they were technically prepared to tackle it.

They wanted to show the ensemble with real relationships and faults, but struggled with the balance of medical drama and soapy drama. I think they got carried away with drama lines and ebbed and flowed in a pendulum of this balance.

As most things are, it was its best when the balance was more even.

Many writers haven't discovered what these guys have in making strong characters, not flat but with some duality, and enough story to build on genuine emotion. The writing made the performances better, and maybe that cycled continued into better writing.

I haven't been following ER recently but it has been interesting how they have worked in bringing back the biggest characters during the last few episodes.

ER and Chrichton (who recently passed) will both be missed, but the show will go on, DVD and possibly further syndication, but mostly in episodes available online, as we move to new media.

I was fortunate enough to be an extra on episode 11.14 (season 11, episode 14) "Just as I Am." Laura Innes and guest star Frances Fisher were on set on-location in a church. I was only there briefly (would rather have been singing in the choir) and was barely seen. It's cool to (almost) be a part of something that big that touched people in such a way. The episode I worked dealed somewhat subtly with a hypocritical notion of churches' welcoming all without judgement, when there is actually more judgement even from family members. In a very natural way it showed a touch of the real pain in emotion beside the physical pain of the patients.

I am watching the clip/interview show and then the final 2-hour episode, that is said to be a closing (denoument) mirroring the introduction (exposition) of the first 2-hour episode.

No spoilers for the west coast people who will get to have their final (all-new) ER experience later tonight.

I'm hoping severe weather doen'st interfere too much with the show tonight.

Tea Party 2009 attire

I made a design with a catchy slogan I came up with and used a photo I took of the flag at Liberty Island (where the statue is).

http://www.cafepress.com/Tax_Go

There are cheaper options than the national one. I didn't put local city/state though. (Hopefully to be generic for nationwide, and all year long).

The April 15 event for Tax Day is set to be #2 of 10 events.

Here's a parking map (including lot with black marker circle not pin-tagged) http://twitpic.com/2nuh4

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Laptops

I usually buy behind the curve for cheaper products but my last 2 laptops were a display model discounted, and a mail-order higher-end with A/V upgrades.

The first had some problems but was usable for about 3 years, the usual lifespan of technology but one would hope the hardware would last longer. This laptop was around $1600 I think and besides the odd problem or few the hard drive had a failure in the boot sector. I recovered almost everything from the hard drive but got rid of the laptop.

I mail-ordered a slightly discounted 17" laptop that was about $2100 brand new. This one died after about a year and a half. I think the video card overheated and burned up.

Well I thought I would refuse to buy refurbished, display, and mail order but I've ordered another 17" that was around $800. I also thought I'd never buy a Celeron but when the off-lease desktop I got to dedicate to my business which I incorporated as required by some idiots who don't know up from down arrived DOA.

I gave some tips to an acting lady I knew in LA and she bought a similar model without some of A/V features a few months after my last one for about $500 or more cheaper.

Back to the Celeron which I am currently using. It was purchased brand new. It's slow as Christmas and keeps getting slower. Part of the problem might be the free antivirus software. Though it was a lot faster when I loaded it (maybe it slows down when they think you should have upgraded to paying even though they don't require it).

I did finally get the off-lease Pentium 4 fixed (it was bought mail order). The refurb people said it would be tested. It arrived working but with a broken DVD-ROM player. This might have been broken already but since it would not start up, there was no way of knowing.

Wish me luck with the new laptop that should arrive Friday. Lots of memory and HD space, Core 2 duo, so I should be lightning fast, at least compared to this thing. I need to get an underneath fan to keep it from overheating. Larger laptops are mostly stationary. Someday I'll be able to afford a real portable powerhouse. :)

Twitterverse

I kind of participated in a #peptrends event of Twitter.



1732 tweets in 90 minutes.



Some people were not at all on topic. Many good thoughts were retweeted (RT) probably dozens of times.



I wonder if many got much out of it except seeing what happens. The

Twitter

I've recently joined twitter and it's highly addictive though often quite annoying.

I've been trying to follow a chat type session on #peptrends and it's like jumble update on uppers. I posted (and someone said they know someone working on it) that I want an app that can do timeline threading a conversation, back and forth exchanges.

Granted when more than two are involved it becomes a question of what to show where and how but it's not a new concept, just new to twitter which is a simplified version of Status keeping public updates. Replies/mentions are public when it isn't something private. Of course some people probably forget others might be peeking in on their exchange, but most use DM (direct message) when it's not intended to be public.

Categories

So does blogspot not have categories?

I was going to separate threads of posts by category: Computers (multiple subs), social media (I have too many registrations!!! and I’m not on half the SM sites), movies (multiple subs), acting, poetry, music, songwriting, photography, politics.

Blogging for the Software Engineer

I had signed up for a WordPress blog account. I thought I had a blog set up on here but if so it's lost. Maybe it was another site. WordPress doesn't allow JavaScript at all unless you want to pay $500 or more per month, and that's if they want to "let" you pay it.

Anyway, I guess the WP blog will die a natural death as I won't be using it anymore. I could get paid hosting and setup a full database and a ton of crap that I don't want to mess with just to allow script. I don't think so.

Here's the URL if it's still up http://channin9.wordpress.com.

Here's my MySpace page with some older political blogs http://www.myspace.com/channinghumphries.

Here's my personal website http://channing-humphries.com .

Here's my profile as (an) Executive Producer for "The 1 Second Film" http://www.the1secondfilm.com/producer/3364.

I'm searchable in your favorite search engine. :)