Interests

World Real Time

time period globe

time: 70's globeI watch the news, translate tweets, crazy, there is really only one common factor amongst the main players of war and strife right now – many generally dislike us if not hate. I do not wish to share my opinions on the political or religious conflicts going on right now. Maybe just convey the sadness or confusion. I do not know. I am conflicted.
The technological advances have created a new frontier. Social media plays out the details of war and conflict in real time. No immediate censorship – that is, if it gets out into the cyber space it remains. Sure, television stations, print news, and governments can delete them, fire those responsible, but if a tweet, a message board comment, or video hits the new frontier it will always be part of the record.
There are things I typed long ago using an old IBM 286 with a dial up internet connection posted on a PRODIGY board that I can still find. In the new cyber space frontier, what you type/share never disappears. Some of the opinions I held in the 80?s conflict with those I hold now.
Social networks and video sites have also created a great place for propaganda. It takes much investigation to weed through the bull. On the positive side, language translators exist in the new frontier. The happenings around the world in real time. Like any good debate it is easy to find the pro and con postilions of any situation. Then again there is a need to weed through the propaganda and untruths. As History plays out some choose to avoid, some censor, some just go for it and risk seeing or hearing the not so cleaned up, sanitized versions of what is going on around the world.
If I keep this crazy obsession with watching, listening, translating, in an attempt to understand the not so understandable I might end up learning a few new languages.
I bit of info if you choose to watch the following no guts nor blood shown video.

I also embedded it so I could turn off the related videos that can show up at the end as, well they might be disturbing to some. If you wish to watch it larger just use the full screen icon in the lower right. If you open the tube itself no such guarantee.
Slavyansk/Slavyansk, is a city in eastern Ukraine (located within the province of Donetsk) that was a stronghold of pro-Russian militants. Ukraine’s army won the battle for 100,000-strong Slavyansk a few weeks ago.
The song “The Town I Loved So Well” was written by songwriter Phil Coulter about his home town of Derry and the way it was devastated by the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The Dubliners was an Irish folk band that disbanded in 2012.
Once again I wish to make clear I am not promoting a side here. Everyone has a hometown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tVg4jR51wLY?rel=0

Video Game Surprise

game controllers consoles

I play games, a lot sometimes. Because I stay indoors during the summer months I read, watch television and play video games. The X box and play station variety. I like open world (games designed where the player can move through a virtual world and decide when or how to complete an objective), first person shooters (played from the first person perspective and well pretty much usually shooting the enemy), games with some historical theme (Assassins Creed Series for example), well, I just like games.
I just finished a bloody FPS (first person shooter) called Wolfenstein the New World Order. Sometimes games will surprise. This game actually had a storyline. Set in WW2 albeit an alternate futuristic version. The war is over Germany won it is 1960. The main character you play as falls in love and through the years, the story develops. None of this is relevant other than to explain why after shooting robots, the enemy soldiers, the main enemy, etc. etc. the ending is rather a surprise. The unexpected, is not that you finished the game or that you have no clear idea if your character is going to live another day in a sequel or if they died in the story it is what plays at the games conclusion during the end credits.

Just after all the game carnage, you finally won the final battle, the end credits and song are unexpectedly sentimental and in total contrast to the game play.
The end: game credits and song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d6VxDKWd9jA?rel=0
The end song a cover by Melissa Hollick. The song “I Believe” – is originally by Chris Isaak.
Here is the link to the launch trailer of Wolfenstein The New Order. i have taken the http and put it into brakets so that those of you who do not like guns, explosions, bad language etc. don’t have to see it.
{http://} youtu.be/tfnA69q_p-s
just remove the red if you care or dare

My, my, my Database

Noise

SAMSUNGIt has been a really long time since I posted.  Just life happens . … no excuses other than that one.   What caused me to post today? I decided this morning to try the Jetpack comment system. I did not like it so I disabled it. Guess it conflicted with one of the other plugins because GASP somehow my whole database was purged of all (and I mean all) posts, comments . ..  etc. since the beginning on this blogs time.  I don’t use fowl words here so just think of a string of four letter ones and you have my response. While I have not been blogging lately I always knew my blog was here.  My last database backup was a few weeks old and turned out to be NO good.  I went back to the next oldest one and it would not restore either.  After lots of ranting and research I found an older backup that worked. Not sure what all has been lost in the mess but OH well it is what it is.

Lots of stuff has gone on this winter here. We have had our cable cut and stolen three times. Our phone line and internet also. Then the next door neighbors went on a power stealing jag. They were caught stealing the associations power three times and the Sacramento Municipal Utility Districts (SMUD our local power company).  SMUD had removed their meter because they did not pay. Somehow they unsafely (according to smud) jumped the power lines – quite the fire hazard I heard. Oh yeah they stole some from us also.

We have had a lot of gang activity, the sac pd here, the FBI etc. etc etc …  we even had one of those mobile surveillance trailers stationed outside our front door by the Sacramento PD here is the info on them if you do not know what they are.

We were treated to a dancing ho on our carport roof – yep all get up and looking in our windows – Annie dog dang near made it up top the carport roof – I stopped her.  Looking back I should have let her take a bite or two but then they would take my dog.

The next door unit now has a posted notice that it is an unsafe structure so we are hoping it takes the owner forever to correct all the violations.

I messed up another vertebrae in my middle back so I have been taking it easy.

Still going to Adaptive PE, playing games, and reading.

How was that for a fast catch up?

Books and more books

pile o booksIt sure has been cold here the past few days.  What they call a hard freeze. Here in Sac we usually do not experience days of sub 32 deg’s this time of the year.  I made sure the exposed water pipes were covered and have not been outside since other than to take trip to a local bookshop. Burr . ..

My book project is coming along.  I spent the past few days clearing them out of the closet and piling them up in the corner of the bedroom. We so need a bookshelf!  The library-thing is my favorite site for cataloging , reading reviews, and getting recommendations.  I tired goodreads once and never really got into it. It seems more of a social site to me,  prompting me to connect to facebook, something I do not wish to do. I guess it personal preference. I prefer the cataloging features features that librarything offers. What I discovered is that there really is not bookshelf type android app for the librarything.  Goodreads yes, Librarything no, that will update on my tablet.

Since it cold out there and I am bored . …  I scanned every book I found  into goodreads and the librarything. I realize that scanning ISBN codes into an app is not everyones cup o tea.  Modern technology sure saved me on this one though. Reading all the tiny numbers of so many books an almost impossible task for me anymore – scanning them in a major time saver.  I now have most of my books stacked along the wall and in the goodreads and librarything databases.  I imported the librarything database into goodreads  and I can now scan books as I find them into the tablet and update goodreads and librarything.

I found a wonderful local bookstore the other day.  One that carries used and new books not found easily in today’s box stores inventory.  They had works by  Colin Cotterill, Hakan Nesser and Arnaldur Indridason to name a few I have been having trouble finding. Yeah for the independent family owned stores! It pains me to say that my mom has mentioned this store to me before but I never paid much attention.  The folks running the store were so nice and knowledgeable.  They did not treat me like an idiot when I had trouble coming up with authors names and titles with my confused MS brain.  I was looking at my tablet and said oh I would hate to mispronounce the authors name and show my ignorance and the gentleman just giggled and said he had been selling books for years and still had troubles.

He then asked to look at my tablet and he started looking down my list of what I had been reading. You have some nice books here he says. Then the lady that was sitting behind the counter reading asked to take a look. They made me feel comfortable – not stupid – something that does not happen in the big box stores. I am sure that when KRP and I first entered the store first impressions as I hobbled about in my jeans and worn out tennis shoes and had trouble remembering names and titles was not the greatest. Rather than write me off they in a most natural way started suggesting books and found some I needed.   I have few books that they are trying to locate for others and almost have me talked into trading them in – I am still thinking that one over.

It was a pleasure shopping in their store. It is the first book store I have managed to leave in a long time not feeling like an idiot because of my multiple sclerosis chicken walk and brain farts. This afternoon if the television repair person arrives and finishes in time we are going to take Miky to the books store – grin – maybe she will buy some books I need to read – as I have her hooked on a few the series I enjoy.