Meanderings http://www.sjwalter.com/blog As you travel life's path, keep open eyes and an inquisitive mind... Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:59:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 en Is it just me … http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/10/is-it-just-me/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/10/is-it-just-me/#comments Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:56:27 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/10/is-it-just-me/ … or has Google Reader become slower than crap lately?  Try to add a feed, and it wanders off into no-man’s land. Use Firefox, flip between tabs, and it takes upwards of a minute to come back to the Reader tab.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Google … hello?  You been “improving things?”

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/10/is-it-just-me/feed/ And I thought the media was bad http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/07/and-i-thought-the-media-was-bad/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/07/and-i-thought-the-media-was-bad/#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:25:32 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/07/and-i-thought-the-media-was-bad/ Ok, so I absolutely detest the feeding frenzy the media’s been in around last Wednesday’s collapse of the 35W bridge here in town.  I’m even disappointed with how MPR’s gone FoxNews with inanely repetitve reporting, leading questions, and dubious “experts”.

But … that all pales in comparison to this joker, who further reinforces my comprehensive disgust with organized religion.

Fred, got a bit of advice for you:  stay the $#@!% away from our city and our state.  Your idiotic, moronic, childish, brain-dead, headline-grabbing, pathetic excuse for religious intelligence should stay right where you are, with the rest of the idiots.

Better yet, come on up! Bring your entire congregation of losers, so we can throw your sorry, stupid asses in jail!

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/07/and-i-thought-the-media-was-bad/feed/ I’m fine http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/02/im-fine/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/02/im-fine/#comments Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:33:12 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/02/im-fine/ I wasn’t near downtown with this happened last evening. While my heart goes out to those who’ve either lost loved ones or just don’t know yet, I’m growing more and more irritated at the media, even public radio, who apparently has decided that the Fox News method of reporting is the most effective way to go.  Then again, they’re no better or worse than the massive number of gawkers flocking to the site just to watch and hopefully witness a wee bit of carnage (and, even better, if they can film it and get it up on YouTube).

You want a good example of how low our species has started to stoop? Watch the media feeding frenzy, the litigation bloodlust, and the repetitive, inane mutterings of one “expert” after another over the next few weeks.

It’s a tragedy, yes. Let’s treat it, and those affected by it, with the dignity and respect they deserve, let the authorities get on with the unenviable task of sorting it all out … and get on with life.

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/02/im-fine/feed/ Internet Radio Day of Silence http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/06/26/internet-radio-day-of-silence/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/06/26/internet-radio-day-of-silence/#comments Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:21:02 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/06/26/internet-radio-day-of-silence/ If you believe, truly believe, in the RIAA’s extortion tactics, bald-faced lies, and petulant “we’re protecting the artists” statements … do nothing today.

If, however, you want to enjoy music the way you want to, not the way some overpaid, under-endowed media mogul wants to sell it to you, call your congressman today and get them to listen to the silence:

SaveNetRadio.org

Act now, or don’t whine when the silence becomes permanent.

Powered by ScribeFire.

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/06/26/internet-radio-day-of-silence/feed/ A Moment to Reflect http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/20/a-moment-to-reflect/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/20/a-moment-to-reflect/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:17:56 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/20/a-moment-to-reflect/ The governor of Virginia’s declared today a day of morning:

VTTragedy.com
Virginia Tech — 04.16.2007

I think we all need to stop … reflect.  If you wish to lend assistance, check out the Virgina Tech Tribute Blog.

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/20/a-moment-to-reflect/feed/ Don Imus Leaves the Airwaves … http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/13/don-imus-leaves-the-airwaves/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/13/don-imus-leaves-the-airwaves/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:57:25 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/13/don-imus-leaves-the-airwaves/ … and, I must say, I’m a bit ambivalent.  MSNBC dropped their simulcast, CBS fired him, the media’s “analysts” can’t stop talking about it, Al Sharpton claims a victory, Rutgers accepts his apology … and I can’t help but think:
“Are we going to consistently treat everyone who uses racially improper speech with an equal amount of vitriol and retribution?”

If so, then good.  If not, then how many of those loudly screaming now will be silent the next time?

I really hate jumping in on major public brawls like this.  Everybody who’s anybody (and plenty of people who aren’t) have already opened (and will continue to open) their mouths.  But there’s another issue here that’s being marginalized:  “What happens the next time?” 

Whether Imus went too far or not isn’t the issue moving forward, consistency of response is.

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/13/don-imus-leaves-the-airwaves/feed/ If it walks like a duck … http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/03/06/if-it-walks-like-a-duck/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/03/06/if-it-walks-like-a-duck/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:39:51 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/03/06/if-it-walks-like-a-duck/ … and talks like the RIAA, it probably is extortion.  It’s about time that word got associated with the recording industry’s latest tactic.  Wikipedia’s entry is most interesting, including such tidbits as:

  • “the simple four words “pay up or else” are sufficient …”
  • “…may also be committed as a federal crime across a computer system …”
  • “the message only has to be sent … to commit the crime …”

Sounds interestingly familiar, doesn’t it?  Even more interesting is it appears to be completely legal for the RIAA, which is a private entity (not a wing of the government).

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/03/06/if-it-walks-like-a-duck/feed/ A slightly different (yet exciting) definition for “the feed” http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/01/23/a-slightly-different-yet-exciting-definition-for-the-feed/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/01/23/a-slightly-different-yet-exciting-definition-for-the-feed/#comments Tue, 23 Jan 2007 22:13:24 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/01/23/a-slightly-different-yet-exciting-definition-for-the-feed/ In Neal Stephenson’s book The Diamond Age, one of the more intriguing (at least, to me) mechanisms was “the feed”, a connection that served up atoms for replicator-like devices to use to construct whatever they were programmed to make.  Fantastic fiction?  Perhaps … but now, it seems that science has discovered a means to bring that concept into the real world.  Maybe not for years, but at least it’s moved from fantasy to crudely demonstrated theory.

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/01/23/a-slightly-different-yet-exciting-definition-for-the-feed/feed/ King Lear … in a week! http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/21/king-lear-in-a-week/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/21/king-lear-in-a-week/#comments Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:44:39 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/21/king-lear-in-a-week/ I’ve been getting into Librivox, the site that takes public domain literature and (through a network of volunteer readers) creates audio versions that are freely downloadable and shareable (think Audible but older books and without the monthly fee).  Right now, there’s a project going on where a group of “voicers” are attempting to construct a complete recording of Shakespeare’s King Lear in a single week.  This week.

Check out the progress in their forums … then, see if you can figure out which part I’m reading.

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/21/king-lear-in-a-week/feed/ Closure http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/12/closure/ http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/12/closure/#comments Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:09:57 +0000 Scott http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/12/closure/ Well, they sentenced the bastard who killed my friend yesterday.  Actually, “bastard” is too good a word, as it implies “human” and Derick Holliday is anything but human.  Life in prison without parole.  He deserved worse, much worse (the death of a thousand cuts comes to mind) … but, I guess, it’s the best that can be hoped for.

As for that moron’s family, spare me your remorse.  No “good boy” takes a .44 Magnum and chases another human being down a crowded street shooting at them over an altercation in a movie theater.  If you’re looking at someone to blame … look in a bloody mirror.

Actually, one thing could make things a (very) little better:  If there was a service available that one could subscribe to that would send a single (postal) letter at a specific time once a year for the rest of Holliday’s life, I’d pay to send the same letter to him each year on the anniversary of his conviction.  Why that date?  Because that’s the day that, after being found guilty of murder in the first degree, he had the brainless audacity to look at the parents of the man he killed (because he got in the way of him trying to kill someone else) and say, “I hope you’re happy”.  Idiot … but I digress.  I’d pay to send the same letter to him each year:

Derick,

In answer to your question … no, I’m not happy.  But I’m satisfied that you will never be free to live your life the way you want to.

]]> http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/12/closure/feed/