iPad2 my first day or two

I have been REALLY outspoken about the iPad and Apple platform in general. Well I bought an iPad2 and am starting to realize that some boys marry their first girlfriend because they just know it is right. Not just because they are desperate nerdy losers. I'm not quite there yet.

Not saying I'm ditching my PC and only using the iPad there are lots of applications that I need that are Windows only, oh and BTW I have mentioned I make my living designing and deploying Windows based networks.

So are there other platforms? You bet and for slate type tablets there is he rise of Android, I've played with a few recently and have even loaded a Gingerbread (Android 2.3) ROM on my HD2 so I'm not afraid to play around a little. I have found most of the devices I've played with a little clunky and well heavy too.

So far I'm liking the experience and will take it to work for a few days I also plan to log when I use one of my droid devices and of course when I use Windows it is a given I'll be in Windows at work mostly.

BTW These are the Apps I “Think” will let me do most things I do Daily

@Kateburge Thought of you...

Driving into Civic this morning I was listening to the radio and three songs made me think of someone I know through the inter webs but am yet to meet IRL.

So here are the neural links:

·         Babushka - Kate Bush

For no other reason than it reminded me of Kate Burge ( @KateBurge ) in a rhyming slang kind of way.

I note she often tweets of scary songs to her twitter.

·         One Perfect Day – The Little Heroes

Did anyone notice what a perfect day it was outside today I have seen Kate comment on how lovely it is here in autumn and today I’d have to agree. As the song played I looked out the windows of the truck and thought yes yes it is.

·         Start me up – The Rolling Stones

Funny that I think of Kate twice with this. Once for a lively discussion we have had online about a current affairs issue and the second because I love to moan about her Words with Friends “meanness” when I really enjoy the stretch goal of one day being able to hold my own.

She can make a grown man cry (as if).

So Kate nothing other than to say for about ten minutes today someone was randomly thinking about you and not in the shower.

I do much of my best thinking in the shower so if I have never said “Hey I was thinking about you in the shower this morning” it may well happen.

Nice Outfits

Definitely a Perfect Day

Really Might Cry

Life’s a show and we all play our part …..

And when the music starts, we open up our hearts.

I have found it difficult to make and maintain friendships throughout my life and largely I’ve never been too stressed about it because I don’t really like people. Luckily for me I mostly spend time making computers talk to each other, I also do that as a contractor so I should approach those things from the perspective of a visitor. Opting (usually) to keep a barrier from the people I play with at work.

Well that is until recently and that is making for an interesting journey for me which I will explore overtime.

Right now there are relationships I feel a strong desire to grow and others I am being encouraged to pull back from:

• Of course my SupaWife and children are the most important relationships I have and yet I think I need to pay more attention there too.


• Two girls I know from work inspire me and you can not help but want to spend time around that… Now apart from being remarkably strong women they are also:
  
  
  
  • Funny
  
  
  • Kind
  
  
  • Sweet
  
  
  • and very much like me in many ways, sense of humour, and demeanour amongst other traits.
  
  
  
  

I could wax lyrical about why I am inspired by these two fantastic friends but another thing I have learned is some of the reasons we admire people is best said only to those people and I assure you they both know.

Now I don’t know if it is the influence of Blossom and Buttercup, Mid life or just time to slow down and look at what is important but this niceness seems to flow quite freely toward others whom I know peripherally and this might be cause for caution at least if I am to heed the warnings of those who have my best interests at heart.

Not wanting to sound as though those opinions are not welcome but I think I need to open up before applying aperture control.

A song from the Sound Track to “Once More with Feeling” gives me pause to think when ever I watch the episode

Life’s a show and we all play a part
And when the music starts,
We open up our hearts

It’s all right if some things come out wrong.
We’ll sing a happy song
And you can sing along.

….

Life’s a song
You don’t get to rehearse.
And every single verse
Can make it that much worse.

Still my friends
Don’t know why I ignore
The million things or more
I should be dancing for.

All the joy Life sends.
Family And friends.
All the twists And bends
Knowing that It ends.
Well that Depends…

There is a lot more to the song but mostly foundational stuff for the circumstance of the plot.

For me these verses say it is worth it to play openly and honestly and perhaps that is a lesson I needed to learn about 40 Years ago.

Give me Something to sing about

Not about to be a Fame F#ck3r but will talk about …

A dear friend of mine used a term like fame f#ck3r while discussing some of what I agree is sycophancy in online  pop culture content. If you feel insulted, for a reason other than I wrote fucker in a way that would not make the twitter feed go off at me. Then I may well be talking about you.

I really love television and am very excited about starting to re-watching some of my old favourites. I really enjoy smart and (to me) funny drama which is why I’ll be talking about “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and the “West Wing” over the next little while. Also expect quite a bit of talk around the Babylon 5 Universe.

I really like dark but up lifting comedy such as “Pushing Daisies” and the ever so fabulous “Dead like me”

So look out for TV and Movie review pieces about the things I love. Oh and maybe some of the movies I intend to watch as part of 101 things in 1001 Days.

I am of course interested in what is on now too so if I watch “Off Spring” or “Blue Bloods” for example they might also be topics too.

NOT NEWS - Spouses beware: Porn Detection Stick tracks illicit images on computers

I saw this in my news feed today and thought why why do we need this?

The inbuilt software uses advanced image analysing algorithms to identify facial features, flesh tone colours, image back grounds and body part shapes that are potentially pornographic.

During an average scan, around 0.07% of images will be false positives. Curiously, this commonly includes pictures of babies, cardboard boxes and fruit.

I have a number of comments:

• Surf your porn at home nobody wants to use your keyboard after your one handed typing geezers
• You don’t need “analysing algorithms” I wonder if you can just detect image editing, seriously kids it is almost all “Photoshopped” they are NOT real!! Sweet looking and titillating (pun intended) but almost certainly not real.
• When you do surf porn at home don’t hide the fact, Maybe even share with your partner. You never know you might see some ideas for topiary and more.

Topiary Lessons ;-D

Porn is not evil but definitely inappropriate at work interestingly churches are listed as possible customers??? I have no comment on the list of false positives on that basis.

Source: PC & TECH Authority… Oddly posted under LifeStyle

So what is it I believe

On Saturday I blogged about well some strange connections that lead me to talk about the coming together of people regardless of religious views. Mostly it was driven by a dude who had a T-Shirt I thought was cool.

In any case I got some feedback from a friend. Well a Twitter Follower of mine err well someone who I follow too, but am also interested enough to also read her blog so had I met her in person who knows lets just say feedback (complicated relationships these).

Well Fiona pointed to an alternative which in similar style spelt fiction. I can but assume that indicates a lack of belief in any of the represented religious viewpoints which is fine, potentially I don’t even disagree with her. And I already knew her point of view as I said interested enough to pay attention.

So what do I believe? I make no secret that I was raised in a Christian family and like all other information I encounter I still have an Intellectual grounding of what Christians believe. I know that “God” requires faith with no proof and that is a BIG ask for many.

So Lets examine the T-Shirt:

• Star and Crescent – Symbol associated with political Islam or the Muslim community


• The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament symbol - now more of a peace symbol


• Star of David - the Shield of David as the hexagram represents the Jewish community generally (although some reject it’s use)


• The Christian Cross - is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity.

How do I get to heaven?

• For Muslims - According to the Qur'an, the basic criteria for salvation in afterlife is the belief in one God (Tawhid), Last Judgment, good deeds, and in all the messengers of God, as well as believing that Muhammad is the final prophet of God.


• CND / Peace - I guess some folk just want peace in this world and not really making a religious statement at all.


• Judaism doesn’t really mention Heaven and hardly talks about the after life, nor is there a big individual salvation path because of the Covenant between God and the Children of Israel as a whole but there is talk of judgement and entry into the book of life but mostly living well according to the Torah.


• Protestant Christians, teach that one does not have to live a perfectly "good life," but that one must accept (believe and put faith in) Jesus Christ as one's saviour, and then Jesus Christ will assume the guilt of one's sins; believers are believed to be forgiven regardless of any good or bad "works" one has participated in.


• The Catholics have purgatory as a purification step on the way to heaven (also Mormons and Methodists)

Wow some of these seem mighty similar so is it possible everyone is a little bit right and there is a supreme being that has a moral rule book that we should try to keep but nobody wrote it all down in one place?

Since faith is about feeling and believing, how am I supposed to deal with not feeling a supreme being you may call it God if you wish but also wanting to keep the values of a Moral Society because take away God and the teachings of the Bible are still pretty OK by me.

So do I need some life rules?? I have some pretty basic ones:

• I’ll treat others with the same respect and demeanour I want to be treated with.


• I use my intuition to point to the truth; if it does not feel right then it is likely a win / lose for someone. I never knowingly disadvantage anybody.


• I ensure my relationships are open and communicative, if I don’t raise issues the relationship is meeting my expectations.


• I practice what I preach. I will never ask others to do, what I am hesitant to do.


• I donate what resources I can to my community, seeking to pay forward my success.


• In my day-to-day interactions my intention is a sincere connection with others.


• Oh and if it sounds like stealing it probably is

This doesn’t really answer what I set out to do so to summarise …

There are a number of Religions and they all think the others are wrong. So far as I can tell and they all want to convert the others to their way of thinking, and that thinking by and large is quite similar

There are those who say they don’t know

There are others who say there is NO higher power

In my view pick a deity and be wrong and have someone who has some power be annoyed, live a good life and don’t pick a side then say no harm no foul after all a loving God surely must have some grey area and maybe this is called Purgatory.

BUT to say there is no God is like saying there is no other life in the universe somewhat of a guess that has no proofs either. Yet some of these folk seem a little too sure they are right for my liking. So for me the Worst Choice is Atheist because that closes off all other possibilities but am willing to sit down and talk about that too.

Returning to my original point of view can we coexist and stop being so intolerant. Now I DO eat Pigs and being Sunday that sounds like a plan for dinner.

This is my Brain and I live in it …

Earlier today I warned the kids on Twitter that today could be a day for Introspection so strap in for the ride.

One day I might try to articulate how my brain makes links and how large slabs of what I see and hear sticks with me and sometimes spills out poorly.

In any case this afternoon I looked at a clip on Youtube and just started clicking related (For me) Content so in true nerd form I’m compiling a “Mix Tape” of this afternoon run now … Don’t come with me if you want to live.

This is my brain, And I live in it. It’s made of love And bad song lyrics. It’s tucked away behind my eyes, Where all my screwed up thoughts can hide, Cos God forbid I hurt somebody. And the weirdest thing about a mind Is that every answer that you find Is the basis of a brand new cliché

This is my brain And it’s fine It’s where I spend the vast majority of my time It’s not perfect But it’s mine It’s not perfect I’m not quite sure I’ve worked out how to work it It’s not perfect But it’s mine.

I don’t thank anyone is perfect least of all me. But it really is fine.

I recently struggled a tiny bit because I hate it when it appears that I care about outcomes more than others and I began to take things a little too on board.

There could be a lesson about stress and professional services jobs but I choose to just think … It could be worse and many people do have it way worse than me and while I’m not suggesting this song is about my life it does highlight that when I moan about my circumstances these are really #FirstWorldProblems and I should #HTFU.

Hmmm Need me some better short term goals

I went out with some friends on Friday night and really wasn’t thinking that the straight after work boozer scene is one for me and I have known that since I was about 26.

I do feel more comfortable in a quieter scene and with MANY less people and while this song describes many traits I have, I’ve done lot of what the cool kids have done but just poorly and uncooly.

I choose to consider this to be an uplifting song and also have spun it to be more about finding ones self when previously a little lost err off track on where you really should be. I think Robert Smith would giggle about the spin almost as much as me thinking he looks a “little” like Tim Minchin in the last frame.

Interesting that the You in this Song from my perspective is different to other days.

I should be doing some work, so this is a good Segway to actually getting productive and doing some work toward my next step.

Should really be focusing on some FIM 2010 Work I need to do.

Yeah I need to learn FIM 2010 and well enough to do some trouble shooting before it kills a colleague oh and it looks like a “Fun Product” and remember when I say that it is fun it is because This is my Brain and I live in it …

You don’t eat pigs & We don’t eat pigs …

I was watching “Adam Hills in Gordon St Tonight” this morning (iQ’d it during the week) and there was a guy in the audience (Timestamp 1:28 – 2.45ish) wearing a T-Shirt similar to this one…

Now if you’re reading this it is likely you know me reasonably well so you will know my mind works in particularly “special” ways. So you won’t be too surprised that I now think I need to buy less Jinx and Think Geek wardrobe and increase my spending in things such as these. I am of course happy for anyone to believe what they want but just not all over me.

So not actually things of religious fervour more things that promote a spark of thought in me at least.

I suspect Tim Minchin does not have the complete answer but maybe some of it

We Don’t eat Pigs, and You Don’t eat Pigs. Seems it’s ….