06/21/07: Welcome!
There is no honor in being perfectly adjusted
to a world gone mad
to a world gone mad
06/13/07: Motivation and Honesty
I was looking through some open source software tools when I came across the image below. It is one of the products offered by Despair.com, a site that moves into and out of my consciousness every few years.
The beauty of Despair.com is not in its subversive approach to the "Politically Correct Culture of Corporate Conformity", but in its basic honesty; in its ability to lay bare the absurdity of our group-think culture.
Last note, I read a definition of "Political Correctness" that still makes me laugh...
"The politically correct would have us believe it is possible to pick up a turd from the clean end"
The beauty of Despair.com is not in its subversive approach to the "Politically Correct Culture of Corporate Conformity", but in its basic honesty; in its ability to lay bare the absurdity of our group-think culture.
Last note, I read a definition of "Political Correctness" that still makes me laugh...
05/08/07: Welcome to RadioFree Kacz
I started playing around with internet radio again. My first foray into the area happened in 1998/1999 while developing scheduling and convergence systems for a company called www.thedial.com, a now defunct syndicated internet radio broadcaster. Anyway, having some time to kill and wanting to check in on the state of the art, I started googling around. Well, 2 days and nights locked in my home office later, and voila! Radio Free Kacz! Check it out from the main page link .
Tools used in the making of this station:
Tools used in the making of this station:
- Icecast 2.3.1 (open source broadcast server)
- SpacialAudio SAM Broadcaster (for fee programming tool, very cool)
- Audacity Audio Mixer (free audio mixer with LAME mp3 encoder)
08/02/06: Of Mel Gibson and Lebanon
Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools
-- James McMurtry
-- James McMurtry
So we're all up in arms over Anti-Semitic statements made by a drunk Aussie over the weekend. First off, while Mel Gibson probably believes some of the things he is reported to have said; who should care? While the Israelis fight for their very life as a state and imprison millions of Palestinians behind a growing network of physical walls, economic strangulation and outright militarty occupation and a growing chorus of disapproval emanating from around the world cascades down upon their leaders and while the entire tiresome battle of wills with no wisdom puts the current and future state of the Mideast hanging in a precarious balance weighted down by stupidity and short-sightedness; Jewish leaders here in America somehow found time from what must be a busy and exhausting schedule of following these truly global issues to condemn a drunk man his drunk ravings.
It is no wonder that a populace with greater familiarity with the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers or the relationship status of Brad and Angelina or the rantings of a drunk man would allow such a misappropriation of time and effort.
A fool and his freedom are soon parted...
06/13/06: Sharing
What is the cultural or societal temperature reading these days? Are we generally pissed off or war-weary or cynical and skeptical or scared by the future or excited for the future or well entertained or comfortably numb? This is a funny question, I think, and the answer could simply be marked down as H) All and none of the above; now move on, no more need for contemplation...
But...
Is there a prevailing wind blowing through the canyons that separate red from blue; city from suburb; mountain from levelland? Is there an American mood? An America voice? An American experience? Are we bound by more than geography (a geography large enough and diverse enough and empty enough so as to appear borderless and boundless to most) or school-time pledge or fading symbols of squandered economic, moral and cultural glory? What do we American's share?
Perhaps unease is the new American Identity. That mental or spiritual discomfort; that vague dissatisfaction with a great unexamined (or perhaps only underexamined) "something".
Does it make you uneasy that black American citizens are still 7 times more likely to be imprisoned than white citizens? Does it make you uneasy that global warming just might be all its' advertised to be? Does it make you uneasy to know that people from your country are dying and killing for oil? Does it make you uneasy that good jobs seem more and more ephemeral? Does it make you uneasy that traffic seems to only get worse? Does it make you uneasy that the crime rate in Congress is going up faster that in the rest of the country? Does it make you uneasy that we Americans seem so easy to divide and so hard to unite? Does it make you uneasy to think that maybe, just maybe, this is the best you or we can do?
There isn't a person today that wouldn't admit to some level of unease, discomfort or dissatisfaction; some vague sense that maybe we really have reached the end of history or have stumbled on some critical point that we just keep missing out on. Happiness comes and goes; unity falls victim to the laws of entropy; pride goes before the fall and love sucks. But unease, that's forever. That's the eyes of the predator glowering around the fires we light against the darkness. That's the coin all in the realm can spend.
Perhaps its time to find a new national mood. Perhaps its time to clean out the long-neglected closets and attics of our shared discontent. Perhaps its time to remove those peas of dissatisfaction from beneath the mattresses of our shared privilege. It may be time for a new shared experience. Time for a new, uncharted but not ill-considered, step away from the path we've laid for ourselves.
I'm not entirely sure how to end this post. Your thoughts are welcome...
But...
Is there a prevailing wind blowing through the canyons that separate red from blue; city from suburb; mountain from levelland? Is there an American mood? An America voice? An American experience? Are we bound by more than geography (a geography large enough and diverse enough and empty enough so as to appear borderless and boundless to most) or school-time pledge or fading symbols of squandered economic, moral and cultural glory? What do we American's share?
Perhaps unease is the new American Identity. That mental or spiritual discomfort; that vague dissatisfaction with a great unexamined (or perhaps only underexamined) "something".
Does it make you uneasy that black American citizens are still 7 times more likely to be imprisoned than white citizens? Does it make you uneasy that global warming just might be all its' advertised to be? Does it make you uneasy to know that people from your country are dying and killing for oil? Does it make you uneasy that good jobs seem more and more ephemeral? Does it make you uneasy that traffic seems to only get worse? Does it make you uneasy that the crime rate in Congress is going up faster that in the rest of the country? Does it make you uneasy that we Americans seem so easy to divide and so hard to unite? Does it make you uneasy to think that maybe, just maybe, this is the best you or we can do?
There isn't a person today that wouldn't admit to some level of unease, discomfort or dissatisfaction; some vague sense that maybe we really have reached the end of history or have stumbled on some critical point that we just keep missing out on. Happiness comes and goes; unity falls victim to the laws of entropy; pride goes before the fall and love sucks. But unease, that's forever. That's the eyes of the predator glowering around the fires we light against the darkness. That's the coin all in the realm can spend.
Perhaps its time to find a new national mood. Perhaps its time to clean out the long-neglected closets and attics of our shared discontent. Perhaps its time to remove those peas of dissatisfaction from beneath the mattresses of our shared privilege. It may be time for a new shared experience. Time for a new, uncharted but not ill-considered, step away from the path we've laid for ourselves.
I'm not entirely sure how to end this post. Your thoughts are welcome...
06/07/06: The Lesson of David vs. Goliath
The lesson we normally take from the story of David vs. Goliath is that the little-guy can sometimes overcome great odds to acheive victory. It's always fun to watch a small school march through a portion of the NCAA Basketball tournament each March or a small soccer club make mincemeat of a great power during the quadrennial World Cup. Each with never failing comparisons to David vs. Goliath. The small and weak against the entrenched, powerful and dominant. We all take heart in that once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness, or better yet, be part of a battle of such epic proportions.
However, that's the wrong message to take from the story of David. Sure David was a little guy (or so it is told in the story). Sure he was facing what was then considered a giant, probably fully armed and amused as hell that some little shepherd might challenge his great power and prowess. But this isn't a story of small guy made good or the once-in-a-lifetime shot that felled the great adversary. This is a story of applied technology winning out over the entrenched thought of the day.
You see, technically, David (presuming he was skilled with the sling and not just a very lucky first-timer), possessed the advantage the minute he stepped onto the field of battle. David, being lighter and smaller and unencumbered by heavy armor and weaponry, was undoubtedly more agile and mobile, giving him a great advantage right off the bat. Furthermore, David's "kill range" the range in which he could project deadly force encompassed the entire range of his sling, perhaps as much as 8000 square feet. Goliath, on the other hand, unless he was a giant with a 50 foot wingspan, could project the deadly force of his hand-held weapons perhaps as much as 314 feet (assuming a 20 foot wingspan).
David had the great comfort of being out of range aand being agile enough to run around and sling rocks at his adversary until one hit the mark. There's no telling just how many rocks David slung that day, but being out of range, being lighter and more agile and having 25 times the kill range won the day.
The lesson from David and Goliath, at least for me, is that technology, agility and the application of one's unique gifts are far more important to the outcome of battle than size or history.
However, that's the wrong message to take from the story of David. Sure David was a little guy (or so it is told in the story). Sure he was facing what was then considered a giant, probably fully armed and amused as hell that some little shepherd might challenge his great power and prowess. But this isn't a story of small guy made good or the once-in-a-lifetime shot that felled the great adversary. This is a story of applied technology winning out over the entrenched thought of the day.
You see, technically, David (presuming he was skilled with the sling and not just a very lucky first-timer), possessed the advantage the minute he stepped onto the field of battle. David, being lighter and smaller and unencumbered by heavy armor and weaponry, was undoubtedly more agile and mobile, giving him a great advantage right off the bat. Furthermore, David's "kill range" the range in which he could project deadly force encompassed the entire range of his sling, perhaps as much as 8000 square feet. Goliath, on the other hand, unless he was a giant with a 50 foot wingspan, could project the deadly force of his hand-held weapons perhaps as much as 314 feet (assuming a 20 foot wingspan).
David had the great comfort of being out of range aand being agile enough to run around and sling rocks at his adversary until one hit the mark. There's no telling just how many rocks David slung that day, but being out of range, being lighter and more agile and having 25 times the kill range won the day.
The lesson from David and Goliath, at least for me, is that technology, agility and the application of one's unique gifts are far more important to the outcome of battle than size or history.
