Burn R. Kelly

R.Kelly TP3 - Jive Records - r-kelly.com

I bought this album from iTunes this weekend for the sole reason that I couldn't get that stupid 5-chapter saga out of my head.

Listening to the rest of the album, I have drummed up these comments:

If I happen to hear an interview of R. Kelly talking about any song on this album, I wouldn't be surprised to hear "...yeah, I wrote that when I was twelve. Pretty good, huh?"

His next album may include a song with the line "My anus was raw" just because it would rhyme.

TP.3 Reloaded isn't remixes, but it isn't original, either. Also, there's no theme and several grammatical errors. I think R. Kelly writes about 30% of the material, which probably results in his not needing to attend any live events.

That's good, because it will give him more time to videotape his encounters with 14-year-old girls.

This album has a cover on it that makes one think that it's rock-hard, perhaps like one of Tupac's. Take a look at the site, before his next album comes out (probably next month). It does not, however, contain any type of fast, hard rap or any cool beats. There is one song on this album that is SeanPaulIstic, but for that one Mr. Kelly sought the help of four others. And it sucked. It was a desperate attempt at originality - it was about bootie-shaking.

I've never heard such a dramatic attempt at placing a mobile phone in silent mode. What a ridiculous attempt at a memorable production. Maybe I'm just too old.

What's the return policy at iTunes?

techpickle.org

For those of you who visit techpickle.org (translation: no one), the website may be unresponsive today, as I am cleaning e-mail off my server. Apparently this is part of the learning process. When an e-mail is sent to someone who doesn't exist, the message is stored on the server anyway. This resulted in 1.5GB of e-mail that no one read sitting on my machine. The directory became unmanageable and e-mail services shut down. Today I am correcting that problem, and e-mail services have been restored.

I realize that this blog is accessible by billions of people, and that this issue only affects about three of them. Just trying to be efficient. Visit http://www.techpickle.org/ and send comments.

I Decided

That I'm not very opinionated about much. That's why I don't blog all the time. Plus, I don't make the time to blog, though I should. When I have an opinion worth blabbing about, I'll blog.

Stating the Obvious is Not a Sign of Intelligence

Bush reaches his limits -- as a cyclist - Yahoo! News

I say no more.

Excellent Battle on Dangerfield's

After a night of good sleep, in that period just before one actually wakes but is still dreaming, I see books. I don't just see books, I read them. I see sentences and words and somehow they make sense. These stories have not been written; they exist only in my mind at those given moments and usually dissipate before I can write them down. But I caught this one.

The title of this imaginary work was "Excellent Battle on Dangerfield." It was an old book (1950's) written by a man and his soon-to-be wife. They would come to write many books together. But only his name was on the cover.

The book seemed not to be a comedy, but was about comedy. I've lost that now. Maybe it was some kind of fight to the top of stardom. Perhaps it was at Dangerfield's, a comedy club founded by Rodney himself.

I think I know how this got put together. Beth's been studying American history (Battles), we've been watching a bit of Comedy Central lately (Dangerfield, comedy), and I live in South Georgia (heat and humidity cause delusions).

Anyway, I thought you'd find it interesting that I read books in my dreams. I also hear intellectual speakers, but they're all long gone when I wake. It's interesting how the brain works.

Now that I've installed the Google Toolbar again, I can use the Blog This! feature to blog more often.

But don't count on it. And for what it's worth, Happy Independence Day. Don't blow yourself up.

Hit the Switches

I finally ordered a new switch for my home network. I was going to order the same type from Dell, but I found this one for $0.74 less, including shipping. So I made out like a bandit.

I need the switch because I continually add devices to my network, and I'm tired of unplugging my printer or web server to connect a laptop for the night. I am running CAT5 to my Xbox this weekend, and I have nowhere to plug it in. This 24-port switch solves my problem.

I'm trying to raise money for a new firewall, but my campaign is going very slowly. My only method for raising the money is getting up and going to work every day. Maybe by Christmas I'll have what I need.

Oh, and if anyone knows why my Fedora Core 3 router won't forward UDP packets for me, I'd like some help. Thanks.

Discouraged

Today I feel a bit discouraged. I'm tired and I think my monitor is getting ready to die.

I don't have much to talk about because I don't do very much during any given day. I go to work and come home, sit at my computer when I'm not holding my daughter, and go to bed. Weekends aren't much different.

John Mayer is great. I just downloaded a song (I could find no other way to get it) by John. It was "Why Georgia," my favorite song. The track I downloaded was a live recording of John playing along with Brad Paisley.

John wrote that song when he was 20 or 21, I think. He had just left college without finishing and went to Atlanta to pursue his career in music. He played at Eddie's Attic, which, from what I understand is a small bar of sorts in downtown Atlanta. He also played other venues, but that one I've heard him talk about.

Now he's playing on stage with a well-known country singer (at least for that song) a song he wrote when he was still dreaming about doing just what he does now.

Maybe someday I'll get where I want to be. I don't know exactly where that is, but I'm sure I'll know when I get there.

Intel Apple Core

What's Really Behind the Apple-Intel Alliance - New York Times

I don't like Intel, but it's nice to know that Apple Computer will begin using Intel processors in 2006. That, to me, brings Apple down a notch in status, with some hope that the machines will become more affordable.

I've always secretly wanted a Mac, but couldn't ever afford one. Hell, the dual-G5 still starts at $1999, and comes to $2474 before shipping, tailored to my liking. That includes no monitor. Just the box and a keyboard/mouse. I can build a very hot 64-bit gaming system with twice the hard drive space and two 19" LCD monitors for that.

So the news of Apple using Intel processors puts hope in my future for affording a Mac and learning its secrets. And hopefully I'll find out what makes it better than any other computer.

Carnage

I got my new desk today, but not without a fight. The weather has been bad lately, with the tropical storm and all. Wouldn't be so bad if Florida would keep their hurricanes under control. They just let the damn storm go everywhere, instead of keeping it to themselves. It's like they're farting in front of a fan in a room of 500 people. Assholes.

I love my new desk. It's 2592 in² of prime real estate for my work. I no longer will be found in a toddler's chair in confusion over which keyboard I have. It's all laid out in front of me. Doesn't mean I'll blog any more than I have previously.

Beth is studying sociology today. It's pretty rough stuff. One time it put her in a deep sleep, just from having the book set in front of her. I can't imagine what she's going through; I know I couldn't get into sociology or public speaking. I'm a technologist, not an arts student. If I had to read that much theological and philosophical text, I'd never get a job. Bring on the machines, though, and I'm ready for anything.

Back to Florida. As my readers might imagine, I have some beef with that state. I think they should leave the country, or just sell the state to Disney. They'd just have to rent Kennedy to NASA. If they had kept this storm under control, I wouldn't have to pick up limbs in the yard (I just mowed two days ago, and Florida's fucking up my hard work.) And in the words of George W. Bush, "It's hard work!"
But at least I'm not reading sociology.

Would He Win Now?

One of the articles I read in this morning's news talked about Bush's job approval ratings. Sure, the sample size was very low, but that doesn't stop the poll from making a point.

"I don't think he's read his history enough about different countries and foreign affairs," said Harvie, a political independent who lives near San Diego, a region with several military bases. "Anything they try to do in Iraq has spelled trouble. I think he bit off more than he can chew."

When, in fact, I don't think the President reads much at all. Haven't you heard him read aloud to the public? It's like listening to the slow kid read in class. Of course, I'd probably sound the same, but I'm not the president. Back to the topic:

Would he win now? What would John Kerry's approval ratings look like? It'd be nice to discuss this with someone, but I don't think I can find anyone around here who doesn't support that assclown.

I Don't Know

What to write about. I quit reading the news because I don't have the time, and the local newspaper delivery fuck can't get his/her shit straight. Five days after I e-mailed a cancellation request due to sporadic delivery, I got another paper. WTF?

That's all. I'm pretty boring lately.

The FCC is Overrated.

I don't make much money, being right out of school and such. My wife doesn't work (she's a student) and there isn't much more I can hack at, so we're in a financial straight jacket at the time.

There is much to be said about being broke. We just turned on the air conditioning today because our daughter couldn't take it anymore. She decided she wouldn't sleep through the night until we started living like modern humans. And just the other day I was given a choice between Q-tips and paper towels; we couldn't afford both. Apparently I was the decision maker, and I decided that there were more alternatives to paper towels than there were Q-tips.

There are other ways we save money, like reading books instead of going shopping (or anywhere, for that matter. Gas is friggin' expensive!) I drive from home to work and back daily, with no detours except for the occasional "pick up some cheese" request from my wife. We don't have cable TV, we don't go out to eat, and I use existing computer hardware for my projects at home to keep me busy.

This situation, as you may imagine, nearly brought me to tears as I read about the FCC's "Broadcast Flag" mandate effective July 1 this year. Apparently after that date, it will no longer be possible to purchase an HDTV tuner that allows digital recording in HD format. This means one cannot record HD shows and burn them to DVD for high-quality playback. But if one can get an HDTV tuner before the mandate, he's in luck.

It will obviously be a while before I can afford something like that (the card is about $175), and the mandate will certainly be in place before the device is in my hands. But by that time, it would be useless anyway. Why have an HD recorder if you can't record in HD? It's not like there's anything memorable on HD - the nature scenes?

Although I did see part of one game in the NCAA Final Four this year in HD. But that's me and basketball. Not worth recording.

So if anyone wants to send the dinero so I can have the HD decoder, feel free. If you want one yourself, try any popular electronics store before July 1.

Netscape's New Thing

Netscape Thursday released its latest browser, version 8.0. Within 24 hours of its release, 44 security holes were filled. Sounds pretty bad, huh?

It's actually not that bad. You see, the browser uses one of two rendering engines to display web pages - MS Internet Explorer's engine, and Mozilla Firefox's engine. Netscape leaves it up to you to choose - if a page doesn't display correctly, just try the other engine, not another browser.

Anyway, Mozilla recently updated their rendering engine, or some other parts of their browser, and Netscape forgot to include that update in the initial release. So don't go thinking Netscape hired a bunch of fools who wrote swiss cheese code. It was only a very minor oversight, albeit potentially costly. If you have downloaded the Netscape browser since yesterday morning, you're probably okay. Make sure that you have the latest by going to the help menu and selecting "About Netscape Browser." In the resulting dialog box, you will see some version information. The current version is 8.0.1.

...nobody comes to Albuquerque.

I am left wondering this morning why someone would go through that much trouble to escape a wedding. I guess since it was such a huge wedding, it called for a huge, elaborate escape.

I know of a pair of sisters I went to school with down here in Georgia, who both now live in Albuquerque, and chose so randomly. I myself lived in Albuquerque before adolescence. I enjoyed it there, as I'm sure my schoolmates do. Why would a resident talk down such a great city?

With the exception of the southern direction, Albuquerque is surrounded by mountains, and always has a beautiful sky. It's hot in the summer, and snows in the winter. It's a complete metropolis with flash floods and gang members. It hosts the most-photographed event in the world, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. There's also a historic district where local jewelers lay out their goods on the sidewalks, peddling mainly turquoise necklaces and pendants.

That's just from my memory. I think there's a pretty good university there, too.

Just don't put one of my towns in the dirt. Even Bugs Bunny passed through Albuquerque.

I got a job!

I started this new job at a city-owned ISP, and I'm loving it. We've moved to Tifton, Georgia, and it's a pretty nice place. The city calls itself "The Friendly City." How charming.

I install cable modems for our customers and troubleshoot connectivity problems. I work right alongside a young but talented network administrator, and my boss is the primary programmer for all the systems, including the television programs. We have a great team and I am very excited. But...

Apparently I'm too good. On day five I was sent out on my own (having been in town a week) to install modems and make service calls. Next week (week three) I'll be on call. I haven't even been to orientation.

This could be a good thing, or I could fail miserably. I don't see the latter happening, but I could really screw up in these early days and paint myself as the pseudo-know-it-all. But overall I feel good about the position and I am enjoying myself. There are always things to complain about, but I don't want to get off on the wrong foot in a new place. Don't get me wrong - the people are absolutely great. But I work for a government entity. The things I want for my job aren't always the top priority of those who be.

Take for instance the car I am provided for service calls. It's a mid-90's Taurus and it came from another department. It resembles an unmarked police car in a way, and since it doesn't have a logo on it, I could very well be shot for pulling up to someone's house too fast. That's not the only thing, but it's the biggest. I have trouble approaching someone with these issues simply because I'm new. And it seems so far that I can't get anyone to lobby for me, either.

In other news, I plan to host my website, benrehberg.com at my house beginning later this year. I don't feel as though I should pay someone to host it for me in Texas when I could have it in my own house. It's not like it's a critical site like ebay. It's just mine. I'll try to keep you updated.

Relieved

I've moved to Tifton, GA, where I (beginning Monday) work at the local cable TV and Internet provider. I'm really tired from moving all day and surfing the web at an astonishingly high speed, so I'll say I'm here and good day. More later.

I Only Appear Lazy.

It's 11:30 in the morning, and I'm still drinking coffee. I was thinking of going to the driving range today, but it rained for a number of hours last night and it's still gloomy outside.

I think I have a job, but I haven't received a formal offer. I found out yesterday that I can barely afford to take the job, so I might still be unemployed. See, the job is in a city that takes me almost two hours to get to, and relocation is a necessity anyway because I have to take call once or twice a month. Problem is, I don't know how to relocate and be my family's sole provider for $15K less than my last job.

This gets me thinking about what I should have done and didn't do. I should have finished an engineering degree and stayed in Colorado. I think of reasons every day why we should have stayed. Today's reason: "There are no mosquitoes on the golf courses in Colorado." This probably isn't very accurate, but there are certainly fewer mosquitoes and other creatures on the courses there than there are here. I can't think of why Augusta is so popular other than its scenery in the fall.

So I'm making no plans for my every day, other than playing Halo (trying to finish under normal difficulty) and hitting practice balls in the yard. I'm lazy, and I really don't want to go to work, but I don't want to sit around all day, either. I've really got to get out and do something, but I must wait on people to get around to looking at my resume and qualifications. I think that's about all I can do right now.

This is still more fun than working for FLDoE.

Some things just go hand in hand.

I was driving home one day months ago and saw a great opportunity to take a picture of something amusing. I finally got around to it yesterday. Look - I know I said I'd write more, but I'm on dial-up for Christ's sake! Leave me alone!

Anyway, that picture I was talking about is of two signs placed near each other in a curious way; very amusing. I wonder if anyone else has seen it as I do.

Don't be a stranger.

Update

I have updated the booklist and the picture of Anika. Also my location, since I now have beef with the State of Florida. They don't know what they're missing.

I figured it was time.

I lost my job in February, two days before Anika was born. I haven't really taken the time to write here since.
Things are going well, though I'm still unemployed, but it's looking up. I got an interview last week and feel it was positive, but I can't be sure.
I went running today for the first time in about a month. I didn't like running today. Between running and walking, I walked more. Running tends to fatigue one's body sometimes, and today was one of those days. I'll be sore tomorrow. Remind me to make a playlist for running.
You know, I was really inspired to write when I came back from my runwalk, but now it's past midnight and I can't think of all those clever things to say. Maybe after tomorrow's session I can sit down and write something worth sending to a magazine. Then I won't need a regular job; I'll just run and write. Whatever pays the bills, right?
I need to apologize to my audience for quitting this blog. I'll make an attempt to write a whole lot more in the coming months as I become employed somewhere and return to some state of normalcy. Oh, and I'll update my "What I'm Reading" list, too. [It is hoped that there will be] more tomorrow.