The Island Journal

So, here’s the thing. I am sick and tired of the whims of AT&T. I got rid of them in the home, but thought I’d be saddled with them when I got the iPhone… this is not to be. The story is long and drawn out so I’ll give you the cliff notes version. Back in July (no seriously, this is the abbreviated story, I promise) I started having issues with my phone. Almost immediately after getting the thing the front screen cracked, but I dealt with it. When I started dropping calls unless I was on the Bluetooth ear piece, I got annoyed. I contacted AT&T and complained. They put an “upgrade notation” on my account, effectively letting me upgrade early. I asked if it applied to the iPhone and they said yes. Now as much as I travel, I never have much time at home to deal with going to the store and placing an order or picking it up for that matter. I called the store a couple of times and again, yes, the iPhone is included in my upgrade meaning I’d pay the $299.99 for the phone and not the $499.99 others pay to buy one without the contract. I was going to place my order tomorrow and guess what… the iPhone is not included in my upgrade. I’d have to pony up with near 500 bucks to get one. This, my friends, is not going to happen.

I started doing the research and found that Verizon Wireless ranks second in both customer satisfaction and call quality nation wide according to J.D Power and Associates. They offer something comparable to the iPhone, the Blackberry Storm. After doing my research, it seems the storm has almost everything I want and none of the extra crap I don’t. There are some drawbacks, but according to all the research I’ve done, I should be happy with it over all. The memory is expandable, the media formats it will play are diverse, the business applications far outweigh the competition, and if the battery looses the ability to charge, I get another battery. The iPhone has set memory, a limited number of media formats loadable only with proprietary software (and being a Linux guy now, free non-proprietary is gooooood), and if it stops charging, you have to send it in for service and be without a phone for up to a week. I’m all about convenience. From what I understand, the GPS is not as good as the iPhone, but I have a kick ass Tom Tom. There’s no wifi support on the Storm, but you don’t really need it on Verizon’s network. I think they’re pretty evenly matched so I’ll let you know if I’m happy in a few weeks.

So I met my long lost cousin... well, she wasn't so much lost as much as I'd never met her before. And come to think of it not just a cousin but a second or third cousin. And Not just her, but her fantastic family. I am currently in Las Vegas, or "lost wages" as some out here refer to it, and Jennifer Decker, the afore mentioned cousin you may know from her family blog, Deckerific, lives out here. She's one of the most righteous chicks I have ever met and her family kicks much ass. Her Husband is a skater from way back, her son is following in Dad's foot steps and he and his buds are making skate films and he's an artist to boot, her daughter is like miniature adult who works with polymer clay... yet another artist and Jennifer herself is an artist whether she'll admit it or not. She says she's crafty.

I met up with Jen at her work place. We ate and talked for a bit and she told me about Red Rock, seen in these pictures here. (there will be more) She said she'd go out there with me and we had a blast just hanging out, seeing the rock formations, listening to strange dudes explain how lightening strikes the rocks at the highest point on the trail and leaves these little rusty indentations, all the while knowing he's a goober. It was great fun. We even saw some wild donkeys, though they were about ten miles away and climbing a rock. Then we went back to her house where she and her husband cooked a great meal and I got to talk to her kids. They're such a cool bunch.

Thanks Jennifer for the great day. You rock.

Well, It was a good vacation. I went to the "Zombie Walk 2008" to support the Louisiana food bank and my friends and I went to Fast Eddie's and shot pool dressed in the steampunk gear. Couple these activities with the massive amount of couch surfing I did and it was an awesome vacation.

I am, however, happy to be back on the road. I went to Dallas which was not a big deal since I've been there quite a few times. From Dallas, I went to Abilene and on to Odessa Texas. I took this shot outside the office in Abilene.


I'm now in Las Vegas and will be heading to Reno tomorrow. I hope to get some good pictures going through the desert then the mountains. Woo Hoo! I love my job.

Quote: “Try and follow me because I'm going to be moving in a circular motion so if you pay attention there will be a point.” - Kevin Spacey, Swimming with Sharks, 1994

It has been my firm belief that technology is separating human beings from the greater community as a whole, regardless of it's promise to unite us. When I was in college my world was small by today's comparison. I had friends, I had family, I had all the wonderful interpersonal connections that made life interesting. Along came the Internet with it's telnet chat and it's web pages (still mostly text and very little graphics... if any at all), and it's declaration of connecting everyone, every where. Instead, it made a very large group of moderately intelligent, pasty, twits who did nothing but chat on line and have very little interaction IRL. This was also the source of the abbreviations like IRL meaning “In Real Life”.

Those who couldn't really get into chatting decided to walk away and go straight for cell phones. Who among us can live without one. Many have turned off the home phone and use exclusively cells for everyday calls. I still own a home line, but recently decided to switch from the phone company for cable Internet instead of DSL and get a VOIP for home use. How dare I? At any rate, cell phones were meant to connect those of us not glued to a computer and they did for a while, and to some extent it's still comfortable and convenient for some to pick up a cell and call someone to chit chat or for assistance or if you're riding home on the subway and an axe wielding maniac is chasing you from car to car, or if you're sitting in a club and your girls friends have all hooked up and left and you're so drunk that you're willing to go home with the very next dude who smiles at you and you've been crying so hard about your fitness instructor Brad who said you need a few extra hours on the Stairmaster that your mascara is running and... Anyway, you could call someone.

We don't call anyone anymore though, do we. No, it's “texting” now. Instead of typing meaningless drivel on the Internet, we type meaningless drivel with our thumbs on tiny keypads while dodging cars driven by other texters in rush hour traffic. Can you imagine, some cities have passed laws to stop people from “texting” while driving? I can't drink coffee and drive much less type. These typed conversations use the very same, if not more complex, abbreviations that those afore mentioned pasty twits who used to sequester themselves for days while chatting in a MUD used. Not one hot 19 year old would have given the time of day to one of those geeks then, oh but now, it's “geek chic” because they need help figuring out how to use all the gadgets and widgets in their phones so they can “text” one another. It goes both ways too, chick geeks help their surfer boyfriends figure out how to send and receive video email or dock their MP3 players so don't look at me like I left someone out of my stereotypical rant.

Speaking of MP3 players, and getting to the point very soon, they too were meant to help us connect through sharing but I see people in Airports a couple times a month who exist in there own little microcosmic, music induced coma worlds and they're using earbuds to shield them from interaction with other human beings. Not to mention, it's illegal to share. Let's look at that, shall we? If it's illegal to “share”, how are MP3s supposed to connect us? There are some players that won't let you play anything unlicensed, sharing programs like the early Napster, Lime wire, Bit torrent (which is the bomb) have made criminals of us all. MP3 players, however, are allowing us to fight back. We still share our music. We still experience new bands or rediscover old ones and we still congregate in bedrooms, home offices, around water coolers, in parks, on school playgrounds, and yes... in airports to do these unlawful acts of willful disobedience in the name of unity.

There is a new, and legal, MP3 sharing experience that recently came to my attention. I heard about it on, of all things, a radio. NPR ran a story about Silent Raves, large groups of kids getting together and dancing as though they were at a rave, but each and every one listening to their own music and completely separate from the whole. They're synchronized events with a definite start and end time. Some are planned in secret and enacted in malls peaceful, bouncing mobs while others are highly publicized and held out in the open air. Some synchronize the playlist so that everyone is listening to the same play list, others have no playlist and resemble undulating masses of people shaped jellyfish. Drugs don't play a role as they do with so many other secret night time raves in old warehouses or abandoned schools, NO! These are real experiences with real fresh air and real sunlight!

It's a beautiful thing, really, to know the youth of America, with all the disconnections we fostered in our youth and all the high idealism of our parents influencing us, are actually making a difference and getting to know each other. They're sharing their music and their time. They're sharing their knowledge and experiences as they experience them. They're protesting everything and nothing simultaneously. They are truly connecting and that is what the technology is intended to do. Grab your iPhone, iPod, Creative Zen. Bring your Sansa, your Archos, or your Zune (maybe not). Load your playlists and fight the power. Rage against the machine. Damn the man!

Halloween is quickly approaching and you know what that means? It's time to scramble. My friends and I decided that we'd do steam punk this year. We decided this in November... 2007. Last year I made Jedi costumes for everyone, but it was so down to the wire, that I couldn't finish the last one and all I was doing for hours and days on end was sewing. I suck at sewing, but I got it done. Andy suggested Steampunk and showed us some pictures like the ones to the left and right. We were excited. Everyone decided to buy a small piece of the costume or gadget components all year so we'd have spectacular costumes this year. No one has bought a thing. We realized there was more to Steampunk than Edwardian / Victorian dress, goggles, and brass and we developed grandiose plans after looking at websites like the Steampunk Workshop and Boing Boing, not to mention countless Deviant art sites about on the subject. As it often does, however, mundane life seeped back in and we stopped thinking about it until recently. Now we're jumping on the costumes and gadgets and trying to get everything together, but it's a little harder. A hundred and fifty bucks spread out over 12 months is much easier to tolerate and all at once and for some of us, $150.00 is almost enough to cover one item of clothing. Take a look at what I'll be wearing this Halloween, I've finally picked out the pieces and already purchased a couple of things.

The Hat (Russian military Peak hat, no site. Got this today)
The Vest
The Boots (already had those)
The Shirt
The Holster (got that today and will build or mod the gun for it)

All I got was wind and some drizzle, but family in Houston is still without power and many in Galveston didn't fair well at all. Hurricane Ike (left) was a monster, at one point covering the whole of the Gulf of Mexico and the comparisons to Katrina started flying before Ike hit Cuba. Millions without power, prices on generators, gasoline, and water getting jacked sky high and to top it all off, most everything is closed so provisions are scarce. The government set up temporary shelters and are providing food and water for those in need. Many are greatful for the much needed assistance.

As with Katrina, only days after the storm hit, the complaints have started. The government didn't react, they were unprepared, they aren't doing enough. I can't imagine the pain and turmoil a Hurricane survivor goes through. I can't relate to those who live in a coastal area prone to hurricanes. I especially can not relate to those who live in coastal areas prone to hurricanes who are completely unprepared. Furthermore, I can't relate to those who, after surviving a hurricane, can't be grateful that they're simply alive but have to complain about the, by all current reports, adequate level of support and facilities. Sure, it's uncomfortable, sure it's hot, sure it's a horrible situation, but if you have a roof over your head, food in your belly, and a "pot to piss in" then you're still better off than the majority of the third world (right) by a long stretch. I feel so bad for those who lost homes, family members, lives, all that they know to a storm. I really do. For those of you who are survivors who appreciate the assistance and soldier on and rebuild your lives, God bless and good luck. To those who just want another excuse to whine about the government, I say to you that things will get worse until you appreciate what you have. Look to your neighbor on the cot beside you, listen to they're gratitude and follow their example.

Finally, a note to those who didn't have to go through what these people went through. What the hell?! I hear people saying things like, "All these people are criminals..." or "Oh no, now we'll have a bunch of refugees..." Well get the hell over it and show some hospitality. Is this no longer the UNITED States? More than that, is this not the SOUTH? It's a burden to help people, sure. It is through the support of our fellow man that we learn and grow. If you're not lending a hand, think about this... What if it were your kid who was starving, what if it was your mother who couldn't breath because the power was out, or what if it was your home gutted and gone? I've also heard tell of a cashier at Brookshires at Kings highway and Highland making comments like, "...I'll just move to Houston... for the free food and free diapers..." She's an idiot and she's not the only one... there are lots of them around here. Sometimes, I'd just like to slap some people, you know?

I'll try and say this without getting preachy: Realize that you, as a human being, exist to serve the will of something greater than yourself. If in peril, your adversity teaches others. If helping those in peril, you are learning from them. We are here to learn and grow.... so grow already.

Have you ever looked at our government (The USA that is) or any government for that matter and thought, "If only I were in charge...". How would you do things differently? How would you improve upon the system?

Recently some friends got me interested in a website called Nation States. It’s a site that incorporates legislation into a game and it's based on a book called Jennifer Government by Max Barry. One creates one’s country, gives it a flag, a national animal, and a currency and then it’s placed among other nations to fend for it’s self in a world market situation. Your nation is then ranked and reported on like an actual country. During the game, you vote on national legislation like union strikes and trade tariffs to build up your nation in the world arena. Once established, you can join a united nations of sorts, the World Assembly, to vote on other world wide issues ranging from human rights to hydrogen cars. It’s a fascinating game, even if you don’t like politics. I personally hate the political feuds we tend to have in this country, but I never the less have a Nation State of my very own, the Borderlands of Boomocratic Poecia (get it?). I have built up my nation on the basis of personal freedoms that don’t infringe on others and fiercely protected human rights as well as passing laws to strengthen the economy and education. It’s been fun for the most part, and a little silly.

I applied for membership in the World Assembly and can now vote on issues. The first issue I voted on was child pornography. Without reading the proposal, of course I was against child porn! What sane individual wouldn’t be against exploitation of children in any form (accept sweat shops I mean... kidding). I read through the forums and I noticed that the majority of the states were voting against the proposal and I was appauled. I read the proposal and the wording left quite a bit to the imagination as well as adding some rights infringing speach in reguards to other issues. The purpose of the game is to inform, provoke thought, and mimic actual legislation. This piece didn’t fully live up to what it was supposed to embody so I voted it down. It will be re-written and re-submitted, but I now understand why some politicians vote against pieces of legislation that, at first glance, seem like good ideas. There is something attached that isn’t what the politician stands for or goes against his / her beliefs.

During this upcoming election, take into consideration the details when a particular candidate voted for or against something… you don’t know why they made that decision without reading the resolution. Don’t take the media’s word that a candidate is a flip flopper because they voted against something, then later voted for it. There is a lot more involved. I have always known this info, but I’ve never really thought about it much, until I became the politician. Take a look at Nation States, it's a thought provoking alternative to Myspace or Face book and you might learn something.

You may be wondering where my blog went. Well, I wasn’t keeping up with it and I had broken the cardinal rule of the slacker… I planned. I planned to make the blog about doodles and travel, but as I’ve been traveling, I’ve run into weekends I just didn’t feel like doing anything picture worthy or I posted them at MySpace. As I’ve been doodling, I haven’t done anything worthy of posting or didn’t have a scanner with me Or I posted them at Deviant Art. In a nut shell, The blog just kind of sat here. I’ve deleted the posts and I’m starting over. It’s September of 08 and I’m picking up about a year after I left off the last time. I begin anew with a new discovery:

LINUX! The Ubutu distrubition, Hardy Heron build to be specific.

That’s right boys and girls, I’ve gotten into Linux, the open source free man’s (or woman’s) operating system. When I was in college, I used a Unix system (the basis for linux) and a text based web browser called Lynx to get online along side telnet for chat. Later came graphical interfaces like Netscape. I eventually fell into the trap Microsoft has lain for us all and became… and end user.

Now-a-days, I like to think I’m smarter than the average user, but I’m defiantly not an U83Я l33t h4ck3r (uber “leet” as in elite hacker, see leetspeak) either. I thought, that’s all that used Linux. Not just the hackers, no Linux users were the elite hackers who had ideas about politics and art and literature and when they spoke, out poured important utterances that would set the coffee house on a roar with debate. These are the people who, while trading pirated software in back rooms of smoke filled techno clubs, wearing faded black sweaters with torn jeans and beanies, sporting silk scarves and dark round sunglasses, would comment on the instability of Darfur and how the oppressive regime currently trying to control the country was nothing more than a mouth piece for the corporations that really ran things and arguing the benefits of pirates over ninjas or vice versa.

This was my misconception. I am more of an end user than a real authority on the subject of all things tech, but that proves the versatility of the OS. Linux has proven it’s self to me so far as a solid and relatively easy to learn operating system. My system is faster and It’s getting easier to use. The only issues I have are some programs that have to have windows to run (Photoshop is a prime example), it’s not as intuitive as I’d like but that can be fixed with some tweaking of the GUI and the inability to sync some devices though I’m looking into that. The best part is a community of support. Windows offers a little database of issues, but there’s no one that really cares. Linux users really want other users to enjoy and have an easy time of Linux. The forums are full of helpful and nice people who are eager to help. All in all, it seems like a hit, but we’ll know more as time goes on.

In the mean time, I’ll be posting some helpful tips and sites to help with using my new OS, Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Site

Forums for help

Change the look