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Washington DC - Senior White House Correspondent, Wendy Delgorius-Cranston In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration has presented a radical funding proposal to Congress. Called the “Foot odor abatement and greenhouse gas reduction act of 2009″, its seventeen thousand, five hundred and twenty six page submission details a sliding scale taxation to be added to the Internal Revenue Service collection codes. Popularly known in the media as the “Tootsie Tax”, it’s been drafted as part of a tax relief package slated to assist in the funding of health care reform. Many analysts from both ends of the political spectrum have speculated that the bill has been submitted to capital hill in a move on the part of house Democrats to preemptively take the tax relief high ground Republicans have traditionally held. If this is the case, it represents a bold strategy move and shift in traditional Democratic policies that conservative Republicans have long labeled “tax and spend”. So called “tax and spend” economic bail out bills have been widely criticized and have negatively affected the administrations approval rating, damaging their political clout, even among select members of their own party. Although officially structured on a sliding scale taxation model, the “Tootsie Tax” would levy a base tax of 5% on the level of toxic odors being excreted from an area extending from the center of the arch and not to exceed .05 inch below the ankle. Taxpayers will have to be examined individually before April 14 of the tax year and a gas reading submitted with their IRS Filing. It’s unclear how this will effect the filing of state taxes as this would most likely be left to the individual state’s tax board. In addition to the predicted income generated by the Tootsie Tax, two additional benefits would be secondary to the stated goal of the bill. Global warming expert and Nobel laureate, former Vice President Al Gore was a key adviser to Mr. Obama during the drafting of the proposal. His input was vital as he collated data from leading liberal environmental scientists. This data indicated that a 72% increase in harmful greenhouse gases would occur over the next twelve years if the emissions of airborne foot chemicals weren’t reduced or better, eliminated. Greenhouse gases are thought to be major contributors to the greenhouse effect, reportedly responsible for a significant rise in climate temperature worldwide. A controversial principle, reduction of greenhouse gases was a key element of President Obama’s election platform. Critics of the Tootsie Tax claim that it provides an ideal way for the president to follow through on this campaign promise with a minimum of political risk. The second, and likely more significant factor, is the political and financial support the administration would receive from the medical community. The proposed 5% cosmetic procedure tax created a severe backlash that took the White House by surprise. The base income generated by the Tootsie Tax would be equal to the proposed 5% cosmetic procedure tax, and that tax proposal could be shelved until a better opportunity presented itself. The association of American Podiatry specialists have overwhelmingly expressed their support for the Tootsie Tax because it would mean increased business and new equipment. In addition, tax breaks would be afforded them to offset the costs of installing costly government subsidized mass spectrometer scanners that measure the levels and types of foot odors to be taxed. At this time, the White House will not comment when asked if they plan to submit a separate bill introducing foot odor tax exemptions for the middle class and medical vouchers for orthopedic shoes. In an official statement , White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, “We are pleased with this package. The administration hasn’t consulted with the Congressional Budget Office, but we are confident that this %5 additional governmental income will significantly offset the $849 billion dollar cost of health care reform. The question of how to most effectively administer this program is still on the table. Two possibilities are being seriously looked at. We could tailor a new department for the purpose, or assign it to the Beauro of Weights and Measures.”  Google's Chrome Logo It’s Saturday night, and like last night, I find myself with some extra time on my hands. Time being a precious commodity these days, I think I will take this opportunity to write about Google Chrome, the free web browser available for download. As of this writing, Chrome isn’t available for Apple OSX or Linux yet. I do a lot of work on my Linux machine, so I was interested in whether or not I could download and install Chrome onto my Ubuntu Jaunty installation. Google’s download page recognized that I was running Linux and informed me that they are currently working on a Linux version of Chrome. The page offered to put me on the Chrome mailing list to notify me when the Linux version becomes available. I’m interested, so I signed up with my junk mail Email address. The fact is, Chrome is now in stable release, but unfortunately, is currently only available for Windows XP and Vista which is a dissapointment for all the Macintosh devotee’s and Penguin’s out there. Why Google didn’t hit the market with simultaneous releases for Mac and Windows is a mystery to me. IE is sluggish with a really big footprint, and Safari shares the size issue to a lesser extent. I am speculating that releasing Chrome to Linux presents some unique challenges due to it’s Unix like permission structure and strongly enforced security rules. These functions are an integral part of the kernel so I can cut Google some slack. It’s best to be patient in order to get a really good, stable release for Linux. Initially, I really didn’t like chrome, and didn’t pay much attention to it, going back to work in Firefox. Fortunately, curiosity got the best of me, and I came back to Chrome to give it a closer look and a serious workout. Strangely, the very thing that makes the Gnome desktop for Linux my favorite GUI (graphic user interface), is exactly what initially turned me off to Chrome. Like the Gnome desktop, Chrome has been designed to emphasize function over flash although there are enough bells and whistles to treat the eyes without getting in the way. This lack of excess pizazz means a leaner, faster application. And Chrome is fast. Very fast. Chrome isn’t the beast that Internet explorer is, and it’s smaller than the others are . It weighs in at just under nine megabytes; these are the specs. The Minimalist design is apparent in subtle ways that actually make it easier to use, although you won’t be familiar with the functioning at first. Most browsers share pretty much the same characteristics on the front end. You expect to see a tool bar, or two, or three. You expect to see a monster options menu to micromanage every imaginable aspect of the browser functioning, yet strangely, even those options tend to be very similar. You will immediately look for the familiar, “file, edit, view, history” menu bar found in just about every application. Surprise! it’s not there. You won’t find these things in Chrome, and it’s what lost my interest at first glance. I so expected to see the familiar browser and window interfaces, that not having them was disconcerting. When I gave Chrome a chance to fully show the design to me, I realized that it’s the lack of this unnecessary eye candy that trims off the bloat and sluggish performance. The great thing is that Chrome has some goodies that are fun, practical, and frankly surprising. Chrome has no toolbar and you don’t really need it. You open a new tabbed window by clicking the plus sign next to the most recent tab opened. You close it by clicking the “x” on the tab. Back, Forward, reload, home. Those things you use the most, are where you expect them to be, and there’s nothing else there to distract you. The address bar acts like you would expect, but it also serves as an input field for a search engine. To the left of the address bar is a star icon that you click to bookmark a page. A wrench icon brings up a menu of options for Chrome, and they’re basic. You don’t have to, or need to, think about all the stuff other browsers present you in the settings screen. It’s very lightweight. In addition, that familiar menu, ”file, edit, view, history, print, cut, copy, etc” is conspicuously absent. If you need to do any of these things, right click or use a small page icon next to the wrench. That’s it. It’s just that simple. No obnoxious real estate hogging toolbar. Back to speed. At this time in the web arms race, Chrome is quite simply the fastest browser. Some browsers periodically mangle web pages to make Salvador Dali proud. Not Chrome. Google provides a library of themes, like “skins”, that it will download and install when you choose from the theme screen. I have the brushed metal, which is kind of Safari-like. The tabs are drag and drop. You can move the whole tabbed window off the tab bar and put it anywhere on the screen, resizing it as you like, or changing the contents. Google has added a feature in Chrome called “Incognito”. It opens a tabbed screen that allows you to surf without any information being stored in your history, bookmarks, or cookies. It dosen’t prevent other servers from gathering data when you go to their sites, but it does provide a level of privacy by preventing data from being placed in your catch. When a new window is created, Chrome starts a new process. Security is enhanced by limiting permissions. Windows are not permitted to share data between them. It may just be my imagination, but I have to say I think that Chrome handles video smoother than other browsers. Youtube videos look crisper, and when I watched a web cast of the guild, the picture seemed to be more clear. Google has a winner here. When you start Chrome for the first time it properly imports your bookmarks. You can start using Chrome right away, and the small adjustment period is well worth it. I really like Chrome. It’s simple. It’s lightweight, and it’s fast.  I have added a page in the Music submenu of the Multimedia section with video and music from the “Resident Evil” movies. I love the movies, and I was suprised to learn that the title music and variations were composed by Marilyn Manson. The first one on the page is the full main title soundtrack mix, and the second is the video opening of the original movie with the music. I like this title music because it’s eerie in a haunted house, spine chilling kind of way. I also find it interesting because it takes a very simple tune and arranges the notes in different patterns to develop complex mixtures and intensities. The composition has elements of electronic simplistic music, rock and pop that warp and fade in and out giving it it’s transitions; from benign to interesting, intense to menacing, and on to horror . The opening title video dosen’t give enough of this music to be able to appreciate all of these qualities, which is why I included the full soundtrack mix. I find it really quite extraordinary, and It’s one of those things I can listen to over and over again. I’m not ever going to be a Marilyn Manson fan, I find him a bit too bizarre for me. That said, there is no doubt about his ability as a composer when given a specific job to do. Alfred Hitchcock once said (paraphrased), “I play my audience like a finely tuned piano”. As far as I’m concerned, this was a Hitchcock quality manipulation of audience response and makes the movies. The movies no doubt would have made good box office without it, but the suspense would have fallen by the wayside to simple zombie dinners. Although I found the music on YouTube, please buy the soundtrack if you enjoy it. It’s the ethical thing to do.
Enjoy, Denigris  September 27th, 2009 |  Entertainment, Multimedia, Music |  Category: Entertainment, Music |  Leave a comment  I want to start out with something that is dear to my heart. I am an American. I was born in America. I will die in America. Being an American is more than just where you spend your life, it’s where your heart is, where your ideas and values are formed. Being an American is being a truly unique person from a culture that holds freedom to be the most dearest of things we have. We have always fought to preserve that freedom for ourselves and even bring it to other peoples who wish to have it.
The president is an office, not a man. It’s called, “The office of the President of the United States” . Mr. Obama is our office holder, the man we elected through a democratic process to be the president that presides over that office. Make no mistake. President Obama is the president of the United states and I will always respect any man we elect president regardless of the extent to which I may, or may not, agree with his ideologies and policies. In America, the firm voice of the American people in the running of our government is a freedom we guard fiercely. This is part of what makes America great. I needed to make that clear. I support the president. But I do not support many of his actions. I find them alarming. Since being elected, he has been pushing every agenda possible on congress and the American people as fast as humanly possible even demanding deadlines at times. He seems to be in such a hurry, that discussion or regard for whether it’s in the best interest of the country take a back seat to his initiatives. Congress was taking a breath to talk more about health care as he abruptly turned his attention toward our children. On Tuesday, he addressed our kids directly, in a speech that was officially supposed to be a pep talk about the importance of education. That’s good. That’s why we have schools to begin with. What was not at all acceptable; It was suggested to school boards that they broadcast the C span live feed of the speech to our kids during class time. Why this doesn’t outrage people across the board regardless of demographics or political affiliation is a mystery to me. I find this development seriously unnerving, with a serious potential for widespread harm. This address to the schools and it’s format removes choice out of curriculum and turns schools into political battlefields where ideology, not the education of our children, is suddenly the issue. The school board no longer has the ability to decide whether they should broadcast the speech in classrooms, because the president suggested that they do. When a president makes a suggestion in the White House, it’s an order. When he makes it to the public, it becomes political correctness. The real power of this maneuver is simple. It makes little difference what he actually says in his speech. What does matter is how effective the whole thing is at forcing the values and emotions of the parents to the surface. The perceived danger to their children sets the parents at odds with each other and the administration of the school boards, which in most cases are elected positions. Whether the school board broadcasts the speech or not becomes irrelevant. It’s a no win situation for the school board. The damage is done. But the parents will be divided and that’s the beauty of it. The school board can be replaced or modified in the elections because of the new attitudes of the parents, and there’s a chance to influence our education system. A powerful strategy indeed. There is one final thought about this. Distraction is a powerful tool. It’s useful for taking people’s focus off of important current issues. If my analysis is correct, this school speech relies on distraction to be effective, and has little to do with it’s declared audience. The more effective the results of this speech are, the more likely it is that distraction will be used in future political initiatives. I hope I’m wrong. I don’t have any problem admitting that I tend to think worst-case. I hope this is one of those times. With respect to the President of the United States, and my fellow Americans, Denigris Today’s rant comes from the drivers seat of my car during my hour long commute home this evening. To be specific, 1 AM Pacific Standard, but who’s counting. And yea, I know it’s eco irresponsible of me to drive 90 miles a day through a mountain pass to go to work 80 hours a paycheck. Nobody’s perfect.
I can feel good about myself because I don’t drive a *Hummer, I drive a Kia. This isn’t because I’m a tree hugger, it’s because I don’t have $68,000. I also don’t have that troublesome $950.00 down, plus tax, license, dealer and destination fees. I’d like to say that extra $50.00 in the down is the deal breaker. Yea, right. Me; “I simply won’t pay $1000.00 down and $68,000 sticker. Why that down payment is highway robbery! I won’t do it and that’s that! It’s $950 bucks and not a penny more!” Salesman; “certainly sir. Would you care for a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon while you consider our wide selection of well appointed, reduced price clearance models available for well qualified buyers? You can feel assured that your purchase is a responsible investment in supporting our environment. 18% of the steel in this fine vehicle’s design and construction is made from reclaimed shipyard hulls.” I envision myself driving 3.19 tons of 324 cubic inch V8 310 horsepower monster testosterone machine. I feel no guilt at my vision of fourteen miles to the gallon, or the 100 octane racing fuel I intend to use. As I’m dreaming about a second mortgage, I notice women walking past the dealership. Without fail, they look into the sparkling windexed showroom glass with dissaproving shakes of their heads. I lose all hope of getting into that clearance priced, pre owned hummer. All kidding aside, there is an important transition to be made at this point. After having given it quite a bit of thought, it seems to me that a shift in attitudes in our society has been occurring for some time now. I think it has a lot to do with the current political climate and our history as a society, but it’s disconcerting just the same. Men are being discouraged from acting like men, and enjoying manly kinds of things. Driving that Hummer, for instance. Did you know that according to the L.A. Times, every year the average dairy cow produces 19.3 pounds of organic gases that interact with other pollutants to produce more smog annually than cars, trucks, or pesticides? In spite of this fact, men are made to feel guilty for driving a truck instead of a Hybrid. So back to men and crying. How come men don’t cry? Well, truth be told, we do. In private. This is what the girls don’t get. We guys have feelings, we just don’t parade them in public. Ladies, have you ever wondered why your man won’t cry in front of you, or in public with you? Guys, have you given any thought to why you don’t? That’s easy. Because it’s what she wants you to do. I know; shocking, repulsive. How can I say such a thing in the presence of ladies ? Hey girls, lighten up - he loves you, ok? But here’s the thing - we are going to act manly regardless of whether or not it’s socially and politically correct. We’re not going to go all feminine just because it seems to others that we’re just a little to much on the macho side for the comfort of others. Testosterone, football, poker and Doritos strongly influence the way men see - and react - to the world around them and/or the two of you. Just because you don’t see him react the way you do to a tear-jerker isn’t cause for alarm and dosen’t mean he’s “out of touch with his feelings”. Don’t encourage him to cry more. It won’t make him a “more sensitive” guy. It just cheeses him off because it’s like you want him to be a girly man. If you keep pushing it, he’s unlikely to cry about anything, ever again. So don’t try to make him express himself the same way you do. Remember; for guys, tears are optional equipment. You’re the one with the Estrogen. Vive la différence! The more comfortable men can be in their masculinity, the more comfortable women can be with their femininity. A brief scent, a classy dress, shiny hair, a graceful step to your walk. Like a fine meal, presentation outshines the food. You know, it really is our differences that make us two half’s of a wonderful whole. I don’t watch, “Lifetime”, “Oxy”, “We” or any of the, “I am woman, watch me be victimized”, channels. That’s because women are strong and shouldn’t ever be characterized any other way, even if it is “based-on-a-true-story”. The other side of that coin; Men have strong emotions and even cry during “Steel Magnolia’s”. Your man just didn’t let you see the tears. That would be embarrassing. By the way, chances are he actually liked that movie but would rather have his legs waxed than admit it. So to sum it all up; guys that cry in front of other people on a regular basis might just represent the exception not the rule. I’d say that for these men, the chances of ending up on a therapist’s couch, or an episode of Oprah might be just a bit higher. Ladies, lets leave it at that. Denigris * Hummer® is a product of General Motors Corporation. Prices, and statistics vary by vehicle, seller, and terms. Some literary license is assumed.  Yesterday, I got to see a violinist that was absolutely outstanding. His name is Drew Tretick, and he plays an elecric violin that has a connection similar to Wifii. He was very personable, and very good. I throughly enjoyed his “street performace”. I would have bought one of his CD’s right then and there if I had any cash on me at the time.
I’m not much of a shopper , but like most guys, recreational shopping is a necessary part of life. That’s because it’s something the ladies like to do. And where the lady goes, we guys must follow. I think it must be an Estrogen thing. Testosterone seems to inhibit the development of the window shopping gene. I mean, women really enjoy gazing at things they aren’t going to buy, spraying testers of goodness knows what all over themselves, and trying on metric tons of clothing and jewelry. They really enjoy it, and this is a mystery that befuddles every guy that’s ever dated. Over the last two days, my lady and me have gone to Downtown Disney, a shopping area adjacent to Disneyland and the Disney resort in Anaheim California. By the way, I do say some nice things about Downtown Disney but I’m not creating a commercial here. Anyway, we have annual passes to Disneyland, so we go in the park a lot, often just to eat some Mexican food, feed the ducks, and shoot a few rounds at the shooting gallery. We rarely go in the shopping area because we tend to be pretty broke. As in without significant cash flow. This may seem a contradiction in circumstances, but my wallet and me have discovered that the free entertainment is really fun. 
Why indeed.
The above quote is from this article by Marylin Adamson at http://www.everystudent.com So why does the universe obey rules? Why doesn’t the universe and our very reality, exist in an eternal state of constant and complete chaos? It’s obvious that we could not exist in a reality like that, without structure and void of universal physical laws. If we are to accept that we exist in an uncaring and impersonal universe, we have to face the fact that our reality doesn’t shape itself to accommodate us. But we do exist, and so do the rules. We can’t have it both ways, so back to square one. Why does the universe obey the rules that we had no part in creating? The answer is simpler than we would have it. The universe is structured, ordered, and consistent for our benefit. It has indeed been shaped to accommodate us. It’s the only explanation that makes any sense given the facts. Hi all My very favorite Linux distribution, Ubuntu, has released version 9.04 . This latest version, known as “Jaunty Jakalope” is now available for download at http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . I read a review Ubuntu’s add/remove software utility has a wealth of open source software that you can have it install with the check of a box. No muss, no fuss. JJ has taken this install repository one step further, offering access to drivers and software that are outside of their normal community supported library. In my opinion, 9.04 is one of the best ubuntu releases yet, although I also really like Intrepid Ibex which was the last release. There are a few quirky aspects (to me anyway) that I am almost hesitant to mention for fear that I am simply doing something wrong. A main one is that the desktop seems to dissapear icons even though they are in the desktop directory. It hasn’t done this lately. Maybe it was just a new install thing. Ubuntu has a new desktop release about every three years, but respository access is available long after the next release is made. The Ubuntu installer lets you make choices about how it should use disk space. The hard drive may be partitioned to leave the old installation or other contents intact, or the disk can be wiped before installation. You can also decide how much of the drive you will be using for the linux installation. In this way, you can actually run more than one operating system, known as a “dual boot”. Ubuntu uses a type of file system that keeps a disk buffer of the disk reads and writes. If the power goes out, or some other interruption, and the computer’s hard drive was in the middle of a write operation, it can recover with a minimum of lost data and file corruption when the system goes back up. This isn’t new by any means, but I like it so much I wanted to mention it anyway. Write at ya’ later, Denigris  Caught your eye, eh? Admittedly, the title is meant to be a hook. However, the extent to which it grabbed your attention is negligible when compared to the effect it has on automated information collection systems. These are known by a number of different names; “robots”, “‘bot’s”, “web crawlers”, and “crawlers” are some of the more common ones. For the sake of clarity, I’ll collectively call them, “Crawlers”. Crawlers are software that silently scans or “crawls” the web looking for useful content. This information gathering can be completely legitimate. It can also be shady or even criminal.
An example of the legitimate use of crawlers is the so called “Googlebot”. There are many different kinds of crawlers that Google uses depending on the functions that are being supported. The so called “Googlebot” goes from one web domain to another indexing the contents for it’s search engine. Another example of the legitimate use of crawlers is software that searches the internet for education or research projects independent of traditional search engines. |
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that was critical of JJ but I have to say that I’m very impressed with this version. It’s been very stable for me, and it has drivers that make my computer’s equipment work well. This is significant since it’s installed on one of my old computers. It only has 512 megabytes of RAM and a video card that isn’t exactly state of the art.