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China irks US with computer security review rules - Technology | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news

jim® — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:58:00 GMT

This one just makes you scratch your head and say, why?!

Considering I spend a portion of my day stopping Chinese hackers (among other countries) from entering Axcess' network illegally, its strange why we would want to provide the Chinese government with the technology and tools to circumvent the security that helps me and others like me do our jobs.

Go figure!

China irks US with computer security review rules - Technology | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news

December 7th, 1941 - A date which will live in infamy...

jim® — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:01:00 GMT

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, stunned virtually everyone in the United States military. Japanese carrier-launched bombers found Pearl Harbor totally unprepared. President Franklin Roosevelt quickly addressed Congress to ask for a declaration of war as illustrated in this audio excerpt. Although he never mentioned Europe or the fact that Germany had by then declared war on the United States, the Pearl Harbor attack allowed him to begin the larger intervention in the European war he had long wanted.

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Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of American was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese government also launched as attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Wake Island.

And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. . .

Pay No Tax For Two Months?

jim® — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:18:19 GMT

I received this article today from my wife DeLeesa, she seems to think it might have merit. Although I agree with her that the idea does have merit. I am concerned with how it actually would work.

First, I am sure that larger companies are not able to modify their payroll systems for just 2 months, I am also concerned about how the IRS would handle this, given the current tax code, I estimate that it would take the IRS at least 6 months (and that is being generous) to define the rules for estimated taxes and at least a year or more to implement them.

Which means that even in the best of times (which we all know is not the case here), it would be at least 2 years before any of us would see a dime.

Although I like how Mr. Gohmort thinks, I am concerned that even if his plan was to gain momentum in Committee, that Ms. Pelosi would never let it reach the floor, let alone make it over to Mr. Reid's domain.

To allow a 2 Month Tax Holiday would in my opinion do the following:

Lift the wool over the eyes of the average citizen when it comes to their return on investment on taxes.
Give the average citizen the notion that more economic freedom is a good thing, something the government doesn't want.
Relinquish the control over social engineering tax by allowing workings 100% control of their effort, another thing the government would not want.
And lastly, to show the average citizen how incredibly convoluted the tax code is and in the process, show how a Fair Tax system might actually work, another thing that the majority in Congress would not support.

I wish Mr. Gohmert luck in his endeavors, I just have my misgivings as to whether or not he will succeed. Regardless though, it's definitely better than another, destined to fail bail-out in my book.

Pay No Tax For Two Months? - HUMAN EVENTS

Something to be thankful for, in other words...Happy Thanksgiving

jim® — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:55:00 GMT

I decided today to start a new tradition in our house, and that is to have someone in the family give a toast or a short speech before we eat. For the most part in my family, it's always been the traditional prayer and then "let's eat" - this year it will be different, below is the speech I wrote for today:

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Today we are celebrating, just as the first settlers and the Pilgrim Fathers once did. They gave thanks that they had landed safely in a new country where they could worship as they pleased. They thanked God for their first Harvest.

It is hard for us to imagine their trials and tribulations. We who can fly around the world or send a man to the moon have no real conception of life aboard the sailing ships of yore. Many of us have only seen on television the persecution some of them were escaping. Their clothes, their language would all seem strange to us today.

Yet people themselves do not change much over the centuries. For all of us a celebration means food and laughter and good company, whether it's in Washington or Connecticut or somewhere in between. It is interesting too to think that the reasons for celebration are the same from one continent to another. Wherever we are we celebrate weddings and christenings and, of course, the harvest. For without it, even those without religious believe know their tables would be empty.

In his 1789 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, President Washington beseeched the almighty God, asking that "he [God] pardon our national and other transgressions; - to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually..." he also asked that he "...grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best."

Strange isn't it? To hear a politician asking the Lord to forgive us and our country for doing something wrong and then saying that we only deserve what he [God] feels we deserve.

I have from time to time found myself in situations in which I thought my life was forfeit. It was only then that I made the promise that for I to live I would be "Thankful for everyday" - Unfortunately since those times that has not always been the case. I too have often fallen into the trap of thinking about the things that I don't have, instead of the things that I do have.

There is a poem, which begins with the words,

"What is this life if full of care.
We have not time to stop and stare."

It goes on to say that our life is poorer if we do not have time to see the squirrels in the grass and the stars in the sky. It is a poem about appreciation and so too is Thanksgiving.

As our ancestors were, we too are thankful for food and freedom. We should, though, also be thankful for the gift of appreciation itself.

As we sit down this Thanksgiving Day, surrounded by family and friends, let us try to remember to not only be thankful for the present, but mindful of the past.

I know I will.

Warm regards,
jim®

Nero 9, a fiddle in Stradivarius clothing

jim® — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:57:00 GMT

Many of you know that I have supported Nero Burning Rom since it's early days, when the only place to get it was http://www.ahead.de.

I have even pushed it on my family members. I have upgraded religiously and for the most part have used every tool they offer. I started to get concerned with size and bulkiness of Nero 7, and when 8 came a long at 328MB it was just too much in my book; however I was having some problems with bugs in 7, and a colleague told me that they had been addressed in 8, so I figured I should upgrade.

I will admit, for the most part I have been happy with 8; although I honestly don't use it as often some others may, it seems to do the job, and if you install it correctly by disabling the Nero Scout, then speed is usually not a factor.

However there comes a time when software companies seem to be more interested in making money than they are in turning out good software, and Nero 9 definitely fits that bill. At a whopping 537MB, this latest folly by Nero AG is far from a quick download, unfortunately even on my multi-T1 (not DSL or Cable mind you, but a CIR guaranteed circuit) it took almost 30 minutes and this was in the early morning hours to boot.

After the download completed, I was able to watch two recorded episodes of The O' Reilly Factor before the installation completed. I am not kidding, on my personal workstation, a custom built Dual Pentium 4 with 4GB RAM running Windows XP Pro 32-bit, it took almost hour to install!

After the install was complete, it required a reboot (Windows, go figure) - so after rebooting, I was anxious to start using this new program, so I immediately clicked on my launch icon for Nero SmartStart and low and behold, I thought something went wrong, because it looked just like Nero 8. Except for the start-up splash screen (loader) which is now a wavy bezier line, instead of a the spinning circle, nothing, I mean nothing about the interface has really changed.

I will admit, there are some new features; for instance the launch center now supports playing audio and video files; however I already have iTunes and Microsoft Media Player, so I personally don't need that, also it seems that Nero is trying to get into the PC Television market, by offering tools to watch and record television on your computer, and the BackItUp tool is now a separate download. Also, Nero Scout seems to have disappeared, at least it wasn't in the list of programs to install when I did my custom install.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I say to you, it's apparent that Nero has gone the way of all good software companies after they start to see a little money, make it bigger, more bloated, and whatever you do, make sure you churn out a new version every year.

If you were looking for the Stradivarius of DVD/CD burning software, you will unfortunately not find it here. As I write this blog post (on my laptop) I have been uninstalling Nero 9 on my desktop, and so far it is still not done! There is something to be said about a software application that takes almost an hour to install and uninstall :-(

However; as often is the case, I have found a new DVD/CD burning software that much like Nero did when it was young, seems to do one thing and one thing very well. So far I am quite impressed, for one thing, the 8.7MB download was very promising. It's still too soon to call, but I have downloaded the trial of Oront Burning Kit 2 and will let you know how I make out. If you want to check it out for yourself visit this link.

Regards,
jim®

A Few Words About Veteran's Day...

jim® — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:35:00 GMT

I was sitting here on this Veteran's Day, trying to think of something to blog about, I mean of all people, a veteran should know what to say; right? Well that's just not the case. I pride myself on being a learned man, one who knows what to say at the right time; however for those of us who have served our country know that although we are proud to have served, we are humbled by those who served with us and didn't come home, and it is often too difficult to write about it; however I fortunately have the luxury of quoting others who have come before me...

In the book, Gates of Fire, the author writes, "When a warrior fights not for himself, but for his brothers, when his most passionately sought goal is neither glory nor his own life's preservations, but to spend his substance for them, his comrades, not to abandon them, not to prove unworthy of them, then his heart truly has achieved contempt for death, and with that he trancends himself and his actions touch the sublime. This is why the true warrior cannot speak of battle save to his brothers who have been there with him. This truth is too holy, too sacred for words. I myself would not presume to give it speech, save here now, with you."

For those who have never dug a hole in the ground to hide from the enemy, or stood vigil in freezing temperatures on a ship somewhere in the North Atlantic, or flown through a hail of anti-aircraft flak, or repelled out of a helicopter 100 feet from the ground to rescue a downed pilot, it is hard to comprehend why someone so young, so full of life would be willing to make the ulitmate sacrifice for a cause that is not their own; however if you think that, then you would be wrong, because these individuals don't give their lives for the cause, they don't make the ulitmate sacrifice for God, for Country, or even for their President. They give their lives for something much greater, much more profound, they do it for their fellow brothers-in-arms.

Lt. Col Mark A. Smith, USMC of TF 2/24, Mahmudiyah, Iraq writes in his letter to the family of fallen Marine LCpl Daniel Wyatt:

"...I am under-educated gun toter from Indiana who is just lucky there is an organization like the USMC where a half-wit like myself with some rudimentary combat skills can succeed. But I do know heros! I am surrounded by over a thousand of them. And I am not the least bit ashamed to tell you I have wept like a baby for Daniel Wyatt. Because when one of these heroes falls, it is as if an Angel of God himself has fallen from heaven!.

I will not profess glory of battle or any other such hype. I will profess duty and sacrifice. Daniel showed us all true duty and ulitmate sacrifice. I have no doubt that the instant he died, he was whisked to heaven on the wings of Angels and placed before the unapproachable light of Jesus, who himself said: "greater love hath no man, than a man lay down his life for his friends."

After reading that I was reminded of a paragraph in President Ronald Reagan's book, "The Wisdom and Humor of the Great Communicator" - in it he writes:

"It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives - the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember."

So to all those reading this, veterans and civilians alike, I would say, let us not forget the Daniel Wyatt's of this world, for truly to forget their sacrifice is to dishonor their death.

Regards,
Jim

So much for change

jim® — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:22:00 GMT

I have been holding off blogging on this subject; because I, like so many other Republicans was hopeful that the "change" Mr. Obama spoke about on the campaign would be a visible change from the current politics as usual in Washington.

However after the fourth top official announcement today; it's apparent to me that Mr. Obama is either catering to the left; or is really a left-wing radical in sheep's clothing.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that all of Mr. Obama's key top officials are not only strong Democrats but are part of the Washington Elite, which begs one to ask, where is the CHANGE you promised Mr. Obama?!

I was not surprised when he picked Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff, I expected him to pick a strong democrat with close ties to Pelosi and Reid; however when I heard that Sen. Hillary Clinton was on the short-list for Secretary of State, I started to scratch my head. Now I hear that he wants Eric Holder as Attorney General, and today he announced Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

So, let's do roll call shall we?

Rahm Emanuel:

Product of Chicago Democratic machine politics
known as hyperpartisan on the Hill
former loyal Clinton administration lieutenant

Senator Hillary Clinton:

First Lady in Clinton White House
Senator, New York
In her own words, "35 years experience in politics"

Eric Holder:

Number 2 man in the DOJ under Bill Clinton's Administration
Involved with the Rich Pardon

Senator Tom Daschle:

Former Democratic Senator, 1986-2004 (Majority Leader 2001-2004)
Former Democratic Congressman, 1978-1986
Accused of falling down on the job, when it came to the Federal Judiciary and appointments of Judges, With 90 vacancies he refused to bring votes on judicial nominees because as he told President Bush, "you have no leverage"

Is it just me? or am I seeing a pattern here? It's looking like an Obama White House is going to look an awful lot like a Clinton White House? Maybe Hillary didn't need to run for office after all :)

I just finished telling a Democrat friend of mine how I really do want to see Obama do well; it's in all our best interests that he does; however I have serious concerns about what an Obama White House is going to look like after all is said and done.

I guess only time will tell.

-jim

November 4th is Here!

jim® — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:01:00 GMT

Wow, I can hardly believe it, after 21 months of campaigning, it's finally over (or will be in a few hours, I hope.)

I know some of you are probably saying that I am going to plug McCain one last time, but your are wrong, not in this post. This post is to all those American's out there who feel that there vote does not count.

I think Albert Einstein said it best, when he said:

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs."

What does that mean you say?

It means if you haven't already done so, go out and vote for a candidate, partisan politics aside, anyone who has told you it doesn't matter who you vote for is full of it.

Vote, and vote now! - it's not only your right as an American citizen, it's your duty!

Regards,
jim®

It's OK To Skip Vista

jim® — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:14:00 GMT

OK, after the PDC this week and looking at all the news about Win7, it's my opinion that you are going to be fine skipping Vista and upgrade to Win7 when it comes out, or even after Win7 SP1 has been released.

There has been a LOT of information released this week, since the pre-beta is now available and the main features have surfaced. Some people claim though that Win7 really is putting lipstick on a pig, and they say performance at the moment seems to be the same as Vista, and it's just as consumer focused (and sometimes confusing) as Vista.

Others claim that Win7 is tighter and leaner, has better device integration and has a bunch of IT-friendly features. A change like the elimination of in-memory double buffering of window contents, will make a huge difference in the memory footprint and overall demand.

I think that Redmond has learned some lessons and that the wait for Win7 will be worth it.

Expect general availability in Q1 2010 if the operating system remains on schedule.

A 1969 perspective on computers in the future

jim® — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:40:00 GMT

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A 1969 perspective on computers in the future | Classics Rock | TechRepublic.com