Vigilante Paedophile Hunters... What Next?

So I read an article on Vice today, about vigilante paedophile hunters operating in various cities across Canada. Now I agree that child exploitation of any kind is a bad thing, and needs to be stopped, but this article really did not sit well with me. So I've broken it down here for analysis. I'll start off with a picture that was featured in the article, and then go from there.

A mason worker living in Calgary with three pit bulls...

Three pit bulls? So he's got a tiny penis and a chip on his shoulder, with something to prove to the world. Great start. The shirtless, tattoo-revealing picture in the article only adds to that image.

Just thinking about child predators, it seems, never ceases to make his blood boil.

Yes, probably in much the same way that closeted gay and transvestite politicians try to pass laws that target gays and transvestites. Can we say self loathing?

But Raymond assures me he takes a cooler approach when posing as a 13-year-old girl on popular dating sites.

Oh, I'm sure he does... while typing one handed.

...Raymond started confronting these men at malls and fast food joints with cameras rolling, later posting the videos and chat logs online

Oh that's good. Convict them in the court of public opinion before any charges are even laid against them. I smell a slander lawsuit here.

His site even includes a legal disclaimer: "All persons portrayed are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," it reads. "We make no assertions of guilt and provide our viewers with content within the limits of Section 309 of the Criminal Code of Canada."

No assertions of guilt? Really? I would consider confronting a person in a public place with your "evidence" an assertion of guilt.

This guy, and people like him are doing more harm than good. These antics of theirs could end up botching an already ongoing police investigation and costing the police a conviction, for starters. Also, the accused should be entitled to the same privacy as the alleged victims, since if they don't receive that privacy, they are convicted in the court of public opinion before they ever go to an actual court. So even if a court finds them not guilty, they will still be stigmatized for the rest of their lives because of the publicity given before the trial. The accused should also not have to be subjected to this kind of public humiliation, when it has not been legally proved that they have done anything wrong. In the case of chat logs and pictures sent over the internet, the accused's guilt certainly does seem pretty cut and dried, there doesn't seem to be any way to get out of that one. But that's not the point. The point is, our legal system does not work that way. The accused needs to be properly charged by legally authorized police officers, not this tattooed wannabe with the inferiority complex, and then the accused needs to stand a proper trial, and face conviction or acquittal. That's how our legal system works. I don't like paedophiles any more than most people, and I certainly don't think they deserve any special treatment. And that's not what I'm advocating here. I'm advocating the treatment that the law prescribes, which is not what people like this guy are providing.

And I might add, he's probably hoping articles like the one on vice will get him enough publicity for a reality TV show.

~Mahalo~

Et tu, U2? Or, Cookin up a Kerfuffle!

Well, by now, many of you are aware of the fact that U2 released their new album this week, for free, on iTunes. That wasn't a problem. The problem is that Apple did not just make it available for users to download freely. Oh no. They distributed it automatically to all users. Yes. So millions of iTunes users were finding a new album suddenly added to their collection, want it or not.

Now of course, I don't fault U2 for this, I fault Apple. And as much as I don't like to jump on the bandwagon of comparing Tim Cook to Steve Jobs, I have to say, in this instance, Steve wouldn't have done that. How do I know? Simple. Steve was a firm believer that the customer should have to *always* confirm that they wanted to perform an action, or allow permissions or agree to terms and conditions. Steve believed that the user should always have to accept and confirm these actions, so that the user could never come back on Apple and say "Hey, I didn't know you were doing that" or "Hey, I didn't authorize that". Jony Ive has mentioned this in interviews, as has Phil Schiller. So that's how I know Steve wouldn't have done this, even though Steve was a fan of U2, and a friend of Bono.

Do we need to string Tim up for this? Of course not. He's probably learned his lesson from this little experiment, and the various dept VPs are probably giving him a lot of I told you sos.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to remove from my collection a mediocre album that I did not ask for.

~Mahalo~

Civil war in the Ukraine / Star Wars is NOT a 'reboot'!

So, the recent news out of the Ukraine is that Russian-centric rebels have shot down two Ukrainian helicopters over Slavyansk. I dunno bout you Bubba, but it sure looks like it's about damn time to call this a civil war. As I mentioned in my previous entry on this subject, there's likely nothing short of a US invasion that will stop Putin. Now of course, Moscow hasn't been directly tied to any of the current activity in the Ukraine, but no analyst could deny that Putin is behind it all. He has intentionally destabilized the area, especially with his bold move into Crimea. Putin isn't a stupid man, far from it, he's quite a shrewd manipulator. He's well aware of how his actions in Crimea would have emboldened other pro-Russia separatists. And now he's going to let them fight it out, and ensure that he gives as much unofficial support from Moscow as he can manage. And being a KGB man, he knows many ways to provide support that a standard politician would not think of. 

So now... we have civil war in the Ukraine, and possibly a precursor to rebuilding the former Soviet Union, a great dream of Putin's. 

The other half of the title of this entry? Why are so many in the media talking about the upcoming Star Wars trilogy as though it's a reboot? No. It is not. Star Wars VII - IX is simply the next trilogy in the overall saga that is Star Wars. Sure, it could be seen as a rejuvenation of the franchise, but it's not a reboot in the sense of remaking the original story, as has been done with so many movies lately, like Robocop, for example. Or the three or four variations of The Punisher. Or the Batman saga, or Spider-Man. 

J. J. Abrams is not remaking the original Star Wars saga. He is simply in charge of the next part of the story. Stop calling it a reboot. 

~Mahalo~

The O'Reilly / Beyonce Issue, in a nutshel

When did entertainers suddenly become national, or even international, parents? Yes, they are role models, in the sense that the youth look up to them, and are influenced by them. But how does that make them responsible for setting a good example? Bill O'Reilly wants to bash Beyonce because her videos are sexual in nature, and aren't setting a good example for the youth. But why is it Beyonce's responsibility to set that example? Sure, a lot of kids look up to her. Sure, she has a major influence on the youth of today. But that doesn't mean she has a responsibility to anyone, or anything. She's an entertainer. That's all. Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber too. None of them have a responsibility to set a good example, and parents need to stop blaming entertainers.

Responsibility falls squarely on parents, to ensure that their kids know the distinctions, and know what's right in those videos, and songs, and movies, and games, and what's wrong in them. I grew up watching Ozzy Osbourne, but you don't see me biting the heads off live bats. I've watched KISS, Sabbath, Priest, Zeppelin, Tull... I've seen The Exorcist, The Shining, IT... I'm not dressing up as a killer clown, mainlining heroin, worshipping the devil or chasing my wife around a hotel maze with an axe in my hands.

Thankfully, O'Reilly's target audience is his age and older. Thankfully, the youth will be making the decisions for our society, and they don't watch his drivel. Now as long as they don't try to emulate their entertainers, we might be ok.

~Mahalo~

Crimea's down, Ukraine unstable, Latvia next?

So Mr. Putin seems to be making some bold moves lately. Is it just me, or is he becoming a Bond villain? Vladimir Putin has visions of grandeur, and it may not be purely narcissistic.  He wants to be in league with the other great 'ins', Stal and Len. He's trying to rebuild the former Soviet Union, and isn't making any bones about it. What's scarier is that his popularity, among Russians, is high. The Russian people, or at least a majority of, seem to support this dream of his. 

And fuck me if I'm crazy, but he's doing a better job of Cold War politics than Mikhael Gorbachev could have ever managed. Putin's just walking in and taking what he wants, damn the rest of the world. Gotta hand it to him, he's got flaws, but he's a strong leader. I really don't like most of his social policies, and certainly not his stances on LGBT equality, or women's rights. But he is a strong leader. 

And back on this side of the pond, Obama is powerless to stop him. Many people are faulting Obama right now for being weak, but let's face it, what more can he do? Nothing short of a full invasion is going to make a difference and nobody wants that. Russia's military is much stronger than it was at the turn of the century/millennium, and they'd be able to put up much more fight than the US wants to face. Not to mention Russia's inter-continental ballistic capabilities, nuclear or other. 

No, an invasion of Russia is not a solution. Obama is not weak, he's powerless. Weak suggests that he could do something and won't, which isn't the case. He can't do any more than he already has. If sanctions aren't enough to stop Putin, we may just have to sit back and watch him rebuild the union, because the alternative may be even worse. 

~Mahalo~

Ballmer On His Way Out, Surface: One More Kick At The Can

So, in a recent interview, Ballmer says Microsoft must seize crucial opportunities in cloud computing services, online subscriptions to Office, and search engine Bing. Really? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say Microsoft should have seized those opportunities, and now is in danger of losing out in those markets? I wonder if Bill Gates is disappointed in how his company has been handled by this used car salesman who latched onto him in Harvard. One can only hope the new CEO will manage to salvage what's left.

Microsoft surface/surface2: tablet or net book with touch screen? Microsoft's engineers just can't seem to get out of the laptop paradigm. The surface is supposed to be a tablet, but is it? Let's look closely at it. First off, it comes with a keyboard as a physical component of the device, not an add-on, like with most other tablets. Now, Microsoft believes this to be a positive, because business consumers want a keyboard. But the very fact that it has a keyboard takes it out of the tablet category and puts it back in the notebook/netbook category. Second, look at the OS. It's not a true mobile OS like iOS or android. It's an adaptation of a desktop OS, designed to work with a touchscreen. Another feature that takes surface out of the tablet category and puts it back into the netbook category. Hell, it even has a trackpad. If Microsoft's marketing department thinks this is what consumers want, they should do two things: look at the success of other tablets that don't have these features, and; market the surface in the netbook category. Personally, I would think the surface's dismal sales thus far should have been enough to convince them that what they think customers want is inaccurate.

~Mahalo~

WWDC MMXIII Revisited

Well, the 2013 edition of Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference has come and gone, and left us in awe. Do I have to say I want iOS7? Of course I want it. In my previous entry, I declared my faith in Jony's vision and I have to say, it wasn't misplaced. As for Tim, as I've said in the past, and it's more evident now, he's coming into his own. He's finding his footing and I think he's doing well.

So many things to blog about. From iOS7 to the new MacBook Air, to the new Mac Pro, including a wonderful quote from Phil Schiller, to wit: "Can't innovate anymore my ass". Loved it. I'm not gonna fill the page with a whole bunch of the same old pictures that every other blog is using. You've seen them, and it just slows down the page. But I'd like to discuss some of the new things we have to look forward to.

Of course, the big one: iOS7. It's flatter, it's not skeumorphic, no virtual cows or virtual trees were harmed in its creation. I can't wait to try it, but I'm not downloading the beta. That's for app developers to test their apps against to try and have their apps ready for the iOS7 launch. It's not for the average person to run on their iPhone. So while I really want it, I'll wait until it's officially released. It looks fantastic though. It's clean, it's smooth, it's functional.

~Mahalo~

What ever became of proof reading?

When I was in high school, late 80s, in English class, I remember how much the teachers back then would hammer into us the importance of spelling and grammar. Especially, they said, if any of us wanted to be journalists, or book authors or perhaps even playwrights. (At least one of you reading this will identify).  So it was that my skills and proficiency in spelling and grammar were honed. 

Now, to be fair, I had a head start. When I was around 2 or 3 years of age, my parents started teaching me the alphabet, counting to 100, basic addition and subtraction, and spelling of basic words. By the time I was old enough to enter the state-sponsored programming institution (school, for most of you), I was already at a level a grade ahead of my classmates. I could count to 100, add and subtract single digits, recite the alphabet, spell basic words and read most one and two syllable words. As my grade school career progressed, I became known as a perfect speller, almost never seeing less than 100% on a spelling test.

When I got to high school and began taking English and creative writing courses, spelling was no issue for me, and other students often turned to me for help with that. I was also quite good at spelling words that I was unfamiliar with, by sounding them out in my head, with the rules of the English language in mind, and rarely was I wrong. Grammar was second nature, especially with an English teacher who actually knew the subject well.

Now, all of this is not to toot my own horn, as the saying goes. Rather it is written here to illustrate the schooling I received, and perhaps to investigate the differences between then and now. As I read various blogs and watch vlogs, spelling and grammar issues often jump out at me, quite glaringly. With the current state of writing technology, there should be no errors. MS Office has had spell check and grammatick since before it was even packaged as Office. Mac OS and now OSX have all had equivalents for many years as well. Heck, even iOS has it on iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Spell check, at least, and yet, I see so many spelling errors in works that were made on computers. I used to work with a guy whose spelling was atrocious, and he would ignore or deactivate the spell checker and grammatick in his copy of MS Office, even knowing full well that his spelling sucked.

Few things in the business world look less professional than incorrectly spelled signs and memos, especially with commas and apostrophes in places that don't require them. 

So why is it that so many people these days can't spell? Is it a schooling difference between then and now? Is it mass apathy? Mass dyslexia? Aspartame? (Yeah, I went there.) In this wonderful universe that we call the Internet, many people will often say things like "who cares about my spelling? It's the Internet, it doesn't matter". But here's something to think about: a) the Internet is simply the modern equivalent of newspapers and magazines (at least in regards to news and blogs), so if it mattered in those media, why wouldn't it matter now? And b) if so many people are slamming you for your spelling, clearly it does matter. Personally, when I encounter spelling errors in blogs, vlogs or news articles, it turns me off to the point that I may simply leave that page, and will certainly regard the author in a much less professional light. Not because the author may be dyslexic and I'm a bigot, but because even if you are dyslexic, or have other reading/writing disorders, that's no excuse, because the technology you're using has got your back, if you'll let it.

In closing, quick tips: use spell check; give grammatick a chance; research the differences between your and you're, there, their and they're, it's and its; and learn the rules for apostrophe usage. Trust me, it will make a difference in the level of professionalism your article, blog or book displays. Also, as an example of a grammatically incorrect sentence, take a look at this excerpt from a blog post I recently read: "As the quality of apps improved, as did the feature list of...". To be grammatically correct, that should read "As the quality of apps improved, so (or so too) did the feature list of...". I had another example in mind, but I've forgotten where it is now, so this will have to suffice for now.

~Mahalo~

WWDC MMXIII

World Wide Developers Conference 2013. It's just around the corner, slated for June 10-14. During this 5 day Apple-hosted extravaganza, it is said that Tim Cook is going to unveil plans for iOS 7, OSX, and will likely introduce a few product revamps that will launch in Oct - Nov of this year. The big, highly anticipated change to iOS is..... Drum roll please..... Flatness. What? Yes, flatness. What does that mean? Well, you know how iOS currently looks shiny, and glossy, and 3D? How the Notes app looks like a yellow legal pad, and the contacts booklet looks like a little leather notebook? These features are known as skeumorphic. It was something that Scott Forstall (recently deposed SVP in charge of iOS dev) and Steve Jobs were both fond of, but Jony Ive and Tim Cook are not. Largely because of the processing power (and therefore heat production and power consumption) needed to create these effects, but also because the market trend would seem to be leaning towards a flat UI, such as Microsoft's Metro interface, and even some of Android's recent developments.

So Jony has been tasked with developing a sleeker, flatter UI for iOS 7. I'm not yet sure I have any faith in Tim's leadership of Apple, but I do have faith in Jony's design taste. After all, it was Jony who brought us iMac, in 5 bold colours, not Steve.

Oh and apparently OSX is getting Siri.

Can't wait for it to happen so I can watch the keynote. Any thoughts?

~Mahalo~

It's Not Just Ok, It's Beyond Our Control

I'm not sure why this is coming up so much lately. I guess it's a sign of our times. Recently, a Facebook friend (yes, another one) posted a meme. It was a picture of a woman wearing rainbow stockings. Actually, the picture was mostly her legs, but it was fairly (though not completely) apparent that it was a woman. It could have been a femboy or trans, I'm sure, but that's not the point. The point of the meme was that you were supposed to 'know' that this is a woman. And the caption said "Rainbows. Not as gay as you thought". I have to admit, that gave me pause. Because here's the thing: if rainbows are 'as gay as I thought', the implication there is that this would be a bad thing. If it's bad that rainbows are representative of gay culture, then the implication goes further to suggest that being gay is a bad thing. And that bothers me.

Now, at this point, some of you reading this may be wondering "holy shit, is Destry gay/bi?". (Although there's only 4 of you reading this and you know the answer to that lol) But those of you who truly know me know that I don't just take up a fight only if I have a dog in it. I take up fights when I know it's the right thing to do. When I know, or feel, that I might be able to affect the outcome of a fight in a positive way for those affected, and I feel that it's the right thing to do, I do it. It doesn't matter if it affects me or not. It only matters insofar as it affects my sensibilities. I'm married. To a wonderful woman. So having the right to marry a man has no effect on me. But I think allowing it is the right thing to do. I believe that people are born the way they are, be that L, G, B, T, Q or hetero. I don't believe it's a 'lifestyle choice'. It's who you are. It's decided by genetics and hormones. For some people, it's not immediately apparent, and so when they finally 'come out', their friends and family might wonder why the sudden change? Not realizing that it's not a sudden change, it's just something that the person has finally come to realize, after perhaps years or even decades of introspection. It's not always immediately clear. But genetically, it's always been there.

And it's not always cut and dried either. Recently, on another blog I follow, a trans girl posted about how she hates hearing the names Ann Coulter, or Lady Gaga, because invariably, after some time, somebody will always make the joke that 'she's a guy'. Or "She's a tranny". The term 'tranny', is of course a derisive shortening of 'transexual' or 'transgender'. But the 'joke', made by these people, is that 'she's a guy'. And this trans girl writing the blog goes on to say that she can't get over the fact that these people don't understand how insulting they're being toward her and all trans persons. Because the implication is that a girl who might have a penis is a subject for ridicule. Just that fact is what makes the joke a joke.

A few decades ago, similar 'jokes' were made using racial slurs instead of sexual slurs. They're not different. They're no less offensive, no more acceptable. I think I've reached a boiling point with this sort of thing, and I think some of my 'friends' are going to start finding themselves with one less friend on their list, as I see these things continue. It may not seem like much, but it's a small contribution to the cause of defending LGBTQ rights. We all have the right to not be ridiculed for those things about ourselves which we cannot control.

~Mahalo~

H8rs gon h8 (is that how it's said?)

So, while I'm in blogging form, what's up with the Bieber hateage? I mean, hating his music is fine, we all have different preferences, but why hate him? He hasn't done anything to deserve personal hatred. He's a kid. He's a teen pop star, and good for him. He gets death threats all the time. I've seen Facebook comments talking about castrating the poor kid. Recently, I guess Justin said that he felt he was the Kurt Cobain of his generation. In response, I've seen Facebook comments to the effect of wishing he'd take that comparison all the way and off himself. Why? What has he done that is so bad that people want to castrate him, or see him take his own life the way Cobain did? I don't care for his music, but to each their own. I don't get this level of hatred for the kid.

I was young when Michael Jackson hit the solo scene, and nobody was hating on him like this. But not everybody liked his music. Britney Spears. I can't stand her or her music. But I don't wish harm upon her. I think maybe some people need to tone things down a bit. Hate his music, even hate him if he's doing or saying things you don't like. But until he commits a heinous crime, back off on wishing him harm. Seriously. Let the poor kid live his life. I know, some people are going to take exception to the phrase 'poor kid', and say sarcastic things like "oh he's got it so hard", and talk about how much money he's worth. But seriously, no amount of money is worth having to surround yourself with bodyguards because you know there are people out there who would love to kidnap you and cut your testicles off.

And that's not to mention the effect that his level of fame can have on a person with raging hormones and a still-developing mind. His recent displays of narcissism are a direct result of the fame and fortune he experienced at such a young age. With luck, time and patient parents and handlers, he'll get over it. I just hope his marketers don't just try to milk him for all he's worth and then toss him aside.

I'm tired. It's bedtime.

~Mahalo~

B-I-G-O-T-R-Y

Those of you already following this blog have seen it. Late Monday, a Facebook 'friend' responded to a post of mine with an appalling display of bigotry, the likes of which I've not seen in some time, and would hate to see any of my LGBT friends have to endure. Yes, I do have some. In this day and age, most of us do, even the bigot in question, though he's likely unaware.

Needless to say, I've removed him from my friends list and added him to my 'blocked' list. He has the dubious distinction of being the first.

The post in question was an internet 'meme', as they're known. It was a still photo of Gene Wilder in his role as Willie Wonka. In the picture, Mr Wonka has a very patronizing smile on his face, and the caption goes on to question the claim made by some people that homosexuality is unnatural. The caption disputes this by listing many other 'unnatural' things that we happily accept, like heart surgery.

I shared this meme because I agree with the sentiment and support full equality, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity, religion, gender or gender/sexual orientation. I even have a bit of a 'dog in this fight' as i have family members who are openly gay. My 'friend', who shall now remain nameless as he doesn't deserve the attention, decided to educate us poor equality supporters. To wit: I'll have you know that Gene came from a time when gays were thrown in the gutter. I'm sure he was against homosexuals like anyone else. To put his face on a poster with a gay caption is an insult to him & to me...I'm hardly wrong & theres nothing to get over, but the fact that gays need to disappear fo r good!!!!

Now, nowhere was it claimed that Gene was gay, but regardless of the 'time' he was from, Gene is a progressively-minded man, and even if he does not support equality (which we don't know because he's never been asked) I'm sure he would not be insulted, in fact probably finds the meme funny.

My 'friend' went on to say "He was married to Gilda Radner & practically everyone hated gays back then. Shows how much you know about those times honey, if you were gay or even stuck up for gays you got the shit beaten out of you!!!! & I could care less if you don't like hearing it. Today if you want to be gay then get ready to take the flac that comes with the territory....SIMPLE!!!!!"; and "I could care less if you think I'm wrong, your just one person...remember there will ALWAYS be more against gays than with them...the nagging & the flac will never stop. Gays are too stupid to know that they've opened a BIG fucking wound that will never close..society will never let them live in peace....again SIMPLE!!!!"

More against than with? Hardly. If anything, studies have shown that society as a whole is becoming more accepting with each passing day. As for the rest of it, it sounds like something Strom Thurmond would say. About blacks or gays, take your pick. He was a KKK Grand Dragon, after all.

Anyway, this kind of bigotry really bothers me. Blogging is therapeutic. Comments?

~Mahalo~

Of Love And Circuses...

Love and War? Bread and Circuses? Ah, who cares? Love is a circus. Love is a rollercoaster. All you need is love. John Lennon, smart man, shot in the back, very sad. (Apologies to Judd Hirsch) Anyway, what am I babbling about? Valentine's Day Incorporated.

You all know what I mean. That one day of the year when if you don't do something for your partner, you must not love him/her. And if you don't have a partner, oh you poor, miserable, sad excuse for a human being. That one day of the year when you pay $150 for a restaurant meal that would normally have cost you $50. That one day of the year when you pay $60 for a dozen roses that would normally cost you $20 any other day. $40 for a $10 box of chocolates.

Why do we do it? I don't. I'm happily married over 2 years now, and we don't need to. If you ask us, it's the little things that matter the most anyway. Doing those little things for your spouse/partner on a daily basis shows them that you're constantly thinking about them, much more than a once-per-year box of chocolates will.

What did we do for Valentine's Day? Well, we acknowledged the day and said "Happy Valentine's Day" to each other, but that was about it. Aside from that, chinese takeout for dinner and playing on our computers. Romantic, huh?

~Mahalo~

And Now, An Update On My Quandary

So now that I've waxed philosophical about the Apple vs Samsung lawsuit, it's time to update my personal views, in re the quandary that I discussed in the prior blog entry.

The new keynote was a great success. The unveiling of iPhone 5 was done right. Tim Cook did a good job this time of delivering the address with his own style (albeit sometimes with too much emphasis on certain words, but he's getting there). He no longer looks like an attempt at Steve Jobs 2.0. The team has gelled since Steve's death, and Phil, Scott, Greg et al were all solidly behind Tim in this address, and each played their own parts well. The redesigned iPhone 5, in my opinion, is suitably wowing. I really like the new chassis. It retains the successful elements of the 4 chassis, while innovating that design and updating it with cleaner lines, and a beautiful surface. Johnny's team did a fantastic job with it. Rolling in an 8mp rear facing camera, 720p front facing camera, Facetime over LTE, upgrades to Siri and iOS 6 in the wings, not to mention the 2x faster Apple A6 processor and an increase in battery life, all makes for a great new model of an already great line of smartphone.

Has my quandary been solved? Mostly. In fact, it was greatly narrowed down even before the Sept 12 release of the iPhone 5. I don't trust Google. Yes I know, this blog is on a Google site. That may be changing. It may not, I'm not sure yet. Google is admittedly a front for the US gov't's data mining efforts, and I simply don't want to willingly give them that much of my personal information. My blog is one thing, as is my email. But all the information that gets stored on a smartphone these days? No. Even though I am an Alex Jones fan and viewer, I honestly do not believe that Apple participates in those data mining efforts. At least, not on behalf of the government. Steve was very anti-big government, and I really don't believe he'd have stayed on as CEO if Apple were involved in spying for Big Brother. It is true that the iPhone is capable of being used in that way, but I don't believe Apple actually does. I do however believe that Google does.

So that brought me to a choice between a Windows 8 phone or iPhone 5. Honestly, that choice is a fairly easy one. Microsoft, Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates are a part of the global elite. Would a Microsoft-branded or -powered phone mine data for the gov't and NWO? Most certainly. Again, Steve Jobs was anti- NWO, anti - Big Brother, and pro - individual privacies. And although Steve is no longer with us, I like to believe that Tim, Phil, Scott, Johnny, Greg, etc still follow Steve's ideals in that regard. I believe that the iPhone and iOS will actually allow me to protect those privacies more than its competition.

It's not just the privacy issues though, although that is a big factor in my decision making process. It's also design. The Galaxy is huge. I've played around with one at the local big box store, and it's uncomfortably huge, in my opinion and perception. As is the Nokia Lumia 920. Both sport screens of 4.5 inches or more, making the overall frame of the phone uncomfortably large. That alone tips the scale in favour of the iPhone 5, for me. Combined with the updated features of the iPhone 5, as revealed this week, I believe iPhone 5 is still the leader in this race. At least for me it is. I admit to still being a little unwowed by the New iPad's specs, as compared to the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, but the iPhone 5 has brought me back.

I also revealed, in my first 'quandary' blog post, some thoughts and ideas about Samsung, Android, Apple, and the lawsuit. Well, some of those opinions have been modified, some still stand. One notable modification is my opinion of the lawsuit. After educating myself more on what the lawsuit was about, I'm on Apple's side.  I wish more people would educate themselves before dissenting. I don't care if your opinion still differs from mine after educating yourself, so long as you took the time to do so. I really hate it when people form an opinion without getting all the facts. I still think Samsung has some great products, by the way, and I think Samsung can provide strong competition for Apple. I think Samsung has it within the company to be able to truly innovate, not just copy, and really give consumers a good reason to be undecided. But as my opinions and understanding of Google have changed, my opinion on Android has changed as well, and not for the better.

And that's how my mind wanders. Scary, innit?

~Mahalo~

The Apple vs Samsung Lawsuit

Well, it's over. It's decided. And Apple won. The court decided to award Apple $1 billion of the $2.5 billion they were seeking in damages, too, so it's not a superficial win. It's pretty much a slam dunk. So now I get to rant. Incidentally, I just may start using YouTube for rants. But this one will be typed.

Now, I've been seeing videos and reading blogs with all sorts of arguments about this lawsuit, and a good many of them are chiding Apple for suing in the first place, or the courts for granting this judgement. One vlogger stated that Apple is stifling competition, and they used to be all about competition. Well, I disagree. In fact, I think this is promoting good and fair competition, and attempting to stifle piracy. Now before all the Galaxy/Android fanboys get all up in arms, consider the products that Apple was saying infringed upon their patents. It's not just rounded corners that's the problem. The problem is how Samsung's entire design strategy changed when Apple released the iPhone. And yes, other companies have changed their design strategy similarly, but none as aggressively as Samsung. If Samsung is to compete against Apple, then Samsung should be forced to be as innovative as Apple, not simply take Apple's own design and try to improve on it. The people who argue that the Galaxy looks nothing like the iPhone are being intentionally obtuse. It's a flat bar rectangle with rounded corners, a large screen, volume buttons on the side, and a home button at the bottom of the screen. Sure it's a bit larger, sure the back is curved, but seriously, without seeing logos, and without seeing the screen turned on, first time buyers who know nothing about them wouldn't know which is which. And I know that in the narrow world view of some people out there this may be hard to believe, but there really are people out there who know nothing about the designs of various cell phones on the market, and need to go to various stores to be educated. When they see such similar designs, it makes it difficult for each company's sales personnel to educate the consumer on the differences.

The iPad/Samsung Note 10 issue is another prime example of that. Again, Samsung fanboys don't like to hear it, but Samsung is literally riding on Apple's success and by copying it so blatantly, hoping that consumers won't know the difference, and will buy the lower priced offering. But lower price is not necessarily better price. The consumer needs to decide for themselves which OS is better suited to their needs, as well as which hardware serves them better. Again, for consumers who know nothing about these devices, the difference is hard to see when companies copy each other.

Samsung has even done the same thing with their latest offerings of laptop computers, looking very much like a MacBook Pro. Now, Apple isn't concerned about those of us who know the differences. They're concerned about those who don't. Apple really does appreciate fair competition. But copying their design so close that the uneducated consumer can't readily see the difference in hopes that they'll buy your product because it's a little lower priced is not fair competition. That's not innovation that pushes your own company, or your competition, to do better.

And let's not forget: The jury (none of whom owned Apple products) decided that certain Samsung documents requested by the court indicated quite clearly that Samsung fully intended to copy Apple in this way, and was fully aware that they may be infringing upon Apple's patents. So fanboys, your beloved Samsung is far from innocent here.

Incidentally, I saw a comment on a YouTube video stating something to the effect basically that this decision meant that Microsoft could sue Apple for copying their OS. The poster was rather young of course. Obviously not old enough to have educated him or herself on the actual OS timelines. Apple came out with the graphical OS first, not Microsoft. So going by that person's logic, this decision would mean that Apple could sue Microsoft. Now, it doesn't, of course. That would be a great stretch of the ramifications of this decision. But I just wanted to set that straight. Apple had the GUI first, not Microsoft. And in case anyone reading this thinks I'm just a diehard Apple fanboy, read my previous blog entry. You'll see that I'm currently on the fence with my loyalties. All I'm doing here is pointing out the facts of the lawsuit, which some Samsung fanboys would rather gloss over and intentionally obfuscate.

~Mahalo~

Apple? Or Samsung/Android?

I find myself in a bit of a quandary as of late. Those of you who know me will know that I am a pretty diehard Apple fan boy. I'm not exactly a card carrying member of the Church of Jobs, I don't worship everything Apple does, or Steve did. But I've owned Apple equipment since the Apple IIe. I currently have an iPhone4, a 3rd Gen iPad and a (core duo model) MacBook Pro. I'm not exclusive though, my desktop, self-built, is a Windows 7 system, and my primary laptop (because the MBP is old) is a Windows 7 Samsung. So I'm not one of those fanboys who uses only one in exclusion of all else. I'm also a big fan of Linux-based Operating Systems, and have watched Android's progress with great interest.

But come we here to the aforementioned quandary. I'm disappointed in Apple. There, I said it. Tim Cook has not been wowing me like Steve Jobs did. The 3rd gen iPad was released to very little fanfare and lack lustre reviews. I'll grant the display upgrade was phenomenal, and a dual core processor was a nice boost. But how about the camera(s)? 5Mp is nothing to sneeze at, but when the competition is using 8Mp cameras, it leaves the consumer a little wanting. Even the iPhone 4S has an 8Mp iSight camera, so why doesn't the iPad? Yes I know, it's still 1080p. I know, it sports Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 a/b/g/n, and 4G LTE. I know. But they hardly even tried to wow us with its release. And honestly, Tim looked like an attempt at Steve Jobs 2.0 as he delivered the keynote address. I'm sorry, but he needs his own style. 

But ok, the iPad isn't my biggest gripe. My biggest gripe is the lawsuit. These Samsung lawsuits are already ruining Apple's public image. Apple wants to make the statement not to mess with them. Not to steal from them. (Whether or not Samsung *did* steal anything from Apple is a topic for a totally separate debate.) But that's not the message they're putting out there. The message the public is seeing is that Apple fears Samsung. Apple fears Samsung's innovation. The public is seeing Apple saying "Samsung's products are just like ours but less expensive." Now of course, that's not what Apple *wants* to say. But it is what the public is seeing. 

And to be totally honest, Samsung's products are becoming as good as Apple's, and are indeed less expensive. There was a day when I'd have backed Apple's refutation, and their rebuttal that their products cost more because of the higher cost of manufacturing such high quality products and designs. And I don't know, maybe this is a case where Apple spend millions on R&D to come up with these great manufacturing processes, and along comes Samsung and follows those same processes, but because they didn't have to spend the millions on R&D, they can sell it to the consumer for less. Maybe, I don't know. But even if that's the case, it's time for Apple to stop trying to recoup the R&D money. They have to stay competitive, especially if they're going to survive Steve's death. And maybe that means they have to stop trying to recoup that money, and instead, price their products more at par with their competitors.

Has anyone reading this really looked at Samsung's latest offerings? Their hardware is really, really good. And paired with Android 4.0 ICS, they have a really good platform. Steve once commented on how the reason why he didn't think Android would be as successful in the developer marketplace, and therefore in the consumer marketplace, was because it was Linux-based, and therefore inherently insecure. Not meaning that the Linux kernel was insecure, but that the Open Source model is insecure, because if anybody can write code for it, anybody can break it too. I thought he may have been right at the time. But Android has come a long way since then, and I haven't heard of any significant security issues or exploits.

So, to the specifics of my quandary. With my cellular providor, I have the "new every 2" option, meaning every 2 years, I can upgrade to a new phone and extend my existing contract, as though I were a totally new customer. That 2 year mark will arrive in January 2013, and I'm faced with the choice of upgrading to an iPhone 5 (which is supposed to be coming out around October of 2012), or totally switching and picking up a Samsung/Android phone. If the latter, I would also likely sell my iPad and pick up a Samsung Note 10.1. 

I'm going to wait and see if Mr Cook manages to wow me in October. What are your views? And please, let's keep the Apple or Android bashing to a minimum. I'm looking for reasoned input, not inflexible and often untrue dogma. Comments of the latter variety will be removed. This blog is not a democracy, it's a totalitarian dictatorship. :)

~Mahalo~

SHTF prepping

What is it? Well, the SHTF stands for "s**t hits the fan". Basically, it's a reference to some sort of societal collapse or apocolypse. So SHTF prepping is preparing yourself for said societal collapse or apocolypse. I've been watching, out of a morbid curiosity, lots of YouTube videos that people have posted about their own preparations. And it's caused me to have a lot of questions. Or perhaps caused me to notice certain.. inconsistencies.

One of the biggest issues I've noticed is that a lot of people are simply buying extra groceries, storing them, and rotating as they buy fresher groceries, so that the stored groceries are always relatively fresh. Eating the older stuff before the newer stuff, which makes sense in that way. But here's the thing. If you're one of those people who believes the government is corrupt and trying to dumb us down and control us, if you're one of those who believe the global elite are trying to bring about a New World Order... why would you stock up on all the same foods that those people are promoting to you now? If you believe in this, then you believe that the GMO foods are bad for you, you believe that all the big name processed foods are bad for you, so why would you want to keep eating them after a SHTF event?

Personally, I'm not a fan of most processed stuff, but not because of the conspiracy theories, rather because I believe that the more natural a food is, the better it is for us and our bodies. So, if I'm going to store food for an SHTF event, I'm going to find a way to store natural foods, not canned ravioli, and sugary cereals, and canned vienna sausages. Call me crazy, but it's something to think about.

~Mahalo~

Doesn't Anybody Read?

In having a Facebook account, a Google+ account, and a few of the other myriad social networking accounts available these days, I've come to notice something really annoying: People don't read. In an age when we have more information available to us than ever before, people read less of it than they ever used to. There are exceptions of course, because there are those who will choose the comments section on a FB or G+ post to argue and debate, and show their net prowess. But for the most part, people don't read, and here's what I mean. I'm reading a Google+ posting that had a mathematical equation in it. Something + something - something x zero + something. Now, anyone who remembers even high school mathematics should know the order of mathematical equations. PEDMAS = Parentheses, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. So, in the example I listed, the multiplication comes first. Anything multiplied by zero is zero. So if, for example, the equation were: 5 + 9 - 3 * 0 + 7, you break it down thus; 3 * 0 = 0, leaving us with 5 + 9 - 0 + 7. Now that's where people get mixed up, because most will just do it one step at a time, left to right.  But if you do, your answer will be much different than if you followed PEDMAS. As expected, there were a lot of wrong answers. But then, at one point, a college mathematics student posted and cited PEDMAS, then broke the equation down correctly. Hours later, there were still people giving wrong answers, and explaining why it was right, and with no regard to the PEDMAS post, making it obvious they hadn't even read it. Had they read it, they could have looked that up to see if he was right, and saved themselves the embarassment.

Another example. Today, +Guy Kawasaki shared an article originally posted by Alan Taylor in The Atlantic. The article was about Neil Armstrong, his life and career. This article contains several pictures of Neil, particularly during his NASA career. One of the pictures, the one that was highlighted on +Guy Kawasaki's Google+ share, was of Neil in a Gemini 8 capsule, during training before the Apollo program. Now, the picture wasn't captioned, so I can't fault many people for not realizing that this was not an Apollo capsule. But very early on in the list of comments, it is explained by somebody who went to The Atlantic and read the article, that this was a picture of a Gemini capsule, not an Apollo capsule, and it was not taken upon Neil's return to Earth from the moon. It was also explained that the green colour in the water was not antifreeze, as many +'ers wondered, but locator dye, used by NASA and the USAF to locate the astronauts upon splashdown. One of many methods of location. Yet again, many, many comments after this, people are still talking about it being an Apollo capsule, and antifreeze.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: READ! You'll probably manage to prevent yourself from looking the fool more often than not. Nobody has ever died from being too educated. Foot in mouth disease is as prevalent in type as it is in live speech. Do some research instead of talking out of your ass. It will stand you in good stead, trust me.

~Mahalo~

iPad wins the day

So I just bought a 3rd gen iPad. I just can't even begin to describe how awesome this thing is. You know why iPad wins over so many other tablets? Many analysts and bloggers will list off features and tout the quality and design, etc. But there is one factor that wins over all of them: when you pick it up, you just don't want to put it down, and that overrides any other consideration that the competition might claim to be able to do just as well or better and/or less expensive. There are good reasons for Apple's pricing and I'm not going to go into them. You can research interviews with Steve Jobs where he talks about that. What I will say is that I agree with those reasons and at the end of the day, what really matters is that you just don't want to put this thing down. It can almost replace your desktop and that's simply amazing. Of course, I typed this on my new iPad. 

~Mahalo~

Top Cop Dead at 86

Sheriff Andy Taylor, Defense Attorney Ben Matlock and beloved actor Andy Griffith has died at the ripe age of 86. Andy was probably one of, if not the last of Hollywood's true 'heroes'. What I mean by that is those actors and actresses who, through their TV shows and/or movies, instilled wholesome decent values into the viewing public. Nowadays, Hollywood is just the propaganda machine for globalist governments. Everything on the big or small screen today has hidden messages and hidden political agendas. The Andy Griffith show was wholesome entertainment. Matlock was wholesome entertainment. He put away the bad guys, plain and simple. And they were always very obviously bad guys, no grey areas. Nowadays, the 'bad guys' are, more often than not, dissidents. Those who go against the grain, or more specifically, the government. Terrorism plays a large part now in movies and TV. Usually middle eastern terrorists, or former Russian Republic terrorists. Hell, if a terrorist had ever come to Mayberry, Andy would have had Aunt Bea fix him some cornbread and grits, and lectured him on the error of his ways. And it would have worked, too.

Andy Griffith's death isn't the final symbol of the end of an era. It's just one that made me focus on that end. And the beginning of the new one, for better or worse.

~Mahalo~