Setting the Record Straight: Just a few things people always get wrong.

1. Global Warming is just climate change. It doesn't matter if we're the cause or not, it's happening. We are not going to fix this all by slapping useless mandates on indifferent countries. Compact florescent light bulbs will save you money on your energy bills, but will not ever help the environment. Maintaining a strong economy so our thinkers can think about inovation rather than their next meal will solve the problem. I guarantee it.

2. Gas is running out. Whether it's now or later, we need to deal with it. Corn won't fix it, you can't burn your food as fuel and expect all to work out. It's inefficient, and it's costly now. What will work is getting ourselves off oil in the short term. Nuclear energy is a great start. Wind power/ solar power will help. The longer we remain dependent on oil, the worse things will get.

3. Obama is NOT a muslim. All muslims are NOT bad. Just the dudes on the TV who tell us they want us dead are bad.

4. A wind-fall profits tax on Big Oil will only do us harm. Why can't companies do well? Especially companies who are basically owned by share holders who aren't unlike you and me. Google and Microsoft posted more insane profit margins the last few years than did any of the oil companies. Wealth distrobution can not, and will never, work.

5. The media works on supply and demand. So next time your complaining about how they never report anything positive, just remember that they only show what we want to see.

6. Russia could care less about Georgia or any of those little territories. What they do care about is the oil pipelines in the country, which are costing Russia an insane amount of money. They also care about having their military presence felt in a time when Iran seems close to being subjected to attack.

7. Nancy Pelosi just needs to go away now.

8. And so does Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Why you need Flock!

Flock is a web browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux which runs on the same web tech as Firefox (you know, that really great browser you might even be using right now).  As in Firefox (and Seamonkey, which is still a dumb name) you have a stable browser which is extremely compatible with an extraordinary about of websites and secure to boot (Internet Explorer, I'm looking at you.)
I know what your thinking in your head.  "Big deal, another Firefox clone.  How many browsers do we really need?"  I had that very same thought the first time I saw Flock cycle through the new software list on MacUpdate.  I should let it be known here and now I'm a Mac guy.  I love Apple, and I was a religious Safari user (with Camino as my alternative if Safari didn't load a page correctly.)  So when I saw "yet another browser" I just chose to ignore it without even a second thought.
After some time had passed I saw it march through again with a new update.  For whatever reason this time I clicked the link and had a look.  I was fairly impressed at it's robust set of features, considering at the time it wasn't even 1.0 yet.  But I had no need for it's integrations like del.icio.us and Facebook (to name a few).  So I ignored it some more.
Then I got a Facebook account... and a del.icio.us account... and started blogging again... and I have a few webmails... then Twitter caught my eye, and Digg...
So when you ask what makes Flock so great that it would beat out Firefox, I would tell you that it very much connects you everywhere you want to be on the internet, all at once, and does so in a smart, yet simple manner.  From RSS feeds to the Media Bar, integrated online favorites to a unified sidebar of all your friends from a variety of services, you are in touch with every aspect of your online life right from the startup!
Instead of me just rambling off all the features here I implore you to have a look for yourself.  Or just go ahead and snag the free download and give it a run.  As someone who doubted and saw the light, I'm positive you'll be glad to have joined the Flock!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The Votes that Suddenly Count...

As Senator Obama closes in on becoming the democratic candidate for president I find myself pondering elections past.  You remember 2000 when Bush and Gore sparred over hanging chads, then the Supreme Court decided for us and elected the candidate who wasn't the popular choice?  As a result people because disenfranchised, and more so apathetic, to the whole process.  It was decided that ultimately we as citizens had NO say at all.
So when 2004 came about we were quick to discover that the election was actually pretty close, and there wasn't any kind of election fraud to speak of seriously.  It seemed as if our votes really mattered.  Had people not been so put off by the whole process in 2000, the election might have swung a different way.
Enter 2008.  People are freaking out about the weight of their votes in Florida and Michigan despite the fact that they broke the rules knowing the consequences, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana realize they actually have conventions, and tensions are thick already and we haven't even gotten to the actually showdown yet!
Once upon a time Elections were a serious business to elect officials we felt were best for our country.  Now they are media circuses to keep us amused.  Their validity is questionable, and their integrity is laughable.
It is still, however, the best system money can buy.

Maturity of Humanity

Have you ever wondered what in the world is wrong with... well, the world?  Drug use, rampant sex, abandonment of tradition (both governmental and religious), and general poor decision making are among the most pronounced issues humanity suffers from. 
So what is going on?  Is it the music, the video games, or movies?  I'll be the first to admit that entertainment these days is disturbing.  However it's important to remember that they aren't creating the phenomenon, but catering to it.  They wouldn't pack it and ship it if we weren't ordering it.  Why then, you ask, are we ordering it?
I believe the answer is incredibly simple when you compare all of humanity to the life of a singer individual.  Basically we're in our adolescence, and we're starting to really experiment with everything.  From sex to science, exploration to genetics, we're pushing the envelope as far as we can just to see if we can.
That we're just teenagers in the lifespan of civilization fits how we're acting.  When we imagine another civilization (read aliens there) we usually think of them as far advanced, peaceful, and reasonable.  We imagine them as adults in comparison to ourselves as teens.  We look back at our own history and scoff at how immature we were knowing deep down that we're not really any better now.
When you look at the world today you'll realize that we need adult supervision and bad.  So who?  For the religious crowd (myself included {please keep reading}) that has always been and will always be God (or your faiths lead deity, I'm Christian so I speak to what I know).  For the secular however this is a bit trickier.  They need an individual who can pull us all together and make us focus on the important issues for once, someone who can create order on a global scale.  Someone who can end war and tell us what is right and what is wrong.
The world is a scary place now.  That is all I'll say.

Facebook Chat in Adium... without using a nightly build!

Ok, so here's the trick.  First go here and download either available builds.  After downloading and before launching (Note: Do no copy the new Adium over your existing one or else this won't work) you need to right click (control-click) and choose "Show Package Contents", then go to Contents/Plugins and find the file named Facebook.AdiumPlugin.  Copy this to your desktop.  Then go to your Home folder/Library/Application Support/Adium 2.0/Plugins and place Facebook.AdiumPlugin inside.  Now launch your already existing Adium application (not the downloaded nightly).  You'll notice a window asking if you with to disable Facebook's plugin, pick continue.  Afterwards you need to launch preferences and go to the accounts tab.  At the bottom of your preferences window you will see a "+" button with a down arrow.  Click this and then choose Facebook from the list that appears.  Afterwards double click the new account and enter your Facebook login e-mail and password and choose Ok.  You will now have Facebook Chat in Adium 1.2.5!  (Note:  This will all become pointless in Adium 1.3 when this will be available by default.)

Gut Instinct

This article appeared today on CNN.com concerning O.J. Simpson and how an individual he was formerly associated with now claims that O.J. confessed in the killings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman in a marijuana induced haze.  The allegations are suspect, but regardless it strikes a cord with all of us I believe.

The cord is this: We all believe he is guilty.  But why?  It comes down to the fact that we all had a feeling, a gut instinct about him.  Sure lots about his trial was more or less an escapade, but by watching him sit, or move.  Watching his eyes and listening to him over the years, we all have gotten the same sense that he was in fact the murderer he's been "searching" for all these years.

Does that make us all bias?  No.  For many of us this instinct wasn't based on anything except his own appearance (and I do not mean skin color).  In fact, a lot of us were prior fans of O.J., seeing him as a football superstar and giving him the benefit of the doubt long before any facts were presented.

O.j. is just one example of how we read people, but if you are honest with yourself you know that you've assessed others in much the same way.  And it is a perfectly natural thing to do, which is why people always say, "Make a good first impression" because that is the one that is going to stick.  Once made, it's almost impossible to shake that assessment without drastic measures being invoked.

I'm finding more and more that I need to trust my instincts about people more and more.  All too often I try to remain fair and unbiased only to be burned.  That isn't to say my sense of other people isn't flawless as I was recently proven very wrong.  Feelings can and often do cloud your gut instinct, and it's important to remember that just because you "feel" that someone cares about you and would do anything about you, that doesn't mean that is how it is.

The point here is that it's better to trust what your gut tells you about people rather than believe things about them without proof.  Everyone deserves a basic level of respect, and greater respect is for people who earn it.  Love however should be reserved for people who show loyalty, compassion, and respect for you and others.

O.J. doesn't give me that vibe because no matter how bad the falling out was, if your ex-wife has been murdered then how do you play so much golf without demanding justice?

All your Answers are here!

Just a quick note: I've added Answer Tips to my blog! Feel free to double click anything for a pop-up box about the word in question. And while your clicking things you might be so kind as to click that little donate button. Unless you don't want me blogging anymore?