Why We Can't Comment Thank you for signing this petition. We appreciate your participation in the We the People platform on Whitehouse.gov. However, consistent with the We the People Terms of Participation and our responses to similar petitions in the past, the White House declines to comment on this petition because it requests a specific law enforcement action. 

I honestly don't know what to say.

Maybe it's just time for some good old back-alley tactics.

On this date, at approximately 8:31 PM CST, the petition requesting that Chris Dodd be investigated for bribery was validated by the required 25,000 signatures.  That's correct.  The petition to have Chris Dodd investigated has reached 25,000.

If you don't know the story, it is fairly simple.  After the stunning setback of SOPA and PIPA, Chris DODD, former Senator and now current President of the  Motion Picture Association of America, threw a hissy fit on Fox News and openly threatened President Obama and the entire Democrat party by denying further campaign contributions until he "got on board" with the MPAA line.

From the petition web page:

"Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake."

And just a side note from this blogger....if you hadn't made such a boneheaded statement on the public airwaves Chris, your job was most likely secure for years.  That nasty taste in your mouth probably originates from the sole of your shoe.  Just sayin'.


The petition alleges:

"This is an open admission of bribery and a threat designed to provoke a specific policy goal. This is a brazen flouting of the "above the law" status people of Dodd's position and wealth enjoy.  We demand justice. Investigate this blatant bribery and indict every person, especially government officials and lawmakers, who is involved."


It was the original people's petition on the Whitehouse.gov website that prompted the President and several of his staff members to address SOPA/PIPA in a manner that did not please Mr. Dodd.  If half the people who poo-poo'ed the relevance of this petition would have taken a minute to sign it, I believe we could have doubled the number of signatures.

But let's look at the accusation of "bribery" in this particular case.

Sure it may be wrong that a corporation or a non-governmental agency can dictate or "purchase" legislation, but it's been done for so long, it is considered business as usual in the Beltway.  For years, the American People have become numb to it as they didn't see any way to bring a stop to it.  Dodd may have succeeded in walking the fine line between open admission of bribery and simply stating the accepted and obvious truth.

Most important legislation can be traced back by following a money trail.

And honestly here....?  I don't think many US citizens are engaged enough to even be aware of the situation....not with a new season of Survivor and Dancing with the Stars just around the corner.  The old saying that "people get the government they deserve" comes readily to mind.

But this petition brings it into public awareness now.  If for nothing else, to see how it is hem'ed and haw'ed about.  The discomfort level should be through the roof.  My personal prediction is, whoever responds to this petition will fall back on the exact semantics of the complaint, and dismiss it on those grounds.

So again, in less than 24 hours, We The People have initiated a conversation about national matters.....Important Matters.  Regardless of outcome, you've drug something from the darkness into the light, and light is, after all, the best disinfectant.

In most circuimstances that is....Washington may be the exception to that rule.

We'll see how the White House couches this.

All-Righty Then

I want to share with you an email I received from Tiffiniy Cheng (yes, that is the correct spelling).  What you as members of the tech community did to stop SOPA and PIPA was historical....no I mean truly historical as in your grandchildren will read about this in their history books.  So take a minute and celebrate the moment, take your victory lap but always realize they could bring this back at any time.

If you want some glaring insight into how they are going to put these laws in front of the nation the next time, click on the New York Times link below.  Just sayin'...

You guys friggin' rock.

Ken


Hi everyone!

A big hurrah to you!!!!! We’ve won for now -- SOPA and PIPA were dropped by Congress today -- the votes we’ve been scrambling to mobilize against have been cancelled.

The largest online protest in history has fundamentally changed the game.  You were heard.

On January 18th, 13 million of us took the time to tell Congress to protect free speech rights on the internet. Hundreds of millions, maybe a billion, people all around the world saw what we did on Wednesday.  See the amazing numbers here and tell everyone what you did.

This was unprecedented. Your activism may have changed the way people fight for the public interest and basic rights forever.

The MPAA (the lobby for big movie studios which created these terrible bills) was shocked and seemingly humbled.  “‘This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,’ MPAA Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd told the New York Times. ‘[PIPA and SOPA were] considered by many to be a slam dunk.’”

“'This is altogether a new effect,' Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing 'an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically' in the last four decades, he added."  

Tweet with us, shout on the internet with us, let's celebrate: Round of applause to the 13 million people who stood up  - #PIPA and #SOPA are tabled 4 now. #13millionapplause

 
We're indebted to everyone who helped in the beginning of this movement -- you, and all the sites that went out on a limb to protest in November -- Boing Boing and Mozilla Foundation (and thank you Tumblr, 4chan)! And the grassroots groups -- Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress, CDT, and many more.
#SOPA and #PIPA will likely return in some form.  But when they do, we'll be ready.  Can you make a donation to Fight for the Future, to help us keep this fire going?  

We changed the game this fall, and we're not gonna stop.  $8, $20, every little bit helps. 
13 million strong,  
Tiffiniy, Holmes, Joshua, Phil, CJ, Donny, Douglas, Nicholas, Dean, David S. and Moore... Fight for the Future!


P.S.  China's internet censorship system reminds us why the fight for democratic principles is so important:

In the New Yorker:  "Fittingly, perhaps, the discussion has unfolded on Weibo, the Twitter-like micro-blogging site that has a team of censors on staff to trim posts with sensitive political content. That is the arrangement that opponents of the bill have suggested would be required of American sites if they are compelled to police their users’ content for copyright violations. On Weibo, joking about SOPA’s similarities to Chinese censorship was sensitive enough that some posts on the subject were almost certainly deleted (though it can be hard to know).
...
After Chinese Web users got over the strangeness of hearing Americans debate the merits of screening the Web for objectionable content, they marvelled at the American response. Commentator Liu Qingyan wrote:

‘We should learn something from the way these American Internet companies protested against SOPA and PIPA. A free and democratic society depends on every one of us caring about politics and fighting for our rights. We will not achieve it by avoiding talk about politics.’"

We've been down for about two weeks now due to vehicle problems. I do want to thank Todd Coogan and Jeremy Stacings for driving us around to do the few installs we could do. We fell short by 150.00 in getting the vehicle picked up and won't be able to get our SPI check for another week.

As much as I hate to ask, we need to raise that 150.00 before the mechanic's shop starts charging us storage. I really dislike doing this but it is what it is and our hands are tied.

If you have the opportunity to help us get back on the road, contact me helios att fixedbylinux dott kommm and I will forward you the paypal info.  As well, you might check with our Ebay store and see if there is anything there of interest to you.

Again, thanks for helping us do what we do.

Ken

Actually, nobody has closed this website down.

In solidarity with Reddit and many other sites, this site is blacked out today in protest against SOPA and PROTECT IP laws.  While we at the HeliOS Project understand the need for an artist, inventor or author to protect their Intellectual Property, the above-mentioned laws over-reach to the point where innocent websites will be erased from the Internet without due process or legal review. 

These laws will be a threat to free speech and to the freedom of the Internet. Please contact your representative, who most likely doesn't understand how the Internet works, and tell them to vote 'No' on this law.  You can learn more about SOPA here.

As was the DMCA

As was The Patriot Act

As was The NDAA.

And so it will be for SOPA/PIPA.

When I say "our" fault, I am not talking about those of us in the tech field, although we have a major part to play in defeating it.  I am talking about everyone.  I'm talking about the grocery checkout guy, the lady who rents you a car or the policeman who pulls you over for speeding.

And let me first clarify that the normal political infighting here is verboten.  This isn't a left vs right thing....it's a right vs wrong thing.  Those of us who still insist on putting our toes firmly on a party line need to re-evaluate our allegiances.

Those comments won't even be considered for publication.  It's sickening how party politics have almost destroyed our government.

Did you Bush voters ever think that he could ever sign a bill into law such as the Patriot Act?

Did you Obama voters ever, in your wildest GD dreams, think that he would be capable of penning his name to the NDAA?  And Gitmo is closed now....right?

The answer most of us would give is...No.

So screw the divisive Democrat vs Republican artificial lines of contention here, at least for a while and let's come to an understanding of what we are dealing with.

The most naive, idealistic freshman politicians are ultimately corrupted by The Beltway.  Something happens to them in that environment that makes them think they are insulated from public scrutiny and constituent opinion.

Inevitably you have people like Lamar Smith and Patrick Leahy accepting a combined figure of a half of a million dollars in campaign funds from Hollywood, to push laws through like  SOPA and PIPA.

And Therein lies the problem.

One industry, trying to protect it's broken business model, if successful, will change the landscape of the Internet for a decade or more.  If they have their way, the Internet will become just another venue for paywalled cable television.  Once entrenched, these laws will take years to undo, if they are ever undone at all.  And through it all, the majority of Americans will go on with their lives, watching Dancing with the Stars and gossiping about the latest TMZ garbage.

and that will be largely our fault.

There is little point in "contacting your representative" via snail mail or email.  The best you will receive is a canned response from some low-level staffer, explaining why the politician is in favor of this bill.  (S)He will wave the flag, talk about how piracy costs jobs and directly affects the US economy.

If the music and movie industry is holding ANY economy up, they were in trouble long before now.

Email is probably the most easily ignored medium for communications.  It can be filtered and deleted with no effort what so ever.  A persistent phone call or a physical appearance however is a different story.

There is too much insulation between the voter and the politician.  We don't need letters or emails.  We need fingers pointed personally and directly at those politicians, calling them out on their votes and actions.  We need fingers stuck in the chests of these clowns, demanding the truth.

How a congressman can enter office with a net worth of less than 50 thousand dollars and in two years be worth over 2 million is in itself amazing.  What is even more amazing is that the American people shrug it off as they turn the channel to watch Jersey Shore.

So as it is with most things, a few will instigate change for the many.  And if we're lucky, it won't take a generation for us to undo it.


SOPA or PIPA is going to pass.


 Many websites (to include mine) plan a "darkout" here in the next few days to educate their readers as to the dangers of SOPA/PIPA.  While these actions have the potential to educate millions of people, I fear that in reality, it will just be another instance of performance art.

The politician casting his vote isn't directly affected by this unless people call them or visit them en mass.  He or she probably won't know about it until some staffer brings it up in a meeting a week later.

No.  It takes direct intervention to affect change, but I'm afraid in this case, it may even be too late for that.  To much cash has flowed into the pockets of decision makers now.  The die is cast.  They've received payment to do a job and now they will do it.

and through it all, us "Republicans" and "Democrats" will savage each other like wild pack dogs, each blaming the other in order to assign blame.

When it is the fault of all of us for not doing the right thing.

A good friend of mine brings the whole thing into perspective with one question.

"The Second Amendment?  Pish.  What good is having all these guns if we're not willing to use them to protect our rights?"

Will it ever come to that?  Should it ever come to that?  We probably will only know when they come knocking on OUR doors, telling us we have to give up our Second Amendment rights.

And when it comes right down to it, SOPA or PIPA isn't going to stop me from gaining access to sites that give me what I want.  I don't watch much TV but I do follow a few programs on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, it's usually 3 in the morning and a full 24 hours after they aired that I am able to watch them.

Does the network or producer offer these shows on their websites after the initial viewing?  Some of them do but none for what I watch.  Is there any where I can go to pay a bit of money and watch them legitimately when I am ready to watch them.

No.

So I will simply type in the numerical representation of that "rogue" website that does offer links to them and go on about my business.  That's all it will take to bypass SOPA.  Smart website owners will move their domains to places the US cannot or will not reach and life will be good...for those who know how to access it anyway.  Does that make me a criminal?  Probably, but then again, I don't personally care.

So, you want to bring my actions of watching "pirated" TV shows with those of someone accessing child pornography?  Lots of luck with that.

"You can't stop the signal, Lamar".

Catch me if you can.  I'm not downloading anything, I am not sharing anything, and I am not "stealing" anything.  I am watching something on my computer that is accessible to anybody with the know-how to access it.  Give me an option to pay for it on demand at my terminal and I will not do it any more.

If anything, that's what the politicians running this country need to learn.  The consumer is king and the consumer will have what they want.  Regardless of how hard they try to keep it from them.

All-righty Then....


tony942012@163.com

By now, most people who pay attention to our government and have a pulse, are aware of the Twin Titans of Tech Terror, SOPA and PIPA.

I am guessing those people comprise about 12 percent of America's population.  The rest are either in tears over Kim Kardashian's divorce or are ticking off the days until the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

I've often stated that if we were to take measure of the average US citizen's IQ, based on their television viewing habits, they would place comfortably between a bag of hammers and....uh, Kim Kardashian.

Don't laugh, I don't think there is much of a spread there at all.  Remember folks, every time Jersey Shore airs, billions of brain cells die.

Which is probably fine since they weren't being used anyway.

So, I had been budgeting to get some of my all-time favorite CD's and DVD's replaced this month.  Due to either wear or unkind handling, I figured I would need to spend about 40 bucks to replace them.  That is at retail price anyway.

Much has happened in the world and within me since many of these disks were first purchased.  One such occurrence has been my growing awareness of the **aa's and their heavy-handed practices toward the consumer.

I'm not real thrilled with how they screw their artists over either.

So instead of running out to some mall or store to replace said entertainment media, I popped over to Ebay to see what I could see.

Oh my.....

That 11 dollar first Aerosmith album I wanted to replace?

2.99 - free shipping.

Who's Next by The Who?

Ditto.

Now I immediately began to suspect the origins of said disks.  The description listed them as "new"....but somehow I knew the new was relative.

So my budgeted 40.00 went waayyyyy farther than I had expected it to.  The added benefit was that with the 7 CD's and 8 DVD's purchased, I am guessing not one shekle went to the RIAA or MPAA.

Of course, it could be argued that said one shekle didn't make it to the original artist either.....

I'm still workin' through that, but for the moment, I am basking in the knowledge that I have, in my own little way, stuck it to the man and at the same time, told them where to stick SOPA.

And on that note, while it's still somewhat legal to do, I'll leave you with a YouTube video of a live Chicago performance of 25 or 6 to 4.   Just a personal blast from my past.  What a fantastic fusion band.  Unfortunately, it does not feature the original lead guitar player for Chicago, Terry Kath.



All-Righty Then

You know....if this had only happened once, maybe even twice in my personal experience, I wouldn't bother mentioning it.

But lately, it has occurred twice in a month's time.  I'm not quite sure there's a darned thing that can be done about it, except quietly shake my head and write it off as abacus thinking in a digital world.

So I get a phone call from the personal assistant for an IT Director in San Antonio.  This IT Director frequently directs decommissioned computers and parts to HeliOS and for that I am grateful.  The stuff they send our way is quite good.

The request was for a blank PDF copy of the receipt we issue for donated equipment.  The donating entity prints it out and fills in the blanks.  Corporations and individuals use these forms to deduct the donation from their taxes.  In the past several months, she has requested this form a few times and each time, I dutifully send her one without thinking about it.  I was at a place with no terminal access so I answered her email request via Droid by directing her to my last email.  The requested form was attached therein.

She emailed me back almost immediately.

"I've already used that one, I need one for the November donation."

I expected to see a smiley face at the end of her sentence.

No smiley ensued.  She was serious.

"Are you filling them in using an Adobe tool...I mean typing the donations in?"


"No."

I  began to respond to her and 'splain the concept of "attached thingies" but then decided it was a bit much to do by touchpad.  As my buddy NZ17 would say...

"I rang her up".

And you know what...?  I would have been better off just sending her a fresh email with a freshly attached form.  No matter how I tried to analogize it, I could not get through to her the concept of a digital copy.  In fact, she became a bit testy toward the end because I fear she may have felt "talked down to" by my examples.

And maybe she had a right to feel that way.  I was digging for third grade vocabulary when I gave up.

Her take on the whole thing?

"If you eat a cookie, that cookie is gone.  You cannot eat the same cookie twice."

It was a challenge but I was able to hold back asking the question.  She wouldn't have understood it anyway.  I dearly wanted to ask her.....

"Have you ever worked for the RIAA?"

All-Righty Then

Dress 'em in pink, build them cute little doll houses and do their hair in pretty little pony tails and braids.  Even after your best attempts to "socialize" them into their roles, many of them will disappoint you.

They don't want to play with Barbie's little motorized car.

They want to take it apart.

Seems that at a young age, before we teach them makeup and skirts, they want to get their hands dirty.

Unfortunately, many of us as parents will discourage this behavior.

I've long held, even with my own daughters, that no child should be channeled into any behavior that isn't "normal" for them.  My daughter refused to wear a dress or skirt until she was 14 years old.  Her mother was mortified.

But she's a little girl.....

Of course she is....but she's a little girl that took her watch apart to see what made it tick....literally.  I told her mom that we were lucky she didn't take an interest in veterinary medicine.

"Honey, have you seen the dog...?"

Today, she is a mechanical engineering student....and yes, she will wear a dress when protocol dictates.

But this isn't a lesson on parenting.  I am absolutely the wrong source to offer advice in that arena.  I've had major failures in the distant past.  One thing I can do, as I visit families and set up computers for them, is to recognize the "hacker gene" when I see it.

And more and more, I am seeing it in little girls.

And for that reason, we've set up the HeliOS Mentoring Program for Girls.  Starting in January, The HeliOS Project will choose one girl per calendar quarter, between the ages of 8 and 12, and mentor them in all things computer.  From the hardware to the software that controls it, we will teach them as far as they want to be taught.

Of course, the child has to show a legitimate interest in this area.  We talk extensively with the parent(s) to see if there is any behavior that might indicate an interest in this area.

Surprisingly, even for us, there is an abundance of it.  We got a good indication of that during our last two Camp HeliOS events.  The girls showed equal or superior aptitude and curiosity to the boys.

So our "project girl" for this quarter is named Ashlynn.  Her mom, Ciara, is excited about the prospect of Ashlynn becoming part of our program.  (for privacy reasons, we never use last names - ken)

"She loves computers", her mom said.  "She asks me questions I wouldn't expect from a 5th grader."

Ashlynn attends the fifth grade at Harmony School of Political Science.

She carries a straight A average and has not only shown academic promise, but exhibits the traits of a leader.

Ashlynn received a laptop from HeliOS three months ago and we pretty much knew right then that she would be our first mentoring project.

Ashlynn will also be given a "scholarship" for Camp HeliOS this year.  We waive enrollment fees for up to 40 percent of the registrants if they show a true hardship in paying the fee.  We are assured that since Ashlynn is a Linux User, she won't be asking her mom to spend the saved money on operating system upgrades or antivirus software.

She's a smart girl....one of many we will present to you in the coming months.

All-Righty Then

A couple of good things were accomplished today.  I had the chance to talk with an old friend who incidentally is a Network Engineer in Palo Alto and we had the opportunity to kick around some ideas for getting around SOPA.

Turns out, it may not be that hard to do...if you don't mind breaking a federal law or two.

My friend Katie had some bumper stickers made up that pretty much echoes my sentiments of SOPA/PIPA.  I normally don't dally in bumper stickers but this one is going on the old Explorer as soon as it arrives in the mail.  5 bucks out the door to include shipping.

AND....within the next few hours, the name Lamar Smith and the term "Congressional Quisling" will appear in most 1st page search results with the search string "Lamar Smith".

So yeah...it's been a productive day in a pissed-off-to-the-bone sort of way.

And Jason Johnston, the network engineer for Ticom met with me today and helped us load 18 donated HP Proliant DL380's into the Explorer.  (seems that I might need rear shocks here soon).  We'll be putting those up for sale here soon for cheap so if you are interested let me know.

Lamar Smith - Congressional Quisling.  That has a nice ring to it.

All-righty then.....

I try not to get too worked up about much any more. Most angst is just wasted neurons. Stuff works itself out just fine without me encouraging another ulcer or sleepless night. I have a rule I've come to live by and it has worked for me wonderfully.

It is called the 24 hour rule.

When I find myself in a tither or feel that uncomfortable sensation of having my shorts in a bunch, I simply ask myself:

What impact will this problem or situation have on me in 24 hours?

Most of the time, the answer is none.  That is my cue to dial it down a notch and go find something constructive to do.

But this SOPA thing.....

So I engaged my 24 hour rule there too, but I projected it into the future....24 hours after it passed.

You know what?  Some of it is worth worrying about.....

And some of it isn't.

Let's get to the "isn't" first.

What the Congressman from the 21st District of Texas does not understand at the fundamental level is software, and it's engineered purpose.  Software is designed to solve problems.

Without it, the Internet is all but meaningless.  Without a browser, you got nothin'.  Without CMS, you got nothin'.  Without Facebook you got....uh, large chunks of your life back....

But that's not the point.


The Point is, software and network engineers will find a way around this.  It's what they do.

Be it a browser extension or a VPN solution, people will access what they want to access.  What the **AA's and Congress fail to realize is that the Genie is out of the bottle.  The Internet is what it is and some bought-and-paid-for congressional quisling isn't going to legislate it otherwise.

From my point of view, Congressman Lamar Smith is that congressional quisling.

Has any industry leader figured out that if you make the latest episode of Dexter available after network airing, people like me would pay to watch it?  No....that would mean changing their business model to fit within the 21st century.  Deity Forbid....

Ok, so they write the law stating that designing or using a tool to bypass these "laws" are themselves illegal.  They will be made available off the US shores in such abundance that no one will shut them all down or for long.  Where is the enforcement?  Tens of thousands of users of such tools become a darknet and they get the content they want, with nobody the wiser.

And I am personally willing to teach anyone wanting to get to a "rogue website" exactly how to do it.

See, there are some extremely brilliant people out there who have just a little bit of renegade in them.  SOPA wont stop them....it will be a challenge.  Just like DVD Jon took care of bid'ness, so will these hackers and engineers smash the SOPA barriers and allow the free flow of traffic.

Some would argue that Jon Lech Johansen became such a painful thorn in the side of Steve Jobs, it ultimately led to him throwing in the towel  on DRM music.  Another such pioneer will do the same thing to Lamar Smith.  Smith has such utter contempt for his constituents that he all but refused to hear testimony from security and network professionals opposing SOPA.

You cannot convince me that Lamar Smith is not under intense pressure from the **AA to get this law passed.   He is willing to pass a law so disconnected from Internet technology, that it will most certainly fragment the Internet as we know it today.

That doesn't take into consideration the harm he is doing to US relations on a world-wide basis.  Already the EU has taken a firm stand against SOPA.  But all the protest in the world, literally, in the world, cannot blunt the dreams of Congressmen sitting in their counting rooms, raking in the campaign contributions from the likes of Time Warner and Comcast.

Of course, I would normally take some satisfaction in knowing that he will probably be thrown out of office on his a$$ come 2012, but given the fact that Chris Dodd is there to catch him and offer him a cushy job offsets that warm fuzzy possibility.

So yeah, we're being told to email our representatives and protest SOPA.

Don't bother.

You will receive the same thing I received...a form letter mechanically stating the reasons to support SOPA.   Jobs, yada, yada, yada.  Protecting American IP, yada, yada, yada....it takes a staffer about 30 seconds to scan your email and hit send on their boiler-plate response.

You and your "opinion" are forgotten in less than a minute.

Get that person on the phone and raise hell.  Remind said staffer that the congressman from X state is going to lose his job over support of this bill.  Don't let them lapse into talking points.  Sure you are going to spend some time on hold but outside of a personal appearance, your phone call is the most effective way of getting your message across.

Regardless of what happens to Lamar Smith personally or professionally, he will forever be known as The Man That Broke The Internet.

Of course, how a man can usurp the US constitution and be clapped on the back for his efforts is beyond me.

It always has been.

All-righty then...

Christian Rock Hard
Get More: SOUTH
PARKmore...

Back in the early part of November, we asked our readership to help us design a default wallpaper to go out on our HeliOS Computers.  Submissions were slow at first, with only three people submitting their work, but as November morphed into December, we began receiving several a day.

In most any situation where you have artists of any sort presenting their work, there are always one or two that jump out and shine over the rest.  This wasn't true for our little contest.  Every week, I would guess to myself that a particular entry was the winner, just in time to receive another one that I liked better.

In no particular order, I would like to thank John Chival, Sean Robinson, Mark Adams, Jeremy Gooch and Clayton Ramos.  My sincere thanks to everyone who submitted their work for HeliOS.  Please pardon the fact that I did not assign author names with particular entries.  This is the busiest time of year for HeliOS and working just myself this year has me counting minutes.  I will correct this as soon as time allows.

And the winner?

After what can only be described as "spirited discussion", the kids that received HeliOS computers in the month of December have voted for a submission by Mark Adams.  We've named it "Chips In"



You can see the finalist submissions here.  And again, thank you to every one of you for helping us do what we do.  We will alternate these wallpapers from time to time and all of them will be used.

All Righty Then...

Regardless of your religion or culture, let us take December 25th as a universal moment.

A day to re-evaluate our priorities, our biases and ultimately, how we affect the world and those within it.  Our time here is short and sometimes our daily challenges can blind us to what is really important.  How we treat each other.

             Merry Christmas from all of us to you.

I have the best job I can imagine.

I have the opportunity to give computers to kids that cannot afford them.

It isn't often easy...there is a lot of physical work, and as my neck injury deteriorates into Chronic Disk Disease, I am relying more and more upon our great pool of volunteers to do the literal heavy lifting.  But all things considered, I am probably at the best place ever in my life.

Can you imagine having a job that frees people from proprietary operating systems and presents them with a whole new perspective on technology?  It  really is a dream job.

So, last week I visited with a single mom family of four.  Shannon works two jobs to keep a roof over their heads.  Her kids are Aaron - 14, Hope - 12, Devon - 9 and Joshua - 4.  Dad is serving a 30 year sentence in a North Carolina penitentiary for killing a family of 3 while driving drunk.

They died on December 23rd, 2006.

He won't be home any time soon.

So while sitting at the computer, showing them their new Linux system, Joshua asked me plain and simple:

"Does Santa come to your house?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it and opened it again to speak...much like a fish out of water.  I glanced over at Shannon and she looked at me, obviously amused at my discomfort.

"Why yes Josh, he does visit my house."

His eyes grew big as if he was happy to get an answer of any sort.

"Does he really give you presents?"

I just nodded and smiled then looked back on the computer screen.  See, personally; and even at an early age, I've been uncomfortable with the whole Santa Claus thing.  Again, it's a personal thing and I don't judge or begrudge anyone for perpetuating the tradition.  It just sits inside me wrong.  But then I came upon the answer I wanted to give him.

"You bet he does Josh.  He brings me all of these computers to give to kids like you."

And he does.

Sometimes Santa is dressed like a company CEO, sometimes she is acting as the IT manager for her company, and other times he is simply someone who hears about HeliOS and donates their usable but unused computer to us.

Santa Claus has many identities, many stations in life and lives in the most unusual places.  Sometimes, Santa shows up at our door with their toolkits, ready to spend the whole day getting computers ready to go out to our kids.  Often, we can't even buy them lunch for their efforts but they come anyway.  Regardless of who she is at the time, Santa is the linchpin of this whole HeliOS thing.  Without him, there wouldn't be any HeliOS Project.

So to all those who have been Santa for us, I want to give you our most heartfelt thanks.  See, as I said above, this is probably the best my life has ever been.  No, I don't make a lot of money and the hours can be long and odd at times, but the sense of purpose I gain from doing what I do offsets that by a huge margin.

And to the many of you who have asked me what I wanted Santa to bring this year?

Nothing.

I have a great job, a warm place to live and work and I have loving people that surround me.  To ask any more of The Universe would seem selfish to me.

For those that insist, HeliOS is always accepting of gifts, but personally, for me....

I can't think of anything I want more than what I already have.  Regardless of your religious or cultural holding, I want to wish you nothing but good things in your life and I can only hope than everyone in the world could be as content as I.....

And behold the wonderment of this season through the eyes of Joshua.

All-Righty Then...

First off, I want to thank the hundreds of you who emailed or responded to the 12 year old girl's plight, after her mom's boyfriend hijacked her HeliOS Computer.

We talked about it here.

I was extremely uncomfortable in the actions I had to take in this drama.  From my perspective, there was real trouble in this household and I did in fact contact a friend at CPS.

I probably shouldn't reveal all the facts due to pending legal actions but as it was investigated, there was abuse taking place in that house and the girlfriend-beater boyfriend was arrested.  He was strongly advised by the mom's father to find residence outside of Texas and Florida has accepted his probation terms and he now resides there.

It is extremely uncomfortable to find yourself in a position like this and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  Child Protective Services has a reputation of being heavy-handed here in Texas and removing children from homes on the slightest whim.  Fortunately in this case, the spidey senses were correct.  I don't think I could sleep very well if I had initiated an investigation where things were not as they appeared.

At any rate, this is posted just so all of you who inquired would know that things worked out ok for Marley.  Her and her mom are doing fine and now residing at a different place with a different and unlisted phone number.

I for one feel that the good guys scored one here.  My thanks to PI Rich Hector for stepping in and lending me a hand.

All-Righty Then...

I ascribe to the theory of "Trickle-down Technology".

What once resided in the Realm of Geeks, ultimately flows down to those less than technically-astute.  Fact is, the technology isn't really any different from top to bottom, but the way of presenting it to the user is.

The perfect example is The Evolution of Linux as an operating system.  And yes, I frequently commit the faux pas of referring to the entire operating system as "Linux"...knowing full well that Linux is the kernel.

God knows I've been bludgeoned with the distinction over the years.


And please...not Gnu/Linux.  For better or worse, that battle is lost.  Let's move on.

But my point is this.  What used to be accomplished only at the command line now has pretty, blinky, wobbly, transparent GUIs to get the job done.  Why?  Because normal people don't think in one's and zero's.  They don't connect with cryptic lines of archaic symbols and letters.

They relate to a graphical environment, and intuitive ways of interpreting data.

So, one of my pet peeves over the years has resided within the browser experience.  Be it Firefox, Internet Exploder or any other browser, page load times, even with the fastest available broadband has been, at times, abysmal.

Used to be, only those comfortable in about:config, text editors or viewing page sources could suss out the root of the problem.  The rest of us had to tolerate the myriad of ads and flash junk loading before we could get to the meat of the page.

That's changed for the better and while such options are just now becoming apparent to many everyday computer users...they are in fact becoming apparent.

As I've mentioned in the past, I will spend some of my down time watching TV or movies at fastpasstv.ms.  These days I don't pirate movies or TV shows much any more.  I let others do it for me and reap the benefits.   The problem is, many of these pages "can be" rift with gnarly java scripts and pop ups that appear so fast, they could induce a seizure for some.

There are two tools in my Firefox arsenal that combat these nicely.

1.  Adblock plus

2.  Ghostery

Now, Adblock Plus is old news for the most part.  Many of us have been using it for a number of years and wouldn't think of browsing without it.  Yes, I know there are others out there but to keep it simple, I'm just going to talk about these for the time being.

But Ghostery is something I've missed in the past.  Where Adblock did fail me from time to time, Ghostery filled in and does a great job.  How?  From their website:

"Ghostery sees the invisible web - tags, web bugs, pixels and beacons. Ghostery tracks the trackers and gives you a roll-call of the ad networks, behavioral data providers, web publishers, and other companies interested in your activity."

Not only can you see who's tracking you, bothering you and slowing you down...you have the opportunity to block them from your browsing experience.  You can leave the ones you think you want or are benign and block the rest.

Take a look at the graphic here.  When Ghostery  is active, it will give you a ten second popup, telling you the bugs, trackers, and other nuisances that are slowing you down.  I won't name the site taken here but trust me, with Ghostery as an active extension, the page load time dropped by sixteen seconds.


That's amazing....and infuriating at the same time.  Look at the garbage that loaded with that web page.

Please note, even the ageless and infamous DoubleClick is shot dead in its tracks.  That is a beautiful, beautiful thing in itself.

Unfortunately, one of my very favorite websites gives me these sort of problems from time to time.  LXer.com uses Tribal Fusion to serve their ads, and hey...ads done in moderation are not a bad thing.  Every website needs to At Least cover their costs of hosting and maintenance.  I don't begrudge anyone that.  What I do take issue with is an ad server blocking the page load for 1 to 2 minutes at a time.  It doesn't happen all the time but when it does, it is excruciating.

I just won't tolerate that and I don't think it's fair for any website to expect it of you or me.

Don't even get me started on Daniweb or LinuxToday.

So, while Tribal Fusion might be the only ad server active on LXer, it is one of the most annoying and unfortunately, I turn on blocking for LXer when it seems to be choking.  I don't have all day to wait for an ad to load.

And you don't either.

So yes, the everyday user is getting hip to their choices and I am seeing it more and more every day.

And that makes me feel great.  The geeks have done good.

All-Righty Then...

Muktware caught my eye this morning via Google reader.  the title?

LoveFilms Goes Suicidal, Ditches Flash For SilverlightSay what?  But, but....I thought Silverlight was dead? 
Apparently not.
As quoted from the Muktware article: "LoveFilms, an Amazon company, is ditching the dying Flash technology for already dead Microsoft's Silverlight. The move gives indications that Flash will soon lose its significance on the PC as well. Adobe recently announced killing Flash on mobile platforms.

The bad news is the insecure Hollywood studios are going with Microsoft's non-standard technology Silverlight. I wonder if Microsoft pushed for Silverlight as it sees Adobe killing Flash fo good."So which is it?  Is the rumor of Silverlight's death grossly exaggerated or does LoveFilms know something we don't?It's obvious that the MPAA has their greasy hands all over this decision, and there is probably little doubt that any licensing agreement between LoveFilms and the content owners was contingent upon them switching over to Silverlight. Duh....I figured that all out on my own.Let me 'splain something to those that demanded this change-over. The people that are "stealing" from you are going to do it regardless of whatever bullpoot DRM you put up as an obstacle.  Fact is, there are streaming websites that locate themselves WAYYYY out of the legal reach of the "AA's" and US law.  Some of the servers are physically located in places like Tonga, The Bahamas and Sweden. They show stuff literally minutes after its first premiere or showing.I can usually watch a television show that aired PST just minutes after it airs in my time zone...without the bloody commercials.  You have no idea how much that in itself is of value to me.  I despise television commercials, almost as much as the ones they now want me to watch in a movie theater. The particular site I use does not actually host any files but acts as a link page for those that do....and there are a lot of them.  One movie or TV series episode might be listed under 10 or more servers showing the same program.  Recently this "linkpage" was taken down by British authorities and the site operator was arrested.  No sooner did he make bail, he purchased new servers, registered his website under a .ms domain and they were back in business.  Downtime? About 4 days.At this moment. I have 11-11-11 paused as I write this entry. Yeah, it might be a cam or a screener but as one who boycotts the movie houses anyway, I get to watch it in the comfort of my home, and with the aid of a certain Firefox extension, I can slide the burned disk of said infringement into my "playsanyformat" box and watch it on a 42 inch TV screen.These devices were, at one time, considered illegal via the DMCA for import into the US but said laws were challenged and they are available in some stores and most places online.  I payed 45.00 for mine but prices range extensively so shop cautiously.So what good does this move to Silverlight do....I mean outside of the Microsoft Counting Rooms?Again, DRM hobbles the legitimate user and provides a few giggles for everyone else.  See, I never "pirated" a thing until 2000.  That's the year Metallica and Dr. Dre sued Napster and the whole filesharing thing got dragged kicking and screaming into US awareness.I made it a point to download every single song I could possibly consider enjoying that same day.  My entire music collection consists of 419 illegally downloaded songs...songs that I still play on a weekly basis.  I would no sooner purchase a major recording company CD or a movie DVD than I would girl-slap Mike Tyson. When the artist gets a more proportionate share of the sale, then, I will re-examine my stand.  But while the RIAA siphons off the real money percentage-wise...well, I personally cannot condemn the practice regardless of how wrong it might be. My last foray into the seedy world (sorry) of music downloading?
Nickleback.  That gives you an idea of what I think of most commercialized music since then.Case on point, I've bought The Who - Who's Next album/CD six times in my life.  It either gets scratched, lost or just plain worn out.  Since the year 2000, I haven't purchased a replacement copy once.  My opposition to a heavy-handed RIAA saw to that.  So instead of discouraging pirate behavior, you've encouraged it?  How many other customers have done the same thing worldwide?  I would guess a bunch.I can name one sweet old lady who did the same thing.As soon as I get some clarification on certain statute of limitation laws, I will tell you a story about something I was involved in between 2001 and 2003.  I am proud to have been a part of this "project", although I've never talked about it publicly.  But I will if I can.  I think you will like it.  Stay Tuned.All-Righty Then 

This entry has nothing to do with HeliOS or Linux but it's something that is important to me and I wanted to make sure I share it with people.

I have a friend of 22 years who came home safely from Afghanistan yesterday.  He crewed on a C-130 gunship and spent over a year doing so.  Yesterday he came home to a large contingent of friends and relatives.  He has a family of 3 waiting for him, a wife and 2 children, ages 8 and 12.  From what I understand, the airport reunion was touching and there probably wasn't a dry eye in the group when  8 year old Cyndi exclaimed as she ran to him and jumped into his arms:

MY DADDY'S HOME, MY DADDY'S HOME....

Well, unfortunately there wasn't any video shot of the event but there is one video I want to show you.

As I am both a war veteran and someone who has waited for someone to come home from war, I know the feelings that prevail within. Sure you tuck that worry and fear deep inside you and try to go on day to day, but you always keep hope and you always prepare for that day that someone is going to tell you something horrible that will change your life forever.
I know there are a million of these on youtube but this one reunion video between father and daughter is the best one of all of them. She does what has to be the best classic double take of all time and then........

All the fear, all the worry and all the nagging anxiety drop away from her like a mercury overcoat as she sees her dad in her classroom. This precious little girl has her daddy back. You can see the entire range of her emotions in a few split seconds. This is what life is all about. It's about love....it's about keeping the porch light on until someone you are waiting for comes home. And it's about unabashed emotional release when your daddy comes back.Watch and you will see.