The Vent Pipe

Thanks to all (few) who read this blog on a regular, semi-regular or seldom basis. It is safe to say that 2006 was an interesting year, and 2007 is setting up to be much of the same.

Personally, I was blessed with good health, success and happiness throughout 2006, and I hope you were too.

At any rate, here’s to you and a prosperous, happy and safe 2007 for all. Best wishes and may God bless…

There is some unposted business left to be discussed before the week ends in approximately 45 minutes. Two recipes, a quick overview of my first day as a Mac user and finally my Christmas roundup.

We shall start with the Mac. As noted this afternoon, the new MacBook Black came this after noon via FedEx. Extremely quick shipping considering I ordered it at 8pm on Thursday night. I expected it to be calendar refill I ordered for my planner or some of the text books I ordered earlier in the week, but to my (pleasant) surprise, it was my Christmas gift to myself.

Just like PC, the initial power-up required some housekeeping chores. User accounts, default settings etc. etc. had to be attended to first and foremost. I had been worried prior to my purchase that the MacBook would not interface correctly with the Windows Wireless home network we have here at the house. Blog posts and other ineternet stories suggested that connection *could* be made, but that it would be a difficult process. Wrong. An available network list came up, i clicked it and provided the password, and bam, I’m connected. It was that easy.

Next I set to task attempting to find a way to transfer my emails from the PC. After reading several highly technical articles, I stumbled on one which advocated converting from Outlook to Eudora for Windows, then transferring the files which would work with Mac’s pre-loaded, integrated mail client. The address book transfered just fine; no such luck with the email. After several unsuccessful attempts which resulted in all the emails appearing in the box, but having no text associated with them, I went back to the PC and opted to save the very vital emails as text files and swap them to the Mac that way. I’ll be holding on to the PC for a while anyway, as I still need it for our home business until we get a Mac friendly version of QuickBooks.

I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just playing around. I’ve been able to communicate from my computer to my cell phone via Mac’s built in Bluetooth technology. Unfortunately, I can send data to the phone, but have yet to work out the kinks as to how to go from phone to Mac. The iPhoto software is pretty interesting, too. It’s straight forward and much more functional and user friendly than anything I ever used on PC. Acquiring images from my Cannon PowerShot A75 was also a cinch. The iWeb feature seems to be a quick easy way to build websites and even features software to build a blog. Sounds like fun. I might have to check into leaving blogger and finding my own domain. Any suggestions?

I opted to download Firefox over the Safari internet browser provided by Mac. My old Newsgator client was not Mac friendly, so I switched to one called Shrook. So far so good in that department as well. Overall, I must say that I am quite pleased with the switch. We’ll see when I get back to school and the Mac gets put through the vigor of day to day usage. I have to say that I’m even a bit ashamed of my unwillingness to have explored this option earlier, but I will also admit up front that I am NOT one of these hardcore Mac only types that laughs at folks who use a PC platform. So that is that…

Next up: Recipe time.

For our Christmas celebration, I cooked for the girlfriend. She came over, we ate and exchanged gifts. I made Chicken Francois from the Healthy Eating Cookbook. It was delicious. The chicken was pounded to about 1/4″ thick, then coated lightly in flour, then dipped in a mixture of egg substitute, cheese, salt, pepper and a few other odds and ends, then lightly fried in olive oil. To round out the meal, I served risotto and steamed brocoli.

After the meal, we headed to a nearby town to see The Nativity which was quite a lovely movie. The writers really did an effective job of capturing the majesty of teh event as best could be expected. Furthermore, the interwoven humor provided by the Magaii was very enjoyable.

Christmas treated me well. Clothes were the big-ticket items for me this year. I received no shortage of sweaters and winter clothes, which were appreciated as my wardrobe needed to be boosted a little bit. A new leather jacket headlined the gifts from the parents, which also included the DVD of Les Miserables performed by the so called dream cast. Watching it again gave me cold chills, and Valjean’s confrontation with Javear made every hair on my neck stand at attention. Rounding out the gift giving was a new leather planner (which was highly needed) and a mug which reads: “I’m a scary conservative with a hidden agenda…”

Christmas went off without a hitch. Considering that various members of my family (on both sides) have had health issues (from kidney stones, to liver transplants) it was good just to be with the family. We even had a new baby on my dad’s side. While I don’t have any pictures of the big Christmas meal, I assure you all that it was delicious and beautiful.

Last night, everybody was in a sort of “no need for a ‘big dinner’” mood, so I put my parents new Cuisinart Griddler to work making panninis. They were delicious: Capricola, baked ham, prosciutto, tomato-garlic pesto, pepper-jack cheese, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion and semolina bread come together to form the “perfect panini.” Here, the mega-sandwhich is enjoyed with toasted butternut squash (I had some raw left over from Christmas eve dinner) and one of my first (and favorite) legally-enjoyed alcoholic beverages since celebrating my 21st on Tuesday: The Hornsby Hard Cider. Yum.

So this has been a long entry about much of nothing. For those who read all the way to the bottom, I apologize for being length and for any hunger pain that reading or seeing about these two meals may have caused.

Received the new MacBook this morning (quick shipping, eh?). So far so good. Obviously I’m still on a learning curve. It’ll take a while to get used to the small screen and the new OS after all those years of windows. At this point I’m trying to import my email from my PC to the new MacBook. I’ve tried a couple of things, but with no luck (my address book has transfered just fine, but the actual email messages haven’t come over as easily…) I’ll keep everyone posted as I make the switch…

**Update: Scroll Down

Apparently so…

I’ve been computer shopping for a couple of months now.  No hurry, but the realization that my trusty Dell 8600 isn’t going to last forever finally struck me and has been perpetuated by the consistent freezing up, sporadic shutting down and general decreased functionality of the formerly ‘ole reliable.’  The prospects of purchasing a new Dell were slim due to several difficult bouts with somebody in a far away land who pretends to speak English and works for Dell tech support.  They were lessened even further when my mothers dell (less than 2 years old at the time) simply stopped working just a few days after it’s warranty expired.

So I began looking around with Dell in the back of my mind.  By many accounts, the Sony Vaio reigns supreme in the PC world, but with a very high starting price and the simple fact that whether it’s in a Dell or a Sony case it’s still a Windows based machine (and it was not the Dell case that was freezing up now was it…) I decided to explore the world of Mac.

Now for the past couple of years I’ve given one of my long time friends a very hard time about being a Mac-fanatic.  Mostly it’s just be being a pain in the ass, but part of it was a general dislike Mac.  As one of the blogs I read during my investigation admitted, “Sadly, I was simply afraid of what I did not know.”  As my investigation became more serious, I emailed said friend with a list of questions.  She–upon getting over the initial shock–was quite helpful to me.

Anyway, to make an already long story short, I, like Glenn Reynold’s, just ordered a Mac after years of swearing by the trusty ole PC.  To be specific, I ordered a MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Black. 

Here’s a little breakdown on why I decided to switch:

• I have yet to read an entry via the blogs OR professionally owned/operated technology websites that has anything but praise over security.  While I have always been lucky in staying clear of viruses, they’ve been a long time worry for me.
• Most of what I read swears by the speed of the Mac, especially for booting up.
• I have tried and tried to master image and music editing (more image than music) via PC.  Again, blogs and other sites that I read had nothing but praise for the ease of such editing via mac.
• Mac’s incorporation of the Intel chip.
• Something different.  As bad a reason as that may sound, the same old windows was getting a little old.

At any rate, for better or worse there is a black MacBook on it’s way.  I shall be back with my first impressions sometime between Tuesday and Friday of next week…

 ** Update:  It looks like I may have made the right choice in opting for Mac over Vista:

[Microsoft] on Friday confirmed the vulnerabilities, which were first reported by independent third parties, but pointed out that no malicious programmes taking advantage of the flaws had yet appeared.

The flaw allows a user with standard system privileges to gain wider access to system tools and settings without the approval of a network administrator. This potentially disables a key security feature of Vista but attackers would first need to gain access to a computer through some other means before exploiting the vulnerability. A vulnerability in the new web browser Internet Explorer 7 was reported at the same time.

Oh my…

*Update

Obviously at the ripe-old age of 21 I don’t remember anything about Gerald Ford or his presidency. But I do remember this:

• Gerald Ford dead and Tom Brokaw is gay
• What if Ford was eaten by a pack of wolves
• If he was, I’m sure he would have been delicious
• What if he was chopped into little-bits by a commuter plane?

Yes, I’m talking about Dana Carvey’s hilarious sketch as Tom Brokaw attempting to cover each and every possible news story before going on vacation.

Hats of to the man credited with healing the nation after Nixon’s mess.

* For a little more substance, try Tigerhawk’s coverage…

From The Boston Globe:

The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks — including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they volunteer — according to Pentagon officials.

[...]

With severe manpower strains because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and a mandate to expand the overall size of the military — the Pentagon is under pressure to consider a variety of proposals involving foreign recruits, according to a military affairs analyst.

“It works as a military idea and it works in the context of American immigration,” said Thomas Donnelly , a military scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington and a leading proponent of recruiting more foreigners to serve in the military.

[...]

Both President Bush and Robert M. Gates, his new defense secretary, have acknowledged that the total size of the military must be expanded to help alleviate the strain on ground troops, many of whom have been deployed repeatedly in combat theaters.

[...]

O’Hanlon and others noted that the country has relied before on sizable numbers of noncitizens to serve in the military — in the Revolutionary War, for example, German and French soldiers served alongside the colonists, and locals were recruited into US ranks to fight insurgents in the Philippines

But it would take years and billions of dollars to recruit, train, and equip the 30,000 troops and 5,000 Marines the Pentagon says it needs. And military recruiters, fighting the perception that signing up means a ticket to Baghdad, have had to rely on financial incentives and lower standards to meet their quotas.

That has led Pentagon officials to consider casting a wider net for noncitizens who are already here, said Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Hilferty , an Army spokesman.

[...]

“It is not without historical precedent,” said Donnelly, author of a recent book titled “The Army We Need,” which advocates for a larger military.

Still, to some military officials and civil rights groups, relying on large number of foreigners to serve in the military is offensive.

The Hispanic rights advocacy group National Council of La Raza has said the plan sends the wrong message that Americans themselves are not willing to sacrifice to defend their country. Officials have also raised concerns that immigrants would be disproportionately sent to the front lines as “cannon fodder” in any conflict.

I think there are couple of points on this storyworth exploring.  It should be noted first and foremost, however, that if military leadership, the new SecDef and the President are all suggesting that we need to increase the overall number of troops, then we probably need to increase the overall number of troops.  Of course, such an observation will undoubtedly be exploited for political gain by those who oppose the Iraq war and the broader war on terror.  They will certainly say that if Bush had not put us into these wars then we wouldn’t be short on troops.  Of course, what good is a giant army if we never use it?

Secondly, I think it is safe to say that when we say the army is considering using “non-citizens” we actually mean it is considering using an increased number of non-citizen Hispanic folk, right?  Probably so, but for the National Council of La raza to fear that immigrants would be “cannon fodder” is outrageous.  Do such troops (those used only for cannon fodder) even exist anymore?  This is 2006, not 1915.

Thirdly, comparing the use of immigrants today to the use of immigrants in the Revolutionary War is a bit unequivocal.  There were no American citizens at the onset of the American Revolution because there was no America.  Another point to consider here is that French nationalists were not fighting in the Revolution for the love of the fledgling democracy.  They were fighting for their own imperialist interests after being handedly defeated by the French in past North American conflicts.

Fourthly and finally am I the only one who remembers what happened to Rome?  Their apathy of the non-Roman troops towards the future of Rome ultimately led to its demise.  Do we really want to be protected by a group of individuals which we are unsure of where their loyalties lie?  Need we remember the Mexican flag waving celebrations of MEXICAN NATIONALISM which occurred in our cities just a few months earlier.  These individuals are not loyal to the United States.  They are loyal to their home countries, and that is not what we need or want in our Armed Forces.

From The Washington Post:

UNITED NATIONS — Iran demanded Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council condemn what it said was Israel’s clandestine development of nuclear weapons and “compel” it to place all its nuclear facilities under U.N. inspection.

If Israel refuses to comply, Iran said the council must take “resolute action” under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter which authorizes a range of measures from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military action.

Iran insists its own nuclear program is a purely peaceful effort to develop energy, but the United States and many European nations believe Tehran’s real aim in enriching uranium is to produce nuclear weapons. The Security Council is currently debating a resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend its enrichment program.

Now we’ve been fooling around with possible actions against Iran and it’s so called “peaceful nuke program” (which, just as a reminder, it plans to sell to its neighbors) for far to long.  But we can bet with the utmost level of confidence that if it weren’t for the US and our veto power, sanctions (if not worse) against Israel would be slapped down almost instantaneously.  What a different view the UN has of Israel now than sixty-ish years ago when it grantned legal status to seemingly lone sane Mid-Eastern states.

I’m a Lamborghini Murcielago!

You’re not subtle, but you don’t want to be. Fast, loud, and dramatic, you want people to notice you, and then get out of the way. In a world full of sheep, you’re a raging bull.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Ok, so everything said in this paragraph is true.  I am fast loud and (sometimes) dramatic.  Yes, I’ll admit it, I like people to tell me how much the love me and then move out of the way. Maybe it is all about me? Just kidding, of course

Oh, one other thing, while we’re on the subject of me, I feel so compelled to brag that I received straight A’s this semester.  Considering several of my classes were considerably harder than usual, I am very pleased with myself.  here was teh schedule I faced this semester:

1. EDUC 370: Creating Learning Environments
2. HIS 333: History of Modern Europe
3. HIS 202: US History, 1867-Today
4. EDUC 360: Educating Exceptional Children
5. PSCY 406: Social Psychology
6. PSCI 102: State and Local Government

Next semester is promising to be just as rough if not worse

1. Two 400 level EDUC classes
2. Two 300 level HIS classes (History of American Women and Sub-Saharan African History)
3. One 400 level HIS class (History of Russia)
4. One 300 level Geography class (World Economic Geography)

Just thought I’d share a little of that

From Financial Times.com

The European Union’s trade commissioner will on Monday dismiss French proposals for a “green” tax on goods from countries that have not ratified the Kyoto treaty as not only a probable breach of trade rules but also “not good politics”.

Peter Mandelson says that the levy, aiming to cancel the competitive advantage of countries that are not cutting carbon emissions to fight global warming, would be “highly problematic under World Trade Organisation rules and almost impossible to implement in practice”.

But wait, there’s more:

“Not participating in the Kyoto process is not illegal. Nor is it a subsidy under WTO rules,” Mr Mandelson will warn in a podcast speech to 50,000 subscribers. “How would we choose what goods to target? China has ratified Kyoto but has no Kyoto targets because of its developing country status. The US has not ratified but states like California have ambitious climate change policies.”

Above all, he says, it would undermine the international co-operation required to combat climate change.

Well, somebody from the EU is finally making sense.  Now if this fellow can just get the rest of his little buddies to wake up.