So I was watching football, some movies and having a couple of beers today. I have no family in town and all of my friends are busy doing family things so I am left alone on Thanksgiving. So with all my time to think I have discovered one thing. People are stupid.
I was reading an article about how Obama isn't releasing their menu to the public for their thanksgiving meal. Not obviously a big story. So as I scrolled down I realized that there was 129 comments about the story, but most of them were just people bitching about how Obama is a bad president or how Republicans suck. It just amazes me how one day a year we get to reflect on how great our country is and how much we should be grateful that we live here and not in Afghanistan or Zimbabwe. Yet we squander it in a forum on a story that isn't even a political story.
Be thankful for what you have and live your life. Thanksgiving is once a year and you shouldn't spend it reflecting on politics or not reflecting at all. You should truly reflect on how your world would change if we lived somewhere else. Not on what the first family is eating or not eating on thanksgiving and why.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Devo the Whippet Leg Amputation
I am very tired of telling the story of how I got to this place with my dog Devo. So here is a summery of the experiences and cost so if you are presented with a similar thing you can make an educated decision.
Devo had a lump on her front leg and went to get it removed. The surgery didn't go so hot and I chose amputation as an alternative to reconstructive surgery and chemotherapy. The cost of the initial sugery and post sugery treatments totaled $1200 in 4 days and 13 vet visits.
I was quoted $4000 for reconstructive surgery, $950 in visits for 3 weeks worth of rewrapping her origional wound and wasn't quoted chemotherapy which I estimate at another $3000 - $4000. I was also quoted $2000 for an amputation by the local emergency pet hospital.
So on 11/25/09 I had her front right leg removed by a very helpful animal shelter that I had volunteered at. Though I didn't qualify for any discounts or anything they were still 1/3 the cost of the local animal hospital and very capable of doing the surgery.
It has only been 10 hours since her surgery and she is on some morphine type patch and other pain meds and is more or less out of it. She whines occasionally but seems to be doing okay. After I picked her up she actually jumped into the car by herself. So she seems to be rebounding pretty good. Her pictures right after surgery are below:
I will keep the updates coming so if you end up with a tri-pod dog you can know what to expect from the surgery.
Devo had a lump on her front leg and went to get it removed. The surgery didn't go so hot and I chose amputation as an alternative to reconstructive surgery and chemotherapy. The cost of the initial sugery and post sugery treatments totaled $1200 in 4 days and 13 vet visits.
I was quoted $4000 for reconstructive surgery, $950 in visits for 3 weeks worth of rewrapping her origional wound and wasn't quoted chemotherapy which I estimate at another $3000 - $4000. I was also quoted $2000 for an amputation by the local emergency pet hospital.
So on 11/25/09 I had her front right leg removed by a very helpful animal shelter that I had volunteered at. Though I didn't qualify for any discounts or anything they were still 1/3 the cost of the local animal hospital and very capable of doing the surgery.
It has only been 10 hours since her surgery and she is on some morphine type patch and other pain meds and is more or less out of it. She whines occasionally but seems to be doing okay. After I picked her up she actually jumped into the car by herself. So she seems to be rebounding pretty good. Her pictures right after surgery are below:
I will keep the updates coming so if you end up with a tri-pod dog you can know what to expect from the surgery.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Reflecting on my decision to not vote
A few days ago I posted about how I no longer want to be a part of American politics because I no longer feel it can change. This may sound like I am just another part of the problem. Though at first glance this may seem true, but this doesn't mean you have to vote to change America. My thought is that America is so broken that voting for things (especially in national votes) won't change them.
So what do we do? We concentrate on our communities and schools. We work hard to make the communities we live in a good place to live. The good we do in a community will translate to the bigger picture more than one person could by themselves. Community by community and state by state things will change until the federal government finally has to change.
A friend told me that there is a feud of generations going on. The two have very different views and do not see eye-to-eye. On may get their news from online media and social media circles and one gets their news from traditional media such as tv, radio and papers. But this doesn't make either side wrong, it just shows that the country is transitioning. Things will change, and I am sure both sides deep down know it will happen, but for now it is frustrating. I am sure many things will done and said that people will regret on both sides, but in the end we should end up in a better country. Hopefully in the end we will end up a bit more unified.
So what do we do? We concentrate on our communities and schools. We work hard to make the communities we live in a good place to live. The good we do in a community will translate to the bigger picture more than one person could by themselves. Community by community and state by state things will change until the federal government finally has to change.
A friend told me that there is a feud of generations going on. The two have very different views and do not see eye-to-eye. On may get their news from online media and social media circles and one gets their news from traditional media such as tv, radio and papers. But this doesn't make either side wrong, it just shows that the country is transitioning. Things will change, and I am sure both sides deep down know it will happen, but for now it is frustrating. I am sure many things will done and said that people will regret on both sides, but in the end we should end up in a better country. Hopefully in the end we will end up a bit more unified.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Discouraged with American Politics
I have been thinking about our political system in America a lot recently. I am disappointed with the direction I see this country going and I am more disappointed with how our politicians and political pundits have been acting. This disappointment is leading me down a path of disinterest and indifference. Simply put, I am fed-up.
To those that don't know me, let me preface this by saying my beliefs are the following:
I am fiscally conservative, socially liberal and moderate on most of the other issues. Therefore, I feel that I can find middle ground with just about anyone. I also feel that most people in the US are moderate but we only hear about a few primary issues that define who is liberal and who is conservative.
This problem is nothing new, it is just new to me. It took me a while to come full circle and end up exactly where I started. It is sad when the system give the people ALL the power but we cannot agree on anything to the point where no one gets what they want. It is sad when we feel like no matter how we vote it has to be for one of the two parties or we are throwing our vote away. It is just sad that we all go through life looking for the differences in our opinions instead of trying to find out what we have in common.
It is for this reason that I am officially resigning from the political process. I am no longer going to vote until I see things change. I truly believe that any president in office today would get nothing of impact passed because of all the bickering and name calling at lower government levels and I cannot see that changing. Only time will tell.
To those that don't know me, let me preface this by saying my beliefs are the following:
I am fiscally conservative, socially liberal and moderate on most of the other issues. Therefore, I feel that I can find middle ground with just about anyone. I also feel that most people in the US are moderate but we only hear about a few primary issues that define who is liberal and who is conservative.
- Do I think America is a great country? Yes.
- Do I think America is better than most countries? Yes.
- Do I feel that America is royally screwing things up? Yes.
- Do I blame it on Democrats? No.
- Do I blame it on Republicans? No.
- Do I blame it on the media? A tiny bit.
- Do I blame it on us? YES!
This problem is nothing new, it is just new to me. It took me a while to come full circle and end up exactly where I started. It is sad when the system give the people ALL the power but we cannot agree on anything to the point where no one gets what they want. It is sad when we feel like no matter how we vote it has to be for one of the two parties or we are throwing our vote away. It is just sad that we all go through life looking for the differences in our opinions instead of trying to find out what we have in common.
It is for this reason that I am officially resigning from the political process. I am no longer going to vote until I see things change. I truly believe that any president in office today would get nothing of impact passed because of all the bickering and name calling at lower government levels and I cannot see that changing. Only time will tell.
Race in the Media
Recently I had a discussion about the president and the media. During it I brought up race because for the first time in my life I actually believe that racism has a visible part in our belief system. I am one of the people who agree with Carter when he said that some of Obama's opponents are racially motivated.
Now let me say that I do not believe conservatives or republicans to be racist. But I do believe that more and more of what the conservative media, particularly talk radio, programs is about race than ever before. I also don't believe that a majority of people that disagree with Obama do so because he is black. Simply, I think there is a small, but vocal group, of conservatives that are uneasy with the idea that a black president. Because they feel that a black president may represent other groups over themselves first, or perhaps they feel that the policies have another agenda.
But why now? I think having a black president has given a "green light" to white people to discuss race publicly without worry that we are going to be labeled racist. So the talk shows have gotten on the bandwagon first. Unfortunately, it turns out that they are a bit racist and the more racist they get the more their ratings go up.
Glenn Beck's ratings doubled once he said the president had a deep seeded hatred towards white people. Limbaugh's ratings continue to grow the more he brings up race as an issue. He is not even allowed on Monday night football anymore because of his inability to refrain himself from making negative comments about black football players.
I just hope that through all this race discussion we don't make race relations worse. I don't want the discussion to start as something that is good and genuine and to end up like a reality show on tv where everyone looks like a looser.
Interesting Stat about how bad race relations are. Sure hate crimes may be down, but what about just plain old "They are not like us and that isn't as good" attitudes:
In 2009 where 1/8 people still consider themselves racist.
(On the bright side, 35% of Canadians consider themselves racist -- or maybe they are just more honest)
Interesting Stat 2:
3x's as many black people get pulled over and issued a ticket that is dismissed for "improbable cause" meaning that they were pulled over without reason.
Now let me say that I do not believe conservatives or republicans to be racist. But I do believe that more and more of what the conservative media, particularly talk radio, programs is about race than ever before. I also don't believe that a majority of people that disagree with Obama do so because he is black. Simply, I think there is a small, but vocal group, of conservatives that are uneasy with the idea that a black president. Because they feel that a black president may represent other groups over themselves first, or perhaps they feel that the policies have another agenda.
But why now? I think having a black president has given a "green light" to white people to discuss race publicly without worry that we are going to be labeled racist. So the talk shows have gotten on the bandwagon first. Unfortunately, it turns out that they are a bit racist and the more racist they get the more their ratings go up.
Glenn Beck's ratings doubled once he said the president had a deep seeded hatred towards white people. Limbaugh's ratings continue to grow the more he brings up race as an issue. He is not even allowed on Monday night football anymore because of his inability to refrain himself from making negative comments about black football players.
I just hope that through all this race discussion we don't make race relations worse. I don't want the discussion to start as something that is good and genuine and to end up like a reality show on tv where everyone looks like a looser.
Interesting Stat about how bad race relations are. Sure hate crimes may be down, but what about just plain old "They are not like us and that isn't as good" attitudes:
In 2009 where 1/8 people still consider themselves racist.
(On the bright side, 35% of Canadians consider themselves racist -- or maybe they are just more honest)
Interesting Stat 2:
3x's as many black people get pulled over and issued a ticket that is dismissed for "improbable cause" meaning that they were pulled over without reason.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Google's Caffeine is Shaking Up Search Results
Search engine optimization is starting to become a lot like the stock market: some of your investments pay off quickly, some don't ever pay off, and others go great for years and all of a sudden are worthless.
If you find that your search results are not what they used to be it may be because of all the changes regarding the search engine market. Every search company is trying to differentiate themselves in this crowded market and this is stirring up rankings.
A month or so ago, Microsoft launched Bing which was promised to provide better results than ever before. They also partnered with Yahoo, meaning webmasters no longer have to optimize their site for Google, Yahoo and MSN (Bing) to ensure they are getting maximum exposure. Now there are just two big dogs, but there is going to be a wrench thrown into the mix.
Google is launching a new search engine named Google Caffeine. Caffeine claims to deliver faster and more accurate search results and the launch could slow Bing's growth.
The public can test Caffeine to see where a site ranks or see what the differences are. It is not nearly as large a change as what Bing was, but it may have some large implications to your website traffic. One of the enhancements will revolve around getting real time data. As news breaks or new content is published it will be added to Caffeine almost immediately.
Google's Caffeine Sandbox
Search engine optimization
Google and Bing are claiming to focus more on crawling of relevant content and reliable websites. This means more time should be spent on boosting your website's content and making sure the structure of your website is sound. There are several things your webmaster can do to make sure you are visible to both Google's Caffeine and Bing.
One of the areas that is being de-emphasized is backlinks. Using the old Google and MSN, backlinks were king; the more links you had to your website the higher ranking you would receive. This caused a problem in the industry because you could literally buy your way to the top. While backlinks are still very important, having website content that is relevant is even more important.
Finally, the age of your website is more important. New websites are being penalized and older domains are being rewarded. There is really nothing you can do about this aspect, just make sure to register new domains as early as possible and don't switch domain names if you can avoid it.
This article was written for Tekniq by Josh Collins
If you find that your search results are not what they used to be it may be because of all the changes regarding the search engine market. Every search company is trying to differentiate themselves in this crowded market and this is stirring up rankings.
A month or so ago, Microsoft launched Bing which was promised to provide better results than ever before. They also partnered with Yahoo, meaning webmasters no longer have to optimize their site for Google, Yahoo and MSN (Bing) to ensure they are getting maximum exposure. Now there are just two big dogs, but there is going to be a wrench thrown into the mix.
Google is launching a new search engine named Google Caffeine. Caffeine claims to deliver faster and more accurate search results and the launch could slow Bing's growth.
The public can test Caffeine to see where a site ranks or see what the differences are. It is not nearly as large a change as what Bing was, but it may have some large implications to your website traffic. One of the enhancements will revolve around getting real time data. As news breaks or new content is published it will be added to Caffeine almost immediately.
Google's Caffeine Sandbox
Search engine optimization
Google and Bing are claiming to focus more on crawling of relevant content and reliable websites. This means more time should be spent on boosting your website's content and making sure the structure of your website is sound. There are several things your webmaster can do to make sure you are visible to both Google's Caffeine and Bing.
One of the areas that is being de-emphasized is backlinks. Using the old Google and MSN, backlinks were king; the more links you had to your website the higher ranking you would receive. This caused a problem in the industry because you could literally buy your way to the top. While backlinks are still very important, having website content that is relevant is even more important.
Finally, the age of your website is more important. New websites are being penalized and older domains are being rewarded. There is really nothing you can do about this aspect, just make sure to register new domains as early as possible and don't switch domain names if you can avoid it.
This article was written for Tekniq by Josh Collins
Friday, June 12, 2009
Some insight into Bing, and why you may actually like it
Not all search engines are created equal, if they were Google wouldn’t have over 60% of the worlds search market. But is Bing a Google killer or just another search with a few gimmicks?
At first glance, Microsoft’s msn.com replacement looks surprisingly familiar. It has a search box in the middle of the screen, some links along the top to sign in or create an account and other links that access "images, videos, shopping, news, maps and travel." So, upon first look, it seems that Microsoft spent 100 million dollars to create… Google! But this is really where the similarities stop.
Bing is livened up by a crisp background image that links to some interesting facts and videos about the pictures when you rollover certain areas. Neat, but it is not exactly going to make Bing the search engine of choice.
So how about their search results?
Search results are displayed in the same format as Google and even their results are similar. When I searched for "Kyocera Kansas City" Tekniq popped up as #1 on both search engines. But on Bing I was able to hover my mouse over a little symbol to the right of the results and see a text preview of the page and what the page links to. This little feature could be handy, but with high speed internet it’s probably just faster to click and go to the site to see it yourself.
So where does it really excel?
Bing may be similar in appearance and functionality to Google for searching, but where Bing really dazzles is with its other programs.
1. Bing Images
Bing allows for better image searching and displaying. You can customize the layout of the images and there is no flipping through pages to see more results, simply scroll down and more images appear.
Bing also has a "Show similar Images" link on every image. This is great for finding the type of image you want. So if you want an image of a person talking on a phone, you can type in "phone" and then find the image that you want and click "Show similar images" and you will see more like that image.
2. Bing Videos
Bing has a searchable video service that has video’s from youtube, ABC, BBC and other sites. It also has a quick preview feature where you can roll over the video and it will start streaming it immediately so you can preview the video before even clicking on it.
3. Bing Shopping with cashback
Perhaps one of the best features that Bing has is their shopping feature. It is easy to use and similar to Google shopping but they have a cashback program that pays you up to 10% for buying from certain vendors.
Some of their prices seem to correspond to the wrong products, but one can only assume that it is because the service is new. If they fix this then why would you ever shop online any other way?
4. Bing Maps
Bing’s mapping feature is leftover from live.com. But if you have never checked it out, I think you may be impressed. It has great satellite and areal imagery that let you view your house from all four angles instead of just a bird’s eye view. It also has a plug-in that you can install to access true 3d mapping.
Though it doesn’t have an answer to Google Streets, it is still a nice tool and good in its own right.
Bing really does deliver some impressive features without losing what most love about Google. If Google doesn’t respond to some of these features by making changes of their own, then Bing may be something to reckon with. My guess is that Google responds in a big way and is able to leverage their name to once again increase their market. But for now, Bing may be the search engine of choice.
At first glance, Microsoft’s msn.com replacement looks surprisingly familiar. It has a search box in the middle of the screen, some links along the top to sign in or create an account and other links that access "images, videos, shopping, news, maps and travel." So, upon first look, it seems that Microsoft spent 100 million dollars to create… Google! But this is really where the similarities stop.
Bing is livened up by a crisp background image that links to some interesting facts and videos about the pictures when you rollover certain areas. Neat, but it is not exactly going to make Bing the search engine of choice.
So how about their search results?
Search results are displayed in the same format as Google and even their results are similar. When I searched for "Kyocera Kansas City" Tekniq popped up as #1 on both search engines. But on Bing I was able to hover my mouse over a little symbol to the right of the results and see a text preview of the page and what the page links to. This little feature could be handy, but with high speed internet it’s probably just faster to click and go to the site to see it yourself.
So where does it really excel?
Bing may be similar in appearance and functionality to Google for searching, but where Bing really dazzles is with its other programs.
1. Bing Images
Bing allows for better image searching and displaying. You can customize the layout of the images and there is no flipping through pages to see more results, simply scroll down and more images appear.
Bing also has a "Show similar Images" link on every image. This is great for finding the type of image you want. So if you want an image of a person talking on a phone, you can type in "phone" and then find the image that you want and click "Show similar images" and you will see more like that image.
2. Bing Videos
Bing has a searchable video service that has video’s from youtube, ABC, BBC and other sites. It also has a quick preview feature where you can roll over the video and it will start streaming it immediately so you can preview the video before even clicking on it.
3. Bing Shopping with cashback
Perhaps one of the best features that Bing has is their shopping feature. It is easy to use and similar to Google shopping but they have a cashback program that pays you up to 10% for buying from certain vendors.
Some of their prices seem to correspond to the wrong products, but one can only assume that it is because the service is new. If they fix this then why would you ever shop online any other way?
4. Bing Maps
Bing’s mapping feature is leftover from live.com. But if you have never checked it out, I think you may be impressed. It has great satellite and areal imagery that let you view your house from all four angles instead of just a bird’s eye view. It also has a plug-in that you can install to access true 3d mapping.
Though it doesn’t have an answer to Google Streets, it is still a nice tool and good in its own right.
Bing really does deliver some impressive features without losing what most love about Google. If Google doesn’t respond to some of these features by making changes of their own, then Bing may be something to reckon with. My guess is that Google responds in a big way and is able to leverage their name to once again increase their market. But for now, Bing may be the search engine of choice.
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