It must be a sign of the times.

Six months - and what have I accomplished?

• Not much of anything.
• No writing - not for a lack of ideas
• No business idea planning - again not for a lack of inspiration

I have aged a bit though. I did manage to lose some weight, but I think that's more due to a mysterious back injury that won't go away (we'll see what the doctor says) and diet changes. Also I'm a lot more stressed out these days over a number of things both personal and professional. I've watched too many people obtain or make progress in their lives and advance, along with still other entities conti

A tremendous number of excuses about a lack of focus, time, energy, willpower, etc.

So ... what do I have to cram into the next six months?

• A couple of albums  - need to block off time once again in the evenings and on the bus to put words and music and thought together.
• A couple of IT Certifications - just a question of focus
• Fleshing out a business plan for two ideas (on personal, the other professional)
• Some hard decisions about a few things as well.

Exhausing our existence ... one Frankenseed at a time - the sequel.

Continuing on this post ...

MONSANTOpoly, Part 3: Seeds of Destruction

http://theeverlastinggopstoppers.com/2013/06/monsantopoly-part-3-seeds-destruction/

One of many devastating bits -

"The problem with this situation is that it could be creating a potentially catastrophic feedback loop. Roundup Ready GMO crops are supposed to resist the highly toxic effects of Roundup. But research done outside of Monsanto’s clique questions whether the GMOs resist Roundup at any volume, or whether the cycle of spraying more Roundup, creating more superweeds, spraying more Roundup, etc. could saturate the soil, killing off important micro-nutrients, and saturating crops with a level of Roundup that Roundup Ready GMOs can’t completely resist, making them susceptible to plant diseases. Given the lack of oversight explained in Part 2 of our series, if GMO crops were contracting plant diseases that weren’t readily visible, who would even know?"

Why I think stupidity ought to hurt.

I figure it's the weakness form of accountability one can inflict on someone who does do stupid things to other beings.

Case in-point - 

50,000 Bumblebees Dead After Neonicotinoid Pesticide Use in Oregon

"According to the Xerces Society, this is the largest known incident of bumblebee deaths ever recorded in the country. Bumblebees, which are crucial to the pollination of multiple berry and seed crops grown in the Willamette valley—as well as many other food crops across the country—have recently experienced dramatic population declines, a fate similar to other pollinators." 

And to think - Wilsonville - I turned down a job there a few years back. 

US Supreme Court shows some sanity ... today.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/25/194941/on-the-cusp-of-a-cultural-moment.html#.UcsDmG1ujoZ

In a pair of highly anticipated decisions, the divided court effectively undercut California’s Proposition 8 and struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Though one of the decisions was written narrowly, together they provide an emphatic, if incomplete win for same-sex marriage advocates.

The same-sex marriage decisions, issued on the final day of the term that started last October, address different issues. In each, a slim 5-4 majority rallied for the position that effectively supported same-sex marriage.

 About time we realize that one's sexuality shouldn't be a barrier to a right all should enjoy.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/06/25/194941/on-the-cusp-of-a-cultural-moment.html#.Ucr3WusZeSg#storylink=cpy

Quote of the Day - 06-25-2013.

John Lewis:

"... it took a Bloody Sunday for Congress to finally decide to fix on-going, institutionalized discrimination that occurred for 100 years after the rights of freed slaves were nullified at the end of the Civil War. I am deeply concerned that Congress will not have the will to fix what the Supreme Court has broken."

I couldn't say it better. In so many ways this country is moving farther and farther away from rationality and justice and more towards the kind of country that nearly got torn apart over things that were wrong.

I feel bad for Calgarians ...

Why do I get the impression this is just the beginning?

http://www.climatecentral.org/news/as-calgary-floods-scientists-warn-of-rising-risks-16145

To think - I had aspiration of once living here. This reminds me a lot about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina.

So, how did this happen? And why, you may ask?

The Answer ...

"A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on June 9 found that flood frequency as well as the number of people at risk of inundation from flood events are both likely to increase as the world continues to warm.

"The physical science behind the findings is relatively simple: as the air and oceans warm, more moisture is added to the atmosphere, giving storms more water vapor to work with and wring out as rain or snow. Studies have already shown an observed increase in extreme precipitation events in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, including a large uptick in heavy precipitation events in the Midwest and Northeastern U.S. However, until the Nature Climate Change study was published, researchers had not yet been able to shed much insight on the changing contours of global river flood risk."

Exhausing our existence ... one Frankenseed at a time.

Life in the Rural Police State of Monsanto

http://truth-out.org/news/item/16985-life-in-the-rural-police-state-of-monsanto?tsk=adminpreview

MONSANTOpoly, Part 1  Sowing Dependence

http://theeverlastinggopstoppers.com/2013/06/monsantopoly-part-1-sowing-dependence/

MONSANTOpoly, Part 2  Corrupt to the Core

http://theeverlastinggopstoppers.com/2013/06/monsantopoly-part-2-corrupt-core/

Microsoft too cheap to pay testers to find bugs in their software nowadays ...

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-unleashes-bug-bounty-program-for-betas-too-7000016956/?s_cid=e589&ttag=e589

Maybe all those SDETs are too busy writing test automation (i.e. code) rather than actually testing the software?

Or perhaps the sanest people still there (there's an oxymoron!) are shouted down by the many Development Managers and Group Program Managers (no Principal Development Managers, and Principal Program Managers)?

As a friend of mine once said when confronted with institutionalized stupidity, "Good luck with that - I hope that works out for you.".

Plan B, yes.

Still, it's worth dreaming of the possibilities, even if it's futile -

Seattle could get NHL team by next season – but don’t get your hopes up

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlesports/2013/06/17/reports-seattle-could-get-nhl-team-by-next-season/

Three things people should know to save the world

The videos are disturbing to say the least -

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/17008-three-things-young-people-should-know-to-save-the-world

I sure hope he's innocent.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/06/17/montreal-michael-applebaum-taken-into-custody.html


Perhaps this was done to make Pauline Marois have less egg on her face in view of this -

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/06/15/quebec-montreal-turban-ban-announcement.html

On a unrelated note, damn - she's hot!


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/06/17/melanie-joly-announces-mayor.html

US Military power grab?

Given how ambigious and broad this appears - it could be so -

http://www.longislandpress.com/2013/05/14/u-s-military-power-grab-goes-into-effect/

Context here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/jun/14/climate-change-energy-shocks-nsa-prism

So they just can't patent our genes ... just yet.

If they fuck around with them and synthesize replacement, then apparently that's possible.

More here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Molecular_Pathology_v._Myriad_Genetics.

Superhero movies today suck.

I think this guy largely summarizes my view of not only superhero movies, but pretty much all Hollywood films (including suspense, drama, comedy, science fiction, horror, and action/adventure) in general.

No one in Hollywood has any original ideas anymore. And certainly anything remotely original that goes beyond a real setting tends to get drenched and drowned in CGI-mania.

Look I admit - I grew up in the 1970's and 80's. So it's no surprise that I'm probably biased towards films that came out in that time or before.

But I honestly feel hero and action films were better then. A big part of it is they felt like complete films - it wasn't all about how many bad-guys can be taken out, how loud explosions can be, how bombastic the music was. There was a plot, there were characters (who mind your were not feminized and emasculated as they are today, like the recent 007 flicks, or the last Superman; much of which of that comes from today's television shows). They had a bit of suspense, drama, even humor.

And regardless of what one thinks about their politics, guys like Arnold, Stallone, Eastwood and Willis were entertaining when paired up with a good story. Both parts of that sentence are what makes a film important, not just one or the other.

One of the reasons I don't live where I was born.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/06/12/f-vp-gagnon-quebec-soccer-turbans.html

I never liked this brand of distinct society.

If global warming doesn't destroy all our cultures and way of life, I can see in Quebec that the provincial government's abject stupidity and lack of logic will destroy its own distinct society first.

UPDATE: FIFA agrees with the Canadian group -

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2013/06/14/sp-soccer-canadian-soccer-association-quebec-turban-ban.html

Leave it to Orwell to predict things ....

http://www.ibtimes.com/nsa-prism-3-ways-orwells-1984-saw-coming-1298425

1. Big Brother Is Watching You- check

2. Prevalance Of Cameras - check

3. Thoughtcrime -check

The decline of language and grammar.

Got this gem sent to my Inbox recently -

"End-user training is often a huge fail because IT pros don't consider the needs or the learning styles of their audience members."

'fail' is a verb. What they meant to say was 'failure' which is a noun.

And this is from a supposed professional. I didn't bother to read the article or go to the link because -

1) What the article tries to get me to understand, I already know.
2) I'm not going to give the site an ad-click action.

Odd is one way of putting it.

http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/06/09/must-watch-video-jfk-motorcade-and-odd-secret-service-behavior/

The questions I have are - who is waving that Secret Service Agent away from the car, and more importantly, why?

Well maybe I should be concerned after all.

Doesn't this situation remind you a lot of Assange?

http://consortiumnews.com/2013/06/10/another-truth-teller-steps-forward/

Glad I'm not a Verizon customer anymore.

NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order

Check out the charts in case you have doubts.

http://www.businessinsider.com/profits-at-high-wages-at-low-2013-4#ixzz2Uu8qclrA

Profits Just Hit Another All-Time High, Wages Just Hit Another All-Time Low

(h/t The Daily Kos)
It's a stark reminder that I'm part of the 99% while corporations are the 1%.

Analogies between software and rock music ...

Testing software is a lot like Bass Players in rock music these days - It's never really in the forefront, but you miss it when it's not there. Sure let the singer or lead guitarist get all the acolades. But without bass things can get quite empty. Oh sure there are bass players who want to play lead (Software Developers In Test; I purposely omit the E for Engineering because having a Computer Science degree doesn't make on an Engineer), but for the most part, bass playing is about keeping things solid between the drums and the other instruments.

I'd say 'Rhythm Guitar' is more like being a Functional/Systems Analyst or Program Manager. You have to determine how things are laid out and be consistent about it. They are the interface between all the other instruments (drums/bass, lead guitar, singer, keyboard) much like in software (interface between the business and the developers/testers/deployment team). You could also lump in Project Managers as well, as they keep everyone on track and good ones keeps things on time.

Deployment or Operational Support groups are your Drummers - they march to how things are and are typically solid and straight-forward.

Developers are Lead Guitarists for sure - rock stars who love playing the big (often technical) solos and showing off, but not actually for singing, but rather showing off what they can do external to that.


The Business are the Singers - it's all about providing something for them to support what they do.

Missing ingredient in the Left?

I'm not sure -

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/03/the-lefts-missing-ingredient/

No sense in allowing polluted frankenfood to enter their countries ...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/31/japan-blocks-u-s-wheat-after-monsanto-gmo-strain-found-growing-wild/