The Chi of Jaba B

Not to let the embers die

2012-01-26T22:15:00.002-05:00

Today I received a note from a former colleague and that was a really good feeling. You know the one, where you just feel good that you knew this person from your past and suddenly they are right in your present. Good. Regardless, this is a friend in another city, and as I now go there more frequently, I am going to ensure that this opportunity is optimized. Because, the tracks in one's life are better noted with the company of friends.

Also, today I received a call from a friend that I do not get to talk to too often, and when I do it is like time has dilated and there is no real break from the last conversation that we had. She called today because she is dealing with some serious cancer issues with her husband and needed a vent, and I could not take the time to be a listener, as work was in the way (today in a big way and it was a beast). For this, I am truly sad. For my friend, and for me in not knowing how to put the other call I was on on some kind of mute or hold to allow my friend a moment to share without it being rude. I hope she calls again tomorrow and I can make the most of the moment and let her have her moment and pour out some of the fear, stress, and or just anguish from the cancer that has come inside her life through her husband.

Life is too short to let the fires go untended, and wither to a point at which no flame may be fanned into existence. Life should be a pledge to never let the embers die.

We'll miss you Steve!

2011-10-07T20:06:00.003-05:00

With the passing of great, we somehow always stop to note both the small and the large contributions that they made. With Steve Jobs, his contributions, like the giants shoulders on which he stood, were none too small, and yet so great that the world will note his presence for centuries.

Like the immortal words of Arthur C. Clarke "any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic ", and the magic of "i" that Steve Jobs proctored into existence has provided simple magic to millions.

But alas as from the words of Billy Joel "only the good die young!"

Steve, the man, the spirit, the boomer - gone but to be not forgotten as his contributions will survive.

Random Thoughts about "The Information"

2011-09-03T11:16:00.000-05:00

From a passage in "The Information", there is a reference to the storage of the stories of mankind as a methodof providing cohesion for the human condition, and therefore, our genes.In a modern world teaming with the rapid development of information technology, are we overlooking theobvious? In that, with the electronic tablet, the laptop computer, the Cloud, are we all becoming the scribes of our immediate lives and not the watchful stewards?The actual question is are we allowing the rapid ability of capturing and disseminating information through electronics to produce a great loss by overlooking the fact that this new technology has no real permanence?By permanence, I mean true long term storage and accessibility without requiring any external energy source.Cave walls, clay tablets, paper, albeit each brought with it a hinderance of decoding the symbols, but all aredeciphered and no form of energy was required for their preservation, transcription, or meaning to be revealed.Are the contents of a laptop, an iPad, or a smartphone any where near that level of energy independence? The book may be found - If the power suddenly failed, have we put the collective of newly created intelligence at risk?

My new green regiem may be greenless for others

2011-08-27T23:24:00.003-05:00

With the purchase of a gas hog of a truck, the feel of 70 to 80 dollars per tank really hit.

As a greener response, I joined the gas sippers, and purchased a Toyota Prius. For a baby boomer, this car has as many of the George Jetsonish features as you can remember from Saturday mornings in front of the tube. Except that it does not morph into a briefcase. I am waiting on that upgrade feature (but not holding my breath.)

But a hybrid car that does not use a key (in the traditional sense) does take some driver conditioning. The other feature is that the car is the most quiet thing I have ever driven. It is so quiet that I have currently gotten out of the car 4 times and tried to lock the door, only to have the car tell me that it was still running.

Quiet, and did I mention new, this car is fun to drive and it has the necessary pep to go when asked. But the thing that gets my attention is that I frequented Quick Trip for gas (many times when I owned the truck) and now I have owned the Prius since August 20th, I have been to Quick Trip 4 times, and I have not purchased gas once. I just hope that I do not single handed cause a dip in the QT revenues and cost someone their job.

I'll post again when I have to buy gas.

Bitting the Apple

2011-06-25T00:14:00.003-05:00

I have finally taken the full on bite of the Cupertino Apple orchard.
- iPhone
- iPad
- MACBook Pro
Outside the dangers of over ingesting fructose from all the little apples (products) in my life now, I am quite happy with the operation of all these devices. Prior to actually going down the road that began this adventure into the Apple orchard of devices, I had purchased an iPod; however, operational accuracy - distortion of the audio content, prompted me to return the purchase. I had only purchased the device to get used to the new iOS interface. With the return of the iPod, I just went to the next tree, plucked an iPhone, and have been walking in the orchard ever since.

I now have, pardon the pun, an almost full bushel of the Apple product line. See the list above:
It is getting to a point as to which device I like the best. The iPad provides an almost junkie like addiction to the Internet using this device. It has both WiFi and 3G access, and is therefore the ultimate device to use all around, and is especially viable in airports where rogue WiFi access is problematic. I am still looking at "data in data out" aspects of using the iPad. Although, I am looking forward to the release of the upcoming version of the IOS v5.0. Not to mention the upcoming release of the MAC OS Lion.

The iOS is coming, the orchard is growing, and my little basket of Apples is being used happily.

Software Mwahaha - User Bane

2011-03-05T00:06:00.003-05:00

Genius, schmenius, software creators? Build the app that takes over the world, and puts a laser on every shark's head for the sole purpose of world domination, I think not.
Software has gotten too big for its britches these days; albeit, for the most part, I can turn on practically any device and wait, and wait, and (wait for it) wait some more, and it eventually reaches the stable "ready for input" mode from which stuff may be accomplished. Is this the future that we all read about, dreamed about, and for some of us assisted to create? Once again, I think not, or at least I hope not. Configuration files gone awry, database schema not posting correctly, bad input, whatever, the digital world truly has two states. These states are 0. the exuberant feeling of happiness from not being connected, and 1. the insistently inane feeling that the technology you depend on is going to let you down. It is this second point in time that everyone experiences that I want to address.
When did it become accepted to rely on worthless to get the job done? When did we as a society take a pass on excellence to accept good enough as the normal? This can not just be my own angst bubbling to the surface. It has to be at a minimum a grass root movement to reclaim the world that was. When ideas came to pass via a software medium call paper, and simplicity and accuracy were the standard, and not the overly complicated and buggy!
I would not be so miffed if it weren't for the the case that my wife happens to be the worlds best appliance, software, gadget Quality Assurance evaluator in the world. How do I know this? I am the one who has to take the brunt of either explaining, resolving, replacing, or just fixing every software glitch in everything Windows and the plethora of connected devices that she encounters in this digital software augmented and abstracted world that we have blindly accepted as not only "new and improved", but modern. Used to be that quality of a radio was touted by the number of transistors that is used to receive and decode a radio signal, and the number was in single digits. Bam, Moore's law comes on the scene, and the race to increase the number of transistors in a device goes through the roof. What was once simple, due to its few modest components was now on the path to the future and its insane complexities. And along that same path crept the code monster come to facilitate complexities, calm the storm, rate the normal, make life easier, and (there is no proof to date that software has cured the common cold) bloat.
With the fact that software self proliferates with an effective self bloating increase, this is an ever increasing problem; circularly referencing growing faster than that proverbial law of Gordon Moore but not necessarily addressing the quality, the efficiency, and by no means at all verifying the multitude of configuration possibilities. Whew! This is what we have accepted as the normal, and it is only going to get worse as we as a society allow dysfunction to become our normal.
Take back simplicity. Turn off the computer, and go write the next new novel using a pencil and paper. Don't let the mantra of software world dominance become your personal bane, just because you want to be a user - if something does not work complain (and hope you have your own personal nerd to make it all better.)

Conversions

2011-03-01T22:09:00.002-05:00

Anytime you walk down a new path, try to make a new habit (or correct a bad one), you are making a conversion.
My new conversion is going to be away from books and paper to adopting an all electronic method of reading. I already read the New York Times via my iPhone, but the full conversion will be to get all new books and magazines via a reader. I made the first step by acquiring a Kindle. A great reader with battery technology that lasts for a month! The next step will be to fill the data pot with more data than I can read in a life time.
Between the Kindle app for the iPhone and the Barnes and Noble reader, and the iStore reader, I have collected a large cache of the classics. Amazing how rereading a classic tome brings back the memories of first how boring it was to be made to read something as an assignment, and second how wonderful it is to enjoy the prose and tones of real expression. Like the writers say - "Write drunk, and edit sober!"
To that end, the new electronic conversion may not be such a bad deal. As I look around my house at the amazing amount of books that have managed to remain in my life, I think having all this data in a more portable configuration would be nice. And, an electronic form is the way to go. The next step will be to recycle all the books. This is going to be the hardest part, especially the school books. I really spent a great deal of time and effort to impart the knowledge within these books to the inside of my head. Letting that attachment go is going to be a difficult task; however, the steps must be taken and the old needs to be replaced with the new, and the new should be here by Friday. Conversion it makes for a lighter life.

Long time no see

2011-02-27T22:12:00.002-05:00

Whew, it is a job to keep up with the world. Work, Life, kids - yada, yada, yada.......

However, the world has been beating a path to my door so to speak, and it has not been all that bad. The end of the year vacation provided the needed mental rest to get things back on track after a long year last year. But now, ever since the first of the year, all has been at a gang buster pace.

But, this is a turn of the coin to get back into the fold and keep up the pace with letting the world know that I exist on a consistently regular basis. De rigor is not just a play on words it's a statement that has to be followed by diligent action, and words!

Look for more, and what can I say - life gets in everyone's way!

New Toy -

2010-05-30T02:05:00.003-05:00

No not an iPad, or a MAC Book, but a computer none the less. An Asus EeePC 1005HA, and so far so good.

This little PC serves a dual purpose. In that, it allows me to learn the nuances of the latest Windows release 7, albeit the Starter release. I think that most all of the needed features of the new OS are available to this Netbook. It also provides a way to support working on other people computers and networks (it also supports my burgeoning Linux habits). It is also equipped with 802.11N WiFi. This is a useful feature and this device will be used in trouble shooting many wireless set ups for both tweaking and repair.

All in all, I got a good deal as it was a refurb. The only limitations that I have found so far are 1GB of memory and the inability to temporarily disable the touch pad when an external mouse has been connected to the device. This was an easy feature/selection to manage in XP. Also it came with the 3 cell battery instead of the 6 cell, but this too has a remedy.

But I have the manual, and the Internet and between those two informational sources, I should be able to find the answer to my inquiry.

I still would like to have a MAC Book and possibly an iPad. The jury is still out on the iPad, as it is a new device, and the first generation of that new device, and there has been some hubbub about the iPad and its interface with WiFi. However, I am confident that Apple will resolve this most likely in software (as is everything mostly now a days).

Whew - If I only knew that blogging was a job too!

2010-03-12T21:08:00.002-05:00

The trouble with blogging is that is a task like any other. First you have to plan, and then you have to actually go and do something. Whew, it sounds like a job. And it is, just like life. Work hard, eat right, do good, die!

I looked at the tasks ahead of me, and reviewed the tasks that I had left behind only to find that I have been negligent in keeping up with this blog.

I will strive to do better, if only as a challenge to anyone that comes to peruse that they should seek something to improve in themselves too!

End of the Year Again - 2009

2009-12-20T10:13:00.002-05:00

It's the end of the year again, and for the record, this site has not gotten the attention that it truly deserves. But to be truthful, I have been busy.
Making it through extremely rough economic times, seeing friends and relatives getting laid off and dealing with the sling and arrows of age, and finding out about the passing of old friends. Whew.

However, life for me and my family goes on. Watching my son come into his own as a young man, and accepting the responsibilities of life has been a comfort this year. More than any of his 19 years thus far, this last year has been a maturing adventure for him. He is enjoying the process of learning, and his grades are showing this love. He found a job in a city where the job market is depressed, and he is feeling what it is like to enjoy doing something that has a positive feedback, and for this I am both proud of him and proud for him. He amazes me everyday.

Additionally, I found out that my younger brother Paul has a from of lung cancer that is in-curable. Go figure, for a person that never smoked, and certainly not as a life long habit like some I know. Regardless, this was a major blow! Although, additional testing showed that he did not have any further cancerous infection within his bones or his blood, and for this I am very thankful.. My mother would be proud of him for his strength, and his ability to marshal his focus and carry on with this new knowledge, and the fact that this incident has me seeking answers from God. Religion, in its organizational form is not my cup of tea, so to speak; however, it is not that I do not believe in a greater force that myself, I just can't stand how the organized so called faith's of the world use and abuse the powerful forces that we all have within us to believe, and that it is up to each and every one of us to find that point within ourselves where with our own mind we know what we believe, and that this is the driving force that allows us to love ourself and those around us.

I love myself, my wife, my son, and my brother, and through this time I have found new things in people from my life that proves that the love in my immediate and extended family is equally as deep and as pervasive. My entire family has been a wonderful comfort as we all cope with the cancer in Paul's chest.

But moving forward into next year, I look forward to greater and more positive things from myself, medical technology, and the leaders that we allow to govern by our acceptance. Yes this is probably a statement that I will be a wee more politically active in the coming year. It is a fact that in 2009 I turned 53, and this is the supposedly point of inflection where the mind and body (typically called middle age) begin to decrease in reliability and sharpness; however, funny as it may sound and to quote a song from my youth "I don't feel tardy!" But as I know that the world has changed and the flow of economies has tilted like no other time in the history of me, I will make changes that have dramatic effect. Changes that for the most part may only affect me, but I will strive to make them. Because without a better me, I cannot be a better person for those that depend on me for support, care, love, and just sometimes my opinion.

The new year is coming whether we want it to or not, and change is the only true constant, and a pretty good way to measure the past, and to predict the future. So, I welcome the new year, and look forward those things within my power to change and ask God to take care of the rest.

Happy Holiday's all, and remember - You are a recorder of life, and life is important, albeit that one day it will end. The fact that you know that the world you became a part of exist in your mind can be used to shape the world you expect to be a part of and to share with others. This is the power of your mind, and from its focus comes love, and that is the power we all have to share!

Catching up on the habit

2009-07-12T12:46:00.003-05:00

Why is it so easy to avoid what could be good habit?

I ask this based on the fact it has been almost too simple to avoid making inputs to this blog.

What was the impetus to get back on the horse, so to speak? Of all things reading more: Go Figure?

What have I been reading that has made this change in my habits? Lots!

I have been actively working on learning C (this is a skill set that I feel I should have already acquired, but life got in the way) and how it may be used to assist me to communicate, not so much as an improvement (which we all need to work on improving our communication skills), but to expand the mediums that I use to make what I want to communicate more widely dispersed. I digress.

The current reading list has included the following:

Next - Michael Crichton: Interesting look at monetizing the chemistry of life, and posing the question "at what point are the components that comprise a being, not to be considered their own personal property?"
Reality Check - Guy Kawasaki: This is one of my new desk references. Amazing that in a world of digital everything, books are still the reference of choice. (This could be just telling my age, but until a Kindle is highly functional, quasi-indestructible, and around $200 I prefer to hold on to books.)
Possessing Genius - Carolyn Abraham: An account of what has happened to Einstein's brain. Once again asking questions about what rights do you have to your own body?
Pattern Recognition - William Gibson: Amazing techno novel, especially for the marketing minded; however, it is not a casual read. Read it all in one setting because Gibson will own your mind for the time you spend with his spin.
Plato and a Platypus walk into a bar ... Understanding Philosophy through jokes - Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klien: Fabulous! I sat through the de rigueur, the verbose arguments, and the hand cramping compositions required to glean the concepts that these guys make light of and provide a wonderfully quick understanding through joking analogy. You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll get it! I am also partaking of their second book, treated in a similar fashion titled "Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington". This one is also a keeper, in that the joke could be on all of us if we fail to take note of the way our elected officials are giving us the business by playing on the misunderstandings each of us may have of the English language. This is a book that will make you go and do more research on just how spot on the satire of Will Rogers really was (you may want to through a look at the works of the dearly departed George Carlin while you are at it).
The Google Way - Bernard Girard: WOW! This is not a simple fan boy fantasy of being taken in by the altruistic company mission statement of "Do no Evil!" But, an analysis of what it is like to create something that has actually changed the world, has an effect on how information affects the world, and the potential to do great good or terrible harm (my take on the Google mission statement may be tongue in cheek restated as Do Know Evil). Google was truly founded on a philosophy of not being like anything previous, in that they did not conform to the "old guard" ways of business, but created their business on a model to democratize commerce leveling profit by understanding the area under the long tail. This is a new twist on business in the US as opposed to the current rape and pillage until a particular market can no longer afford to pay.

I am also currently enjoying the really geeky "Joel on Software". The book is a concatenation of many web posts (I am not anti-technology. I just like books!) that Joel has made over the years, but his perspective and technical acumen, down to the electron level, just jive with my way of thinking. I like his philosophy of teaching the basics and for ensuring that the right concept is learned, so that these basic tomes may be used to synthesize new understanding of the complex as merely simple linked pieces.

That covers the reading list, and what has this got to do with getting back on the horse to post to this blog. I got a whack on the side of the head from Joel, in that he credited his fiend in getting him to post his verbal rants into a blog, and I had a similar push into this medium by my friend Don Clark. I will be forever grateful to Don for the push. The remainder is up to me to keep the flow and to flex the writing muscle, and to keep that muscle tone!

More to come...

New Toy - Old toy new way of using it

2009-04-20T01:54:00.003-05:00

I had a technology epiphany today. I had looked into using my cell phone to supply an Internet connection for my laptop, versus the God awful expensive day rate WiFi in most hotels (at least the one's that do charge), and that had not worked out well for me until today.
Whew Boy Howdy! I have a new toy and a way to get to the Internet where ever I have 3G service, and it works pretty well. I just wish that the inter-computing hardware recognition was better. It seems that for the laptop to interface properly, you have to have the "Sync" cable connected and this spawns the "Active Sync" application, and then you have to connect, disconnect, re-connect, blah, blah, blah.......

There should just be a better way. It could be a question of Windows. Treo phone and XP laptop. I am looking forward to trying my virtual Linux connection and see if the interface to the phone detects and allows the USB connection. If that is possible, I may never (or almost never) use the XP interface on the laptop again.

So I will play around and see what happens.

Time Does Pass

2009-04-20T01:48:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that it has been almost three months and I have not touched this blog! My, the time does indeed fly. I just wish that I was having all the fun that goes along with this much of a time lapse.

Oh well, other plans and life got in the way of being connected to the Internet all the time.

I can only promise to do better. As my wife sometimes retorts, "Your best is just not good enough!" And, in this particular arena, I think she may just be right. So I guess the only place to go is up from here.

Dream State

2009-01-31T02:28:00.002-05:00

What does the lack of sleep actually do to a person?

Does it afford greater creativity, or the oft chance to gain any greater experiences that may have not been experienced in a dream?

I rather think that within the pursuit of sleeplessness the mind doth wander into places that it just might not have found through the normal channels of an otherwise focused endeavor.

This is not to say that I do not sleep. It is just that sometimes I sleep less than the ordinary person, but since when have I been the one to subscribe to the ordinary?

As William Shakespeare wrote oh so many years ago “to sleep par chance to dream!” Because without those dreams, where does the understanding of reality come from?

The world of reality today has within it so many things that would otherwise constitute a bad dream. We need some good dreams to mold our reality back into a life that was one time called the “American Dream!”

A model has passed

2009-01-07T18:19:00.006-05:00

Growing up an getting older never has quite the dramatic impact until you experience the passing of your parents. And, the most dramatic passing is that of your mother. With this you feel that your connection has been severed, not unlike the actual umbilical cord that connected your life to the life of your mother. Through this physical connection you grew up knowing that Mom was a powerful force. She was one to fiercely protect you; however, at the same time, one that you wanted to mind due to having observed that same fierce intensity. But, you learn how not to stir this ire from within Mom, and you feel the wonderful love that this bond with Mom has to offer. Because, you are a part of her! She sets an example for you to see and for you to follow (because we all heard at one point or another "do as I say not as I do", but it really is those actions that lay the foundations for your actions)and she means well in her actions toward you for you are her child.

This week I found out that the Mother of a close friend of mine had died on Monday the 5th of January 2009. And I shared in the pain of this passing, because like the model to shape my behavior that my mother was, Emily Dorsey Ford was also a model whose example was always set to be observed and train children. As if I had been one of her own brood, Emily was a bright shining example of life worth living, and how to grasp that feeling of good from the world around you by always cultivating a sense of wonder. Explore and expand and take a rose hips vitamin C were words and actions that Emily would expound. The effect that Emily had will be multiplied not just through her presence in her immediate family, but outward to the extended family that she guided and cared for because she loved all of those that were befriended to her children as her own, and you never felt unloved in her presence.

I felt the passing of my Father in March of 2005 and the passing of my Mother in June of 2006, and this is like the passing of another Mother to me. Painful, but the pain will become only a gentle angst in future days knowing that within me I have the influence of a second Mother from whom I will share the love I give and the examples I set for the next generation based on having known Emily.

Emily rest in peace knowing that the family you raised knew your love, learned how to love others, and are loved by the ones who know them and knew you in this life.

The vacation is now over - 2009 is a Go!

2009-01-03T08:15:00.004-05:00

The end of the year has been a good time for me to take up the slack in my vacation time. Typically with the holiday's falling where they fall in the last two weeks of the year, a minimum amount of vacation days equals a maximum amount of leave from work. This was definitely the cast this year.
Luck was in my favor as I changed jobs last year and as part of the new job negotiations (thankfully I was in a position to make a deal) I received 15 days of vacation; although, joining the new job in the second quarter versus the first prorated the 15 to 11 days but this is not the point.
I was able to take the last two weeks of the year off, clear my head of anything work related (regardless of the job stress occurs) and get a handle on the plan for the new year.
This is a part of the new year, and the mind and the body are in the moment and moving. This is a Saturday, at 8:30 in the morning, and I am up and active. Such are the actions of my new future; in that, to really take control and get anything done, you have to have TIME. It cannot be manufactured, saved, bottled, or otherwise stored for use later. You have to manage the time you have! Then you have to use that time to Get Things Done (no so much a plug for David Allen, but he does have a point)! And this is my way of moving in that direction. As I stated in an earlier post, I am not the one to make any "New Year Resolutions", since these are the first items to get lost in the time that becomes any new year - Just ask your self, "What if I really had lost all the weight I resolved to lose over the years?" - Well then your Body Mass Index would be at or better than the calculated figure (and that is usually a real shocker for most people, usually due to the fact that it is a illogical thought to think that one could have gotten so far off the mark and that they really had THAT MUCH weight to lose). Off track again; regardless, using the time to make accomplishments ans get things done is just a part of the new habits that I am making and not just by setting anything done in a resolution, but by just doing them. From here on until the list, one by one, just get done!

2009 - The New Year Attitude

2009-01-01T09:08:00.004-05:00

Reset, revived, ready to move forward and take on all new comers! This is the way I am starting out the new year. Change can only come when I make the effort, and not from resolutions that get shed like the pounds of the past that have crept up and get resolved to remove, but real change, like not consuming all the crap that turned into those pounds. Change to do better, to be a better example of how to be better and then to lead the pack forward with this zeal!
Ranting, raving, you betcha. But without a conscious flow of new ideas and the desire to go and follow a few possibly to fail, only to learn from the mistake, how does anyone ever expect to make accomplishments? Not everything works out, take note of the economy right now. But, change is rough and many the person, myself included, will take the first opportunity to procrastinate versus making the change. Although, with this new year the opportunity to change is right now, and like that Asian philosophy about the 1000 mile journey, you have to start with the first step. Key emphasis, on the you (or the me) have to make that step, and then keep on stepping. The direction may not always be correct, and the terrain may be arduous, but direction may be corrected (thank you GPS), and the terrain may be scaled in order to find the journey that leads to the new goals and dreams that become the new you or that new life or even just that new attitude.

New Years Eve 2008

2008-12-31T09:10:00.004-05:00

The end of 2008 - Whew. I am glad that I chose engineering and not investment banking as a career path. Not that my chosen path has any more "security" than any of the others. I am a believer now that the proposed security that anyone thought that they might have had in any career path is fraught with the illusion of security. Let's for the sake of argument call that the "American Dream". Go to school, learn a trade (Dr., Lawyer, Candle Stick Maker etc...) get a job, and then only to find out that whoops, that whole industry does not exist in this country (Oh yes the out source option). The term "Yankee Ingenuity" used to mean something, and your average American could make a living, raise a family and retire; however, that illusionary effect of value got in the way, and now the future of a country that was the envy of the world does not even garner pity, because our way right or wrong is showing the signs of just not working out for the whole.
As we enter this new year, I am taking a new look at the things I do, and how I operate. This is not a testament or even a list of "Resolutions (those are the first things dropped in the new year anyway)", but more a deeper dive into what it means to be a free person in a democratic society. We all have to act with a care for our fellow human beings, 'cause look where the get all you can syndrome has taken us!

This is going to be a new year that will challenge the hearts ans minds of many. It will have great opportunity for things that are now blindly accepted to be challenged, and for some to be changed. But this is the reality of our current situation, without massive change and overall caring we may just wind up being a whole nation in need of welfare. The down side of this is that is that there is no one and no source to provide the dole. Act responsible, assist those that need a hand, and move this country back to a position of respect and partnership with this little planet we call home.

Habits are

2008-12-30T08:41:00.003-05:00

The end of the year is coming up and a few more people have this URL. Not that I need to create in order to placate any of those peoples' desire to read, I need to do this to support the habit of just "Getting Things Done!"
Yes it is the end of the year and Whew what a year it has been. Yes I know people that have been laid off over this last year. I was a member of that group, due to a financial drop in the first quarter of 2008 I was out the door at the end of March. I was lucky, and was offered a job within three hours of getting released. the job change has turned out to be one of the best career moves that I have made ever.
The job is the Director of Sales Engineering for KenCast, inc. I work out of my home, and Hartsfield Airport, but the wife says that "you're like a morning person all the time!" That is partly a good comment and partly a bad comment. The wife is not a morning person, and me bouncing around like "Tigger" all the time does not always meet with her approval.
Regardless, even with the turmoil that is everywhere in the economy currently, my current employer has a positive outlook (and I will do my best to keep this moving positively)!
So, the new year is coming, and this blog will be the place for me to vent, rant, rave and just let the steam off as we move into the future that is at this moment undecided.
I actually look forward to potential of having more people read this and to make their presence know through comments.
"Love the moment, Live the Life, Love not momentarily, but in the moment love as if time would not end!"

JaBaBeBa

PS I have been asked, pleaded with, and goaded to create an RSS feed of my whimsical sayings to make them available for the 20 somethings that I come into contact with as a guide. In the new year this will begin. I will post the URL hopefully by the end of February. Look for this feed to be available soon on every mobile device you have at your disposal.

Change is Good

2008-11-16T11:51:00.002-05:00

Life moves on with or without our consent! Time ticks, or at least in the perception of our little minds it has the appearance of a tick (there are quantum arguments to this contrary, but I digress).

My kid is away at college and doing well. The wife is not that in love with any travel that the new job has presented. But outside of that, I have a new title at the job with KenCast - Director, Sales Engineering. And, the actual job is keeping me challenged! I work with really talented individuals, and working SOHO has been a real boon in many ways that I would not have thought possible.

On the blog side, I look for this spot to start receiving more input from me. In that, it a good way to vent, rant, rave, and generally get things off my chest (well as much as I want to be public). I have been challenged by one of my coworkers to start an RSS feed of my mostly appropriate, but always to the point insights and observations to as he says "to assist the current herd of 20 something misanthropes with a daily infusion of guidance!" He wants this available via the iPhone. Hey reaching out with a daily post. How hard can that be, huh? Very difficult, in that off the cuff creativity is spontaneous; however, a daily grind of this stuff resembles work! Regardless, I currently get the rants, raves and creative works for marketing ideas from Seth Godin on a daily basis (I have a new personal hero for daily persistence of on point posting). So, I know that this work is possible, and the work done by Seth is a good model. The rest is just up to me to make it all happen.

Thought for the day - The successful discover of an avoidance alternative to procrastination can actually fill your time with joy!

Up and Over the Limit

2008-04-02T00:37:00.002-05:00

Well all that poo about a job that was rotting my mind is now in the past.

On March 18, 2008, I was part of a group layoff. However, of the group, I am the quickest to recover and find a new job. My new position is in software of all things. Software sales and system solution engineering:

The new position is the head of sales engineering. I have used this software as a vendor since 2000, so I am familiar with how it works, what it is capable of, and how to implement it in various communication systems. The exciting thing now is to move forward, and to move fast. I can't say that the layoff surprised me. I had seen the numbers for a long while, and as we all know the numbers tell the truth. Well at least the numbers pushed the drastic measure button where I used to work. But the future does indeed look bright, and I am setting out to make the next 90 days a most adventurous time in my life and for that of my family.

The new job is based in Connecticut, and we will eventually move (pending the sale of a house in a down market). The we is the wife and I as the son is at the threshold of college and the start of his own life. So, I now have excitement, financial ruin, and work all coming at me at the same time, and I have to say that it really feels sort of OK. Let me get the new job going and the kid in school and then I'll post some new feelings.

Pushing the limits

2008-01-21T19:42:00.000-05:00

That's right pushing the limits. Walking to lunch, eating less, eating better, but yet still eating possibly more than I should, or at least more than I am actively using as fuel. But the real limit is my tolerance for keeping a job that is not satisfying, uplifting, or keeping up with inflation, and this is the thing that is in a state of change. I am not just sitting still and letting the status quo go. I am actively looking at the options that will make a very positive change for me, my psyche, and my immediate family.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

Whew, the New Year is here! New things, new tasks, new everything! It is only left to the imagination and talent to get things done.
So, don't make list of things that you never have ever done in the past just do what you know you want to do and get it done.
Go out and get that new job.
Talk to that special someone.
Push away the carbs, eat the veggies, and walk to the store.
Don't just make a list that will be so much as other dissapointments, in that it provide a reminder of failure - just do it!

Friends - Forever Really

2007-05-28T11:47:00.000-05:00

Funny how so many people say that they have friends, but they really don't know either themselves or their friends. Oh, they are polite, and jest and banter, but do they ever communicate and understand the other person.
Funny, but lots of people do not even entertain the thoughts on this subject, and therefore never get to know anything more about themselves or their friends than just the peripherals!
So my take is, know yourself, and get to know your friends. This is the squeeze that provides the juice that life itself is made, and without that juice you are not really living! Besides, life is tough and you go it alone, unless YOU find the way to communicate with other people. Granted the conversations are difficult (being truly honest always is), but the outcome of that expression may be the link to intellectual, emotional, and even physical places that you may have only imagined. And sometimes, this juice of life surprises you outside of anything you could have imagined.
Bottom line, love yourself, love your friends, listen, and respond, but above all if you make a friend being all to that friend will embellish both your lives.

Knowledge Curse or Blessing?

2007-03-31T22:00:00.000-05:00

Ever been the "smart person?"
It has its ups and downs. For example many years ago I worked designing electronic devices, and the first thing anyone that I met would ask was "can you fix my TV?" The usual answer was yes, but can you afford to pay me what I think the job is worth?

Now days, the conversations are the same with the exception that the TV is now a computer. Can you get my blah blah blah to use a wireless connection/multiple computers/Linux and the list goes on and on....... Its not so bad knowing a thing or two (million), and helping people is ok too. It's is just that the technology moves faster than an average person wants to try and grasp. Especially when learning anything in technology takes a minor mastery in a new language, and every technology has -if not its own language- a severe vocabulary requirement. And for some, you have to learn to make your fingers poke a series of keys in a fashion that will make complex secret handshakes look as simple as the Princess Di wave.

Somedays I have wished for a more blissfully ignorant reality; however, I just can't seem to stop sticking my nose in the nearest tech book/blog/rant/forum. The down side is that I may even someday perpetuate the insanity and contribute my own writtings to the world just keeping the flow of information going and going...........

Back in the Saddle

2007-03-30T21:08:00.000-05:00

First POST IN A LONG TIME! It is truly amazing how lazy a person can become, but the real dark side is that personal laziness has an affect on other people. Damn the fact that it is not possible (or feasible in the modern sense) to be "an island unto one's self."

So, I am back in the saddle!

I have jumped into a new learning phase. MAC. After being a PC snob for the longest of times, I have a new found fondle for the MAC Mini. This fondness may even lead to a full fledged G box and that soon to leap leopard OS release. I may even be so bold as to outfit the wife with a MAC, and this would be some feat - since she is the really demanding tech user in the house. Due to the fact that her main principle is "The Shit Had Better Work", or I'll never hear the end of it!

In pushing away from the Redmond Rangers, I am learning the new headaches that come with the new languages, syntax, and vocabulary of the F/OSS world. From the mac perspective UNIX via BSD and the many flavors of Linux and the god awful amount of stuff that you need to have a handle on to get by in the soft everything program world. For example LAMPPP - Hack, Stack, and Flack - Ruby, Rails, snips of code and object trails........Visual this and that What you see and IDE........arrrgh - But what is the point of having a brain if you ain't gonna hack the code that runs it, and it is all about learning new things, or at a minimum working with the chops to ensure that the mind is sharp!

eof.

State of Mind - "I'm a Doing Fine"

2006-09-05T19:31:00.000-05:00

I recently reviewed the "TED" talks on the six apart application (by Mena Trott), and the results from the video were that either you journal, blog, or email all your friends the info in your head has to come out or you blow up on the inside!

Your may find this talk at -
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/index.cfm?flashEnabled=1
/
People are not loners, and we all have a need to communicate. Blogging does provides this outlet. Yes, you may think that some blogs are the ravings of mad people; however, how far are we apart that madness does not live in our own home (or in our own head for that matter). It is just that the blogging lets the pressure equalize for each person. Whew! I feel suddenly more at pease.

jb-phd (polite, humane, dependable)

Clarity of Mind - The return of ME

2006-07-18T23:10:00.000-05:00

The Month of June was a real mind melter! And this is no understatement. I was mentally hampered with the surgery, illness, and subsequent death of my mother. This is a loss that I may not ever fully recover from (and I really don't mind being affected by this forever, in that my mom was the type person that truly would effect your life forever and her essence has affected me).

Anyway, I am moving on and getting my state of being back in order! The realization of the loss of both parents now is the windfall of full on adulthood, like no other milestone in the personal growth experience that we call life. Orphan. Except that I find with the loss of the one's from which I came comes the love for those that are still in my immediate life - I have bonded with more family members close and extended than I have in a long long time, and the feeling is really good!

Time does indeed make the pain less, and the memories will gel into similes on summer days watching the clouds pass by in the sky looking for what possibilities may abound in the random patterns (a shared pass time with mom).

But the rest of the family will always have a need for looking after, and life does continue - might as well be a happy man with a clear mind.

The Simple Things Really Are Free

2006-05-31T00:17:00.000-05:00

I got a taste of the divine the other day! And it is truly amazing how in life you get a glimpse of something larger than yourself and it makes you feel more right with yourself.

I had had a really bad work day, and at the end of the day, even with an umbrella for protection from the rain, I got drenched (soaking wet in clothes is not one of my favorite things). However, after the deluge everything outside was as wet as I was, and this turned out to be a really good thing. In that, as I was sitting at a traffic light more focused on the bad day I had had than anything else, I noticed that the electrical wires supporting the traffic light and the subsequent wires were glowing like they were strung with Christmas lights! I watched this for a long time (the duration of the traffic light I was at), will it felt longer than it may have actually been. But the important part is that after looking at the lights, caused by the refraction of the sun in the water droplets on the cable, I felt a lift of the bad feeling caused by my work experiences. Then the light changed and as my car nudged slightly on the road, the lights disappeared! Just like that, the amazing phenomenon that I was so lucky to behold was gone. A free moment in space and time when the sun the water (and a brilliant explanation of the nature of diffracted light by Isaac Newton) and I were one. A truly simple thing, and free, in more ways than I can say!

Just another opportunity to say thank you God - 'cause if there was a day that I needed a reminder of the larger side of the universe it was that rainy Thursday in May.

The song comes from the inside

2006-04-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

Why is it that the most enthusiastic singers are the ones that have the least amount of talent?

It could be for the following reason - "Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - Henry Van Dyke This is a great quote, in that my mom (who is not the most tone accurate) said that even though she may not have the most pleasing voice God will always listen!

I know that I find myself letting the internal iPod leak out into the outer world. And why not let the music out since the song comes from the inside.

True Appreciation

2006-04-04T10:50:00.000-05:00

The old expression that says "you just know what you have until it is gone" really is something to pay attention to in the modern world. Take for instance, if you are born with sight you see the world visually and all that it is comes to you through those wonderful portals of reality.

But for an instance take the ability to see away and you get a whole new sense of what it means to appreciate things that you have. I say this because I had a bought with Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis) over the last week and it really takes your vision and plays havoc on the true ability to see. You wake up looking through what appears to be a spider web of gunk, and due to this gunk your eyes may not even open, and when they do the vision that you do have is really really blurred (hello cataracts). Boy howdy thank goodness for anti-biotics.

Well today I awoke without the gunk and my vision is clear, and I can even see in the sunshine (typically the cure for Pink Eye makes you really light sensitive)but I do appreciate the vision that I was born with and will do everything in my power to preserve this wonderful gift of sight!

Hello Grasshopper

2006-03-29T23:17:00.000-05:00

Teaching - not just instructing is an art, and not to be taken lightly.
Sometimes it is not necessarily obvious who learns the most in a learning situation the teacher or the student. I quess that in any quality session both are enriched by the passing of the knowledge. The teacher gains from giving and the student gains from learning, or is it a deeper relationship? Does the teacher learn or relearn from the repetition of the passing lesson, or is the point of the lesson to learn of the way of the pupil to accept the knowledge and to gain the insightful experience of finding out how to impart the lesson that is understood? Either way, I think that both parties get something at the end of the day.

I had an opportunity to pass some of my knowledge on to one that wanted to learn, and it felt good knowing that the fire to learn does burn in the younger crowd. It almost seems that the opportunities to teach get mired in a corporate dogma of "teach youself or get fired!" Not to say that one must not improve the self, it is just that sometimes the more experienced are able to teach needed and valuable skills. Since, there are sometimes more to how to fix, repair, or cofigure something than meets the eye. Sometimes you need to not only know the technology, but also the psychology - the people science of getting others to understand what you have done and why, and for some folks this is not an easy task. As if interpersonal communicaitons are ever an easy task. It is just that a true communicator had more tools in their chest - finesse, panache, and the tride and true old standby manners (Thanks Mom!), and telling someone about these things only if by showing them is always good.

Funny thing is about others learning through what you show them, is that most of the others do indeed learn this way! So, hone your skills, do your best, do as you would do for yourself always because someone is always watching!

Never Wait for Love

2006-03-17T17:20:00.001-05:00

Many times in the life of both men and women each will have a moment to connect, and for some reason or another the moment gets lost. Is it that a thought gets in the way? Maybe that same thought could be the initiative that moves one toward greatness!

Regardless of any other information that you may have to the contrary, life is short. I got a reminder of this on Thursday March 16th. A friend of mine gets a call from his half sister. A large truck had crossed into the lane of on coming traffic and the mother of his half sister died on impact. Tragic! But a really good example of why no one person should let any thing stop them from telling another person how they feel about them. With the short amount of time we are allotted, and the ability to feel such a complex array of emotions, take the moments of your life and share them with others! The time spent in this activity will never fall into any category that you feel deserves the label wasted endeavor.

Do no evil

2006-02-25T18:47:00.000-05:00

No job is worth an ulcer! Therfore, the best remedy for a bad day at work is to see the good in those that share the immediate suffering, because most jobs are not so bad it is just that some people in the mix of management tend to not care for those that get the job done. This is not a good thing. Many people in positions of power need to re-look at how what they do and say affect others, because good really does more that you think!

Vday is coming

2006-02-13T22:56:00.000-05:00

I now know that I am really geting old! When the wife and I can sit at home on VDay eat a little chocolate (actually quite a few peanut butter M&M's)and for us to be content just with each other; however, the son on the other hand has a date - althought he borrowed the money from his parents.

But to know where you kid is and that he is in the company of other teens that you like and accept is a good feeling. If this is geting old then I am doing the right stuff!

The youngster on the verge of being automotive and "doing what he wants", but still able to come home at 9:30 because he was told to, is a major part of the feeling of oldness, and at the same time provides a supreme feeling of youth just knowing that me and the old lady made that lad!

Useful Tools

2006-01-14T01:41:00.000-05:00

These sites are real savers and provide lots of Software Tools:

Tools:

Major Geeks

Source Forge

TuCows

Belarc

Spyware Blaster

AVG Virus Free

AdAware Free

UltraVNC Remote Interace

I Speek Teen?

2006-01-03T23:21:00.000-05:00

As a parent you have many opportunities to have conversations with both other people and yourself. These other people conversations are sometimes with less than fully developed individuals (teenagers, albeit their awareness is that they are as wise and the aged one to whom they are speaking). The other type of conversation are those in which the teenager has disappeared from the immediate area and you are left having what I kindly refer to as a rhetardical (a rhetorically retarded blabbering) discourse with yourself!

2006-01-01T04:36:00.000-05:00

Word of the Day:

Testing 123

2005-12-30T23:47:00.000-05:00

With the advent of actually going to a web posting environment, I might as well learn the tricks.

On to the New Year

2005-12-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

The Year End Wrap Up:

2005 What a year. I can only hope for better things to come in the New Year.

Let me sum up the good and the bad.

First the bad:

My Dad died on March 16^th

Work not only saw no bonus but also no raise

Work was still hard

Work, Home, Family did not take a break from being demanding

Now the good:

Work was at least challenging

This year my son turned on the academic gene he had been suppressing

I had the opportunity to perform for a really large public speaking engagement (Tony Robbins move over)

I had another year sharing the company of carpooling with my friend Sal

My Mother spent the Christmas holiday with us

All in all the year did have its own series of up and downs as will most years, but for the most part time has marched on, children got bigger, and time you spend telling people that you love them means more. So the bottom line of it is that life is not so bad, work does not really suck all that bad, and the family I have provides love and comfort at all the right times. Luck, Karma, practice who knows: It is however, my life and I like the way it has progressed.

Quotes - Words to bring new thoughts

2005-12-28T22:46:00.000-05:00

"Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time." - Hebrew Proverb

"The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live." Mortimer Adler

"You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough." -- Frank Crane

‘Tis Truly “The season”

2005-12-23T11:25:00.000-05:00

I just read the best description of “Politically Correctness” crap I have seen in a long time.

The article was titled “Chrismahanukwanzakah”

Screw that! Your religion is just that YOUR religion. The PURCHASING season is a way to redistribute wealth (or at a minimum the ability to shift money from saved to spent); however, the best gift or the most sincere wish for the “The Season” is to just tell the people you love that you LOVE THEM! And incidentally, even the people that you don’t think to love need your love too, because that little gesture that did not take your all may be the all to them.

How This came to be - The Chi of Jaba B

2005-12-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

The Chi of Jaba B

I was basically pushed into the blogsphere. Not unwillingly I might add:

My friend Don kept at the insistance of "man you need a blog" and as I get older the times to forget do seem to get more frequent - not that I want to forget times, just that the opportunity to really recall are just gone! So, with the insistance of Don and the fact that I like the idea of having the mental me in a place even I could find, here comes the stuff from my head to you as often as I have the time.

Thanks Don! http://rantd.blogspot.com/

The Chi of Jaba B: The Flood Gates Open

2005-12-21T22:27:00.000-05:00

Since when did commuting become a shrine to connections?

It seems that the time I spend in a car now days is the time I use to connect to those that I have not seen in awhile. Albeit a good thing and a bad thing (damn that guy on the cell phone etc..). This time is starting to make sense that the shrine of connection is veiled in a cloak of technology. If I didn't work so far from home (I would not need a car). If I had closer friends (I would talk to them over the fence). The cell phone has facilitated a way to share the moment and thus share the life of others regardless of the distance. It is about the contact. AT&T really did have it right - "reach out and touch someone!"

The Flood Gates Open

2005-12-21T00:04:00.000-05:00

1/1/06 - This is truly going to be a happier New Year. I started off the year with a great new coincidence. I was out walking my dog wearing a shirt with the SC state logo on it and met one of my neighbors. As we talked he asked if I was from SC. I said no but that I worked there on occasion and that my father was from a small town in SC. He said that his wife was from Anderson, SC. This is the next town from the town of Iva that my father was from. As we talked further my neighbor stated that his wife's grandfather still lived in Iva. Small World: Definitely interconnected:

Today the flood gates opened, and I begin the process of blissfully logging myself!

12/28/05 - I will never know when it is time to buy a lottery ticket, because those times better known as coincidences just seem to always happen - except the lottery ticket never hits!

Any way the most recent incident was from a conversation that I had with my friend and car pooling buddy on the idea that America has truly adopted the ideals that track the 7 deadly sins - you know them
Lust, Greed, Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, and Wrath: If you followed the recent fall of both Enron and MCI, you know that the American CEO has become the embodiment of these sins, or at least it sure looks that way when you look at the facts.

The second incident that screams coincident is that for the last couple of days (end of the year vacation 2005) I have been researching nerdy stuff, and was reading about mathematicians and specifically John Von Neumann. As I was reading http://www.linuxuser.co.uk it had an article about self replicating machines. I had read similar information in the Von Neumann research only days before. Time to buy that lottery ticket.