Random Numbers

This was the website for Random Numbers: Bouncing Aimlessly Around the Blogosphere. The content is taken from the sites 2007 archived content.

 

We burned Hillary for this:
26-Nov-07

Via Campaign Carl's blog:

Giuliani volunteer lobs friendly questions Hizzoner’s way

Windham, NH– During his two-day bus tour through New Hampshire this weekend, a familiar face kept popping up at Rudy Giuliani campaign events throwing friendly questions in the candidate’s direction.

Richard Florino, 52, a Giuliani volunteer and his Windham County, New Hampshire co-chairman was called upon by the former New York City mayor to ask the first question at two forums on back to back days–first at a Nashua town hall Saturday afternoon and then at a Windham house party Sunday morning.

Wow! A phoney questioner asking phoney questions of a phoney Republican!

WhoWouldaThunkIt?

 

Did you hear….
25-Nov-07

…what Rush said yesterday? He was ranting about something he called "our Salesforce consultants" and how these guys could be the next means for any government to spy on not only its businesses, but also its citizens. I said WHAT???? Does he even know what Salesforce is or does? It happens to be an extremely flexible and scalable CRM system. That's Customer relationship management (CRM). It is an approach to managing a company's interaction with current and future customers and is the bedrock of most robust companies in one form or another. What Salesforce has done is create an amazing system that is cloud based. Its CSM system is composed of Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, Force.com, Chatter and Work.com. Via cutting edge technology it organizes, automates, and synchronizes sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.All information is delivered via the cloud for a monthly fee so all users from a particular company only need access to a web browser, either on a PC, tablet or smartphone to stay connected. Maybe Rush thinks our government or a foreign will hack into Salesforce and steal propriatory info. WHo knows, but as usual Rush was out there spewing vitriol about Cloud technology.

Last week, Rush said that the candidate that sounds most like him would win the nomination. He may just be right.

 

Getting in the Spirit.
24-Nov-07

Thanks to the fact that I bought a season pass last spring, I got to spend my Black Friday (Why do we call it that? It’s not a horror, it’s only very crowded.) at Six Flags Holiday int the Park. I had lots of fun and it didn’t cost me a fortune.

Once again this year they have that work of ultimate theocratic EEEEeeee-villl:

 

A NATIVITY!! EEEEEK!!!

This year the big show at the Southern Palace wasn’t as good as last year. I miss the living nativity.

There were, on the other hand lots of lights:

And some bored-looking employees tending some cozy fire pits to keep everyone warm:

The evening ended with a cute little parade of Loony Tunes characters and, of course, Santa Claus.

All in all, this was a day I really needed. I had a little fun and got a kick-start on the ol’ Christmas Spirit.

I go back to work tomorrow. If it’s slow enough, I’ll try to post something via the posting service then.

Merry Christmas!

 

Thanks and Giving
23-Nov-07

So you’ve watched the game, mauled a bird, had a fistfight with your sniveling lefty cousin, and basically gone over all the normal Thanksgiving Day traditions. Now it’s time look over the blogs and find out what others are thankful for. I’ll begin by giving an account of the last month.

About a month ago, I drove down to Houston to get a friend out of a bad situation. He is recovering from a drug problem and out of work. He was unable to live anywhere in Houston except a slum where you get a contact-high just walking down the hall. He called and asked for help, so the Random Wife and I went down, got him, and moved him into our spare bedroom.

No, we can’t afford it, but we can afford to abandon a friend in need a hell of a lot less.

Just when we got back, the Random Wife was informed that the contract where she was working had expired. Now I am the sole wage earner in the house. I have been plugging the OT at work to make ends meet in the Random Budget. Needless to say, this has made blogging close to impossible. I have only had one quiet period at work to write a post at Redstate since I can’t get to this blog easily from work.

A few years ago, the last month would have been an unmitigated disaster. Now it is only a hardship. For that I am truly thankful.

I am thankful for other things, but I’ll just ditto Empress Sofia, Misha, Michelle, and Kim Priestap. We live in the greatest country in the world, and have so many blessings that, if we took the time to count them all, we would not have time left to enjoy them.

We now end this day of thanks and enter the season of giving. There are people out there who need help. I am just barely able to hold it together here, so I thought I would point out a few other worthy causes. Three places that get the bulk of my donation money when I have it are The Salvation Army, Children’s Miracle Network, and the USO. This year I won’t have as much to give as I had in previous years, so I would appreciate it if someone would help me out by taking up the slack.

I hope your Thanksgiving was a happy one. I’ll be writing more often as I seem to be getting the bug back.

 

Fire the Liar.
19-Oct-07

Take a look at this video:

Now tell me, what word is missing from Ms Aguilar’s report?(Hint: It begins with an “H”.)That’s right! HOME!
Aguilar deliberately avoided using the word “home” in her ambush. It would have changed the entire nature of the report. Her report was a half-truth. I was raised to believe that half a truth was a whole lie.

 

I was going to start organizing a protest at Fox4 in Dallas this coming Monday, but on the Mike Gallagher Show this morning on 660 KSKY, one of the callers mentioned that he was already starting that process. Not being very good at organizing anything, even my sock drawer, I decided to wait until I found out about this other protest.

I’ll have details as soon as I find them.

Stay tuned!

 

Ubuntu Adventures: Week 1: Cranking it up
12-Oct-07

Last week I started using Linux for the first time in 7 years. Back then, I was trying out Red Hat, and it SUCKED! The turkeys that talked me into it that time tried to convince me that Red Hat was like Windows for Linux, and they succeeded long enough for me to use it.

This time I know better, and it seems to be working out pretty well.

Installation

I have three hard disk drives on my PC. One is a 200Gig drive I have partitioned into even halves, I use one half for Windows and Programs and the other for my working files. The second is my keep-for-a-while drive with 60GB of space and the third is an old, slow, 40GB deep-storage drive I use for files I never want to erase. I have CD-ROM backups of the third drive. I decided to clear out the 60 for the Ubuntu trial and moved the files I wanted to keep to either the working files drive or deep storage. I then went into my BIOS and told the system to boot from the CD, then the 60, then the Windows partition, in that order.

Installing Ubuntu was a heck of a lot easier than I ever expected. I booted from the Live CD, clicked Install, selected the drive I wanted to use, and off I went. Ubuntu found ALL of my hardware on the first try.

Learning Curve

One of the first thing a new user has to understand about Ubuntu is that it is not Windows. It is not going to do things the same way that Windows does them, so you have to learn the differences, just as anyone who wants to use Windows for more than an e-mail terminal has to learn something about the OS. Ubuntu does, however make it possible to learn as you go. I found it remarkably easy to learn to use.

I had one hiccup during the past week trying to install RealPlayer. For a company that whines about Windows so much, you’d think they would offer better support to Linux customers, but RealNetworks has the program and nothing else. The Ubuntu Community Forums, however, had the answer in step-by-step instructions and I got it installed without much trouble.

Impressions

The layout is not the same as Windows. That is not a criticism, it is a compliment. I found the dual taskbar type of layout, with the applications on top and the running programs on bottom, to be very intuitive from the get-go. Once I found the buttons to slide them out of the way, it was heaven. Have you ever used your whole desktop to run Firefox? It makes a difference.

My next impression upon using Ubuntu was FAST! I went to a lot of the web sites that usually take forever to load and they blinked right up. I thought my connection was slow, but it must have been the OS.

Ubuntu comes with Firefox and an e-mail program (I’m posting from work and can’t remember it’s name) as well as a movie player, Open Office, and some other applications. I am already a Firefox addict, so I found it to be very easy to setup and use. The e-mail program was simple enough, and you can find enough praises of Open Office on the web that I don’t really have to add my voice.

There are also lots and lots and lots of applications available for download right from the Applications menu. I played with a few of the games and found them to be pretty good foe desktop games. I haven’t tried a whole lot of applications this last week as I was more concerned with familiarization than applications. I will be reporting on some of the applications in later updates.

So far, Ubuntu has lived up to it’s promises and then some. Next week will be a little more challenging.

NEXT WEEK: Sight, Sound, and Motion: Picture, Sound, and Video editing in Ubuntu

 

Where have I been?
07-Oct-07

I have been beginning a grand experiment. For years I have had my more tech-savvy friends tell me how wonderful Linux is as an OS*. I have resisted because it always appeared that one needed an advanced degree in order to understand how to use the bloody thing.

Now I am starting to try a Linux-based OS. One of those friends, the Man In The Big White Hat, has convinced me to attempt Ubuntu.

A little background is important to put this in perspective.

• I first started using a PC in the 1994 running DOS. I used the book that came with the OS and experimentation to learn how to use it. When Windows 3.1 came out, I installed it as soon as I could find the money and the RAM to run it. I got one of the first copies of Windows 95 as well. I have almost always used a Windows computer.
• Since that first PC, I have built all of the computers I have owned.
• I have never read a book on or taken a class on computers. Everything I know about computers is self-taught either through experimentation ot internet reference.
• I am not by any stretch an expert on Windows. I know how to back up and edit the registry, find and change settings, and use the tools that Windows provides to get the most out of it, but I couldn’t write a program to save my life and the nomenclature tends to leave me cross-eyed at times. Thus while I am no true Geek, I am an intermediate to advanced Windows user.

 

So here is my experiment. I am going to back-up my windos settings and program info an a seperate hard disk and place it in storage. I will then convert my PC to this Ubuntu/Linux OS and try it for the next few weeks. In early November I will give my report and anwer the following questions:

• Can a non-geek use a Linux-based GUI without going crazy?
• Have Linux-based OS’s advanced beyond the niche level?
• Am I going to keep Ubuntu?

 

I am going to be keeping a log of my adventures in the land of Linux and will blog the more interesting bits as I go along.

Wish me luck!

*Linux geeks annoy the hell out of people like me. They tend to think their expertise in their chosen operating system makes them some sortt of superior life form, and that makes my knuckles itch, for some reason.

 

Random Caption Contest Returns
27-Sep-07

REPEAT:

I am a bit of a shutterbug. When those punks smashed my camera last year, I was ready to cry and went crazy every time I saw something that would make a good picture. I’m not really very good, but I take a heck of a lot of pictures just about everywhere I go.

Lately I have been going through all the pics I took lately and found quite a few that could use a caption. So the Random Caption Contest is returning, but with a twist. Many of the pictures will be taken by Yours Truly.

Let’s start with this one:

Winners will be announced on the next caption contest post. Wednesday at the earliest.

Tracked to the Wizbang Caption Contest in the hopes of a few hits. :tongue1_tb:

Also to Bullwinkle, because he links his contest to the world, so I might as well, too!

 

Looking Glass Land?
21-Sep-07

Via BFFT

Someone must have put some LDS in the water cooler last night…
The Washington Post attacks Fred Thompson and the GUARDIAN comes to his - and America’s - defense?

OK………..

Are you as confused as I am here?

 

E-Mail Post: Randomly clever turn od phrase
20-Sep-07

via QandO:

Given an attempt by the Iranian AF to bomb =
Israel, the IAF could again become the largest foreign aircraft parts distributor in the world, scattering Iranian aircraft pieces all over the desert sand.

I started laughing at the word “world”

 

Another knock on Fred down in flames.
17-Sep-07

Anti Fred knucklehead: Fred doesn’t say anything about real issues, like taxes, immigration, or education! This means he must be a phoney “stealth” candidate!!!!!!11!Q

Reply: Oh yeah? Read this, if you haven’t been listening.

It’s strategic information, but is shows what goals Fred has on the issues. The tactical work of making it happen begins when he’s in the White House.

 

“I want to watch and see…..”
17-Sep-07

“…if they go to Cuba to get their health care!”

That’s what Fred said in discussing Hollywood leftists and their relationship with Castro.

Sic ‘em, Fred!

 

Rasmussen Poll Chart
14-Sep-07

Thanks to gunsmoke at DraftFredThompson.com

I will update this as I get updates.

 

Getting Ready for Kickoff…
04-Sep-07

Fred08 - Contribute Now
No, I’m not talking football. I’m talking FRED!

Fred Thompson’s campaign kicks off tomorrow, and those of us who are with Fred need to do our part.

I have made a modest pledge to raise or donate $100 by the end of September. I will be working overtime to make the dough and hope to get a few donations though this site as well.

Any amount, even a buck or two, will help Fred’s campaign. Any sales at my Cafepress store will go to Fred as well.

No, I’m not talking football. I’m talking FRED!

Fred Thompson’s campaign kicks off tomorrow, and those of us who are with Fred need to do our part.

I have made a modest pledge to raise or donate $100 by the end of September. I will be working overtime to make the dough and hope to get a few donations though this site as well.

Any amount, even a buck or two, will help Fred’s campaign. Any sales at my Cafepress store will go to Fred as well.

 

If it weren’t for bad luck….
01-Sep-07

I had planned on going to the Texas GOP Straw poll today. I had my cameras with me all night at work. I had my route planned, I was ready. I knew where my towel was.

Then Lady Luck got PMS.

First, my relief was late, and I found myself running to the train station. Then the train had a power failure. It was starting to look like I would miss my connection to the Trinity Railway Express. I arrived literally at the last minute. The TRE’s doors closed as I stepped through them.

I was home free, right? WRONG!!! I sat down for the trip, and the next thing I knew I was being awakened by the conductor - on the way BACK TO DALLAS FROM FORT WORTH! I had fallen asleep on the train and missed my stop - TWICE!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR-

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

+++

It is the duty of good people to stop evil whenever we can!