Time for a new browser

Washington Post article

A flaw in Windows allows a website to install malicious software on your machine – even taking control of it, just by you visiting that website using Internet Explorer.

Solution: Linux! Okay, I'm kidding. (Mostly kidding, it does solve that problem, and it is fun to use. Dear old Simon would have suggested that it is right for everybody, but I won't go that far.)

More workable solution: A different browser.

I like to recommend Firefox 1.5. It is stable and reasonably secure, available free of charge, and has some nifty extensions available for it that you can use to tailor your browsing experience. My favorite extension is Adblock.

Also available is Opera 8.5. Very full featured and also free of charge.

Remember kids: Don't click on the blue “e” unless you absoultely have to. Using a different browser will keep you safer.

If you are feeling very ambitious, you might want to look here, here, or here ;) Also, a way to try things out with no commitment (full install) can be had for free here.

Happy New Year to All!

I hope everyone has been enjoying a great holiday season (Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, etc.). I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new computer to better my voicework efforts here at the Radioguy homestead. I'm still trying to back up the files on the current system to transfer to the new beast, but it'll take a long time to do so, I think.

Anyway, try not to go out on New Year's Eve, as it is a night where far too many people think they can drive after having one too many drinks. I want you to see 2006 safely!

Happy New Year everyone!

A Scare I NEVER Want To Experience Again

Yesterday, I was given the scare of my life - twice in a 90-minute span.

The Sports Director (SD) at the radio station I work at is 89-years-old and suffers from a medical condition that leaves him in a great deal of pain. The medication prescribed to him to treat that condition is to be taken before bedtime, and not after. Early yesterday morning, he awoke to remember that he hadn't;t taken his meds before he went to bed - he then took his medication and went back to bed, four hours before he was to start his on-air shift.

Yesterday morning, during the third of his six morning sports segments, I cued him to begin. Then things got weird... His eyes got glassy, his face was frozen in a frightening expression, and he leaned into his microphone. At first, I thought he had fallen asleep, but his eyes were wide open. It was if someone had switched him off. It took about 30 long seconds, and grabbing his face and turning toward me, for him to snap out of it. And as if someone had switched him back on, he started giving scores and such, like nothing had happened. After we were off the air, I asked him if he was OK. He didn't remember the episode.

Once the General Manager (GM) arrived at the station, I told him what had happened, and I wasn't sure he fully understood. Then, about 45 minutes later, with the GM standing in the doorway to the control room, our venerable sports director "left the building" again. The second time, the GM tapped him on the shoulder to get our SD's attention and snap him out of his unconscious state. Again, he didn't remember what happened.

The GM and were pretty scared at that point, thinking our Sports Director had suffered a couple of strokes or something equally as dangerous. We learned later in the day that our SD hadn't taken his medication as per the prescription directions. He took them properly before going to bed last night, and was in top form this morning.

One of my greatest fears with the job I have is that our Sports Director, with his advanced age, medical problems and such, will die in front of me, while doing our morning show. Yesterday, I thought the guy was "checking out," and it frightened the hell out of me. Fortunately, for all concerned, yesterday's episodes seem to be attributable to a medication snafu, but the look on his face when he blanked out is burned into my brain. I do not want to experience that again.

Seattle Voters to decide Enhanced Stip-Club Rules

Seattle voters will get a chance next year, in a special election, to vote on tighter restrictions on Strip Clubs. Here's a link to an article on the subject from the Seattle P-I. I'm of the opinion that such additional regulations on strip clubs are not only an excercise in futility for the majority of Seattle voters, but do not reflect the opinions of most of the patrons of such clubs.

First and foremost, I do not frequent strip clubs. To the best of my knowledge, most of the folks who frequent strip clubs are lonely individuals looking for a visually "stimulating" experience. I've seen strippers plying their trade, via friends' bachelor parties, but my wife is all I want or need (CNBC anchorwoman Liz Claman, though, is pretty easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean!)...

The proposed regulations to Seattle strip clubs are politically-motivated. That is, it'll be an election year for most of the City Council, and those incumbents will want to thro a bone out to the voters to garner as much support as possible (in this case, the majority of the voters in Seattle do not frequent strip clubs, and would rather not have a strip club in their neighborhood - hence, a proposal to enact increased regulations on the operation of strip clubs that would, in essence, drive such clubs out of town). If you are a Seattle voter, please keep in mind that the proposed regulations are intended soley for a political purpose, regardless of how much you may agree with them.

In defense of strip clubs (again, I don't go to them), the proposed regulations will not be enforceable on a daily basis, and they are a representation of how a large part of the voting public could feel about what a small part of that same public conducts itself. And that same small part of the public, meanwhile, conducts itself in a manner that does not injure others. Like them or not, those clubs are operating legally, and they provide a service to a small slice of the public.

And we're not talking about porn shops on 1st Avenue - we're talking about strip clubs.

The concept of going to a strip club may be a bit beyond my comprehension (I think that if one were that interested in seeing a naked woman, there are plenty of sites on the World Wide Web that would provide that for free). But the regulations proposed by the Seattle City Council directly prevent legal businesses from doing business. The City Council already has a 14-year moratorium on construction/establishment of new strip clubs in place. Legally, they can't say "no strip clubs in our city." What they're proposing is a loophole around what they can't legally do - regulations that will make operating a strip club so difficult, it will be unreasonable to continue doing business.

To use an extreme example - let's say your City Council doesn't like dogs. I mean, really doesn't like dogs. They can't legally pass ordinances prohibiting the ownership of dogs, the establishment of dog obedience training schools, or the creation of a dog-friendly park.Instead, your City Council proposes regulations on owning dogs that are so restrictive, that the average person cannot either abide by the regulations or cannot afford the fees associated with those regulations. Obedience schools and dog-training centers go out of business. What's going on in Seattle is something like that.


Bottom line - regardless of how you feel about strip clubs, that the Seattle City Council is proposing is a campaign-year, back door, way around what they can't legally do - put the kibosh on a business/service that is provided to a legally-abiding segment of the populace. Like it or leave it, strip clubs are legal under state law, and the right to have those clubs in an economically-feasable manner has just enough merit as any attempt to keep the business you work in afloat.

A Shameless Bit of Self Promotion...

For whatever reason, you are reading this blog. And for that, I give you my thanks. Maybe you are a college friend of mine, or someone I've become friends with since college. Perhaps you are a family member. Perhaps you are blog junkie who agrees with my political views. Whatever the circumstances that brought you to this blog, again, I thank you.

I started this blog on advice from a friend and published author who recommended that I write something every day. Since this blog's inception, my posts progressed from a diary-like format to include political commentary and some recipes. This year, I invited my best friend and older brother to join me blog as a co-contributor (to be a sounding-board for my erstwhile rants, to "balance" my posts with the ideas/positions of someone with a slightly different background than I, and also because I wanted him here!)...

Here's my shameless self promotion for the coming year - if you like this blog, please, please tell your friends, family, or others who may like it, too, to visit this blog! And I encourage you, our valued blog viewers to comment whenever the mood strikes you! Droyne and I have no way accurately guage just how many people visit this site, and the comments on our posts are few. The more comments we get, the more we know that the site is looked-at, and the more valuable the discussion about our posts gets.

Again, thanks for visiting the blog! You folks are great! I'm sure we'll be posting again before the year closes out, but I want you to know just how much we appreciate you're visiting this site.

Thank you, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

My holiday recipe for you: CHEESECAKE!!!

Give this one a try - if you enjoy the simple pleasure of a New York style cheesecake, this recipe is for you!

New York Style Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 1 pre-formed (store-bought) graham cracker piecrust)
• ½ cup sugar (or Splenda)
• 2 tbls. melted butter
• 1 ½ cups sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 lb. cream cheese, broken into small pieces

Preparation

• Blend the sour cream, sugar (or Splenda), eggs and vanilla in a food processor for 1 minute. Add the cream cheese. Blend until smooth.
• Pour the melted butter through the top of the food processor. Pour into the pre-made piecrust.
• Bake in the lower third of a 325-degree oven for 45 minutes. When baking is finished, remove the cake from the oven, and turn the oven on to broil. Broil the cheesecake just until the top begins to show spots of brown.
• Refrigerate for 4 hours, or preferably overnight, before cutting and serving.

Enjoy! And a Merry Christmas to everyone who has given this blog a look. What started as a creative-writing excercise has evolved into a fully-functional weblog, and it you, the reader, that made it possible. Thanks again, and Seasons Greetings to you and your families!

Weather in NW Washington can be unpredictable

Weather in the northwest corner of Washington State (where I live) is typically predicable - grey skies, mild temperatures, a chance of rain, etc. What was forecast to be a mostly cloudy night tonihgt, with a chance of showers, has taken a turn for the weird. We've got a strange storm moving through the area, with heavy rains, lightning, storm drains overflowing, power brown-outs, etc. We'll see how long this lasts (a recent check of the National Weather Service short-term forecast said the thunder and lightning was supposed to start about a half-hour before it actually did - obviously, they were wrong in their predictions).

So, with lightning flashing all around, and my storm drains overflowing, I wish you a good night. Try to stay dry!

A much graver blow to our freedom

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1431415

The Senate has passed a six month extension of the Patriot Act.

Another blow to fair use rights and freedom

http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/47939.html

The article says it all, I think. Nutshell: Congress wants to restrict video recording devices so you can't make legal copies.

The DMCA itself goes too far. It says that I can't write a program to watch a DVD that I own on a player that I own, as I would have to "circumvent" the "encription" to play it. The article also mentions the Broadcast Flag being struck down. This was to be a signal that would prevent you from recording an on-air program or restrict your viewing therof. Sadly, congress may still pass some version of the broadcast flag.

What a Difference 10 Years Make

In college, I was at the top of my musical game - I was a sought-after bass player - jazz groups, orchestras, big bands, country groups and rock bands wanted me to play with them. It's not vanity - it was a limited pool of musicians (each of which could play many musical styles) combined with the particular venues those musical groups performed in. When I was in college, I was in gigging heaven.

I was so much in demand that during my junior year, I was playing in so many groups, that I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and tennis elbow in one arm. The resulting physical therapy was excruciatingly painful, and I was forced to re-assess how many bands I was physically able to perform in. Thinking about how to pay my rent bills, I prioritized my gigs on how much money I could make. A few of the "hardcore" jazz musicians took offense at my attempt at fiscal responsibility, giving me jabs like, "I guess you don't like to play {music}" and "I guess the music doesn't matter to you anymore." There musicians, however, did not play in as many groups as I did, nor did they suffer from the physical maladies my enthusiastic efforts rewarded me with. Read: while painfully trying to pick up my bass bow or trying to work my way through a chart in my college music classes, my peers told me I turned down their gig offer because I was a "snob". Jerks.

More than ten years later, I've been tempted to catch up with some of the musicians who actually treated me with the respect I gave them, as well as some of those who snubbed me once I was unable to accomodate their "gigging" wishes. My search for my old compadres has, so far, been odd...

Many of the brass instrument players, guitarists, drummers, woodwind players and others who I played with in college - most of which told me I was a jerk for not playing in their band while I was undergoing physical therapy - are now underpaid teachers, playing in punk bands, or have pursued "civilian" jobs, like acountancy for the Boeing Company. The funniest thing about this is that those "hardcore" musicians who "dissed" me back then aren't returning my e-mail attempts to simply say "Hi" and see how they are doing these days. What a difference 10 years make...