World Wide Web Wednesday – Volume 7

This week’s World Wide Web Wednesday link is…

www.audacityteam.org – Audacity

I return back to the world of technology this week and bring you yet another piece of open-source software I use on a regular basis.  I deal with audio files quite a bit in my job.  While Windows Media Player is adequate for listening to them, I’m often called upon to edit files or create them. When this is the case, Audacity gets the nod.

The software is pretty intuitive and the effects package is more than adequate for my needs. It also allows you to export to various common audio formats and sample rates.  It includes a spectrum analyzer that, while pretty basic, I’ve found to be particularly helpful in my work.   At home, it’s my ‘go to’ for creating custom ring tones, which I do because when my phone goes off, I want to know it’s my phone.

Installation is easy, but I’ve had to add some packages to get it to work on my Linux machine at home, but nothing too extreme. I did manage to get malware once when I downloaded it from a site I wasn’t familiar with, but if you practice ‘safe computing’, you should be fine.

Audacity – give it a whirl. Now go out and web.

World Wide Web Wednesday – Volume 6

After a few weeks off, it’s time for another installment of World Wide Web Wednesday.  Today’s link is…

http://thesunmagazine.org/ – The Sun Magazine

For once, this is not a technology link.  In fact, this magazine is one instance in my life where I go ‘full analog’ getting the magazine by the good old U.S. Mail.

Like many great ideas that have floated through my life in the last fifteen years, my relationship with The Sun came about when Ms. Boss ran across the magazine and signed me up for a free trial.  I enjoyed the writing that highlights, as the magazine says, people rising to meet life’s challenges and soon enough had a subscription.  I’ve been an ‘on and off’ subscriber ever since reading every issue cover to cover.

My favorite segment every month is ‘Readers Write’ – a section where readers write about the topic that has been chosen for month.  The short snippets cover some of the pivotal moments in the lives of others. For the record, I’ve been tempted to write, but have never pulled the trigger.

Fair warning – if you’re allergic to left-leaning politics and ideas, this magazine isn’t for you so you might want to retreat to the safety of Fox News.  While I don’t necessarily endorse the economic values represented within, it does appeal to my more like libertarian nature. Some of the writers seem to have liberated themselves from some of the more unseemly sides of modern society, something that makes me the tiniest bit jealous.

The Sun Magazine – go visit and, better yet, subscribe to support this non-profit venture. Now go forth and web!

Random Semicoherent Thoughts – Volume 12

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I was on vacation last week and largely took a break from electronics.  I actually let my phone die several times while I was gone and really didn’t care. That’s highly unusual for me.  I kind of enjoyed it.  To the loyal non-robot readers, my humblest apologies.

I love reading, I always have. I’ll read to distraction if you’ll let me.  In fifth grade, my science teacher made a habit of coming up and slamming a ruler on my desk when I had my nose in a book rather than paying attention in class.  I’m somewhat ‘reformed’ today.  I don’t read books that often anymore and when I do, they’re nonfiction and too interesting that I won’t be bothered when I put them down.  The one time I will read is on vacation.  I figure I’m entitled to the down time.

I read two books over vacation.  The first was The Zimzum of Love by Kristen and Rob Bell.  This was a recommendation by Ms. Boss.  It was the right book at the right time.  My takeaway from the book? The space between you and your spouse is sacred and must be protected in order for ‘zimzum’ to occur.  The second book was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.  I will say it was a tough read, but it’s one of those books that you keep coming back to in your mind once you’ve finished with it.  I’m still learning some of the lessons from the book, but the biggest takeaway is this – the attitude that you take when starting an endeavor will be reflected in the outcome once the project is completed.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawethorne absolutely rocked my world.  Up until that point – junior year in high school – I was so Pollyannaish it never crossed my mind that the minister could be a bad guy.

I’m going to be slightly vulnerable here, while I’ve stated that I like reading, I’ve not been the best at understanding what I read.  Now it’s not because I’m stupid, I’m literally a Mensa-candidate  (a score I’ve taken on a standardized test qualifies me for membership).  It just seems that I don’t always comprehend.  I hated – HATED – literature classes in high school and college because people would glean things from them that I just couldn’t see.  I rarely read all the assigned material in college because it seemed pointless.  I was a terminal ‘B’ student merely from the fact I showed up for every class. I didn’t become the lawyer I always was supposed to be growing up because I sucked at case review in undergrad.  It certainly has been frustrating.  I’m sure this means something to someone.

Random Semicoherent Thoughts – Volume 11

I’ve had a Fitbit for awhile (it was supposed to be a gift for someone else, but they already had one) but finally started wearing it this week.  I thought it wouldn’t be much use to me since I exercise regularly already.  As they say in Congress, ‘I would like permission to revise and extend my remarks.’  A Fitbit generates data and if you are one of the few humans that read my blog regularly, you know I LOVE data.  I have a pretty sedentary job most of the time, but I had no idea how much I… err.. sat on my ass.  The data has done a fantastic job of getting me up and moving while the diet portion of the app clues me in to just how much I consume in a day.  It doesn’t hurt that I’m now in competition with my workmates.

I managed to get two of my four daughters to play sports.  My youngest is a go-getter.  The other, one of the twins, is in it for the social aspects. It can be quite frustrating at times to watch.  Strangely enough, what frustrates me isn’t seeing what they are doing wrong or could do better on the field, it’s that I made the same kinds of mistakes when I was there age and know much better now that I can’t do anything about them.

Summer vacation starts this week for my crew.  I’m already saying what my father said as I’m sure his father said before him.  They have no idea how good they have it, when I was their age, I worked my ass off all summer.

Here’s a strange fact – I know how to play bridge.  I’m not that good at it, but I know the basics and can play a few hands.  My mother, who died when I was thirteen, loved to play bridge and often had impromptu games in addition to her regular bridge group.  When a wave a nausea hit (she had cancer), I was often called upon to sit in and play.  I looked into the possibility of joining a bridge club, but there’s one problem – they’re all during the day at senior centers.  It seems that no one less than sixty-five years of age plays anymore.  It’s been almost a year-and-a-half since I’ve played.  I’m actually kind of sad about that.

Speaking of cards, it’s a dying pastime. I played all kinds of cards when I was young – it’s what we did during the summer instead of work.  We played Gin, Rummy, Hearts, all manners of Solitaire, and a game called Hi-Lo.  When I wasn’t playing poker during college, I was playing euchre.  That’s mostly gone now that the internet is here.  My girls will play a game called Nerts, but it’s more of a game of reflex than one of skill.  I tried to teach them euchre at one point, but there just wasn’t any interest.

Just the Beginning

While tears rolled down from eyes swollen with         sorrow
How I wished to convey to her
That hurtful words from a few former friends
Would mean very little in a few short years
That soon enough greater troubles would come
The ones we all face while moving through this life
Filled with disappointment, despair, sorrow and ignominy
But little I said would reach her tender young ears
For my experience tells me it will take at least twenty more years
For her to learn the truth
That Pandora’s Box opens slowly indeed

World Wide Web Wednesday – Volume 5

This week’s World Wide Web Wednesday link is…

http://lubuntu.net/ – Lubuntu

(I know, another nerd post.  It’s who I am and where I visit.  Maybe something different next week…)

I’m a bit of a cheapskate.  There’s quite a few reasons for it – four daughters is probably reason enough – but I am, both at work and home.  Witness the very computer that I’m writing this blog entry on.  It’s a netbook that was never very quick, even when it was new over six years ago.  I was relatively poor at the time and couldn’t afford much more than, but I irreparably damaged the computer I was using at the time (also relatively cheap) and needed a replacement.

Fast forward a couple of years and the netbook started s l o w i n g…  d  o  w  n…, so much so that Bill Gate’s latest offering was taking over five minutes to boot up – not exactly the proper tool to look up something quickly on the interwebs.  Being somewhat less poor at the time, I could have gone out and bought something else, but that just didn’t seem to jive with my frugal nature.  I knew that something could be done, I mean seriously, even a 1 GHz processor is a far cry better than what I first started surfing the web with and my netbook wasn’t always this slow.  I began to think maybe the operating system was the issue more than the computer.

My first foray into a Windows alternative was Ubuntu.  It was slightly better than what I was still a little sluggish.  The main beef with Ubuntu users at the time was all the ‘extras’ that the creators of Ubuntu were lopping into the software.  After all, open source creators need to pay the bills somehow.

I went back to Windows, but I still wasn’t enamored with the performance.  I actually stopped using my computer for awhile – an iPhone basically filled the need – until changes at work basically required I have a working computer at home.

That’s when I discovered Lubuntu.

Lubuntu, for all intents and purposes, is a stripped down version of Ubuntu with the centerpiece being a lightweight GUI application.  Lubuntu does live up to it’s billing – my netbook is faster now than it ever was running a product out of Redmond.

What do I think of it?  I like it.  As an open-source Linux software, it isn’t quite as easy to use out of the box like Microsoft, but if you want to spend more time than money, surfing the interwebs will provide you the knowledge you need eventually.  The unanticipated benefit is a better knowledge of how Linux works which has come in real handy.   Some work in the terminal is necessary for advance configuration, but I was on the internet before I knew there was such a thing as the World Wide Web, so messing around with the command line is no biggie for me.  If Lubuntu ever does outgrow my netbook, I can always give Arch a try…

Do I have plans to replace my netbook?  Nope. It bogs down on graphic intensive sites, but otherwise fits my needs. It will even run the very few Window-only programs I need for work.  Google is trying to force my hand by dropping support for Chrome, but I was looking for a web browser when I found them so I’m sure something will come around to fill that need.

Lubuntu – if you have an old computer, breathe some new life into it by giving it a whirl.  Now go out there and web…

Random Semicoherent Thoughts – Volume 10

C.L. Boss is now active in the Twitterverse: @therealclboss.  The goal here is to garner at least as many followers as Justin Bieber by either tweeting deep, meaningful statements or pictures of the roast beef sandwich I eat every Friday. As of this writing, I am very happy to announce that I’m only a few million followers away.  You should follow me today before I get super ultrafamous.

All kidding aside, I hope that Twitter will bring a few people strolling by my website.  I’m told by my stats that the Googlebot is my most frequent visitor.

I’ve made a few other minor changes to the site – I could only go full generic for so long.

I had the pleasure of shopping with Ms. Boss over the weekend.  It was relatively short (and therefore relatively painless) until it came time to pay for everything.  I swear sometimes, checking out at some of these department stores is more complicated than buying a car. Do you have shopper’s card?  Do you have coupons?  Do you have any rewards?  I can take an additional ten percent off if you this?  You can come back and use this certificate if you need something next.  Enough already!  Why can’t things be as simple as giving me the best price and leave it at that?

Two years ago, I wandered out of the iOS universe and into Android.  It was a happy relationship at first – I got a bigger screen and unfettered access to things in the backend.  I was actually quite smug about the whole thing. Two years later, I’m ready to go back. It has been a tedious two or three months trying to upgrade my phone to the latest software with the final solution being a factory reset followed by a restore that went nowhere near what was planned.  One of the most aggravating experiences, dealing with a new auto-correct dictionary that needs to completely relearn how I write.

There is more content coming – a poem if you must know.  It needs a few more revisions before posting.  I’m looking forward to it.

World Wide Web Wednesday – Volume 4

(yes, I know it’s Thursday, work with me here)

Today’s World Wide Web Wednesday link is…

http://dashing.io/ – Dashing

I love data in any kind of form.  You name it, I like it – numbers, gauges, meters, even plain ‘ol blinky lights. I will sit there and watch just about anything that provides information.  To tell you how extreme I am about it, the electric company once installed a device to shut off my air conditioner during peak periods. I used to be able to seeit from my bed blinking on and off and on and off.  When they came and removed it, I was highly, highly pissed they took my blinky light away.

Yes, I love taking in information. The only thing better than getting information is getting information from a device of your own making… or one that has been extensively manipulated by you.

Dashing is an open-source program written in Ruby that serves up web pages that can be dynamically update with a Java derivative. As the administrator of a couple of systems and the backup administrator of a couple more, I find it entertaining  informative to see what those systems are doing in near real time. The installation is pretty easy provided all the proper packages are in place but the configuration can be a bit of a bear – my typical experience with most open-source software.  While you don’t need to know much Ruby or Java to run things, a working knowledge of html is quite helpful if you want to make changes to the layout like I did.  While you can configure the software to pull data, I preferred to push data via JSON by modifying some Python scripts I already had in place to send data elsewhere. While the main display is on a large screen television, I always keep a browser open to the main web page on my desk because, well, I can.

I’ve threatened to install a Dashing server at home to keep track of certain things like the calendar and weather, but it just never seems to get done.  Have I mentioned that I have too many hobbies?

Dashing – it’s awesome.  Now get out there and Web.

Random Semicoherent Thoughts – Volume 9

So is this how it happens?  A slow dwindle in writing production until it becomes less than a trickle? What charged out of the gate slowly losing steam?  Have I mentioned before that I have too many hobbies?  I’ll tell what’s happened to almost all of them – life.  Hobbies and interests get intertwined into life and eventually get shoved aside as all the other wants and needs of modern life move towards the front.  Oh well.  Even it almost dies out, it will still be there if I ever want to go back to it.

Mother’s Day was celebrated in fine style at the Boss household.  An ‘omelet to order’ breakfast with gluten free scones (tasty, even to this longtime bread lover) followed by the traditional planting of flowers and yard work.  Dinner of grilled vegetables was cancelled by Ms. Boss in lieu of the Boss Family staple – Sunday Night Nacho Night.  A course of Raw Vegan Cheesecake (cashews provided the body while lemon provides the tang) rounded out the evening.  Ms. Boss proclaimed it to be one her favorite Mother’s Days.  I’m glad.  When she’s happy, I’m happy.

I am giving serious consideration to driving eleven hours to a small town in Ontario and running a half marathon in a kilt to win a wooden spoon.  Why?  Just because.  It doesn’t look to be this year, but it might have just made my bucket list.

I just learned how to make goetta properly.  I’ve been trying to accomplish this particular feat off and on for almost twenty years.  The key?  Thin slices and taking the time to make sure it’s properly brown.  What’s goetta?  Questions like are the raison d’etre for the internet.

Looking up words like ‘raison d’etre’ are another reason why the internet exists.

I actually wrote in my personal journal for the first time in over two months the other day.  It was nice to reacquainted.  This particular journal has a bit of quirk to it – it’s kept somewhere other than my house, a private place that visit every once in awhile.  In a way, it’s almost a perfect situation.  Journals at home quickly get forgotten, but it is an ingrained habit to write anytime I visit the place where it’s kept.  It’s pretty much an obligation to write anytime I visit – kind of like visiting your best friend when your in town.

At the risk of being a hypocrite, journals are important.  My mother, who died when I was thirteen, kept a journal for a few months during her life.  I was able to read it a few years ago.  It was absolutely mind-blowing how germane and poignant it was to what was going in my life.  You don’t see the struggle of your parents when your little and even if you do, you don’t always understand.  It was a snapshot back in time that basically let me know that I wasn’t alone.  In much the same vein, I had the opportunity to read some letters that my father sent to my grandmother when he was in his twenties.  It was much the same thing. Again, at the risk of being a hypocrite, write a journal and leave if for your kids once your gone.  Let them know that you struggled with many of the things that they will struggle with when they become your age.  Perhaps one day it will help them not feel quite as alone as they do.  I know what a small snapshot into my parent’s life did for me.

For the record, I believe it’s safe to assume my parents never struggled with writing a blog.

Have I told my wife I love her lately?  I believe I just did.