Okay, so have any of you seen the new ad campaign for Vista? It shows a bunch of people using Vista only Microsoft tells the people using it that it is a new OS called Mojave. Sure enough, everyone likes it. It’s faster, it has cool features, gadgets are cool, blah blah blah. Then Microsoft tells them it is Vista and no one can believe it. I was going to write a blog about that very thing but then Microsoft beat me to it.

I’ll come out and say that I am not a big fan of Microsoft on a lot of things; however, Vista does kick ass. The people whining about how it is slow and doesn’t run on their ancient computer need to suck it up. It wasn’t built for old computers. If you have an old computer then stick with XP. XP is solid. Run Ubuntu if you want, it’s cool too (if you don’t need exchange and don’t mind spending time getting it set up to do what you need to do). If you have the means though, Vista kicks ass. It runs fast as hell on my laptop. It’s snappy. It looks good. Gadgets are way cooler than I thought they would be. It’s just good.

I do a lot of development in Python using PyQt for Gui design and Eclipse as an IDE and I have not had a single problem with any of it. It all runs great, it looks good (a testament to Qt as well). I don’t know what else to say. I am pretty critical of software and gadgets that make big promises and then punk out on them and so far Vista hasn’t pissed me off. People complain about it always asking permission to do things; however, that only happens when an app is doing something it probably shouldn’t be. Well written apps behave. If I could talk Microsoft into changing anything it would be the way the networking configuration is set up. Opening 5 windows to change my IP is a drag; however, how often do I really need to do that?

Anyway, since Microsoft is building an entire ad campaign on this idea I am not going to go into tons of detail as to why I am happy with Vista. I suppose I have been so busy getting things done that I haven’t had time to write up anything on Vista. That is a good sign. Microsoft seems to be on track and lately they are coming around to the open source community (ironpython actually works, they are throwing money at apache, etc). Microsoft out from under Bill Gates might be a company that people get can excited about without feeling dirty.

I really wish that the death of one of the most optimistic people I have ever heard of would bring the death of seeing cynicism and pessimism as virtue. I am the kind of guy who is always thinking and planning for the worst thing that can possibly happen. I am not a big fan of catastrophic surprises; however, I am also aware that you can’t plan for everything and that ultimately you don’t have a lot of control. There is one thing that can be controlled though and that is your view of the world and how to project that view to others. Even though I try to plan for the worst and am occasionally sarcastic, I am always optimistic.

Randy Pausch died today from pancreatic cancer. It’s sad, but his impending death prompted him to take action and do some really positive things that I think will ultimately be bigger and more important than him. If you haven’t watched the speech you really should.

I mentioned a few of his quotes to a friend of mine today, and his response was was an immediate and short, “Yea, I hate that shit.” It totally took the steam out of me. Without knowing it he completely pulled the rug out from under my mood. It was a perfect example of why that kind of cynicism is so useless to the world. What was just an offhand comment to him completely pissed me off. I wonder how many situations that would otherwise be everyday type situations are made completely sour by people with shitty attitudes. I can’t say I am perfect. I can be as negative as the next person; however, I don’t claim cynicism as a virtue the way many people do.

Dr. Pausch had all kinds of little anecdotes and sayings that provided a glimpse as to how he saw the world. They allow you to see the world from his optimistic perspective. It’s a refreshing view if you’re constantly around people who think it’s cool to have a shitty attitude. It’s honest. It doesn’t assume the human condition is screwed up beyond repair. That kind of optimism is inspiring. I have another friend who likes to point out that the world isn’t all butterflies and rainbows. He uses that as a way to justify the way he views and interacts with the world. It’s not my place to try to change his mind about that kind of thing; however, one can be optimistic without thinking the world is all butterflies and rainbows. He sees things that are wrong or unfair. I see things that I need to fix. It’s an important distinction.

I’m not saying people need to always be happy. That’s ridiculous and probably unhealthy. How do you understand happiness if you haven’t been miserable? I can’t say that I’ve been truly happy very many times in my life. That being said, looking at the world honestly, openly, and with a mind to fix the things that you can and accept the things that you can’t is the right way to look at the world. The people who actually make waves in the world have this mindset and everyone else is just riding those waves.

Now for a quote from my favorite author because irony is different than sarcasm but can be just as funny…

“The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.” -Ernest Hemmingway

I’ve not update in quite awhile.  I’ve been really busy at work and playing shows with a rock/progressive/metal band lately.  I’ve also been writing a few other posts on more tech related topics lately; however, I haven’t been able to finish them yet.  I am finding that the best way to force yourself to learn about something is to write about it and as I have been writing about things I am realizing how little I actually know about how they work.  In particular I am working on technology articles about PyQt vs. other python GUI design tools, and SSH connectivity through Python and the various technologies available to do it.  In order to write them though I need to have robust code written and so far my software is too buggy to show to the masses.  Once I get it working though I’ll write articles on how I did it and why I chose the technologies I did (PyQt and Paramiko kick ass if you’re building windows compatible python apps).  I’m also planning on writing an article on “bully” breed dog rescue programs because my wife and I recently had to deal with a stray 90lb pitbull that introduced me to the problems associated with those dogs and the shelters that will deal with them.  I might write one about the spam that this blog generates as well seing how I had to clear out literally hundreds of spam messages before I could write this up.  Then there is the review of Vista I could write because guess what, it is actually a good Operating System despite what everyone that isn’t using it says.  All of that being said though, this post was actually prompted by a video and a blog post by Dr. Larry Hunter and thus will be a bit political in nature and will likely ramble and be incohesive because the topic at hand is too complicated for my scattered mind to write about effectively.  If you don’t have a stomach for that kind of crap then stop reading now.

I read a post from Dr. Hunter and it is so rare that I read or hear a piece that is concise and rational that I thought it was worth reposting.  It’s hard to write a political piece that doesn’t oversimplify something and piss someone off because of it.  Truthfully though, to keep up on politics requires a lot of effort on the part of the reader and to write it is even more difficult.  The world is complicated and there is nothing that is black and white.  That is what makes the piece so interesting.  If you want to read the piece, check it out here.

I am friends with quite a few die hard Republicans. My Dad is Republican.  Being that I am a Democrat that isn’t down with big government, dislikes unchecked spending, and hates gun-control laws, I tend to agree with handful of traditionally Republican talking points and consequently get roped into conversations about them.  There is something that get me riled up though and that is Republicans who make any kind of arguments using “Big Government”, “Tax and Spend”, or “Welfare” when describing Democrats and then use those retarded arguments to justify talking shit on Obama.

If you’re a Republican who believes that over reaching government, welfare, and/or unchecked spending is bad then you need to seriously consider your party affiliation on this election and what you’re going to do with your vote.  The current Republican administration has been tromping on individual rights, providing corporate welfare to oil companies, and irresponsibly spending more money than any administration (Dem or Rep) in history and that is just the big ticket headline stuff.  There is a laundry list of bullcrap that has been done by the current administration that at best lacks integrity and at worst is actually evil.  Not holding them accountable for hijacking the party, its ideals, and the Constitution for the last 8 years is irresponsible.  You don’t have to vote Dem.  You can write someone in or not vote to protest; however, voting for the McCain administration is a bad move because it really is more of the same.  He might get rid of a little of the cronyism, but we really need something different right now.  Back to Dr. Hunter.

Dr. Hunter was the chief economist for Reagan.  He helped pen the “Contract with America.”  He is the definition of a traditional Republican.  He’s voting for Obama.  I suggest that people read his article or watch the video with an open mind and consider what he says.  There are more important things than intelligent design in schools, abortion rights, and gay marriage right now; however, no one votes on those issues.  All anyone seems to care about is that kind of rinky dink bullshit; however, if efforts aren’t made to get our economy and status square with the world, we’re not going to have time to care about that kind of stuff.  I am not trying to trivialize the things that everyone focuses on; however, people need to realize that there is more to the world than that small subset of issues and the issues that are the big hot-button issues have almost nothing to do with the President.

Think about the world at large.  Why do other nations want to destroy us?  Why is the economy stumbling?  When you stop trying to short term fix things and start thinking about the actual causes you’ll start to see that greed and an administration that empowers greed by overstepping the very things that used to define what it was to be American you’ll find your answers.  I don’t believe a word that comes out of politicians mouths, but I think something needs to change.  More of the same isn’t going to make things better and a Republican administration is more of the same.  Something different might not be the solution either, but at least it is a try.  At this point trying to do something different and hoping that it will be as ethical as they say it will be is a risk worth taking.

Anyway, check out the article mentioned above.  His reasons are better explained.