The Importance of Manhood

In today's world, it's not exactly "correct" to be a man. Case in point? Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. No, I don't hate the men on that show. I find it rather entertaining, actually. But, I do think that through their choices they are going to reap the results of what they are sowing. Our society seems bent on making sure that everyone is the same. Remember, Neo, comformity isn't always "right".

If you go to George Barna's website, you will find an amazing amount of data that supports the supposition that men need to rethink their view that they can just run out on their families. Want to decrease the suicide rate? Decrease (or effectively eliminate) substance abuse issues? Want to make our world a better place? Get involved with your kids!

I know it isn't easy to do. With our world being so complex and confusing, with our time being drained constantly, we have very little time to be anything. We should not let that stop us. Get involved. Talk to your boss and see if you can get some flexibility with your work schedule so that you can attend a recital, a game, or what ever your child is involved in. Play a video game with your child. Stop doing all the things that prevent you from being "Daddy".

Don't have any kids? Concerned with the youth of today and how misguided they are? Join Big Brothers/Big Sisters in your area. Join the Boy Scouts of America. You could even get involved in your local church's children/youth ministries (such as Royal Rangers). "By any means necessary..." we must reach our world. Start with the young ones and you start with the future.

Working with kids can be very hard. You could easily toil for many years before you see even the smallest seed poke through the hard soil of life. The discouragement is very real, very scary, and doesn't take long to take root. You must be prepared to stay the course. It isn't always your place to harvest what you have sown. Sometimes, it seems like you have broken the soil, planted the seeds, and nothing ever comes of it. Don't for one moment seriously entertain the thought that you have failed. Only eternity can tell. Only God knows. Just remember why you are doing it...for Jesus' sake. For His glory, not yours. Let Him have it all, the frustration, the fear, the tiredness, everything. He gives joy for sorrow...trust Him in the little things and He will prove Himself faithful.

Cheers

The Power of Words

Today I was reminded of the power of words, again. We had a boy in church that got into some kind of mood. He ran outside, alone, and went to the playground. Children, for security and liability reasons, aren't supposed to be unsupervised on church grounds. One of the men that was trying to watch over him told our Outpost Senior Commander, Dr. James Dye, and I that the boy wasn't listening to him. So, we decided to retrieve him (using the two person concept...more liability and accountability). We escorted him into the church and tried to get him to go to Sunday School.

For several minutes we tried to talk him out of the corner that he had planted himself into. We each tried to talk to him, one of the ladies (hi, Sandra) tried to talk to him, all to no avail. James asked him if he wanted to stay or go home. As can be expected, he elected to go home. James left us (and about six other people who were just hanging about) to go find the van ministry driver. While he was gone, I attempted to engage him in conversation. I tried to find out if he liked soccer, football, and basketball...he doesn't play any of those games. I asked him if he played video games...no, he doesn't have a game console. No matter what, he seemed bent on keeping his face buried in the corner. I asked him what his age was...seven. Bingo, I hope. I ask him what grade he's in...first or second. He responded with first. I told him that I accepted an invitation to repeat kindergarten when I was younger. I then asked him if he liked school...you betcha! Did he like math? Nope. Did he have a computer lab to play around in? Nope. Dang...this isn't going anywhere fast. I then asked if he brought his lunch with him or if he ate at school. He told me that he ate the school lunch. I asked him, naturally, what his favorite meal was...pizza! Boy, do we have a lot in common! He also liked the smiley french fries. He didn't get to have any fruit cocktail, but he did get fresh fruit. Apples were common, though they cut them up for them. He also gets to eat carrots. I sat with him in front of the water bubbler, cross-legged on the floor, just talking about school (lunches...:)).

After several minutes, James came back with a couple of other men (deacons, I think). They ask him if he is ready to go home. He said that he wants to stay. I ask if he wants to go to Sunday School with me. Wouldn't you know it, he said yes. After we found a couple of seats, Sandra walked up and asked me what I did to get him to come in. I said I just talked to him. She seemed a little incredulous, so she asked again. I said, again, that I just talked to him. She didn't seem convinced, but she did accept it and left to attend to some of the other students. Honestly, Sandra, I only talked to him. I suppose all he needed was the comfort of a friendly person willing to take a minute to ask about what was important to him. Once he opened up and accepted that I wasn't there to punish him, he wanted to do things that made me happy. And, for the rest of the service, he sat next to me with minimal disruption (curiosity did get the better of him a time or two, but that is to be expected).

Lesson learned...words are powerful. The most powerful words, though, are the ones you hear from another person. Certainly, one must never forget that the right words spoken at the right time can have a dramatic impact on someone's life. I am just convinced that the best conversationalists are really the best listeners. Check it out. You just might be shocked at what you find when you listen.

Thanks Paul, Sandra, James, and the deacons. If you hadn't let me talk to George I wouldn't have learned a valuable lesson today. May God be blessed. May the strongholds in George's life be smashed (see, Paul, I was listening!). I will pray for George. Even if I never see him again.

Oh, Yeah...I Almost Forgot!

Okay, so there I was, checking out a couple of my favorite blogs (such as Moving Parts & The GNOME commentary) when I realized that I have my own blog. Now, I'd like to blame it all on being too busy to update it. The truth is closer to this: I forgot or I'm lazy. Not certain which is closer to the truth over all (probably equal doses of each).

Many things have happened since my last post in 2006. For one, I deployed to Iraq for nearly five months. Ultimately, five months is a lot shorter than what the Army does (the Army deploys you for 12 months and keeps you there for 18 months...they never could count). I then spent two months at home before going down to Mississippi for a month and a half. Well, it's been nearly two months since I got back and I'm getting close to going back to Mississippi (this time for three short weeks). By the time I get home in September, I will have spent nearly seven months away from my family in a one year period. Makes the military life hard. Since 2000, I have spent over 2 years away from my family. Try to be a father and a husband with that much time spent away. To really seal the deal, though, consider that once I get home in September I will be eligible for six month to one year long deployments. Is it any wonder that my wife wants me to retire once my twenty years is up?

Last week I spent two days camping and canoeing. If you've never spent time on the Niobrara River in Nebraska, well, you haven't lived. It's a really pretty river (most of the time), it's shallow (it never got above my waist level...of course, I'm approximately six-two...your mileage may vary), but it is deceptively swift. Well, not really swift per se, but it was strong enough to push a grown man down the river at a leisurely two or three miles an hour. With the slippery rocks, sand, and occasional sharp rock it was no wonder that I lost my footing and ended up about ten feet from where I slipped. Once I planted my feet in the soft sand and stopped myself, I was able to get up and push my way upstream.

The trip was sponsored by Royal Ranger Outpost 1, Rapid City. You would never guess how fun it can be to camp and canoe with a bunch of third to fifth grade boys. If you want to learn something new, go and spend some time with someone that young. Unfortunately, my canoe partner tired very quickly and occasionally would stop listening to my directions. That made the first part of my river trip a bit difficult. I managed to get a righteous, splotchy sunburn on my legs (yes, I used 30 SPF sunscreen, no it didn't really help after I got dropped into the river twenty minutes or so after we started our trip). I also managed to pull something in my forearm...I would go to the hospital but I don't want to and that's the end of it.

So there I was...

...logging onto my Apple iBook, when all of a sudden...nothing! Then something (squishy). Then nothing, again. Now, I have determined that my iBook has fallen prey to the infamous iBook Logic Board problem. So, I called Apple Care and gave them all that they asked for. And they gave me...nothing.

To say the least, I am very disappointed. My belief is that if you know that one of your products has an issue, fix it. Especially if the problem has been going on for years. They told me that I can send it in and they will charge me for the repairs. No thank you. I'm glad that I bought the iBook on ebay (which means that I saved money!) or I might really be ticked off. So, I don't think that I will be buying any more Apple products for quite some time. Grrr...

Now to complicate things a bit, I have been told by my generous Uncle Sam that he wants me to go on vacation, again, to the Middle East. No problem, says I. Well, except for the fact that I no longer have a portable multimedia powerhouse to take with me. This means that not only will I be vacationing at an austere location (think three hots, a cot, and an office to work from), I won't be able to play games, listen to music, watch DVDs, email my family, etc. So, I need a new laptop! And soon! Toward that end...

...I have been doing a lot of research on laptops that will fit my peculiar way of thinking. What I want is generous RAM, a huge hard drive, reasonably fast processor, a minimum CDRW/DVD drive, wireless built-in, etc. Oh, yeah, and it must be a processor that offers something unique to the table. I'm sort of a processor whore (excuse my language, please). I've owned Cyrix processors, Intel processors, VIA processors, PPC processors, DEC Alpha processors, etc. So, I want something "yummy"...like dual core or x86-64 or both. Oh yeah, I don't want to spend a bunch of cash on the lappy, either. I know, I know, it's a tall order.

Well, I will keep this blog updated as to whether or not I have found my "perfect" iBook replacement.

Cheers

This Stinks!

This stinks! Well, it would if I could smell, I suppose. I caught something, a cold, a viral infection, something that only rest and fluids can take care of. I was supposed to go on a date with my wife today. Due to my illness, I was unable to see X3! Hopefully I can be well enough tomorrow that I will be able to go to the movies with her then.

Here's to hoping.

Cheers

Multimedia Still A Disappointment

Why is it that multimedia is still such a disappointment under Linux? We have several really awesome programs that will do so many great things. I don't want this to be a diatribe against using Linux as a multimedia-capable OS. I am just venting my frustrations.

Goobox is a really good CD player and ripper. It is easily configured. It even allows you to download a picture of the CD cover. Great stuff. What makes me shake my head is that it doesn't play the files it is capable of ripping to. Want to play a FLAC, OGG, MP3 or other file? You won't be able to do so with Goobox. Now, I will say that I am quite capable of being wrong on this subject. Also, it likes to tag everything with Blues. And, I can't seem to get the cddb to work properly.

Rhythmbox is another awesome CD player/multi-format jukebox. It just won't rip files. I would, generally speaking, put it up against iTunes any day. I have used iTunes under Mac OS X and Windows and I have to say that Rhythmbox is very nearly identical. The best part is that with the right gstreamer plug-ins, you can play just about any format out there. All for free. You just can't say that about iTunes (or even Windows Media Player). One other shortfall...I retagged several mp3's with EasyTag and it won't show the new taggings. Not certain why not but it prefers to keep the old tags created when Goobox tagged the files.

Ripper X is a good CD ripper but I don't like the id3 tags that it gets from the cddb. I am really particular about how things are written and the one used by Ripper X isn't exactly to my liking. Of course, since I use EasyTag, changing the tags is no big deal. The config box that pops up when you press the config button has just about every possible encoder option available yet is not overwhelming. Spot on.

Of course, I would love to see a multimedia jukebox that has the id3 tag editing capabilities of EasyTag, the Goobox simplicity of selecting an encoder and it's bitrate (using a simple graphical slide), the advanced config options of RipperX, the ability to download cover art (and embed them within the mp3 like some other proprietary players can), with the overall iTunes kicking ability of Rhythmbox. Maybe one of the KDE-based jukeboxes has all of the features that I would love to have. Maybe I'll try them out next.

Here's to Linux, to Freedom, and to Choice!

Sleep Works!

What a surprise! I closed the cover on my Ubuntu (Dapper) powered iBook. It went to sleep and when I opened the cover it woke up! This has been an issue in past releases of Linux and I am both pleased and pleasantly surprised that it actually works.

This Linux thing is really working! Yeah for open source volunteers who don't say no!

Rock on!

LinuxJunior

I know that it has been some time since cloverm turned LinuxJunior over to peter. My biggest two reasons for waiting to post something are:

1. I wanted to wait until I had a better (emotional) handle on the change.
2. I wanted to wait and see how peter would handle things.

Well, I am done waiting and I now feel free to comment. I was (and am, to a degree) disappointed that cloverm turned over control of LinuxJunior. Several of us would have preferred that he ask one of us to take it over instead of peter (who is/was a stranger to us). People do not like change and this was a huge change. While I can't speak about why cloverm did it the way he did I have to believe that he had a good reason for doing so. It's much easier being the critic than it is being the criticized.

We are now using OpenFree.org instead of LinuxJunior.org. The interface is different and we don't quite have the same friendly banter that we used to have. Most of this can be attributed to the sudden demise of our beloved website. The character of it is definitely different, though only in subtle ways. Overall, it just feels different (hard to explain). It can be difficult to feel comfortable when you aren't used to something.

Emotions have caused several people to either stop using ljr/ofo or severely cut back on our usage. I, for one, visit as often as possible though that hasn't been nearly as often as before the change (due more to family/work reasons than anything else). Hopefully, as time goes on, the original ljr folks will migrate to ofo and make it better. In the mean time, we need to make sure that we are providing the same level of newbie-friendly advise and help that we gave to ljr. This will ensure that we can continue to be one of the best places on this planet to go to for Linux help.

To end this little post, I will say that ofo will likely continue on for quite sometime. It doesn't have the character of ljr but could if the right people get (re)involved. It has a lot of room to grow just like every other website that tries to be helpful and useful. Not an easy job in my mind, but one that is doable.

Here is to continued success, peter.

Cheers

The New MacBook

For over a year and a half I've owned a 12" iBook G3 600mhz computer. It's been my "home entertainment" PC while I was on vacation for four months to the Middle East. It has been a great, though not very attractive, companion on several of my other adventures. I say all of this so that you can understand that I really love small, powerful computers. Apple, in their infinite loop wisdom, has seen fit to end the consumer iBook model and come up with a much better product to replace it. So, now, Apple has added yet another thorn in my flesh by introducing the MacBook.

The MacBook is available in one size (13.3" wide-screen) instead of the iBook's 12.1" and 14" models. With the gorgeous Intel CoreDuo (instead of the much anticipated CoreSolo) chip running at some decent speeds (2ghz range), built-in Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, Firewire, and wireless internet. Not bad. Better yet, the top of the line MacBook now comes in a beautiful "Grand Piano" black color! It has got to be seen to be believed. So, go to Apple and check it out. You, too, may need to go confess a little sin called lust!

Cheers

Ubuntu Linux

If you haven't tried Ubuntu Linux, let me encourage you to surf on over to Ubuntu.com and sign up for a free copy. Ubuntu, with a little tweaking, is the best version of Linux that I've tried. After playing around with a few extra repositories, I've got Gnome 2.14 running and it is awesome.

I'm not a huge fan of flame-war material but I've got to admit that I'm starting to really enjoy Gnome over KDE. Now my buddy, David, would tell you that it's easy to explain why I've fallen for Gnome. I can only say that while I love the beauty that is KDE, Gnome just works the most naturally to me. That isn't to say that KDE doesn't work, per se, just that my natural cognitive abilities favor Gnome over KDE. Of course, I have several KDE-based apps installed. With a little tinkering I've been able to get my Gnome install to look quite nice (which puts to rest the notion that Gnome is inherently butt ugly).

At any rate, this will be my first (successful, I hope) post from an embedded panel app that will allow me to post from the panel.

Here's to hoping!

Cheers