The View From the Outback© 2000-2006 Richard C. Rhodes
A great deal of what we read in newspapers, magazines, and books, and what we see in the movies and on TV is written and produced in New York City or Los Angeles. Much of the "political wisdom" comes from the PR machines of the White House, the Congress, and from the Washington media corps. In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington DC, or Hollywood. I am now a senior citizen, in my 7th decade. My experience was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries. That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. Some insights come from talking with ham-radio operators in every major country and such idyllic places as the Cook Islands. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 15 years. Since most visits to my pages come from searches, I am no longer trying to keep on a regular schedule for updating the Outback. Click on a Topic to go directly to that topic. December 06, 2006 Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, et al.) is an anti-inflammatory. Maybe Kramer and Mel Gibson should be taking Ibuprofen. December 6, 2006 I noted in an earlier Outback about the incredibly short work week in the U.S House. Next year, members of the House will be expected in the Capitol for votes each week by 6:30 p.m. Monday and will finish their business about 2 p.m. Friday. We'll see how long the memebers will put up with this "long work week." November 28, 2006 By accident, I came across a YouTube video that showed someone rapid-firing a handgun. There were links to several other such videos. How enlightening. Just what does this prove? About all I got from this is that it might inspire people to obtain a handgun and empty a clip into a crowd. A researcher found over 200 videos on YouTube about "lock picking." What possible public good can come from those videos? I am reminded of former FCC Commissioner Newton Minow's speech in which he called television "a vast wasteland." YouTube, MySpace, and their ilk, are for the most part a waste of server space and broadband capacity. They are our new "vast wasteland." For a teen to write page after page about themselves on the Web is as ridiculous as if they were to try to sell their "autobiography" at age 16 to Simon & Schuster. Book Editor: "Now, tell me again. What experience or wisdom do you have that you feel compelled to share with the world? Oh, you have a new cat. What color is it?" For every posting of a Michael Richard's video (Kramer), there are 10,000 that are simply stupid and a waste of our time. Unless you are a moron, and that begs the question about the appeal of some of these sites. If kids spent less time posting nonsense and drivel on the Internet and more time on their school studies - and perhaps learning a new language - the future would be much more promising. November 28, 2006 Speaking of the future. One of my grandsons asked me what he ought to study in college. Since he has shown an apptitude for computers and programming while in high school, my answer was computer science, up to a Ph.D. if possible, and learn Chinese and Spanish. To bring the point close to home, I noted that his Uncle studied computer science after I suggested he change from a business major. His Uncle was making more than $100,000 a year at age 26 (as I recall) - and that was about 20 years ago when $100,000 was big money. Or, an MBA with fluency in Spanish and Chinese. November 28, 2006 The French take a lot of heat from Americans, much of it deserved. But, the French government has won the hearts of those who think Microsoft is a bully, engages in unfair and illegal business practices, and charges too much for its software. By June of next year, French parliament deputies will use desktops and servers running Linux, the free Firefox Web browser, and OpenOffice.org, a free open-source alternative to Microsoft's Office software. Merci! November 23, 2006 Although I don't intend on installing Microsoft VISTA on my Athlon 64 3500+ computer (2 GB RAM), I did download the VISTA Upgrade Advisor. This program scans your computer and peripherals and tells you if you are "VISTA ready," and if not tells you what you need to correct or upgrade. My computer purposely has a small C: partition. The Advisor said that I needed to allow more free space (15GB) on my installation drive for the VISTA install. But, that I could do a full install on any of my other drives -including my external USB drive! - but could only use the "VISTA upgrade" on the C: drive and only if I expanded the partition size. And that ZoneAlarm might not work and to check for a later version. Other than that, it listed a long page of internals and peripherals that would be "ready." It only flagged my HDTV tuner as possibly needing new drivers. This beats the heck out of all the repetitious articles about "Is Your Computer VISTA Ready?" Get it from the horse's mouth. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx November 23, 2006 I watched the video of Michael Richards ("Kramer") going ballistic on the stage during his standup comedy act. The focus has been on his screaming "Nigger" over and over at one or more audience members. I hate to see the PC "n-word" used. The man screamed "Nigger," over and over as loud as he could. Don't minimize what he did by calling it the "n-word." He said "Nigger" - many times. What stood out for me was not what he said, but what one of the audience members said. I paraphrase, but the essence was that Richards has not done anything noteworthy since Seinfeld. That his TV show was terrible and tanked and that his comedy act was simply not comedic. And that he was basically washed up on all fronts. I agree! Some are saying that the career of Michael Richards is now over. Actually, it was over once he left Seinfeld. His brilliant portrayal of Kramer was probably the last thing of merit he will ever do in show business. Michael Richards and Jason Alexander (who had two shows flop that I can remember) should get into the restaurant business together - as waiters. If the Richards' outburst affects sales of "Seinfeld" DVDs, Michael will be in deep trouble with his former cast members. Michael Richards allegedly attacked the Jews during a performance earlier in 2006, yelling at an audience member: "You're a f***ing Jew. Your people are the cause of Jesus dying." JewishJournal.com says that Kramer is NOT Jewish. "Kramer" on Seinfeld was based on show co-creator Larry David's former across-the-hall neighbor, Kenny Kramer, who is in real life a Jew. Update, November 30,2006 Sales of the latest Seinfeld DVD release have shot up since Kramer screamed "Nigger" at people in the audience. This seems to prove either 1)There are a lot of idiots in this country, or 2)it is further evidence of the moral delcine in the country. November 18,2006 Sometime back, I noted that I was phasing out Computer Associates EZ-Antivirus on my computers. I began to have trouble with instant update, CA was in financial trouble, and their former president has been sentenced to jail for company fraud. Now, Check Point, producers of the outstanding ZoneAlarm products, has announced that in ZoneAlarm 7 Suite, they will abandon Computer Associates EZ-Antivirus in favor of Kaspersky Labs (Russian) antivirus. A good move. The last time I bought and tested ZoneAlarm 6 Security Suite, it was using an outdated version of CA EZ-Antivirus. I asked for my money back and bought ZoneAlarm Pro 6 and installed the current version of CA EZ-antivirus and now am using BitDefender antivirus (Romania). Both Kaspersky Labs and BitDefender get high marks from the in-crowd. I would think so, since so much of the viruses et al., are generated in that part of the world. It takes a thief to know a thief. (Update: Dec. 1, 2006 - A Romanian was charged with hacking into more than 150 U.S. government computers.) I will Upgrade to ZoneAlarm Pro 7, if it is available as a standalone program, and continue to use BitDefender antivirus as a separate program. I have never liked "blended" security suites, and once I got rid of ALL of my Norton (Symantec) products, I went to the model of ZA Pro and a separate antivirus program. The new ZoneAlarm 7 Suite (now in beta) may fare better if they do a perfect blend with the latest Kaspersky antivirus. Both Kaspersky and BitDefender update hourly! With the ever-expanding threats, the hourly anituvirus update will become the standard, one would imagine, espcially with the increasing avilability of broadband. November 18, 2006 Quite by accident, I discovered that Check Point, the purveyor of the ZoneAlarm firewall products, is based in Israel. I am willing to bet that not one of a hundred casual users of ZoneAlarm are aware of that fact. Whether you are a fan of Israel or not, it is interesting to prowl the CheckPoint and ZoneAlarm Web pages looking for the country of origin. It is like the old days of CIA proprietary companies, cloaked behind a serious of detours to the actual origins. At Checkpoint.com, I finally found clues under Jobs and Executive Management. The senior managers are Gil Shwed, Jurry Ungerman, Marcius Nacht, and Eyal Desheh. There are many jobs available at the company in Israel. I guess that rules out Check Point being an Irish company, for example. There is some paranoia on the Web among geeks, who think that ZoneAlarm "phones home" (sends personal data) to Check Point and that Check Point is somehow connected with the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service. Since the Israelis have been known to spy on the United States, their most vociferous ally, one can understand this paranoia. The geeks go so far as to suggest a modification to the Windows Host file to block outgoing messages being sent to ZoneAlarm's servers. November 16, 2006 I had a frightening nightmare last night in which Nancy Pelosi had become Speaker of the House and Hillary was President. It was like living in the old Soviet Union. The oil industry was socialized, there was universal health care, Vodka was free, there were no poor people - and no rich people. Everyone wore the same olive-drab slacks and tops. A classless society. When I awoke, part of the nightmare had become reality. November 16, 2006 You know the end is near when you try to change channels on the TV with the remote for the vibrating recliner. November 10, 2006 Now that the Democrats control both houses of Congress, here is a word you should learn how to spell: S U B P O E N A. You will be seeing it a lot. November 08, 2006 - Wednesday after the election I bypassed all the network drivel on Tuesday night and just now have seen the results. Congratulations to the Democrats. Now, let's see what the Democrats can do. I want to enshrine the following quotes from Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is the presumptive new Speaker of the House. "Democrats," Pelosi said, "intend to lead the most honest, the most open and the most ethical Congress in history." "We are prepared to lead in a bipartisan way." I nearly gagged on those pronouncements. I have watched Ms. Pelosi for the past few years. She espouses a left-wing liberalism that is virtually unprecedented. (See a summary of her voting record in the Washington Times for Nov. 3, 2006 - and elsewhere such as Americans for Democratic Action, et al.). She has called her Republican opponents in the House - and the President - every name that is utterable from the House floor and allowed in print. She is shrill and downright mean. As an ex-Marine, she would have scared the pee out of me as a Drill Sgt. when she gave me that withering look. In short, she is far-left, screeching, uncompromising and meanspirited. Tom Daschle with a skirt and a REALLY bad attitude. Even Hillary looks like a soft-spoken moderate in comparison. You Democrats have until Nov. 16th to come to your senses and find a better choice for Speaker. Nancy will embarrass you, piss you off, and help sink your chances for the White House in 2008. I await anxiously for Nancy to show her true colors in the House leadership. And as I write this, there are still some Democrats who feel like I do, and may not vote for her as Speaker. For the sake of the country, I hope she does not actually become Speaker. That will be one sorry day in our political history. I'm not bitter. I am no longer partisan. I'm glad my Republicans got their asses whipped. It is time for the party with "no plan" to show us what they can do. I just think Nancy Pelosi is the anathema for what most Americans stand for. Don't forget that before the election Mrs. Pelosi said there would be NO impeachment of the President on her watch. But, it will be interesting to see how much time is wasted with hearings in an attempt to "hang Republicans" for past deeds, real or imagined. Dear Nancy: is it possible to have a bipartisan Witch Hunt? You people in Washington are all so full of crap that you need someone to follow you around with a "pooper scooper." The first good news is that Donald Rumsfeld will resign. The man has been in denial about the progress of the Iraq war ever since the "Mission Accomplished Banner" went up. I have watched hours of his press conferences on C-SPAN. He is a master at double-speak and avoiding the issue - and condescension. A monumental windbag. His Generals will no doubt celebrate quietly with cases of Champagne - at an undisclosed location. Although it is new on the page, the WSJ has a poll asking how you would grade Rumsfeld's performance. Of the 433 votes cast as of about 1 p.m. CDT, 56% percent gave him an "F." I am proud to be in that number. Only 10% gave him an "A" - and that may have been family and friends. Hillary must be happy. She now has a kindred spirit in the Senate, Socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Hillary, whom do you think you are kidding with your apparent move to the Center? I could not discard a lifetime of association with Socialists and Communists if I were in public office (read the books, search the Web). It would be too much of the fabric of who I really am. November 4, 2006 Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer have been told they must come to Iowa to testify in a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft. Some Iowans think that due to anti-competitive methods, they were charged too much for Microsoft software. An attorney for MS said that its products have been successful because of their low cost and high quality. If anybody from Microsoft repeats that statement under oath, they may subject themselves to perjury charges. How can you volunteer for jury duty in Iowa if you live in another state? Does being born there count? Microsoft is pushing out the IE7 browser as an update. Like many, I don't want IE7 on my computer until people quit complaining about it crashing their computers during the install, and until the several security vulnerabilities are worked out. I normally have WinUpdate set only to "notify" me of pending updates. So, until I download IE7, I will keep getting a reminder icon in my tray and a balloon message that "updates are available." I turned off AutoUpdate to get rid of this icon and message. Now, I have an icon from the Security Center that tells me my computer may not be safe (because I have turned off AutoUpdate.) I read the tech news every day. I know about most every serious update from all major vendors by 10 a.m. on any given day. Can't Microsoft give those of us who understand computers a break, instead of treating us like dimwits who must be protected from ourselves? Once I finally download IE7, I won't use it, except to do WindowsUpdates and to visit one banking site that uses ActiveX on their Web page. Otherwise, it is Firefox 2 and Opera 9 for me, as with so many other folks who take the time to study the browser situation. IE7, after all that work, is still a day late and a dollar short. November 2, 2006 We have some marketing geniuses in this country. It helps when the public is really gullible. When I was a kid, we ate a fair amount of chicken. The last things to get eaten were the wings, if they got eaten at all. They might end up in the soup kettle. Enter the PR geniuses. "Let's take something that nobody wants, that we can buy cheaply, and put a lot of BBQ sauces and spices on it and call it 'Buffalo Wings.'" It was in Buffalo, New York, where this inspiration first surfaced. The scam worked so well as an appetizer, that eventually places opened that sold nothing but "Wings." Recently, I ate a wing from a roasted chicken I bought at the supermarket. As I swallowed the tiny morsel of meat, the thought struck me: "It would be a lot cheaper to slather some sauce on my index finder, lick it off, and take a tiny bite out of my finger." Perhaps that is how the phrase "finger food" got started. ESPN has made a travesty out of its version of "Monday Night Football." The announcers would be better suited doing a high school game, for starters. The good news is that the "real" MNF is still around, but it is called "Sunday Night Football" on NBC. If the Democrats win the House, don't count on Nancy Pelosi becoming Speaker of the House. She is so shrill and so far left that even many Democrats are turned off by her. She should not be picking out the font on her "Speaker's" letterhead just yet. Nancy Pelosi makes many people yearn for the good old days of Tom Daschle, whose main purpose in life was to delay and/or defeat every Republican bill that was proposed. Sen Barrack Obama's book is a number-one best seller. Sen. Obama should not take the reception for his thoughtful book as some kind of affirmation that he should run for President. Writing good books and being President call for two different sets of skills. So far, all the book thing has shown is that he can write a good book, is an engaging fellow, and a terrific public speaker. The same could be said of Bill O'Reilly, but that does not make him presidential material. Nov. 1, 2006 Recently, I bought an "Atomic Alarm Clock" at Office Depot. The clerk asked me if I overslept and wanted a new clock. I explained that here in the Outback, the power goes on and off very frequently. Even the relatively short dropouts cause my bedroom alarm clock to start flashing 12:00 - and the battery backup never works. I wanted a battery operated alarm clock, and was surprised to find an Atomic clock at such a low price. The clerk did not know what "Atomic Clock" meant, so I explained the theory to him. There is no radioactive material in the "Atomic" clocks you buy in the store. They simply have a radio receiver in them which is tuned to one or more of the frequencies where the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) transmits the time. The time is generated by an extremely accurate master clock. The NIST clock is based on a ionized gas chamber, most often using caesium - an atomic element. Thus, the term "Atomic Clock." The time broadcasted by NIST should never differ by more than 0.000 0001 seconds from UTC. UTC is the 24-hour standard used by airlines, ham-radio operators, and the military. Sadly, UTC stand for Coordinated Universal Time (CUT). Wikipedia explains how the UTC contradiction came about. UTC is also referred to as "Zulu" time. UTC itself is also generated by an atomic clock. It used to be called GMT, Greenwich Mean Time (Greenwich England). GMT is still used as a relative indicator of time zones. In the U.S., you might be in a time zone that is GMT -6 (hours) and so on. Your handheld GPS will probably have a field for the GMT offset in hours, for example. In many pieces of gear, you have to change this GMT offset when Daylight and Standard time changes take place. In the Continental U.S., the NIST time transmitters are in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Atomic clocks you buy have gotten better at picking up the signal, and in my house in Texas all four Atomic clocks sync with the Ft. Collins transmitter at 2 a.m., I believe it is - with just an internal antenna in the clock. There is also an NIST transmitter site on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. As I recall, Kauai uses a female announcer and Ft. Collins a male announcer, in case you are hearing both at the same time. I have been to the station on Kauai. A ham friend who operated the station adjusted my ham-radio frequency counter using the caesium source. Then, using my frequency counter, it helped all of us in the radio club get our mobile and handheld radios exactly on frequency. One of my Atomic clocks is near the TV set. When that clock says that it is 8:29 p.m., I can be assured that my 8:30 program is about to begin (except where networks play games with start and end times.) One Atomic clock in on my ham-radio bench and is set to the 24-hour UTC format we use for keeping logs. SEIKO, among others, makes an Atomic wrist watch, for those who never want to be late for a meeting. Or you can stand outside the locked door of a store at 10:00 a.m. and 5 seconds and yell at the manager that the sign says "Open at 10:00 a.m.", and that he or she is 5 seconds late. Of course, in the Windows operating system, your computer can be set to automatically update the time periodically from NIST over the Internet, or you can manually sync your computer clock to the NIST time over the Internet. Double-click on the clock in your tray and under Internet time is Update Now. In WinXP, the transition back and forth from Daylight to Standard time is done automatically. If you have a shortwave receiver, you can listen to the NIST time broadcasts on 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz. I can usually hear the station on 10 MHz in Ft. Collins day or night on my shortwave radio. It is interesting to listen to the "horse's mouth" and watch my Atomic clock on the ham bench turn over at exactly the right moment. NIST announces the time in UTC, so I get an exact check of my ham-radio bench clock. I have another Atomic clock on the bench that shows local time. I use that to set my wrist watch, for example. Lest you think I have an Atomic clock fetish, I had three domiciles at once a while back and had Atomic clocks in each one. Now they are all under one roof. I even gave one away to a friend. There is a limit! COPYRIGHT 2000 -2006 Richard C. Rhodes You are welcome to quote sections from this page - or the whole page, as long as the source URL is included. Of course, I would be flattered if anyone linked to this page. It is very hard to be the writer, editor, fact checker, copy editor, and publisher of anything. So, I beg your forgiveness for the many mistakes that creep in. 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