Just a Guy

I live in an apartment complex that allows you have dogs. they even have a large fenced dog run for you to take your dog to do their business. They have even provided pooper scoopers to clean up after your best friend. Most people like myself use the scoopers and drop it in the can they have provided. However every time I take the Umanator out to the dog run I always find piles left by dogs whose owners are douche bags. What they fail to realize or care about is that if they continue this practice they could cause the rest of us to lose the ability to live here and own a dog. This ticks me off to no end. It takes 30 seconds to scoop it and drop in the pail and replace the lid. Show some consideration you douche bags.

Posted by Jccjr at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I kept coming across this NSFW and had no idea what it meant. When I learned that it stood for Not Safe For Work, well let's just say things got loud for a bit. Let us not forget that if you are at work you probably shouldn't even be on the DAMN INTERNET!

Seriously, why should I sit at home on a Sunday surfing and have to put up this shit. From what I understand this originated in forums warning people of sexually explicit material or audio containing profanity. That is straight from Wikipedia. Ok so this started in forums, this means you were at work on forums. How is this by itself not A DAMN CLUE THAT YOU SHOULDN'T BE THERE ANY DAMN WAY YOU DOLT! You probably already signed the piece of paper that says not to be playing on the internet with company property, and yes I know we all do it anyway, so you are already fired if they catch you at whatever your are doing so who in blue hell cares if sexually explicit or not you damn idiot. This is one of the dumber things I have ever heard of and I shall not tolerate it. From now on anytime I see NSFW on any site I will go out of my way to tell site owner why he/she is an idiot. Really you don't wan to get into this one with me. I am amazed I have not used F*** several hundred times already.

Don't give me the common courtesy argument. Your are already where you are not supposed to be so no additional warnings are necessary. Any one that uses NSFW on their site is a blatant douche bag and this whole thing is a travesty, a sham, a mockery and dare I say it a traveshamockery. I know me. I could go on ranting about this for hours on end. Instead I leave you with these parting words of advice. If you don't want to get fired then simply follow company policy. You are adults and should be able to act accordingly while at work. That's what they F***ing pay you for.

Posted by Jccjr at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This happens to be a topic I follow daily with interest. I read this article. the article presents an interesting argument of copyright vs property right. The article covers this argument better than I could. Give it a read an let me know your thoughts.

Posted by Jccjr at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am over 30. I am a dad. I lost my cool. I am ok with that. Now for a few real sentences to explain.

When we are kids we spend our childhood looking for an identity. We look for that identity in our parents, our siblings and the other kids at school. No matter where you go in this country and probably the world at some point there is a separation of the social classes. Some become cool kids, some nerds, some geeks, some stoners and the list goes on. What we fail to realize is that we are all outcasts of some sort or another. Each one of us looking for acceptance and most finding in one group of people or another.

Think back to your school years. Think about the social hierarchy. Think about where you fit in or did not fit in. Look at who your friends were then and who your friends are now. You might see a different group of people. Back in the day, which was a Wednesday, you were judged based on what you liked. It was all about what kind of music you listened to, what clothes you wore, what sports you played and who you were friends with. It was all about what was cool. If you were not cool you were a target. You were always worried about some one finding out about some dark secret you had about something you were really into but it was not cool. Think D&D. If some one had found out you would have ostracized by your so call friends and just another target. When I look back the geeks, dorks, and nerds they were the ones that had the right idea. Instead of being worried about being cool they liked what they liked and while they were prime targets for cruelty of many forms, they stuck to who they were. Now that's cool.

Then we left school and moved on. Some of us went to college, some of us went into the military, some of went nowhere. No matter where you were there was still this expectation to be cool. There was still this desire to fit in. We still pretended that we liked certain things to impress our friends. Look around where you work. Think about the groups of people you see. Think about what you might be hiding.

Well at some point in life if truly want to be happy you have to look what you truly do like and embrace it. Forget about what clothes you should wear. Forget about what music and movies you should like. Forget about what books you should be reading. Forget about what should be and embrace what is. Embrace who you are.

Now that some of you are wondering who I think I am and how dare I question your life, relax. I know this does not apply to everyone and if you are getting upset it just may apply to you. The hardest person to be honest with is your self.

Let me use myself as an example. I will be brief. During the school years I was still playing with G.I. Joes and Transformers when I was in junior high. Definitely not cool. So I hid stuff. In high school I had a mullet. Hey, it was the late 80's and still allowed. Let me put it this way, my senior year was the year Nirvana hit the scene. In those days I was a stoner, not so much because I wanted to get high, but because I had a mullet and I liked loud rock and roll. I liked wearing a leather jacket and ripped up concert t-shirts. I liked the holes in my jeans and wearing bandannas.

I went into the Air Force and the mullet went away as they shave my head. It still was not cool to like Slayer or Gwar. Ok so it's never really been ok to like Gwar. So to fit in I got good at playing pool. That was the social group was that was cool. I drank like a fish. That was part of being cool. For the next 4 years I tried to find ways to fit in with the ever changing group of people that I would come in contact with. I got married because everyone else was. Can you say insanely stupid? I knew you could. I forced myself to enjoy hip hop. If you are a metal head you understand the monumental nature of that statement. I danced. I wore baggy clothes and rode around with a guy that lowered his truck. I hate lowered trucks.

Over the next 9 years I was into what ever was cool. Not really into it but I tried. Did good to. Had the right girlfriends (after my divorce), wore the right clothes and watched the right TV shows and listened to the right music. Then this wonderful thing happened 3 years ago, I turned 30 and had the Dude ( the little guy in the picture). Since then I have allowed myself to delve into all the things I always wanted to. Now I love being a geek. All the bad movies I pretended not to like I proclaim loudly as my favorites. I even earned the nick name "The Movie Whore" because I will watch anything. I actually own Xanadu. I willfully watched Transmorphers. I wear whats comfortable. I listen to Cracker, not Uncle Cracker. I love Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dune, Bill and Ted's, both movies. I like minivans.

The point of all this in not to tell you about me, but to show you it's ok to be the biggest geek in the world. It's ok not to be. The point is to find what makes you happy and damn the consequences. Like whatever you want and be whoever you want ot be, just be honest to you and who you are. The right job, the right clothes, the right girl, the right anything should be what's right for you not what some one else thinks is right for you.

Posted by Jccjr at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I use the Stumble Upon add on for Firefox. One of my topics for stumbling is weblogs. I would say at least half the blogs I have stumbled upon are about gaining readers and how to make money blogging. I have been reading these entries for about 2 weeks now and I have discovered that I will never make money writing a blog. I am not a niche writer. I don't have something that interests me that much to devote my writing to it. I write about whatever interests me at the moment. I then spend the next couple of hours researching and making sure that I am not talking out my butt. I don't write about what I think people want to read about. I write about what things I would take the time to read.

The real question is do I want to make money blogging? I would say yes and no. I would say yes because to get paid for exploring the world around me through writing would be awesome. I say no because I am not willing to pigeon hole myself. I say no because I write a variety of stuff that does not have enough appeal to enough people to keep them coming back. I write here not so much to get read but see if I kind other ADD people that can appreciate that I go all over the place. I think to think people will be interested and my ego tells me everything I write is worthy of being published and commented on. We all like to think that from time to time.

I really think the only that I will get paid for writing is if I take a job as a writer somewhere that allows me to be the oddball writer on the staff. At the end of the day I will continue writing and people will read occasionally. I am quite happy with the way things are. I think if I was writing for money it would take the fun out of it and make it a job.

So this is what happens when I wake up on a Saturday and can't think of anything else to write about. Have fun.

Posted by Jccjr at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I find it interesting that when I hit the wonderful little stumble button to find new blogs about half the blogs I find are about making money from your blog. Just for fun I put "Make Money Blogging" in Google and hit search. You can find those results here. This of course makes me curious as to why you blog.

Posted by Jccjr at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Remember the good old days when you would walk in, ask for an application fill it out and return it. Then you would stop by periodically to check in or call to see if they were still hiring. Those days are gone my friend. Today you go online and maybe you submit a resume or maybe you fill out an online application. Then do not even think about stopping by or calling them. Your lucky if you actually applied with the company you want the job from because now most large employers use a recruiting company. Recruiting companies definitely do not want to hear from you.

The part of this new and improved process that sucks the most and is the most inconvenient is the personality test. You know the one where half the questions are repeats and only a moron would actually answer honestly. Seriously do these companies really think that people are going to tell them that they get angry easily. Even if they let you paste/upload your resume they still want you to fill out the employment history part of the online application complete with addresses phone numbers and names of every one you have ever worked for. The one part that makes the least amount of sense is when they ask you for your addresses over the last 5 years. Can some one please explain to me why they need or would be entitled to that information.

The most challenging part is when you live in a smaller area. I live in a small college town north of Sacramento, Ca. Living in a college town means that 80% of the work available is in retail and pays minimum wage with 10-12 hours a week. College kids that have their parents paying for school get these jobs for extra beer money. People that actually put them selves through school here do it while working 3 or more jobs and build up a huge debt in student loans.
I was looking for a job today and it took me 3 hours to apply for 11 jobs. 8 of them I was able to use our www.chicohelpwanted.com to apply since I have already registered and have everything stored there. The other 3 took 2 and 1/2 hours. One of them gave me the option of pasting my resume into a text box but there was no text box on the page. This was irritating. I sent them an email letting them know. I doubt I will get a response other than the automated response they sent me.

So what is the point to this other then complaining? Well there isn't one. Besides what else is a blog good for if not venting ones frustrations. Which has been a common theme for me lately. If you want advice on how to apply for jobs in this online era of application submission then here are a few.

1. Prepare - Have Word open with a copy of your resume and a second page with whatever addresses phone numbers and names you have. If you don't have that information find the companies website and look for a corporate information link. You can also use the contact us link and send them email asking for it.
2. Caffeine - This exercise is just mundane enough to put you to sleep. Have a soda or a cup of coffee or something.
3. Take breaks - Give yourself a chance to shake out the cob webs Get up and walk around or make a phone call. Otherwise you run the risk of becoming apathetic during the process which can lead to clicking the wrong things.
4. Turn off your phone - At least until you need it.

This will help you go through this process and advice I have yet to find on any website. Really if you are going to blog you should really try to avoid topics everyone has covered and have your blog become a regurgitation of information you can find in so many other places. I hope this helps some one and if not I still feel better. In closing must quote Socrates who said "I drank what?"
A golden cookie to whoever guesses the movie that quote came from and using imdb.com is cheating.

Posted by Jccjr at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I grew up in Chico. I remember when the houses on Notre Dame were called New World. I remember only having one mall. I remember when I could play on the remnants of the Hooker Oak. I remember a wood tree house at Caper Acres. I remember a lot of things that just are not around anymore. I remember a Chico I miss. I remember a Chico we will never get back. Where did our Chico go you ask. Well unfortunately we gave it away. We gave it away to an endless supply of college students that just don't leave and want Chico to be a little more like home. Well that and others coming from the bay area and Southern California. They wanted Chico modernized with all the comforts of the city crammed into a small town. Things like history and tradition are slowly getting washed away with each passing year. We have stares like Walmart and Target and Costco and have lost stores like Tower Records, Sundance and others. We have Lowes and Home Depot but how much longer will we have Meeks. We have lost small local taverns and have gained more clubs and bars for the college kids. Over the years we have sold our town to its visitors. What have we got in return?

Well we have one of the most out of whack ratios of income to housing costs. Why? Because mommy and daddy pay for their kids rent and landlords just keep jacking it up because they can.

We have no place for anyone over 25 to hang out. It is all geared towards getting those kids to spend money.

We have a horrible job market. What do you expect when you have people getting degrees then working at McDonalds because they they like Chico. Not to mention because the city has refused to let so many businesses come in that could have provided jobs we now have our retail haven. It would be nice to have a few more places that do not rely on Chico for their profits just their workforce. Remember the HP rumors from a few years ago?

We have had a worthless DA. I am just going to say that I have nothing nice to say about Mike Ramsey and leave it there. If you have lived here long enough you know the stories.

We had a nice downtown park. Now it is a concrete monstrosity that tears at my soul when I see it. All they needed to do was replant the trees and rebuild the gazebo and stop there. What they have done is a disgrace to this town.

Really the next thing I am waiting for is attempts to mess with out beloved Bidwell Park. That is when I will lose my mind and protest on the front lawn of every city council member.

How would I fix Chico? That's easy. I would just get rid of Chico State. Get rid of the students you get rid of a big chunk of the problems. Then I would actively encourage businesses to come to Chico whose business is not dependent on our local economy. No more new retail. We have too many strip malls. I have other ideas, but I would rather here your ideas to fix what was once our town.

I miss my Chico. Do you?

Posted by Jccjr at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I stumbled across this article today. I encourage you to read it. Here are my thoughts on the downloading of music, movies and software.

Copyright law gives exclusive rights to copy material whether it be a book, a song, a movie or any other medium that one might want a copy of. Right now I want to clearly state that I am in no way endorsing anyone engaging in illegal practices of any kind. I have found plenty of legal alternatives to getting music and movies for next to nothing and will update this article periodically as I come across new avenues for you to find legal ways to add content to your personal media library.

With that out of the way let us discuss the philosophy of copying and sharing culture. What I want to examine here is whether or not it is in the best interest of society as a whole to actually have copyright laws. Again the laws already exist and I suggest following them. The real question is what led to the creation of the copyright concept or the idea that only specific entities should have the right to copy cultural information. If you agree with me, great, if not tell me why. You never know you may change my mind. I will not be going into great detail only providing a very brief overview and adding my rhetoric.

The right to copy was never something to be questioned until the invention of the printing press. Prior to that copies were hand made. But with this new invention came the ability to to copy in mass. With this came the ability to make copies of anything. The first real copyright was handed down by a king in england and was primarily used to as a form of censorship. There was only one group known as the Stationers' Company allowed to make copies of books. Did I say censorship, of course I did. Back in that time (mid 1600's) there was the Protestant Reformation, which of course was opposed by the king. If they could not legally copy their rhetoric they could not distribute it to the masses. This early version of copyright provided a monopoly over the ability to copy. The Stationers' Company had guild members that were required to submit any text they were going to copy. Later copyright laws were reformed giving public use copyright laws. As time has moved on copyright has become less about censorship and protecting an author of media and has become about making money.

Did you realize if discover how to beat encryption that is meant to keep you from copying something you can be charged under the DCMA and thrown in jail. There is actually an interesting article about how cryptography research is impacted by this. It's only a small portion of the page located about half way down.

We have established that copyright laws exist and that we should not recommend that anyone break those laws but what do we really think of the idea of copyright. In my humble opinion copyright does little to protect authors and does everything to create money for publishers of media in any form covered under copyright law. Copyright is the right to copy not the right to make millions. The reason that the MPAA, the RIAA and other such groups world wide push so hard to make copyright infringement a criminal offense is due to the fact that it cuts into their profits. No one has the right to make a profit, you have the right to try but not a right to the money itself.

I see copyright as an infringement upon capitalism. I may of lost a few of you but true capitalism is nothing more than business anarchy or make a buck any way you can with no laws to stop you. Therefore copyright is profitright or the right to gain profit and that the distribution of culture for free is a crime. A profit must be made and the holders of the right to copy culture are the only ones that may distribute culture. I understand copyrighting books. Reading a book is really the only way to get the information unless you take the time to put it into Word or a pdf file and distributing it electronically. If I write down something from a book and put it in my blog without the permission of the owner of the copyright I can be charged with a crime and prosecuted in civil and/or criminal court. I did not make any money off publishing the information but the author and the publisher also did not make any money and only those that pay for information have the right to the information under current copyright laws. That's right I am saying that under current copyright laws the only people that have a right to information is the ones that pay for it. So essentially information and culture has become a privilege that we pay for, not something we have a right to. Of course there is this illusion that the internet is free. That you are reading this free of charge, well you are not. You pay your ISP. You pay for the privilege of entering into to cyberspace and discovering the world. So following that logic if you are paying for access to the web and access to download then you just build in a download plan with the ISP and you can download whatever you want. The ISP takes that money and equally distributes it to the holders of the copyrights and they in turn equally distribute it to the authors. That's way too easy.

Point blank copyright is profit right. The copyright war is a fight over the right to make a profit. No one has the right to make a profit only the right to pursue happiness. Here is the 2 movies that got me thinking about this subject.

Steal This Film

Steal This Film II

Culture should be freely shared among all people and at this rate it will never be shared freely among all people. Culture will continue to have a price tag. If you can not pay the price then you do not deserve the privilege of sharing in culture. This is where we are going unless things change. I obey the law but it does not mean I agree with it. Feel free to disagree with me on any of the above points. I only ask that you do it in the form of a intelligent argument instead of calling me an idiot, I already know I am an idiot.

Lastly here is a great post with tons of links for finding free or cheap legal media.

Links to Tens of Thousands of Legal Music Downloads

Posted by Jccjr at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)