Sharing The Dream

Now that the resession (or whatever they are calling it) is in full swing, it is time to look at changing things for the better. Despite the challenging times, now is when smart companies expand. Many firms report how they are downsizing due to the economy, but that is EXACTLY what causes prolongs resessions. Smart companies will take the opportunity to gather their resources, make wise moves and grab market share. Of course no large public company would dare take this long range view of things because it will make this quarter’s bottom line look bad. CEOs, in my opinion, have stopped looking out for the company and started looking out for themselves. Since they are essentially guns for hire, they do not have a vested interest in the company. We don’t grow leaders from within, we hire from without - not smart thinking at all. But then again, what would I know about it? I’m just a CEO of a small business watching investment dry up and companies faluter because they do get what business is anymore. It is sad.

It seems that fixing my hardware issues turned out to be a simple matter of rolling back the kernel update, changing a few lines of code in a few different scripts, checking a few files to make sure they had the right code and then rebooting.

I do like working in computers but unless we get to the point that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to set-up a simple computer (think Apple) then things aren’t going to be moving forward at any great speed.

Come to think of it, unless we simplify the entire Space experience, we as an industry will be going no where pretty fast.

Normally, hardware and I get along nicely. Today however, I have been in a bit of a fight with an Acer AspireOne. This nifty little device and I need to work together to get some code written. So far, the problems have been a mix of fun and frustration. The fun is learning the new system and the little quirks of trying to run a computer when the interface is only two-thirds the expected size. Getting used to the machine has been a challenge. The big problem came from the wireless and wired networks when I loaded Ubuntu 8.10 onto the device.

Windows is an ok operating system but I need to mimic the workings of a server so Ubuntu it was. I knew there were issues with the wireless as these are well documented. What I was not expecting was an all out war with wired connection. It worked fine at the office but at home it would not connect no matter what I did. Digging deeper into the problem, I discovered that the ehternet card wasn’t getting a configuration for IPv4.

Well that sucks!

Looks like I will just put the toy away for the moment and try again tomorrow. If I can get the wireless working at the office, then maybe I can skip the wired part of the system all together.

So far, that has not been my luck.

I guess my dander is up pretty good right about now. Not proper English to be sure, but a true statement none the less. You see, in the span of less than 24 hours I have been called a flaming liberal AND a right-wing nut job. Wow. Didn’t think I could pull that one off but I did. The truth of the matter is I am neither. From my perspective, I am a realist.

I don’t give a crap about either side, I care about the results.

For example, I believe that government should keep its paws off our hard earned money and not redistribute it as it sees fit. I will do that just fine on my own, thank you. The government’s job is to provide for the common defense and to promote the general welfare - done through commerce, not handouts.

I believe that the government should not limit or tax company earnings, however if a company is too big to fail, it should be broken into pieces so that if one part tanks, the rest don’t go down with it.

If an executive takes the government as an investor, they must be willing to play by the investor’s rules. If you don’t like it, don’t take the money.

I believe in gun control. Every citizen in the United States should be required to take a gun safety course. They should understand how guns work, how to use them and be ready to do so on a moments notice. Governments should be afraid of their people, not the other way around.

I believe that abortion is wrong. But I believe that civil liberties put the responsibility for the care of that life squarely on the mother. If she does not want to carry it to term, no one should force her. Instead the best way to stop abortion is through frank and straight up education about sex, the joys and the consequences.

I believe that God created the heavens and the earth and that he sent his son to be sacrificed for our sins. I also believe that the universe is about 4 billion years old and the evolution makes for a good theory on how things got o where we are. I believe these two views are not contradictory in any way.

I believe that we should allow immigration into the USA. We need to get the paperwork to become a citizen to as little as possible so that other people can enjoy a shot at the life we have. I also believe that anyone caught in this country illegally should be deported or shot. There is a process, follow it.

Living in America means dealing with issues, but I would much rather deal with the issues we are facing than those of many other countries in the world. We have it good and we should keep it that way. An honest days pay for an honest days work, a government that view all of this with hands off as much as is possible and above all freedom to disagree with my fellow countryman.