So I’m looking at this cool new encrypted USB drive and the specs are impressive – hardware-based AES-256 encryption, small form factor, large capacity, even a hardware read-only switch, and…from what I read thus far, no Windows/other drivers necessary to operate. Pretty cool. Something I’d be happy to use and know that everything on it is pretty safe from whoever might want to tamper with it.
And then I look at the features, and read… “can also be remotely managed, enabling business owners or administrators to wipe or delete drives remotely in the event it is lost or stolen.”
Ok. Now I don’t think I’m the only one that sees this as a big turn-off. Yes, all the rage these days is being able to “remotely manage” your devices “in the cloud” (visualize Dr. Evil’s finger bunny ears, please). Please correct me if I seem off-base, but being able to remotely access these seemingly secure, encrypted, sensitive-data-carrying storage devices seems like a fundamental security no-no. Especially if you’re entrusting the remote-access, “cloud based” function to a third party. It’s a PORTABLE USB DRIVE. Shouldn’t you not have to worry about remotely wiping the thing, if the encryption works? Isn’t that the whole point? Why add these useless features? WHY AM I GETTING SO MAD ABOUT THIS SHIT? Haha… man. I could go on and on, but I’ll just leave this at, “You *almost* won me as a customer.
Ok so I guess I’m a bit biased – I’ve been using Palms (and earlier PDAs) for a long time. I’m 34 now, and I started using PDAs when I was 16 (yeah, I’m a computer nerd). I’ve been able to keep the same memos, address book, and date book for a very, very long time. Through many different Palm devices. As long as I back up the data, I’m good. I just bought a second Tungsten C here actually, as a backup in case my primary one gets lost, stolen or broken.
Specifically, I love the Tungsten C because of the keypad. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I learned Graffiti a long time ago but I’ve never liked it. I constantly tried to find the ‘perfect’ replacement that had an actual keyboard/keypad, and with Palm, those are very few and far between. The Tungsten C is the one for me. I’m not going for WebOS as I hear nothing is backward compatible with PalmOS. I don’t even use the wifi feature as their web browser is horribly outdated, and installing Opera is near impossible even though there are sites that show you how to do it. The wifi kinda stopped working on mine anyway, showing a consistently stale list of available access points…whatever, I just turned Wifi off and now I have a great PDA that is disconnected from the world (which is what I wanted anyway). (Update 2014: I have physically removed the WIFI daughterboard, partly for removing any possible remote access possible, to give it an ounce or two less weight, and…well, just because. Normal operation is not affected by performing this surgery, only if you attempt to enable WIFI will the device reboot.)
My love for Palm’s simplicity in their primary applications (addressbook, memopad) and my love for the third-party apps I have come to depend on (Strip, Datebk6) is what keeps me from thinking “well, my cell phone has most of this functionality, why don’t I just use that?” I’ll tell you why. Because my wife washed my cell phone the other day. I’m probably going to upgrade my cellphone, and with the market/technology changing so quickly, I’d be crazy if I thought I could retain almost 15 years worth of data in a device that is going to become obsolete in a year. Palm sidesteps this with their older devices in that they are so PLENTIFUL to obtain and so insanely COMPATIBLE that you could pick up any old Palm and be able to restore your data easily. I own a technical consulting and support business, and use my Palm for appointments, tasks, addresses, notetaking, keeping encrypted passwords, etc… Thinking that a cell phone SHOULD do these tasks, I have found, is just insane. I want to keep them separate so I’m not tied to a certain cellphone for life. My Tungsten is my #1 receptionist – I rely on it for everything, even now in 2014. Palm devices have never let me down when it comes to tackling what a true “personal data assistant” should do. IMHO the Tungsten C is the best of breed PDA.
Do you ever feel like you have the answers to life and reality when you wake up every morning, only to forget them in a matter of seconds?
I woke up this morning and was thinking about vibrational frequency and how it relates to our physical bodies (and the rest of the physical universe). What was interesting to me was that I was under the impression that the higher the frequency, the “less physical” – but from what I have studied, the opposite is true (think delta/theta/alpha/beta brain frequencies).
I have also come to the theory that sleep is like turning yourself inside out. As in, your perception of the physical world, when you’re sleeping, often literally reflects waking life. Interesting to ponder in the first moments of consciousness.
Alas, crying baby. Coffee wife. Hungry son. I guess there are tasks at hand. Until next time.
The purpose of reality is to serve you in your creative endeavors. It is a static world, which means that your actions are everlasting and have the potential to affect everything and everyone around you. Unlike other realms, reality is “sticky” by nature; it is a landscape designed to exploit the potential of long standing focus and attention on your own creativity.
Reality holds many unique concepts which you will eventually become accustomed to. “Logic” and “reason” are two concepts that serve to make sense of everything you experience in reality. They will serve as motivators to do certain things and to follow certain paths throughout your lifetime. While they are extremely beneficial to harness, one must be careful as to how much ultimate value one places in them – too much of either one will only limit your ability to be creative.
“Time” is another concept unique to reality. Time serves as a measurement of sorts. It gives you a distinction of knowing the things you have done and the things you can potentially do. Time is a widely misunderstood concept by others in reality. The reason for this misconception is that of emotional and mental attachment. Many hold events of their past so closely to themselves that their ability to manifest potential events of the future are constantly weighed against them. This is a dangerous mindset as it hinders your ultimate creativity and your natural ability to achieve what you desire in reality during your lifetime. Please try to remember that time is nothing more than a measurement – a variable that holds the fabric of the nature of reality together. It should be seen solely as a motivator, and never as an inhibitor of creativity.
What I must also inform you of is the eventual fading of the knowledge of your origins once you enter reality. This natural process might potentially cause you to use the previously described concepts of logic and reason to define your true origins. Many that have forgotten have come to devise various elaborate conclusions which are (unfortunately) based upon unique concepts of reality itself, which might seem very paradoxical. They hold very closely these individual concepts, however, as it fulfills their desire to understand why they came to reality in the first place, as well as their “purpose” (another unique quality of reality). Like minds seem to find much comfort in a sense of belonging to each other by holding these common beliefs. What is interesting is that the higher the numbers that hold these beliefs, the stronger the influence these beliefs have upon those who have not embraced them. Please beware of those who attempt to convince you of their rationalized beliefs of natural origin – yet also do not hold them accountable for believing in something that might seem so trivial here outside of reality – as they, too, transcend out of reality at the end of their lifetime, they will quickly remember their true origins. It is not a negative thing to believe in origins that are not true while in reality, as it is the universal concept of creativity that allows these beliefs to exist in the first place. As long as these beliefs do not hinder ones ability to be limitless in their creativity, false beliefs do no harm. Unfortunately, hindering creativity is a motivator for some belief systems… but again, memories of reality will quickly fade as one transcends, and all will ultimately return to balance.
One concept that has been mentioned throughout this introduction that you will be pleased to know follows you, in full, from here into reality is that of creativity. As you know, creativity is the basis of everything. It is creativity that allows the concept of reality to exist, and is the closest thing you will be able to understand as a “purpose” of life itself. It is very important that you try to remember this as you enter reality. All will quickly fade while your attention starts to focus on the new and interesting and wonderful things reality has to offer – vibrant sound, bright light, enchanting colors and everything else will pull you into a lifetime full of wonder and amazement. Your ultimate ability to remember and embrace the concept of creativity will give you unlimited potential in your endeavors.
Thank you for listening, please enter the downward vortex with a smile – you are in for quite a ride!
Music doesn’t require image. Music doesn’t want image. Music is sound. I wish we focused as much on audio as we did on our visual senses. Is this evolution? I beg to differ. A temporary disruption in input, IRQ bank full. Focus on what is at hand. Don’t be distracted.
Just got back this morning from fetching water from the popular Rattlesnake Spring. Usually a once-a-month trek to fill our drinking/cooking water reserves up (9 x 5gal bottles, 45gal total). I got started a bit late this morning (6am), but nobody was there for the duration of time I was there. Took me about 6.5min per 5gal..I usually don’t time the water flow, but I guess I’ve been there enough to where I am curious to start casually tracking it (especially with the drought that’s going on right now). The picture above is a fairly good representation of the flow this morning (though that picture was taken in August 2012).
‘Getting water’ is sort of a special thing for me. I take pride in knowing that I am providing my family with untreated, natural spring water to drink. The atmosphere (besides the traffic) is usually very nice. It is a time when I just relax and try not to rush things. A sort of meditative trip, if you will. I’ll enjoy my coffee and/or trees and just try to immerse myself in the fact that I am taking a conscious effort to better my (and my family’s) health by spending time and gathering clean water. Sometimes I even do some Tai-Chi amongst the trees.
The people you meet are either very conversational or keep to themselves (usually stay inside their car with the windows up until it’s their turn). I find myself one of these depending on the time of day and my mood. One thing is universal, however – everyone that I talk with that has been here before raves about the water. Not one person have I encountered (or heard of from others) that had a bad experience with it. It is apparently checked yearly for quality and marks much higher than the ‘standard’ for water quality. I met one fellow a while back that had worked for the county water district for 15 years and attested to the absolute quality of the water coming from Rattlesnake Spring. I’ve met a number of people that claim it is ‘miracle water’, water which has cured cancer in people they know, bring their family members, pets and livestock from constant sickness to perfect health… that’s about as much proof as I need.
I’ll happily dismiss scare tactics used to try to convince that all untreated water is dangerous. It’s hard to dismiss the overwhelmingly positive response from so many different people I’ve met first hand. I completely understand the possible hazards that can come into aquifers and ultimately out the little spout (which was created supposedly sometime in the 1950’s) such as animal / human feces, urine, dead carcasses, etc.. but for as big as the mountain is that holds this water, I have a very hard time convincing myself that I will personally come in contact with any of that. When Jack was a newborn, we would boil all of the water for his bottles and keep it separately. Other than that, I keep our bottles sterilized, clean and out of the Sun. My next step will be to replace the plastic (a combo of #3 and #7..ugh) bottles with glass.
This is the original song I was referring to in my Shamus song post (originally called, “Creep of the Shadow”). They share few musical similarities but both have their inspirational roots in the old Commodore 64 version of the game, Shamus.
I was doing some spur-of-the-moment research on music culture and how it could possibly be manipulated to serve a less than authentic end. I came across this paper and sort of fell in love with it. It very eloquently puts a lot of thoughts I have had in the past, into real words.
I’m adding Adorno to my people list. He seems like a very interesting character with some good insight on what I feel we’re knee-deep in right now. </conspiracytheorist>
I used to (casually) use screen, but then desired something that would display multiple terminals simultaneously. I also wanted to be able to type and have it echo into all terminals (useful for updating multiple servers and other general sysadmin stuff). I remember a couple different people (likely including, but not limited to greenfly, ttkay or twm) over in #nblug mentioned tmux. I did some searching and found that it could do all of this, so I kicked the ole brain into write-mode and start learning its personality.
Tmux is really nice. When I build my underground Command and Control center (or NOC for you “standards” types..visualize those quotes as little furry bunny ears) that looks dangerously like the one from War Games, tmux will be what’s on the large screens, some displaying multiple panes (^b + % or “), cycling through various information on the WOPR^Wserver farm. I’ll sit at my terminal and simultaneously (^b + :setw synchronize-panes on) run through other aspects if something strange pops up. 31337. Other screens will display live video feeds from the perimeter and other interesting geographical locations. And yes, everything will be in green terminal font. Because if you don’t do it in green terminal font, don’t fucking do it.
This riff’s working title comes from the Commodore 64 version of the video game Shamus. My older brother and sister and I would play this game growing up. I still get nervous anticipating the arrival of The Shadow. This loop shares similarities with a song I created in MadTracker a few years ago.
