ActivClient: Because We Think Intrusive is Cool

I have to use this ActivClient dongle to log into some of my computers at work.  But when it's not plugged in this annoying dialog pops up. Even if you don't need the dongle, you still have to deal with the crappy software.  So I modified the dialog (see below), so that you can see what it's really saying:

Building a Mosque at Ground Zero

There is a plan to build a mosque in NYC at ground zero.  I am opposed to the idea. I'll admit that when I see someone in middle-eastern garb, I usually feel and think something. And it's not nice. This doesn't change unless I actually personally interact with someone and decide he or she is a nice person. I don't want to see a mosque at ground zero. I don't want to see a mosque anywhere, but seeing one at ground zero is like a slap in the face.

I do believe that many mainstream Muslims in the U.S. are secretly sympathetic to the people who participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks on our country. Just like I'm sympathetic to those who died at Ruby Ridge and Waco at our government's hand. But I really don't know what mainstream Muslims think. And even if I did, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be allowed to build their mosques wherever they want to.

Last time I checked, this was still America. I see commentary everywhere, with a lot of people saying, "We are duty-bound as Americans to prevent this mosque from being built."  But if we are duty-bound to do anything as Americans, it's to allow religious freedom to continue to flourish here. Because without religious freedom, there is no America. 

There's a reason that religious freedom is considered sacred. If government controls your religion, it's controlling what you think. We've already lost countless freedoms over the War on Terror and the War on Drugs. If we allow a precedent like preventing Muslims from building their mosque at ground zero, where is that precedent going to take us as a country? Is it going to be cited in two years to prevent a Jewish temple from being built? Is it going to be cited in 10 years to keep a Baptist church from being built?

If you're one of the angry voices saying that the government should act to prevent the mosque from being built, step back for a moment and think about what such an action actually costs. If it was your church, what would you say if the government prevented you from building it? 

Because if the government were to do something so stupid as to manufacture a reason to prevent this mosque and we were to allow that to happen, your church, or even your house, could be next.

Here's a note for Sarah Palin: I know that riding a mob's wave of sentiment is a common way to gain political power. I knew others would stoop this low, but I really didn't think you would. Shame on you.

Goodbye, Petie

Petie died today.

He was a peach-faced lovebird who would have been 14 years old in two months. It was about 2:00 in the afternoon, and we had a door open to let the breeze in. A scrub jay called. Petie didn't answer.  Normally, he would answer.

"Petie!" I yelled.  

He didn't answer. That's odd.  

"Petie!  Shut up, you stupid bird!"

That always elicits a chirp, but not this time.  Alarmed, I went to his cage. "Petie?" 

I didn't see him sitting on one of his perches, or ringing his bell.  I grabbed the stepladder so I could see the floor of his cage. Knowing what I would see, because lovebirds start dying of old age at 8 years, I forced myself to look on the floor of his cage. There he was, laying on the floor. I picked him up and he was cold.  "Babe, Petie's dead!"

"No. You're joking"

"I wouldn't joke about that.  He's dead." 

I couldn't look at her. I had to keep my emotions in check. I stood on the stepladder, Petie's lifeless body in my hand, looking towards the cage with my back to the room, trying to control the emotional turmoil threatening to overwhelm me. I've lost pets before. Why am I taking this so hard? I have to get out of here before something breaks.

"I'm going to go bury him." 

I went outside. It was starting to rain. Fitting.  This is the first time Petie has ever been in the rain. I was glad to see there was a posthole digger leaning up against the garage, because I wasn't thinking too clearly and I'm not the best at putting my tools where I can find them.  I looked around, thinking, "Where's a place that Petie would like?"  I decided that a shade tree we call the "mushroom tree" was as good as anything else. We've got several pets buried there already. I started digging. While I was digging, I was thinking. About how I didn't get to say goodbye. About how I haven't let him out of his cage to fly around the house in a long time.  About how he had been dead all day and I hadn't even noticed. About how he's just a tiny little bird and it feels like I've lost something important.  Like a kid or something.

13 years ago, Virginia, my wife, wanted a parrot.  But we couldn't afford one at the time.  So we bought a lovebird.  He was five months old. Virginia named him Petie. She spent a lot of time with him, teaching him that humans were friendly. She got bit 20 or 30 times before he decided she was his friend.  And then he got to where I could handle him without being bitten. Then one day, he got mad at her for something trivial.  After that, he decided he liked me instead. I didn't have to do anything.

He could speak.  If you listened carefully, you could hear him clearly articulate the few words he knew.  For the past several years, whenever he was fed, he'd say, "Thank you." He'd also occasionally say "thank you" when he wanted cereal.  He could also say "cereal."  He could say "stupid," and, of course,  "Petie, " "Pete," and "pee-pee." There are other words he didn't use as frequently. My favorite was "thank you," because it was used in a conversation of sorts.

We'd have long talks:

Petie: "Screech!"  

Me: "Shut up, you stupid bird!"  

Petie: "Petie!" 

Me: "Ok, ok, I'll feed you." 

Petie: "Thank you."  

Me: "I haven't fed you yet." 

Petie: "Thank you." 

Me: "You want some cereal too?"

Petie: "Thank you."

Me: "You're welcome."

Petie, I wish you were still alive.  I wish I could have said goodbye. I'm going to miss you for a long time.

WoW Knothide Leatherworking Skills Progression

It's been awhile since my last blog entry. I'm making up for it by posting something here that you're only going to care about if you:

1) Play World of Warcraft online;

2) Are trying to level your Leatherworking skills.

Between levels 300 and 375, you're burning through a lot of Knothide leather.  Here's are some good sources for knothide:

* Blackwind Sabercats in Blackwind Valley (that's in the Skethyl Mountains near Terokkar Forest). At 73.5/71.7, there's a cave they hang out in.  You can farm the valley, then the cave, over and over. When skinned, they drop Knothide with a 100% frequency. Start at the cave (73.5/71.7). Kill the cats outside the cave, then go towards 71.7/73.2, killing cats as you find them. There are 5 or 6 outside the cave.  Run back towards the cave until you reach 73.3/73.0.  Turn East and fly through the canyon towards 77.0/73.7. You can usually find a couple more (up to 3) while the ones you just killed respawn.  Then it's back to the cave, and repeat. You'll have some rest time (you can kill a little faster than they can spawn), but the area is very productive.

* Nagrand at 54/46. Ignore the bison; concentrate on the antelope-looking mobs. I forget what they're called, but there are about 15 acres of mobs to farm there.

* Keep going back to the Masterwork Leather Trainer in Nagrand, and when you pick up patterns that require Fel Scales, switch to Shardhide Boars. They drop Fel Scales (about 50%) and produce Knothide when skinned at about 50% as well. They live on the Vortex Pinnacle, in Blades Edge Mountains. They're on the very top of a mountain at 31/72, on about five acres of flat ground. There are also Aether Rays there -- when skinned they produce knothide at about 95%.

* When you get patterns that don't require Fel Scales, switch back to the Blackwind Sabercats. Past level 350, I'm told you can get patterns that no longer require Knothide. I recommend that and will update this post when I experience this for myself.


I reproduced this post at my new WoW blog. I'm going to start posting there regularly. Mostly to help myself, but to help you too.

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My posts are here to advertise my consulting services. You can thank me by posting a link somewhere so Google can find it.

Benefits Comparison for Relocees

My sister emailed this to me, and I thought it was good enough to share.  This definitely doesn't need editorial help from me:

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If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor. If you cross the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely. If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get shot.  If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally, you will be jailed. If you cross the Chinese border illegally you may never be heard from again. If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed. If you cross the Cuban border illegally you will be thrown into political prison to rot.

But if you cross the U.S. Border illegally, you get:

1) A job.

2) A drivers' license.

3) Social Security Card.

4) Welfare.

5) Food stamps.

6) Credit cards.

7) Subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house.

8) Free education.

9) Free healthcare.

10) A dedicated lobbyist in Washington.

11) Billions of dollars worth of public documents printed in your language, so you don't have to learn theirs.

12) The right to carry your country's flag while you protest that you don't get enough respect.

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Why not come to the U.S? It makes sense to me.

Hamas and Activism

For more than a generation, Israel has been trying to get along in the Middle East.  It started in 1967, when Egypt, Syria and Jordan (with the help of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco  and Algeria) attacked Israel in concert with the intention of permanently wiping the state out.

Israel, however, kicked their combined asses and took a large chunk of new territory as compensation. This territory originally served as a buffer zone between her enemies and her people.  But before long, Israelis were moving into settlements in this territory.

These are the facts.  Since then, Israel has made concession after concession, in an attempt to achieve a level of peace within and without its borders. It's my opinion that concessions aren't needed -- when aggressors attack a peaceful country, they should expect to take their licks if they lose.

The international community, for the most part, doesn't see things that way. They see Israel as an enemy, and never miss a chance to cast this nation as the "bad guy" in every situation.

In 2005, Israel withdrew troops from Gaza. According to observers, this would be a gesture of trust and peace. Predictably, Hamas took advantage of this opportunity to seize military control of the territory. So Israel instituted a blockade, preventing any shipping except for certain types of humanitarian aid.

For the most part, they have been able to enforce the blockade until recently. A coordinated attempt by hundreds of individuals on scores of ships to storm the blockade resulted in 11 lives lost. The point of this effort, one might presume, was to get humanitarian supplies into Gaza. But Israel was already allowing these supplies in.

The true purpose of this activism was to get Israel to kill activists. This would generate international anger against Israel, causing more pressure and continued concessions.

But in wartime, storming a well-advertised blockade is an act of war. When these ships were boarded, and the people on the ships attacked the security forces attempting to enforce the blockade, those people ceased being activists. The Israelis had to defend themselves against these enemy soldiers, and people got killed. It's too bad, but that's what happens to soldiers in wartime. 

Israel should stop making concessions. Something they understand, but too many others don't, is that there is only one thing they can do that will ensure peace for Israelis: surrender and die. Their enemies are hate-filled, angry, illogical, ignorant people who cannot be reasoned with.  They won't be satisfied until all Israelis are dead and Arabs are the only people left.

And then, they'll turn their hate-filled eyes towards other non-Muslim nations. Oh wait -- they already have.

Another Illegal Immigrant who is a Criminal

Edgar Zarate, New Mexico, Child porn.