A inflatable pool in the backyard will not add value to your home. Of course, the crop circle it will leave behind may attract unusual visitors.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Commentary at 4:04 PM UTC []
August 31st, 2010
Housepix Inflated Pool
August 29th, 2010
Aug. 29, 2010 Blumbers
Note: This a work of fiction so get over yourself.
The Girl From Metropolis
By DJ Cline
June 1, 2010 West Hollywood California
Never take a date to the end of the world.
Aaron Auschmann was watching a restored version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis on his new television. While most people watched this 1927 science fiction classic for the special effects or the social relevance, Aaron was looking for someone he knew.
During a crowd scene in the futuristic city he looked for a girl he once dated named Elsa Wagner. A struggling actress, he suspected she dated him just so she could be introduced to someone in the movie business. When a friend hired him as an extra for the big climactic crowd scene, Aaron invited Elsa to come along. She was hired as an extra on the spot.
Years later he thought he saw her face on the screen. He paused the movie. The television was three meters across and had touch screen capability like monitors on a cable news channel. He walked across the living room to the screen and the spot where he thought Elsa was in the crowd. He placed his hands close together on the screen and then spread them apart. The image zoomed in. With his failing eyesight he loved being able to do this.
She was just a face in the crowd but it was the last time they were together. Elsa met another man that day on the set and he never saw her again. He learned a valuable lesson as a young man. Never take a date to the end of the world. He had always wondered what happened to her. It was likely her world had ended a long time ago.
The speaker from the front gate buzzed. The television image switched to a security camera image of a young woman. She was carrying a satchel with a white sign on it that he could not read.
“Mr. Auschmann? I’m Wendy Walmer from the U.S. Census Bureau. We have a some questions. Can you come down and talk for few moments?”
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary, Fiction at 4:11 PM UTC []
August 24th, 2010
Protected: Aug. 31, 2010 Type Daddy’s Name
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August 22nd, 2010
Aug. 22, 2010 Blumbers
The Phoenix Papers
By DJ Cline
Note: This a work of fiction so get over yourself.
August 1, 2010 Phoenix Arizona
Aaron Auschmann lived so far in the future it frightened him.
He was chained to a metal table in an gray windowless interrogation room under the gaze of a camera with an unblinking red light. He was still in street clothes so there was a chance he could talk his way out of this. He knew that until they issue a uniform there is still a chance. Text from DJ Cline.com
It wasn’t his first time in custody. He counted dozens of times and countries where he had been “detained” for questioning. They always said they wanted the truth but that wasn’t what they wanted. They wanted a story they could believe in or at least have others believe. Something that would fit in a report.
Aaron’s life would never fit in a report. A life that takes a hundred years to live takes awhile to explain. He had outlived generations of friends and enemies. His life was outside most people’s frame of reference. So much had changed that it would be hard to explain to someone younger than his wristwatch. He then remembered that nobody wore watches anymore. They carried those damned phones.
They wanted papers. They didn’t know he wanted papers too. It was why he was in Arizona in the first place.
The door buzzed. Showtime.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary, Fiction at 4:10 PM UTC []
August 19th, 2010
Intel Buys McAfee
Intel is buying the software security firm McAfee. Frankly, McAfee is in a mature market. This looks like a long term strategy to buy up the best candidates in mature or stagnant markets. The last man standing, so to speak.
Intel has to do something. Their old partner Microsoft is in trouble. Intel’s relationship with Apple is changing as Apple uses its own A4 chips in new products. Intel is looking for opportunities. Text from DJCline.com
Recently they bought Wind River, which makes software for designing complex circuits. Wind River was the best surviving candidate in a mature (moribund) EDA market. Intel waited until the other surviving companies merged or went out of business. The weakened survivors will fight over fewer and fewer opportunities until they finally shut their doors.
Investors who stuck with McAfee will get their chance to exit on top. If Intel does not buy your company in a stagnant market, you may have a much less pleasant exit.
I suspect they will try use Wind River’s design software to embed McAfee’s security software into Intel chips for mobile devices.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Commentary at 11:59 PM UTC []
August 15th, 2010
Aug. 15, 2010 Blumbers
How fast are things changing? I walked into the dentist office waiting room and their were no old magazines to read. The receptionist handed me an Apple iPad loaded with Time magazines. I wonder if they have one for kids loaded up with old Highlights magazines?
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 4:09 PM UTC []
August 8th, 2010
Aug. 8, 2010 Blumbers
I inadvertently washed one of my little iPod Shuffles. It’s become a clean but silent tie clip. If I ruin two more I’ll have matching cuff links. They need to put little stickers on them that say “Dry Clean Only.”
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Commentary, Humor at 4:08 PM UTC []
August 6th, 2010
Aug. 6, 2010 Google Verizon Network Neutrality
There are stories going around that Google is negotiating with Verizon over network neutrality. This is bad news for the public. I hope that the FCC sticks to its network neutrality position it took last spring. Don’t set up a Lexus Lane while the rest of us drive over the potholes on the information superhighway. Build better roads for all. Democracy means we all obey the same speed limit. Here is a link to the EFF:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/08/google-verizon-netneutrality
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Commentary at 12:33 PM UTC []
August 4th, 2010
Aug. 2, 2010 Microsoft And Blackberry: Security And Privacy
On Monday August 2, 2010 the Wall Street Journal’s Nick Wingfield released the story titled “Microsoft Quashed Effort To Boost Online Privacy.” In the same issue, Margaret Coker and Phred Dvorak reported “UAE Puts The Squeeze On Blackberry.” Besides being in the same newspaper, what do these stores have in common? Security and privacy.
The Microsoft story is about the struggle inside the company between developers and advertisers over whether users had easier privacy controls on the Internet Explorer browser. Advertisers make money tracking users on the internet so they won out. The immediate result is less privacy for Microsoft customers. The long term result is the growth of competing browsers with easier privacy controls like Apple’s Safari.
The Blackberry story is about how the government of the United Arab Emirates will ban the use of Research In Motion’s Blackberry devices in their country for security reasons. There is no doubt that the appeal of Blackberry is secure private communication. The President of the United States has a souped-up one for that very reason.
These stories demonstrate there is a market for privacy despite being in constant conflict with corporations and governments. Companies that meet this particular need will have a market. Respect the rights of your customers and you will have lots of them.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Commentary at 4:28 PM UTC []
August 1st, 2010
Aug. 1, 2010 Blumbers
“Nothing is ever settled until it is settled right.” – Rudyard Kipling
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 4:05 PM UTC []
July 31st, 2010
Protected: July 31, 2010 Type Daddy’s Name
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July 25th, 2010
Jul. 25, 2010 Blumbers
Selling The Kool Aid
There is going to be a movie about Facebook called “The Social Network.” Social networking is so mainstream that it is has a Hollywood movie about it. Please remember it is not a documentary. Still, I wonder if people in this business are selling the Kool Aid but not drinking it.
I met the head of one social networking company that apparently doesn’t use it himself for business. We exchanged phone numbers. It seemed like meeting a tobacco lobbyist that did not smoke or a Microsoft executive with an Apple iPhone. It was a realization that meeting people in person still works best.
Dennis Nishi in a July 20, 2010 Wall Street Journal article titled “Improving the Odds for Changing Jobs” said “Keep requests off social networking websites like Facebook and LinkedIn – they can be indexed by search engines and discovered by anyone, including your current boss.” What is the point of these sites if you can’t network to find jobs? It is to gather personal information and find ways to make money from the people who join. Social networking executives don’t seem to really use it themselves.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 2:39 PM UTC []
July 18th, 2010
Jul. 18, 2010 Blumbers
Over The Wall
There is a technology trend toward what they call “The Walled Garden.” Companies want to capture every customer dollar in a closed environment. If the garden meets their every need then everything is fine, but what if they don’t know what their missing?
One of the joys of being a hunter gatherer in the information age is finding the unexpected. Amazon may have a profile of you that can recommend books you might like, but nothing beats going through a real bookstore and finding something totally unrelated that interests you.
By their very nature closed systems have fewer surprises, unpleasant or otherwise. The problem is that any single garden can never be enough. The winds of change will invariably bring seeds from weeds over the wall into the garden. You have to know what is going on beyond your comfort zone.
It is those little moments where the future comes at you sideways that you have to look out for.
This concludes my Chauncey Gardener moment.
Note: Time to take things up a notch.
“Ridicule is powerful, and difficult to deflect.” -John Gruber
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 2:44 PM UTC []
July 11th, 2010
Jul. 11, 2010 Blumbers
Reading Tom Foremski’s book “In My Humble Opinion” makes me think about what steps to take next. I’m looking through years of pretty amazing stuff. You can see where breakthroughs and meaningful events led to big changes. The question is how to condense it into a story. What is the overall message of what I have seen?
On another note, I have to say I am unable to cover every event that I am invited to. I will try to consider them on as we go along. The criteria is still evolving.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 2:42 PM UTC []
July 6th, 2010
July 6, 2010 Roy Brooks Mason II
On July 6, 2010 US Army SPC Roy Brooks Mason II would have been thirty years old. He was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon. Mason is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Wars end one soldier at a time. Here some pictures from one of the places he loved best, Santa Cruz California.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline Copyright 2010.
Posted by dj as Commentary at 4:12 PM UTC []
July 4th, 2010
Jul. 4, 2010 Blumbers
Happy Independence Day!
“There can be no agreement with tyranny.” -John Adams
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 4:26 PM UTC []
June 30th, 2010
Protected: Jun. 30, 2010 Type Daddy’s Name
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June 27th, 2010
June 27, 2010 Blumbers
When a friend is ill or dying, I think it important to stick with them, to the end and beyond. If they have a last request I try to carry it out. It’s one of those agreements that make up the backbone of civilization.
Two years ago my friend Barb died from cancer. She wanted more articles and pictures in the SDForum News. She said that our success would attract other people to cover these events. That is happening. I have kept my word.
In the meantime I have written more articles and taken more photographs than anyone in SDForum history. It is a record of sorts, an achievement that will never be duplicated (in the print version at least).
Sometimes people wonder why I take so many pictures of people. I wish I had taken more pictures of Barb.
http://www.djcline.com/2010/06/25/june-19-2010-housepix/
http://www.djcline.com/2010/06/26/jun-24-2010-sdf-vision-awards-2/
http://www.djcline.com/2010/06/28/jun-24-2010-sdf-vision-awards-3/
http://www.djcline.com/2010/06/29/jun-24-2010-sdf-vision-awards-4/
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 4:01 PM UTC []
June 20th, 2010
June 20, 2010 Blumbers
“I want my life back.” Tony Hayward, CEO of British Petroleum
Tony Hayward wants his life back before the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. When I heard that, well… let’s just say I was disappointed in him. It is the kind of thing I hear from people who lived rather charmed entitled lives and suddenly have to live with the consequences of their actions. What about those who were killed? What about those whose lives will never be the same? They get to remind you of what you did everyday for the rest of your life.
A friend said it was like an alcoholic who had destroyed the lives of those around them and had not taken responsibility yet. He said our society is addicted to oil and has to stop cold turkey. Drilling through a mile of ocean and a mile of earth is a sign of a serious problem. Soldiers fighting in oil fields is a sign. A pelican covered in oil is a sign (see picture above of a California brown pelican).
Regular readers know I have covered alternative, green, clean energy for years. We can do this. Tony Hayward wants his life back the way it was. The rest of us must work toward a better life we never had.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Blumbers, Commentary at 4:57 PM UTC []
June 16th, 2010
The Perfect Thing By Steven Levy
Steven Levy has covered technology for Rolling Stone, Newsweek and Wired for over thirty years. He is best known for his book Hackers, the quintessential story of computer pioneers from MIT in the 1950s to Silicon Valley in the 1980s. His codification of the Hacker Ethic stipulated that information should be allowed to flow freely across a network. This was adopted by many Internet pioneers and best seen in blogging. This rise of new media may be the ultimate expression of free speech for all. He doesn’t mind the competition, he expects it. I don’t think he wants anyone to try to silence fellow journalists.
Copyright 2010 DJ Cline All rights reserved.
Posted by dj as Books, Commentary, Reviews at 4:21 PM UTC []