Scoop’s Views

Hurricane Gustav is going to hit the United States unless there’s an act of divine intervention. Short of a miracle from Heaven, all computer predictions are showing Hurricane Gustav will hit somewhere along the Gulf Coast, anywhere from Pensacola, Florida on the Eastern side to Houston, Texas on the West.

Unless Hurricane Gustav’s path is suddenly diverted, or unless Hurricane Gustav falls apart and becomes little more than a tropical storm or depression, it’s more than likely at least one of the many oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico will receive some damage, but likely all of the platforms will be closed down in advance of the storm.

Tags: computer predictions, crude oil, divine intervention, Florida, gas prices, gasoline, gasoline prices, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Houston, Hurricane Gustav, Louisiana, New Orleans, Northeast Philadelphia, oil, oil barrels, oil companies, oil platforms, oil prices, Pensacola, Philadelphia, price per gallon, shale, Texas, Tropical Storm Hannah

It’s no surprise I hold utter contempt for politicians who have been in office for more than two terms. In fact, I despise most politicians who are serving their second term in office, as these people are generally on the road to a lifelong career as a politician.

In a perfect society, this probably wouldn’t be a problem, but in our less-than-perfect society, a first-term politician learns many of the “tricks” of the political trade, and in their second term, if they wait that long, they begin practicing and honing those tricks to their benefit. Things that typically benefit politicians generally do not benefit the American public (a.k.a. voters or constituents).

Tags: 2008 Presidential election, election 2008, Internet crowd, News, presidential candidates, presidential election

WordPress 2.6 is the current stable version of the popular blogging software, although WordPress 2.6.1 beta 1 is available for download and testing.

Like with all tech development, plans must be made ahead of time for changes, whether it’s for a new operating system, new kernel in Linux/Unix, or changes to online software, such as WordPress or even a Webmail interface. With development, though, comes testing, trials, and of course, changes. Yes, I said that ominous word that many simply hate: change.

Tags: blogging software, change, developer, download, Jacob Santos, Linux, plugin developers, testing, trials, tutorial, uninstall, Unix, WordPress, WordPress 2.6, WordPress 2.6.1, WordPress 2.7

I received this press release today. It came from a company I have done business with in the past.

The press release is to announce a soon-to-be released utility for use on Unix and Linux boxes, allowing you to suspend running applications on office workstations or remote Linux and Unix server, and then later, from a remote machine, such as at home, another location, or whatever, resume the applications on a Windows PC.

Tags: *nix, AIX CDE desktops, Linux, Linux servers, Linux workstation solutions, LinuxLIVE, network interruptions, power outages, remote desktops, remote hosts, remote servers, session mobility, session recovery, session sharing, Solaris, StarNet Communications, Steven Schoch, suspend applications, Unix, Unix servers, Windows, Windows desktops, Windows PC, Windows workstations, Windows-to-Linux, Windows-to-Unix, workday, workstation crashes, X server, X-Win32

While we aren’t yet using the thumbprint technology in transactions such as buying a home, grocery shopping, or, for that matter, shopping at most any store, it is used for government stuff, as well as used for computing security.

Did Simon Ramo have it all wrong back in November 1964, or was he a little too optimistic for his time? I think it’s the latter. Even in the late 1990s and early this decade, even as late as 2003 or so, I heard people I know dismiss the idea of using debit cards, as well as ATMs, even for cash advances from a credit card. Those same people, though, also were against online shopping.

Tags: 1964, ATMs, automatic money transfers, banking systems, Big Brother, business transactions, buying a home, cash, coinage, computer security, credit cards, currency, debit cards, dollars, electronic debit systems, futurists, Government, identification, identity theft, instant money transfers, monetary symbols, monetary systems, money, November 1964, November 27, online shopping, paper dollars, paper money, payment systems, shopping, Simon Ramo, thumb-prints, thumbprint technology, thumbprints, TIME, Time magazine

“This is our first full week of using the pasties during mammograms,” the X-ray tech explained. “I wake up with nightmares that I’ll forget to take one off of a 90-year-old nun one day and she’ll end up in the E.R. and they’ll find her with pasties and wonder what’s going on in the convent!”

Tags: annual checkups, breast cancer, breast exam, breast self-exam, breasts, BSE, female exams, flattened, lump, mammogram, mammography, nipples, nuns, pancakes, pasties, radiologists, radiology, self-exam, squished, technicians, women's health, X-ray

A group of protestors, numbering somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000, and described as Chinese-Americans, decided to protest CNN’s Hollywood office yesterday, protesting CNN’s commentator Jack Cafferty, who made a comment on CNN’s The Situation Room, back on April 9 — almost two weeks ago. Among his comments that day, Cafferty apparently called China’s goods “junk” and its leaders a “bunch of goons and thugs.”

Tags: activists, apology to China, Atlanta, Big Ben, black berets, Chairman Mao, China, Chinese, Chinese-Americans, Chinese-made goods, death threats, dog meat, export jobs, free speech, goons and thugs, Hollywood, imports, Jack Cafferty, Jiang Yu, junk, lead paint, made in China, Olympic protests, Oriental, Paul Wolfowitz, poisoned dog meat, poisoned pet food, protestors, protests, Radium Dial, Recalls, reporters harassed, studios, Technology, The Situation Room, Tibet, U.S. Army, Wal-Mart, Westclox, workers

April 4 has a couple of interesting items that have made an impact on society. One that’s helped lead mankind forward digitally, the other helped lead mankind forward, somewhat, through civil rights.

It’s no secret to many people who know me that I’m active alpha- (or pre-beta, as some tests call it) and beta-test participant. In fact, I love be…

Tags: 500gigs, alpha-testing, beta testers, beta testing, beta tests, downsized, Ethics, graphics software, incentives, integrity, NDA, non-disclosure agreements, operating systems, pre-beta, rewards, serial devices, storage devices, storage units, USB devices, Win2k, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows XP, WinVista, WinXP

The Vatican announced today that pollution is among sins — for a new generation — that can lead you to burn in Hell.

Tags: Apostolic Penitentiary, Bible, Catholics, cybersex, drug abuse, drug use, drugs, economic decline, economic differences, economic gaps, economic variances, envy, experiments, Father Antonio Pelayo, genetic manipulations, globalization, globalized, gluttony, God, greed, Holy Bible, human behaviors, human rights, intelligence, international businesses, Internet, l'osservator romano, lust, Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, pollution, poor, Pope, Pope Benedict, Pope Gregory the Great, pride, prostitutes, rich, Sex, sins, sloth, social decline, social variations, Vatican, wealth, wrath, Yahweh

Sometimes payback is slow in coming, but when it does, just remember that it will be very pointed. That seems to be what happened earlier this morning in Mogadishu when missiles were fired at a house suspected of being inhabited by al-Qaeda operatives.

If you remember the town’s name — Mogadishu — it was the site of a a 1993 battle between members of the U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force against a local warlord, Mohammed Farrah Aidid, and his gun-toting followers.

Tags: 75th Rangers, al Qaeda, al-Qaeda operatives, Bill Clinton, Delta Force, heroes, missile strike, missiles, Moagishu, Mohammed Farrah Aidid, Rangers, Special Forces, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Rangers, U.S. Navy

The feel of newly-printed money, especially when you get to break the U.S. Mint’s wrapper, is a great feeling. Earning that money, though, can often be a pain. A pain in the butt, sore hands, soiled hands, or even a sore body. Sometimes the work you do to earn the money is purely mental, making many people feel burned out at the end of the day, but earning an honest day’s pay — especially when you’re paid fairly — is always a good feeling. Making money online, though, can often be less than fulfilling.

Tags: 25 percent, advertisers, advertising, affiliate networks, affiliate programs, affiliates, audio ads, audio advertising, audios, banners, checks, commissions, cost per thousand, costs, CPM, e-commerce, earnings, impressions, money, net audio ads, netaudio ads, netaudioads, Online, pay per play, payout, Ponzi, potential income, pyramids, pyramind scheme, twenty-five percent, voice ads, voice advertising