Thursday, August 29, 2013

Trusted Surveillance vs 'Enemy of The State'


Whenever I was asked I would ask, "Have you seen Enemy of the State"? Except for moving the satellites Will Smith got it right ten plus years ago. FYI, insert Drone instead of Satellite.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

OpenCoffee preview: Louisville Free Public Library and entrepreneurs

OpenCoffee preview: What the Louisville Free Public Library has to offer entrepreneurs | Insider Louisville:

The Louisville Free Public Library has a lot more to offer the entrepreneurial community than you might think.

Join us on Monday, August 26th, 8 a.m.at the iHub to learn about what the LFPL is up to in the 21st century.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Despite Flaws, Ashton As Jobs Is Worth Seeing | TechCrunch

Great for a TV movie, $20 plus popcorn night out with the girlfriend.... Nope.
TechCrunch: "If the Jobs filmmakers set out to make something entertaining, they also did a spectacular job. Jobs is inspiring and shows how difficult and isolating it can be to start a company — the long hours, the rejection, occasional wins, loss of personal relationships and the ‘overnight success’ after struggling for years. I think it should, and will be, embraced by the startup and tech communities."
(Via.)

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Top 5 Android Apps-July 2013-Google Play

Top 5 Paid Apps-July 2013-Google Play-Distimo | TechCrunch: "Top 5 Paid Apps-July 2013-Google Play"

Tells You Which Programs Are Safe to Remove? Should I Remove It?

Should I Remove It? Tells You Which Programs Are Safe to Remove: " Windows/Web: Should I Remove It? explains what those mysterious processes are in the Windows task manager, shows you what those unlabeled applications are in your programs list, and lets you know if they're safe to stop, uninstall, or delete, all with a single click.

Should I Remove It comes in two flavors: A richly featured web database, and a handy Windows utility that you can fire up whenever you're in the mood to clean up your PC. The app lists running processes and other installed applications to help you figure out what they are, what other programs they may be related to (or necessary for), and whether they're okay to scrub off your system."

(Via.)

Friday, August 2, 2013

Barbara Shanklin Ethics Vote Tally

WAVE NEWS:

Shanklin: How the council jurors voted
By Ali Hammond

Image

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - After one week of sometimes contentious testimony in her Louisville Metro Council Court ethics trial, Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin was spared removal from the council Wednesday night. 

A 20-member council jury found Shanklin, who represent's Louisville's 2nd district, guilty of misconduct but only 13 members -- one short of the required two-thirds majority -- voted to remove her from office. 
Shanklin faced two charges of misusing her council powers. She was accused of repeatedly failing to disclose conflicts of interest, intentionally deceiving fellow council members and misdirecting taxpayer money. 

In a vote of 16 to 4, the majority found Shanklin guilty of misconduct and willful neglect. Only Attica Scott, David Tandy and Brent Ackerson voted to find Shanklin guilty but voted against her removal from office. 
Attica Scott: District 1 – No                          

Mary C. Woolridge: District 3 - No

David Tandy: District 4 - No

Cheri Bryant Hamilton: District 5 - No

David James: District 6 – No

Ken Fleming: District 7 – Yes

Tom Owen: District 8 – Yes

Jim King: District 10 – Yes

Kevin Kramer: District 11 – Yes

Rick Blackwell: District 12 - Yes

Cindi Fowler: District 14 – Yes

Marianne Butler: District 15 – Yes

Kelly Downard: District 16 – Yes

Glen Stuckel :District 17 – Yes

Marilyn Parker: District 18 – Yes

Stuart Benson: District 20 – Yes

Dan Johnson: District 21 – No

Robin Engel: District 22 – Yes

David Yates: District 25 – Yes

Brent Ackerson: District 26 – No

 
 
Copyright 2013 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.

(Via.)

Monday, July 22, 2013

Text Expander, Saves 50 work hours over six months

I am a very slow typist. Banging away at less than 40 WPM means my daily 750 word morning assignment took over an hour. With formatting, grammar and spell checking I used to spend up to three hours getting my thoughts organized and ready for the editor. For those of you who write professionally you know that a production rate of 250 WPH is not only unacceptable but a very quick way to go broke writing. The ROI for a writer is the ultimate rating for success regardless of talent level. Think of your favorite author and look at how many published  books, articles, screen plays they grind out every year. For each 1000 words they publish there could be as much as 10,000 words in the garbage or saved in draft form.

The point is writers, even a part time reporter like me, should generate thousands of words each and every day. So saving time and keystrokes becomes a numbers game. Saving keystrokes with automation scripts is something I heard about but never considered since I just write an hour or so a day. I found Text Expander by Smile Software on my employer's website as a suggested download. With a free trial and the encouragement of a few coworkers I quickly became very impressed with the product. Just using the built in snippets I was able to quickly insert properly formatted Headers and Signature blocks into any document with just two key strokes. Long phrases and company specific terminology soon followed as I added them into the easy to use "Snippet Library". Standard replies, email responses and HR compliant counseling formats soon entered my personal snippet library. 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Twinkie Return July 15th 2013

The revived "Non-Union Made" snack cakes are due to return to stores next week. After an absence of over 7 months I am in dire need of a true Twinkie made of yellow sponge cake, vanilla cream filling and a shot of Nitrogen to enhance the flavor. Despite the claims of John McClain in "Diehard" the Twinki is only fresh for 45 days. The box I had stashed back in November 2012 is full of hard and crunchy to the touch crumbling imitations of a fresh Twinkie. If stories are true the new owners of the Twinkie brand intend to offer more fiber, less sodium and less saturated fats.
Who cares? I want a pre-World War II, Banana Cream and real Sugar Twinkie just once in my life....
COMING JULY 15TH, 2013!!!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Military Affairs, Suggested Reading

General Military Grounding

There are several essential reads for professionals involved in military affairs:
Carl von Clausewitz, On War. The author uses a dialectical approach to understanding war without being prescriptive.
Michael Howard, War in European History. This book is excellent, as is anything by this author.
Elting Morison, Men, Machines, and Modern Times. The author discusses the limitations of emerging technologies-specifically, he argues that instead of taming our environment, technology has further complicated it.
Williamson Murray, The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War. This book helps connect military action to strategy.
Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War. The Greek historian shows that the drivers of war-fear, honor, self-interest-haven't changed over time.
Innovation and the world wars
Much has been written about World War I, World War II, and the interwar period-and about how these events changed the nature of war. The following are favorites:
Robert A. Doughty, The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France, 1940, and Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War
Memoirs and biographies
It is important to understand how leaders have adapted and thought about war and warfare across their careers. The Autobiography of General Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs of the Civil War is perhaps the best war memoir ever written. The following are some other significant titles:
Carlo D'Este, Patton: A Genius for War
Selected histories of military campaigns
For selected histories of wars and military campaigns, the following are some of my favorites; I've also included recommendations on contemporary threats:
Ancient warfare
Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War
Seven Years' War
The American military profession and the American Revolution
David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing
Civil War
Franco-Prussian War
World War II
Rick Atkinson, An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944; and the forthcoming The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945
Korean War
T. R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War
Vietnam War
Iraq
Afghanistan
Contemporary threats to international security

Friday, June 21, 2013

Guest Hosting, Dale Gillespie's "TNT with Dale The Truth"

Pretty cool, I have been invited to guest host Dale Gillespie's radio show for the next few weeks. Honestly it does make me a bit nervous. I used to co-host and executive produce the "Geeks on Poker" and later the "Poker Night Radio" shows, been on numerous panels and given more live presentations than I care to remember. But with those gigs I was always the subject matter expert and the conversation was generally one way or at least very controlled. With Dale's audience I am going to have to be opinionated, get much louder and let my personal politics loose onto the world. And that my friends is what tempers my spirit.

Last night I was a last minute replacement and had a whole lot of help from Ed but next week I fly solo. What should I do here? Follow Dale's format, Long form interviews, etc... Really I am flying blind. So keep an eye out for next Thursday's show announcement. Perhaps we can tear down a few levels and see who the real players are in Louisville's own version of HBO's GOT???????????