As the debate on Vista grows from the angry to the comical, I am beginning to notice an interesting trend. More people that I speak with about computing have expressed an interest in trying alternative operating systems and hardware. In fact, I am of the opinion that in 5-6 years' time, you'll be able to walk into your local electronics store and choose between a variety of operating systems, all with approximately equal levels of functionality. Games, again in my perfect little world, will be w...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_fe_st/odd_where_s_christmas;_ylt=Aqg0kMUSBiEI.2tbGayQ9wQZ.3QA A Spokane Public Schools calendar recently sent out had an important omission on it: Although Kwanzaa, Human Rights Day, Hannukah, and Eid al-adha made the cut, Christmas was conspicuously absent. The school is calling it an error of omission, and, frankly, I'm willing to believe them. I personally believe the "war on Christmas" is just a nice tool to help Bill O'Reilly and Michael Med...
Over the years, I have made friends with various people, both in real life and online, that one would not expect. And there's a reason for that. I don't give my friendship easily. Now, that doesn't mean I won't be friendly, it just means that if I consider you a "friend", you're family. I'd take a bullet for you, and I will defend you unfailingly in front of others. But that doesn't mean I'll agree with you. In fact, in the circle of people I consider friends, I prefer to include the ones ...
Joe and Sam stood by the time clock, anxiously watching the final seconds of their work night tick away. After what seemed an eternity, the second hand moved and the whistle blew, signifying their release from the factory. Their time cards, which had been at the ready for five plus minutes now, slid into the slot, until the reassuring click was heard, a click that made Sam think somehow of shackles being released. Joe and Sam began their long walk home in the moonlight. There was no sound exc...
One of the most hypocritical things I have heard from the mouths of liberals is that race and gender do not matter. The fact is, not only does the far left not believe it, but race and sex are oftentimes the ONLY thing that matter to them. And the 2008 Presidential Primary race underscores that pretty heavily. I can't tell you how many times I have heard someone on the left say they want to vote for Hillary because she would be our first woman President. Or they want to vote for Obama beca...
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, there is a school of thought among Christians that is often referred to as the "grace only" Christian. Basically the theology of this group is based on the idea that because we are saved by grace, through faith, nothing more need be done by a believer to get into heaven. Sounds nice, eh? Sound like a group you'd like to be part of? Not really, because, see, this "grace" is only extended to their own little clique. They've made a work out o...
I remember countless tyimes throughout the last several years when our sitting President would invoke God. The far left would shout from the highest rooftops that he was violating separation of church and state by making his faith public. That's why I find it compelling that one of Yahoo! News' lead stories features one certain former first lady's attendance at a Methodist church in Des Moines Iowa, without a hint of the irony of the article's appearing without sharp criticism: http://new...
Imagine, if you will, that you are a mechanic. A customer calls you and reports that they have a blown head gasket. They ask you if you would stay on the line while they get their tools and talk them through the procedure to repair their car over the phone. Unlikely scenario, you say? Nope. It happens to tech support. Every. Single. Day. I work for an ISP and our tech support covers the connection. We do have PC Repair services, however, and we do make a concerted effort to provide the bes...
Yesterday, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, federal agents arrested one Bernard Van NotHaus, seized his computer and all of his property. Nothaus' crime? Producing an alternative currency known as the Liberty Dollar. Unlike the money that has been produced for years by the Federal Reserve Bank, the Liberty Dollar was based on gold and silver standards, the way money had been minted for thousands of years before our government decided to write us what are essentially promissa...
It doesn't seem like that long ago, but it was half a lifetime. I was at one of the lowest points in my life and was overcome with the guilt of all of the mistakes I had made. I surrendered my life to Christ and committed myself to a new life. Over the years, I've been in a number of different churches, some of them good, some of them bad, but all Bible believing churches. I've married and raised my children true to my Christian faith. Having been raised in the LDS church, as a new Christi...
OK, so my calendar says today is Veteranarian's Day. What did veteranarians ever do that was worth a day to themselves. One time I had this dog, a cute little Pomeranian. It got sick and we had to take it to the vet, and he didn't do nothing for her. He just told us we had to put her to sleep. And another time, my little cat frisky, had worms, and did the veteranarian actually DO anything? No, he gave her pills. I could have bought pills. They have them at our local grocery store and I cou...
OK, so my calendar says today is Veteranarian's Day. What did veteranarians ever do that was worth a day to themselves. One time I had this dog, a cute little Pomeranian. It got sick and we had to take it to the vet, and he didn't do nothing for her. He just told us we had to put her to sleep. And another time, my little cat frisky, had worms, and did the veteranarian actually DO anything? No, he gave her pills. I could have bought pills. They have them at our local grocery store and I cou...
So, Marvin Cooley's evil twin is back in full force, in one breath decrying cults and in the other trying to form a cult himself by proclaiming that only HIS word stands as the word of God, and that everyone else, even Christ Himself, is suspect in their teaching. He believes that Christians do not need to lead a good life. That they can do whatever they want and treat other people like garbage, and that they will get to heaven, and God will smile and say it's all good. But the phrase "Christ...
This has been an article I've long had floating around in my head, in response to one JU regular's quite ignorant accusation that I have the run of "bad luck" with jobs that they have with theirs. I haven't updated people on my personal life lately, because, frankly, I have been more than a little tired of some of the games for some time, but here goes: When I started on JoeUser, I had just left the mine. The mine had never been my idea of a permanent job. I was working at the time in plumbin...
Following in the footsteps of the DNC, the Republican Party is now promising to penalize several states for holding their primaries too early. This has been one big, nasty mess all around with states fumbling over one another to hold the "first" primary, and the craziness would be good late show material if we could get the writers off of their strike. On second thought, that might mean no new episodes of "Cavemen", so let the strike continue! There is a very simple solution to this quagmire,...