Archive for July, 2009
Filed under: General
I know it is summer and we need to expect a bit of heat, but it has been seriously ridiculous here! We have had several days of around 41 Celsius. It has been really hot! I was thinking that it is a bit funny, cause I remember complaining about the cold just a little while ago, and now we are getting ridiculously hot days, I often feel like I will melt if I stay outside too much.
On really hot days you just don’t feel like doing much, the heat seems to drain you. Well, it drains me anyway. I thought most people were that way, but I met a guy the other day who was saying that the heat invigorates him. He said he loves working out on a hot day, prefers warm days to cold. I thought he was a bit crazy. I don’t know if he truly was or not, but probably not. People truly are just different in what they find enjoyable. Although really hot days I think the majority of people aren’t all that big on them. I personally have decided after a very, very cold winter that broke records and a summer that is shattering all sorts of records that I am ready for a place that is just in between those two extremes. I used to live in a place like that but moved because I honestly missed the seasons. Well, I did miss them but I don’t need these extremes to enjoy the weather.
It is just too hot to really enjoy any activity that has to do with the outdoors right now. Even swimming in a lake, pond or ocean would be unpleasant at the moment, mainly because of the sunburn you would end up with. The heat is ridiculous, and with not a cloud in the sky it is very unpleasant. I don’t want to complain too much here but maybe a cloud or two would be nice.
Tags: hot, hot summer, summer days, too hot
Filed under: Comm
Talking about music again today, I think. Just been on my mind a bunch. Thinking about what it does for a person. I find that music can be very motivating sometimes and relaxing others. Depending on the music you are listening to, your mood may change with it. I think that is often the purpose of music, to help us feel more alive or in tune. And yes that was a pun. It does kind of lead in from what I was saying yesterday, about how many people seem to get locked into a certain type of music, mainly because it is nostalgic.
Music tends to get associated with things or times in our lives, those times that we are listening to it, and when we hear it again it takes us back. Heck, there are even several songs talking about it. Where the lyrics themselves speak of the music taking you back. Good music, though, can move you without a physical change or a memory attached to it. That is, if you remain open to new things and trying different activities as you get older. It also helps us get things done sometimes. I have several friends, and myself as well, who work faster and are more productive when there is good music playing in the background. It can be turned down low, but a certain background noise really helps things move along for me when I am trying to write or do research or study for school. Actually, the studying for school is when the music is fairly low because having the study background noise helps me focus. At least it seems to; I have noticed that I can get more done if I listen to music. If I don’t I often sit there staring at the screen trying to find a muse, motivation or a kick in the pants to get me doing things. Music can hold us back but it is most useful in moving us forward.
Filed under: Comm
Music is always an interesting topic, it actually leads me on to others that I may talk about later. I am thinking of making this a media week. By media I am referring to music, art, movies, things like that. Anyway, for today we will go with music. I might even carry it over to tomorrow. There are a lot of opinions on music, well on all art, and music is art. Opinions often depend on background, culture and general upbringing. Many people seem to be most interested in music that they remember from childhood and a bit on up. You know, thinking about it I wonder if being stuck always on the same songs and in the same era of music means stagnation? Stagnation in the mind perhaps. I know lots of people who only like the music that was made during a particular year when they were growing up. I was thinking that is because of the memories.
The idea I was trying to connect to after getting into talking about music and people’s likes and dislikes was the thought that many people use music to recall a specific feeling. Perhaps it’s not that simple but it still seems like a good thought. Let me explain a bit. If you get stuck in relieving the songs of your past does that mean you are no longer making new memories? At least not like you did before? Why would a person stop, I wonder. I have heard many people say that the music of today is nothing like it was. I wonder if that is because the music of then reminds them of what they might consider their glory days, or the best times of their lives. If they started living and doing other things, I wonder if they would feel that the music of today is as good as that of times past?
Tags: flashback, memory, music
Filed under: General
Boy, real life really can take a toll on us, can’t it? Keeps us busy, even when we would just love a short break, maybe a holiday or two, or three. I have been trying to get to writing more but it seems to fall by the way side, but I am writing now. As you can see by the words I have written so far. And you are pretty much right, this post is mostly about not much. I am just letting my thoughts meander, almost like talking to myself, trying to bring forth that wisdom, those wonderful words that move me, from within. I apologize if I spoiled it for you, if you were wanting things to unfold in a slow but mysterious way. I will try that at a later time, I promise. Although I will not promise when, meaning could be next week or could be next year. I am sometimes like that. You get used to it, I did anyway.
Well, the words seem to be flowing now, more or less. I am currently burning a cd for a trip, I mean a physical movement of myself to another place not a mental trip. Just thought I should clarify as there were a couple of meaning there. At least there were a couple that I could see right after I wrote it. It’s alright though, if you were thinking the same thing, remember great minds think alike! Speaking of trips, don’t know about you but I am ready to stay home for a bit. I have been out almost everyday for a week or so and gone most every weekend. I think it is almost time for a nice relaxing, what do they call them? Oh, yes, a staycation. That really sounds funny, but I think I could certainly go for one right now.
Tags: meander, nothing, stay home
Filed under: Money relations
I have been keeping an eye on the stock market and it certainly seems to be fluctuating a lot. This is actually good news, because that means that it is in motion, both positive and negative. Those are both intrinsic to the use of any stock market. To be honest, and keep in mind I am not a guru though I attempt to pay attention to investment news, some might even call me naïve, but to me it seems like things are picking up and for some investors going quite well. The investment news recently has, just from casual glances, appeared somewhat upbeat. Just from what has been reported in the different markets around the world there certainly seems to be a lot of opportunity. Of course there is also risk involved, but that is a given when you are dealing with stocks, bonds and equities. If you want some off the cuff advice from an absolute non professional, not currently investing, but looking into it, market wanna be dabbler then read on. I knew you did, and glad you have kept reading!
If you want to grow your savings, then I think investing in the markets is a bit like hitting the casinos. You must have some sort of strategy before you even show up. Know what money you have and what you plan on doing with it. Know your resources. Decide on how much you are going to invest, or gamble in the market, and stick to it. Invest that amount, and if you lose it, step back and look at why you did, look at the factors that were present, the causes for the stock or stocks you picked to drop. Then use that knowledge to attempt to pick a better stock next time, when you again, have some money free to invest. Of course, if things go the other way and your savings increases then invest in offshore banking. That’s a bit of a joke, a small attempt at humor. I think long term I would invest in agriculture or any type of bio-science, I would also be looking into tech because the chances are good that our society’s are going to require it to maintain, grow and thrive.
Tags: advice, investing, money, stocks
Filed under: Internet
I really hope that broadband providers do not completely embrace the pay as you go idea for internet bandwidth usage. In the states it seems to be gaining traction, and in Europe I am not entirely sure what the current status is, they may already be on that sort of sliding usage rate scale. The basic idea behind it is that for those who play online games or those who download a lot of things, they would be charged at a higher rate do to their usage of the bandwidth. It really doesn’t make much sense to me, the only thing it really has going for it is the greed factor, and that only works if you are one of those who would benefit financially by that type of rate change. In other words, those who work for a broadband company could see benefit, of course it probably would only be the ones who ran things, not those who actually did things. If they did that would it be the same for the home user and their ISP? What about business broadband providers, how would businesses deal with that kind of bill increase, especially in these times? One would hope, that just like the current credit card issues, that people would have an alternate choice for their service.
If one company decides to run with this type of rate structure then the company that didn’t would have many converts. I know that if I had the choice of a company who charges on usage and one who charges the regular way, I would boycott, spit at and campaign against the company that tried to charge by usage. A 2mb leased line provider would be nice for some, but not if their where other charges involved depending upon usage. I wonder how that would affect those who provided hosting service.
Tags: charges, rates, stupid charges, usage charge
Filed under: house
I was out wandering around earlier, walking if you must know. Trying to get some actual physical exercise and I came across some houses, not on real estate forums but physically. Alright, I didn’t just ‘come across’ them, I have been keeping an eye on them. Property prices are more or less good now for the buyer and the houses look pretty good, and the location is nice. They are both in housing developments which I am not too fond of, but they do have some redeeming features. The really big thing is that they are both corner lots. The one is fairly big; it has four or five bedrooms and a very nice open kitchen plan. The backyard is nothing to really speak of but inside looks quite nice, at least from the brochure. The house also has a couple of fire places, which is really nice as it can get fairly cold here. The other house is in a better location, I think. However, it is not as big as the other.
One reason I like it is because it only has neighbors on two sides. The other sides are covered by a big stone wall and a street. The backyard from what I can see is also a lot bigger than the backyard of the first house. The inside, from the brochure, looked pretty good as well. The only problem I am seeing is that the prices are still a bit high, I think the owners for both were looking for a quick house sale but the price on the second house has dropped a couple of times recently, so hoping it gets down into the range I am interested in. Then might have to seriously consider it, and I am trying to keep abreast of general property news. There are of course more things that would have to be taken into consideration, but overall just from what I have seen by walking around both places and the brochures they have I am finding that the second house is more to my liking. Mainly because of the location and the wall, it gives a bit more of a feeling of privacy.
Tags: house search, houses, prices, property
Filed under: Internet
Finally, my business is up and running, in the starting stages. I’ve still got a few things to iron out but most of it is ready to go. I need a very good internet connection for business so that is one of the things I am still thinking about. I may have mentioned it before, who knows. Things kind of all get jumbled together after a certain age or certain number of long nights. Depending where you are there are more than a couple of broadband companies to choose from. It seems to be more of a pain than I thought it would be. Trying to figure out what means what and whether I need leased line providers or some other thing I have yet to hear of. There seems to be a lot of stuff to learn, if you want to make and educated decision and not just go off of what the salesperson is telling you. My first thought there, is that it could be a big mistake to trust a salesperson. I am sure most are perfectly honest, but their job is to sell you something. If they need repeat customers you are probably good.
It can be difficult to choose amongst the available companies, of course, depending on the business SDSL availability you might find your choice to be an easy one. Otherwise I am trying to just find out as much information about each company as I can. Basically, just Googling. Checking for reviews of each company and of course the all important price factor. Although, to be honest, I find that while price is certainly a factor, quality comes first. Quality of service, which includes stability of the line is truly essential for a business. I think many regular users probably figure it is really important for home use too.
Tags: broadband, business, leased lines, rates
Filed under: Comm
The security, surveillance stuff from yesterday is still on my mind. I was thinking that will all the stuff available you could really have your own personal surveillance society set up at home. You could pick up a CCTV system for home and record everything you do, although I don’t really see the point on that one. I can see it for security purposes, sure, but if you did I know I would want a closed system. Mainly cause if you are connected to anything then you have to deal with people hacking into your cameras and watching you, also the premise of a few movies. I wonder how they deal with that in Britain, is it something they have problems with. Can you imagine, with all the cameras they supposedly have around? I wonder if they are all connected and feeding to a central database or repository. They might even have issues with people watching their cameras and not know it. Then again you have cameras that people are supposed to watch, most of the traffic cameras in the states are accessible to the public so they can take a look at conditions themselves. Then there is also the Google camera stuff, although it is not current. There are a lot of other cameras available though, tourist cameras and summit cameras and cameras like that.
Following that line of thought, how secure are the security companies that provide monitoring and recording services? I assume they probably have to be fairly secure because they could be liable for any problems with their services. It is an interesting thought, I wonder how many actually take that into consideration when picking a security system for their homes. I think that would really be more of a problem than the cameras all over Britain or the ones in the United States. Most of those are in public places so you really wouldn’t be seeing much you couldn’t see by sitting in a roadside café and watching the people go by.
Tags: camera weakness, closed circuit, security, security camera
Filed under: Comm
Anybody not used to being watched should probably get used to it, at least to a point. I recently came across an article about the surveillance in the United States and I know that Britain is already general considered a surveillance society. CCTV is big all over, but has been picking up in the states, while as I understand it, in Britain it is a given that anything you do is being recorded. Although, I don’t honestly know if it is truly that bad yet. It certainly seems like it from the news stories and stuff you see. I am not really bothered by it that much. If people want to watch that is fine, it is just the other side of it that is a bit scary. If you can have the surveillance society without the police state I think that would not be a problem for most people. The problem is that when you move into being a surveillance society it seems like the police state tends to follow, whether it is immediately or slowly grown on people so that they accept it as normal. As an example, after a certain point everyone being subject to call recording becomes just something that happens, and not something anyone thinks about.
That all makes a person think about the novels and movies that depict that kind of society. Just due to the way people are you really have to accept a certain degree of danger and instability in your society to have freedom and avoid a police state. The funny thing is that, again, just due to the way people are if you do have a surveillance society and police state you will still have the danger, because no matter how hard a society tries to change it. People are different and therefore will only put up with certain restrictions before they choose to rebel. It comes from the teenage years, I think. Who hasn’t rebelled when they were a kid? It’s like a boiling kettle, too much heat or control and it explodes, but not enough heat or control and things also fall apart.
Tags: being watched, cameras, cctv, survellance
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