Casey's Rants

The EeePC and Jolicloud.

2010-05-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been using my EeePC 900A (made by Asus, and pretty damn nice for the damn low price) a lot. I used to just figure I had no choice but to use excruciatingly low-resource programs. Well, I was wrong. Jolicloud showed me that, but any O/S can do the same thing with a couple basic tools.

I like to think of cloud computing as being very similar to a simple server/client network setup. Calculations and processing is done at the server end, while the client gets the output, and gives input. Change that server to a "cloud" of virtual servers out there on the internet, and you get cloud computing, which generally involves storage and apps.

Right now, I'm writing this post in "My Writing Nook," which is on the Jolicloud desktop. I know it's just a website, and I know it would stop running if I didn't have an internet connection. I'm reminded of that especially when I look at the paypal "donate" button in the lower right corner. Aside from knowing already, and that button, this is a desktop app. And a very nice one for blogging, I must say!

I've always been one to enjoy accessing the same information through different means, so the whole cloud architecture works well for me. Also, the economic benefits of an ultra-low-power computer like the EeePC work hand in hand with cloud computing. I like Jolicloud.

Baby with the Bathwater?

2010-05-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

Ever heard the phrase, "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"? Of course you have. But, sometimes it's very hard to tell the where the baby begins, and the bathwater ends. What makes it harder, is if the baby's been in that bathwater for too long.

Read on to find out what a baby, the bathwater, religion, drugs, and Santa Clause all have in common. This one's about the Truth.

The first time you were lied to, it was probably by your parents. Parents lie. The easter bunny, santa, god, or maybe something else. Eventually, you found out. Do you remember how you behaved? How you reacted? Did you believe anything else they had told you? Did you easily know what to believe or not, anymore? My guess is that you had a hard time figuring out what the "baby" was, and what the "bathwater" was. Life continues on that way, for most.

Church is the next culprit, for many. Among all the wonderful lessons your religion teaches, come lies. Not necessarily "lies," per-say, but not an accurate history. The church claims that their own mythological version of reality is simply and unquestionably true. When you find out one day that there isn't literally a big powerful man in the sky telling people rules, you just might decide that the lessons were just as meaningless as the histories. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater, some would say. In those shoes, can you honestly say you would know what is what?

Drug Awareness and Resistance Education (DARE) - all in all, a good idea in most books. A strong knowledge of how substances affect the body and mind should give kids the tools they need to make critical decisions. Unfortunately, we like to tell kids "If you ever touch marijuana, you will die!" alongside the other, more credible warnings. That's pretty obviously bathwater. The problem comes when the line is a bit more blurry. "If you ever touch heroin, you will be an addict for life, and you will die. And get AIDS." Well, do you really think that's true? It generally is not! But do you really want to defend heroin? After being handed so many other societal lies by the time these issues come to light, it's easy to see why people don't really know what to believe.

I've spent most of my life trying to develop my very own moral compass, and my very own sense of truth. I, like most, am struggling.

Where does your sense of truth come from? Answers welcome in comments!

Who I am, and why minimum wage is too high.

2010-05-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hello!

My name is Casey J Parker. I often find myself ranting to friends and family, and, despite how much they claim not to mind, I'm pretty sure they mind. Naturally, the only intelligent thing to do is to take my ranting and raving to the public! This is the first of many.

Economy

Most of the people I have come into contact with over my short lifetime have thoroughly misunderstood the way that an economy works. Due to the misconceptions they carry, folks often voice complaints that simply make no sense. Case-in-point, not too long ago I heard somebody in a minimum-wage job complain about the wage. That's not so wrong, is it? Well, they weren't complaining about their specific wage, but the minimum wage. That person wanted the minimum wage raised, so that their own wage would be forced to raise to the new minimum.

I had to break it down, and here it is:

Money, and money. They seem the same, but they are not. In this situation, I will use "Money" to mean real resources, and "money" to mean paper monies. There is enough Money. People get very scared when they hear "recession" or "economic downturn." The ironic part is that the fear of a bad economy causes a bad economy. The money is fine, and the Money is fine as well. What is wrong with the economy is that the scared people aren't making the money move. I will use McDonald's as an example:

Friendly neighborhood McDonald's restaurant is the one and only company in operation here in miniature Earth. The economy is based on the Hamburger. Everyone goes to work when they turn 16 at McDonald's, making $1 per hour, mini-Earth's minimum wage. Eventually, after many years, they do get raises, and by the time they are supporting their own teenagers, they make $30 per hour. For some reason, people begin to get upset and impatient. They try too early to start families, and to support those families on their $1 per hour job. They have to take two jobs just to make ends meet ... of course, they don't realize that means their neighbor's 16 year old now can't get that $1 hour job to start his life with. That one doesn't spend any money at McDonald's because he doesn't have it. The 20 year old with two jobs trying to support a family has taken his job, and is also hoarding money in order to some day buy a house. Unfortunately, McDonald's was working with profit projections that assumed that money would be spent on their hamburgers, and it wasn't. McDonald's was forced to downsize. Becoming worried about this new "bad economy" of the downsizing McDonald's, the 20 year old campaigns for a higher minimum wage, so that he doesn't go broke with his two minimum wage jobs. The state bends, and raises that minimum wage. Now, it's $2 an hour ... however, the $0.50 hamburger is now $1.00.

The point is, you can't live on minimum wage, and it's not meant for that. Those of you, the public, who are attempting to do that, need to get some roommates, and slow down. You have to build up to a good job, with good pay. Or, maybe get some education, or make yourself worth more. The problem is that this economy is based on the minimum wage. A higher minimum wage means a higher cost of living, and, in the end, there is just less "Money," and more "money" to represent it. The people at the bottom starve, and those at the top have massively inflated fortunes. They don't spend that fortune once they hear the words "bad economy," and they drive it lower. Less money moving from person to person, means worse economy, means less money moving. It will go on like this until people understand the cycle, and break it.

Minimum wage not enough for you? Get a better job, or ask for a raise. Cost of living wage increases are the same false raise. The low needs to stay low, to keep the cost of living low, and keep prices in general low enough to encourage buying. I buy from you, you buy bread from the baker, the baker gets I.T. support from me, I buy an item from you. But, if I buy from you, and you buy bread from the baker, and the paranoid baker decides he's going to be a miser and save all of his money under his mattress ... well, that money essentially disappears.

So, still expecting Obama to "fix the economy"? Still wanting a higher minimum wage so that you can feel like you make more, while having less value?

Those of you with money - spend it. Those of you with multiple jobs, lose one, and get a roommate. Those of you making minimum wage - increase your own value, and get paid more. Leave the minimum wage low, and no hoarding. As long as none of us fear, there will be nothing to fear. Buy local, people! Support your local economies, and we'll all get through things just fine.

If you have something to say, sound off in the comments!