Lost in the Translation on Facebook

I've been on Facebook a bit more than I have in the past, which means things that have ticked people off for years, or maybe recent changes that haven't been great for everyone, is pretty much lost on me.

Basically I'm seeing the stupid stuff pretty much with fresh eyes.

I've managed to get out of the bazillion game requests. A few still pop up from time to time, but it is manageable. What I'm noticing now is just the dumbest of things.....like this (I assume paid for) offer from Bing to translate my friend's post. Evidently "Wheee!" is a foreign language.....

.....a language that Bing doesn't know anyway. Thanks?

My Crap-O-Meter Was Pegged by a "Friend"

[Author Note]I don't really expect a whole lot of attention to this post, but please realize this is being written for me, not for you. I've been bothered as of late about a situation that has been ongoing and I have a need to vent that isn't going to degrade into a shouting match with my wife, who has absolutely no horse in this race other than the misfortune of living with me.[/Note]

Fun Finding Work (Week 148)

Since I've been out of work....for far too long, I've almost gotten used to a bunch of absurdity when it comes to applying for work. Jobs that don't really exist, employers who are only going to hire internal applicants, not finding out about your application even after you've interviewed, I've about seen it all.

I've even seen being notified with regards to an interviewed position when the workplace said they'd send out notifications!

Last week I got a peculiar email from the Department of Human Resources regarding an application I made for an open position. Evidently they scored my application a perfect 100 (probably also counting Veteran's Preference Points) but they wondered how I was able to answer the questions the way I did when they read my resume.

Ok, no problem......they have some questions...I should be able to deal with this, but I can't. See the thing is most DHR applications have an exam where you get a couple thousand characters to give a response to a specific question. This application was a simple choose options A through D kind of exam. Still, this shouldn't be a problem for me to back up my responses, but......and this is a big but....I'm not allowed to supply any new information in order to be "fair" to the other applicants.

Wait...what? How can I give you clarifying information without giving you more information? This is oxymoronic on its surface. I have until October 3rd to not give them additional information before they (obviously) just flag me as a fail on this application (and hopefully nothing else).

I respond to their email asking how I am supposed to comply and today I get a response that I'm supposed to update my system resume. The problem with doing this is that the system resume is a "generic" resume. It even states it right on the application, "This is a general resume applied to any position. If you modify it, that change is for all positions. It is not position specific."

Hmm....I have open applications in the system....and I do plan on applying for more positions with the State. By changing my generic resume to a position-specific resume I'm basically agreeing to not look for other work...and I'm getting interviews for at least one of those open applications.

Basically, as I see it, the DHR application process, for this position at least, is fundamentally flawed.

2013.10.11 Edit
I just got an email saying this job posting announcement had been cancelled.....so all of this headache for nothing.

iOS 7 Music Even More Messed Up Than Imagined (ie. Still Sucks Balls)

I'm getting to a point where I may just go ahead and do away with iTunes for my laptop and use an alternate music manager for my iPad.

I know a lot of people have better alternatives to iTunes, but for me it was a matter of something simple that worked. Now with iOS7 it is neither simple or working.

This morning when I "upgraded" to the knew OS I was "gifted" with a bunch of music that I didn't want and cannot get rid of. I've tried finding the music in iTunes (not there), searching my laptop's music directory (nope), and even went so far as to see if telling iTunes not to sync music and then re-syncing would help (you guessed it). The last bit was kind of comical because I get a warning that "Are you sure you do not want to sync music? All existing songs and playlists on the iPad 'Christopher's iPad' will be removed."

YES FOR THE LOVE OF PETE YES! GET RID OF EVERYTHING AND LET ME HAVE MY OWN ^%^&%@$#! MUSIC! Of course choosing this option does absolutely nothing....all my music and all of the "bonus" music is still on the iPad.

Now I've checked online to find nothing about this "bonus" music. I even checked my iCloud account, which I don't use, and there isn't even a spot for music there. This occurred to me because all of these freebie songs show some icon that I have to presume is "download from the cloud".

Wait a second.....I remember seeing something in the settings that is related.....there is a "Show All Music" switch. The notation shows that when on "all music that has been downloaded or that is stored in iCloud will be shown."

Well.....I couldn't find squat for music in my iCloud account.......not even a placeholder.

I just went ahead and deleted my iCloud account since I wasn't using it for anything.....and that didn't fix the problem.

Ok, back to this "Show All Music" switch. When switched "on" this is my album listing:

Ok.....nothing has changed. Not really unexpected since this was the default setting. I did delete my iCloud account so these "bonus" songs should be on my iPad....but they still show the download from cloud icon and they don't show up in iTunes....


















Now let's see what happens when I turn the switch to "off":

Well, some of these bonus songs are missing....along with my entire fricken library! The only songs left are some of the unwanted songs! Seriously?!! WTF?

I didn't buy these songs and I didn't download them to my iPad.

I thought maybe they only mean "purchased" music instead of "downloaded", but there are four or five songs I purchased straight through iTunes and not one of them shows up.

What I have going on right now is a device that has items on it I didn't ask for and cannot get rid of. I cannot even use iTunes to get rid of the items I do want, so it looks like, at best, is that I can add new items to the iPad (verified I can still add items), but that is it.

At this point I don't even know if a third-party music manager would work unless it can take out the stuff already on the iPad.

Maybe this is just me.....but last I checked Apple is kind of a big company. Don't they have people to alpha and beta test these things?

Paraskevidekatriaphobic

Call me when tomorrow was here.

I was much happier until I realized what day it was......

Empty Promises to at Least This Veteran

I just have no freakin idea who is in charge of the mess that is the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), but I'm thinking it was one of those initiative intended to make people feel good and not really intending to actually help veterans.

I spent time & money attending school towards a "high-demand" occupation. I graduated last May and you know how many of these "high demand" jobs I've seen come up in this field? One....well technically two, but one required a Masters Degree and a bunch of experience.

Now the whole idea behind VRAP is giving unemployed Veterans help & opportunity for employment. I just wonder how they intend to actually accomplish this task. Today, more than three months after graduating I receive my first contact from the Department of Labor.....the Dept. "in charge" of VRAP:

June 20, 20131

Dear Christopher Stogdill,

Thank you for participating in the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP).

We at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would like to take this opportunity to wish you well as you begin your job search2 for the high demand occupation of General and Operations Managers3.  We would also like to inform you that as you begin your career search, you are not alone4.  DOL supports nearly 2,800 American Job Centers, sometimes known as One-Stop Career Centers, across the country that can provide you with high quality career services at no cost to you.

Whether you are looking to explore new opportunities, update your resume featuring VRAP training, receive tips on interviewing techniques and preparing cover letters, find out more information about salaries and benefits in various occupations, or receive assistance with your job search, American Job Centers are ready to provide you the career services you want!  In addition, your military service entitles you to Veterans’ priority of service in all of our American Job Centers!

To find out more about the services available at American Job Centers and to search your state’s job bank we encourage you to visit, http://www.careeronestop.org/.  To find the American Job Center nearest you please visit, http://www.servicelocator.org/ where you will be able to find the nearest American Job Center location by entering your zip code or city and state. Also, visit DOL personnel collocated at your local VA Benefits Regional Office. To find the Regional Office nearest you please visit, http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp.

Again we want to thank you for your participation in VRAP, and encourage you to take advantage of all the career services currently available at your nearest American Job Center.  An American Job Center staff member will be in contact with you to offer assistance and help you achieve your career goals.

Sincerely,

The US Department of Labor

1) June 20th?! Still a whole month after I graduated. Some help then would have been useful......
2) "As I begin my job search"? If I didn't need the help this would all be a moot point.
3) Umm.....while I have a degree and experience in that field, that isn't the one I entered VRAP for.
4) I've been alone so far........ 

Managed to "Save" $100 Today

Image Courtesy of iStock Photo

I'm somewhat fortunate and unlucky today.

Starting from the top today someone who I can, at best, speculate as an individual requiring some level of mental heath care, decided that all of his personal problems trying to relate to others within a small hobby community are all my fault.

I have had no interaction with this individual for months now, and have had severely diminished interaction with those he's currently feuding with.

Have You Seen Your Online Reputation?

For a couple of years I have had to put up with this individual attacking me, privately and publicly, all the while claiming to be the victim. I'm strongly reminded of my childhood where my little brother liked to shout "MOM!" right before striking me. Of course he had great timing and my mother would invariably just come around the corner around the time I finally get my hands on him.

My brother had a few other tricks up his sleeve, as does this guy.

I've been PO'd, gotten angry, felt sorry for this guy....you name it. If it were possible to share the full, detailed & documented history here, I'm willing to be most of you 12 readers would agree, "That boy ain't right". Part of my problem is that while his railing and rallying on about the grave injustices he's imagined have been made public, the truth of these matters has consistently been kept private.

Fast forward three months and now, all of a sudden, there is a HUGE blog post from the guy where he   names me, repeatedly, and decides to attribute all of his personal problems as stemming from me. The whole post is a piece of fiction that I found depressing and amusing at the same time. Normally I'd not really care but the only truth to the long post I could find were the proper nouns used.

Anybody wanting to look for work these days needs to be mindful of their online reputation. This huge piece of defamatory fiction was too much. My only course of action would be to sue this blog author for libel, a suit I was all-but guaranteed to win. I'd have to take this action because the only way to get Google to remove defamatory content is to provide a court judgment proving libel.

Luckily someone was able to convince this guy to remove my name, which saves me a Benjamin in filing fees. It is a bit back-handed, but that was my good news today.

Hazing Incident Shows Escalating Creep of Bullying

I remember, back in the day, when "hazing" was little more than a few stupid pranks, like sending the new guy for map rectangles or making him change the winter air out of the tires and put in the summer air.

It seems like over the years hazing has just become another term for bullying, but this time you bully people that you like?

A slow and steady escalation of hazing BS over the years has finally come to a head. There are a couple safe for work, but disturbing, pictures that I'll post after the break. If you come in straight to this article there isn't much I can do.

Something for Nothing...

In going through my Twitter feed I was reminded about what I found to be a humorous, if not pathetic, attempt by someone to get some free work out of me.

Randall Milholland (@choochoobear) is a webcomic I have been following for years. At times he seems a bit "out there", but I think most of us are, some just do a worse job of hiding this fact.

This morning he went on a bit of a rant about what people expect regarding artists contributions:

Furniture Row EPIC FAIL: Flag Desecration

Yesterday I happened to drive by the East side of the mall, something I don't do very often. Usually I'm driving to the mall or somewhere near the mall that requires me to pass by the West side, but today I took the seldom-used route that I avoid because of a couple of intersections near Furniture Row, a collection of four furniture stores under one roof.

As I'm driving by, passing underneath the overpass, my attention is drawn to a HUGE US flag being flown by Furniture row. It's a pretty big flag and unfortunately it catches my attention because it is in pretty poor shape. The flag appeared dirty and more than worn. Usually when I see a flag that sorely needs to be retired it has simply frayed at the end, a common cause for a flag's retirement. This flag was so much worse. It had two extremely large holes at the top end of the flag and it was dirty. This flag need to be replaced and it should not be flown in its current condition.

Picture Taken May 23rd, 2013

I realize that a lot of things can really piss me off, but flying a soiled and sundered flag is decently
high on that list. The fact that it is being used as a promotional tool for an upcoming sale is inexcusable.

I've written an email to the company through their customer website form, but I doubt it'll do any good. I need to figure out how to kick this up a notch.

Not Feeling So Well

It is finals week and I still have two tests and a project to finish up by this Friday. I was all set to get the one take-home test and my project done this weekend, specifically Sunday, when I had an almost literal kick in the teeth.

A toothache started up Friday and was pretty benign until Sunday. Since I had stayed up until 3 AM on Thursday and got up at 7 on Friday I just assumed I did something stupid like sleep on my face. I tend to get really loopy when I'm sleep deprived and dumber things have happened. My lip was swollen just a tad so it made sense and I assumed hoped it'd just go away....

.....but it didn't. Yesterday I was a near vegetable just trying to keep from extracting the painful tooth on my own. Carolyn was at work and I wasn't willing to go to an emergency dentist. All I wanted to do is suffer as little as possible until I could see my dentist. A few drinks in me combined with as-close-to Ranger Candy as possible only went so far. Soaking a cotton ball in vodka and sticking it in like a wad of chew helped a bit more. Only when Carolyn came home with some Oral Gel did things ease up enough so I could sleep.

There was no way I was good enough to work on my test or school project. To put things in perspective, I had the TV on yesterday showing my Xbox Live home screen....for 9 hours. I didn't flip it over to Netflix or play a game until after 10 PM when I was finally a bit on the buzzed side.

I'm sure I was a joy to listen to when calling home for Mother's Day.

We were at the dentist office just after they opened at 7 AM. I have an infection all right, but they want me to see someone who specializes in dealing with root canals. My appointment is at 3:30 PM today. Ugh.

At least I got a script for some antibiotics and pain meds. The bad part then was my pharmacist doesn't open up until 9 AM and while I know we have a 24 hr pharmacy or two in town, I have no idea where it is at. We'd probably spend just as much time driving to it and back as we would just waiting for the local pharmacy to open. Carolyn and I got to go out and eat breakfast together, which was a nice (albeit painful) treat.

It took far too long, but at least I'm safe at home in the process of being doped up. At this point I'm just waiting for the "good stuff" to kick in and hope it doesn't turn me into a zombie like it did last time. I had oxycontin last time and made sure the dentist new about my reaction, so this stuff is dialed back a notch.

If I'm lucky the drugs and the next dentist visit will do the trick and I can get back to my school work and real blog posts.

Dude!!! I Want That...

Now I know that I have too much crap as it is, but when I come across this website I am amazed at how much more crap I'd like to have.

The appropriately name DUDE!!! I WANT THAT... website is filled with links to cool products available on Amazon and Etsy, as well as just some general designs.

If nothing else, this site is good for a few laughs, some head shaking, and some "why didn't I think of that?"

I'm trying to finish up some homework and a special project that is use on Monday and the end of the month, respectively.  Hopefully I'll have a few things to share (about the projects) next week.

Peepoo

I'm not trying to be childish with this post, much less the title.  The Peepoo is a real problem solver designed to reduce diseases and convert waste to a usable product.  Designed by Peepoople, a Swedish company, this simple little product can be a life-saver in parts of the world that do not have adequate waste treatment facilities.

I actually wish this was available as a product here in the US.  Mark it up a couple hundred percent and use the profits to expand into the much-needed markets.  This would make a great item for survival kits, campers, disaster relief.....I know I'd keep a few around as part of a 72 hour survival kit.

I think the world needs more good ideas like this.

Peepoo Introduction from Peepoople on Vimeo.

When is enough...enough?

When is enough...enough?

I've been asking myself that quite a bit today as I fight off a massive headache caused by my self-appointed nemesis.  Over a significant portion of the last decade I have spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless man-hours helping support a game I really enjoyed and the company that produces it.

I don't know how many thousands of air miles I've flown taking at least two trips per year to attend game conventions or even just playtest materials.  Writing convention adventures and then running them because nobody else stepped up is one thing.  Paying to have this "privilege" is quite another.  I haven't done it to get a pat on the back (although that's happened), but I do it because I can.

I've enjoyed the friendships I've made over the years on the company forums and at these conventions.  We've vacationed with other forum members, attended a wedding, and come to think of many of them as good friends.

Unfortunately for me, I've been bullied by one particular forum member who has gotten away with it for a year now, mostly by claiming that he was the victim of bullying.....by me.  There has been a lot more to it, but the basic point is that these people I've come to consider my friends have allowed it to happen.  I get that there is a certain level of "put on your big-boy pants" and soldier on, but you can only hear that this is "the last time" so many times.

Things are not going to change and it is stupid for me to expect change to come from outside.  Change must come from within.

The "Luxury" of Living So Far From Home

Usually I have the luxury of living 1247 miles (as the crow flies) away from my family.  My wife's family lives here in Boise, but fortunately for me their concept of "family drama" is pretty much non-existent.

Her family is practically tiny.  They could easily sit at the "kiddie table" and one of my family's holiday dinners.  I'm one of the "lucky" children of divorce so I generally halve two halves of a family to contend with.  If you aren't familiar this this arrangement, let me assure you that in family math two halves add up to much more than a whole (1/2 + 1/2 > 1).

Why So Butthurt?

Image © John Kelly Green

I've been absent on this blog largely due to some spectacular drama elsewhere on the interwebs.

I volunteer for a company and part of this volunteering consists of helping moderate their online forums.  For over a year now an individual poster has been endearing himself to everyone as a "victim" of alleged abuse at the hands of a particular moderator.....me.

My actions have been gone over by my fellow moderators, the forum admins, and even the owners of the company.  My actions have been logged & recorded for posterity.  The problem is that the assorted private messages, emails, and Facebook posts from my semi-pro "victim" have not.

On Valentines Day I was yet again accused of being a "heavy-handed" moderator "out to get" my victim, based on the following moderator post from the night before:

Before I have to start dealing with complaints I would like to remind everyone that this is a family-friendly forum. Refrain from sexual innuendo in your posts.

I would recommend editing any posts containing said innuendo ASAP.

It is important to note that while I did not mention any names or point out any individual posts, my "victim" changed his post less than 10' later.

Needless to say, there was a flurry of private messages and emails from butthurt folks siding with my "victim" and saying they are leaving the forum.  The problem is that while all my actions have been documented, they've been documented in a restricted-access area so only the moderators know what has been going on for the previous year.

The rest of the forum members get to enjoy my "victim's" machinations.  He ended up getting a three-day vacation from a combination of his actions over the last week.  These forums use an infraction point system and he racked up enough points for a temporary ban....points not issued by me.

Now he's posting long allegorical Facebook posts and sending emails threatening to "moderate" me.  I'm hoping that the forums will become a little more transparent on disciplinary actions taken so the community at large can see the whole picture and not just the "victims" side of things.

Also....."butthurt" is my word of the week.  My wife is already getting sick of me working it into conversation wherever humanely possible.

Looks like Gearbox Shipped a Stinker

I don't know if you've heard lately, but Gearbox Software's new FPS Aliens: Colonial Marines pretty much blows chunks.

All I can say is I'm glad I didn't shell out $59.99 for this game.  I had  briefly considered it......my wife asked me if I wanted it, but there were two factors that made me pass for now:
     1) Gearbox didn't endear themselves to me with how they treated Borderlands 2 players.
     2) It seemed like Left 4 Dead, but instead of survivors and zombies it was Colonial Marines and Aliens.  Valve made a great game, why would I want to play another flavor of it?

California Legislators Need a Vocabulary Lesson!

Believe it or not I'm not a huge 2nd Amendment guy.  I believe in the 2nd Amendment but I think there is a reasonable limit on what should be allowable for the general public.  I'd argue that we already have some reasonable limits, but I am open to the idea that we could have some open an honest dialogue regarding the issue of gun control.

While I'm at it I've been on record before and I'll be so again in stating that the issue of gun control is much more than making up some laws that make people feel good at night.  For the most part gun control laws only affect those that intend to follow the law.  I think the first thing we need to to is realize that firearms are useful tools and the first part of gun control is appropriate firearms education.

The problem I'm seeing is that we have legislators and lobbyists knee-jerking and trying to legislate from a position of emotion and, quite frankly, stupidity.  Please take a look at Illinois, the President's "home" state, Chicago in particular.  No one denies that gun violence in Chicago is horrible, but too many people seem to gloss over that Illinois & Chicago have a metric butt-load of firearm legislation. All those laws don't seem to do much to dissuade the violence, which really makes me wonder what they are there for.  I have to assume, in part to the state's terrible prison overcrowding issues, that the legislation is there to punish people after the fact.  Good to know that you cannot carry a gun to defend yourself, but your assailant will get some extra time for using one against you.

Ok, that may or may not be a cheap shot.  I'm just telling it as I see it.  That is the beauty of my blog in that I get to do that.  I enjoy calling people out on stupid shit.....like the Democrats in California.

The Associated Press reported nearly a day ago (read it here or here) that the Democrats in California want to one-up New York in a bid to have the toughest gun control laws.  It appears that the needs of their citizens isn't the driving force so much as the need to be on top...or the bottom depending on your point of view.

Hey, legislators legislate....it is what they do.  I just personally think they should have a fricken clue when doing so.  You want to prohibit certain weapons or require better background checks, fine....put it on the table and we'll discuss each measure on its own merit.  Come on, legislators are professionals, right?  We should afford them some measure of trust that they know what they are doing, even if we don't necessarily agree with their work.  That is part of the political and legislative process.

The real problem comes when you find out your legislator is a total idiot and cannot be bothered to know what he (or she...stupidity is not gender-blind) is even talking about.  If you haven't read that AP story, skip ahead to the bottom, the first sentence of the next to last paragraph.  Did you catch that?  I'll copy Don Thompson's words here:
"Other proposed measures in California would ban so-called "bullet buttons" that can be used to quickly detach and reload magazines in semi-automatic rifles"

Picture by DieselLaceDesign

"Bullet Button"?......."Bullet Button"!  I'm quite certain that every part of a firearm has a proper name.  Do you know what the barely educated call the "bullet button"?  That's right!  It's a fricken magazine release!  The overwhelming majority of firearms made today require a magazine release to load the weapon.  The only ones that don't would be those that aren't magazine fed.

Do we really need to dumb down our interactions with legislators so they can wrap their heads around what they are trying to accomplish?  I shudder to think of having to talk to an allegedly grown & educated adult in toddler speak just to make sure they don't ban my "bang-bangs".

The Naïveté of Youth

The other day Carolyn and I were eating at a local restaurant where I had the great misfortune to overhear the teen at the table behind us telling some adults (not parents...maybe Aunt & Uncle) about how swell her Exchange Student trip to Germany went and how awesome it was for her.

While I don't intend to eavesdrop I cannot help but to tune in to the sounds around me, which I attribute to old work habits.  I am getting better about tuning out crap I don't want to hear, but something about what this girl said got jammed into my ear sideways.

Unresolved Interviews

I had a couple of interviews a week and a half to two weeks ago.  In one case I was informed that I was the final interview and the other that I was the first.  In both cases the decision for the new hire or another round of interviews was to be made by the end of that week or by the next Monday "at the latest".

So basically less than a week......

....and now that another week has come and gone I'm assuming that I'm not getting either job, but it would be nice to know for sure.  While I'm not waiting by the phone and am going on with things like  continuing my online courses, it is frustrating to not be afforded some professional courtesy.