PhoneBoy Says

This is only a test. It's a system I may have to use very soon if the weather forecasts are right, though.

A well known person in the VoIP by the name of Jeff Pulver started a game of blog tag as a sort of "virtual cocktail party." This made it's way around my blog circle and eventually hit me. I responded to this game on my other blog, but I figured it might be a fun game to start on Vox as well.

The basic idea is to post five things that other people online might not know about you and then "tag" five other people to do the same. Seems silly, I know, but hey, why not. I will start things off by reposting my list from my other blog:

1. Right out of college, I did IT for a now-defunct company thatemployed recruiters who sold both internal and external candidates intovarious IT jobs. I myself was "whored out," as I lovingly called it,into a company that I ultimately ended up working for doing a job Inever thought I'd do--phone support.
2. My hyphenated last name was the result of me losing a best3-out-of-5 coin toss with my wife. No, her name isn't hyphenated andthe kids have her last name.
3. I am originally from Santa Cruz, California. Aside from the fouryears I moved to Hawaii and went to high school, I lived in the BayArea until 1998. After that, I moved to Washington state where I havelived in both Spokane and the Greater Seattle area--rather opposite interms of geography and politics. Despite having lived outside of theBay Area for nearly a decade now, I have managed to remain employed bycompanies with a Bay Area office and been able to work from home allthat time. I consider myself lucky.
4. My online history goes back 2 decades. I first got online in 1986using a 300 baud acoustic coupler modem hooked up to an old Apple ][+.In fact, that acoustic coupler used to respond in kind when I playedHardball! and a few other games. The handle I had back then: KC,sometimes KC Smith if I needed more characters or a last name. 10 yearsago, PhoneBoy became the handle of choice.
5. I earned my first dollar singing on stage with my fatherwhen I was three. I did try and experiment with a guitar and piano whenI was a little older, but unlike my father and many other geeks, Ididn't seem to have the musical aptitude and/or didn't feel likeworking at it enough to get anywhere with it. Although, to this day,when presented with a piano, I try and play a few songs that I haven'tseen sheet music for, yet manage to work out the melody for. Maybethere is something there…

Now the question is: who to tag. Let's just pick from my neighborhood: Jamie, ilias, tndaisy1960, Leo Laporte, TechZilla. Consider yourselves tagged. Spread the word. I'd love to see how far this goes on Vox.

Gerbil tubes for kids.

You'll be missed.

A little farther from here…

While Mr. Blog says the two-party system is dead, I think it's a bit more simplistic than that. We simply voted the in-party power out of office.

The fact is, the only parties 95% of the people know about or care about in the US are the two "major" parties: Republicans and Democrats. If they are lucky enough to see someone from a different party in a particular race, most don't even consider there might be a viable alternative. And, really, the two major parties look more and more similar as they polarize in opposite directions. Extremity either way just looks extreme.

When I actually try and read the voters pamphlet and understand what each candidate in each race stands for, my head spins. Almost all the candidates, with some exceptions, say at least one thing I agree with. And it's not just one race, it's lots of races. How can the average person be expected to sort through this quagmire to try and intelligently pick a candidate?

To try and simplify things, people pick or two issues to help put thecandidates in buckets. It's a label kind of like Republican andDemocrat. My voting strategy doesn't follow this methodology, but is still fairly simple:

1. Vote for a third party candidate, if available. Libertarians get priority mainly because my ideology fits theirs best.
2. Vote against the incumbent, regardless of party.
3. If no incumbent and no third-party candidate, read voters pamphlet and make one.

My strategy means I don't have to spend a lot of time thinking about voting. My main motivation: keep the door revolving so we get new people and fresh ideas infused into the process.

And really, that's what this past election was about. Not about killing the two-party process, though if it ultimately does kill the two-party process, I'm all for it.

She'll like this game more when she's taller.

Looks bad, but Jaden denies this one.

My kids are entertained. Yay! Taken from Nokia N73 and posted via LifeBlog. Wish Nokia would support more blog platforms.

I can't say that all manufactured bands suck. After all, I love the Monkees and we all know they were originally a manufactured group. Of course, they fought for control over their musical destiny and became a proper band of their own. They also raised attention to the fact that a lot of popular acts of the 1960s used studio musicians just like they did.

This video clip shows how shockingly easy it is to make a pop star.

How to Create a Sexy Pop Star