tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125374402011-09-17T01:53:44.126-05:00RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.comBlogger791100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-55202615136976297582008-05-23T15:23:00.002-05:002008-12-09T01:06:26.787-06:00

Authors Note:I actually began this post in early December of last year, shortly after the trip. Obviously, I haven't been keeping the blog up too well lately as my last post prior to this one is from July of last year, but here's this post finally, and I hope to post more regularly as this year goes along.Peggy and I enjoyed our trip down the Talimena Scenic Drive last year that we decided to do

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-74306498836681025312007-07-03T14:30:00.000-05:002008-12-09T01:06:27.619-06:00

I went on a two-day business trip to New Orleans on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. We are looking at a prepress workflow/soft proofing system and are getting serious about the systems made by Dalim. Their chief distributer/partner in the U.S. is Blanchard Systems which is based in New Orleans. After doing some research and going through an online demo with Blanchard Systems, we were

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-80418447653495516832007-06-13T15:48:00.000-05:002007-06-13T16:23:58.547-05:00

I was looking over the web site log statistics for rocketjam.com earlier this week and there's a definite draw on the site that's generating most of the traffic.I signed up for Google Analytics a few months ago and have finally got it set up to log all the site's pages. Before this, I would downloaded the raw log files provided by my site's hosting company, then run them through Analog, a log

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-10051257202349597252007-06-05T15:08:00.000-05:002007-06-05T15:16:29.355-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post here where I stated my intention to begin trying to do some writing every day, primarily on this, my original blog. This is a progress report. So far, I've not done too badly with it. I really didn't expect to get something written every day, because things come up, or, some days there's just a complete lack of inspiration. Not all my writing has been posted

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-73910037939800357372007-05-30T16:38:00.000-05:002007-05-30T16:55:34.300-05:00

The iTunes Store began selling DRM-free music from EMI's catalog today. When Steve Jobs made the announcement a couple of months ago that Apple and EMI had reached an agreement to do this, he predicted more than half the songs on iTunes would be available without DRM by the end of the year. The heads of the other three major music labels disputed Jobs' optimism on that, standing by their policy

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-25647569651359817102007-05-29T15:23:00.000-05:002007-05-29T16:08:17.829-05:00

It's no secret that when it comes to computers I'm a 'Mac guy'. I've never owned a Windows computer but I have had my share of opportunity to use Windows and I've maintained for years that I know more about Windows than the average Windows user. Of course that's not really claiming a lot, because the average Windows user really doesn't know a lot about how computers work and the role an operating

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-3508136392695807482007-05-27T10:23:00.000-05:002007-05-27T11:06:06.898-05:00

We drove down to Fort Worth yesterday to visit Peggy's sister Mickey, who has been in intensive care at a hospital there for two weeks now, because of a series of problems resulting from a problem with her diabetes. I'm writing this post from the waiting room on the third floor neuro ICU.Lyndsey and her boyfriend Jeremiah came down here with us. After we got to the hospital yesterday, we left

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1286033861934118222007-05-25T16:50:00.000-05:002007-05-25T16:57:49.804-05:00

Two days ago, I wrote a post in which I said I was going to try to begin writing something everyday, usually on this blog. And what have I written?Nothing yesterday. Well, I did make a very small post on my GNN blog, but it's a big stretch to call it writing. But wait! I have an excuse. Yesterday afternoon, when I would have written the post I had a meeting to attend where we are looking at a new

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-7783398086484787822007-05-23T08:22:00.000-05:002007-05-23T16:12:11.037-05:00

The Low End Mac website recently ran an interview with Chicago Sun-Times tech writer Andy Ihnatko. Andy Ihnatko has been a staple in the Macintosh world for years, having written (or currently still writing) for publications and websites such as MacUser, MacWeek and MacWorld. He has a humorous writing style, and I've always enjoyed reading him.In the interview he said starting in Junior High

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-77517337446332621692007-05-03T14:41:00.000-05:002008-12-09T01:06:27.671-06:00

Some tasty quotes courtesy of Tom Tomorrow with interspersed snide comments from yours truly:“I will bet you the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week.”— Bill O’Reilly, Fox News Channel 1/29/03How many dinners did he buy?“There is a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shia can’t get along with the Sunni … There’s

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1799788506582839602007-04-19T16:43:00.000-05:002008-12-09T01:06:28.056-06:00

12 years ago today.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-7306461740570916122007-04-18T16:31:00.000-05:002008-12-09T01:06:28.236-06:00

I found this a bit surprising when viewing my rocketjam.com website's stats thru Google's Analytics service.You can click on the picture to see the full sized screenshot.Of the people visiting the site who use Macs, 55% are using Intel Macs (which have only been on the market for about a year now) versus almost 45% using PowerPC-based machines. If the visitors to my site are representative of the

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-27309101170642930132007-03-14T12:08:00.000-05:002007-03-16T10:05:14.878-05:00

My best friend called me this morning. When he got up, he noticed his front door was ajar. When he went to check it out, he found his oldest son on the front porch, dead. He was 22 years old.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-77956674072798293622007-02-12T10:58:00.000-06:002007-04-13T10:49:45.834-05:00

Computerworld's online editorial director, Scot Finnie recently opined that the basic problem with Microsoft's new operating system Vista is Microsoft's changing focus. Finnie said, "one thing Microsoft had going for it during its rise was its exceptional customer focus. It listened to end users, as well as the press and analysts who represented them. It made decisions based on the needs of

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-30009831794346053782007-02-09T13:50:00.000-06:002007-02-07T16:56:48.133-06:00

Ben Mack's latest book, Think Two Products Ahead was published at the end of January. This book reveals branding secrets that major corporations pay big bucks for. For years, Ben worked on major corporate advertising accounts for some well-known ad agencies, imparting these secrets and how to leverage them to the agencies' corporate clients.But Ben was torn. While Ben believes capitalism has

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-59397642328051340402007-02-05T10:23:00.000-06:002007-02-05T09:49:06.179-06:00

Novelist, philosopher, psychologist, anarchist/libertarian, Subgenius saint, and eternal optimist, Robert Anton Wilson died about three weeks ago on January 11. Several well-written tributes appeared on the internet in the week after Wilson's death and I'm sure I can't improve on them. However, Dr. Wilson's work had a profound influence on my perception of reality and thus, my life so I feel a

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-73539227019021700522007-01-03T15:18:00.000-06:002008-12-09T01:06:28.552-06:00

Trying to see the big picture.Is this a photo of a guy playing hacky sack?Or is it a photo of my daughter Lyndsey taking a picture of some guys playing hacky sack?The above can pretty much be carried on indefinitely. Zoom out a bit more and you have a photo of an Arts Festival with people shooting pictures and browsing artwork and entertaining themselves playing hackysack. Zoom out yet again and

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-25290597019764513242007-01-03T10:45:00.000-06:002007-01-03T10:44:47.007-06:00

I've been terribly uninspired lately when it comes to writing anything. I've not written much either here on my Blogger account or on my GNN blog. And, in my view even worse, I've not been able to make myself do any work on my personal website, Rocketjam.com for the past three or four months (at least).Sure I can come up with some excuses why this has been the case. I've been doing some layout

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-38099197792378920422006-11-24T15:20:00.000-06:002006-11-24T15:27:49.797-06:00

There's a new issue of Frequency 23's member-created zine, the Pirate Pages. Go grab the 32 page version to read on screen, or the 16 page version to print out and assemble your own hard-copy. It's got some great art, comix and writing.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1161292145274260662006-10-26T15:27:00.000-05:002006-10-26T15:28:02.806-05:00

My wedding anniversary was this past Thursday, October 19th. To celebrate, my wife and I took Thursday and Friday, the 12th and 13th off and went on a little get-away trip to southeastern Oklahoma. We wanted to take the Talimena Scenic Drive which runs through the Ouachita mountains between Talihina Oklahoma and Mena Arkansas. It is supposed to have some of the best fall foliage in the state (

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1159976335397080282006-10-04T10:04:00.000-05:002006-10-04T10:38:55.613-05:00

The tragic murders and suicide at an Amish school in the U.S. earlier this week is having at least one positive consequence. On the news this morning they said the Amish have already forgiven the murderer for his senseless act.While the Amish certainly have their own issues, the right-wing Christian movement could take some lessons from the Amish when it comes to practicing Christianity as it

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1159974174400344202006-10-04T09:54:00.000-05:002006-10-04T10:02:54.410-05:00

Well, actually it was more like "There Goes the Sun" since I captured this moment around 5:30 pm on the way from work a month or so ago. I thought it was an excellent example of crepuscular raysYou can click on the picture to see a larger, 800 x 600 pixel version of the photo.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1158506201036579912006-09-17T10:23:00.000-05:002006-09-17T10:16:41.053-05:00

It has learned that Republican party officials have already agreed on the party’s nominee for the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In a bit of a surprise, political unknown Big Brother will be their candidate.“Americans can depend on Mr. Brother to protect their freedom and keep them secure. He will continue and even expand the important programs President Bush has implemented such as the Patriot

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1153840583771624022006-07-25T10:23:00.000-05:002006-07-25T10:16:23.830-05:00

A bit of brilliant insight from the incomparable Doktor Chris Titan, over on Frequency 23's forums. Freq23 member carney said: "we can be defined by any book or leader or fucking Jesus wanna be that comes along an gain's [sic] the George Bush paid for presidency, just because we as humanoids turn this box on to get rid of all our stress, and then it tells you what to do how to look who to talk

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1152240964080586152006-07-06T21:51:00.000-05:002006-07-06T21:56:04.126-05:00

I know  the issue of DRM isn’t on a lot of people's radar, but it is one more brick in the wall that corporations and government are building together to limit consumer’s rights and choices while enhancing corporations’ opportunities for extending their income streams. Just in case you aren’t familiar with the term, DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. DRM is the code attached

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1151525960998334072006-06-28T15:27:00.000-05:002006-06-28T15:31:10.490-05:00

I first read about the Flock browser late last year. They were offering an alpha "developer's" release version for download. I downloaded it, but couldn't get much past its setup because it would crash. Then last week I saw that the browser was officially beta now with version 0.7 being offered for download, so I went ahead and gave it another try. This time I'm impressed! I haven't crashed it

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1150926169425699202006-06-21T16:51:00.000-05:002006-06-21T16:42:49.476-05:00

I ordered a new computer for the house yesterday. I've been seriously considering making a purchase this year and finally decided I could swing it. Especially since I ran across a great deal. The last two desktops we had at home were machines from work that had been replaced by newer hardware. I can't complain about that, because they were both Macs, and didn't cost me anything. Additionally,

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1150404279093285882006-06-15T15:53:00.000-05:002006-06-15T15:47:26.280-05:00

My latest favorite band is Joy Zipper. Joy Zipper is a duo consisting of boyfriend and girlfriend Vince Cafiso and Tabitha Tinsdale. Some initial recordings they made were passed around among friends and ended up in the hands of a composer/DJ who played them on his U.K. radio show. The response led to a recording deal and their initial CD was a U.K. only release. Their current release, American

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1149619975354119682006-06-06T13:52:00.000-05:002006-06-06T14:09:34.300-05:00

I failed to make mention of it when it passed, but the end of April marked the one-year anniversary of this blog. So, I'm kind of proud of myself for keeping it going. I owe Ben Mack a big thank you for being the person who gave me the push to start writing. I still don't write as much as I'd like to but I write a lot more than I did a year ago!Thanks to Ben I also opened an account and started a

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1149112277782232762006-05-31T16:06:00.000-05:002006-05-31T16:51:17.826-05:00

This past weekend was the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. For my non-American readers (both of you), Memorial Day is a holiday created to remember those who've died in military service to the country. It was originally celebrated after the American Civil War in the late 1860's. Of course, now days, it is being morphed into another consumer holiday (BIG Memorial Day SALE!!! TWO DAYS ONLY!) as all

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1147383064697642612006-05-11T16:23:00.000-05:002006-05-11T16:31:04.713-05:00

It's all we've got.Photos courtesy NASAHi-Rez versions available here.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1146606615028387752006-05-02T15:23:00.000-05:002006-05-03T15:29:19.176-05:00

In the book Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing by neurobiologist Margaret S. Livingstone, we learn the acuity of the human eye is surprisingly low. The eye's full resolution is only available in the very center of our gaze in an area slightly larger than a thumbnail and it drops off rapidly from there. The image below is an approximation of how much of a printed page is sharply in focus for us

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1146255278723742322006-04-28T15:13:00.000-05:002006-04-28T15:14:38.786-05:00

Anyone who knows me and my technological tastes well will tell you I'm big on Apple and their computers. And yes, I have to admit I've been drinking their Kool-Aid for a long time. But I do think I have a bit of objectivity that eludes real Mac fanatics who refuse to accept the possibility that Apple can make mistakes, or makes decisions contrary to their customer's best interests (fer instance,

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1145448602988062342006-04-19T07:06:00.000-05:002006-04-19T07:10:03.000-05:00

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1144687109923706392006-04-10T11:23:00.000-05:002006-04-10T11:38:30.003-05:00

The promise of America. Despite wide-spread skepticism in modern Western nations (especially European countries) freedom of religion is still important to many people in the world. I'd suggest, even if you're an atheist, it should be important to you too. If your freedom to believe in and worship God as you understand him is curtailed, your freedom to openly not believe in God could just as well

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1143744696259206082006-03-30T12:36:00.000-06:002006-03-30T12:51:36.273-06:00

Person 1: Hey, are you a dreamer?Person 2: Yeah.Person 1: I haven’t seen too many around lately. Things have been tough lately for dreamers. They say dreaming is dead, no one does it anymore.It’s not dead, it’s just that it’s been forgotton.Removed from our language.Nobody teaches it so no one knows it exists. The dreamer’s banished to obscurity.Well I’m trying to change all that and I hope you

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1143482688819435452006-03-27T11:23:00.000-06:002006-03-27T12:04:48.850-06:00

The Kleptones, a mashup group has a new "album" entitled "24". It's a free download either as individual mp3 files or they have a torrent file for the whole thing, although yesterday, the torrent wasn't working for me (and it downloaded w/the wrong file name).I downloaded the mp3s and burned a couple of CDs this morning (it's two disks worth of songs). Listened on the way to work, so I've only

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1142549968386499782006-03-16T16:49:00.000-06:002006-03-16T16:59:28.403-06:00

If the result of the 2004 U.S. presidential election was really legit, then George W. Bush pretty much won it by running on the platform that he would better protect the U.S. from future terrorist attacks than his opponent John Kerry. George Will, conservative op/ed columnist and TV pundit, who should be a natural ally/constituent of Bush and his merry band of "conservatives" doesn't seem

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1138375056524722852006-01-27T09:14:00.000-06:002006-01-27T09:17:36.540-06:00

You know how the saying goes…“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”Well, shame on Americans. It seems all the Bush administration has to do is invoke the “T” word to get a majority of U.S. citizens to accede to their latest unconstitutional scheme to institute a Big Brother government.We must invade Iraq. There are indisputable links to terrorism. It’s an integral part of the

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1138143632102353532006-01-24T16:53:00.000-06:002006-01-24T17:00:32.123-06:00

The startup drive on my main machine at home crashed about a month ago. Had a fairly recent backup and after a bit of jumping thru hoops, I got it back up and running with a minimum of lost files. Then...It crashed again, about two and a half weeks later. Been down for about a week now and as I was trying to fix it, I noticed in OS X's Disk Utility, it had S.M.A.R.T. info about the drive.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1137770507535691872006-01-20T09:14:00.000-06:002006-01-20T09:21:47.536-06:00

Mr. Campbell said his Twisp blog was going away on January 31st. Well, he pulled the plug a bit early. If you've been looking, nothing's wrong with your web browser. Howard Campbell's Twisp blog, as well as Ben Mack Scribe, his biographer/nemesis' blog are both gone and have been since about the 10th of this month.I'm not sure where Howard's writing these days, but you can keep up w/Ben on his

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1136380345660648472006-01-04T06:53:00.000-06:002006-01-04T07:14:01.886-06:00

I took last Friday off from work so I had a 4-day weekend over the New Year holiday. Went GoodWill store shopping with the wife on Friday and scored a small handful of books for 49 cents each, including an almost pristine copy of William Gibson's Neuromancer.Then Saturday, I felt my mood slipping. By Sunday, my outlook on life was fouled. I had the better part of the day to myself but couldn't

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1135527885577961552005-12-25T10:23:00.000-06:002005-12-25T10:24:45.590-06:00

Peace on Earth,Good will toward men.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1135257956295509152005-12-22T07:23:00.000-06:002005-12-22T07:25:56.306-06:00

In a stunning series of revelations, the American people learned that President George W. Bush has conceded defeat to the terrorists he declared war on a short 4 years ago. In fact, it became known that the decision to surrender was made in 2002, less than a year after the events of 9-11 that triggered the "War on Terror".After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1134102348095562322005-12-08T22:20:00.000-06:002005-12-08T22:25:48.113-06:00

23rd

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1134101588488660902005-12-08T22:07:00.000-06:002005-12-08T22:18:56.213-06:00

Part of one of the bookshelves.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1131989298193305922005-11-14T10:30:00.000-06:002005-11-14T11:28:18.236-06:00

Dan Goodin has issued a call over at Wired News for consumers to boycott Sony. Two or three weeks ago, a computer security researcher discovered that playing certain music CDs distributed by the Sony BMG Music label, on a Windows PC causes a Windows rootkit to be installed as part of a software program that is intended to prevent the CD purchaser from "ripping" the music on the CD to mp3 audio

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1131727193752503982005-11-11T10:34:00.000-06:002005-11-11T10:39:53.770-06:00

Today is American novelist Kurt Vonnegut's 83rd birthday. Happy Birthday Kurt!If you've never read any of his novels, here's a good one to start with.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1130209589636288032005-10-24T22:01:00.000-05:002005-10-24T22:06:29.650-05:00

Yeah! Seen on a light post in north Oklahoma City.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1129048902905822502005-10-11T10:29:00.000-05:002005-10-11T11:47:29.686-05:00

My website, RocketJam.com has a lot of images on it. There are photos, graphics I created in Photoshop and even some drawings that I've done. Many of the top-level pages on the site also have a section-themed graphic. You can easily find images like these via the image search that Google, Yahoo and most other search engines have available today.A fairly common problem on the internet for website

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1128450403379662532005-10-04T13:13:00.000-05:002005-10-04T13:26:43.386-05:00

Joseph Smith Jr. wrote the Book of Mormon in the late 1820's. Whether translated from ancient records thru the power of God as he claimed or imagined and generated out of whole cloth from his mind, it contains passages that compare favorably with sacred writings from many of the world's religions.The following few verses come from Mosiah chapter 11. They were reworked slightly to reflect the

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1128428327051548892005-10-04T07:23:00.000-05:002005-10-04T07:18:47.056-05:00

"When the war ended," O'Hare said to me, "I expected to be a lot more in fifteen years than a dispatcher of frozen-custard trucks.""I guess we've all had disappointments," I said.He didn't respond to this feeble try at brotherhood. His concern was for himself alone. "I was going to be a doctor, I was going to be a lawyer, a writer, an architect, an engineer, a newspaper reporter--" he said. "

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1126232710963333972005-09-08T21:23:00.000-05:002005-09-08T21:25:10.966-05:00

This is really good.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1125624861230012432005-09-01T20:28:00.000-05:002005-09-01T22:37:34.100-05:00

Is it just me, or does it seem like the government was ill-prepared and now no one is in charge of the relief effort for hurricane Katrina? Here are some insightful thoughts on this issue. And there's this timeline on FEMA and flood control projects under the Bush administration.

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1124910355797043362005-08-24T13:59:00.000-05:002005-08-24T14:05:55.806-05:00

A recent poll by Public Agenda finds that the more often Americans go to church, the more supportive they are of the war in Iraq. It found that frequent church-goers are far more likely to support the "War on Terror" and believe the U.S. is accomplishing its goals in Iraq.The poll found that people who never attend church are much more likely to believe the war is damaging the country's

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1124226103892136952005-08-16T15:38:00.000-05:002005-08-16T16:01:43.900-05:00

Or is that wishful thinking? ;-)Microsoft's next OS "Vista" (known as Longhorn until a couple of weeks ago) has been delayed and delayed and has had previously announced features removed as the delays have piled up. Currently it's scheduled for release in the second half of 2006. Many industry pundits think that may be optimistic. They released a public "developer" beta and Wired News obtained a

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1123296264600816282005-08-05T21:36:00.000-05:002005-08-05T21:44:24.606-05:00

There have been 29 U.S. military deaths in Iraq in so far this month. Today is the 5th.Since July 24th, the count is 53.Source: Iraq Coalition Casualties

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1123020200666014702005-08-02T12:33:00.000-05:002005-08-03T22:08:13.156-05:00

Janet was a beautiful, very intelligent, well read and creative woman. She was an Art major at BYU, earning a BA degree. After teaching high school art for a couple of years, she took on the role of housewife, marrying an Air Force pilot and raising a family of 5 children.Janet suffered her entire adult life from depression, seeing psychiatrists and consuming a regimen of prescribed medications

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1122381462575737242005-07-26T07:12:00.000-05:002005-07-26T07:37:42.580-05:00

Why is music on the radio so bad? Do playlists come down to market forces and radio listeners choosing what they want to listen to? Or is it something else? How hard are corporations working to influence the public's perception and attitudes?Read more...

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1121947770748088682005-07-21T07:02:00.000-05:002005-07-21T07:09:30.753-05:00

Cenk Uygur wrote:"If you listened to this administration you would think there are only two possibilities on how to deal with suspected terrorists or foreign fighters – you either try them in tribunals where they have almost no rights or you let them go. Well, that’s how a third grader might see the world, but in the real world – and what used to be the real America – we do something else. It’s

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1121358648559869022005-07-14T11:23:00.000-05:002005-07-14T11:30:48.566-05:00

The following quotes should be read together. They tell a sad tale."Our strategy in the war on terror is based on a clear understanding of the enemy, and a clear assessment of our national interest." - Dick Cheney, July 2003"Either we take the war to the terrorists and fight them where they are – at this moment in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere – or at some point we will have to fight them

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1121045983805616242005-07-10T20:26:00.000-05:002005-07-19T10:24:05.063-05:00

On my website's FAQ you will find the following:Q What is RocketJam.com?A It's my personal project/website.Q Why?A I've got this theory about popular culture and the media's effect on people's perceptions of themselves and their existence/role in reality. The why of having a web site has something to do with that, I think.This essay is an attempt to explain that "theory". This essay is a work in

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1120857925131111942005-07-08T16:23:00.000-05:002005-07-08T16:25:25.136-05:00

I just can't leave George W. alone. I looked at the comments he made to the press after the tragic bombings in London on July 8th and thought he doesn't get it and never will. Before I comment on Bush's statement, I want to make clear that I abhor the bombings and the view of those responsible that their "cause" justifies killing and injuring people. Especially civilians. I have first-hand

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1120772896793684082005-07-07T16:26:00.000-05:002005-07-07T16:48:16.800-05:00

Rainbow over Gull lake in Minnesota after a late June thunderstorm.I was on vacation last week. The wife and I took our granddaughter and went to visit our youngest daughter who's working in Minnesota this summer at a lake lodge. We stayed in my sister-in-law's cabin on the lake. It was a really enjoyable vacation this year. I was reminded of how much of my time and my mind I let television eat

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1119387817921390412005-06-21T15:21:00.000-05:002005-06-21T16:03:37.926-05:00

Someone on a mail list I subscribe to posted a quote from President Bush which was pretty much incomprehensible. I've read and heard some of Bush's inarticulateness, but this just seemed unbelievable. A bit of googling brought up the entire speech and question and answer period though. My source is no less than the whitehouse.gov site. So, now that its veracity can be confirmed, marvel at the

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1118868553758252582005-06-15T15:50:00.000-05:002005-06-15T15:49:13.766-05:00

I was looking over the log files for my web site Rocketjam.com the other day. One of the search phrases used to find the site was "laundromat photos". I have a little 'artsy' photo-essay on the site featuring the local laundromat. I found it curious that someone would search on that phrase and I googled it to see where my page showed up in the results. Surprisingly, it doesn't show up until the

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1118175363328383272005-06-07T15:18:00.000-05:002005-06-07T15:16:03.346-05:00

Rod Nordland has been Newsweek's Baghdad bureau chief for the past two years. He's lived in Iraq and experienced the situation there, first-hand. He recently wrote a column with some final thoughts as he leaves that post. It presents a very discouraging picture:"Living and working in Iraq, it's hard not to succumb to despair. At last count America has pumped at least $7 billion into

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1117747015570239772005-06-02T16:23:00.000-05:002005-06-02T16:16:55.573-05:00

I guess some people take the Newspeak coming out of the Bush administration's mouths seriously, despite the fact that the Bushies have proven over and over again that they have no clue what they are doing there. And despite the fact that the administration apparently willfully lied about the "need" to invade Iraq in the first place.Statements Vice President Cheney made in his recent interview on

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1117627984482460522005-06-01T09:12:00.000-05:002005-06-01T07:13:53.480-05:00

Here's a quiz that classifies your world view. I scored as a Postmodernist, although I scored almost as high as a Cultural Creative (a term I hadn't heard... I'll have to google that one). I also scored above 50% for Idealist, Existentialist and Modernist. Have I been reading too much philosophy?Read more...

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1117058267719085072005-05-31T11:30:00.000-05:002005-05-31T09:23:05.353-05:00

Increasingly, the media and the advertising industry is the primary memetic distribution source in Western culture and, especially in American culture. What does this mean? It means the media is defining and/or shaping the culture in which we live.Douglas Kellner:"Radio, television, film, and the other products of media culture provide materials out of which we forge our very identities; our

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1117025409847504302005-05-25T09:52:00.000-05:002005-05-27T16:25:37.103-05:00

This isn't a music blog, but I've got to mention this band. Sweet Billy Pilgrim, out of the UK. I don't remember where I ran across a download for their song Ain't No Jesus In Here, but I had downloaded it and just left it sitting on my desktop for several days. As I was cleaning junk off the desktop, I decided I better give it a listen before I trashed it. Wow! Smart lyrics, and a haunting,

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1116206265532028322005-05-15T20:10:00.000-05:002005-05-15T20:17:45.536-05:00

A Ben Mack video. Joseph Matheny, Howard Bloom, Mike Caro, advertising, persuasion, poker, memes and more!Read more...

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1115997147700258352005-05-13T12:15:00.000-05:002005-05-13T10:12:41.560-05:00

Is the U.S. creeping toward the totalitarian nightmares envisioned by George Orwell in his novel 1984? This may seem like hyperbole, but the current administration and an all-too-willing Congress have used the excuse of the "terrorist threat" since the events of 9-11 to extend the government's powers to watch over out lives and actions. All for the alleged purpose of making us "safer".A national

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1115988424218891712005-05-13T09:38:00.000-05:002005-05-13T10:13:24.493-05:00

A 700MB AVI file of the documentary on Noam Chomsky, "Manufacturing Consent". Chomsky's insights into how the media helps further the agenda of those in power.Scroll down the page to find it. There is also some other interesting content on this page.Read more...

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1115657364928170722005-05-09T11:40:00.000-05:002005-05-09T11:49:24.943-05:00

I think this speaks for itself:"The minister of a Haywood County Baptist church is telling members of his congregation that if they're Democrats, they either need to find another place of worship or support President Bush."Besides apparently being unable to grasp the difference between Christianity and extremist right-wing ideology, the good reverend also apparently doesn't have a grasp of

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1115413212988597202005-05-06T15:41:00.000-05:002005-05-06T16:00:13.010-05:00

It seems to me that all the mainstream national news organizations have pretty much given up balanced news coverage for advertising dollars. Newscasts are full of fluff pieces and, when it comes to real news, they appear to slant their coverage to appeal to the majority according to the latest opinion polls so they won't piss anyone off. Unlike the other major U.S. networks, Fox News doesn't even

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1115322946326548192005-05-05T14:48:00.000-05:002005-05-09T11:37:35.393-05:00

SF Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll said he received a communique from a group calling itself the Unitarian Jihad. Excerpts:"Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee)

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1115122891790102272005-05-03T07:05:00.000-05:002005-05-05T14:56:44.893-05:00

I'm afraid they're fighting an uphill battle, but the optimistically named organization Downhill Battle has started a new website to help in the battle between the purveyors of American Consumer Culture and the proponents of individual freedom. They want to build a library of de.lici.ous-linked articles related to the issues of the erosion of Fair Use rights, the increasing consolidation of media

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12537440.post-1114806477675960792005-04-29T15:25:00.000-05:002005-04-29T15:27:57.676-05:00

Hmmm......

RocketJamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07899801746161847286noreply@blogger.com0