March 2019

Transcript.

How Trump’s high school transcript was hidden after he demanded Obama’s academic records (Chicago Tribune)

I know no one wants to see my High School Transcript, but I don’t believe it’s something that should be hidden away in the bowels of PACS. So here’s a summary:

  • I did what I needed to do to get by. I found traditional subjects boring and put as much effort as needed to not get in trouble for failing. I rarely studied and I would rush through homework just to get it done.
  • I was elected into the National Honor Society my senior year of high school based on my bare minimum of an average of 85.
  • I don’t remember my exact numbers but I didn’t do well on the SAT (didn’t study) but I did really, really well on the ACT (didn’t study).
  • I failed my Earth Science (59) and Biology (64) NYS Regents exams, but passed my chemistry exam.
  • I passed all three of the required Math Regents exams (as well as English and Social Studies) to graduate with a NYS Regents Diploma. Being that I graduated in 1986, I was in the first round of students that went through “Course I, Course II, Course III” instead of “Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry”. I have no idea what the difference was, since we studied Algebra, Geometry, and then Trigonometry.
  • My top classes in all of high school were typing and computer programming. Band and Chorus also ranked high. I was in the first round of computer classes and I was occasionally showing the two teachers of the class something they didn’t know.

I don’t know why Trump doesn’t want to release his transcripts unless they don’t measure up to his prideful boasting. It’s amazing to me the efforts some will go to bury their past.

6 March 2019 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Greatness.

I’ve decided to try taking a break from social media for a while. In a way this is a little ironic, because this post will appear on my Twitter timeline when I hit “Publish”, but I won’t actually have to get onto Twitter to post it, so technically I’m still taking a break from social media, because after all, are blog entries like this really considered social media?

Before the days of 140 characters, and the recent yet faux-verbosity of 280 characters, people used technology to extend their reach to others through things like these self-hosted personal blogs, LiveJournal, Blogger, and the like. You didn’t need to have a brand, though some folks tried to brand you based on what they read in your blog, you just did your thing in an attempt to reach out to likeminded individuals. Today folks bark. People use their allotted, finite number of characters to bark out their opinions. I’m certainly very guilty of this. I’ve said things online that I would never say to someone’s face.

This does not make me great. This makes me stupid.

I have to ask myself this: would I really flip off Trump in public? Well, the answer is probably yes, but I wouldn’t say the things I’ve said to members of his administration if I was face to face and looking them in the eye while saying it. I’d be a chicken shit, just like the other 95% of folks that do the same exact barking online, and then I’d go the other way. Because being an ass to someone to their face is not a part of greatness.

It’s an example of stupidity.

I’ve tacked a photo of former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer screeching at President Obama, finger waggling in her face, to my wall because I remember the outrage I felt when I saw her behave that way.

Photo courtesy of LA Times

There was nothing great about that moment. Governor Brewer was grandstanding. She was making a big show of standing up to the president to rile up her base. We don’t need big shows. We need people trying to be their authentic self. We need to keep it real and we don’t need an audience to do it. So much puffing and chest pounding these days. It gets so nauseating.

Honestly, I just want to aspire to be me. That should be my focus. All of this grandstanding, and barking, and carrying on through social media accomplishes nothing. It helps gain notoriety and little else.

I don’t want to be notorious. I want to be great. I want to be great at being me.

5 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Cold.

Taking a look my weather app du jour, it is currently 0ºF with a wind chill of -11ºF. Not the coldest it’s been (by any means) this year, but we are less than three weeks from the meteorological beginning of spring and quite frankly I’m ready for some warmer weather.

On the bright side, the forecast warms up for the foreseeable future. It looks like by the end of this week it’ll start showing signs of spring and it’ll be in the mid 40s by next week.

That made my shorter-than-usual walk this morning a little more bearable.

4 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Remote.

Earl and I are in a Starbucks in Rockford, Illinois. We are out for a drive, and we’ve stopped to enjoy an iced tea and play around with our iPads a little bit before getting back on the road and heading home to Chicago.

I’m trying to help Earl with helpful hints on multitasking with the iPad Pro. While the experience of multitasking on the iPad is functional, it is not intuitive. There’s a lot of “finger yoga” involved with trying to get apps appear side by side, especially if you don’t have the app pinned to the dock along the bottom of the screen.

I’m hopeful that Apple will fix this issue with iOS 13, which could be coming out later this year. In the meanwhile, I’m going to keep trying to learn more of these little gestures that aren’t well publicized, and encourage Earl to do the same with his iPad Pro.

I truly believe that tablet computing is the wave of the future. It involves a shift in paradigm: getting away from the standard “screen and keyboard” approach and remembering that the iPad is no longer “just a big iPhone”.

Or at least, it shouldn’t function as “just a big iPhone”.

2 March 2019 by Geek 0

Camera Test.

I’ve always found the idea of taking a photo with an iPad to be odd. The camera is very capable, but it’s like holding up a frying pan to try to capture the moment.

Truman is hanging out on his cat perch. I’ve just woken up and am positioned on the living room couch seeing what’s going on in the world today. I’m not afraid to share my “just woke up” face. At least I don’t have bed head. The portrait mode on the user facing camera is impressive.

2 March 2019 by Apple. Fun and Games Dept 0

The Moral of the Story.

I grew up on the Shazam/Isis Hour. It’s a shame that the lesson shared by Isis, way back in 1975, is as relevant and important today as it was back then. You’d think we’d know better by now.

Ps. Actress Joanna Cameron has one the best voices ever!

1 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Perspective.

Please watch this video in full screen with the audio turned on. Best enjoyed on something bigger than a smartphone screen.

H/T to Lew on my Twitter feed for bringing my attention to this.

1 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Spiritual Stuff. 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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