Cosmo's Universe

Finally!

2009-12-13T23:32:29Z

An AT&T commercial attacking Verizon that actually made sense. They showed Luke Wilson downloading his picture on an AT&T network and the same photo on a Verizon network. And they show the AT&T download being done first before the commercial was over, and a headless Luke Wilson trying to walk around aimlessly.

This, as long as you're in a spot where AT&T's 3G coverage is, is actually true. AT&T's 3G data network is actually faster. Too bad your 3G network footprint is still only 1/5th the size of Verizon's. And too bad that your claim of having the "most popular" smart phones is coming to an end with your iPhone monopoly ending next year.

Verizon is actually switching to a new format next year which will allow for SIM Card chips. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle the roll-out of this new network standard. Sprint/NEXTEL is *still* going through headaches on their merge with two very incompatible technologies. Verizon is going to have to deal with these types of headaches over the next two years, because their new format is NOT compatible with their existing format.

AT&T still assumes you're a moron.

2009-12-09T04:00:31Z

So, just saw a new AT&T commercial showing Verizon's coverage map falling apart... funny, all that the commercial mentioned was the features found on phones like that you can still surfing the web while on a phone call with AT&T. What does map coverage have to do with the features found on phones? Absolutely nothing. And how many phones of AT&T actually do that? I'd bet most of them don't.

If AT&T wants an honest fight-for-fight, how about mentioning how AT&T's 3G network is faster than Verizon's? Which is true -- By bandwidth rates, it is. When it works. Even then, when you're in a map that's 1/5th of the size of Verizon's 3G coverage area. And when it works, because who really cares if you get the page loading error or network not responding message faster? Because I get those errors all the time on my phone, and I have a brand new phone, same errors from the last phone to this new one.

And AT&T's exclusivity of having the iPhone is coming to an end soon, anyway. Apple's exclusive agreement with them is ending sometime in 2010.

Unemployment

2009-12-07T05:20:43Z

Do you know how unemployment is measured? It's measured by calculating the number of people unemployed over the number able to do work, AKA labor force.

Now. If you have a huge national financial setback, such as a Wall-Street-caused bubble bursting? You counter some of the effects by extending the number of people able to recieve unemployment benefits and for a longer period of time, that means the actual percentage of people on Unemployment will be higher than usual. The actual length of Unemployment benefits strongly influences the percentage. Give people a shorter fuse to a threat of being homeless, and they'll settle for something less than they feel they are worth, a lot sooner than they previously had to do it.

So don't panic. The percentage should go down again soon. The number of pink slips and firings are calming down. Once this happens for a while, unemployment benefits and eligibility should return to what they used to be, and the actual percentage of people will go back to what they used to be.

AT&T assumes you're a moron.

2009-12-07T04:12:24Z

AT&T has been putting out a "rebuttal" commercial about Verizon's use of maps.

AT&T has said that their maps cover 97% of all Americans. Maybe that's true for cellular reception coverage, but that's not what Verizon's commercial talked about AT. ALL.

I thought it was pretty clear that Verizon was covering AT&T's 3G coverage, which DOES NOT cover 97% of all Americans. In fact, Verizon's commercial was so correct that AT&T dropped their lawsuit.

And frankly, as an AT&T customer, since the iPhone 3GS has rolled out, my own data coverage has been dropping like crazy because of AT&T's way overloaded network. If I wasn't deploying to Iraq soon, I would be putting SERIOUS consideration in dropping AT&T when my contract runs out this May, and going to a cellular network that can handle its data services properly and doesn't assume their customers are morons.

Are we ready to go back to Dumb Terminals?

2009-11-24T02:10:12Z

I recently downloaded a VMware image of Google's latest "operating system", Google Chrome OS. Okay, so I took the easy route. But someone else did the hard work for me, but I read the original installation instructions. So here are some first impressions.

First off, it reminds me a lot of what Windows 95 was. Windows 95 was a spruced up Windows 3.1 relying on a MS-DOS background shell. Chrome OS seems to be just a Linux-core operating system, which automatically opens the Google Chrome browser and won't let you leave. Right now it feels like there's nothing extra to Google Chrome OS that you don't already have with Chrome for Windows, other than the speedy boot up. Well yeah, if you did the same for Windows, cut out everything, I'm sure it would be a speed demon.

So my thoughts are... this "operating system" is almost just like an old fashioned Dumb Terminals, you know, a computer screen with a keyboard that receives its instructions from another computer on what to do. Chrome OS is obviously not for anyone who wants to use a computer for what computers are good for doing, and that is having a multi-purpose. Yes, I supposed there's an audience out there that all they really want to do is access the Internet. But what about pictures? What about home videos? What about iPod's? All new computer users eventually get sophisticated enough that they really start doing more than just E-mail and the Internet. That audience still exists, but they're shrinking, not growing.

So, initial reaction.... Not too impressed. I will wait for those extra 20-30 seconds for my OS to boot if it means I can edit videos, or go through stuff I've downloaded and watch or listen to it without waiting for it to stream. And even streams, if my Internet connection goes down (and it does a lot, stupid cable modem) that means it interrupts whatever it is that I'm doing at the time.

Also, what happens when I bring my computer to an Airport, where they charge for internet access? I can't even bypass the login screen because you're going to try to verify my Google account, and theyre going to be too busy trying to force me to a splash page so they can sell me their internet services. What happens when I'm trying to work on a plane? Will Google Gears work well enough to remember enough features of Google Docs to let me work?

So, with all that being said, Chrome OS has a lot of work to do to convince computer hobbyists like myself to make the jump.

Protecting marriage

2009-11-03T23:35:56Z

Random thought of the day...

Why don't the people who want to "protect the sanctity of marriage" by not allowing gays & lesbians from marrying not doing their darnedest to fight against the laws that NO ONE will disagree is a 100% threat to marriage, and those are the laws that allow divorce.

Look, I'm not gay, I have no plans to be gay, and frankly, I don't think allowing two consenting adults to make a commitment to each other would be bad. It DOESN'T open the door to bestiality because frankly, animals don't have the same will as humans to provide consent. And neither does it open to pedophilia, because children also have not matured far enough to know if the consent is right.

Frankly, if you want to protect the sanctity of marriage, go ahead and turn it back into a PERMANENT decision, because that is what its intent was. People wouldn't be getting married on a whim when the consequences are literally being stuck with that person forever.

And I'll leave you for this last thought of the day.

Adam & Eve had two kids, both boys. Who did *they* breed with? Their mom? How is THAT not objectionable?

From Anonymous on 4chan's /b/ :

2009-08-11T04:05:52Z

This morning, I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the FCC to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food And Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Standards Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. On my way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out by the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After work, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and the fire marshall's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all of its valuables thanks to the local police department.

Finally, I log on to the Internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and the FOX News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything righ

Who really made this country less safe?

2009-05-26T03:09:57Z

All the right-leaning critics have been whining about Obama's policies about closing Gitmo and torture memos, etc. Finally they've convinced Obama that releasing this stuff will only drive the terrorist recruiting drives, and hell they're probably right. But it leads us to a damned if we do, damned if we don't situation.

First, if it was that bad, we shouldn't have been doing the shit in the first place. The U.S. is the first to expose other countries for atrocities they have committed against the world. If such atrocities have been committed, those people should be held accountable and responsible for those actions. Remember that if you follow an illegal order, it's the same as commiting the illegal act on your own will.

Secondly, they've convinced Obama that none of these prisoners at Gitmo.. oh wait, they're not prisoners, you hold charges against prisoners. These people who have been put into Gitmo without charges and without a trial, and Obama is now saying that it's possible that any evidence against them has been tainted. So, the sloppy work actually put the world more at risk by assuring that these people being held without charges when it comes time for them to get a trial, they'll be acquitted because of the lack of evidence against them, AND they'll be able to recruit or martyr more for their cause, giving a first hand account on what happened to them while under custody.

And their primary purpose of torture? It turns out they were pressing the prisoners for an Al Qaeda and Iraq goverment link. Wait, I thought we already KNEW that before we invaded Iraq.. so why were they doing that in 2006, three years after the war started?

It's a friggin no-win scenario. You criticize the people who want to bring fair justice to these people who have been held without charges for up to 7-8 years now (which is against INALIENABLE human rights.. specifically, the right to a fair and speedy trial) but you ruined or tainted all the evidence. You held them as long as you could, until your term was over, and then make sure that someone else gets the blame for it in the end. It's a pathetic, Epic Fail.

You know the sign of a bad presidency? When they still talk about your failures and your spin doctors are STILL trying to patch it up for you, four months after you've even left office.

Waiting...

2009-04-28T22:48:33Z

2267 days until New Horizons reaches the former planet Pluto!

My predictions for Star Trek

2009-04-07T23:30:01Z

The new Star Trek movie is coming out next month. Part of my conclusion is based off of a minor (yet vague) spoiler so if you want to be completely surprised, move along.

Okay, now here's what I am predicting.. The minor plot device is time travel, it's supposed to be what tightens up the loose ends. Apparently Nero, the villain, is from the future and modifies the past in some way that effects everything in a new timeline, and yet leave everything alone in the original timeline.

My idea is this.. you can keep ALL the original characters as they are, but what about the established timeline in the 1960's Star Trek that never actually happened? They talked about the "eugenics" wars during the 1990's, it's from that war that brought us Khan.. well, what if Nero stopped the Eugenics War from starting, and distracted the Arabs to start the war of Terrorism against the United States? That would mean all these genetic manipulations from a few hundred years before Kirk would have never happened, and different genes would have mixed for the descendants. You could have the same characters with the same names and such, but having them look slightly different because the genetic code handed down is different..

It feels like a cool idea, only problem is why would you have to bring Nero back to the Original Series timeline after he stops the Eugenics War?

I dunno, but that was my original guess on why the alternate timeline happened.. Thanks for listening.

Coming soon to a crib near us.

2009-02-06T14:08:25Z

When we called the hospital yesterday morning at 6:30am, they said to hold off since they were very busy.. and that they would call us on standby. My wife said that it really sounded like from their tone that they wouldn't call back until the next day, so that afternoon they went to go see a movie.

Wouldn't you know, they never got to finish that movie, the hospital called them before it ended and let them know to come in. By 5:30pm we were checking in, and by 6:30pm they had the inducing stuff connected in and ready to go.. and by 9pm nothing really changed since we came in, so the doctor cut it off for the evening, and we slept in the hospital room.

This morning, they turned it on around 7:15am, and already signs of progress.. Katie's dilation increased, and the b-show presented. They're doing the epidural right now.. so it looks like there's a very very good chance that baby Herff will be born today.

Phone calls will all be made first before an official public annoucement.. but stay tuned!

Interesting fact

2009-01-20T22:56:02Z

At an estimated 2 million, the crowd on the Mall for the inaugural was larger than the national populations of 51 of the 192 member states of the United Nations.

About friggin' time.

2009-01-20T15:02:05Z

At noon, and after 8 long years, I can respect the man who is in the role once again.

Dubya, with a 22% approval rating, that's how you'll go down in history.. no matter how much you try to spin it in your library, that's hard fact.

No matter how much you try to spin it, the man who succeeded you beat the other guy because he said that the guy who lost was too much like you.

It's the legacy of the Bush family, go in, start a war to get really popular, and then blow it when the economy crumbles, and leave the office unpopular.

Bye bye, Dubya.

The music industry gets i wrong again...

2009-01-03T17:53:39Z

Poor music sales blamed on pirates and video games. No, the global economy in the tank which is effecting just about EVERY industry has nothing to do with it.. Oh wait, yes they say it's a minor third reason.

Now digital sales were UP by 27%.. Why do they consider this slowing? Well, it was 45% last year.. but when you have a new technology and it catches on quickly, you're going to have high spikes like that in the first few years it catches.. you can't expect that percentage to STAY that high forever, it's eventually going to plateau or go up by a slow steady rate. I mean you're expecting it to jump by 45% AGAIN? No technology has done that consistently for long periods of time. Get real, music execs.

Going... home? Well, it feels like home, for now.

2008-12-29T07:00:56Z

Okay this is the ground-breaking revelation right here about joining the Army and how it's changed me. It's opened my eyes to different areas of the world, and I realize that a lot of my depression and misery of my late 20's was related to the rude, crude, and "me me me" atmosphere of this area. Comparing Philadelphia with some of the areas of the world I've seen, well, I would live in Philadelphia over Baghdad in a heartbeat, but I am actually getting to like the southern United States.

So the question remains, if I do get out of the Army after my five is up, where will we stay? If I'm out, that means I'd rather be out and away from a military base. Being in a military environment is fine when you work it or are related to someone who is in the military, but once you're out, I don't see the sense in staying near the base.

Anyway, I haven't fully decided stay in the Army yet. The Army won't start officially asking me until I've got two years left, and that will be in June.

In any case, I'm pretty sure we're not moving back to Philly, and where we ultimately end up calling home post-Army, well, is in the air. Maybe I'll change my outlook if I get stationed over at Fort Lewis, as I really liked Vancouver last year. Fort Lewis might be one of my options when I am up for unit re-assignment come this October, since I am pretty sure I want to stick with working in a PAD or MPAD.

Great success!

2008-11-06T04:02:35Z

This election, I only got one vote that lost. Everyone else won. My highest success rate ever for an election.. and for the first time, my U.S. Presidential vote won.

nibble4bits @ 2008-10-25T01:55:00

2008-10-25T05:55:21Z

I love how the Democrat friendly and generally unbaised polling trackers have Obama ahead by about 8-10 points on all the major polls that everyone sees regularly.. and then you visit the Republican friendly sites, and they name some obscure poll showing Obama only having a 1 or 2 point lead and use this as evidence of Obama losing his edge.

Don't believe me? Here's screenshots of the Drudge Report from October 20th.. using the NICKELODEON KIDS PICK THE PRESIDENT poll.

An American Carol

2008-10-11T13:12:09Z

"An American Carol," which I just thought about following up on, had a most "impressive" opening weekend last weekend. 9th place (3.7 million) on a weekend that the #1 was "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" which grossed 29.3 million.

*snicker*

"Religulous" was #10, but was in 1/3rd the amount of theaters that "An American Carol" was.

Money doesn't just disappear...

2008-10-08T22:15:03Z

Or does it? Everyone's talking about the $2 trillion dollars "lost" by retirement accounts.. so if money DOES disappear, how exactly is losing $2 trillion dollars de-value the dollar? It makes less money available for the same collateral that gives our money worth in the first place. If it DOESN'T disappear, then someone tell me who just profitted $2 trillion dollars? It seems to me that answer is whoever owns that stock. If that's the case, what exact check and balances are in place to prevent someone with malicious intent, say foreign investors.. ones with intent on making the U.S. stock market crash, from yanking all their money all at once?

That's one thing I've never exactly understood about Wall Street. We "buy" stakes in a company, and stocks raise and lower in price based on rumor and minorly on quarterly or monthly financial reports. But it's the financial reports that bother me. Facts and figures can be shifted and thrown around to make things look more favorable. For instance, the Federal Budget is currently released "without" key spending items in it, so they submit it in relatively incomplete. That's like me figuring out my expenses by excluding a mortgage and car payments. "Except for those" I'm not spending a whole lot of money, right? That's the illusion.

The problem with the whole sub-mortgage crisis is the checks and balances (the "regiulation") that McCain has supported for 20+ years were the root of the problem. Without someone to watch over the business practices of banks, by watching how much "high risk" mortgages were being sold off, and watching their practice of reporting loans of only 80% of the house value (with fixed rates) and 20% as "Home Equity Line Of Credit" with a higher variable rate which makes sense ONLY when the prime rate is low.

So who's to blame for this whole mortgage bubble? It's a little combination of everything.

Initially, it's the banks.. who hire lobbyists, who pay off politicians to get write or vote for legislation in their favor. The banks then play games with wall street financial reports with a less powerful watchdog over them, able to offer loans that sound good-- short term, at least. The valuation companies who decide the "Value" of a home before the home loan goes through. The federal treasury, seeing a rise in the economy on lending, then raise the rates as they deem fit. Which then cause this domino effect:

The economy gave the impression that the econmy was recovering because mortgage sales were through the roof (no pun intended), and once interest rates started going up, new high-risk-credit homeowners couldn't pay for their loans. That hit the next domino, banks weren't getting as much money back, they couldn't give out as many loans. The result, more sellers had to start lowering the values of their homes in order to make the houses affordable for the loans the banks could offer. Which hit the next domino, all of a sudden, people saw they owned more on their homes than they were worth, which actually endangered the security that was available for that HELOC (home equity line of credit)... which hit the NEXT domino, people who probably COULD afford their mortgages decided "what's the point of paying full price when my home is worth less?" and started paying less than their current payment scheme.. they already had bad credit, so they weren't too worried about a bad credit report.

If I'm wrong about any of this, or if I'm missing a key point, I'd love to hear it. I am probably most shaky on the area of wall street and the concept of how money is created or destroyed over there. Money HAS to be created somewhere somehow, otherwise we wouldn't have inflation occur at all.. it seems to me it is created as tangible products are created or discovered. Dig up gold, it didn't exist before in theory, it just created money. Destory a car, the scrap isn't going to be worth the same as it did brand new, so money's destroyed. Take that same scrap, mold it into a new car, put a few thousand dollars worth of something else in it, it creates money again.

Once again, I'm not a marketing major so I'm probably pretty rudimentary in my understand of this all, but I'd love to hear some feedback.

originality

2008-10-07T16:18:53Z

When a democrat candidate sometimes crosses party lines, the reps say he's waffling when their own is being a maverick. And is it just me that notices that every election the democrat picked has the most liberal voting record? The same was said about John Kerry. You guys are losing the polls because your arguments aren't tried and true, but more like a useless old tire with worn down treads. That's why America wants REAL changes and not the similar policies labeled as change.

Thought for the day

2008-10-05T14:33:34Z

I'm an astronaut. The moon's right next door to the Earth, and I can even see it when I look outside my living room window.

My application's going to NASA right now.

Equinox

2008-09-24T00:46:34Z

Happy autumnal equinox, everyone!

My pirate results

2008-09-19T06:12:21Z

You are The Cap'n!

Some men and women are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any scalawag who stands between them and unlimited power. You never met a man - or woman - you couldn't eviscerate. You are the definitive Man of Action, the CEO of the Seven Seas, Lee Iacocca in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. You're mission-oriented, and if anyone gets in the way, that's his problem, now isn't? Your buckle was swashed long ago and you have never been so sure of anything as your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off his head if he shows any sign of taking you on or backing down. If one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!

Avast, me hearties!

2008-09-19T05:36:07Z

Arr, thar today be "Talk Like A Pirate Day," ya landlubbers and scallywags! So board ye ol' chumbucket, raise the jolly roger, and drink yer grog!

If ye said to me "You fight like a dairy farmer."
My reply to ye "How appropriate. You fight like a cow."

Look! A three-headed monkey!

VOTE.

2008-09-16T21:00:05Z

Yesterday, not only did I get my eye surgery done, I did my civic duty. My absentee ballot for Pennsylvania went in the mail yesterday.