PROD: POWERPOINT is not a document. It’s not even as good as a mind map.

Friday, August 18, 2006

August 14, 2006
PowerPoint printouts used for communicating battle plans?

***Begin Quote***

Ricks quotes an Army Lt. General who was frustrated over getting vague PowerPoint slides sent to him instead of clear orders or plans. Said Ricks:

“That reliance on slides rather than formal written orders seemed to some military professionals to capture the essence of Rumsfeld’s amateurish approach to war planning.” — Thomas Ricks, author of Fiasco

Reliance on slides rather than formal written documents — sound familiar? It should. Remember the findings of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003?

“The Board views the endemic use of PowerPoint briefing slides instead of technical papers as an illustration of the problematic technical communication at NASA.” — Columbia Accident Investigation Board

Déjà vu.

***End Quote***

Powerpoint is a tool. It allows the speaker givign a presentation to hit the highpoints. There’s nothing deadlier that to be “read” a presentation. Powerpoint is the index card of the presenter. To ensure that major points are not missed.

Leave a Comment » | Productivity | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECH: LUGGABLE avoid winrot plan

Thursday, August 17, 2006

LUGGABLE avoid winrot plan,My tentative plan is:

1. delete all downloaded software installer distributions <== DONE

Found that LUGGABLE has THREE partitions. Who knew?
#1 FAT16 47.03M 39.66M Free
#2 NTFS the C drive 90G 23G Free
#3 FAT32 3.02G 404.4M Free

WHY?

2. copy everything from HOMEDESK to the WD500;
3. make an image of HOMEDESK on the WD500;
4. GHOST HOMEDESK to cd;
5. pray;
6. repartition HOMEDESK’s 90 into 10-25-45-10+;
7. reinstall XP into the D drive;
8. see what I have lost?;
9. live happiply ever after?

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECH: HOMEDESK winrot correction plan

Thursday, August 17, 2006

HOMEDESK has a bad case of winrot. My tentative plan is:

1. delete all downloaded software installer distributions DONE
2. copy everything from HOMEDESK to the WD500 IN PROGRESS
3. make an image of HOMEDESK on the WD500;
4. GHOST HOMEDESK to cd;
5. pray;
6. repartition HOMEDESK’s 90 into 10-25-45-10+;
7. reinstall XP into the D drive;
8. see what I have lost?;
9. live happiply ever after?

Sounds like a plan. Comments

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECH: 1&1 blog maps to WordPress … interesting

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I thought they were actually doing something!

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Hospitals in paticular, and medicine men in general, make mistakes

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

In Frau Reinke’s recent encounters with medical “help”, I have seen “mistakes” and “blunders” and out and out stupidity. I’m not surprised that medical malpractice insurance is expensive. More than once we have been impacted by handwriting errors, confused instructions, and “that’s not int he written orders”. Arghhh!

***Begin Quote***

Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 17:23:04 PDT
From: “Peter G. Neumann” <neumann@csl.sri.com>
Subject: More on medical errors

A major study lists confusion over names and wrong doses among the mistakes,
and urges more use of computers in prescribing drugs.

At least 1.5 million Americans are injured or killed every year by
medication errors at a direct cost of billions of dollars, according to a
report issued Thursday by the prestigious Institute of Medicine in
Washington, D.C.

For hospitalized patients, the report said that on average, one medication
error per day was caused by confusion in drug names, wrong doses, failure to
deliver drugs or a host of other problems.

The study is a follow-up to a 1999 report from the institute, which is part
of the National Academies, that outlined all medical errors and claimed that
as many as 98,000 people were killed each year as a result of medical errors
— 7,000 of them as a result of medication errors. The study lays out a
detailed series of recommendations for new procedures and research to
minimize the risk of future medication errors, emphasizing computerization
of prescribing and administering drugs and data acquisition.

[Source: Medication Errors Hazardous to Your Health, Thomas H. Maugh II,
*Los Angeles Times*, 21 Jul 2006; PGN-ed, tnx to Lauren Weinstein]
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-drugs21jul21,0,5771929.story?coll=la-home-health

***End Quote***

Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Ms Weinstein requests the pleasure of an answer.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:06:54 -0700
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Subject: Survey on putting electronics in checked airline baggage

[ Please distribute widely, as considered appropriate ]

I’m conducting a little unscientific survey on whether or not airline
passengers are willing to place their expensive or important
electronic equipment in airline checked baggage (whether “locked” or
not, but on most flights unlocked will be required), and how this
would affect their flying patterns.

With the above as preface, there are three questions:

1) Are you willing to place all of your significant electronic equipment
(including laptop or other computers, cellphones, DVD players, iPods,
etc.) in checked baggage for airline flights?

2) If you are required to place such electronic equipment in checked
baggage, would it have a significant negative impact on your willingness
to fly?

3) Do you mainly fly for business or pleasure?

I will only publish aggregated statistics from this survey, unless
individual persons specifically note that their responses may be
released publicly.

To participate in the survey, please e-mail a note (or simply
forward this message) with your responses to:

baggage@vortex.com

Only a one word reply is necessary to each of the questions
unless you wish to add comments, which are invited.

Thanks very much.

Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
– People For Internet Responsibility – http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
– International Open Internet Coalition – http://www.ioic.net
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum – http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren’s Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com

= = = = = = = =

My answers:

1) Are you willing to place all of your significant electronic equipment

NO

2) If you are required to place such electronic equipment in checked

YES

3) Do you mainly fly for business or pleasure?

SINCE 9/11, BUSINESS ONLY. AND, THEN ONLY WHEN UNAVOIDABLE!

As a Libertarian, I think the expansion of government is a bigger threat than “terrorism”. The terrorists can only kill us; the government can enslave us “for our own good”. Then, they rob us (taxes). And, then they kill us.

===

But, then anyone who’s read this blog, could have guessed those answers!

Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

GUNS: Gun “safety” rules!

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

From: “Benjamin Rogers”
Subject: FW: sage advice (UNCLASSIFIED)

These little gun fight principles are good ones to remember:

1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.

5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)

6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.

7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.

9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on “pucker factor” than the inherent accuracy of the gun. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. “All skill is in vain when an Angel pisses in the flintlock of your musket.”

10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

11. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

12. Have a plan.

13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won’t work.

14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.

15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.

16. Don’t drop your guard.

17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.

18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. (In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.)

19. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

22. Be courteous to everyone. Friendly to no one.

23. Your number one Option for Personal Security is a life-long commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24. Do not attend a gun fight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a “4”.

###

Leave a Comment » | GUNS | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECH: PRINTERANYWHERE looks like it could be useful

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

http://www.printeranywhere.com/index.html
PrinterAnywhere is a solution to print documents from a computer connected to the Internet to other people’s printers on the network. You can print directly from your application such as Microsoft Word, Outlook or any other program you work with to a printer connected to another computer next door or ten thousand miles away. With PrinterAnywhere you can share your printers with other or print your documents on someone else’s printer. Unlike fax, PrinterAnywhere does not require the documents being scanned and only then transmitted. don’t want to send (email) electronic copies of the documents. It is also useful whenever the recipient does not have the application to open your documents. Free download.

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

LIBERTY: Even the local liberal sees a Social Security problem with the D and R candidate here in NJ

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

http://channel-surfing.blogspot.com/2006/08/kean-on-social-security.html#comments

Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Kean on Social Security
*** BEGIN QUOTE ***

So, here is the fullest explanation that young Kean has offered on Social Security to date, a rather long-winded yet empty response full of campaign soundbites, a response that manages to sound thoughtful but that lacks any meaningful policy prescriptions.

*** AND ***

Menendez, also turns to the political cudgel, but his response ultimately is pretty straightforward. He opposes privatization and does not believe the system is in crisis

*** END QUOTE ***

To which, I respond:

http://www.hallnj.org/virtualdebate/flynn_response3.jsp

How about, instead of tweedle dum TOM KEAN’s privatization of something not specific, and tweedle dumber ROBERT MENENDEZ’s “what problem? there’s a problem? where?”, perhaps we could consider a libertarian solution?

LEN FLYNN, in the “other condidate’s section”, like sitting in the back of the election bus, (everyone not a D or an R has no chance, and everyone knows they’re just nut jobs anyway), is the Libertarian candidate for Senate. His answer recognizes that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. He’ll tackle it head on.

It has long been recognized that Social Security is (a) not insurance, but a fraud on the working class; (b) a federal slush fund to hide the true costs; (d) a socialist’s dream that puts everyone on the welfare dole; and (d) a political football to scare voters with.

Chile, guided by a American educated free-market economist, “unwound” their social security system from a government joke into a free market engine of savings and investment. And, at the time, Chile was largely illiterate. That’s doesn’t make them stupid; by “social security” standards, they were a heck of lot smarter than we are.

So, in sum, Flynn offers a real choice to solve social security. End the theft of a lifetime’s work. Allow the poor not to pay a 100% death tax. Stop the wealth transfer from from poor minority men to rich white women! And, make us as smart as the average Chilean — get the gubamint out of the retirement business.

Or, you can flip a coin and pick a big gubamint republicrat or the big government democan. Don’t kid yourself, there’s NO difference between the empty suits.

I’m voting for small government. Every time. No excuses.

Leave a Comment » | LIBERTY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

TECH: GRIPELOG gives HP the “kiss of death” Caveat Emptor!

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

http://weblog.infoworld.com/foster/2006/08/15_a437.html#a437

THE GRIPE LINE WEBLOG by Ed Foster
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
HP Printers: The Older, the Better?

***Begin Quote***

Even so, many readers say that HP has fallen from the top of their list of suppliers because of quality issues.
***End Quote***

I agree printers suck. I had an OJ85 that ran forever. When it died, fixing it was prohibitive. I’ve been buying printers and they seem to die very quickly. Dried print heads. Strange failures. Expensive ink refills. It appears that Brother is my new choice. Absent any other info. Buy cheap ’cause you’ll be tossing them soon.

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »