I'll post more on this later.

But the bottom line is that Microsoft is running scared from all versions of Linux. They are going after every small agreement made for Linux machines.

My question is, what do they know that most of us don't know?...

Microsoft has 94% of the computers in the world.

What are they afraid of????

Movie Casting Call for Truckers!

Flying-J truckstops and International Trucks have teamed up to produce a movie about the lives of Over-The-Road Truckers. I suspect that it will be much like the “Ice Road Truckers” that was on the History Channel earlier this year.

Anyway, they are casting for truckers to be the star or stars of the movie. I am not sure how many people they are looking for.

They have set up a website where you can find out more about it. You can also voice your opinion on their website about issues facing us as over-the-road truckers.

The site is: www.InternationalTrucks.com/StandAlone

Interviews and Auditions are at the following Flying-J Truckstops:

Fort Chiswell, VA         October 29 – November 2

Lake Park, GA             November 5 - November 8

Sikeston, MO                November 12 – November 15

Aurora, CO                 November 26 – November 29

Lodi, CA                     December 3 – December 6

Good Luck to everyone.

And if you don't wish to be in the movie, then at least voice your opinion at their website.

I've taken up a new hobby, Currency Trader.
This is also called the Forex Market.

Like anything new, this takes a lot of study. In fact, I am looking at several months of study related to Currency Trading before diving in.

The thing that has caught my attention is that you can get into this for just a $300 investment. Anyone can get into this.
But it takes lots study and attention.

I'll let you know more about it later.

Everyday, you read how the airlines are loosing money. There are fewer passengers and the airlines are trying to fill up seats. Right?

That is not what I hear!

I had a recent conversation with my brother who had flown to Ohio and back to Texas sometime during the summer.

He told me that coming back to Texas, the flight was over-booked and he allowed himself to be bumped since there were five more flights that day. But once you are bumped, then you fly “Standby.”

It turned out that those five flights were also over-booked and fourteen people were left at the airport at the end of the day.

Well, the airline pays for your hotel, right?

Yes, they pay for your hotel for the first night. My brother was stuck in that town for two nights due to a lack of seating on the flights. The second night was at his own expense.

He is headed for Ohio at Christmas. He said that he was going to drive this time....

In the news today:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge in California certified a class action lawsuit against Target Corp (TGT.N) brought by plaintiffs claiming the discount retailer's website is inaccessible to the blind, according to court documents.

Judge Marilyn Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California also rejected Target's motion for summary judgment in the case, according to the ruling filed October 2.

According to the ruling, plaintiffs -- including the National Federation of the Blind -- claim Target.com violates federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination against the disabled.

"This is a tremendous step forward for blind people throughout the country who for too long have been denied equal access to the Internet economy," Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation for the Blind, said in a statement.

Naturally this was filed in California. But I sympathize with blind people. I have often imagined what it would be like to be blind. Having spent a lot of time in photographic darkrooms, it is easy for me to imagine being blind. And I am not a fan of Target Department Stores.

But I don't sympathize with the blind in this case. The technology simply leaves them out in the same way that piloting an airplane leaves them out, or piloting the Space Shuttle leaves them out. They can ride along, but they can't drive it. The same is true using the Internet. It is the technology that they are have a problem with. Not Target Department Stores website, or any website.

Idiots have allowed this case to go forward when common sense says that it should have been stopped. The money spent in pursuing this court case could have been better spent on research into ways in which the blind could drive onto the Internet...

Common Sense seems to be scarce these days....

Traditional Republicans seem to be afraid of the Internet.

Why?

The Internet and Blogs are made up of the average person with a computer. In most cases, their blogs are just like this one. And this one represents my personal opinions and ideas. Most blogs on the Internet are  simply the free expression of the average person.

In the news this morning they have been talking about how the democrats are courting and paying homage to Bloggers, while the Republicans have been denouncing them, or us.

President Bush actually made a speech against bloggers, grouping all  bloggers as left-wingers.

Well, Bush has been the worst idea that this country has ever had.
However, that is just my opinion. I don't feel that way about all republicans.

I don't even think that everything that Bush has done is all bad!

Just most of it....

But take heart everyone out there with a blog. You, we, are being noticed by both sides. I'm just hoping that Bush is the only idiot on the republican side who thinks that the average person's opinion doesn't count.

Cities and States are implementing anti-idling laws on almost all motors.
These laws could do what no terrorist has been able to do.

They could bring the USA to almost a standstill.



*I'll start with truck drivers since I happen to be one. But read the entire article.
There is absolutely no consideration being given to the drivers who live in the trucks while they are on the road.


* This next line is possibly more important!
And in many cases, it is also illegal to run the reefer engine on the reefer trailers while it is sitting.

What that means is that only limited amounts of refrigerated products can be picked up or delivered in the areas which have these laws, or are considering them.

There are a couple of work-arounds for the driver's cab:

But without a pet in the truck, the truck must be shut off when it is not moving in many locations. The fact that most drivers will be suffering, and some will end up hospitalized or dieing due to extreme conditions. This does not seem to have been taken into consideration in these laws.

Am I exaggerating about the suffering, or the health hazard to the point of drivers being hospitalized, or even dieing? You have only to look the daily newspapers each summer or winter to see where people have been hospitalized ,or even died, due to a lack of heating or cooling. And we are talking about the driver's home while the driver is on the road and deliver products for you.

Think about your home without heat or cooling....

Lawmakers don't seem to care about the health and welfare of drivers. Their answers are to simply find more drivers.

Under these conditions, I think that fewer people will be applying for jobs as a truck driver.

Lawmakers also seem to think that drivers from Mexico and Canada will take up the slack.

Maybe, and maybe not. I don't know. But I do know that the US Economy will be hurt in either case.

That brings us to the fact that our U.S. Infrastructure will slow down when these laws are enforced.

Why?

Everything is the U.S. is transported by truck at one point or another.

• Many medicines have to be kept refrigerated during transport. If special permits are required to run a reefer motor to keep them at a certain temperature, then the cost will be passed on to  the public.

• Large trucks traveling across the country allow products to be delivered or picked up cheaply from small towns, production plants, or ranches in the middle of no-where, or anywhere. Reducing the driver pool due the extreme conditions, or paying more to drivers because of the hazardous conditions will show up on the shelf and take more out the family dollar.

• Imagine not being able to receive oranges from California or Florida because it is illegal to keep them refrigerated in one state or the city where they are going to or coming from. They can not be kept refrigerated without the reefer motor running.
  
• Imagine not being able to get milk or beef for the same reason.
  
• Or, if you are a farmer or rancher, imagine you are not able to ship your butchered beef or milk to one city or another because of these laws.

• Even the potatoes that are served with most people's meals have to be kept refrigerated on part of their trip to the supermarket. Even the instant ones and the potatoes included in microwave meals.
  

If that reefer can not be kept running, or a special permit is needed because of current laws, then the consumer costs will go up.

This not only affect items shipped by trucks which require temperatures to be controlled, but also things coming by trains. Trains use reefer cars, too.

Common sense needs to be applied here.
These laws are already on the books. They simply have not been enforced in all communities yet. That will change.
When these laws are enforced everywhere, it will do what no terrorist has been able to do.

It could bring the USA to almost a standstill.

This is a case where every one of you needs to write your congressmen and local lawmakers.

You can see that I am back to using Firefox here.

In the news, paranoia has become law, it seems. At least it seems so in Massachusetts.

An MIT student was arrested for for wearing a circuit board and other computer parts when trying to board an airplane.

Granted, it was not the smartest thing in the world.
But was illegal?

M.I.T. students are famous for wearing computers. Not just computer parts, but whole computers. Some of them powered by generators in their shoes which power batteries as they walk. They have screens built into the glasses that they wear everyday. They have entire study groups which are in constant contact as they move about campus.

And this is not new! It's been going on for several years. What I have just described was the M.I.T. of several years ago. Pre- 9/11. I have no idea how far it has advanced since then.

But the point is that wearing computer boards and other high-tech gadgets is normal for many of these students.

M.I.T. stands for Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Apparently, Boston, Massachusetts, considers it a terrorist cell. The young lady was arrested as she entered the airport to catch her flight. She had to post a $700 bond in order to return to campus.

As I said above, I'll grant the bad judgment.
But has paranoia become the law?

I've been playing with the Opera Web Browser a lot since I last posted my thoughts about it.
I've found that I can use it in most places.
Plus the people at Opera claim that it is more secure then Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Well, I can't the text controls to work properly here on my Bravenet pages with Opera. But it works well on 99% of the web. Plus it is faster then any other browser that I have used with any Microsoft or Linux based system.

Well...
I had a meeting with my current employer today, along with a couple of the dispatchers. I explained that wherever my logbook says I was located at any given time is where I actually was. I keep my logbook legal.

This angered one of the dispatchers, but the company says that they will accommodate me with loads accordingly. I was told that they had come to expect most of the drivers to take shortcuts in their logbooks occasionally. But if I didn't want to, then that was my choice.  They would respect that.

So, I got some support from the company. And they are right. Most drivers will take shortcuts in their logbooks. The D.O.T. is surprised when a driver doesn't. But it's just something that I don't like doing.

I also got the feeling that I should watch my back around the one dispatcher. This makes me feel that I am probably making a mistake by staying here, but I will see...

My rule is to keep my logbook legal
Or else change jobs....