7 Popular PC Games I Can't Play On Linux

As I have written about before, I am a Linux user, not a Windows user. I do not use Microsoft Windows nor do I miss it. However, as I pondered what it was that others were doing on Windows that I could not do, a few popular games came to mind. Granted, these are popular from the perspective that people play them weekly or sometimes daily on MS Windows, and they must really like them because they keep playing them. 

No, I am not talking about the mammoth titles like Halo or Call of Duty or something like that. These are more fundamental games that all Windows users play. No, it's not Solitaire either, we have a dozen or more of those on Linux. Here is the list of games I have found so far that are unique to Windows and I don't get to play on Linux:

1) Whack-A-Virus

This seems to be the most popular game. People spend hundreds of dollars on this game software they get form Symantec, McAfee and others. There are also freeware versions of the software to play this game as well. The basic premise of the game is that your computer is infected with a host of malware and you must eliminate all the little nasties. So you have to run, re-run, and re-run the "game" software again and again until you whacked all the virus baddies. In the end, it seems that most people end up giving up because they can't get past the boss bugs and they simply reinstall their beloved Windows operating system.

2) Lockup 2011!

This is a very popular game it seems. The premise of the game is at random and unpredictable times, your computer completely freezes and you are then in Lockup! The goal is to get out of lockup as quickly as possible to get that work done or email sent or document printed before it is a real problem. You can still see everything on the screen, usually, but you cannot click on anything or do anything. You are to try multiple combinations of key presses to try to get the screen to change. Most people just reboot, which I consider cheating.

3) Blue Screens of Death!

This has long been a commonly played game on Windows that started in the dark ages of the operating system's life. The premise of the game is that you are someone using a computer and at completely random times your display goes completely blue, everything stops, and it prints some strange runes on the screen. These runes come from an alien race that wants to enslave you. Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to try to copy down those runes, interpret them, and find out what they mean. Only then can you avoid enslavement. Again, most people just cheat and reboot.

4) Fork It Over

This game is not played by everyone because it is expensive to play. Basically you are trying to do something on your computer and you find that you can't get it done because you are blocked by the Ogres of Dire Need. The Ogres need a special app, or a new version of an app, or a license for a feature of an app. So to get past them, you must go purchase said app/update/license and thus "fork it over" in cash to the Internet vendors. Only then can you appease the Ogres of Dire Need and get work done.

5) Blame!

This game is kind of tricky and is a kind of MMO. In the game, you are a computer user and randomly something will crash, either part of the operating system or an application. Once that happens, you then start the blame game. I say tricky because you have to establish contact with the Mystics of Windows or the mages that created the application and go through the problem with each and listen to the stories of "it's not our fault, it's theirs" to establish who you think the blame belongs to. In the end you will always be wrong because the secret of the game is the NPCs consider the fault is due to the user. With this game, you can even PUG by finding others with similar crashes. There is a cheat code, it's called "reinstall".

6) Wheels of Time

This game is a very slow one. Kind of like playing chess by snail mail. The premise of the game is the system will get slower and slower over time. Your task is to put up with as much slowness as possible before you can't take it any further. It's an odd game, because the goal is to wait it out as long as possible, but the consequences get worse the longer you wait. Kind of a catch-22 situation. The reward for waiting long enough is you get to buy a new computer and avoid all the slowness. If you can't wait long enough, you are punished by having to get your computer tuned up by either doing it yourself or paying someone to do it. For some reason, most people end up being really patient and "win".

7) Needle, Haystack, Ghost

This game is really engaging I am told. The idea is you have a valuable item, call it a file, and you save it on your computer. Then a ghost in your computer moves the item, placing a trail of breadcrumbs in many folders.  If you get too close to finding it, the ghost may move it again. Ultimately it may even be hidden in the Trash Can. You usually realize this after emptying it, so it's not perfect.

So there you have it 7 "popular" PC games that are pretty much only played on Windows. There have been reports of minor variants of these games on Macs and Linux, but to be honest, the only one I find close is "Needle, Haystack, Ghost." Come to think of it, that game could be played on about any computer. It just seems to be real popular on Windows where not all applications store things in expected places.

I really don't miss playing those games. I am very glad those days are over. Now it's time to get back to work, which by the way really hasn't stopped. My Linux computer has been churning away building code, sorting files, and doing about 30 things at once all day. You can get a lot more done when you don't have those 7 games to play.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

Living Linux In A Windows World

Yes, I am living Linux in a Windows world. If you don’t have any idea what this means, well, you are not geeky enough. If you are curious, then read on. If not, stop. It is as simple as that.

I do not use the Microsoft Windows operating system for anything other than playing games. My primary operating system for my computers is the Linux operating system. This is an operating system based on the design of Unix (which predates MS Windows quite a bit) and is available for free. It runs on almost anything with a CPU - not a joke, you can google “Linux on camera” or “Linux on a phone” or just about anything else - and has been ported to nearly every computing platform on the planet.

I use Linux because first and foremost, it frees the user to do whatever they want (regardless of how stupid it may be). Secondly, the architecture and design of the operating system is technically better in my opinion than that of MS Windows. This is not fan-boy blather, it is based on my 24+ years of software development experience using systems that pre-date even MS-DOS and an inside understanding how it all fits together within the operating system kernel and framework.

And finally, I use Linux because nearly all the software you could ever need for it is free. Yes, free. As in “no cost”. Seriously. Oh there are commercial applications and I have bought some from time to time, but generally I can get everything done with free software.

If I am going to be on a computer, I prefer to be using Linux. At those times when I am on a Windows machine, I just treat it like a toaster: it does its one thing and don’t ask it to do a bunch of other things at the same time. It often feels like I am in a straight jacket when I am on a Windows box. I encounter something odd and think “I could just pop into a command shell and …”, but alas, if you do that in Windows there is not a whole lot you can do at the command line. Well, recently MS has included a better shell, but still the venerable old command shell from the days of MS-DOS still seems to be the default. I don't get that feeling with Linux. I don't feel hemmed in at all.

However, in terms of personal computers, most people, at least here in the United States, typically think of some version of Microsoft Windows as the only operating system choices out there. Many people have heard of a Mac, but even among that set, they are only vaguely aware that the operating system is entirely fundamentally different in its inner workings. And even fewer have heard of Linux or have any clue what it is. I was once asked if Linux was some kind of prescription medication. This comes from years of PC vendors making deals (or being forced with deals) with Microsoft. And this is why it is difficult to find PCs that ship with something other than MS Windows.

What? You disagree with my “most people” and “many people” generalizations? Well, online polls and studies say that generalization is correct. Most people using a PC are not, to put it bluntly, all that technically savvy. They know enough to get online, check email, browse the web, share pictures of cats with bad grammar, post their “eating pancakes” morning status, and forward spam/scams to everyone on their contact list.

I admit that may be a bit harsh, still I think it seems correct. It appears that not only do most users start out technically inferior, but the industry actually encourages it by hiding more and more of the details of the computer beneath a glossy user interface. And that I believe is part of the problem and part of a solution all at the same time. But I am getting ahead of myself. Hold that thought. First something to consider.

Less than 10% of computer users can define what a “browser” is. Watch the following and weep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4MwTvtyrUQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEt0N3xu0Do&feature=related

Now for statistics fun. Hey, you are still reading this, you’re a geek, you should think statistics ARE fun, right? The world-wide statistics for operating system market share show that Microsoft Windows accounts for about 86% of all personal computers out there. I think if you look at just the US market that number may actually be closer to 90% but the rest of the world is not so MS-centric.

According to Wikipedia, at the time of this writing, the median estimates for OS usage are:

Windows 86.37%

Mac OS 7.4%

Apple iOS 2.8%

Linux 1.1%

Android 0.97%

Everything else 1.36%

Interestingly if you look at mobile devices, the median estimates for OS usage are:

Android 33%

Symbian OS 31%

Apple iOS 16%

Blackberry RIM 14%

Other 6%

I think it is more interesting if you look at supercomputers, the median estimates for OS usage are:

Linux 91.8%

IBM AIX 3.4%

Unstated 3.2%

MS HPCS 1.0%

Other 0.6%

The numbers are harder to pin down in the server and mainframe markets but generally when you use installation counts and not revenue, Linux dominates the server market and has a good chunk of the mainframe market which is essentially owned by IBM’s System Z operating system.

Ok, so what does all this mean and what does it have to do with “Living Linux in a Windows World”? I am glad you asked.

What it means is that I am in a very clear minority. Because I am not using Windows, I generally cannot run Windows applications. I say generally because there are ways to run Windows applications unmodified in the Linux operating system, but not all of them really work. But I have found that there are very, very few Windows applications I really want to run. Usually just games, but there are a couple things I miss. And yet, I alternatives in the Linux world that are as good, better, or close enough (depending on the tool) that are available freely from the “software center” (something like the fore-runner of an “app store”).

It also means that the world of viruses, trojans, and malware is to me “something that happens to Windows users”. In 12+ years of running Linux, I have never had any virus or malware attack. I still have to take care about information leaking out of web sessions and web sites, but that is more of a user behavioral factor than a technology factor. There is anti-virus software available for Linux, and it is mostly there to scan files from Windows systems. There are many IT people who keep a Linux box on hand to scour and clean infected disks and files.

So I sit here writing this on my Linux laptop using Google docs as my editor on the web while I have a zillion other things going on at once across multiple virtual desktops. I am not confined to a single desktop. I am not confined to just doing things the way it was designed. Linux allows combining apps and tools in many unique ways, allowing for really creative and quick solutions to problems.

Yes, I am in the minority. But as I think about it, I have been all my life. I could just abandon all hope and join the Windows herd and graze among what is offered. But I have never been like that in my life and I am too old to start now. I don’t mind being in the minority. Especially when the minority is essentially the top 1% of techies and geeks.

Yes, I am in the minority, but I sit with my geek brethren at the top 1% of users.

So in practical terms. how do I go about living Linux in this Windows world? How do I get along without MS Office, Outlook, Internet Explorer, and oh let’s not forget the favorite software title to toss into the mix, the one Windows users think is the “killer app”: Adobe Photoshop.

So here is how I live Linux in a Windows world, at least according to the software applications I use. I will only touch on the main apps at this point.

1. Office Suite - LibreOffice (formerly OpenOffice)

You do realize that even on Windows there are several alternatives to Microsoft Office don’t you? LibreOffice is just one of them. It is mostly compatible with all MS Office files, though it still has some issues with .docx files. But nearly everything else is spot on.

2. Email Client - Thunderbird

I know a lot of people really love MS Outlook, and hey, it has some excellent features. But there are alternatives, even alternatives that will connect to MS Exchange servers for email. Thunderbird is from Mozilla, the guys that brought you Firefox. Thunderbird is an excellent piece of software in its own right and when coupled with the calendar plugin available for it, is an excellent replacement for Outlook.

3. Web Browser - Chrome or Firefox

Sorry, but Internet Explorer really just sucks. Well at least up until version 9, it did. It seems to have improved quite a bit. But still, the fact that Microsoft does not correctly implement the web standards just makes it mediocre. I use Google’s Chrome browser mostly. Often I will use Firefox just for some sites. But both are in my opinion tied for the best browser on the whole planet.

4. Photo/Graphics Editing - The GIMP

I have said it before and I say it again, not everyone needs Adobe Photoshop. That is a professional grade tool that most people get lost in. It is like buying a battleship to go fishing in a pond for most users. The GIMP is an excellent alternative to Photoshop. I allow that professionals will have different opinions, and that is ok. Just remember though that I am a computing professional, so a lot of my opinion is backed up by technical understanding. The GIMP also can be daunting for most average users. It does a lot, but it also may be overkill for most users. Still, I prefer it and have used it for years.

5. Instant Messaging - Pidgin

My use of instant messaging has dropped off considerably in recent years. But when I want to get onto the IM systems, I use Pidgin. It allows you to connect to multiple systems at once - AIM, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, IRC, and many others.

6. Media Player - Banshee

I know iTunes is really good. I know a lot of people really like iTunes. But I cannot run iTunes on Linux. Nor do I want to. I don’t have an iPod, I have an MP3 player (actually my Android phone). Also, I think Windows Media Player is really awful and it also is not available in Linux. So I have been using Banshee and find it an excellent alternative to iTunes and many other media players. It is simple yet has enough features to make it very useful.

There you have it, a basic set of alternatives to the most common Windows apps used by users. Besides running on Linux, what other characteristics do those apps have in common? Care to guess?

Well, yes they are all free. But something else that most Windows users don’t think about is that LibreOffice, Thunderbird, Chrome, Firefox, The GIMP, Pidgin, and Banshee are all multi-platform.

“Multi-platform? What does that mean?” I can hear the questions already forming.

What it means is all those application run on multiple operating systems, even MS Windows. So anyone could run those apps on nearly any personal computer around.

Well not only does “living Linux in a Windows world” mean that I am in an elite minority, it means that I am universal. My application set is supported on all current PC operating systems.

So in summary (yes I know you are glad to read that bit), living Linux in a Windows world means that I am not bound by the controls the software designers try to impose to protect their systems. They create walled gardens because if you were free to wander around in their systems, you would most likely break something, and then you would complain, and call tech support. So they protect themselves by restrictions. I don’t like that.

I am free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR7bBEBIC9g

Have a great computing experience, use Linux.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

 

English Translations of Managerial-speak:

technology uniformity - The inability of an IT staff to handle any technology that they were not trained on 10 years ago.

multi-platform - The feature works on one platform multiple times.

feature specification - A document produced by the unknowing about something they heard about and completely devoid of requirements.

feature velocity - The inability to take the time to do things correctly because of the perceived need to do it faster than it should be done.

test readiness review - The inability to understand that the code is not complete and there is no need to try to test it yet.

feature complete - The inability to stop the shipping of a feature that has numerous bugs.

diverse team with individual assignments - A loose collection of individuals working by themselves reporting to a single manager.

bonus plan - The ability of a company to find ways to not give you pay raises, or any incremental income because the bonus requirements are set by management so as not to be achievable.

stock options - Pieces of paper with words on them, worth about 0.95 cents per sheet.

custom bug tracking system - The inability to use bug tracking software and instead using a contact management solution the marketing group likes and forcing it to store semi-related bug descriptions with numerous custom and expensive modifications instead of using something designed for that purpose.

layered design - A concept put on paper but violated so often in implementation that the source code has filed a restraining order against the coders.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

Why I Went All "Minty"

An interesting story.

On Friday I shutdown my laptop cleanly, packed it up, and put it in the car. I drove home and left it in the trunk all weekend. I came into work on Monday and brought my laptop bag in. I unpacked my laptop, docked it, and fired it up.

No display.

It booted, I heard the music, it should have been at the login display, but there was nothing but a blank screen and the monitor gave me that all knowing "there is no cable" kind of thing and went to sleep.

I could not even get a ctl-alt-f1 terminal. I tried booting up in and out of dock, normal mode, single user mode, recovery mode. I even tried it standing on one foot with a flag in my hand. But all I ever got was a whole lot of blankness.

So once I booted into single mode and was at a terminal, I started my investigations.

In the interest of brevity, I will speed this story up.

I messed around with the laptop for hours on Monday, no display. I had been running Ubuntu 10.04 so I did an upgrade to 10.10 hoping that would restore some order. During that time I ended up using my personal laptop (also running Ubuntu 10.10) to SSH onto the build servers to keep working. Tuesday morning, I managed to get the laptop working in the wrong display mode using the VESA display driver after much futzing around. I used that opportunity to back up everything in preparation for a reload.

Now before I reloaded, I was going through the Xorg.0.log files to see what was going on. Since I really didn't understand the process, some things did not make sense at first, but after 2 days of it, they started to.

So this is my guess as to what happened...

Last week I took some updates from Ubuntu. I thought I rebooted, but maybe I had not. Anyway, the Xorg.0.log was showing 2 video drivers vying for resources, the nv driver and the nouveau driver. I had been using the nv driver and I don't recall loading the nouveau driver and I think this may have somehow come in with the update I took. If not, I am at a loss as to how it got there.

So once the nouveau driver got installed, it would grab something the nv driver needed but nouveau had no clue what to do. And since nv couldn't grab the resources, it simply quit. Hence, I had no working display driver. At least this was my understanding from the log files.

It was at this point I knew I really needed to reload everything as I did not want to sort out this mess.

So I took my CD with 64-bit Mint 10 and installed it. I booted up and read "32-bit" once I logged in. Aw crap! So I go back and download the actual 64-bit Mint 10 DVD this time, and installed the real 64-bit Mint.

I decided since the day was blown anyway I might as well try and get the Nvidia driver working to get 3D acceleration. 

Everything went exceedingly smooth except no display. For an hour and a half I wrangled with Nvidia and Googled like mad. Then I had an epiphany as I sat staring at my sleeping external monitor. I popped the lid of the docked laptop and saw the login display patiently waiting. 

Palm to the face!

I think that it had been there since the first load of the Nvidia driver. 

Ok, stop right there. I know what you are thinking: "well maybe that was the original problem, it just quit displaying on the external monitor". 

Ah, you may think that, but I tried getting the stupid thing working in and out of dock so I had removed the external monitor from the equation and was operating on the LCD panel of the laptop itself. So there.

The laptop dock I have is one of those combination dock/external monitor stand contraptions. So opening the laptop lid is not an option, I could only crack it open an inch or two. I had to get on the floor and try to look at the LCD screen and get to the point of "detect displays" on the Nvidia settings app. No small feat actually considering the poor visibility at that angle of viewing.

So after a couple of tweaks, I now have Linux Mint all shiny and smooth in 3D on my external monitor and laptop's LCD screen. I have to get my environment back to the way I like it, but I have the important things, like email and such, completely restored to what was working before.

I have not completely given up on Ubuntu, in fact, Mint is based on Ubuntu. But for my main workstation, I can't afford the lost time in Canonical's creative side tinkering around with the user interface, or display drivers.

All in all, it was no fun having to spend so much time doing something I shouldn't have needed to do. But on the other hand given Canonical's direction with Ubuntu, it was on my path anyway to eventually reload the laptop with a different distro.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

Doing Nothing

Have you ever sat in a forest and just listened? Not just walked through a forest, but really listened? I raise the question because I could picture it in my mind the other day. I was able to transport myself through memories back to another time when I sat quietly in a forest and was able to allow it to soak in. It may seem odd, writing about that in the brutal cold of a winter when trees are bare and snow drifts cover the ground. But maybe that is the best time to think of it.

It seems that a lot of people cannot allow themselves to sit and listen, they have to be "doing something". They have a need to be busy and moving. Such people perceive lack of motion as a lack of character. But I contend that taking the time to relax, let go of the world, and enjoy a little bit of the wondrous creation around us is not only "doing something", but doing something profound and beneficial.

So often we are swept up in the world of humans, with its expanses of concrete and machinations of steel and glass, that we can no longer appreciate the quiet moments in life. We are drowning in the cacophony of human noise and we have no clue how loud it really is.

There are times when I would give nearly anything to catapult myself out of this chaos and into the middle of the woods, far beyond the sound of man-made existence, and simply rest, taking it all in. The sights, sounds, and feel of the forest fills you and naturally pushes out the more stressful things of life. It is very much "doing something" by moving very little.

It is easy for me to imagine being there, in the middle of some woods, as I spent many days of my youth hunting through the hills and hollows. I would be out in the woods for hours hunting squirrels or deer. As I get older, and presumably more responsible, I find it difficult to get both the time and the motivation to go hunting as I did once before. Come to think of it, part of the reason for not wanting to go may be "fences".

You see, in my younger years, I could trek through the woods for hours and never see a fence, a road, or any sign of human existence. Growing up in the Appalachian Mountains, it was not hard to find such a place. But now, with many years and many miles between me and that time of yesteryear, those opportunities are much rarer. People and companies ward off their land, erecting fences and gates, presumably for our "protection", but mostly just "because its their land".

I suppose it is their right, as the property owners. Still, I remember vividly those days in my youth when I could spend an entire day out in the woods far beyond the range of any fences or gates. I was free to roam where I may. Those days are gone I suppose and we all have to make do with smaller worlds.

Yet even with only a few acres of trees, you can still transport yourself into nature's realm. It's easy for me to picture but quite hard to describe actually. Words that come to mind are "fresh", "clear", and "hopeful". I don't know why those words come to mind, but they do. Well, at least in late Spring and early Summer these are fitting words. Other seasons have different feelings, and different words. But for now, I will just consider "summer".

When most people venture into the woods they create so much noise, all they hear are themselves clumsily tromping through leaves and brush. And that is not really a problem, but you have to stop and settle in order to hear most sounds of the forest. So after the din of moving, that is when you need to sit back against a tree - don't worry about the bugs, most of them will not bother you - and start to let go.

So you sit there, amid the shade of countless trees, with your back up against rough bark and leave the world of concrete and steel behind.

At first, you hear very little. Your ears have been desensitized to the quieter sounds. The world of man is much louder than the forest. Your ears soon attune to the new sounds around them. The wind blows the leaves of the trees above you creating a hiss much like the sound of a receding wave at the beach. Small birds and animals flit and dart about looking for something to eat creating small fits of sound in all directions. Your brain is now adjusting to this new sound level. You have taken the first step into a different world.

As you relax and your breathing slows, you become more aware of the forest around you. You hear it. You smell it. You feel it.

In the hidden depths of the forest, birds chirp and call out to each other. A wood pecker hammers out its presence. Somewhere overhead a hawk rings out its poetic cry. With each wave of the tree tops, you become further removed from focusing on yourself, and more aware of life all around you. Abundant life, with creatures in their daily effort to eat and thrive, is evident everywhere.

Eventually, after your brain has adjusted to the sound level, you hear more of the details, more of the small bits of life. You hear the scratches of a squirrel's claws as it clamors up a tree, the sound of a bug nibbling on some leaves. You may even hear the sound of a deer bounding away somewhere out of sight.

You feel breezes blowing over your arms and face and through your hair. As the trees open holes to the sky, drops of sunlight fall in around you. Where the beams of sun touch you, you feel the sun's warmth. With a blue sky peeking around the trees, and the sunlight raining down, perspectives change.

That vision, or description, or whatever you desire to call it, may sound quaint, or simply trite to some. It may even sound a bit naive. But I don't think so. I have been there many times. I have sat in forests and done "nothing" numerous times, simply to be there. And countless times I have gone back there, most often in my mind, simply so that I may reset, or reboot, myself.

Time to get back to work I guess. Signed on to a computer, in an office, a million miles yet only a thought away from the serenity of a mountain woodland.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

When Did You Last Scan Through AM Radio?

The other day I was driving back from visiting my eldest daughter at college and I grew tired of scanning through the FM bands hearing nothing but loud mouthed "radio personalities", the same old formulaic "popular" music, and commercials for everything from buying gold to planning for your next divorce (not making that up). So after turning off the radio a few times, I thought I would give the AM band a whirl for old time's sake.

There was something comforting in that AM hiss and the sound of radio crackle. I think it was because it triggered memories from childhood, days when cares were lighter and responsibilities fewer. 

So as I scanned through the AM stations, I was taken back in my mind to a particular spot on a particular day. I was sitting in a pickup truck waiting for my father to come back to it and listening to the radio.

I remember most vividly riding around with my father in a Ford pickup truck. He would often have the radio on and the window down smoking a cigarette. I didn't like the fact that he smoked, but he did. So whenever I smell Kool Milds being smoked, I think of my father. That was his brand and I can still recognize it.

Speaking of smells, there was something about those Fords that was distinctive. You could be put into a Ford pickup blindfolded and you would know it was a Ford by its unique smell. I don't know where it came from, but go smell the inside of one sometime. Pick an older model, from the 70s or 80s and you will see... I mean smell... what I mean.

"I'll just be a minute." That was what my father said as he left the pickup truck and headed off toward a small yellow bricked building the coal company used as a personnel office. I sat there only a minute until I turned the key to get the radio to come on.

The rain spattered lightly on the windshield and the dull gray of a late Spring sky spitting rain muted all colors. Country music was coming out of the speakers and I was going to have none of that. I had a preset on that old radio to a "popular" station and I switched it immediately. Some less-than-memorable rock song trailed off to nothing and the DJ called out the weather. Apparently it was not raining where he was.

The news came on, playing a lead-in musical sequence on some kind of vibrating antique electronic keyboard. A man read the news, flatly, and just the news. There was no hype or droning of political opinion. Nor was there any salvo of vitriol launched at politicians good or bad. It was just the news being read, devoid of inflammatory adjectives.

I sat and played with the wing windows in the truck listening to the news. When the rain let up, I rolled down the window to get some fresh air. I looked out at the trees bursting with dark greens just before summer. Soon it would be getting hot, but not today, it was almost a bit chilly. A few vehicles passed by as the news ended and the DJ came back on. 

I wasn't interested in the news. I wasn't interested in the music. I pressed dad's preset button and country music twanged forth from the radio once again.

I turned off the radio and waited and looked over toward "the grill", wishing I had some money to go get a grape Nehi. As I sat there and pondered my complete dehydration, my dad emerged from the small personnel office and was headed back to the truck.

He always wore a sort of work uniform, even though he worked in an office. That day he had on a khaki shirt and pants, a usual ensemble for him. At a little over six feet tall, dad was an imposing figure to me and to many people around where we lived. He strode over to the truck. He always walked so confident when I was a kid. How I wished I could be as tall as him. I still wish it, but that is not going to happen now.

Climbing into the truck, we set off for the "supply house", a warehouse a couple miles away. I would be spending a few hours there that day. I don't know why I was going there. I don't know why that particular day I was in the truck heading to the warehouse. But I was.

My father is gone now. But not forgotten. I tell my kids stories of his sometimes outlandish adventures and life with my dad. I see him in so many memories and I even hear him laugh in the crackle of AM radio static.

This post is not really about scanning through AM radio. This post is about remembering those you love and finding them in the oddest places. Even at 1400 AM on your radio dial.

So go ahead. If you are old enough to remember the AM radio days, turn off that FM and switch it over to AM for a while. See who you find in the static.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

The Short List - Political Criticism

Why is it perfectly acceptable to vilify George W. Bush for his presidency, and that is considered socially acceptable, but attempt to vilify Barack Obama and you face extreme criticism and are often cast as a bigot or a racist.

I don't understand this. Especially when I consider the things that those who hate Bush have touted that he "ruined", "adversely affected", or as some have said "compromised". Here is a short list of such things as compiled from a liberal democrat's site that goes on and on about George W. Bush. Apparently that author holds that George W. Bush is a villain in the following areas:

• The truth
• America as we knew it
• The Constitution of the United States of America
• The presidency
• The moral high ground
• The presidential oath of office
• An independent press
• Accountability in government

Now these are just some of the reasons given on that site. Most of the rest were lists of names, I don't know who most of the people are. I presume Republicans of some infamy in their eyes. But what about this short list in light of the first 1.75 years of Barack Obama?

The Truth

Obama promised, repeatedly promised, to have an open administration and government. In his own words "encourages accountability through transparency," and said: "My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government."

But what happened when his own efforts were in jeopardy of passing? Closed doors, secret meetings, outright bribery, and in some cases coercion in the passing of "health care reform". Oh but some protest, "that was not the president's doing" they would say. Oh really? When did the president tell them to open the meetings, allow Republicans to be present and contribute, and someone tell me when he told them to create the bill with enough time for people to actually read it before voting on it? He did not do those things because it suited him not to.

He cannot hide behind the Congress and say "they did it". The buck stops at the white house. And for a president to promise transparency as he did, there you go, an outright lie.

America as we knew it

The liberal democrats in office, under the leadership and goal setting of Obama, have attempted to completely change the America I grew up with. Was America about government takeover of business? Was America about ramming legislation through the process that the public was at best split over? Considering health care, the nation was split and it is still split. That is hardly a mandate.

What about American borders? What has Obama and Congress done to protect our borders, specifically the southern border? Nothing. They are using the issue as a political token to get immigration reform. When did America allow open skirmishes with armed foreign groups to occur on our soil. This is happening now. When the governor of Arizona asked Obama for help securing the state's borders, she was urged to "be his partner" in working toward a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's immigration system. There was no help. No troops. No fences.

This is not America as we knew it. Would any president up to and including George W. Bush have allowed armed insurgents to engage in open warfare on our soil without a response? No. Not one.

And how about blatant socialism? And please, taking over corporations, running the health care system, those are socialist actions. Go read your high school civics books. Those are examples of socialism.

The America I knew and grew up in was not socialist. And I pray it never will be.

The Constitution of the United States of America

This is a particularly tricky issue for Barack Obama. He has already openly violated the constitution on several points. here are a few:

• Violated Article 1, Section 6 by attempting to vote Hillary Clinton a pay raise while waiting for her to become Secretary of State. It is against the constitution to do so.
• Violated Section 9 by taking Chairmanship of the UN Security Council, it should have gone to an ambassador and the constitution requires a congressional vote to approve such a title for the president.
• Violated Article 1, Section 2 by attempting to give the census job to his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. It was not within his authority to do so.
• There is no constitutional support for the appointment of "czars". Obama has appointed numerous czars to oversee issues that are constitutionally within the realm of the legislative branch of government. Their existence is constitutionally wrong.
• Violated the 1st Amendment by the confirmed attempt to silence Laurie Williams and husband Alan Zabel for Criticizing Cap and Trade.

The Presidency

Remember when Obama's transition team leader was asked if he was ready to take office? Her response was he would be "ready to rule on day 1". That should have been a clear warning sign to everyone who paid attention. When oil was rushing into the Gulf of Mexico, why did Obama not allow foreign support to come in early? And why did he go golfing so much when this crisis was unfolding? Why did he wait so long to do anything? Perhaps because it was useful to him to have a crisis such as this so they could push through further legislation to shutdown ocean oil drilling. Perhaps he just had no clue what to do.

Obama has used the presidency as a political tool, not unlike many other presidents, but he has not even attempted to mask his efforts. People spoke of George W. Bush as being an arrogant president. He arrogance is nothing next to the arrogance of the Barack Obama presidency.

The moral high ground

I am not even sure why this was so often applied to George W. Bush. If people even remotely understood how the government works, they would see that Bush more often than not retained the moral high ground. As for Barack Obama, why was he always in company with those that preached violence to others and those that spoke of the government of the United States as being "criminal" and "violent"? Where does that show a moral high ground? Consuming preached hatred does not make for a moral high ground.

The presidential oath of office

Gaffs aside, the oath contains this part: "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States". See the part about violating the Constitution above.

One who so willingly violates the Constitution is not so faithfully defending it. Or, he is simply incapable of understanding it. I don't know. I assume its the former.

An independent press

This was applied to George W. Bush and honestly, I have to wonder what that web blogger was smoking. The press had never been overly kind to Bush. In fact, many times he was made the fool of in the open press. If the press were to treat Obama the same as the treated Bush, there would be calls of racism and demanding that those responsible would be fired.

But as it turns out, that will never happen. Obama is the darling of the liberal press and is favored in their reporting. This is a general thing for the liberal press, they love liberals, they hate conservatives. To deny this reality is living a lie. Open your mind for yourself and look around you. Pay attention to the how the press treats liberals vs conservatives. There are exceptions and some of those are on both sides: there are some major news agencies that are overtly conservative - maybe 2 at best.

So while it may not be Obama's fault directly, where is his criticism of them? Where is the president urging fairness? Where is the president leading? He is not.

Accountability in government

Barack Obama has been placing people in position to disrupt accountability in government since he took office. The "czars" he has appointed work for him. There is no independence and they are in in bed with most major sections of government. While it may sound like conspiracy theory to suggest he has done this to protect himself, one can hardly deny it will vastly help. Given that Obama is not stupid, he would have known this from the beginning. Did the potential backlash sway him from this? No. Did he ever address this? No. It seems like a willing act.

And as for the promised transparency, we have yet to see any of it. Obama's presidency remains secretive and he remains unaccountable for the failures so far.

So there it is. That is my short list of criticisms of Barack Obama. I criticized him on what he has done and what he has not done. Not who he is, not his religious beliefs, not his ancestry, not his wealth, not on anything other than what he has done in the race for president and as president.

I am not attacking the man. I am criticizing the man, based on his own merits of his presidency and actions. Anyone who rises up to lead has by that very action opened themselves to criticism.

I also stand by what I wrote and quoted as being accurate as best I could determine. If you have criticism of something I wrote based on its accuracy, please share. I shall correct it. If you have criticism based on your disagreement with my opinion, you are free to write your own position and post it where you have permission to do so legally.

I ask that if you disagree, then don't read this anymore and don't post any comment. I will delete them anyway. If you agree with my position then don't post any comment, I will delete those as well. This is my opinion and my position. It is not up for debate and it is not up for mockery. Please respect my opinion and position and I will respect yours.

Flame me and you just confirm my opinion of liberal slander and show me to be correct.

And if you already commented, it just proves you failed to read the whole post.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)