Sunday, November 4, 2018
My Daughter's First Taste of "Food"
This was my daughter's first taste of "food." I deliberately use quotes because, as her face will say, it's not exactly creme brulee!
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Why I'm Going to Miss Google Plus
UPDATE (02-06-2019): It would seem that due to another discovered security breach Google will be closing down Google+ for consumers by April 2019.
In case most of you haven't heard, Google is shuttering it's social network Google Plus (Google+, G+). This is sad news to the many of us who use the service to network with like minded individuals and explore the latest in cutting edge science and technology discussions.
This news fell very hard on me, since I have spent many years networking with colleagues and others in my academic field and beyond.
But that wasn't the greatest thing about G+. If you compared G+ to other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, the differences couldn't be more obvious.
Twitter, for the most part, is filled with the most random of postings. It's sort of, at least to me, a platform for ranting about what's wrong in life with the appropriate "hashtag". Of course public debate, passive aggressive "arguing", and people shooting down opinions also exist. But if you're like me--and don't have many followers--then for the most part your twitter feed is pretty tame, aside from the occasional drama that may spill over.
Facebook has become a cesspool of negativity and politically drawn battle lines. It's an opinionated war zone that seems much more like a scene from news coverage of the Iraq War than the place I once remembered; a place where the parade of drunken pictures from the previous night's festivities began sometime around Sunday afternoon and continued into the early hours of Monday. By and large I've noticed that most of my friends and I don't really use Facebook that often except to use its chat feature (because not everyone uses Google!). A few friends are still there though and sharing memes and what not, but even still, the social landscape of Facebook has changed. Facebook now resembles an vast desert, like the planet Naboo from Star Wars, than the lush forest it once was.
Google+ was anything but; and is to this day the least politically fueled social network. Just going onto my feed exposed me (based on what and who I followed) to the latest trends in science and technology. What I always saw was people helping other people, sharing some awesome picture of a sunset while they were traveling, or posting some update about this or that scientific study. Politics? I'm most certain they existed (I'm not naive!), however because I was never following anything strictly political, and even my groups were always Meteorology and other STEM related, I never saw anything promoting this or that politician.
Now, what prompted Google to decide to shutter G+ was because allegedly there was a data breach that while Google fixed the issue did fail to advise the issue to the 500k users who were potentially affected. That and Google claims that the social network just isn't used enough. From my perspective this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the pervasive infractions against personal privacy that Facebook has not only committed and attempted to cover up, but has also tried to rope Google, Apple, Amazon, and any other tech company into the fiasco. Sometimes I wonder how there are still millions of people on Facebook (then I remember my friends and I using their chat client and not willing to move elsewhere. D'oh.)
I think the greatest reason why I will continue to greatly appreciate G+ until I can no longer gain access around August 2019, and miss it after it's gone, is because at very least I could log on to a social network and just be me. More than that I knew that logging on to G+ would leave me intellectually edified and in the know of those things that I actually cared about and wanted to know about. It was nice knowing that I could access a social network where people were generally positive and were genuine (well, except for some of the bots, but those were rare). But I suppose that wasn't good enough for Google. In a way, I hope that perhaps something will come along to change Google's mind.
Just an idea: If you have a Google account and activate your Google Plus profile and begin sharing (if you haven't). Maybe if Google sees a massive influx of users someone might think to themselves, maybe there's life still in her that's worth saving.
In case most of you haven't heard, Google is shuttering it's social network Google Plus (Google+, G+). This is sad news to the many of us who use the service to network with like minded individuals and explore the latest in cutting edge science and technology discussions.
This news fell very hard on me, since I have spent many years networking with colleagues and others in my academic field and beyond.
But that wasn't the greatest thing about G+. If you compared G+ to other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, the differences couldn't be more obvious.
Twitter, for the most part, is filled with the most random of postings. It's sort of, at least to me, a platform for ranting about what's wrong in life with the appropriate "hashtag". Of course public debate, passive aggressive "arguing", and people shooting down opinions also exist. But if you're like me--and don't have many followers--then for the most part your twitter feed is pretty tame, aside from the occasional drama that may spill over.
Facebook has become a cesspool of negativity and politically drawn battle lines. It's an opinionated war zone that seems much more like a scene from news coverage of the Iraq War than the place I once remembered; a place where the parade of drunken pictures from the previous night's festivities began sometime around Sunday afternoon and continued into the early hours of Monday. By and large I've noticed that most of my friends and I don't really use Facebook that often except to use its chat feature (because not everyone uses Google!). A few friends are still there though and sharing memes and what not, but even still, the social landscape of Facebook has changed. Facebook now resembles an vast desert, like the planet Naboo from Star Wars, than the lush forest it once was.
Google+ was anything but; and is to this day the least politically fueled social network. Just going onto my feed exposed me (based on what and who I followed) to the latest trends in science and technology. What I always saw was people helping other people, sharing some awesome picture of a sunset while they were traveling, or posting some update about this or that scientific study. Politics? I'm most certain they existed (I'm not naive!), however because I was never following anything strictly political, and even my groups were always Meteorology and other STEM related, I never saw anything promoting this or that politician.
Now, what prompted Google to decide to shutter G+ was because allegedly there was a data breach that while Google fixed the issue did fail to advise the issue to the 500k users who were potentially affected. That and Google claims that the social network just isn't used enough. From my perspective this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the pervasive infractions against personal privacy that Facebook has not only committed and attempted to cover up, but has also tried to rope Google, Apple, Amazon, and any other tech company into the fiasco. Sometimes I wonder how there are still millions of people on Facebook (then I remember my friends and I using their chat client and not willing to move elsewhere. D'oh.)
I think the greatest reason why I will continue to greatly appreciate G+ until I can no longer gain access around August 2019, and miss it after it's gone, is because at very least I could log on to a social network and just be me. More than that I knew that logging on to G+ would leave me intellectually edified and in the know of those things that I actually cared about and wanted to know about. It was nice knowing that I could access a social network where people were generally positive and were genuine (well, except for some of the bots, but those were rare). But I suppose that wasn't good enough for Google. In a way, I hope that perhaps something will come along to change Google's mind.
Just an idea: If you have a Google account and activate your Google Plus profile and begin sharing (if you haven't). Maybe if Google sees a massive influx of users someone might think to themselves, maybe there's life still in her that's worth saving.
That Moment When Art Imitates Life
Most of the time--and this is no exception--Dilbert makes a comic that literally parallels how life at work is.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
An INTJ Overview
Sort of related to my post on life as an INTJ: Here's an overview of the INTJ personality from a very well done video. Of the many videos on my personality type, this one is a fantastic beginning to understand one of the most misunderstood personality types.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Welcome to Autumn
Autumn Has Arrived
Autumn in Missouri is off to a good start! The weather has been typical of the Midwest roller coaster that's experienced every year. The few crisp mornings we've had make me miss my time living near Chicago with all the lake fronts. From looking at forecast models, it would seem that autumn has made a consistent appearence up north. Here in Missouri the weather couldn't be more, as the locals say, "bipolar." 80s one day 60s the next.
Job Hunt & Work Woes
Since it's been made known to me that I'm likely stuck in my current position at work without any future considerations I've been looking around for other work. So I've been giving my resume out and filling out job applications, and so far to no success. Much of the time the feedback I've been receiving is that I'm just not experienced enough for this or that position.
Things on the job couldn't be more chaotic. Unfortunately the schedule has been tossed around and I've been getting scheduled a lot of six day weeks! This of course has been abandoning me adrift in stress and exhaustion. After a six day stretch all I want is to be alone. Without people. Often after working 6 days I forget what day it is (thank God for Google!).
Baby's First Word!
Isabelle's first word is "hi." As the days have gone by she has begun to build her vocabulary. She's added "dad" to her words, and at least once has said "hi dad" when I've arrived home from work. Some days I wonder what she'll say next. Not long from now she will be crawling and so far has been working very well at developing her arm muscles and coordination to at least support herself.
Thursday, September 27, 2018
My Daughter's First Cardinals Game
As an added plus, the tickets we bought months ago came with a bonus: an opportunity to actually walk on the field! It was awesome to be able to walk by the players as they were getting ready to play the game. Definitely an opportunity I won't forget!
It was also Isabelle's very first Cardinals game! She made it through the game pretty well cheering on the Cardinals and taking a couple naps. Overall I think she handled the crowd well for a baby!
This was my second Cardinals game at Busch. Being a Cardinals fan growing up in Illinois made most of my Cardinals games being seen at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Not bad to note that so far the Cardinals have only lost one game that I've witnessed in a stadium.
We began the day with Mass at the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales, an absolute must for us every visit to St. Louis!
Saturday, September 15, 2018
My Life As An INTJ
So, I'm pretty big on personality theory. It's one of several things that still makes a lot of sense to me ever since I took the required, and very cerebral and fascinating, Introduction to Psychology course during my time spent in college.
Although we only received a short lesson - as part of our section on Karl Jung - the ideas on personality theory stuck around, like glue, to the neural pathways of my brain. I discovered after taking a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment[1] (hereafter MBTI) that I scored as INTJ. After learning what those four letters meant (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging), and reading a description of that personality type, I discovered that there's a clear and concise logic to how I think and perceive the world. In a way I became a sort of convert to studying personality theory in my spare time - enough that I've been able to get scary close to figuring out someone's personality.
So, what does this have to do with my life?
Everything!
Run a Google search for "INTJ personality"[2] and you'll find a plethora of search results and information to look at. As an INTJ I tend to be enthusiastic about a massive amount of information, because that is what I need for decision making and to make sense of what is going on. Don't worry if you're not big on a lot of information to sift through though. However, I would definitely ask that for the sake of INTJs all over the world (estimated ~2.5%) to read up on what makes us tick (and why do we always seem have a death stare going on?).
[1] The MBTI assessment I took three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) over a period of four weeks and scored INTJ. I only had to take it once for class, the rest of the attempts were entirely of my own initiative (I just had to eliminate any subjective bias).
[2] Went ahead and did the search for you so all you have to do is click on the link to the search results. You're welcome!
Although we only received a short lesson - as part of our section on Karl Jung - the ideas on personality theory stuck around, like glue, to the neural pathways of my brain. I discovered after taking a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment[1] (hereafter MBTI) that I scored as INTJ. After learning what those four letters meant (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging), and reading a description of that personality type, I discovered that there's a clear and concise logic to how I think and perceive the world. In a way I became a sort of convert to studying personality theory in my spare time - enough that I've been able to get scary close to figuring out someone's personality.
So, what does this have to do with my life?
Everything!
Run a Google search for "INTJ personality"[2] and you'll find a plethora of search results and information to look at. As an INTJ I tend to be enthusiastic about a massive amount of information, because that is what I need for decision making and to make sense of what is going on. Don't worry if you're not big on a lot of information to sift through though. However, I would definitely ask that for the sake of INTJs all over the world (estimated ~2.5%) to read up on what makes us tick (and why do we always seem have a death stare going on?).
[1] The MBTI assessment I took three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) over a period of four weeks and scored INTJ. I only had to take it once for class, the rest of the attempts were entirely of my own initiative (I just had to eliminate any subjective bias).
[2] Went ahead and did the search for you so all you have to do is click on the link to the search results. You're welcome!
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Reminiscence of Social Media Past
Recently, my wife and a couple of friends were discussing social media and how exhausting the internet, with all of its drama, has become. The conversation eventually became a nostalgic guide through the late 1990s and early 2000s as well as a reminder of the "prehistoric" world that existed before Facebook and Twitter.
My Story...
Back in 1998 I was one of many thousands of people who had a LiveJournal. LiveJournal was a blogging service filled with everything from the first fan fiction writings to the angst filled verses of amateur poets and song writers trying to express themselves. Around that same time GeoCities was beginning to take off as the premier FREE website publishing server (now I think it's part of Yahoo! or something). I had a GeoCities website which functioned as an outlet of my creativity and experimentation with HTML. With a website or blog you didn't have a comment thread or any of that nonsense; you had this thing called a "guest book." Across the web you could count on seeing the phrase: "Sign my guestbook!"
(Man it was a simpler time by comparison!)
Also at this time was a phenomenon called a "web ring." Web rings were the thing that connected your website or blog to other websites or blogs. To make your website/blog part of a web ring you would paste in an HTML code into your website. Every time someone would find or visit your page they would be able to scroll to the bottom and click next and would immediately be taken to the next website in the web ring. Eventually you could make it all the way around - hence the "ring" in web ring. Web rings proved to be very useful for websites and blogs that had a common topic or interest. I had a website (GeoCities) that was all about helping people learn HTML and was part of a web ring of the same topic.
All this was short lived though because something was emerging that would be the predecessor of all social networking: Myspace.
Oh Myspace! I set up my Myspace in 2003 and immediately noticed I could have a blog and website combined with a continuous comment thread! It was the birth of the social network, although, at the time, no one I knew called it that. The world of convenience was at your finger tips. With Myspace users could "friend" someone and there was such a thing as having your top 8 friends. It was a way that through blog posts, comments, and who your top 8 was that you could finally compare yourself to your friends. The race for the most angst filled blog post and most edgy profile (profile songs too!) had begun!
In 2006 I received an invitation to join Facebook. Since I was working as a college computer lab tech I was able to use my college email to sign up for Facebook. Back then you could do more than just poke your friends - you could throw a sheep at them or even defenestrate them! Facebook wasn't serious. It was that thing you did to keep up with friends and brag about getting enrolled in classes. When you signed up you had to belong to a "network" which meant that you had to have a valid university email address.
The rest as they say is history: Facebook eventually opened itself up, so now everyone and their five cousins and their grandma are on Facebook. Heck, I've heard a rumor that some places have started Facebook classes that teach people how to use it!
The rest as they say is history: Facebook eventually opened itself up, so now everyone and their five cousins and their grandma are on Facebook. Heck, I've heard a rumor that some places have started Facebook classes that teach people how to use it!
What has it all become?
It seems anymore that not just Facebook, but all of social media has become an outlet for the very worst of society. We have become as the sophists of ancient Greece, neither caring for, or much less interested in, what is true, real, and good. Even our politicians (i.e. President Trump) have given in to and have enabled a culture of living within the borders of 280 characters. Social media has indeed become competition what 20 years ago was considered normal social interaction. And at what cost? We hate each other! Rather, we hate what we perceive through our narrow lens of social media.
On the contrary it must be said Facebook and Twitter have been great ways for me to keep up with family and friends who live far off. I mean, it really brightens my day to know that a former colleague got that job he wanted, or that my niece is enjoying school, or that old acquaintance from class was finally proposed to by the man of her dreams! All this is absolutely wonderful, and I enjoy all the positive.
If there's one thing I wish social media was more of an outlet for, besides catching up with friends, I wish that it provided a constructive forum where ideas weren't needlessly trolled or savagely shot down with prejudice. Perhaps I'm just babbling incoherent thought vomit, but could it be that maybe this is something? At least, I enjoyed a cathartic reflection of a time, not long ago, where things seems - at very least - a bit more civilized.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
On The Abuse Crisis Afflicting The Church
My thoughts on the current crisis affecting the Roman Catholic Church in the United States:
It has taken a long while for me to accurately and charitably compile my thoughts in regards to the sex abuse crisis, so please bear with me.
It has taken a long while for me to accurately and charitably compile my thoughts in regards to the sex abuse crisis, so please bear with me.
First of all, this is just absolutely tragic. In fact, it is absolutely diabolical and completely inexcusable! What more as the weeks and days go on it seems more and more likely that some of the Bishops, and even those beyond the US borders, have completely forsaken the teachings of the Church; trading them in for depravity and savagery!
I too am greatly disturbed and at times ponder, in anger, how this could have happened. After all, I was once a seminarian (albeit for a brief time) and I never observed or witnessed any of this happening. The idea of this happening is such a foreign concept to what I know to be true Catholic teaching that I'm left mesmerized. In fact, as part of my interview prior to being accepted it was made explicitly clear that if I was not in good standing with the teachings of the Church, and more so actively following well those teachings, then I would not be admitted to formation towards the Priesthood.
Yet, somehow these Bishops and Priests were accepted into their respective formation programs and were ordained. But how??? It is as Pope Paul VI is quoted as saying, "It is as if from some crack the smoke of Satan has entered the Church." (emphasis mine) It fills me with anger and dismay that ANY man ordained to the Priesthood would knowingly permit or perpetrate this kind of nonsensical barbarism!
However, I realize something crucial. These men, regardless of everything, clearly had no intent on teaching according to Church teaching or even living according to Church teaching. These men are frauds and DO NOT represent what the Catholic Church actually teaches. These men, in living their grotesque, sinful life were very boldly sinning not just against their victims but also against God and His Church. I also realize that when someone acts AGAINST Church teaching in such a grave manner that they effectively are committing an act of apostasy against the faith. St. Francis de Sales suggests that such a lack of charity (love) prevents God from being able to work through the person, because they are not open to God, but rather only to themselves.
There is much more that can be commented on from every angle, however there is absolutely NOTHING that can possibly undo what has been done. There is nothing that anyone can say that can sooth the absolute and terrifying hurt and devastation clearly felt by those affected. All anyone can really do is pray. Pray for our Bishops and Priests that they have the courage to root out the rot present in the Church today.
From my own perspective I can say that I agree with the article I attached to this post (please read!). In some way, for many, many years, I have held to question many things that appeared after the Second Vatican Council. That is not the same as to say that Vatican II is the root cause, but a lot of things that happened in the Church starting in 1968 were heavily endorsed by people like McCarrick and others who permitted his actions to continue.
As much as McCarrick has attempted to pervert the teachings of the Church, he has failed. The teachings of the Church, independent of the personal opinion of individuals inside her walls, continues to condemn McCarricks actions and calls him and all of us poor sinners to conversion.
I too am greatly disturbed and at times ponder, in anger, how this could have happened. After all, I was once a seminarian (albeit for a brief time) and I never observed or witnessed any of this happening. The idea of this happening is such a foreign concept to what I know to be true Catholic teaching that I'm left mesmerized. In fact, as part of my interview prior to being accepted it was made explicitly clear that if I was not in good standing with the teachings of the Church, and more so actively following well those teachings, then I would not be admitted to formation towards the Priesthood.
Yet, somehow these Bishops and Priests were accepted into their respective formation programs and were ordained. But how??? It is as Pope Paul VI is quoted as saying, "It is as if from some crack the smoke of Satan has entered the Church." (emphasis mine) It fills me with anger and dismay that ANY man ordained to the Priesthood would knowingly permit or perpetrate this kind of nonsensical barbarism!
However, I realize something crucial. These men, regardless of everything, clearly had no intent on teaching according to Church teaching or even living according to Church teaching. These men are frauds and DO NOT represent what the Catholic Church actually teaches. These men, in living their grotesque, sinful life were very boldly sinning not just against their victims but also against God and His Church. I also realize that when someone acts AGAINST Church teaching in such a grave manner that they effectively are committing an act of apostasy against the faith. St. Francis de Sales suggests that such a lack of charity (love) prevents God from being able to work through the person, because they are not open to God, but rather only to themselves.
There is much more that can be commented on from every angle, however there is absolutely NOTHING that can possibly undo what has been done. There is nothing that anyone can say that can sooth the absolute and terrifying hurt and devastation clearly felt by those affected. All anyone can really do is pray. Pray for our Bishops and Priests that they have the courage to root out the rot present in the Church today.
From my own perspective I can say that I agree with the article I attached to this post (please read!). In some way, for many, many years, I have held to question many things that appeared after the Second Vatican Council. That is not the same as to say that Vatican II is the root cause, but a lot of things that happened in the Church starting in 1968 were heavily endorsed by people like McCarrick and others who permitted his actions to continue.
As much as McCarrick has attempted to pervert the teachings of the Church, he has failed. The teachings of the Church, independent of the personal opinion of individuals inside her walls, continues to condemn McCarricks actions and calls him and all of us poor sinners to conversion.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Guess I Crossed The Line?
As I'm sipping my coffee this morning and looking at my social media this morning I can't help but notice that I think I may have crossed over into a new phase of my life on Twitter. As of the moment I've reached more followers than pages/people I follow. So I guess that's something.
I've never kept track of, cared about, or taken notice of how many followers I have. The way I see things on Twitter is the same way I see things on any web presence I have. Blogs and social media are just outlets I use to express and give some semblance of life to my thoughts.
What does this even mean? Have I accomplished something?
From my perspective all I think I can really say is, cheers to all those fine individuals who somehow find my rubbish in some way useful or tolerable in your day to day lives. I'll try to keep things interesting.
To all those who find my rubbish nauseating at best or intolerable I ask, why do you keep watching on? What have you come to see?
I've never kept track of, cared about, or taken notice of how many followers I have. The way I see things on Twitter is the same way I see things on any web presence I have. Blogs and social media are just outlets I use to express and give some semblance of life to my thoughts.
What does this even mean? Have I accomplished something?
From my perspective all I think I can really say is, cheers to all those fine individuals who somehow find my rubbish in some way useful or tolerable in your day to day lives. I'll try to keep things interesting.
To all those who find my rubbish nauseating at best or intolerable I ask, why do you keep watching on? What have you come to see?
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