September 9, 2010

Columbia River @ Interstate 182

Quick picture from today’s extended bike ride. I’m thinking I need a new camera, it’s low light capabilities are horrid.

September 1, 2010

INFP

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving.

Though it usually has a bad connotation, I tend to have a certain amount of love for labels, they just make life that much easier to walk through, even though they commonly are far too over-summarizing and far too dis-focused. We use them everywhere, I’m the “CEO” of this company, I’m a “Native American,” blah blah blah, and it helps figure out who/what someone is, at least in one context. In terms of my previous job, I was an Enumerator. In terms of personal interests, I’m a Graphic Design. In terms of personal actions, I’m a Health Nut, some would argue.

Still, one of the more interesting labels in my book is the ones relating to the Jungian Typology, which is one way of laying you out on a chat and figuring out hat makes you tick. Whether you’re an introverted individual, who lives mostly inside your head and live secondarily outside, or vice versa. It goes down multiple levels, and each one dissects a little more about the individual. Sensing or Intuitive, Feeling or Thinking, Judging or Perceiving, what are you?

I’m an INFP, an introverted intuitive feeling perceiving person. So, what does that mean?

In one of the descriptions I found online, it seems to outline some things which I fall rather hard under.

INFPs, more than other intuitive feeling types, are focused on making the world a better place for people: While I feel a little self-serving saying that out loud, I generally feel this. While I may stretch it to meet different means, such as the idea that creating a quality logo for a quality company could make them that much more recognizable, memorable, and help them gain customers and grow as a business, paying employees and possibly building out, adding more jobs to the community and serving more customers as a result
INFPs have very high standards and are perfectionists. Consequently, they are usually hard on themselves, and don't give themselves enough credit: To be honest, this one drives me up the wall, and has caused my a number of problems so far in life. I could possibly argue that I lost my second job due to this, pushing far too much for everything to be perfect and ending up with everything getting slowed to a crawl because of it. I work for quality, but I can work too hard towards that goal without actually reaching the goal, like figuring out how to hike the hill, but never doing so.
INFPs do not like to deal with hard facts and logic: I would say I don’t fall under this one personally, but everyone’s open to their opinions.
INFPs are flexible and laid-back, until one of their values is violated: Um...yeah, this one’s definitely true. I can be incredibly stubborn when people contradict themselves, such as “I’m a Conservative, rah rah rah! Free rights, you choose everything! But you can’t abort a baby or marry another of the same sex because that’s wrong and GOD says so!” Because, you know, you didn’t just say “free rights, you choose everything.” It’s that and I can be hard on broken trust, I still haven’t forgiven my sister for outright taking one of the better moments in my life and trying to turn it against me because I wouldn’t drop everything to go buy her a pack of cigarettes, Oh, and to note, I haven’t smoked or drank once in my life so far.
INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it ... On the other hand, INFPs make very good mediators, and are typically good at solving other people's conflicts, because they intuitively understand people's perspectives and feelings, and genuinely want to help them: Another ones spot on. I hate conflict, I tend to be one to fall apart during bad times of conflict, as well as outright avoid asking a question if I feel like it’ll cause problem. At the same time, I find the other part of this interesting, because it links back to understanding others + wanting to help others.

Either way, INFP is a label, which has it’s positive and negative connotations, but what can one do? It helps me think I understand myself a little better, that I am what I am to an extent. I can round off the sharp edges, and put some plywood towards the missing parts, but there’s some things which presist.

I still remember the day a co-worker told me I was two different people, this open talkative person in the work setting, but this dead-silent person during a non-work event with people I didn’t know. I’ve always had this stand-off approach in new situations, but I can already be assured that probably won’t help long term, but probably is a little better than being the overly-pushy one.

Either way, I still think it’s interesting to find a quality personality test and just see how you pop out. It’s a label, yes, but it’s one more piece to who you are, at least at the moment.

August 29, 2010

Badger Mountain from I-182/Yakima River

August 27, 2010

Why I'm Against Apple.

I thought I’d explain why I hold a rather strong hatred for Apple products and how Apple operates as a whole.

Let’s look back at how Microsoft worked on the PC market. The main thing Microsoft created was the operating system, the base which everything else runs off of. While the code, or what makes up the operating system, was closed, Microsoft provided multiple application languages for people to create applications for the OS. On top of those languages, others created sub-languages, which allowed for developers to create applications how they wanted. Microsoft also allowed third parties to create hardware as they wished, which is why we have a wide array of companies (Gateway, Dell, Acer, HP, Logitech, Microsoft, + hundreds of others) which provide drivers which plug into the OS which makes everything function. So, in essence, Microsoft created an open marketplace for third parties to flourish and innovate, making PCs in all forms [traditional towers, slimline, all-in-ones, netbooks, laptops] and with all levels of functionality [basic uses, gaming, photo editing, video editing, etc.] at any price point [300, there’s a PC. 600, PC. 900 PC. 15,000 dollars, PC].

Now, let’s look at how that compares with Apple and their computers. Apple computers are made alone by one company, Apple, and only operated one OS, Mac OS, for the better part of their existence. Now, during the last five years they have shifted to hardware which can run Windows, but most of their users don’t need that functionality. Now, Apple may use third party hardware in their PCs, but they hold complete control of what goes into them. Since Apple does not have competition, because they are the only ones which run Mac OS, they can hold their prices where they want, which is why their least expensive PC, which a screen and keyboard, will cost you 999 + tax. Now, if you buy something with a little more advanced hardware, you’re talking 1500 and more. A powerhouse workstation, that’s more than 2000. Now, this wouldn’t be bad if apples to apples costs were equal, but equal hardware in a PC usually costs you 2/3’s of the cost.

Also, we have the mobile marketplace. While open options exist (Android, Michelle’s Phone), there’s also the iPhone, which like Apple’s mainstay, is completely closed out from the rest of the marketplace. Apple forces developers into using only one programming language, all applications MUST be approved by them, and if you want an Apple iPhone, you have a very limited set of options that come from one company and have no alternatives with the same OS. As well, any applications you buy from Apple for the iPhone only work on the iPhones. If you compare this with Android, for example, you can buy the same OS on a wide array of phones, costing anywhere from 99 bucks to a few hundred on contract, and get quality applications which, if you choose to switch to a different Android phone, will come with you. If you want to have a giant phone, you have an option. Physical keyboard, there’s an option. Small, there’s an option. But iPhone? You have only one option.

While I may be tempted by their beauty, and their slickness, Apple would not be my first choice for that reason. Their mobile platform is locked down and everything MUST be approved by them, and their hardware is overly priced and also rather locked down. I’d rather choose from an open market where I can get what I want, not what they WANT me to want.

I mean, would you have bought the Chevy Avalanche if you had to use Chevy brand oil, Chevy tires, Chevy windshield wipers, could only go to Chevy dealerships for absolutely any car work, only use Chevy soap with Chevy rags to wash the car, and absolutely anything that went into the car had to be Chevy approved, like even as plastic cup in the cup holder?

August 26, 2010

The Problem with America

I’m sure I’ll adapt and lean this in another form, but one of the problems with America in my book feels like everyone is out for the five minute fix. Our televisions are filled with “I ate normal food and lost 200lbs” commercials, and every little gadget claims to make your life easier and costs only 19.95!

I’m sure it’s been done, but every time I hear that we need to cut spending, all I can say is that we need to raise taxes as well. The problem we have right now is that during the last ten years, we never once raised taxes during the years of prosperity and all of that money went down the drain. Even though we could have obtains a little of that cash to pay down the debt, or dare say pay for a war we were in, we just cut taxes and lived blissfully as Rome began to collapse in one form. Housing crashed, the great tax source for states disappeared, and all of a sudden everyone became a conservative and decided cutting spending should be topic #1

Cutting spending doesn’t work in sink holes like we’re in. Cutting spending + raising taxes is what caused the Great Depression back in the 30’s, heaven knows we don’t need that to happen again. We’re going to fun deficits to get out of this hole we’re in, but we have to keep in mind that we pay it back, or at least maintain the amount, when times are good.

I don’t know. I just get annoyed when I hear all the taglines sent out and everyone just circles around and nothing changes. What does America need? We need to look past the next five minutes and actually, I don’t know, put everything on the table! We need to cut taxes + increase gov’t spending to stimulate the economy, then raise taxes slowly when it begins to turn around. We need entitlement reform, but it isn’t going to be mass privatization. We need to take a little bit of our own medicine, and realize that we need to scale back, but we aren’t going to kill everything in the process.

August 24, 2010

Packrat-ism

I’m wondering, are you a packrat?

Maybe it was the years of being poor, maybe it’s some weird klepto-mindset, but my mother is a flipping packrat. Even though we are darned good at hiding it in boxes that weigh, oh, maybe 100lbs or so, we are and it shows. We are also ones who never finish projects, as I look at kitchen cabinets without doors, multiple dressers which require a new finish or a new layer of paint, or tons of old windows and doors we have stored for some type of project.

So, why does this matter? I thought I’d go through some of my old possessions and see if there was anything to get rid of, and I came up with an entire box of stuff. Most of it was paper, old assignments which I won’t miss, though I did keep some old items which I thought were memorable, but I get a little help to get the box out the door and hey, let’s look through this and see what’s savable. “Oh, what about this” “Oh, don’t you want this” “Oh, what about that” I mean, Seriously? Seriously? Should I even try?

*sigh* I hope I don’t inherit this.

August 22, 2010

WIP: Focus, with Buttons

August 20, 2010

Focus

Working on another Metro concept, a simple text editor this time around. I’ve seen Bend, which has sadly disappeared, but would be aimed as a WordPad replacement, maybe something of TextEdit quality on the Mac side.