Surface Computing

I'd heard of Microsoft Surface computing just a few weeks ago, but thought it was in more of a development phase. Turns out it's not. Watch this video and see if you can find some uses for this platform. Kinda reminds one of Minority Report, doesn't it?

I am More American than Bush is Approved of

The results are in. I had always wondered just how American I am, and now Ann Coulter can't say shit!

You are 63% American!

You have 126 proof blood

You're a genuine American, citizen or not. Americanosity runs in your blood. You're an asset to the U.S.A as much as anyone can be expected and while you may not go out of your way to push the nation forward, you do what you can to make it all run smoothly. You root for America in the Olympics, try to stay on the right side of the law, and can name at least eight past US presidents. Keep America proud, tough guy. Other genuine Americans include: Betsy Ross, Johnny Appleseed, Irving Berlin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Humphrey Bogart, and Oprah Winfrey.

Maybe I'll contact the CIA and finally get accepted. This was the last bit of proof I needed after that Qu'ran peddling incident. I'll show those bastards.

Being American isn't all that hard. It's the getting along with Americans I have trouble with. I've stated those reasons in a recent post and will not continue to bore the bejesus out of you here.

Elite Status

I read something today while I was on the pot: "Only 4 percent of Americans can say that they didn't eat at McDonald's last year."

I will be able to say that in 2008.

Beth and I started at the beginning of 2006 that we wouldn't go to Wal-Mart anymore. We did it. We still haven't been. So I proposed toward the end of the year that we should just add another place to avoid every year. We decided that our most troublesome frequent visits were to McDonald's, and that was that. We haven't eaten anything from McD's this year. I went inside one to pee a couple of weeks ago, and the stench of the grease was revolting. I feel like I'm reformed or something. Now we've got to figure out which establishment is off limits next year.

This is Personal

Sometime last semester, I got really angry at a lot of people, and began feeling jaded toward society in general. Working full time and attending a traditional university was pretty demanding, on top of caring for my family. Depression seemed to set in, and I had been crapped on by too many people in simple situations, like the gas station attendant never making eye contact, some fat lady nearly causing a traffic jam trying to put her straw in her drink, and, yes, another fat lady not knowing what her job is at the auto parts store. These fucking people, I thought. What a place to live. One morning in class I decided I'd had enough and did what I always do during these times: I sit down and write. So I wrote:

I can't begin to explain my declining state of mind. Something is missing. I am becoming apathetic, yet hostile at the same time. I am angry at society and its current state. Most people are rude, and it's either because they were raised that way or they are megalomaniacs. People are hypocrites with earth-friendly stickers on their cars from which they throw trash on the road. They smoke cigarettes and eat pure cooked fat, then declare it a shame that Uncle Jimmy died of a coronary at 46, when he weighed 300 pounds. They wear gold and diamonds that shine in the headlights of other cars on the highway when their grossly neglected vehicle has finally given up. It's the same $600 car with $1500 wheels on it.

These are the same peole who snap at you for trying to hand them your credit card when you can just swipe it yourself, and only point you in a general direction when you're looking for something in a store. These are the people who don't speak when you hold the door for them, as if you owe it to that person. These are the people who share their telephone conversations with everyone in the restaurant and seem to have the hardest time driving while conducting business on said device.

I don't know where I'm going with this - I just want to sit down and learn how computers work, be left alone right now and not be bothered. But one cannot live without going out for needed items, forcing me out into the jungle of rudeness and hostility. Maybe it's because I'm white, or because I don't look like everyone else, but it's probably just because I'm on the same road or in their store, bothering them to no end. It's not as if she wouldn't have a job without paying customers, is it?

I was taking anthropology at the time, and it hit some nerves. The instructor is an atheist, and he really hit home on some topics I'd been toying with on a personal level for some time. The class was very invigorating, and struck the match that lit my fire.

I had been a struggling agnostic leaning toward atheism until I took anthropology. One night the professsor was talking about the significance we as humans imbue upon objects, events, and basically anything we can summon words for. This lecture told me exactly what I needed to hear: God exists because we invented a god. That statement is really for another article.

I have always been a believer in the purely physical and systematically proven concepts. I love it. I can touch it. I can explain it. I deducted from my observations that anything, with time, can be logically explained. I found this in mathematics, when I was trying to explain to Beth how I know that even though I can't actually define the exact value of the square root of 3, I still know that its square is the number 3. It's because it works for any square root. That also may be for another article.

All this to say that since I have decided that God does not exist in any form, my methods of thinking about most everything have changed. I have released the significance of many things, and this in turn has granted me liberty from our society. In my mind, I am truly free. There are many benefits to this, but there are also some drawbacks. One drawback is that my new level makes me socially awkward, and unlike 90 percent of America. That said, I don't have many friends here in South Georgia. That's okay, though, because I've always been socially awkward and without many friends. The pros outweigh the cons.

Don't get me wrong - I still pay my taxes, I respect people, and I even bow my head when someone wants to pray at the dinner table. I just don't give any significance to the animocity of some people, the $10.00 "Pray for Our Troops" magnets, or a scratch on my car's finish. It doesn't matter. It's just a car.

It's just a watch. A shirt. No matter what the commercial says, that diamond necklace only has the significance that you give it. To a monkey, it's just shiny. To a fish, it's probably something to eat. To a rock, it's a relative. What is it to you?

My dad once told me when I was having a fit about life that I must choose to be happy. I couldn't understand that because it wasn't that simple at the time. On a lower level, I was angry at the way things were and how I didn't have any money. I couldn't maintain my attitude about those things and simply choose to be happy. So when I changed my mind about the significance of money, of other peoples' opinions of me, and found out what is really important, I was able to make that choice to be happy. I have made my choice, and I am happy.

I realize I may have lost the respect of a few people in light of this, but I am prepared. I have in no way intended to imply that your belief is wrong - only that I may not share the same beliefs with you. If you have been offended, feel free to comment. I am finally ready to defend myself.

The Rainmaker

Looks like I'm gaining on this reading list after all. I haven't found much to do otherwise, so I bet I'll continue and at least get through a few more.

The Rainmaker is a wonderfully-told tale of a young law student, written in the first person and in present tense throughout. Quite an amazing feat, I might add. It's a 600-page paperback; I doubt I could write its equivalent.

This kid, Rudy Baylor, takes us through his last semester of law school, passing the bar, suing an insurance company and winning a $50,200,000 verdict for his client. At the end, he gets the girl he wanted and ends up killing her husband. Sound interesting? It's all there.

On to The God Delusion...

Google Works Like Gravity

Since I posted my dealings with Streets & Trips 2007 and Windows Vista using an older device that came with the same program, a few people have found this site and have been helped. I didn't advertise, but I trusted Google (and, okay, maybe the other search engines too) and folks found my solution to this problem. I am grateful I was able to provide for my fellow man.

Still, Microsoft shouldn't have done this. Fools - they shouldn't have tried to force us into buying a new device with 2007. I realize that this could have been an oversight, you see, but it seems too common these days that Microsoft is screwing the little guy. I won't believe it's a mistake until some MS executive pays me to say it was.

I was going to wait until Apple gave wireless capability to the iPod to upgrade, but maybe now I'll wait it out until I can put my headphones on and get turn-by-turn directions from it. That would be the ultimate.

Motor Vehicle Purchase Impending

Beth needs another car since we sold hers a couple of weeks ago. She doesn't have a job and can therefore not pay for a new car. So spending my money on Beth's car will force me to make the decision on what to get. Sure, she'll have her input and I will listen, but at the core it's my money, right?

So after thinking a lot about the car I would buy for myself, I've decided to buy one of those for Beth. That's right, folks - she's getting a BMW. A BMW that will be kept in my family until its absolute disintegration, an event which we hope will occur at a point fifteen years after its purchase.

I didn't want to look at BMWs yesterday, but I ruminated this morning and figured that I better start doing my research because in five years' time, I'm going to have to buy Beth a car. And I figure it will take that long to convince her she doesn't need an SUV, and for me to figure out how to buy a BMW.

Tech Pillow Debut

I think my marketing skills are coming into swing now.

Beth and Anika have been gone for over a week now, and my creativity is thriving (at least during the times I am home. I have been in Atlanta for three days of it and am headed back for two more today.) I have created the logo for Rehberg Technology and have begun construction of rehbergtechnology.com, and have ordered my new business cards that include the logo. Today I had the greatest idea:

On the road, I can't sleep in a hotel due to the pillows. I finally bought my own pillow to take on trips, along with a pair of pillowcases. I was trying to think of something funny to put on the pillow (I'm a sucker for a conversation piece), but who would actually see my pillow? I do not entertain at home, and certainly not in a hotel room. So I decided it would be a company pillow.


Don't I work for such a nice organization? They even provide pillows for their employees based on special needs!

I couldn't ask for more.

Hannibal Rising

An absolutely great story. I read 56 pages last Thursday, and the rest of the story straight through Saturday morning. It is a very good insight into Hannibal Lecter and how he comes to his decisions to kill. He is certifiably, however, screwed up in the head.

On to The Rainmaker...

The Chamber

The Chamber was pretty good, I must admit. It was a long story, but it has to be because of how it ends. The story is about the kid's drama and everyone surrounding him. Grisham can be a good plot-twister at times, but this one was simply straightforward, but not expectedly. It wasn't a page-burner, either. It took me two months to get through it because it didn't hold me like the rest.