Mike

What I Believe...

mike@murraynet.net — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:27:47 GMT

Adapted from an email a friend of mine sent me.

My logic for choosing (having) to vote for McCain/Palin is as follows:

· I believe the only time a woman should be allowed to have an abortion is in the event of rape or incest.

o Democrats generally believe that it is ok to use abortion as birth control. When a preemie can live at just 24 weeks old, I find this appalling.

o Life is a precious gift. It's the one thing in this world that when is taken, cannot be returned or rediscovered or repurchased.

o If you don’t want the kid, leave him/her at the fire station when he/she is born.

· I believe that all law abiding Americans have the right to carry guns.

o Guns do not kill anymore than crowbars break into buildings.

o Guns in the hands of law abiding citizens save lives and reduce crime. It’s a proven statistical fact that no one can dispute. Do the research.

· I do not believe in social programs funded by the government that “help” the poor. That is the responsibility of the church and community and the individual.

· I believe in a flat tax. Everyone pays the same. Smart, talented and hard working Americans should not have to be taxed to pay for people who are not willing to put invest their time and money into growing their own career.

o The only exception to this rule is invalids and wounded people who are unable to work.

· I believe that illegal immigration has put a heavy burden on our public infrastructure and leaves us vulnerable to attack.

o Healthcare prices in America are a direct result of the cost of funding healthcare for illegal immigrants and welfare.

o Democrats use this as a base to attract votes. Period.

· I believe in privatized healthcare.

o America has the best healthcare in the world! No other country has 50 MRI machines in one city. Canada only has ~50 in the entire country.

· I do not believe in the United Nations. I think they are more corrupt than Mexico’s government.

· I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.

o If two men wish to get hitched, fine. I don’t agree with your belief system, but that is your choice. Call it Whatadoo, or Civil Union, or anything else you like. You ask for separation of church and state. Let’s follow that principle. Marriage was created by God. Civil Unions were created by man. Heck, I’m fine if a man and woman want to have a civil union if they don’t believe in marriage as defined by the church and God. In fact, I kind of like the idea of the government ONLY doing civil unions and the Church doing marriages.

· I believe we are way past affirmative action and do not need it any more. I believe that anyone can achieve anything they want. (Hello! We have our first black presidential candidate.)

· I believe that our school system is completely ridiculous. We spend $10,000 per kid and have a 50% drop out rate. I think school vouchers would help parents move children out of low performing schools and into better ones.

· I believe in the death penalty for murderers.

· I believe auto-deducted taxes from paychecks and mortgage escrows should be outlawed.

o Every American should have to write a check each month to Uncle Sam. Tax reform in America would happen overnight. Once people realized what they were really being forced to pay there would be a revolt.

o 100 years ago, America operated on a 10% or less tax base and we were the richest country in the world! Today, due to earmarks and social programs, we can’t pay our bills on a 58% tax base! What happened? Auto-deducted, invisible taxes.

I’ve spent my life working hard to get where I am. I’m not a slacker, I am extremely driven and motivated to do better. If you’re not, you shouldn’t expect me to share the fruits of my labor with you. This isn’t something I would normally share in an open forum, but last year, I built several websites. I spent about 20 hours a week when I got home from work designing, testing and building advertisement campaigns. I made over $45,000 in profit from Google Adsense. You could have done this just as easily as I did. In fact, a friend of mine was doing the same thing, with more time to spend on it than I did and made over $100K!! Now, should we write you a check for half of it to make us equals? A resounding NO!

When the founding fathers created the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and our Bill of Rights, they were not talking about everyone being equal fiscally, or by any other means. This Republic was created to give everyone equal opportunity. It’s up to the individual to make use of those opportunities. If you choose to sit at the bar or play video games while I bust my ass to make another dollar, then that is your choice! Do not be jealous of me when I buy a new house or new car with the money I’ve made. Go home and invest your time and labor into doing building your own dreams!

Quit taking profits from corporations! Exxon only made about 8%-12% profit on their money! Why is that a windfall? No one talks about the fact that the when they made $10 billion in one quarter the US government made twice that in taxes? Hmm.. Maybe we should REDUCE the taxes on oil companies if we want the prices to go down! Oh, and if you think taxing them more is the answer… who do you think really pays those taxes? WE DO. Exxon is a publicly traded company! That means yours and my mutual funds (think 401K, etc) will make less money! How is that helping? In most years, the government makes more money from oil, than the oil invetors (that's you and me, whether you believe it or not - check how your 401K is invested, you might shock yourself) do. So let's just make it worse.

As much as I think the Republican Party is corrupt and evil, I have no choice but to vote for them. If I don’t then Obama will become the next president. And all he wants to do is play Robin Hood and redistribute the wealth in America like the Soviet Union tried to do. I don’t want Socialism. I want free markets, free people and equal opportunity. I want limits on welfare and unemployment. Welfare should be the worst paying “job” in America, not McDonalds. If NASA were a private company running on the principle of profits, we would already be on Mars, have a real space station and doing it at half the cost. Sure more people would have died chasing the dream than have with NASA. How many people died attempting to do what Christopher Columbus did?

Which party are you?

mike@murraynet.net — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:05:33 GMT

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He responded by asking her how she was doing in school.

Taken back, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Aubrey doing?"

She replied, "Aubrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1 .0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, “That wouldn't be fair!” I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Aubrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Amateur Filmmakers... Where are you?

mike@murraynet.net — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:40:11 GMT

Recently, I started ripping my DVDs using handbrake into iTunes so I could watch them without going to the media library upstairs to find a movie. Everything is now in my Apple TV. This has led to me watching some older television shows such as Planet of the Apes: The TV Series.

Planet of the Apes was an interesting series. It was by no means great, but its certainly not bad. At least not by my standards.. (wink). As I was watching one of these shows, it occurred to me that there is practically nothing in this TV series that could not be duplicated by amateur filmmakers for very little cost. In fact, I would venture to say that with the power of Final Cut, AfterEffects and High-Def Pro Camcorders that amateur made Planet of the Apes would be better than what was broadcast on TV in 1974!

So that begs the question. Why are there so few amateur films on YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Yes, I know there are some out there. I know there are some really good ones out there too. One of my favorites is Chad Vader. But really, why aren't the video sites simply overflowing with amateur films? They should be! Instead they are overflowing with videos of someone's kid or cat. Stuff that no one cares about and adds little value to anyone or anything. Where are all the aspiring college kids? Where all the college film school kids? If I am just blind and missing the obvious, please point it out to me.

Pest / Noid / Trouble / Kitten all define... Lilly.

mike@murraynet.net — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:41:13 GMT

I'd like you to meet Lilly. Lilly is what you call a pest.

pest

–noun

1.	an annoying or troublesome person, animal, or thing; nuisance.

2.	an insect or other small animal that harms or destroys garden plants, trees, etc.

3.	a deadly epidemic disease, esp. a plague; pestilence.

[Origin: 1545–55; < L pestis plague]

I remember the days. The days when I could sleep all night. The days when I could watch a movie without being pestered. I remember the days when I could go take a dump without a paw coming under the door. I remember the days when I could open the refrigerator and nothing tried to jump in it. I remember the days when I could type at my keyboard without a dfjr439jfdkng gjfjfnkkdln veklefvknklep running accross it.

Yes. Those were the days before Lilly.

Drink the Kool-Aid? Or Not?

mike@murraynet.net — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:16:08 GMT

Some of you know I used to have a friend named Kevin Cochran. Kevin and I met and worked together at AST Computer in Fort Worth for about 3 years. Along the way on our friendship Kevin and I tinkered in running a web-hosting and ISP business. There's a long story behind that and hindsight is always 20/20 but for many reasons, the business was not a success and we closed it, in turn I started another ISP (DataLink Networks) that was successful for a while until the market fell out from underneath it and every other web-host on the planet.

Anyway, Kevin Cochran and I continued to be friends for quite a while after the business venture and even attended the same church for a while. Liberty Church of Kennedale with Pastor Marvin Raines. On a side note, I hear they have expanded and moved to Mansfield. I might have to go visit there sometime to see what they are doing now. Somewhere along the way, Kevin became obsessed with biblical law and began to point out every tiny flaw in my life and walk with Christ. This eventually led to our demise as friends, and quite honestly a major part of the reason I quite attending church for many years to follow. In fact, that was around 1998 and I didn't start attending church again until around 2004 when my wife and I started attending Keystone Church in Keller, TX. I attempted to discuss with him grace and try to figure out why he believed the way he did. It turned into a "Faith without works is dead." conversation over and over again. What he really believed however, was that "There is no grace without works and strict obedience to the law." It turns out Kevin had been involved (without my knowledge) in a Church called Sound Doctrine out of Enumclaw, Washington. Kevin eventually sold his home and moved his entire family there, in order to attend this Church, severing his ties with his friends in Texas. It is my understanding from talking to others who knew him, that he and his family sold all of their possessions and gave them to the Church, as Jesus called on him to do in John 8:31. I don't know this to be fact but I suspect it is the case.

Fast forward a couple of years. I try to reach Kevin. I send emails to a known good email account of his. No replies. I even managed to dig up his address from a vehicle registration on PublicData.com and mailed him a written letter. No response. It seems his new church doesn't allow him to talk to outsiders (or he has chosen to based on their teachings). So as the years tick by to 2008, every year I attempt at some point to contact him. I shoot an email, sometimes it bounces, sometimes it doesn't based on an email I can find searching public records, but regardless, he never answers. Someone suggested to me that someone else, either family, or church associate might read his emails before he gets them and deletes them. I suppose this is possible.

Last night was my day in 2008, that I attempt to hunt Kevin down again. Each year, when I search for him, the information becomes less and less. It's as if he is slowly but surely being removed from the grid. Everything that used to come up for him (such a domain names he used to own) all come up as CarriedCross or SoundDoctrine (Carried Cross are the same people as Sound Doctrine). It appears he or someone else purposefully does not want him to be found.

So I thought I would do some research on the Sound Doctrine guys. I really wanted to get a grip on who they were and what they stand for. The most interesting article I found is called "Sound Doctrine: Will they Pour the Kool-Aid soon?" which is a reference to cults poisoning themselves in suicide pacts to meet God. It appears that all of my fears about this place and their teaching are real. According to their interpretation of the Bible, my family, everyone I know, including the pastor of every church I have attended and all of their members are destined to go straight to hell! I won't bore you with the contents, you can read the link above to learn more.

I'll end this incredibly long post with one last thought. If Kevin and other members believes that this church's teachings are the truth, I have to wonder about something. He attended Liberty Church for quite some time. According to Sound Doctrine, Marvin Raines would be a heathen and teaching from the devils throne! Does he look back on his life and say "Wow. That Marvin really taught me some flawed material." I doubt seriously based on the SD teachings that he could think Liberty Church taught him anything useful or true. In fact I would venture to say that Kevin and other members of the SD Church would tell you that they were never saved until they found Sound Doctrine Church. It's quite amazing to me the power that cults have over people. And yes, I believe firmly that Sound Doctrine is a cult. Looking up top 20 cults in America.. on Google. Guess who is at number 19?

Kevin, if you're out there, shoot me an email sometime. It would be great to hear from you. You have nothing to fear from me, unless you fear acceptance, forgiveness, and grace.

Latest updates and stuff...

mike@murraynet.net — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:23:03 GMT

Well, where to start, I don't even know. So I'll just begin. Recently I was tipped off to a piece of software called HandBrake. (Don't even ask why it was named that. You do NOT want to know.) HandBrake allows you to rip a DVD, removing the CSS and compressing it into a smaller more portable format. You can pick from standard formats, such as XBox360, AppleTV, Playstation and many others or pick your own settings. It simply uses the FFMpeg compressor in the background, so the sky really is the limit. I chose to use the AppleTV format for two reasons. First, I have an AppleTV. Second, the AppleTV format is standard Mpeg-4 H.264 video. It's NOT hacked up Mpeg-4 wrapped in Microsoft AVI format. So it's pretty portable. Well, I started ripping my movie library like nuts into my iTunes library. Before I knew it, my 500GB hard disk was getting full, and I still need room for video editing. More on that in a minute. So now with HandBrake, and a huge video library in iTunes, my entire video collection will soon be one remote control click away on my Living Room AppleTV. This makes me want another AppleTV upstairs. One last thing about HandBrake. The PC version is terrible. It was written native for OSX and is simply beautiful. The Windows version pops DOS boxes and crashes a lot. No Thanks. Run it on a Mac.

In the process I went to Fry's and bought two 1TB Western Digital 7200RPM SATA drives. This puts a total of 4 hard disks in my Mac Pro and a total of 3TB. 1TB for the main disk. 1TB for Time Machine backups. 1TB (500GBx2 RAID0) for HD video editing. I used a program called SuperDuper for the Mac to move all the data around. Quite simple. The machine is an unbelievable power house. With two Quad-Core 2.8Ghz Xeon's, GeForce 8800GT, 3TB of disk space and 23" Widrescreen monitor I feel like my office is running a NASA supercomputer. Actually, I think that might be better than what NASA has. Ha!

Lastly, I purchased yet another Sony HVR-V1U HD1080p Video Camera. I decided that the church, (Keystone Church in Keller, TX) needed it more than I did, so I gave them mine. They were shooting with my camera almost every week it seemed. They had a PD-170 which is low def and the tape deck just doesn't work right on anymore. I tried to give them money to buy one about a year ago and they wouldn't let me. So this time I just gave him mine and said "You can't say no." So I ordered another one from B&H which arrived today. I'm sure the very talented team at Keystone (Brian Burton and team) will put it to some excellent use as always. Brian is a rock star at creativity. On a side note, it appears they changed the firmware just a bit, but it's virtually unchanged from Version 1. I'd absolutely dig a hard disk pack for it, but for some reason, Sony thinks a 60GB hard disk with an LCD screen is worth $1599. It most likely costs them less than $200 to make. Sad, but true. But you have to admit, Sony has the absolute best Pro Video Cameras money can buy (well, in their price range, sure, millions could buy better...).

Nozzle Rage

mike@murraynet.net — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:54:52 GMT

Time to Dance

mike@murraynet.net — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:35:02 GMT

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Watauga Texas DPS Police Corruption

mike@murraynet.net — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:58:32 GMT

This morning I was pulled over on Hwy 377 on my way to work at the intersection of Watauga Rd. I was driving between 30 and 35 miles per hour. As you may already know, the traffic in this area of town is extremely congested and its difficult to even do the speed limit. There is almost always a Watauga DPS officer parked in the Edward's used car lot entrance. I've often wondered why in the world a DPS officer would sit there, because there is no way people could be speeding in this area.

So I pull up to the light and stop with a string of cars in front of and behind me. The officer wedges his way between the car behind me and when the light turns green he turns on his lights. I pulled over and was issued a citation for doing 60 in a 45.

I'll be posting more about this after I go to court, as I don't want anything that happened to be made public information in case this officer reads this blog. Also, if there is corruption in the department for a Judge to be clued in before I get there. Let me just say this. I was most certainly given a ticket that I did not deserve and there is no possible way a reasonable police officer would have issued it.

Wish me luck. I've been advised fighting a ticket with these guys is almost impossible even with a video of the cop beating you in the forehead. We've lost almost all of our rights in this country and I plan to do whatever is necessary to protect mine before we are renamed Amerika.

Mac Pro - Final move from the Dark Side

mike@murraynet.net — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:14:22 GMT

Yes. It's true. I am a Vista dude no more. I've replaced my desktop machine with a Mac Pro. I purchased a new Mac Pro. The specifications are as follows:

Two 2.8Ghz Quad-Code Intel x64 Processors
Two 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drives
Apple Super Drive (DVD Burner)
23" Widescreen Cinema Display
Airport Express PCI
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
OS X
Office 2008 Pro
VmWare Fusion

One of the most amazing things about this machine is how quiet it is. I've never seen a machine with so much horsepower that makes virtually zero noise. The Mac Pro has a a fan the size of a DVD on the back of it. It spins very slow, but due to the size, moves a ton of air quietly. The other thing I enjoy is the downright beautiful integration of all the components. The monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc all talk to the desktop via USB and therefore the power button on the monitor for example, can be programmed to turn the machine off or just the monitor. Or it can suspend, or anything else you want it to do.

Of course, I've talked plenty of times about the beauty of OSX and the pure brilliance of the GUI design. Everything is exactly where you would expect it to be and operates the way you would expect. Not too complicated and not over the top simplified. There is an advanced button on almost every config option to give you the granual control you might or might not need.

Goodbye MicroSoft Windows... I won't miss you, I am sad to say. You were my hero back in the day. One too many cherry doughnuts has done you in with bloat and slowness.

My move to the Dark Side

mike@murraynet.net — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:30:55 GMT

Yes. It is true. Last week I purchased an Apple MacBook Pro.

I've decided that my Pro-Microsoft days are over. Vista and most of the stuff coming out of Redmond these days are turds. That's right TURDS. Vista is a steaming pile of them.

Now before you jump to conclusions (especially if you work for me), I am not saying Windows is dead or anything like that. Microsoft will always have its place in the business and consumer market. But when you compare Vista vs. Leopard OS-X there is no comparison. Leopard is elegant, fast, and nimble. Vista is elegant, bloated and slow. I almost hate to call it elegant though. Aero is beautiful. Its almost striking at first. However, UAC is the most useless pile of steaming poo anyone has ever laid eyes on and totally ruins the rest of the interface. Way to go Bill.

What I am saying is that the consumer market will continue to move away from full blown PCs to machines designed for web browsing. Apple obviously knows this. Look at the iPhone, iMac and Mac Mini. Look at the beautifully simple design of the operating systems. Any average Joe can use a Mac.

And lastly. For the Power User. Macs are now Intel processor based and can run Windows natively or in a VMWare session. No need to own a PC anymore. The Mac can do it all, and a whole lot more. Welcome to the new world. Where Microsoft is no longer king. It is coming and Microsoft did it to themselves.

Puska is a Chartreux

mike@murraynet.net — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:53:53 GMT

When we found Puska at the Pet Rescue Center in PetSmart she was by far the cutest and tamest kitty in the place. When I picked her up the lady behind the counter said "That's a Russian Blue kitty. They are adorable." So we took her home and immediately named her Puska because it sounded Russian.

Fast forward about three years. I'm searching around on the Internet for Russian Blue information I quickly discovered that she was NOT a Russian Blue after all. In fact, other than color she doesn't even look similar. After a little looking around at blue cat pictures it was immediately obvious that she is a Chartreux. A cat breed from France. In fact, when I first saw the picture on Wikipedia (see pic on left) I would have swore they took pictures of Puska for the site!

Check out this page for more information on Chartruex kittys. From the site "They prefer to be nearby, preferably getting their jowls scratched and giving loving head-bumps to their owners! They will follow you everywhere, comfort you when you are sad or ill, and prefer to sleep with you or on top of you. Their supportive, cheerful presence can be wonderful for elderly people and people living alone." That's Puska! And "Chartreux may need to be switched to a "light" cat food so that they do not become overweight. " That's Puska too!

Anyway, the most amazing thing on the whole site: "Chartreux sold as pets usually cost $400-550." Holy Cow! My kitty is expensive. She's going to want some of that gourmet cat food. Shhhh! Don't tell her. I buy the cheap target brand stuff.

Blizzard sells legal crack known as WoW!

mike@murraynet.net — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:45:12 GMT

So we all know how drug dealers work right? No, not that I've ever been to one, but I've seen plenty of them in movies. They offer you some free samples to get you hooked. That way when you need more, they know you'll come back to them.

Welcome to the 10-Day FREE Trial of Blizzard's World of Warcraft (WoW). I am a moron. I know it. I've spent the last year telling people "No. I am not going to install that game. The second I do I will be addicted." It's the same thing that happens when you use someone's iPhone for 10 minutes. You're down at AT&T buying one.

World of Warcraft is so addicting in fact that I installed it on Thursday night and then spent hours on end over the weekend playing it. The game is absoultely amazing and there is no way you can truly grasp the depth of it without trying it. See these screenshots below to get an idea of how the game looks.

With World of Warcrack you are playing on a server that at anyone time most likely has 30,000 other people on with you. There are over 9.3 million WoW players all over the world. There are two planets in WoW. I've only been on one and it contains 2 continents. Each continent is broken up into smaller areas and cities similar to how North America is broken up into countries, states, and cities. I'm going to say it would be pretty much impossible to ever see the whole game map. It's just way to big. Plus, when you consider that Blizzard is continually adding stuff and changing things you most likely couldn't catch up with them anyway.

As I've been playing the game I realized, its the Matrix. Seriously, its a prison of lovely crack for your mind. You can get a profession and then sell things you make. You can learn how to skin wolves and make their coats in clothing. You can then sell said clothing to other players or to vendors within the game. You can ride horses, fly winged creatures, enter dungeons and cities.

But lets talk about what really sets this game apart from Doom or Halo or any of those other First Person games. It's the fact that 30,000 people are on the game with you at all times of the day and night. (Did I mention the game has a world clock, sunrise, sunset, rain, snow, etc?) You can interact with these players, sell them items, trade stuff, etc. You can go on quests with them and adventure together. When you need help defeating a monster? Find another player to help you. Or of course, you can go to the enemy players and fight them (outside of the safe zones of your city).

Let's talk for a minute about quests! Quests are given to you by computer controlled characters all over the world. You can choose to accept or decline any quest. Quests range from exploration, to killing a group of monsters, to delivering an item to another city. Quests are what really make WoW fun for me. For each quest you go on you get a reward of money/items/experience/etc. You get a new more powerful spell, or weapon. Or you might get a new article of clothing. Speaking of clothing, you can dress your character anyway you want by purchasing clothes or winning them in quests or battles. There is even a dressing room where your character can strip down to his/her undies and change clothes. Funny!

I'm telling you. No matter how much anyone asks you to try this game, DO NOT DO IT. You'll get addicted and your wife will become a WoW widow. It's not worth it. Just delete those install files now. Oh. And I have even scratched the surface of how complex and interactive this game is... yet.

Saving Electricity

mike@murraynet.net — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 04:47:14 GMT

I've started a whole new section on Saving Electricity. It's become a new hobby of mine. Check it out!

Watauga DPS Police crash with fleeing motorcycle.

mike@murraynet.net — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 03:39:39 GMT

Check out this video of a Watauga DPS running down a fleeing suspect on a motorcycle. This is about 2 miles from where we live.

Color Blindess

mike@murraynet.net — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:57:27 GMT

Since I was a teenager I've always known I have some form of mild color blindness. I've never really taken the time to do much research on it. I've known several people who were completely color blind and they were unable to tell the difference between a red light and a green light. I on the other hand can see every color in the spectrum. You put a red, green or blue marker in front of me and I can easily tell you which is which. So it has always baffled me that I failed color blindness tests like the Ishihara test.

Take for example the dot filled circle to the right. This is an Ishihara test that I fail. You most likely see a "2" in the middle of it. I see nothing but random dots. The odd thing for me is that I see all of the colors. The only time its ever been an issue is with the "mixing of colors." For example, I might see a bright purple as blue, until you put it next to a blue object and then I realize my mistake.

Yesterday, I decided to figure out exactly what was wrong with my eyes. There is an amazing abundance of tests and information on the web about color blindness. The problem is that every test I took gave me different results. Some would say I was one type of colorblind and another would say I was something else. I determined quickly that they just plain weren't accurate, or I had a more rare type of color blindness that wasn't documented well. I tend to think the tests just aren't accurate. I finally found a piece of software on the Web called Visolve. Visolve allows you to correct the colors on your monitor if you are colorblind. So what I did was keep adjusting the settings until I could read all of the numbers in the Ishihara tests! Presto! I am diagnosed. And it didn't require a visit to a Doctor!

My diagnosis: I have a type of color blindness called Protanomaly. Protanomaly is a form of color blindness that results from having weak (malfunctioning) red cones in your eyes. The average person has three types cones in their eyes. These cones sense light on different wavelengths: Red, Green and Blue. This explains why I can see all colors, but sometimes mistake a bright purple for a blue. Through my testing it looks like my eyes sense red light about 30% weaker than green and blue. My world is a little bit less red looking than everyone else in the world! To give you an understanding of what this means, look at the three pictures posted below. The first picture is a normal picture with normal coloring. The second picture is the way the world looks to me. The third picture is color corrected so that I can see how the normal person views the world.


How a Normal person sees it.	How I see it.	Corrected so I can see what you see.

I'm sure as you look at the middle picture you say "wow... it is not red enough!" and when you look at the right picture you say "Wow... it is way too red." Of course, I say the same thing about these pictures, because I've seen the world since birth without the normal amount of red that everyone else sees. It is interesting to see how the world looks to a normal person. Everyone always says how they love the fall colors. They've always seemed dull and drab to me. But when I take a picture of a fall tree and add +30 red to it (Highlights, shadows and midtones) I can immediately see why people think it's beautiful! Look at all of the red in the leaves that I've never seen!

Lastly, I have my mother to thank for this. Protanomaly is passed on to you from one of your mother's X chromosomes. Women are carriers of the genetic defect, but since women have two X chromosomes (one defective and one not) they do not experience the problem because the good X chromosome will cancel the bad one out. Since I am a man, I have one X and one Y. It just so happens I got her bad X. It is a 50/50 chance. Thanks Mom!

Joe Horn is my Hero!

mike@murraynet.net — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:51:50 GMT

Joe Horn, a 61 year old Pasadena, Texas man was sitting at home working on his computer when heard the glass breaking at a neighbor's home. Joe looked outside to see two men with a crowbar breaking in. He picks up the phone and calls 911. Here is quick (shortened) transcript of what happened next:

Dispatcher: "I want you to listen to me carefully, OK?"

Horn: "Yes?"

Dispatcher: "I got ultras coming out there. I don't want you to go outside that house. And I don't want you to have that gun in your hand when those officers are poking around out there."

Horn: "I understand that, OK, but I have a right to protect myself too, sir, and you understand that. And the laws have been changed in this country since September the First and you know it and I know it."

Dispatcher: "I understand."

Horn: "I have a right to protect myself ..."

Dispatcher: "I'm ..."

Horn: "And a shotgun is a legal weapon, it's not an illegal weapon."

Dispatcher: "No, it's not, I'm not saying that, I'm just not wanting you to ..."

Horn: "OK, he's coming out the window right now, I gotta go, buddy. I'm sorry, but he's coming out the window. "

Dispatcher: "No, don't, don't go out the door, Mister Horn. Mister Horn..."

Horn: "They just stole something, I'm going out to look for 'em, I'm sorry, I ain't letting them get away with this ----. They stole something, they got a bag of stuff. I'm doing it!"

Dispatcher: "Mister, do not go outside the house."

Horn: "I'm sorry, this ain't right, buddy."

Dispatcher: "You gonna get yourself shot if you go outside that house with a gun, I don't care what you think."

Horn: "You wanna make a bet?"

Dispatcher: "Stay in the house."

Horn: "There, one of them's getting away!

Dispatcher: "That's alright, property's not something worth killing someone over. OK? Don't go out the house, don't be shooting nobody. I know you're pissed and you're frustrated but don't do it."

Horn: "They got a bag of loot."

Dispatcher: "OK. How big is the bag?" He then talks off, relaying the information.

Dispatcher: "Which way are they going?"

Horn: "I can't ... I'm going outside. I'll find out."

Dispatcher: "I don't want you going outside, Mister..."

Horn: "Well, here it goes buddy, you hear the shotgun clicking and I'm going."

Dispatcher: "Don't go outside."

On the tape of the 911 call, the shotgun can be heard being cocked and Horn can be heard going outside and confronting someone.

"Move and you're dead!" he shouts. A loud bang is heard, then a shotgun being cocked and fired again, and then again.

Then Horn is back on the phone:

"Get the law over here quick. I've now, get, one of them's in the front yard over there, he's down, he almost run down the street. I had no choice. They came in the front yard with me, man, I had no choice! ... Get somebody over here quick, man."

Dispatcher: "Mister Horn, are you out there right now?"

Horn: "No, I am inside the house, I went back in the house. Man, they come right in my yard, I didn't know what the --- they was gonna do, I shot 'em, OK?"

Dispatcher: "Did you shoot somebody?

Horn: "Yes, I did, the cops are here right now."

Dispatcher: "Where are you right now?"

Horn: "I'm inside the house. ..."

Dispatcher: "Mister Horn, put that gun down before you shoot an officer of mine. I've got several officers out there without uniforms on."

Horn: "I am in the front yard right now. I am ..."

Dispatcher: "Put that gun down! There's officers out there without uniforms on. Do not shoot anybody else, do you understand me? I've got police out there..."

Horn: "I understand, I understand. I am out in the front yard waving my hand right now."

Dispatcher: "You don't have a gun with you, do you?

Horn: "No, no, no."

Dispatcher: "You see a uniformed officer? Now lay down on the ground and don't do nothing else."

Yelling is heard.

Dispatcher: "Lay down on the ground, Mister Horn. Do what the officers tell you to do right now."

Is Joe Horn right or wrong in what he did? Well, let me tell you. In my mind, Joe Horn is a HERO. Plain and simple. God bless this man for being an upstanding citizen and protecting himself, his home, and his neighborhood from criminals. He warned these criminals. "You move and your dead." They moved. Joe shot them. Good job.

Now many of the ultra-liberal factions out there are already attempting to get Joe behind bars and make him out to be the criminal and criminals out to be the victims. On CNN the reporter even went so far as to call them "Joe's Victims"!!! That is ridiculous. I'll never forget the California story of a man shooting a nighttime burglar in his home in the leg. The burglar sued the victim and won a $43 million dollar judgement. And people wonder why my motto is "shoot to kill." How could it ever be considered my fault for protecting my home and family from a criminal!?! It makes me very angry when I hear these ultra-liberals talk about criminal rights. CRIMINALS SHOULD HAVE NO RIGHTS. If your are in the process of breaking the law, you deserve whatever you get, even if it is death.

The castle doctrine, a new law passed in September 2007 in Texas was recently expanded precisely because the citizens of Texas were tired of rampant crime. This new law allows citizens to use deadly force in protecting their home or neighbor's home from criminals. It is no longer required that you attempt to flee first. Thank God for that, because I would never flee from criminals invading my neighborhood, regardless of the law. I believe in my right to protect myself, family and friends from crime, even if my government does not. Thankfully, Texans finally got the laws amended to give us that right legally.

And for those of you who say he should have let the cops handle it: I think you need help. We (non-criminals) are all responsible for the wellfare of our country and people. If you were to witness the rape of a 10 year old would you just sit back and watch while you were waiting for the cops. I sure hope not. I would hope you would intervene.

I'll say it one last time. Joe Horn, you are my hero.

Oh, and if these ultra-liberals do somehow get charges filed against Joe, I will be there for him. He doesn't know me, but his defense fund will get a nice padding from my donations.

I have Ebola.

mike@murraynet.net — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:49:19 GMT

Yes. It's true. I've been infected with the Ebola virus. According to Wikipedia, the symptoms of Ebola are: fever, headache, aching muscles and weakness. Yep. I have all of those.

Seriously, I've spent the last four days being beat up, drop kicked and unmercifully lashed by a virus, which I assume is just a variant of the common cold. Friday at work, I started getting a sore throat and the chills. By Friday night I was sick. I spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday filling up trash bags with Kleenex (I'll spare you the details). I made it to work today, and although I feel 80% better than yesterday, I am still not well. It's a good think I took Monday off. I would have been useless at work. I just took a DayQuil which I hope will remove the lingering symptoms.

I guess the good news is that I should be back to normal by Turkey day. It would totally suck to miss all that yummy food!

Speaking of Thanksgiving... I am just beside myself with the idiocity of retail companies. We are not even to Thanksgiving yet, and many retailers are already playing Christmas music and have out their holiday selection. Can I please, please, please celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving without hearing Christmas music and hearing Ho-Ho-Hoing Santas walk around??? Bow down and worship the almighty buck. Pretty soon Christmas will end on December 26th and start on Jan 2nd. Grrrrrr.

Cats

mike@murraynet.net — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:39:51 GMT

I thought these cat hater quotes were funny.

1. "Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function." - Garrison Keillor
2. "More people in the world are allergic to cats than to any other domesticated animal." - George Pinster
3. "Black cats are one of the only domesticated animals that can actually bestow bad luck upon you simply by crossing your path." - Eric Jameson
4. "Cats don't act as barometers. No matter what the weather is like, cats just sit there." - Jim Watton
5. "Cats don't supply oxygen to the environment, like a potted plant. (Even plants are better!)" - Stacey King
6." If Lassie were a cat, little Timmy would be dead." - Rod Lawring
7. Men's Health Magazine has never ran a positive article on cats.
8. "Why expose soldiers in the battlefield to the dangers of land mines when we have cats?" - Sgt. Jason Middler
9. "Richard Evans, a member of the Australian Parliament, proposed that the country eliminate all cats within 25 years." - R. Evans

I do like SOME cats by the way. I like mine. I do NOT like David's NOID though.

Keystone Church 3 Year Anniversary

mike@murraynet.net — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 01:05:45 GMT

Today at Keystone Church in Keller, TX we celebrated our 3 year anniversary as a church. The picture to the right (taken from my iPhone) is a perspective from my angle in the Video Booth. I run Video, Lighting, and screens every other Sunday. Today was a mess. Normally we have two people running the lights and video. However, one of our volunteers didn't show up and I wound up running both until someone else showed up to help me.

To make it worse, about halfway through service I got paged with system problems at work. I always knew the day would come where work and church would conflict. Its a hairy situation because I can't just get up and walk away or service would come to a standstill. Luckily Michael Bruce was there to take over for me after a few minutes so I could go outside and take the call. Thankfully, the call didn't last too long and I was able to get back in and fulfill my commitment without too much issue. Now I get the "joy" of trying to sort out the system outage at work this week and make sure it doesn't happen again. Especially during our holiday season!

Keystone's anniversary is a special time for Leslie and I as well. The real anniversary of Keystone is actually October 23rd, but we had it a little early this year. October 23rd also happens to be Leslie and my wedding anniversary. This year marks two years! We were married on October 23rd, 2005 by Brandon Thomas, the pastor of Keystone Church. I think we are going to drive down to San Antonio and spend a couple of nights on the river walk. This is significant because three years ago I proposed to her at the Tree of Love situated on the banks of the riverwalk! Of course, she said yes and I have been the happiest person alive since. What a lucky guy I am to have such a beautiful and loving wife.