Ohio LinuxFest 2006: Plans, presentations, and penguins

We're mentioned on Linux.com! "Linux and open source software users in the Buckeye State who want to network with several hundred of their colleagues will get the chance when Ohio LinuxFest 2006 gets underway later this month. The one-day conference, to be held on Saturday, September 30, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus, features presentations ... " Rock on!

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Ohio Linux Fest 2006!

Ohio Linux Fest -- The name says it all. Don't miss out if you live near Ohio, because the biggest Linux event in the area is about to go down September 30.

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Ohio Linux Fest 2006!

If you're into Linux, and haven't been living under a rock, you would have heard of Ohio Linux Fest. Go and register (follow the link to the article) now or you'll miss out on the biggest Linux geek fest this side of the Mississippi river ;) -=Fericyde=-

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Gratitude

September 11, 2001 was a nodal point in history. Everything changed. It's not like the delta on the curve wasn't already pretty high -- it's just that suddenly, we hit an inflection point, and the graph that marks change in our society suddenly took a drastic, upward bend there.

Like it or not, we're facing a point in history where mankind might do itself in with a pretty bad virus -- not AIDs, not the bird flu -- we're talking pure thought. I use the word 'pure' here in the strictest sense. Killing people, whether to stamp out Terrorism, or to justify your Islamic right to world domination -- either case is obviously not going to make the world a better place. Need examples? Go to CNN and FOX news and look at the stupid crap going on in the name of God and Country. No, I'm not just talking the idiocy of Osama, I'm also talking about the tendency of the far right and left to use what's going on as a political lever. Don't forget, we're on the side of God (yes, that's sarcasm).

Our society is changing. We're not really equipped to fight thought viruses. We're more about news coverage, heavy armor, nuclear threats and chemical warfare. The hard questions aren't being asked. How do you deal with people who think that God justifies their right to kill others? How do you end this without nuclear holocaust?

It's been too long since the nuclear scares of the 50's -- I'm too young to remember them, but I saw enough fear in the eyes of my mentors as a kid. I remember seeing the video about what to do when a bomb hits (by the way, if it's close, there ain't much to do).

I think as a society one of the sad after effects of technology is that you grow used to the idea that there's not much that can't be solved by more technology. Sadly, there isn't much that technology can do if a nuke hits. We have to learn to respect the bomb -- and it's a genie that very few view in a positive light. My biggest fear is in our retaliatory second moves if the idiot extremists get one on the shores of this country.

Enough of that. September 11 makes me aware that despite all of the violence and insanity in this world, I have much to be grateful for. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that some of what has happened has made us more introspective as a whole. Yes, there are people who will never be that way, but a large majority of the population I feel has taken the punch on the chin and decided to look inward.

We need to be grateful that we're still standing and stand together. We need to continue to make this country something that protects freedom and shines like there's no tomorrow. I'm grateful to have a job, a spouse I love, a healthy family -- isn't that all anyone could ever ask for?

It's hard to remember the good things sometimes, even when they're staring you in the face. I haven't been looking hard enough, that's all I'm saying.

Thanks for listening.
-=FeriCyde=-

Life is truly complex...

Time flies when you're having fun, and I am indeed, having fun.

There are moments, though, where the depression of last year haunts me. All I can say is that all of the pain aside, it's not a truly bad thing to have to adjust to in your life -- at least if you attack it the way I did.

I've developed an exercise strategy that involves about 10 hours a week of cardio, and about 2 hours a week of upper body exercise. In all, I've dropped about two inches at my waste -- but mainly, when I keep up with it, my sanity is fairly good. I'm able to weather some seriously hard emotional turbulence this way.

It's not like I haven't had a lot of that lately, but that's another story and it's very personal. What I can tell you is that I'm very blessed. I have a lot of friends who care about me and it shows in so many big and little ways that I'd have to be blind not to know I'm loved on this planet.

My time is split between work, working out, automotive work (it's a thing I like to believe is cathartic, but the jury is still out there for the moment) and my family. Between all of the insanity, it's easy to miss what a lucky guy I am to be here, in other words.

Thanks for your prayers,
-=FeriCyde=-