Love is everywhere, I see it

Yesterday, I was reading Melissa's Meme*Love blog where she has been having a Month of Song. Each day she has been going through songs as they relate to her - her favorite, the one she hates most, the one she likes to play on her iPod, the one that makes her sad and so on...

She has been doing this for a almost a month now and I've enjoyed thinking about her songs and about songs that "work for me"...and for Day 21 - it was name a song that you listen to when you’re happy.

I first heard this song a long, long time ago outdoors at the Mann Music Center just off the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The night was pleasant, the fireflies were twirling, the summer was just winding down and John Denver was on the stage - and he and the band belted out "Love is Everywhere" performed mostly on a violin.

The lilting fiddled tune stuck in my head then - and stuck in my head today long after I left a comment about it on Melissa's blog.

And I found myself wearing a smile for the first time in a long while - whistling as I drove home and letting people in (that rudely first tried to cut me off) - and in general - feeling a little better about things - because ... I see it...


Love is everywhere, I see it
You are all that you can be, go on and be it
Life is perfect, I believe it
Come and play the game with me


Open yourself to the first celebration
Open your eyes to the joy and pain
Life is the fruit of your own creation
Ev'ry new birth is a soul regained


Love is everywhere, I see it
You are all that you can be, go on and be it
Life is perfect, I believe it
Come and play the game with me


Drinkin' my life from a silver fountain
Sweetwater running to the cold salt sea
Old man moon on a white-top mountain
Sound of the wind singin' dreams for me


Love is everywhere, I see it
You are all that you can be, go on and be it
Life is perfect, I believe it
Come and play the game with me


Follow your heart like a flying stallion
Race with the sun to the edge of night
Form your truth like a gold medallion
Dance in the circle of the love and the light


Love is everywhere, I see it
You are all that you can be, go on and be it
Life is perfect, I believe it
Come and play the game with me


Handmade ceramics, the cutest faces!
Orange cones in all shapes and sizes
Photos sent are like sweet embraces
Friends thinking of you are treasured prizes


Love is everywhere, I see it
You are all that you can be, go on and be it
Life is perfect, I believe it
Come and play the game with me


Love is everywhere, I see it
You are all that you can be, go on and be it
Life is perfect, I believe it
Come and play the game with me
Words by John Denver, Joe Henry, John Martin Sommers and Steve Weisberg
Music by John Martin Sommers

The $8724 Cell Phone

Recently, I was reading the latest issue of American Heritage's Invention & Technology Magazine which has an article on how the old analog TV broadcast (radio wave) spectrum was reallocated for use by American wireless phone companies (mostly AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.)

I found it interesting to learn that a typical iPhone user only spends 32% of their time on the iPhone actually talking and that last year, for the first time, mobile data traffic exceeded voice traffic.

When I was a little boy, I remember going to my Grandparent's house in Philadelphia on weekends and watching the inspired nonsense of "Get Smart" with my Grandfather. You might recall the "do-deee-di-doooo" theme music with the slamming doors which I think was my favorite part of the show, next to Agent 99, of course.

I remember my grandfather saying, "Iggy, some day soon, everyone is going to have one of those shoe phones." I can only guess I looked skeptical...because he insisted it would happen. Maybe the fact that "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." was on afterwards left me wondering about that!

Operator: “What number are you calling?”
Smart: “I’m calling Control, Operator...”
Operator: “You have dialed incorrectly. Give me your name and address and your dime will be refunded.”
Smart: “Operator, I’m calling from my shoe!”
Operator: “What is the number of your shoe?”
Smart: “It’s an unlisted shoe, Operator!”

The modern handheld cell phone era began in 1973 when Motorola invented the first cellular portable telephone to be commercialised, known as Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. DynaTAC was an abbreviation of Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage which was a long cry from today's 4G network.

Martin Cooper, a general manager for the systems division at Motorola led a team that produced the DynaTAC 8000X, the first cellular phone small enough to be easily carried, and made the first phone call from it. The DynaTAC's retail price, $3,995 ($8724 in present-day terms), ensured that it would not become a mass market item.

It took ten years to get the FDA to approve the building of the first celluar phone networks and on Oct. 13, 1983, Bob Barnett placed the first commercial wireless call on a DynaTAC from inside a Chrysler convertible to the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell. The call, made from Soldier Field in Chicago, is considered by many as a major turning point in communications.

The product accepted by the FCC weighed 1 and 3/4 pounds (793g) and was 10 inches (25 cm) high, not including its flexible "rubber duck" whip antenna. In addition to the typical 12-key telephone keypad, it had nine additional special keys:

Rcl (Recall)	Clr (Clear)	Snd (Send)
Sto (Store)	Fcn (Function)	End (End)
Pwr (Power)	Lock (Lock)	Vol (Volume)

The DynaTAC 8000 utilized a display with red LEDs. The display was severely limited in what information it could show. The battery allowed for a call up to 60 minutes, after which it was necessary to charge the phone up to 10 hours in a trickle charger or 1 hour in a fast charger which was a separate (and very expensive) accessory.


The DynaTAC phones have been given the nickname "Zack Morris Phones" because of their heavy use by the central character in the early 1990s sitcom Saved by the Bell.

Does anyone recall Zack using this phone? I sure don't.

Source - American Heritage's Invention & Technology Magazine, Summer 2010 edition.

The Battle of the Sunflowers

Some time this spring, my neighbor across the street decided to put in a garden - for several evenings, he worked long into the darkness, turning turf and planting seeds. This spring was a wet one, and things grew green and rapidly. His next door neighbor noticed the gardening efforts and decided to join him with one of his own.

For many weeks, the two chatted with each other late into the evening while holding a garden hose on their garden plots, which appear to be about the same size. They also appear to have the same plants growing from them.


Then we had a really hot and dry spell - the lawns in my neighborhood turned brown (and actually black in spots) so the two sweated heavily each evening trying to keep their garden growing. They spent hours talking to each other - I assume they discussed some gardening tips. They may have also discussed sports, politics and religion. They may have even solved the world's problems.

But knowing them like I do, I doubt it. Their conversation probably went more like this:

Ed: Well, Rick, even hotter today than it was yesterday, huh?

Rick: Eh-yup, gonna get hotter yet before the weeks over.

Ed: Dang, I hate sweatin' so much. You got tomaters in your garden?

Rick: Eh-yup. Them and some them yeller summer squash. The missus really like them healthy foods.

Ed: Yeah. That they do. I got them "air-loom" tomaters. Dunno whud makes 'em different but the missus said, 'Ed, make sure ya plant some "air-looms"'.

Rick: Seems like they is growin' purty good.

Ed: Yeah. I seen that.


Rick: How's your cat doin' these days? Ain't seen ya out walkin' it lately.

Ed: Tinkerbell is doin' fine. She ain't like it out here in the heat much though.

Rick: You reckon cats sweat?

Ed: Naaaaaw... They just glow like wimmin do.


Ed: I think yer sunny flower plants must really like that horse poop you put down when ya planted 'em. Looks like they et whatever them bean plants in Jack in the Beanstalk et.

Rick: That weren't no horse poop, it was grade A 100 percent elephant crap. Got it when the circus was in town. Ya put it in a steel drum, add some water and stir it up so ya can fling it around with a bucket. I swear, the stuff really works.

Ed: Yeah, it sure does. Ah, I gots to try that next year. Were'dja get the steel drum from?

....


At any rate, this morning there was no question that their gardening had succeeded in growing the tallest sunflower plants I think I've ever seen.

90 Years Ago

Frankly, I cannot conceive of a time when half of all human beings, women, weren't wanted as an equal part of every activity in this country, but shockingly, such was the case (and is still the case in some regards) until relatively recently.


Over ninety years ago, on January 9, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support of giving women in the United States the right to vote. The House of Representatives narrowly passed the needed constitutional amendment the next day, but the Senate refused to debate it until October. When the Senate voted on the amendment in October, it failed by three votes.

In response, the National Woman's Party urged citizens to vote against anti-suffrage (suffrage means "the right to vote) Senators up for reelection in the 1918 midterm elections and it worked. On May 21, 1919, the House of Representatives passed the amendment and the Senate followed suit on June 4.

It then took only a little over a year for the necessary three-quarters of the States to ratify the amendment.

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee General Assembly, by a one-vote margin became the thirty-sixth state legislature to ratify the proposed amendment, making it the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The remaining twelve states of the Union took over sixty years to add their ratifications of the 19th amendment. Mississippi was the last state of the 48 states to ratify the amendment when it did so on March 22, 1984.

The 19th Amendment is brief and to the point -

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

1928: Women in the United Kingdom and Ireland received the right to vote.
1944: Women in France received the right to vote.
1950: Women in India received the right to vote.

1952: The United Nations enacted the Covenant on Political Rights of Women. It was the first instrument of international law to state that in all nations women should be entitled to the vote and to hold political office.

1964: On January 23, the 24th Amendment to the Constitution outlawing poll taxes was ratified. Poll taxes, or tax fees for voting, have been used to discourage poor people from voting.

1965: The Voting Rights Act is signed by President Lyndon Johnson. The act enforces the 15th Amendment by explicitly stating that obstacles, such as literacy tests or complicated ballot instructions, are against federal law.

In most countries, women can now vote. I believe Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Brunei and the Vatican State are the only ones they cannot.

Women have come a long way - unfortunately, there is yet a long way yet to go. The Equal Rights Amendment remains unratified and in other countries, things are much worse... For instance, in any of the ten worst countries for women to live in.

A Pleasant Evening in Reading

Last Sunday afternoon, my younger brother and I went up the road to Reading, Pennsylvania to take a swim in Blue Marsh Lake and take in a minor league baseball game. The weather was pretty nice that day, warm enough to swim but not hot enough to roast, bake, sizzle or char. A very nice breeze was blowing from the west. For five or six hours, I actually felt good.


We got to the ballpark early because we wanted to eat and watch the teams warm-up as well as high-five all the mascots.

The ballpark is located in the north end of Reading, a town tucked between Mount Penn and the Schuylkill River. This is the town the Reading Railroad was named for - and the tracks run directly through the center and a huge rail yard is located next to the ball park.


High on Mount Penn, 1,015 feet above the Schuylkill River stands the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower. On a clear day, you can see for 30 miles in every direction after climbing 120 steps to the top. Also on Mount Penn, about a mile south of the fire tower, is the Japanese Pagoda, built in 1908.


From the Pagoda, you can also see for miles. Looking down into the town, you can see the river on the far edge and the railroad tracks running left to right in the middle of town with the beginnings of the rail yard visible to the right. The Pagoda is open to the public and houses a gift shop and cafe.

With the start of the game nearing, my attention was captured by a group of the cutest kids, all wearing the free blue shirt that was given to all kids 12 and under. Drats, I didn't get one!


Being largely disinterested due to a nearly overwhelming disgust with how grossly overpaid professional sports figures are, I had absolutely no idea who D. Brown, good old number 7 was - so I had to look him up... Turns out he is Domonic Larun Brown, a 6' 5" lefty born on September 3, 1987 in Zephyrhills, Florida, US. "Dom" was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2006 MLB June Amateur Draft. He is now playing for the Phillies AAA team located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, named the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs.

I guess he made an impression on someone while he was in Reading playing for the AA team. I don't remember him at all.

P.s., The Reading Phillies lost to the Erie Seawolves 9 to 4 (not that anyone but the most rabid local diehards care) and the after-game fireworks were simply marvelous.

Watoto wadogo wamekisoma!

Today, I am posting from a laptop that isn't running Microsoft Windows software, it is running Ubuntu.

If you 'ask' Wikipedia about Ubuntu you will be told:

1. Ubuntu (philosophy) is an ethical concept of African origin


2. Ubuntu (operating system), in computing, is a free operating system based on a version of Linux (Unix)

Ubuntu, pronounced (oo-BOON-too), is an ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages of southern Africa. Ubuntu is seen as a classical African concept.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered a definition:

A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity.

We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:

A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: What are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?

As I admire the philosophy, it seems only fitting to me that I should put Ubuntu on my Laptop.

Unbuntu's website states:

Ubuntu is and always will be free to use, share and develop. We hope it will bring a touch of light to your computing – and we hope that you'll join us in helping to build the next version too.

I hope learning Ubuntu isn't as hard as learning Bantu (which includes Swahili), the language(s) of East, Central and Southern Africa. I'm getting kind of old for learning new tricks. Time will tell as a friend of mine often says, but so far, things are going pretty well.

Watoto wadogo wamekisoma! (The children have read a book!) Hopefully someday, they will post a blog.

Too much change - but not the right coins

On most days, I come home and empty the change out of my pockets before taking a walk, The change that I've accumulated throughout the day goes into a big Tupperware container where it sits until I need to "break the piggy bank" (or it overflows) and take it all to the bank and dump it into their coin sorter and counter. I rather enjoy hearing the coins rattle through the counter and watching the total dollar figure climb ever higher until the last coin goes "clink" into the hole.

Today, I was working the Lady's Room Job, attempting to establish a tunnel. This isn't a shovel a hole in the ground tunnel, its a "Virtual Private Network" (VPN) tunnel that sends encrypted information over the Internet to a very specific endpoint. The terminology has made a grown man cry.


I was told to envision information on the Internet going from computer (servers and web hosts) to computer (yours and my home and work desktop or laptop computers) in the form of a "packet train". And when the train goes into a tunnel, someone with an eye in the sky, can no longer see the train. Such a train would then be thus be "private" or hidden from prying eyes.

I've finally, after much sweat, some blood, and a complete recitation of every swear word I know (and many of them repeated twice), I finally got the VPN tunnel set up and working. While struggling with it, someone approached me and asked me if I had change for a dollar so they could use it in one of the antique vending machines in the break room. I dug the change that I had out of my pocket and was surprised to note that even though I had $1.19 in coins, I could not make change for a dollar!

I had 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies. When I took a break, I decided to investigate this curiosity. I learned that very first coins minted in the USA were called half-dismes made from Martha Washington's silverware in 1794. That is no misspelling, dimes and dismes were used interchangeably until the early 1800's. I learned that the first silver dollar was also minted in in May of 1794 and it recently was sold to a collector for $7,850,000!

I also found out that you can make change for a dollar 293 ways.

During the Civil War, coins were scarce so a soldier heading into battle didn't need to worry about coins rattling around in his pocket and alerting the enemy of his approach, they usually carried stamps for change and they even had paper money in several denominations less than a dollar.

Lastly, in only one portrait on US currency now in circulation does the subjects head face left instead of right...

Any guesses as to who it is?

Yes, it's Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill. Maybe I'll look around some more to find out "just why that is" some day.

Don't Stop Believin'

Just a small town cone living in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going en-ne-where..
Just a city sponge born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train going en-ne-wherah....


Video by zulzen

A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers, waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Paying anything to roll the dice
Just one more time

Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Don't stop believing
Hold on to that feeling
Streetlight people...