Just Thinkin has moved.

So it’s been WordPress.com and 130 posts or so and now it’s time to move into my own WordPress install. Kinda’ like moving from an apartment into your first home which means all the problems of ownership (except at the server end of things) are now mine but on the other hand…I can fix them as well.

It also makes me free to mess things up as I see fit thus giving me badly needed training on what not to do when configuring my own blog site and for any readers I might have, a whole lot of laughs.

So for awhile I’ll put the first part of a new post here with a link to the new site and after the new site’s rank is back up I’ll stop doing that as well. This post will always be at the top.

Meanwhile, here’s the link to the new home of “Just Thinkin”:

http://just-thinkin.net

All past post have already been transferred over but like in any move some things get left behind and as such, all the previous comments seem to have evaporated into thin virtual air. Such is life. Plenty of time for more comments on this, that, and the other thing.

Many thanks to WordPress.com for hosting this small portion of my life.

See ya’ at the new site.

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Sneak Peek!

Hello all.

I’ve got a secret…

If you want to know what it is…

Take a look over here (don’t fret now, it’s safe enough).

It’s not quite ready yet but I think it’s pretty cool.

Technorati Tags: blog, blogs, blogging, wordpress

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Old PC recycling…not really?

For those of you that might be thinking of turning your PC over to the so-called PC recyclers or think that it’s such a good idea, you might want to check out this National Geographic article on what actually is happening to some of these PC’s and other electronic equipment.

Read the rest at the new site

Technorati tags: Recycling, toxic waste, PC, recycling electronics, recycling PC, recycling computers, cellphones

What about the new theme?

Just a quick request here (it’s getting late) for any opinions regarding this new theme.

I know there’s a few of you that stop by once in awhile, so if you be kind enough, please leave a comment on how you like/despise/don’t care one way or another etc about the new layout.

I’m still not quite sure yet.

Thanks all and goodnight

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We wasted our time: A nuclear rant

Nuclear weapons raise their ugly heads again:

As an ex-cold war submariner who, along with his fellow “bubbleheads” (on both sides by the way), spent an average of 300 days out of the year poking holes through ocean depths (along with generally ruining their health) doing their absolute best at trying to keep the world from blowing itself up, I find it increasingly disheartening when I read about the other areas today such as North Korea and whoever happens to be pounding on the table over in the middle east territories attempting (or perhaps already succeeding) to develop and test nuclear weapons. Possibly the kind of nuclear weapons that were first developed by the US and the (then) Soviet Union…dirty ones!

Long after our two countries laid down their horrible weapons of mass destruction (and I absolutely refuse to delve into what events may have caused that to happen), these (censored) people want to start it all over again and by what I’ve seen over the past many years, these particular governments absolutely do not have anywhere near the awareness, discipline, objectivity and presence of mind that the two superpowers of the cold war can be credited with. After all, we decided to make a change for the better and it’s worked so far. I understand things don’t always pan out but at least we’re still trying.

In the article, North Korea had this to say:

The North, however, said it will “never use nuclear weapons first and strictly prohibit any threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear transfer,” defending its nuclear weapons as a protection from “the U.S. threat of aggression” and a measure “to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”

I’m sorry, but that’s like saying “trust me” and when it comes to nuclear weapons capability…I didn’t even trust us.

Now with Iran saying that it’s pursuit of nuclear technology is only for the purpose of providing power to it’s people the phrase “you’ve got to be kidding” comes readily to mind. I’m sorry folks, normally I’m a person that’s fairly open-minded with an mostly objective point of view but when it comes to “pursuit of nuclear technology” by these two countries alone, you might understand when I say I tend to have a rather dim view on the whole thing.
In my opinion we’d be very foolish to trust in anything that they said.

Since I’m always trying to see the possible consequences of future actions, the Australian news site, News.com.au has an interesting “what if” article in the Courier Mail section on the current problem of sanctions against Iran for it’s push for nuclear technology. I recommend giving both articles a read over..

I don’t usually like to include this sort of post in the blog however, with my particular type of service background, I needed to let out some of my anxiety. Most people won’t understand where this anxiety comes from but there is some who understand it all too well.

We had a saying during the cold war that if a nuclear war ever did occur, Ground Zero was the best possible place to be.

A nuclear war (anywhere) would be the most devastating war the human race ever unleashed upon itself.

It would also be the shortest.

I’d hate to think that me and all my underwater cohorts had all our time and effort wasted for us.

I agree with Walt Kelly:

We have met the enemy…and he is us. (Pogo)

Technorati Tags: North Korea, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, cold war, middle east, nuclear missles, nuclear testing, pogo

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A dream come true

Like many others, I’ve been closely following Anousheh Ansari’s blog that she has been writing starting with her training as an astronaut, her journey to the ISS and now during her nine day stay at the station where she is conducting testis and doing routine maintenace and operations. Not exactly living up to the definition of “space tourist” she is a working member of crew during her time there and during the flights to and from the space station.

In case you’re wondering about or if the name Ansari rings a bell, she and her family are the title sponsors of the “Ansari X-prize” that was won 2 years ago when SpaceShipOne flew to the edges of space and back in the first private endeavor to build and fly a privately funded spacecraft to near orbit and land successfully and do it more than once in a given time period.

This woman is currently living the peak of her dream with her flight to the International Space Station after long years of hard work and study. A pioneer and entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word and obviously very well thought of to boot which, unfortunately, seems to becoming a rare thing these days. Since there is so much interesting info on this woman and her endeavors, I’ll let you folks hit the links above and find out for yourself.

I recommend checking out her Flickr photos some of which she has taken during her stay on the ISS.

May the younger folks out there pay heed to this amazing women and perhaps follow in her footsteps to their own dream someday.

 

Technorati tags: ISS, space, spaceflight, Ansari, X prize, Space shuttle, SpaceShipOne, X prize foundation

Poor Robert

I was banging around in my WordPress.com admin page trying my best to screw up the looks of my (little known) “Back Woods Tech” blog which I managed with more or less success. I think.

Well, the blog does look different now anyhow.

Can one be pleased by failing to screw something up intentionally?

Anyway, as I was failing to screw up, I happened to notice in the Top Posts column of WordPress’s front page, a post by Robert Scoble (Scobleizer) concerning Windows Live Spaces and the blogs incorporated therein. I had to chuckle not only at the fact that Robert had found, or not found depending on how you look at it, the same type of content (or lack thereof), that I did when I recently wandered over to have a look around Spaces myself last week, but at the comments as well.

Poor Robert was bashed,harangued and rather badly hammered about his “egotistical” critique of WLS and the problem was that I agreed with him. So I’m egotistical as well? I don’t think so.

Heck, I’m still new when it comes to blogging (but very little else mind you), I freely admit my guilt. I’m still trying to get a handle on Pings and Trackbacks for cryin’ out loud. But while new at blogging , I am most certainly not new as far as the Internet, computers and research are concerned. I began my career back in the seventies, years before the first Sony Walkmen even hit the streets, let alone a PC.

Where was I? Oh yeah…

“Scobleizer” for example, has a Google rating of 7 out of 10 and as screwed up as Google ratings can be at times, that kind of rating still means you have to work for it. On the other hand, my little “Back Woods Tech” blog has no rating at all and that’s just fine with me. I’m doing this strictly for fun and the experience of actually trying something new.

So look…about half of his posted “Fifty” had no entries at all and one of them actually stated that “This blog is intentionally left blank”. So these individuals are maybe making a statement here or something? Bah.

Putting up a blog and doing absolutely nothing with it is just taking up a piece of blog space that someone else might use for some actual content…even if it’s only a few pictures in hopes that Grandma might get to see them. Also, I can probably forgive “…intentionally left blank” now that I think about it. The person behind that one most likely is making a statement although one we will probably never understand.

Hmmm. In that case, could “…intentionally left blank” be considered art?

What’s my point you ask? No point, I answer. I’m just stating the fact that I read a blog called “Scobleizer” (So I like his blog…so do a lot of folks) and how I reacted to one of his posts and following comments.

I don’t always have to have a point…

It’s my blog, isn’t it?

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Blogs, Windows Live, Spaces, Scobleizer

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