A random rant on... Cell Phone Plans.

Visiting family today, we ran into a problem where we needed to text my sister in law. That's when my wife dropped the news on me.
"She doesn't have texting on her plan." And that got me thinking. It's all bandwidth. It's all wireless service. Shouldn't text be just a part of your service? Text is an inherently small package of data to deliver.
Maybe I'm not considering the people who use thousands of texts in a month. If I turned on SMS on my Twitter feed, my phone would never stop pinging and vibrating.
Maybe I need to think this over some more.

Closing up shop

I'm closing down my typepad blog. Thing is, there are so many other places to connect (you can reach me on Twitter - @madpoet, or on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/zricks, or chat on Skype (zricks), or find my podcasts - www.geeksurvivalguide.org, GutCheckCast., etc., etc...), or find what I'm sharing on Google Reader or see my bookmarks on delicious (www.delicious.com/madpoet), or follow my FriendFeed that compiles a lot of that... and I blog here so infrequently (less than two posts a month), that it doesn't make sense to spend the money on the space any more.

Now, I will occasionally need a place to write longer form things, and I really don't like Facebook's interface for that, so I'll be using either the vox blog (http://www.vox.com/madpoet), which I haven't used in over a year, but has the advantage of being free, or I'll be using the ol' blogger blog here at http://zricks.blogspot.com. (Yes, I should probably pick one. I don't write often enough... maybe that will be changing soon also...)

Oh, and I'll need to find a place to re-post those old Lights Out Radio posts... Hmmm... I should really finish reading those two books...

But I'll funnel the posts from either one of those to Facebook anyway... so... if you're following me there you'll still get occasional rantage.

So it's not like you'll be missing anything. Thanks for stopping by.

On the use of "should" and what I mean by it.

So, this little status update has been going around on Facebook yesterday:

(Your Name Goes Here) agrees that no one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick.

And of course I agree with that. Who in their right mind wouldn't agree with that particularly inoffensive statement? You'd have to be crazy to disagree with that! Of course, no one SHOULD die because they cannot afford health care, and no one SHOULD go broke because they get sick. Also, no one SHOULD go to bed hungry and everyone SHOULD have a safe place to sleep at night. Which is why people SHOULD give freely of their time and means to help out their fellow men. But that's just it. Here, when we say "SHOULD", that's aspirational. SHOULD is an ideal. SHOULD, in this context, is then twisted to imply that I agree that the U.S. government SHOULD provide health care for everyone, and that's where I put on the brakes and add the N'T to SHOULD.

The problem here is that while my participation in the receiving of benefits may be voluntary (and that's questionable - I may be forced into participation by events not of my choosing), my participation in the paying for it will almost certainly not. Won't be voluntary for me, won't be voluntary for anyone in the United States, and probably won't be voluntary for anyone in the world market who purchases goods and services from the United States or does business with us in any way, shape or form. The required revenue either will be generated directly from citizens in the form of tax increases (Hello, April 15th), or indirectly in the cost of goods and services to every man, woman, and child in the country (which has the same effect).

We instinctively understand, if I break into someone's home, and steal a million dollars from them, and give ALL of that money to poor blind orphans, that's still theft. My intention is irrelevant. It's wrong, and I would go to prison. (and the orphans would probably have to give the money back). It's a criminal action. I have attempted to force someone into contributing money that they may or may not have done of their own free will. It doesn't even matter if the money was set aside for those same blind orphans. If I went in and took it, it's theft, plain and simple.

Now, if the Government does that same thing, not by breaking into my home and stealing in the dead of night, but by doing things in the open by passing a law that removes the money from my paycheck, or causes a decrease in my ability to acquire goods for my family because of necessary price increases on goods that are now taxed at higher rates, that may be legal, but I'd argue that it's just as wrong as the example I used above. It's a difference in terms. When I do it, it's theft. When the government does it, particularly when the government does it against the will of the people (how popular is that public option today?), it's called tyranny. And it's tyranny regardless of the stated ends. Sure, providing for people's health care is a worthwhile thing. But once we've allowed the government to force us to provide for people's health care, that's a very dangerous precedent to set.

About two hundred and thirty years ago, we had a bit of a sharp debate regarding tyranny in this country, and the citizens of the United States decided we're not fans.

Now, I could go on about the projected budget, and how those always inflate (Hey, remember when the projected 10-year deficit was only 7 Trillion Dollars? Yeah...). I could go on about how government run programs are less efficient and require much more overhead than private charities. I could explain that the cost increases might force businesses to hire fewer people or to let go of people they have on their payrolls now, or that they might require that I reduce my own charitable giving simply to continue to be able to pay my bills. But that would concede the point that "were we able to do it affordably, more government interference with health care would be all right", and I just don't think that's the case. It's a question of Liberty, folks. Something we SHOULD stand up for.

Thinking Sideways while moving ahead

I signed up for an online writing course a few weeks ago. It's called How To Think Sideways, and so far it's been fun, interesting, and has me doing a little introspection for a mind-mapping exercise. I'm looking at different things that I find compelling, that evoke strong emotional responses in me personally, and it's been eye-opening.

Attorneys have a reputation for being pessimistic, for playing it safe, for avoiding risks, etc. That pretty much describes me to a T. I'm a habitual worrier, but I didn't used to be. Didn't think of myself that way, anyhow.

Let's just say that between this and some other things I've been doing, I'm trying to get over my habitual negativity and back to that boundless optimism I had when I was younger. Economy down? Economies go up, economies go down, but opportunities are there no matter what the prevailing economy is.

Right? Right. Now I just need to convince myself.

A Very Busy Weekend

Thursday morning, I paid a visit to the periodontist. They repaid my kindness by drugging me and sticking sharp implements in my mouth, followed by sutures. Lots and lots of sutures. And a prescription for some rather powerful pain-killers. The remainder of the day was spent checking work e-mail (once), and playing Dragon Quest V while catching up on podcasts. All of them.

Friday. Still more wonderful painkillers. Lots and Lots of Dragon Quest V. Expect a review at Tech Talk for Families within the next few days. Quick and Dirty - 15 hours in, I'm totally digging it. There's a monster-recruitment system that I like - think Pokemon, where you fight alongside the various monsters. I don't know if that's a standard part of Dragon Quest, but I like it a lot. The story has some elements to it that might not float well with younger players. Right now I'm seeing what looks like a possible romantic triangle (which will probably resolve itself without too much fuss...) The rating is E10, but I'd probably hold off until a kid is a little more mature to deal with some of the issues - 12 seems about right, but your mileage may vary.

Saturday. Bought a car. 2007 Kia Spectra. Enterprise (yes, the car rental place) Car Sales totally rocks. Car drives very well. We named it "Zippy". That night was the ward chili cookoff, in which my sweet wife, Reeta, won Best Overall Chili. I was surprised by how many people came up to her afterwards and asked her what she put in it. She was beaming all night.

Sunday. Church. Choir practice - which happened this week at a local assisted living center, and lasted two hours as we sang hymns and fumbled all over Handel's "All We Like Sheep" from the Messiah. Yeah. We're few in numbers, but mighty in ambition. More Dragon Quest V. Recorded a new Geek Survival Guide. Tried my best to ignore twitter comments re: the Big Love episode that purported to show LDS Temple ceremonies.

I've been trying really hard to let that last thing roll off, but it's harder than I thought it would be. Those are sacred things, and seeing that someone is using them in a commercial venture, and trying to drum up business using the "controversy" over the "LDS Church's Outrage" leaves a particularly bad taste in my mouth. The Church's official response to it was muted, and I'm trying to do my best to make sure my own is as well. I realize that HBO broadcasting them to the world and making them eventually available on a DVD Box Set for $49.99 or whatever doesn't change the nature of the temple or the ordinances and covenants I've made there, but it still feels degrading. And the twitter responses frankly haven't helped.

But then, I am reminded that if it were easy to turn the other cheek, bless them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you, etc., then I suppose it wouldn't be a commandment. 

Now Playing... my ebook library as it currently stands...

Because the Kindle 2 was announced today, with rumors circulating that Amazon will be selling e-books for certain cell phones, I thought I'd take a moment and share what's currently sitting on my Stanza bookshelf. I don't have and probably won't buy a Kindle, but if I can get the text onto my iPod touch, that's a very satisfactory result for me.

Here's the most recent 5 titles I've accessed:

• Daniel Suarez: Daemon.
• Edward Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Volume 1(No real reason for that, move along, nothing to see here...) Gutenberg
  
• Iain M. Banks: Use of Weapons. This month's Orbit Books special. $1.00 from various e-book vendors.
• Frank L. Baum: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Gutenberg.
• Edward Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Volume 2. (It's a long title, I wasn't exactly sure which one was which).

Here's what I've finished reading on it:

• Brent Weeks: The Way of Shadows. Dark Fantasy. Last month's Orbit Books special.
  
• Eric Flint / David Drake: An Oblique Approach. Science fiction, set in the Holy Roman Empire. Very good book, and available for free from Baen.

And I have over forty five more books on it. It's nice having a variety of things available. I've got Aristotle's Ethics, Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, and Thomas Acquinas' Summa Theologica. I also have Scott Sigler's Ancestor, P.G. Wodehouse' My Man Jeeves, and Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood. Richard Paul Evans' 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me. Wide ranging topics, from authors new and old.

So, let's say you have access to the world's library on a device - something becoming more and more true with every passing day - what would you be reading?

I'm an American.

It may come as a surprise to some people that I hold somewhat conservative views. I was not a supporter of the man taking the Oath of Office today.

I'm happy that we've got a peaceful transition of power. I'm grateful for a process that allows me to have a say in who will and who will not be governing. I can appreciate the history involved in electing Barak Obama as the President of the United States. I remember the atmosphere the day after the '04 election, and walking around my law school campus was like I was visiting a funeral.

That's not going to be me.

I wish the new President all the best. I hope he'll govern well, and I'll support him as my President. My congratulations to him and to all his supporters. I may not agree with all of his policies. In fact, I may agree with darn few of them. But in those places, he'll have my support.

Reading, Writing, and the Education Necessary to do both.

Looking at another blog earlier today, I saw that they had a handy badge explaining that you would need a college degree, and possibly some post-grad work to understand their blog.

Being one who's curious about things like readability and reading levels and whatnot, I immediately plugged in the address to the typepad version of this blog and got the result you see here to the left. Now, initially it took me back a little bit. I mean, I've got a bachelor's degree. I've got a Juris Doctor, for crying out loud. I'm supposed to be writing in impenetrable legalese. You should need a post-grad AND Sanskrit AND Benjamin Franklin's magic bifocals from National Treasure to be able to read this blog. Right? Right?

Well, maybe not so much.

I got something of a similar result when I wrote my manuscript. If I pull up that handy dandy Google Doc right now, there's a tool that evaluates the "readability" of the text, which I imagine is based on my vocabulary, length of sentences, number of sentences per paragraph, etc. Looking at "Eyes of the Marauder" (Yes, it's a corny working title.), I get the following results:

Readability	Selection	Document
Average sentences per paragraph:	-	3.84
Average words per sentence:	-	9.54
Average characters per word:	-	4.47
Average words per page:	-	974.66
Flesch Reading Ease: [?]	-	83.68
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: [?]	-	4.00
Automated Readability Index: [?]	-	4.00

Wow. That sure is a lot of numbers. What does this really mean? Well, I note that the Grade Level of my manuscript is Grade 4. Queso is in Grade 4. So, I should be able to drop my printed manuscript in her lap, tell her to go for it, and she can do her 20 minutes of reading per night. Or I can stick her in front of my blog and do the same thing, though reporting either of those to her teacher might be taken as a sign of narcissism on my part. Or just plain crazy.

My personal feeling is that it takes real skill to be able to describe complex issues in such a way that a ten-year-old can understand it. Parents, you know what I'm talking about, right? Authors, what's your take? Is the sign of a good writer the way they use the four-syllable words or are the best authors the ones who write simply? Or (as is so often the case), am I just totally off base?

Finished

My first draft of my first novel is done.

As always, it's posted up at Google Docs. Here's the link.

Or, if you prefer, here's a link to a PDF of the first draft. I still need to tweak the formatting, and in a few weeks, I'll probably start a second draft, but I just wanted to put this up as quick as I could.