Begging Here, Please Read and Understand

Email is great. I get to communicate with people all over the world. It is a wonderful way to keep in touch and share things. By using GMail my spam is at an all time low so it's nice to see what everyone is doing nowadays. For instance, helping promote my brudda' Lee in his quest to obtain one of the reef watcher jobs is great fun. Sure hope he gets it. Receiving news from my daughters and finding out about their happenings is awesome. Beagle inspired me to make a batch of gumbo after reading about her lentil soup. Verdana keeps me updated on the soon expected arrival of her second child. This is great stuff. Friends check in and pass on funny jokes, political observations and uplifting messages of inspiration. And I love the music references. Any type of tech help is super-duper!

Alas, I must reiterate a statement that has shown up on this site many times. When I see a line at the bottom that says something like if I don't pass this on to 20,000 people in the next 5 minutes then Jesus won't love me anymore, that means automatic non-forwarding. Now that said, I don't mind if you send this type of email. Please don't stop. Just don't expect me to follow directions. I won't. Number one, only Jesus will decide if someone deserves His love. People have nothing to do with the judgment of another person's salvation. Yes, prayer does help, but you have no right to interfere in my personal relationship with God and I certainly won't have such an attitude towards you. Number two, intimidation is so negative. Yet, I really really don't mind receiving this type of email. Some great messages arrive this way. Again, just don't expect it to be forwarded from the beach house.

Please don't interpret this as a personal slam. It isn't. A very good friend of mine lost touch years ago because she thought I wanted her to stop emailing. That wasn't it. This is simply an explanation about how forwarding is handled. Very few things are forwarded. Jokes? They are okay. I might send ONE to others in say, a year's time. That's it. Political stuff is about the same. Music, desktop wallpapers, viable causes for different charitable functions, pleas for those in true need, news about technology, really kewl stuff, etc., are a different matter. BTW, if you don't want it to end up on Cybersouth, please let me know. Remember the address IS cybersouth@gmail.com. Just drop a note letting it be known you don't want your content published on the web.

I know someone will take this the wrong way. Instead of stopping emails to me - send something telling me you don't understand and I'll attempt to give you a better reason why things are rarely forwarded from this site. All this said please keep those cards n letters comin! And make comments! Love comments. And I love email.

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
~Arthur Godfrey

Support a Friend!

It's a known fact the beach house endorses casualness and things parrothead-like. Well the time has come to ask your assistance in the promotion of such a venture. Long time friend Lee Taylor is seeking an assignment as a reef watcher in Australia. Man, what an awesome thing to do!!! Wish I could go too! Anyway he has a one minute presentation on the site owned by the people that will employ these lucky folks and he needs votes. Lotsa votes! Don't fool around with 3 or 4 stars give him 5 stars!

Lee has sailed all over the world. His home is in Mississippi. Lee has journeyed on scientific ocean studies and cruises numerous times. He has been the Captain of sailboats off the shores of Costa Rica. This is a dude that literally is, in the words of Jimmy Buffett, 'living the life of the free' - ain't that soooo kewl? Be sure and vote today. The decision of those that will participate will be made March 2, 2009. Time is of essence!

SEE PRESENTATION & VOTE FOR LEE HERE



Is this a sailor lookin' dude or what? Yes! YES!! Click on the above link and give him 5 stars. Tell your neighbors, tell your kids, tell your parents, shout it out going down the highway, make posters, vote on every computer in your office!!!! Let's help a great Mississippian who happens to be an extremely nice, intelligent person fulfill a dream of a lifetime. BTW, we can be there vicariously - he promises to email with pixs so I can post them! Go Lee!

"Lakes below the mountain
Flow into the sea
Like oils applied to canvas
Oh how they permeate through me."
~j. Buffett, One Particular Harbor

It's Time to Say Hello and Meet the Parents!!

Creep kiddies are busy trying to hack the TeamSpeak servers. All the good folks that use it may be required to submit information to further verify your account. This is really no big deal and it should have been corrected it months ago. I'll post a request for info in the very near future and let you know when the changes will put in place. In the meantime software is being installed to identify them. Then their real IPs, names, parents' names, etc., will be turned over to the proper authorities. Having to go into Admin mode on a daily basis to dump the System Log is about to trample on my last nerve, They have tried every user name in the world except the right ones. Just wait until these no-brainers start trying to crack passwords, lol. Don't they know there is software on WAREZ sites for this sort of thing? And why even bother? I can completely redo either server and have it running in less than an hour. Garbage brains will attempt anything so it seems. Isn't that a pretty thing in today's pix? Bet they all look like that...or worse.

"Where do I want to go today? Poland, Czechoslovakia, France. Can Microsoft or a TeamSpeak server do that for me?"
~Hitler

IMHO, Viewsonic Sucks!

For many years I have been a fan of Viewsonic products. That stops today. A long time great friend returned a 22" monitor to Viewsonic, under warranty, for repair. The local retailer from whom it was purchased gladly returned the monitor for my friend. I like this local retailer a lot and have spent several thousand dollars with them. They are courteous, downright friendly and there is a happy attitude in the air when you visit this establishment. Nice polite Southern folks, but this is where it ends.

Viewsonic, located on the left coast, has some of the most hateful, inefficient customer service representatives and/or techs on the planet. Horror stories are being passed on about their abusive attitudes and language. We may try a reverse recording and post it here. They have lied and put off my friend whose monitor is clearly under warranty. These folks are competing with the Asus people for being the horses' asses of the year in tech support. What a bunch of jerks! Please do NOT purchase their products. After being an avid fan for many years I am through with this bunch of creeps.

Want good service? Try BFG or XFX products. Extremely nice and efficient folks. Dell responds promptly as does Hewlett-Packard. Another great friend has been waiting on a 100 buck rebate from HP for several years now. Yet, both HP and Dell will replace a computer under warranty practically overnight. Dell had problems years ago, but corrected them promptly. Sony used to be impressive, but they seem too big for their britches at times. Want a good online supplier? NewEgg absolutely rocks! Just don't buy Viewsonic from them, lol. Any opinions? Hit those comments!

"The moving cursor writes, and having written, blinks on."
~Dave Barry

Rewiring

Browsed over to Scientific American and found an interesting article. The title is Six Ways to Boost Brainpower. Now the Good Lord, most associates and friends realize this is may have been written for me. Several really kewl things were discovered.

Did you know that walnuts, blueberries and spinach are great foods that nourish the brain? Happens that all three are favorites of mine. Looks like a few cups of coffee won't hurt either. Coffee is my favorite beverage. I really have to watch how much I drink. Ashby Rhett Culpepper, III, Jr., Esq., once had his Grandfather tell him that he'd rather go get a drink of muddy creek water than to drink decaffeinated. This has my endorsement. If the caffeine is missing why bother?

My fellow Guild Wars mates will be glad to know video games are recommended. Surgeons that spend a few hours each week playing vid-games make 1/3 fewer errors than non gamers. You can bet your sweet bippy what my first question will be if I have to go under the knife! Let's see, a Guild Wars Warrior may be my new best surgeon friend. Or even an Assassin! Or a Dervish! This is great news...I think.

Great googly moogly they rave about the benefits of music. Talked about getting pumped. The beach house network machines all have musical names. My Linux Kubuntu machine is named Mozart. They especially like him. Just scroll back through the archives and it's apparent there is music at the beach house. Excuse me for a few moments while I go listen to the Orianthi video posted on Sunday - okay, back here. Whew! I feel better and I believe just a tad smarter.

Anyway, this article is full of info. You'll notice that the first thing mentioned is exercise. Time to get active! Hope it lowers my triglycerides. I like this site. There is a plethora of info here. Take a look around. Now the New Balance extra wides are being put on and out the door I go!

"Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect."
~Leonardo da Vinci

Tuesday

Long day. C ya tomorrow. Reassembling casualness.

Awesome Coffee and Music

It's nice to start a new week drinking a proprietary roast of coffee by my great friend Ashby Rhett Culpepper, III, Esq., Jr., and listening to the video posted last night. Lordy, just checked the speedtest meter while she was playing in the background and think I broke it (heh! heh!). BTW, this young woman can sing as well as play. Am diggin' Orianthi Panagaris.

Waiting on a portable USB drive to arrive and studying the "art" of transferring iTunes. My invoice is being changed to read that I DO NOT support iTunes or iPods. After experiencing the nightmare that you go through to move their files from one computer to another, I further vow the beach house will never have a resident iPod.

I may ask everyone to check them at the door, Wyatt Earp style, lol. Thanks Em and Angie for the response to this dilemma. If anyone has info about this procedure please, please pass it along. I'll dance at your wedding. Shucks, I'll dance at your funeral if you so desire...

"Coffee, the finest organic suspension ever devised."
~Star Trek: Voyager

Just as Ed Said, "WOWWOWWOW!"

The Grammy Awards TV broadcast this year was not especially good. Kept flipping channels, but did stay long enough to hear Carrie Underwood. Carrie can sing and I think she's a great performer. But...her guitarist blew me away. For days I've been searching to find out where she came from, her name, etc. My friend, that great Texas Philosopher, EdC, answered my search with this video. If you like hot guitar licks then you will like this solo. Heck, I think this may even be a practice session! Take 3 minutes or so, put on the headphones or turn up those speakers and enjoy the magic!

Her name is Orianthi and I'll try to find more info. Always nice to see today's generation strive for such heights. Thanks Ed for turning me on to another great joy of music!

"Mediocrity does not see higher than itself. But talent instantly recognizes the genius."
~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Another Holiday of Domesticated Engineering

If you'd like a detailed explanation of today's "celebration" check out a very good article at Wikipedia. For a concise explanation please view this brief video:

"You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip." ~Jonathan Carroll, Outside the Dog Museum

Big Foot Slam

This is a VERY brief MontyPythonistic look at how the internet came into existence. Some may find it amusing; others may be bored. It's obvious that Lotus had something to do with it. Anyway, the beach house had a laugh. BTW, the Cuban missile crisis did play a major part in networking as we know it today. Take a look:

"Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors, concern for the great unsolved problems of the organization of labor and the distribution of goods--in order that the creations of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations."
~Albert Einstein

Eye Candy for GW

Please if you send a wallpaper to the beach house make sure it is in a format that will fill a large monitor screen. The small thumbnails found in most search engines tend to blur if you try to expand them to desktop size. Here's some old and new Guild Wars backgrounds aka wallpapers:







Got a favorite? We'd love to see it at the beach house, especially original stuff. Drop it in email to cybersouth@gmail.com. Good hunting fellow guildees!

"If you can't beat them... arrange to have them beaten."
~Vekk, Asuran Mega Air Elementalist (he's almost as good as Cyndane Eloize)

They Ain't Faking It

Admission; I think Katie White is a doll. There's something about Ting Tings music that makes me want to dance. She has a faint hint of Debby Harry influence who sang with Blondie back sometime ago. They achieved prominence on the American music scene by being part of an iPod promotion. This is a live performance and they do a great job, I think. You can read more about the Ting Tings at Wikipedia. In order to see the video you have to double click quickly since they won't let sites embed their videos. This double click will take you to youtube proper. Not much of a way to promote the band but they must have their reasons. After viewing the video just click the red 'X' and you'll return to cybersouth - beach house style.

I like them. Amongst all the profane, vulgar, violent garbage called rap that tries to pass as music this is a refreshing interlude. Yes you can use a syncopated beat and make the sing song talk melodic. That way it becomes fun! Opinions?

"Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years."
~William F. Buckley, Jr.

Easy on the Eye

Occassionally, people ask about the desktop backgrounds aka wallpapers on my machines. Thought I'd share some. Here are 3 that don't take up a lot of room, but will fit most larger screens. I like ships. Don't care if they are on water in the air or floating in space. Also like darker backgrounds. Less glare and wear on the monitor.

My great friend of many years who is like a brother to me, David Neal Jennings, sent the first and last. He has an eye for cool stuff. Please keep sending them brother! The middle one comes from a site called digitalblasphemy. Go to this site click on ENTER HERE then find the free downloads section. Chances are you might recognize some of these awesome renderings if I have worked on your PC. Check out the gallery too. The prices are minimal.

The last wallpaper is the one I use on my main workstation most of the time. Neal named it 'goin to walmart' which is humorously appropriate. On occasion you will find a Guild Wars wallpaper on this machine, but I always gravitate back to the "walmart" one. If you would like to use one of these first left click on it so it will enlarge (this is important - or you will have a small pix that blurs when expanding) then do a 'save as' (right click that mouse first then left click on 'save as') to your machine. Then right click on it again in the large form and 'set as background' or go to your desktop settings and browse to the place where you saved it..





Hope you enjoy these great works of art. They all create a sense of peace for me. Thanks brother Neal and digitalblasphemy!

"It has been said that art is a tryst, for in the joy of it maker and beholder meet."
~Kojiro Tomita

A Few Hours of Fun Saturday Night

Normally when playing GuildWars it drives me up a wall to be killed in the game. Usually you are soon "rezzed" and can shake off the death penalty. I just don't like the fact that my preparation wasn't sufficient to keep me alive. Last night I died several times and didn't even care. To be in the game with my Guild Mates enjoying all the laughing and fun was enhanced by the new monitor. So far the remote has been explored. I will get around to reading the manual. Today the bedroom will be rearranged and cable hooked up to this unit. Since this model is not known to have great audio my 5.1 surround unit will be installed too. Gosh, it'll be sweet if this unit survives the test of time. Here's hoping!

"If you are losing your leisure, look out; you may be losing your soul."
~Logan P. Smith

I Did It!

I ended up purchasing a Samsung 32" 1080p today. It fits my desk perfectly and has a swivel base. This TV/monitor will be in the bedroom so a simple turn will face it towards the bed for TV viewing. A lot of study went into this purchase and I caught the set at a super sales price. The price was comparable to my favorite online store's cost after shipping. It is absolutely awesome as a PC monitor. You do have to purchase a DVI to HDMI cable to gain the maximum potential. It is running 1920X1080 resolution and was very easy to install. It was up and working within 20 minutes making Guild Wars look fantastic. This has been a dream of mine for years. There are so many bells and whistles it's impossible to talk about all them.

Buyer's remorse has showed up, but this unit won't be returned unless something fubars. LOL. This is a great unit at a great price and the purchase was local. Pretty good for a man who detests spending several hours shopping. At least I didn't have to go to WalMart where all the evil children live. Best Buy was most helpful and recommended this set for my purposes. I had read all the reviews and they were good except for one 'tard that probably had trouble counting on his fingers. Oh yeh, don't even bother going to Rex TV. The two snarling creeps behind the counter acted insulted that I even entered the store. One even told me that there were no 32" 1080p sets made. I left saying, "You might want to check your product knowledge for the past 5 years or so, dude."

Will keep you posted as I continue usage and discover more goodies. I am in love with it so far. Not bad for someone that hasn't bought a TV for over 15 years, huh? Truth be known, it was almost fun!

"I love to go shopping. I love to freak out salespeople. They ask me if they can help me, and I say, "Have you got anything I'd like?" Then they ask me what size I need, and I say, "Extra medium."
~Steven Wright

HDTV Unprepared

Thinking about shopping for a new monitor TV combo tomorrow. Been saving my pennies for months and eating a lot of really cheap bad food (bologna sandwiches on thin slice wheat bread with mustard) and think if there's a great sale somewhere locally, go for it! After seeing two different computers on 32" and 37" it's awe inspiring. Red Dragon has a multi screen setup anchored by his 37" and Elies Coming has a 32". They both will slam your eyeballs to the back of your head. With the advent of HDTV upon us and my wonderful Hitachi 27" 4:3 screen being 15 years old, it's time for a new one. The 19" Emerson in the bedroom is an old veractor tuner (knobs) and is over 20 years old! Gonna' see my buddy at Best Buy tomorrow and find out if any deals r cooking. This project has been in the making since last summer. Maybe tomorrow...

Time to snooze.

"If men liked shopping, they'd call it research."
~Cynthia Nelms

Tracking Device - Fun or Not?

There's a major news bruhaha erupting around Google's latest gadget. It's called Latitude. Surf on over to Google and download if interested. You'll need Maps too. A lot of people seem to be anti-Latitude. Contrary to the news media hype this is not big brother. First, you have to install it, second it can be turned off, third you and the other person have to agree that you'll give permission to let each see their respective location, and last please remember that the news media consists of a bunch of liberal horses' asses that probably need to be, at the very least, jailed. Okay, Fox is an exception.

This will give parents the chance to keep up with rowdy teenagers that tend to get in trouble. It'll be great fun for drivers that do long hauls. I can see all types of uses. Yes there is the dark side. Stalkers beware, I bet this will constitute a violation of space. Besides, you'd have to give a stalker permission. It looks like the safeguards are in place.

If you want to try it and have my phone number let's go for it! You can also send a request to my GMail. Since I don't think the FBI, NSA, MI-5, or any other Black Ops are interested in beach house meanderings the program has been loaded on my phone. Veranda, Beagle and C - I actually did some text stuff and loaded that net thangy! Hard to believe myself, especially since I didn't call any of you for assistance.

We can try it. That is, if I have everything installed properly, lol. Cell phones are not my favorite devices. The buttons are too small! Here is the link to - Google Latitude. Let me know what you think, k?

"Just because you don't see alligators and the water is calm absolutely does not mean they are NOT there!"
~Easley

Am I Living Off the Coast of South Africa?

Oh great readers of the beach house ramblings, please tolerate my recent absences. It has been rough and from Monday morning until late Tuesday evening my out of shape butt was running on two hours sleep. This was after a weekend of continuous small disasters. Today was pretty much a wash ending in Flexiril and I shall return to bed with it momentarily. This is a slight whine, but also an explanation. If history proves itself tomorrow will see a groggy start, but a great attitude since the back pain will have subsided. Enough of this boring blah blah blah. Good night all y'all.

"I'm gettin' too old for this shi-!"
~Danny Glover (think he said it in all the Lethal Weapon movies)

'Tis a Very Witching Hour Interlude (Note the Time)

Sometimes life is so trying and I wonder if it's worth all the effort. As I sat racking my brain to resolve some software issues, a break to check email (GMail) found this:

Yes, the effort is not in vain. I feel better. I am truly a blessed man. Thanks brother Ty for the link to this wonderful video. Thanks Fairview Baptist Church of Columbus, MS., for an awesome performance.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
~Martin Luther King Jr.

Ramblings After the Weekend

It was a long and hectic weekend and today was a proverbial nightmare. Proprietary software blowing up is nowhere close to my idea of fun. Okay, I didn't write it, I didn't install it (even though I requested to do exactly that over 7 months ago), and I spent most of today fighting to make it work. It is working somewhat, yet I'll be up at 2:00AM in the morning and many miles away on site by 8:00AM. Gosh, it bewilders me when people blame the computer tech. If a nuclear bomb drops will that be my fault? After all it is a high tech device! Shucks folks, I am a viable part of the solution to the problem. If I spend this much time and effort show me some o' dat crazzzyy love! Me Precious needs it!

The whiner is going to bed now to get my 2 hours sleep. Oh yes, there has been a rash of burglaries in the Saltillo area. Please be a good neighbor and watch dwellings while people are away. It's a simple phone call to get our police force on site. Good Lord knows I've got some of the greatest neighbors in the world. Pay it forward and help your fellow human out! Now to bed.

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
~St. Augustine