PhillipBlanton.com

i recently bought a Logitech M705 mouse from Sam's Club and I am in love with it. So much so that I bought four more for my other computers. I am using Logitech K750 keyboards for my Apple computers, and the M705 mouse shares the same USB dongle. One dongle for two devices. I have used bluetooth for keyboards and mice before, but I much prefer USB. If you are in the market for a new mouse, then I highly recommend the Logitech M705. It works great on both Windows and Mac OSX.

I have an old Dell Optiplex 755 SFF (Small Form Factor) that is one of my favorite PCs.  You can get one like it here, for about $180... http://cgi.ebay.com?ViewItem&item=300644713361. Mine has a 300GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM (All easily and cheaply upgradable). On Saturday (Dec 31, 2011) I was attempting to install Ubuntu 11.10 on it, but I couldn't boot to the install DVD. I had downloaded the correct Ubuntu image, and burned it to DVD on my Intel iMac (OSX Lion). After the burn process, it verified the disk and everything appeared ok. The problem was, it wasn't bootable. After wasting a few hours trying to make the machine boot from a "bootable" DVD, I gave up, threw the DVD away and re-downloaded the iso (just in c... [More]

and woodstock is a cannibal.

Gold has taken a serious hit lately. I really expected it to go to $2000/oz by the end of the year, but it has tanked lately. I have a lot of money in Gold and Silver and am saddened to see it go south like this. Of course, it will go up again early next year.

My friend and colleague Joe Fitzgerald says... "Rabbit will now properly scale on Windows now that Erlang runs 64-bit on Windows. You could only address ~1.2 GB prior to this release, meaning that the Rabbit high-water mark (after which it would start flushing to disk) was somewhere in the range of 450MB. With this announcement – and the IronFoundry stuff – I think the pieces are finally starting to come together for scalable cross-platform apps." The plan is to release something on IronFoundry soon... http://www.ironfoundry.org http://seroter.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/first-look-deploying-net-web-apps-to-cloud-foundry-via-iron-foundry

Did you hear a click? ... No! Hmm. Can't seem to properly embed a video in my Blogengine powered website, so click here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRBcP6MmE8g

Those of you who see me on a daily basis know this, but I am NOT a runner. My neighbor gets up early every morning and runs; and it pisses me off. What's he running from!? If I wanted to punish myself with pain over an extended period of time I'd ... choose not to. Maybe he's training for a race. Does he not know that the first runner of a marathon, Philippides (My namesake) died immediately? Running is what I do after eating Thai food, and at the end of my run is a toilet. The only reason marathons are still around is so that a thousand white people can chase three black people through the streets of their city, like the "good ol' days". No white person will ever beat a Kenyan. They have been running from things their whole life. "Lio... [More]

Today, the marine corps is 236 years old. Happy Birthday US Marine Corps!  Watch it. http://www.marines.mil/usmc/Pages/2011MarineCorpsBirthdayBall.aspx

Joe Paterno is quite possibly the greatest coach of all time. Now, at 85, his career ends with a whimper.  Apparently he knew that Jerry Sandusky was a perv and was knowledgeable about his escapades, but didn't let anyone else know. It is a terrible shame that Joe Paterno's career ends in such a shameful way. Let this be a lesson to all of us. If we ever see someone behaving in a way that brings shame to us, we should ALWAYS speak up. Especially in a situation like this where an innocent was being harmed. Though Joe Paterno isn't guilty of Jerry Sandusky's crimes, he is guilty of complicity and should be held liable.  If Jerry Sandusky is guilty of the alleged crimes, he should be executed. Crimes against children are an especiall... [More]

I went to grade school, Junior high and high school with Brad Ohlemeier from Denton Texas. His father and my grandmother were good friends and for a short period, he and his parents lived with my grandmother while their house in hidden valley was being built. Just tonight I called Brad and actually got a hold of him on his phone. It was really good to hear from him and I am really happy to have reconnected with quite possibly my oldest childhood friend. I met Brad when I was in grade school and his father was recently out of the military and interested in the real-estate business in North Texas. My grandmother took him under her wing and helped him get his start in the business. Brad and I were the same age and both attended the grade schoo... [More]