The Independent Kixmiller Pigeon MrkII

Continuing from the last article, one is exposed to a lot of hypocrisy from the respective party running the state. Often times, phrases like "Big Government/Small Government" are abused to the point of becoming empty platitudes with no meaning. At the end of the day, one wonders what those phrases even mean. There arbitrary terms that one can't measure and only have meaning for those using them. What about those who proclaim themselves as small government while using the power of the state to suppress ordinariness passed and supported by local governments. Local governments that are directly elected by the people and serve the local interest of the community. Their ordnances are overridden by those who claim to support “small government”. The actions that those who claim to embrace "small government" are similar to the actions of those that they demonize, just directed in different causes and interest. How is that different at the end of the day? As mentioned i...

Working title for this post was "But Mama, That's Where The Fun Is!". Appropriate as by the middle 2000's, Windows Mobile was where all the action was at. The sky was only getting brighter for Microsoft as Palm was slowly imploding on itself. With Microsoft's mobile offerings becoming more widespread by the day, the Redmond Giant followed up with the newest version of WM, version 5.0, on May 2005. On the surface, it appears that little changed. However, the biggest change were "under the hood" with the incorporation of the .NET Compact Framework, which is basically the mobile version of .NET. Also, WM 5.0 introduced newer power-saving capabilities which often improved the battery life of devices by as much as 50%. WM backed up everything to flash memory. WinMobile would use a combination of RAM and flash memory to preserve battery life. This wasn't noticeable by the user.  As such, their is no data loss if power is lost.  Windows Media Player was upd...

To say that the Macintosh set the world on fire on January 1984 would have been an understatement. The release of the Macintosh was that epic shot heard around the computing world.  Their was already rapidly growing anticipation for the Mac through 1983. This anticipation quickly swelled when Apple ran their Super-Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott of Alien/Bladerunner fame. People were hyped, and when Steve Jobs unveiled the Mac to the world, everybody went ecstatic. The new computer would be defined by its new and innovative OS, the Macintosh System Software, which would go on and write the rules of what a GUI is suppose to be like (The System Software wasn't referred to MacOS until System 7.5). Based on the pioneering work done by Xerox and those at PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), Apple would take their work and run with it. The guidelines would influence countless environments like GEM, Windows, GeoWorks, the OS/2 Presentation Manager, X11/Motif, NextStep, Gnome, KDE, e...

Sometimes, I watch some of the videos that Independent Apple Repair Technician/YouTuber/Repair Rights Advocate Louis Rossman post on his channel. He's a champion of the idea of right to repair. Louis has made many really awesome videos about Apple product repair while giving great insight into such topics as well. Like many on the Internet (me included), he usually delve into politics. There are some things I disagree with on when it comes to politics. At the same time, I respect his opinion, even if I disagree, because Louis has a unique perspective given where he lives. New York is a state that is largely run by Democrats. As such, he constantly witnesses the hypocrisy of the Democrat leadership managing that state. If I lived in New York, I probably would form similar opinions about that state's leadership as well.   Here in Texas though, in a state run by Republicans, I'm in constant witness to the hypocrisy of the Republican leadership. At the end of the day though, ...

Windows CE continued its evolution into different directions. While Windows CE and WinMobile are the same OS, they are package with different user interfaces for their respective markets. Windows Mobile was tailored for PDA's and smartphones while CE "classic" was still tailored for clamshell devices, which were still apparently a thing in 2003. However, their really wasn't much of a clamshell handheld market by this point. As such, most devices that CE 4.2 were destined for served a dedicated, niche role. Microsoft continued to support the clamshell form-factor handhelds with WinCE 4.0, released on January 7, 2002. This latest incarnation of WinCE featured the compact version of the .NET Framework. Also, like most new released, Microsoft released a updated SDK to developers. The SDK, like previous ones, included a device emulator along with various libraries, documentation, and developer tools so that one would become familiar with the platform. The applications were...

  Apple Tries Again Work on both the Apple III and the Lisa started more/less simultaneously. Like the Apple III, the Lisa was intended on being an office computer, even though playing a significantly different role. While the Apple III was intended on being a general-purpose office computer, the Lisa was intended on being a advance document-processing system, similar to word-processing systems like the Xerox Star. Work on the Lisa started in the spring of 1979. Bill Atkinson, one of the main programmers of the Lisa (and later playing a very prominent role on the Macintosh's development), took various pictures that documented the evolution of the software that would eventually be LisaOS. The prototype Lisa system, like that of the later Macintosh, started off as a expansion card that plugged into the slot of a Apple II. Since its inception, the Lisa was already capable of high-resolution graphics that could display proportional typefaces, detailed patterns that could simulate color...

Well, I didn't see that one coming. Yet, I'm not surprised either. On one hand, things should have never gotten to a point of a mandate. However, I can't really have sympathy for those potentially affected as they should have known better. After 37 million cases and over 650,000 deaths nationwide , one should have gotten the idea by now that Covid is a very real virus, and a dangerous one at that too! One would be surprised though.  At the start of the outbreak, one would have hoped for the best. One would have felt that people would made sacrifices for the good of there friends, family, and co-workers. One would have worn the mask as a sign of respect for the health of those around them, and then get vaccinated as the ultimate demonstration for one's commitment to their personal health and that of their loved ones. Idealism and expectations are one thing, and reality is another though. Reality is that many saw the virus as a manufactured hoax designed to take away peo...