MikeBenton.org » Writing

Been Awhile…

Mike! — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:14:44 +0000

Kind of hit a stand still on posts here. Not that there isn’t anything to post about. But for awhile I got so busy that posting just stopped. I also stopped giving a damn about the money making posts.

Why? I thought about it. There are different levels of posters, some have lower level blogs like mine that no one really looks at. Just valuable for the search engine links and helping someone else’s site become more popular. Us dredge, get paid a bit for our posts but the real money comes from people who have actual content on their site. That is why I started this blog. I wanted to have a forum in which I could post my writings of actual stories, not my day to day activities, and maybe receive some feedback. Hopefully, someday, I would have enough material to print a book. Somehow along the way the path deviated from the goal, the purpose.

I suppose there is some original content here, but not enough to make me proud. I even stopped promoting the site. Well, I would like to get back to it, back to the purpose of it all. Even if the stories make no sense I should post them. Someone will like them…right?

AllShadow.com Spent all night fixing and editing the new theme...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Amazing Kindle from Amazon

Mike! — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:18:52 +0000

Not much in the way of press about this but all of a sudden this kindling has turned into a fire. Amazon has brought E-ink digital paper technology to the backpack and reading chair overnight. The Kindle is sort of like a notebook and sort of like a paperback, but not. It uses Amazon’s Whispernet to download new volumes, books, newspapers, blogs etc. It even has Wikipedia access. The display is readable in all types of lighting that normal paper is readable in. I can’t describe how cool this is so you will have to check it out yourself.

See the video

enTourage eDGe™ Store – enTourage eDGe enTourage eDGe™ Store – enTourage eDGe. I WANT ONE...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

In case anyone was wondering

Mike! — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 05:55:18 +0000

I still use Microsoft Word 2007 to post to this blog. Occasionally, I will use the wordpress backend for some minor code adjustments for posts, but for the most part Word 2007 is a great blogging tool. It has the nice neat ribbons interface which is strange at first but you get used to it real quick. Yes, it is better than the old toolbar method. Every so often I explore it a bit and find some neat tools that I didn’t expect to be there.

For instance; over the years, Microsoft has gradually added to the quality and quantity of clip art and shapes available from within their applications. The simple graphic above is what is now called Smart Art. I suppose it’s great for all those PowerPoint Professionals that love to to jazz up their presentations (You know who you are).

The thing is, PowerPoint is abused and not used effectively. The slide show is supposed to enhance your presentation not be it. There are plenty of resources on the web that talk about this and even tell you some dos and don’ts of PowerPoint.

I digress, the Smart Art can be very effective if used right. How is right? I suppose that depends on the material at hand.Â Â Â Â

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

New Review up at PocketNow.com

Mike! — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:08:22 +0000

This time I reviewed V2R’s ActiveUI. Check out the review here.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

NCO of the Year Part III

Mike! — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:09:26 +0000

I actually slept good that night. Rise and shine time was about 0530 which left me enough time to not have to rush. I did the usual: brush teeth, shave face, stand around and talk to peopleâ€¦ After getting dressed and doing some final checks I headed off. Since my tire was about to explode the Commander let me use his truck.

I barely made it out of the parking lot when I was nearly T-boned (broadsided) by a little oriental guy with a bunch of kids in his car as he ran the red light. Good thing I wasn’t in a rush, or we’d all be rushed off to the hospital. Traffic wasn’t so bad on the drive there. Even though I HATE McDonalds there were no other places with breakfast food, I pulled through for a coffee and mcmuffin (it didn’t satisfy)

The board was held at battalion and battalion’s building was next to a Reserve’s center. It seemed like everyone from both units had duty that weekend as there were no parking spots for several blocks. No sweat, still on time. Inside of battalion was a family day event. There was a big inflatable jumper, a band, some speakers and representatives from various commercial interests.

All in all about six to eight guys showed up for the board. I was still reading from my review sheet now and then but altogether anxious to get it done. This was the first board I was attending and the last board I had proximity to was on active duty and they really sweated the guys. There was no A/C in the main part of the building where we were waiting so the sweat started coming.

After a little while the Sergeant Major brought us into a room for a written test. It was partially multiple choice, part fill in the blank. I love multiple choice! He gave us an hour but ten minutes later I was done. After the others had finished we were again asked to wait around outside. That is how it is in the Army, hurry up and wait. Since I was in no hurry this day the waiting wasn’t so bad.

After about 30 minutes the board was ready and started taking people. The first four guys took anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 minutes during their board appearances. Meanwhile the rest of us were still outside sweating. My coat was tight (the one from basic) and I was really starting to get anxious, I just wanted to get it done.

My turn to go in: I walk up to the door and knocked like I was trying to wake the dead, BOOM BOOM BOOM. “Enter”, I marched straight in and reported to the board president, the Sergeant Major. They had me do some facing movements and then sit. Then I started freezing, the A/C was on full blast in this room. All the sweat was turning into a cold nuisance now. The board members started with some conversational like topics so I took the opportunity to slip in some jokes. This is perfectly okay because it is part of your candor. I’m not talking about Knock Knock jokes or ‘three guys walk into a bar’ but casual humor, just enough for some chuckles.

When the questions finally started I was relieved. I knew the answers, a few times I answered before they were even done answering the question. There were about 5 questions I didn’t know but I didn’t let that phase me, I’m human. At the end the Sergeant Major closed his notebook of questions and asked if I had somehow got a hold of the questions in advance. Nope, after the main interview there was some very positive feedback. I walked out of there feeling like I smoked it.

Later that day I found out I won. That felt good. Hey look at me I won (waves hands) I’m not done yet though. Next up is the Brigade board where the caliber of NCO I will be competing against is higher. From what I understand it will be similar to the first except with qualification, PT test, road march and a land navigation course thrown in. Should be fun. All those things are what I am good at.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Honors Project: Purpose of Religion

Mike! — Thu, 03 May 2007 06:57:15 +0000

This was a hairy project and to be honest I bit off more than I could chew for this semester. Any other semester and I would have put gold trim on this bad boy but as life would have it I did not devote enough time to the project. The outcome of it is enlightening. Basically my quest was to discover what Purpose religion serves to the individual, society and itself. For the most part any religion can fit into the picture and not all religions do everything in the diagram.

The diagram is what I decided would be the best way to present my findings. I did conduct in person interviews, online surveys and in depth recursive research on both biased and nonbiased sources. I intend for it to be ‘non denominational’ and not apply to any one religion or faith.

I was asked if I understood religion differently now that I have looked at it this way. My response was a new definition for religion:

“Religion is a system for living that operates behind a shield of the unknown”

The unknown could be any version of God, Enlightenment, the mysteries of life, etc.

I do not by any means declare this a finished work. Even though I have already presented it to my class and instructor, I am not satisfied with the product and I aim to improve it. I do welcome any and all input (put into the comments section of this post) to the following:

Initial Reactions
Final Reactions
Feelings
Anything I missed
Errors
Thoughts on what can be done to improve it (I can go into a lot of detail about each branch)

Purpose of Religion Diagram Page Best viewed on a PC with Internet Explorer. I made the diagram with Microsoft Visio 2007 as a Mind Map.

For MACs and FireFox junkies I saved it as a JPG for you. Purpose of Religion Diagram.

enTourage eDGe™ Store – enTourage eDGe enTourage eDGe™ Store – enTourage eDGe. I WANT ONE...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

J.R.R. Tolkienâ€™s â€œThe Children of Hurin”

Mike! — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 06:56:10 +0000

Adam Tolkien edited what Christopher Tolkien could assemble of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings of middle earth to bring to us, after 30 years, the last work of Tolkien. Adam paid especially close detail to this work to maintain as much of J.R.R.’s writing as possible. This is supposed to be set hundreds of years before the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy in the Middle Earth timeline. I have already ordered mine as I truly enjoyed reading his other books. The book is available as a hardcover with full color illustrations inside. Order yours now before the first edition is gone. Click the picture for the Amazon page of the book. Stayed tuned for a review when I am finished reading my copy J

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

First Review Posted on PocketNow.com

Mike! — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 00:07:02 +0000

Everyone cheer for Mike! Hip Hip Hooray!

If you are wondering what all the fuss is about, my first review has been posted on PocketNow.com. Writing a full review on a piece of software had a learning curve to it. When I first started the review I took screenshots of every single screen and menu. I also recorded a voice walk through of the software. Mostly to become familiar with the inner workings of it. My first draft was tediously boring compared to the posted one. I put the walk through to the pictures basically. Although there are a few that might find it helpful, the reality is that it would take 30 â€“ 1 hr to read the whole thing if I continued at that pace. Brandon, the Editor-In-Chief, played a great role in mentoring towards a great review. Thanks Brandon. It was a fun process and a great opportunity and I am anxious for the next.

Oh, if you want to read the review, you can find it here at PocketNow.com

Twitter Updates for 2010-02-01 yarrm stupid couches, I'm tired of buying couches! #...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

So you want to be a space hero?

Mike! — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:46:03 +0000

Slashdot reports that NewScientist teamed up with Audi and is offering one lucky winner a chance to be the 5^th Space tourist. All you have to do is write up to 250 words about what you think is the World’s best patented invention and why. Simple right? Yeah it is that easy. Be prepared though. 250 words is NOT a lot of room for explanations, so be frugal with your words. This post is 111 words.

To help you out I am giving you the think to Google Patent search and the US Patent and Trademark Office so you can begin your research.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Survival

Mike! — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:24:46 +0000

Most of my friends know I am a survival nut in one way or another. In my cars I always have the least of what I need to survive if I break down somewhere and if I ever drive more than hour out of town I will always bring my ‘GoBag’ (more about that later). Every vehicle has several MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat), my house has a few boxes as well as my trailer, just in case.

I’ve read hundreds of survival ‘guides’, books, cards, websites and so on and have always wondered what the most important tool/item would be for a survival situation, of ANY kind. Ingenuity. You can be without a knife, but you can make one out of bone, or stones, and sometimes wood (stabbing/spearing knives). You canÂ be without shelter, but you can make one out of your surroundings. You can be without food, but you can find it or even discover it with the right testing process. You can even be without water but you can find it readily (in most cases). Even if you are without a map you can find your way.

Obviously that would be closer to an extreme situation and we all hope you don’t end up in one. But what if you do? What if for some magical reason you end up in the wilderness, all alone and with nothing? What do you do?

First thing to remember is to have some ingenuity. Ask yourself, What do I have? What do I need? WhatÂ can I use to get/make it?Â And for today, remember this, and in this order: Shelter, Fire, Water, Food, Hope.

Â There is a story about a lost hiker who was found dead, leaning against a tree with the butts of two packs of cigarettes strewn around him. He had been missing for ten hours. 10 hours! He didn’t die from smoking either. For some reason or another the man felt hopeless, completely hopeless. The autopsy found no poisons or obvious sign of death and the coroners came to the conclusion that he just died, from hopelessness. Far fetched? Possibly, but there are millions of stories about people who persevered in the face of adversity simply because they had hope. That is why it is in the list.

Shelter: Many survival situations can be easily survived if you protect yourself from the elements. If you are in the desert, staying out of the sun will help to minimize your water loss. If you are in the frozen tundra it can keep you from losing too much body heat. Many parts of the world have extreme temperature differences between day and night. Shelter will help you with this.

Fire: Fire warms the mind in addition to the body. You can use it to signal (white smoke in dark areas, black smoke in light areas, light signals at night, more later) It can be used to cook, purify water, keep you warm, keep insects and animals away and to light up your area.

Water: Depending on the environment and your exertion level, you can only go so long without water. First minimize water loss but drink water if you have it. Second find more water. Most water in the wild will need to be purified. Boil it for at least ten minutes if you can, filter it or use water purification tablets. Even running water can be rife with little critters ready to wreak havoc on your innards and cause you to lose even more water than you gained.

Food: You can go longer without food than water but you will need to find it. Even if you think you will be rescued soon, do not wait till the last minute to find food, you might not have the energy. Survival is an ongoing process, do it always. If you don’t know an edible plant from a poisonous one, do not worry there is a method to help you distinguish and discover. We will go over that in a future article.

Â So what have you learned? Ask yourself “What do I have? What Do I need? What can I use to get/make it? You are human, humans have ingenuity, use it. As for the checklist, say it out loud with me “Shelter, Fire, Water, Food and Hope” Although you should always have hope first, I put it at the end to help tie it all together, and to remind you that at the end of the day it is the hope you have that will get you through the next.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.