The founding fathers were a variety of beliefs, many were indeed deists with close ties to Christianity. It is important to keep in mind that even with these convictions they were intelligent enough to realize and defend the right to freedom of religion. They wrote our founding documents with the intention that choice of religion must be left IN THE MIND OF THE INDIVIDUAL. They also understood that this choice should be protected and not influenced by goverment favortism or persicution.

It is easy for atheists to sometimes inadvertantly lend credence to the fallacy that the founders of our country were not religious individuals and wanted an atheist run goverment. I understand that many were indeed deeply religious. I also understand that because of what they had been through suffering their own persecution that they did not want a Christian use only government with all others being mere guests.

I like to think of the First Amendment as an anti-trust law that should prevent monopolies on power. This means that our goverment is not allowed to favor Christianity or any other religion. It is supposed to protect both theists and atheists from persecution.

I get pretty sick of people who dont study their history and make unfounded claims that atheists want to make religion illegal. We simply want to get OUR GOVERMENT, back to the neutral position the founders intended.

Prayer for example has not been outlawed in schools like they’d have you think. What is unconstitutional is creating a captive audience and forcing others to participate or to be singled out for not participating.

In conclusion, our government institutions have to be free from religious favortism or persicution, so that we all can be free outside these neutral institutions to practice or believe what we want. Independance comes with the responsibility that it is not anyone’s right to use goverment to monopolize what it means to be a citizen.

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Urban Decay in HD

via Urban Decay in HD | Yeeeeee | Painting, Art, Photography, Graphic Design.

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    It seems very clear to me that we spend far more time teachin math and science and other sundry skills and almost nothing useful regarding the lubricant that runs our world.  I have talked to accountants that know nothing about how their PCs work. I have spoken to sofware developers that have no idea that there are other operating systems outside of windows XP.  I have talked to supposed IT administrators that have no idea what a command line code is.

    It is very frustrating to me to see these and other highly intelligent individuals CRIPPLED by their lack of knowledge regarding the very thing that pays their bills.

   I know I am ranting but I really believe that we need to speed a great deal more time educating folks about how PCs work from the inside out, not just what they can do.  PC support and repair should be as much a foundation subject as English and Physical Education.  Its a shame that in this day and age that we have so many people tha can not install simple software or uninstall it.

    Then again..it means I stay in work and will always have a job..

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    Being a technophile means I will never be without work, thankfully. That being said here is a list of the invaluable tools that I believe every card carrying  computer geek needs to do their primary job and of course al the side work we have as well.

The trusty USB Thumb Drive

Unless you just enjoy hauling a 9 pound brick of a laptop with you everywhere you go, having a small key chain, compact USB flash drive is a lifesaver.  I have one that is 32 GB large.  No “mine’s bigger than your’s” jokes, please.  I have mine set as a bootable device with a whole cavalcade of recovery and “fixer” programs.  I never leave home without it and I have everything I need to get any PC up and running with me at all times.

Dedicated Web Space

You might think this is more of a luxury than a tool, but I assure you in times of need having a virtual medium out there on the World Wide Web that you can send files to and retrieve files from ANYWHERE in the world is an INVALUABLE tool.  When the old thumb drive is full or cant be used, say on a PC with no USB ports free, this tool is my “go to GUY”.

 FTP Program

Well, if you have web space out there in the virtual world you have to have a way to get to it right?  A good QUALITY File Transfer Protocol program is a true necessity.  I won’t go into my likes and dislikes about FTP app cause I have some quirky needs.  What I will say however is make sure you try out several programs before you settle on one you will stick with for a while.  Lots of great freeware programs for this but beware many of the free ones are garbage.

Mini Flashlight

When peeking into the black bowels of a PC case that has not seen the light of day in years a bright, maneuverable light source is always a boon.  I have  a key chain LED that like my thumb drive is always at my side.

Multi Tool

When in doubt break out the screwdrivers.  I  Love my multi tool.  Its got all the tools a growing nerd needs.

PATIENCE

When you deal with as many people as I do on a daily basis that have serious trouble understanding and using computers you begin to wonder how the world continues to spin since its based so heavily on computers now.  With that in mind Tech Support specialists such as myself should all try as well as we can to have patience when encountering such situations.  Its like my Wife always says, “Not everyone is as goo at everything as others”.  Stop and think about that one. Think we geeks would stand a chance at the Olympics?  Maybe Curling?  HA!

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In 1977 Atari Pong was released with much hoopla and mass market appeal.  I remember clearly going to another child’s birthday party and having the old stand alone PONG console as the main party fun. Hours and hours we spent blipping that ball back and forth, utterly mesmerized by the tiny glowing orb as it bounced from one side of the screen to the other.  I can recall NOT wanting to leave his house.

I wasn’t fortunate enough to get my hands on a home video game console until the early 80’s.  It was then that the joy of ATARI came into my life. I have only the fondest of memories and still play these games today.  Combat, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Yar’s Revenge, Berserk, Demon Attack, Pac- man and Pitfall were all my favorite pastime from 1980- 1986

In 1987 I spent the night at a buddies house for a guys sleepover.  He had Nintendo Entertainment System.  After 15 minutes of Glorious, full color, in your face Super Mario Brothers I was hooked.  I wanted one of these so bad that I begged my mother for months to get me one.  Here is the greatest thing I remember about this system, besides the plethora of AWSOME titles for it.  My mother, the greatest mom ever, spent her income tax return getting me this game system.  I played the hell out of Dragon Warrior, Punch Out, Metroid, Double Dribble, Castlevania and many, many more from about 87 till the early 90’s.

Now for some obscurity.  In about 1991, when I was a junior in high school. I got my hands on a TurboGrafx-16.  Keith Courage, Bonk, Alien Crush Splatterhouse, Golden Axe, Dragon Spirit and DoubleDungeon sucked up a lot of my time.  The TG16 was a short lived console but I still have very fond memories of the quality titles for that system.

About that same time in my life as I graduated from high school and got engaged to be married, I was introduced by a friend to the world of Computer Gaming. He had a computer in his house that we would tinker with after we played our marathon Dungeons & Dragons session. He had A-10 tank killer and Wolfenstein 3d on his box, which opened my eyes to the POWER of computers. I think I learned how planes take off and land and the German language all at the same time.  I had to get my own computer, of course. 

Yeah, I played Super Nintendo, managing to get hooked on Street Fighter 2 turbo, Super Metroid, Super Castlevania, Tetris and others around this time also.  I can remember hanging with my buddies for endless hours beating the crap out of each other.  My wife also learned the joys of video games as she fell hard for Tetris.  However there was no denying that the paradigms had shifted and I realized my true love and calling COMPUTERS.

From the mid 90’s till the early 2000’s I had to Juggle Console and Computer Games both, because that’s the kind of geek I am.  Games I can remember drooling over on the Sony Playstationwere Tekken, Tekken 2, Twisted Metal, Return fire and Resident evil.   On the PC I can recall fragging with the best of them playing Doom, and Duke Nukem.  I also remember that at some point in there I upgraded my computer and Enjoyed the JAW DROPPING graphics of Unreal.  Unreal especially holds a great memory for me because I remember buying a new video card just for that game.  Back then this was a new thing.  These days, a new video card for a new game is pretty common place.  That brings us to the new millenium.

In 2000 a computer game called Vampire the Masquerade:Redemption came out.  That’s the game I was trying to install on my windows 7 machine.  It was and still is one of my favorite story driven games.  I feel it was far beyond its time in terms of story and depth.  Seems atiquated now as far as graphics go but the story and game play are still strong.

   I have Been playing almost exclusively PC games for the last 10 years.  Ecco the Dolphin for Dreamcast, Fable for XBOX, Mass Effect and Bioshock raise warm cockles of my heart, but nothing like the old days.  I hope you have enjoyed this romp through games past as much as I have.  Amazing how far we have come and how crazy it is that I have been around for it all.

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    I am very lucky to have what I consider a true friend for every stage of my life.  I am also very lucky in that I have somehow, through the buzz and blur that is life, always managed to keep in touch with my buddies.  My Wife and constant companion for the last 18 years is of course exempt from this post, since she is my ultimate best friend and confidant.  I felt like this was interesting to share since after I thought about it long enough I came to realize that I seemed to make great friends at almost every key stage of my life.  Maybe you can relate and maybe just maybe you are lucky enough to be one of the folks I am talking about here!

    I don’t suppose too many people can say that they had a friend in kindergarten that they still hang with today.  I am proud to say I have just that.  Although we went through a period of almost 7 years where we lost touch, I am happy to say that we reconnected recently and will try not to let so much time pass between form here on.  Now he has a lovely wife and baby girl that I hope to see more of real soon.

  
  GO VISIT Scott Johnsons 56 Geeks page!

In high school I had several buddies but one in particular kept me laughing and hanging in there.  We shared a love of 80s tunes and a passion for Dungeons & Dragons . After high school graduation we even worked together at local McDonald’s for a while.  We drifted,  as friends tend to do, but once we got settled with our families we reconnected and still talk and hang today.  He now has a wonderful wife and a gaggle of kids that are a hoot to hang out with.

    Speaking of the golden arches, that is where I met my young adult to mid life pal of pals.  We met working a burger prep table laughing at the odd songs of the mid nineties.  I will forever remember the way we first got introduced.  He asked if I knew what the strange chorus of the enigma song return to innocence meant when the old Indian sang.  “I like Sheep big and small he said”.  I laugh my ass off about that even today.  We both work in the same industry today and still hang out often.  He and his Sweetheart of a wife, have a daughter that calls me Uncle Jay.  Its like the Daughter I never had.

  And so we come to my latest job, where I have met a new com padre, someone that I am only starting to really get to know personally after almost 10 years of working together.  He is an accounting and numbers whiz, so I hang out with him mostly hoping that his logic powers will rub off on me.  Just kidding!  Really, he and his Adorable wife have have teenage boys also so we share teenage angst stories all the time.

    As you can see I am an undeservedly lucky human being to be surrounded with such great friends.  I hope you have a circle of friends that you cherish also as I cherish mine.

see ya!

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