Memorial Day Observance

It's difficult to comprehend the debt owed to the men and women who have served in the military. Many have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Others are changed in ways that won't be reversed in this life. Yet the majority of those service men and women made their choices knowingly and willingly.

As the first generation of my family to not have served in some branch of the military, I have a direct but still second hand appreciation for part of that cost. Not a romanticized or glorified account, but of the cost in daily life and continual sacrifice. Every day is a good day to say "Thank You" to those that you know who served, today especially. Consider taking time today to contact the veterans you know - or their widows - and thank them for what they've given.

While you're considering doing so, reflect on the following poem, attributed to Charles M. Province:


It is the Soldier

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Thank you.

Rhyme For Christ

Regardless of where you stand on television, pop culture - or Christ - I think you'll smile at the rhyme/rap that Tamara Lowe presented at Christ Fellowship.



A fun audible collage of images of the world, yet focused on the Truth - in 1 minute 42 seconds. Enjoy.

Hat tip goes to Tanner of WSOC FM who aired this during the morning drive time show today.

A Fair Comparison

WBTV reports that "A report from the watch group American Forests and commissioned by the City Council found between 1985 and 2008 Mecklenburg county lost 33% of its tree canopy; the city of Charlotte lost 49%."

In response, the city is reported as studying a increase in the required percentage of trees to be saved during construction, from 10% to 15%. Developers have stated that it would make development too costly.

A justification to the increased cost is then presented: "The city doesn't require private developers do anything it doesn't do. Each year the city plants and maintains tens of thousands of trees along city streets, in the right of way."

Wait...is this a fair comparison? Developers, who are responsible for profit and loss in meeting their payroll, based their response on cost. What is the basis the city used? Probably not the same profitability standard.

Don't get me wrong. I really like the tree canopy myself and would like to see it preserved. However, free market solution and logical reasoning would be nice too.

Collected Entropy - 2010.05.31

Collected Entropy since the last post with this title. No particular order, rhyme or reason. Mostly too long to tweet.

• Two West Charlotte Lions softball players show compassion and faith in an unexpected way - by offering to pray for an opposing team mate during a game. A heartwarming example of putting feet to faith, even in this seemingly small way.
• Sarah Dyvig of Oakdale Elementary was honored as Char-Meck's Teacher of the Year. Having a family full of exceptional teachers, has provided an appreciation of the dedication and hard work required for this profession. I also have an appreciation that even while in the spotlight, Mrs Dyvig wouldn't give away her husband's special fishing spot. Is there an award for that?
  
• The WSJ published a nice opinion piece on what we owe to the soldiers currently on the battlefield and to those in the future. The one line summary: "Look ahead, not back. If we commit soldiers to battle, we must support them unstintingly." Well said.
  

Collected Entropy - 2010.05.14

Collected Entropy since the last post with this title. No particular order, rhyme or reason. Too long* to tweet.

• Buying local and talking directly to growers are just some of the reasons to visit a farmer's market (several times) this season. The Charlotte Observer created an interactive map of all the Charlotte area markets to help find one nearby.
• The phrase "world class city" is starting to be tossed around again as Charlotte has simultaneous events with the NRA, MAC and NASCAR happening this week. The list of comparisons to features of other "world class cities" such as New York or Los Angeles for example inevitably follow. Funny how the first light rail mugging recently isn't included in the list.
• USA Today reports taxes are at the lowest levels since the 1950's. The key is the how "level" is defined. In late 2009 the US passed the tipping point where over 50% of the citizens don't pay taxes, due to our progressive tax system. Taxes are higher for those that pay taxes but for the larger number who pay no taxes, they're (obviously) lower. Fun with statistics - and your money.
• "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." -- Margaret Thatcher
• This is not a late April Fools joke: YouCut A proposal to text your vote to the government on which spending programs to cut. I think the House has lost sight that our system of government is a republic. Then again, for a culture that knows more about American Idol than American election candidates, it might get more people tuned in.
• The end is beginning for the US Space Shuttle program. Only three more launches remain for this program. I've seen Saturn V launches from across the Banana River. There is nothing like it. If you've ever wanted to see one of these launches in person, time is almost up.

(*) OK, so one was short enough. But it fit here better in context. Have a great weekend.

Audio Sync - PC to Samsung Moment

About two months ago I was fully assimilated into all things Google with the purchase of an Android phone, specifically a Samsung Moment. Overall the upgrade has been very smooth, opening up a whole new (to me) world of mobile communication options. One thing that was initially elusive to track down, was how to sync podcasts and music from a PC to the phone. This post contains the key elements of making it work, to maybe save others some time.

Initially, connecting the phone to a PC produced absolutely no action no the PC side. All my home PC's are various Linux distros so I thought that might be a problem, but attempting on a WinXP box produced the same results. While the following steps defy logic at some level, they are the only known - and repeatable - solution I've discovered:

- Select: Menu / Settings / Application settings / Development / USB debugging
- Toggle USB debugging on, then back to off. Reboot the phone. Connect the phone to the PC.
- The notification bar will show "USB Connected". Select the notice, then choose "Mount"
- The phone will now be available as a 2GB removable drive on the PC

At this point the SD card is mounted, but no music player (Rythmbox, Banshee, Windows Media Player, etc.) will recognize the device. The final puzzle piece is to place the a file named .is_audio_file at the root of the mounted drive. I found a site with documentation on the file format, and using it as a guide, created the following configuration which seems to work well.

audio_folders=music/,media/
folder_depth=2
output_formats=audio/mpeg,audio/ogg,audio/x-ms-wma,audio/wav,audio/x-aac
cover_art_file_type=bmp
cover_art_file_name=cover.bmp
cover_art_size=100

The music/ directory was created just to keep it separate from the media/ directory which was present already. Sync will only use the first directory in the list. Additional entries will allow the PC side player to search all supported media on the SD card. One last tech note - make sure to do a software eject / unmount before on the PC, then turn off USB storage on the phone, before disconnecting your phone when all sync'ing is done!

A few caveats though. Rythmbox shows the device simply as "2.0 GB Filesystem" while Banshee identifies it as "SAMSUNG_Android". Also, the cover_art settings above are effectively ignored as cover art transfer is a known problem with Android. There seems to be some online consensus that a paid app named "Album Art Grabber" will correct the problem, but I haven't tried it personally. Lastly playlists will not transfer as such, but must be recreated on the phone itself - not so good.

That sounds like a substantial list, but to stay current with a few podcast subscriptions and have a relatively small music collection for use during commutes, it works well enough. Those wanting to sync a more substantial collection or that would prefer a more complete experience may disagree.

As stated at the start, there is relatively little info available on this specific phone regarding sync features. The tech support for the carrier wasn't particularly helpful either. If anyone has a better configuration or complete solution for the Samsung Moment, particularly in Linux, feel free to post a comment.

Collected Entropy - 2010.05.07

Collected Entropy from the previous week. No particular order, rhyme or reason. Too long to tweet.

Quote from Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster "If you divorce war from all of that, it becomes a targeting exercise" when speaking of how using PowerPoint removes interconnected political, economic and ethnic forces from military decisions.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster times release of ten month long investigation the day before elections. Probably just conicidence. That and McMaster's candidacy for governor. Good coverage from the Observer, likely since it showcases a Republican rift.

Quote from a political commentator's radio program on Tuesday: "There is not a solution to every problem, but there is a villian". Made in reference to the nature of politicians to address only problems which further their agenda.

Stephen Hawking claims time travel possible and aliens may have existed. His belief that we cannot currently "...know the mind of God." apparently still unchanged. (A Brief History of Time, pg 175)

Escaped emu runs loose in Rock Hill, SC. Seems Rock Hill is using a string of animal antics to stay in the news. About two weeks ago it was one man assaulting another with a snake.