simplyRik

Fair Lawn, New Jersey is the latest battle ground for a turf-war brewing in the cone-eat-cone world of Ice Cream Truck operators. In this business its all about the unwritten rule of respecting the route. When that single rule of the Cream is ignored and prized lanes are encroached upon by another, tempers can flare and in this case, violent acts are unleashed on one’s self.

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I am writing this because I want to help others to understand the complex way Liquid Propane (LP) is discussed. In my personal experience it has to do with the installation of a new Pool Heater. I believe, however that it will also help with other appliances that use propane. Lets just say that it isn’t as clear cut as Gasoline where you pay by the gallon and you know what you are getting. Fuel Oil is pretty straight forward as well. You get a liquid at a price per gallon. That simple.....

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What initially seemed to be a simple task of having a new pool heater installed to replace a broken one is turning out to be quite the homeowner's challenge. To be honest, it is almost a full time job to get anything done for a home that you supposedly "own." First of all a decision needs to be made around what type of heater you want to install.

The choices are Natural Gas, Propane or Electric. We opted to go with what we visually saw. An old Propane heater with a line off to the corner of the fence line. As expected, the Pool Guy doesn't get involved with the fuel source, only the hardware of the heater and the connection to the pool system.

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There were some beautiful shots of local wildlife over at UrbanArtifact's Vox.  I have had my own recent experience with local wildlife in a similar manner.  Early morning, local deer in search of food and a location to bed for the day.

Deer

Plurklogo

Just posted a more indepth review of Plurk for those who are interested in discovering more.

So lately, my online presence has been consumed by two things.  My personal blog and Plurk.  Plurk, what the heck is that you may ask.  It is almost a mashup of Twitter and any IM client.  What it really is, is addictive.  It is through Plurk that I have returned to VOX.  I have met so many great people on Plurk that we all began sharing our on-line links in what has become a huge "Friending Up" experience.

Many of you reading this right now are my buds from Plurk.  As such, I have refocused myself into adding VOX back into my on-line rotation.  I will see how things go with maintaining my own blog and this one here.  In the meantime, if you every want to find me or just hang out.  COME GET PLURKED!!!

PFC Jones Graduation Photo 1985

December 10th, 1985 saw the release of a bunch of hard-charging "shower-shoes" onto this world as the members of Platoon 2097 stepped off of the Parade Deck of Parris Island, South Carolina (a.k.a., The land that God Forgot). 

Among that gaggle of green, amphibious goo, was one Private First Class Jones.  That was a long time ago, but that date continues to resonate across my body and soul to this day as this was the day I entered into a life-long fraternity, a brother-hood, a family unlike any other.

Although having celebrated my 18th Birthday at Parris Island, we were on our path to becoming men on December 10th the minute we lined up on the yellow foot prints on September 12th, 1985.  Despite the fact that it has been 22 years, to the day, I still recall it as if it were only yesterday.  Snippets include:

Private Bernard strong arming Private Hoffman for his Chits
Private Jiminez playing pop-goes-the-weasle for Sergeant Galbreath
3rd Phase Movie Night -  "Rambo, First Blood"

And that graduation, the pride, the honor coursing through all of us.  I don't think any of us were cognizant of the pain and struggle that we had been through.  All that mattered now was getting off of the island and introducing the world to this new group of warriors fresh out of the "Pit."

PFC Jones with Drill Instructors

There are only two days that remind me of the significance of the phrase "Once a Marine, Always a Marine."  November 10th, the Marine Corps Birthday, and today, December 10th.  To all my brothers from Platoon 2097 onwards that I may have lost contact with over the years, know this, you are still with me as you were then.  When we cross paths, it will be as if we never lost contact.  It was an honor to serve with each and everyone of you.

My Journey as a Marine (9/12/85 ~ 8/4/93)
Platoon 2097 (Recruit)
Charlie Battery, 1stBn, 10thMar, 2ndMarDiv (2512-Field Wireman)
HQ Battery, 1stBn, 10thMar, 2ndMarDiv (2512-Field Wireman/0121-Personnel Clerk)
JPAO, MCB, Camp Lejeune (4313-Marine Broadcast Journalist)
AFPBS Det. 5, MCAS Iwakuni, Japan (4313-Marine Broadcast Journalist)
FEN (AFN), MCAS Iwakuni, Japan (4313-Marine Broadcast Journalist)

So, I thought I was being obsessive about this whole blogging thing and in some aspects I guess I still am a bit, in terms of not simply deciding on  a platform of choice to express my thoughts.  Yahoo360, Vox, Facebook, Wordpress, MSN Spaces, so many choices that have their benefits and downfalls.  But this is not so much about the tool, but the process of expressing one's inner most thoughts about whatever intrigues.

There is one thing that both issues have in common and that is the method in which we make our choices.  Choices in both tool and community.  I have grown rather disappointed in certain communities and I know that might be a bit selfish to say, however everyone out here has their own reasons for being here.  Some selfish, some down-right disgraceful.  For the most part however, the on-line space is a wilderness of people searching for themselves in ways that they can not explore in the real world.  Needless to say, there are some true characters out there.  

It is often said that friends come and go but true friends will always be there no matter what the duration of separation.  Not only does the art of Social networking bring people together in new and interesting ways, but it also presents the opportunity to walk away.  Fragmented relationships is how it could be termed.  Most sites have the concept of Friends, but what are friends truly?  Would real-world friends up and walk away for no reason or without any explanation?  Is that the appeal?  The ability to sever all ties and return to the existence that sent you out here to begin with?  

They have all been branded under the name "social networking" but how much is actually social?  What social benefits are there to some of these sites?  I still struggle to find meaning in it all.  There are some who have found that meaning although I would venture to say that this is the limited audience of individuals with no real hidden agenda.  Fate has somehow thrust upon them the missing links in their lives.  Almost like a crap game.  I have met individuals who have met their soul mates in cyber space.  Despite all odds and distance, they managed to find each other express their inner most hopes, dreams and desires and managed to join in more than some electronic exchange of passion or ramblings, they found love.  

In some ways this is the true meaning of the social connection.  Others are as valid in their claims of brining people together to either "connect" or "re-connect."  I for one have benefited from this.  People I knew across the journey of my life and drifted down their own paths have managed to re-surface back into my life.  Some as casual acquaintances again, others long lost friends who are true "friends" in every sense of the word.  Family, co-workers and classmates.  These are the real value of social networking in my opinion.  

In this day and age, we have all grown rather skeptical of many things in this cynical world.  We all somehow hearken back to a day when life was much simpler, friends were real, could be depended on and would not cut and run at the first site of drama, regardless of the source.  Friends were people who you could talk openly with regardless of topic.  The fear of being isolated were never an issue.  Hours spent on the phone, to this day I still don't know what was worth spending that time talking about.  There was happiness, the excitement of the next day and getting together do execute some unknown agenda.  What happened to these times?

As we get older, we tend to fall back into a cocoon of existence without realizing it.  We become jaded, guarded and suspect of everything around us that we don't control.  Long gone are the carefree days of our youth.  They say we are all searching for happiness, but are we?  Or are we looking for a comfortable existence accepting the events and people in our lives as they are, while keeping them at arms length?

So here I am struggling with these thoughts as I continue to figure out what it is that I want out of the whole on-line experience.  I have realized on thing, re-connecting with long lost friends will always keep me out here.  But there is still some other reason that draws me here.  I think I may have a grip on what that may be and it brings me back to my original reason for jumping into the fray.  It has to do with understanding who I am as a person.  During my time away back in the "real world," the daily grind and pressures slowly began to build again.  Not on my physical existence or even emotional one, but more, a mental one.

It is a fact that in our generation the amount of information from external sources is down right overwhelming.  The pace at which information is presented to us all is never ending.  I realize that this builds up.  So much so that if you do nothing with it, other areas of your life begin to suffer.  Getting it all out, releasing it, expressing your thoughts about it all helps.  Whether anyone out in the "social blog-o-sphere" consumes it or not is quite irrelevant.  It is nice to get the occasional comment or feedback regarding your thoughts, but in the end, I now know that I have to do this for me and not because I want to entertain or expose others to my random thoughts.  True friends I am sure are out there, but they are finite in nature.  The skepticism will not go away any time soon.  This should not deter me from continuing my search to understand my own being.  

Therefore, I will begin writing again.  My methods will remain the same as they always have, but I now understand that this is all for me.  Time to be selfish again.  If I entertain, offend or am able to extract some reflective thought in others fine, but understand, this is not my goal.  You want to read, fine.  I don't' expect anyone to agree or even like what I have to say, but this is my life, the only shot I get. I will evaluate the "friends" who, like characters in my own personal play of life, enter stage left and exit stage right.  For me it is the story-line itself that I intend on acting out.  

From left to right, here we go, one-by-one, row-by-row:

Apple-iPhone-Gallery

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SMS (Text) - It is pretty self explanitory.  However, the SMS function itself is another re-invent by Apple.  The interface is identical to that of iChat (if you have a Mac).  When you launch it, you can add a recipient that pulls from your Contact list. Then type as if you were in a Chat session.  You send, then wait for the response.  IF you get an SMS message, you are notified by a semi-transparent window that pops up where ever you may be informing you of the message.  It is subtle.  Again the whole interface is just smooth.  

Calendar - Again, taking some of the lessons learned from iCal (if you have a Mac).  However there are some subtle twists to this interface that make it very pleasant to deal with.  The top half of the screen is the calendar, viewable by Month, Week, Day.  The bottom half is a daily list of the events of the day.  The one cool thing that Apple has done is how you set the time in either a meeting, alarm clock or whatever.  No more typing in the numbers.  With this thing, Apple developed a rather cool "Slot Machine" type interface where there are 3 wheels.  Hour, Minute, AM/PM.  You simply spin the wheels to land on the numbers that you want to select.  Easy Peezy.

Photos - Basically you have galleries of such to deal with.  The pictures taken with the iPhone and the photo galleries that you sync from your computer.  This interface is identical to that of the iPod.  The only difference is when viewing pictures.  First you can take advantage of the motion sensors in the iPhone to view Portrait or Landscape pictures by simply flipping the phone on its side or upright.  Viewing photos are even fun.  You move from one picture to another either by pressing the left or right arrows on the screen display, or make the controls dissapear and "flick" the pictres from right to left.  Then the true thrill.... Zoom.  Put your thumb to your forefinger, put them on the photo the spread them apart.... You zoom in!  Squeeze your fingers back together again and you zoom out!  Again..... Easy Peezy.

Camera - Although, many desire a higher pixel camera and to be honest, I do as well, but hey it serves its purpose.  There is room to grow here.  Higher pixels, video capability, the possibility is there.  Now as with the other bits of the camera, the user experience is simplified and dressed up.  When you launch the camera, a full screen closed shutter comes up with a bar at the bottom that has both an icon to the Photos as well as a little camera icon you touch to take the picture.  When you do, the shutter closes down as a real camera would.  

YouTube - A late addition to pre-rlease, this is your portal to the key filters on YouTube. You can see the YouTube filters for Featured, Most Viewed, Bookmarks, Most Recent, Top Rated and history.  Pretty much all you need to become addicted to watching videos all day.  The ones you like, you can obviously bookmark.  When you select a video, the screen flips horizontal and begins to downloading the video.  It of course begins playing while it downloads so no worries. there.  From within the video controls on-screen you have the ability to email to someone.  When the video is completed, you are flipped back vertical for a summary of the video you just watched with the ability to bookmark or "share" (email).  There is one annoying thing.  There is a search function.  However when I tried to search for one my own videos, I could not find it.  There seems to be some "higher" definition video encoding going on with certain videos that are available.  ALL videos have tried searching for are just not available.  Need to dig more into this one more.

Stocks - a simple widget, in line with the stock widget on a Mac.  I didn't think much about it at first, but after the past week I have found myself addicted to this damn thing as I like to check out my watch list of stocks.  

Maps - O.k, O.k, not GPS, but cool and functional nonetheless.  Google Maps on the iPhone with a twist.  Search for an address, business or whatever and little red stick pins begin flying into the map to mark locations.  Press on a stick pin and the details about the location appear where you have the option to call, visit the website, bookmark or add to your contacts.  In one simple press of the finger.  Of course as with Google Maps you can chose Map or Satellite view.  There is also the ability to click on a little car icon and it overlays traffic conditions on the map.  Another click and you can get a point-to-point listing of directions. Only downside, I suppose.... no GPS.  But hey, I haven't needed it so far.

Weather - As with the Stock icon, it is a widget, like on the Mac.  It launches and you are presented with the current condtions for your pre-set default location plus the 6 day forecast.  One small thing I stumbled across the other day was the ability to add more cities.  Not that you will see them all in one screen because you won't.  Taking lessons learned from the Photos, with a flick of the finger you wisk away your default city off screen while the next city smoothly flys into fill the screen..... Nice.

Clock - Yes it has what it says, but it is not quite that.  The main function is a multi-city clock screen that you configure with the cities that you want.  But wait!  What is that along the bottom of the screen?  Alarm, Stopwatch and Timer?  Nice.  Each one of the interfaces is smooth, functional, easy both to use as well as on you.  Time setting as mentioned earlier uses the "Slot Machine" wheels.  

Calculator - It is what it is.  A calculator albeit a sexy looking one with a big screen and large buttons.

Notes - Now this one was a mystery to me at first and I will explain why shortly. This comes across at first as a post-it type application.  Ruled, Yellow note paper is up and you type away.  You can add notes and they fall in as if you were writing on a new page in your note pad.  Icons on the bottom allow you to go forward, backward, email the note or trash it.  

Settings - This is where you configure all of the settings of the phone.  Very simialr to the options you would have on any other phone.  The only difference is, you don't need a user's manual to locate how to do something like turn Bluetooth on or off.  There are a ton of settings here.  But the one that no one has really mentioned is a little setting I discovered where you can configure VPN.  Virtual Private Networking is basicall a way to access networks through a firewall.  In practice it is like being on the internet and connecting to our work network which would obviously be behind a firewall.  You "Tunnel" through the internet/firewall to join the network which is off of the internet.  This is yet again a little hint at my predictions posted last August of Apple's slow, silent move into the enterprise.

I want to take one second to go back to the whole Notes bit.  You see, I read a comment recently about someone ranting because there was no To Do list on the iPhone!  What?  No!  Impossible!  But after checking, nope.... no To Do list!  Whatever will I "To Do?"  This was crazy and I couldn't imagine Apple would exclude this basic PDA type function.  It took me about 20 minutes of mulling through this impossibility when it hit me.  THOSE SNEAKY DOGS!  Time for another Rik Prediction.  The To Dos are there, you just can't see them because they are right in front of your face!  The Notes!  Huh you say?  Think like Apple thinks for a moment.  They are always looking out beyond the current release.  What is up next in terms of a MAJOR release for Apple? OS X Leopard.  The new Operating System for all Mac machines.  Again, look at my August 8 post for details on Leopard.  But one thing stands out.  The new Operating System has a built in service that manages a new To Do capability.  Meaning that from anywhere within the Operating System or Applications that use this service, you can create a To Do.  But would you want To Dos all over the place?  The Service handles that as well by pulling all of the To Dos from across your system conveniently into the Mail application for you manage everything you need to do.  These Leopard To Dos look surprisingly identical to the Notes in the iPhone.  Put two and two together and you come up with the concept that the notes you create on the phone will sync with the Mac and make available in the new Mail application your notes to mark up content as To Dos!  Brilliant!  It appears as if I was not the first to see this connection.  So that is my prediction.  In October, when OS X is released, the iPhone Notes application will become the To Do list on the phone.

That is enough for tonight.  In the next edition, I will move into the bottom row of icons.  Phone, Email, Safari (browser) and iPod.