Peter's Place

I really don't know what all the fuss is about. I think that if one is going to make a resolution, one shouldn't have to wait until the New Year to do so. But as is custom and tradition, far be it from me to go against the grain (actually, it wouldn't be far from me to do so but, I digress....). So keeping in mind that I find the entire notion of resolutions for the coming New Year to be ridiculous and out of place, especially considering the abysmal failure rate in keeping one's new year's resolutions (maybe more people should read some articles on how to keep your new year's resolutions ), here are my resolutions for the coming 2008 New Year: Eat more and Weigh less Shop more and Spend less Earn more and Work less Compute more and use less Energy Be more tolerant of Intolerance Start, then Quit Smoking Stop to Smell The Roses, then Cut and Sell them Get Drunk but don't get a hangover Help Others more but Give Less to them Keep Everything but Throw Out t...

Little Love Among Matchmakers - New York Times It's amazing the sort of news that one can find in those "non-essential news sections" of the newspaper, e.g., Lifestyles, Culture, Theatre, Travel, Technology, Business, etc. I usually tend to avoid the "regular" sections of the newspaper, e.g., local, national, and world news, as all too often these days, the stories are just too depressing. For instance, the last time I dared venture a look at the regular news section, the first article I came across was about the teenager who shot and killed nine people and then himself at a mall in Omaha, Nebraska. I mean, who can deal with this kind of information shoved into your face when all you're trying to do is keep abreast of current world events? It just makes my depression dovetail. So with that in mind, I pretty much stick to the relatively less sensational and more boring sections of the paper, such as the Business, Technology, Life, Culture, Travel, and other ...

The New York Times just sent an interesting article to my Inbox. Here's a paragraph from the article that, I believe, explains fairly well its gravamen: The growing confrontation between Google and Microsoft promises to be an epic business battle. It is likely to shape the prosperity and progress of both companies, and also inform how consumers and corporations work, shop, communicate and go about their digital lives. Google sees all of this happening on remote servers in faraway data centers, accessible over the Web by an array of wired and wireless devices — a setup known as cloud computing. Microsoft sees a Web future as well, but one whose center of gravity remains firmly tethered to its desktop PC software. Therein lies the conflict. There have been a number of articles online about the growing battle between Microsoft and Google--David (Google) taking on Goliath Microsoft). One of the odd things about this analogy is that Google is described as being a David when it...

Gmail ( Google 's free web-based email service that offers tons of storage ) has just introduced AIM integration into its chat feature. Provided that you're able to access Gmail with chat enabled (at the bottom of your Gmail screen, make sure you're using the Standard view), users can now sign into AOL Instant Messenger and chat with all of their AIM buddies right from within their Gmail window. This is totally awesome news for me. I no longer have to launch AIM just to chat with a few people who I haven't convinced to use Gmail (stubborn, they are at that!). And this means that I'll basically havce another 75kb or so of free memory to run other applicatoins on my system. The only hitch, and it's a very small one at that, is that you'll need to have an AIM account separately from Gmail in order to use this new feature. If you're an old AOL user or you have an AIM account, that's great; if not, just go over to AOL Instant Messenger and create one-...

It is said that music truly is the universal language; perhaps there is truth to this statement because music is both mathematical (and we all know math to be a universal language) and emotional at the same time. Case in point: I was listening a new station on Pandora.com (clicking on this link brings you to my profile page on Pandora). Pandora is the free Internet radio service where you can create your own station by naming just one/song artist, and Pandora will use the Music Genome Project to discover related works that it think you might like, you can vote individuals songs and artists into/out of your stations, you can create an unlimited number of stations, you can share your stations with your friends and the rest of the world, you can see who else is listening to any particular song/artist at the moment, you can get information about the currently playing song/artist/album with one simple click, while Pandora goes about playing new content it thinks you might like, you can p...

I'm really about to blow my gasket. I mean, after everything that I've gone through over the past month with having to straighten out my financial accounts (which, to this date, still aren't straightened out but at least they're on the way toward getting there now), I almost had a stroke when I received an email alert from my bank, letting me know that my account had gone below zero. WHAT???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is getting to be quite ridiculous. My bank account is less than two weeks old, as I had to open a new account with my bank (which, thankfully, they were able to do for me even though I have no identification because they had all of my ID on file already and were able to confirm my identity through my ID on file and also by asking me questions that only I would be able to answer) as my old account has been frozen due to fraudulent activity on it that Louie Rivera committed while I was in the hospital this past October/November and all of my possession were left...

Wow, this is something I really wasn't expecting, nor did I know about. My good friend, Stacey , must be totally wet by now. I'm going to have to get her a bib for all the drooling she's done over Jodi in her life. But I would like to respond to some of the comments in the article: Jodie Foster comes out... finally - Times Online “It is her life to live as she pleases. Why do so many gays worry about who is and who is not gay?” asked one reader. The reasons that so many gars worry about who is and who is not gay are, I believe, We like to know that we might have a chance withe the people we're fantasizing about When people come out, it helps erode the hatred and prejudice in the form of homophobia. Most people who are homophobic either themselves are gay or they just don't know any better. For those who don't know any better, and I know I'm making sweeping generalizations here but for the most part, they're accurate, these are the types of people who wa...

OK, a bunch of things for this post. And I know it's been a while, except for those few posts that I was able to send from my mobile phone. And why, one might ask, was I posted text to my blog from my mobile phone instead of my computer? Well, this three-part article that I just posted on the social networking site Gather.com might explain things. I'm really beginning to like Gather. It's a social networking site that combines the functions and features of blogging into the more traditional social networking sites, like Google's own Orkut ( view my profile there ), all the while incorporating a rewards program similar to that of MyPoints.com . Essentially, You can find out all about Gather, and how it rewards users for participating, from their FAQ page. And if you think Gather sounds interesting and you'd like to check it out, please use my personal invitation link to join; I get points when people sign up to Gather using my invite link. And points can be turne...

[Updated 13 December 2007 to clean up some of the crap that my mobile phone sent when I published this] I'm sending this from my phone and can't tell if the link to the article i just posted on gather.com is showing up but i'm working under the assumption that it's there. if you can't get to the article please let me know. thanks. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Hi there, Peter (needs a new laptop) C. Frank sent you an article. My Brother, by Peter (needs a new laptop) C. Frank Ok i'm kind of freaking out right now. my mom called and left me a message that my brother was in an accident and someone died and i tracked him down to the right hospital but they're not releasing . . . View this article here: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977192733 -- Gather is a place to connect with people who share your passions. Let your unique voice shine through the articles, images, reviews, or audio you publish. We'll even compensa...

I posted my resume to my Google page the last time I had access to a computer. Basically, I stuck a PDF file of my resume to the page. I don't know when I'll get my laptop back, if at all, so until I can save up enough for a new, used one, I'm only online through my mobile phone. But take a look and let me know what you think of my resume: http://pcfrank73.googlepages.com/ -- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com PCF http://petercfrank.blogspot.com "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true." ~Wizard's First Rule, axiom by Terry Goodkind (US Author, 1948-)

On this US holiday, we are instructed by tradition to give thanks for the things in our lives for which, as the holiday's name suggests, we are thankful, all the while stuffing ourselves full of food, family, and football (or some such other merriment). While there's not much in my own life for me to be thankful for these days, especially over these past few years, there is one thing that I am thankful for: having you in my life and the positive ways that you have impacted my life through your friendship and love. As such, I wish to dedicate this Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2007 to you, my friends. I thank you for your continued support, friendship, and love, and wish all of you my very, very best during this year's holiday season. Oh, I guess that I should also be thankful for my anti-depressants, so I give thanks to the American pharmaceutical companies who manufacture my medications, as well. ;-) -PCF -- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com PCF http://peterc...

This past weekend, I went to Montauk , NY. It was a very interesting experience for me. It wasn't the first time I'd been there, but it was the first time that I'd been there since my car accident, nearly six years ago. After my accident, I've always felt that a part of me had been missing. It's kind of strange, but I've thought, at times, that the crash jolted some of my energy out of my body and has been stranded out in Montauk. Driving past the same spot where the accident occurred (one must drive through that spot to reach Montauk), I felt very .. weird. But now, I feel better, and more whole. I don't know if I picked up some of that missing energy, but I know that I'm feeling just a little bit better. All in all, I'd say that it was very healing for me, and a good experience. It was great to be back out by the ocean. One of the things that I love about Montauk is going out to the beach and just sitting there and watching the waves roll in, crash...

There's apparently a bug in Orkut at the moment where it's not giving you the option to add your picture to your profile. It's hard to find the work-around solution while searching their help section (you actually have to go into the Google Groups for Orkut to find it, and even there it's a bit hidden), so I thought I'd post the instructions for adding a photo to your profile here, to make it easier for people to find. So if you'd like to add your photo (which I think you should have), do the following: Make sure you're using a compatible web browser. FireFox is definitely the recommended choice. Make sure that Javascript is enabled in your web browser (it is in FireFox, by default) Log into Orkut Click on the edit profile link Make sure you're in the "General" tab, and then enter (type or copy&paste) the following line into the location bar of your web browser and then hit ENTER or click the GO button: javascript: showUploadPhoto(); (...

OK I know I haven't posted in what seems like forever. But summers are difficult for me. Not to mention, my depression has been heading downhill, oh so slowly but ever so surely, that it kind of crept up on me. I'm probably on the verge of another hospitalization. How sad is that? I know, it's like I can't even make it four months now without being in the hospital. I think playing with trains as a kid might have given me a few too many ideas with respect to the difficulties I have with my thoughts these days. Don't go there. Anyway, I just had to post about something that's been keeping me going. I'm not a big YouTube person. I mean, I get the whole thing; I just never found much that was really, truly interesting on there. But lo and behold, and I don't know how I managed to find it (oh yes, I do, but I can't tell, or the Jewish Mafia will give me a second bris!) but I've finally found something that has me coming back to YouTube, again and ag...

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." ~ Sir Ernest John Pickstone Benn , 2nd Baronet (1875-1954), British publicist

Today is an important day in the annals of the struggle to obtain equality in matters of love: forty years ago, to this day, the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled that two consenting adults, who are in love with each other, have a fundamental right to marry each other, regardless of their respective race. I've previously blogged about the struggle same-sex couples face in their struggle to achieve " marriage equality ." I've written letters to my congressional representatives in support of extending this fundamental right of marriage to same-sex couples. I've even blogged about the various levels of judicial review that guide courts' decisions in determining the constitutionality (or unconstitutionality) of particular laws passed by various legislatures in our great nation. Finally, we are able to look back a mere ten years to see that little, if any, has changed in the fight to achieve marriage equality. Today, however, a voice fr...

I recently sent the following questionnaire to a group of friends and associates. How would you answer these questions? Feel free to e-mail your responses to me , or leave a comment : What do the terms blog(s) , blogger(s) , and blogging/to blog mean to you (it's okay if you don't know--just say so)? Do you consider blogs to be part of the press ? Regardless of whether or not you think blogs to be part of the press, do you think they should be considered part of the press? Do you consider blogs to be part of the media ? Regardless of whether or not you think blogs to be part of the media, do you think they should be considered part of the media? Do you think there is a difference between the press and the media? If so, what is it? Do you think anyone can create and maintain a blog or are there certain qualifications/skills one must possess in order to do so? Regardless of whether or not you think there are any such qualifications/skills one must possess in order to set up ...

Google ( GOOG -- don't you wish you had bought their stock during their IPO ?) recently announced a developer release of a new service called Google Gears . Gears is a browser extension (mini-programs that extend the functionality of one's web browser), which allows one to access web-based applications off-line (which may sound like a paradox). While this is a developer release (which means it's in the very early testing stages), Google Gears has the potential for becoming a very useful and routine tool for people who use mobile computers to access the Internet when an Internet connection isn't available ( Ms. Berger provides a great web-site that explains, in pretty simple English , a lot of common computer jargon ). For instance, one of the uses of Google Gears is to enable one to read off-line up to 2,000 entries that have been set up in Google Reader , even if one isn't able to get on-line. This is because the entries will be stored locally, on one...

Not too long ago, I had blogged about being out of the political landscape for far too long. To recap, this realization came to me when I discovered that Bill Schmidt -- someone I consider to be a good friend -- had lost his bid for re-election to the City of Peekskill 's Common Council . As it turns out, Bill recently announced that he'll be running for Mayor of Peekskill. I've since offered to help him on his campaign, in ways that will probably become clearer to me as the campaign gets off the ground. Over the past few months, I can now admit that Bill confided in me that he was interested in seeking office again although, at the time, he wasn't certain which position he would seek. The conversations that I've had with him energized me, and as I've alluded to in other posts, I believe that these conversations and the cursory involvement I've had in launching his campaign have helped to bring me out of an indescribable depression (although I've at...

One of the last books that I read during my most recent hospitalization at Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher . I read a paperback version of the novel, which was 505 pages. I began reading Friday evening, but only got through about 15 pages or so. On Saturday afternoon , I began reading in earnest as I was drawn into the story, and then I didn't put the book down until I had finished with it on Sunday evening, a sign to me that my depression was improving as the pace with which I read was more reminiscent of my childhood days, when I wouldn't put a book down until I was finished with it, especially if the story held my interest, which, for some reason, Winter Solstice definitely did. If you're interested in reading the book (which I highly recommend), you can find reviews about it all over the net . There are three pages that I had photocopied, as those passages spoke to me in that certain way that other books have been doing -- therapeutically. Once you get past...

Leave it to the folks at Google to come up with a way that gets people to help develope one of their core technologies free of charge, all the while letting people have fun at the same time. And they make you feel good about wasting away the hours into the middle of the night, by calling it something benign and innocuous, like, " Google Image Labeler ." The premise for this game is quite simple: You'll be randomly paired with a partner who's online and using the feature. Over a two-minute period, you and your partner will be shown the same set of images and asked to provide as many labels as possible to describe each image you see. When your label matches your partner's label, you'll earn points depending on how specific your label is. You'll be shown more images until time runs out. After time expires, you can explore the images you've seen and the websites where those images were found. And we'll show you the points you've earned througho...

Well, as some of my friends inferred from my absence, I was in hospital again for my chronic major depression . This time, against my better judgment, I went to St. Vincent's Hospital Westchester . The last time I was an inpatient there, I had a therapist basically tell me to go ahead and kill myself, when I told her that I was suicidal . Additionally, their partial hospital program (outpatient services) violated my privacy rights by divulging information about my treatment to family members, without my permission (and the disclosure did not fall within a permissible exception to HIPAA 's privacy rights guarantees). This hospitalization, however, was actually one of my better hospitalizations, and was productive. I think I have a better handle on my depression now, and for whatever reasons the universe has come up with, I've managed to make some progress in dealing with some of the issues that have been weighing me down over the past few years. And, I'm not thinking ...