Apparently my old stomping grounds of Ft Lauderdale have passed an ordinance making it illegal to feed the homeless. WTF, Florida? Anyone who is active in church should be fighting this with civil disobedience. They can’t arrest all of you!

I’ve been really loving my favorite new  Florida-based Ska band, Beebs and Her Money Makers since I saw them in concert last year. I really enjoyed their new album Wurst Album Ever which I crowdfunded.

Check out the new 70s-tastic video for Death to Ego:

http://youtu.be/IIzctrbkYvI?list=UU5PW7d9uk-k7yqjI3zVRIvg

Until I was in high school, my dad and I didn’t bond over much. I knew he was a caring father and loved me, but we just didn’t have much to share except for one thing: Car Talk. My dad was never one to suffer fools, so when he drove me to school in the mornings we listened to NPR, not the music stations with their endless morning show prattle. Every time I hear the horn intro to Morning Edition it reminds me of my childhood.

Back when I was actively reviewing Linux distros and still learning all about Linux, it was in vogue to say that any distro was as good as the next. They all had the same GUIs and programs. The only difference was which package manager you preferred. Distributions started off, in fact, as a way to simplify Linux installations. Otherwise you’d have to go get the Linux kernel and then every package you wanted to install. Unlike Windows, Linux is just a kernel. If you just got Linux, you wouldn’t have tools or GUIs or anything. So the distributions give you all the programs you need to use your computer (which turns out to be WAY more than Windows for free (libre AND gratis).

Fedora 21 Beta Released!

I’m torrenting the ISO now to check out KDE 5.

Civilization V (18 hrs):

Mesa Bros

I noticed Dan was on my borders right when I started having the Cho Ku Nu, my special unit. Having played civ and RTS games with Dan, I figured it was strike or be struck. So I went to war. Unfortunately, Dan fights better than AI and because of the terrain features, it became a war of attrition that favored Dan. After a stalemate war, I offered peace and Dan accepted.

Pink Flamingos are corny and kitschy as hell, but this is freakin’ amazing!

Coral Hare: Atomic Agent (A WW2 Spy Novel) Inspired by actual historical events by Clive Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received this book for free for review purposes

Let me just say this up front: I believe Clive Lee deserves high praise for his writing in Coral Hare for maintaining a balance of spy thriller tropes and historic realism. So, yeah, Mina (our main character) is going to somewhat improbably meet up with certain nemesis at nearly every turn and somewhat more improbably continue to fight after having endured grave bodily harm. At the same time, the novel maintains its historicity; Mina is brave, but has moments of weakness; and the spy gadgets are grounded in reality.

The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations by Robert L. Cross

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a must read for anyone in supervision or management. It will change the way you look at your employees’ interactions and the relationships they form. There may be hidden networks that are hindering your work. Conversely, there may be hidden networks where the loss of just one person would cause the whole thing to crash like a house of cards.