ALEXJONES.BIZ

Today I’m half a century old. I’m not sad or depressed. Every year I’ve learned to appreciate all the blessings in my life even more than the years before.

I attribute a lot of what I’ve gathered in the way of wisdom to grandparents who loved me and spent much of their time shaping me into the person I now want more than anything to be. To parents who love me so much, are always there for me and wise enough to know when to give me wings and when to hold my feet to the fire. To marrying the most loving and caring woman who challenges me in the things I think I can’t do. To parenting two of the most amazing children and to a God who gave everything for me. My family and friends through my life have most assuredly influenced, cared and corrected me as needed.

So I felt compelled this week to look back at my 5 decades and determine if I’ve made an impact. I don’t mean anything like did I create a cure for cancer. No, nothing that monumental. I mean did my presence or my efforts make an impact?

The first recollection of presenting myself to the World is not well remembered and had me standing in an open window with bars while in Madrid Spain. I was either handing out money that did not belong to me or urinating onto the sidewalk. Either way it must have been impressive! I was three. During my first decade I also met my first best friend Bobby Fields. He lived in the house directly behind our house in Meridian MS. He was a year older and we enjoyed playing basketball, riding our bikes and goofing off around the neighborhood. Good times.

My next decade was exciting and included the beginning and the end of my teenage years. Dating, you all know who you are, I’m not going to go into details. Driving, accident(s), showing off. My mom bought me a 1967 Ford Mustang when I got my license. My first job at the Woolworth in College Park assembling bicycles for Christmas and menial labor. Great church family at Calvary Baptist Church. Great memories going on church trips. Our family moved from Meridian MS to Clinton MS. I graduated high school and joined the USAF traveling the World. Lost my Papaw. Miss him so much.

My third decade was very rewarding and challenging. Finished my planned time span in the military and met and coerced an amazing young woman to marry me and moved her to Atlanta GA! New jobs for us both and we bought our first house and new car. I assisted in the creation of our first child; a boy! Very proud! Moved my new family back home to MS. It ended with some dispiriting time.

My fourth decade was a time of growth. I again assisted in creating our second child; a girl! Blessed! Job changes for us both. Challenging times becoming parents. Bought our second home. Great memories watching my siblings families grow. Last few years were of better job opportunities and a career change.

This last decade has included a rewarding career change, new church, new friends and new experiences. Children turning into adults and I’m having separation anxiety. I’m anxious for them to move out! A nurturing relationship with my loving wife. A few medical issues that are under some control. Growing relationships with my God, my family and my friends. I lost my grandmother and my Dad. I still tear up missing them.

So that’s my abridged version of my life to date. So I’ll close with a few things I’ve learned. It’s not WHAT you have in your life but WHO you have in your life that counts. Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are but we are responsible for who we become. Having a trusted friend provides perspective when you’re concerned or stressed.

I’m grateful to everyone in my life and I hope to enjoy many more moments with all of you. You know who you are!

Personally I disagree with the President making a proclamation to fly US flags at half-staff for the Boston tragedy OR the Waco tragedy. Yes they were tragedies but they do not fit the standards set forth for that action. The same goes for Governor Christie similarly signing a proclamation to fly the US flags for the death of Whitney Houston. It doesn’t fit. If we’re going to perform this act of respect it needs to be as it is outlined.

The President should follow the same restrictions as set forth for Governors of the U.S. states or territories. They are authorized by federal law to order all U.S. and state flags in their jurisdiction flown at half-staff as a mark of respect for a former or current state official who has died, or for a member of the armed forces who has died in active duty. The governor’s authority to issue the order is more restricted than the president’s and does not include the discretion to issue the order for state residents who do not meet the criteria.

1. After the death of a current or former president or president-elect.
2. After the death of a current vice president, current or retired chief justice, or current speaker of the House of Representatives.
3. From the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a secretary of an executive or military department, a former vice president, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, or the governor of a state, territory, or possession.
4. On the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress on Memorial Day until noon.
5. Upon presidential proclamation.
6. To honor a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who died on active duty.

My opinion on the following;
The remembrance of the 9/11 attacks, yes because President George W. Bush approved legislation requiring the United States flag to be lowered to half-staff on all Federal buildings to memorialize fallen firefighters. The death of Pope John Paul II, I don’t see the one Pope being that significant to the U.S. The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, yes. The victims of Hurricane Katrina, no. The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, uh..no. The deaths of Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks, most definitely. The Virginia Tech shooting, no. The Fort Hood shooting, yes. The funeral of Neil Armstrong, yes. The death of Libyan Ambassador Chris Stephens, yes. The 2012 shooting in Aurora Colorado, no. The 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, no. The 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, no.

There are so many tragedies that we did not fly flags at half-staff because they did not fit. Examples are the Calif. teen who died after being struck by softball or the Canadian teen who hung herself after being raped. The President should follow Title 4 of the United States Code each and every time.

Just my $.02.

I thought I would see what was going on when I was born and who I might share this date with. It is rather interesting.

5 March 1964

Your date of conception was on or about 13 June 1963 which was a Thursday.

You were born on a Thursday under the astrological sign Pisces.
Your Life path number is 1.

Your life path number means:
Highly original, you may have talents as an inventor or innovator of some sort. In any work that you choose, your independent attitude can show through. You have very strong personal needs and desires, and you feel it is always necessary to follow your own convictions. You tire of routine and highly detailed tasks rather quickly.

You are ambitious and assertive in promoting yourself. Although you may hide the fact for social reasons, you can be self-centered and demand to have your way in many circumstances. That said, for the most part, you are considered very good company, friendly, good-natured, and a wonderful conversationalist. People like you and are drawn to you. It is a good thing they are, because you are very sensitive to disapproval and you don’t handle it very well.

Your fortune cookie reads:
Your great attention to detail is both a blessing and a curse.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/13/1964 and ending 2/1/1965.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Dragon.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Wolf; your plant is Plantain.

As of 3/5/2013 2:04:32 PM EST
You are 49 years old.
You are 588 months old.
You are 2,557 weeks old.
You are 17,897 days old.
You are 429,542 hours old.
You are 25,772,524 minutes old.
You are 1,546,351,472 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:
JAKE LLOYD 24
EVA MENDES 39
FRED WILLIAMSON 75
ANDY GIBB (1958-1988)
MICHAEL IRVIN 47
MICHAEL WARREN 67

Top songs of 1964
I Want to Hold Your Hand by Beatles
Can’t Buy Me Love by Beatles
There! I’ve Said It Again by Bobby Vinton
Baby Love by Supremes
Oh, Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison
The House of the Rising Sun by Animals
Chapel of Love by Dixie Cups
I Feel Fine by Beatles
She Loves You by Beatles
I Get Around by Beach Boys

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 7.00469667318982 years old. (You’re still chasing cats!)

Your lucky day is Thursday.
Your lucky number is 3 & 7.
Your ruling planet(s) is Jupiter & Neptune.
Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th.
Your opposition sign is Virgo.
Your opposition number(s) is 5.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 365 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 50 candles.

Those 50 candles produce 50 BTUs,
or 12,600 calories of heat (that’s only 12.6000 food Calories!) .
You can boil 5.71 US ounces of water with that many candles.

I am finally putting together my Raspberry Pi Computer I got for Christmas from the Boss. Very interesting concept. If you are not familiar with it you should check it out. A $35 computer?!

The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card-sized single-board computer developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation with the intention of stimulating the teaching of basic computer science in schools. Models range in price from $25 – $35. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video.

www.raspberrypi.org

I’m running Linux raspberrypi 3.2.27+. So far it works just fine. OS and storage are all on a 4GB SD card. It has 512MB RAM CPU & GPU, two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI video output, an Ethernet connector, power connector, RCA video jack and an audio jack. I have a USB powered hub connected to one port and a Edimax 150Mbps Wireless 802.11b/g/n nano USB Adaptor connected to the other. The hub connects my mouse and keyboard.

I have it mounted to the back of a Viewsonic VX922 monitor using a VESA mount case. It allows the Raspberry Pi to be mounted to the back of any VESA compatible flat screen TV or monitor. I’m using a standard Dell mouse and keyboard I had lying around.

Thanks to the Boss-Man for giving the Kindle Fire as a Christmas present. I have truly enjoyed using it as it has kept me from having to get up in the middle of the night to work at my desktop. A friend asked me what I thought about it and this is what I said.

First thing you notice is how much it weighs. It is a bit heavier than I expected it would be. It has a small power button, mini USB port and headphone jack located at the bottom. In the box you receive the Fire, a power cord and a small instruction card. When you press the power button for the first time it takes a minute or two to boot up.

The first step is to register your unit with Amazon. It first looks for a Wi-Fi signal. Once you have that setup the registration only takes seconds. If you do not already have an Amazon account simply set one up. An Amazon account is required to register and setup the device.

You also need to setup the 1-click feature by providing a credit card. This is already setup in your Amazon account but the additional steps are needed to allow 1-click purchases via the Fire, even for free app purchases.

What I like about it. The Price! At $199 it is $300 cheaper than the entry level iPad2 and $630 cheaper than the most expensive iPad2. It has 1Ghz Dual-Core processors and 512 MB RAM (just like the iPad2). It has a highly responsive touch screen. Sometimes these touch-screens (on various phones and tablets) don’t necessarily respond to your touch.

It also has a great selection of Apps. The Fire comes with a variety of apps including social networking apps (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), productivity apps (To do lists, calendars), office/business apps (Documents To Go, QuickOffice), Movies and TV show apps (Netflix, Hulu Plus), sports apps (ESPN ScoreCenter), music apps (Pandora, Rhapsody) eReading apps (Read it later), games apps (EA, Angry Bird), educational apps, cooking apps, news apps etc.

It has a durable display that is resistant to scrapes and bumps. Amazon says it is made of a special chemically treated material that is 30 times harder and 20 times stiffer than plastic. It does not have Cornings Gorilla Glass so I suggest a case for it. Its whispersync synchronization delivers ebooks, music, TV shows and movies and also synchronizes among other digital devices.

The web browser Silk is quick. It splits the computing power required to load web content between the device and Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) system. There is a ‘cloud-mode’ and ‘off-cloud mode’. When you have the cloud-mode activated the ‘weight’ of loading a web-page is split between the Fire and the cloud which makes browsing quick. It also has FREE cloud storage backup which makes its expandable memory capacity virtually ‘unlimited’ (unlimited storage for Amazon content and 5GB storage for your other non-Amazon content).

Some people are apparently bothered by the fact that the power button is on the bottom edge of the Fire. So basically if you lay the bottom edge on a table or on your lap, the Kindle Fire will automatically power off/hybernate. The simple fix to that is to flip the Fire by 180 degrees and the screen would automatically rotate 180 degrees and now the power switch is on the top and chances of anyone pressing it accidentally are minimal to none.

So the low-down is that the Kindle Fire doesn’t have 3G connectivity, a camera, a microphone, Bluetooth, GPS, longer battery life than 8 hours, more on-board storage than 8GB, a microSD card slot, an HDMI out with a core i7 processor and 4GB RAM. I say SO WHAT! You just can’t expect a $200 tablet to have the same features a $500+ tablet has. For my needs, I like it and it works. For the money, you can’t beat it.