Thoughts of a Traveller

While browsing facebook.com today I found a great bit of fun in Microsoft's HR engine.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

I regularly encourage people of all walks of life to see good employment.  This includes telling high school aged girls and/or their parents about Microsoft's Diversity program, DigiGirlz, which encourages young ladies to seek IT careers.  Those young ladies that are interested should check out the events:  http://www.microsoft.com/about/diversity/programs/digigirlz.mspx.  Both DigiGirlz Day programs and DigiGirlz High Tech Camp are given across the country.

Now, this lolcat like gem was found on http://microsoftjobsblog.com/blog/how-much-experience-makes-me-an-experienced-candidate.

Some of the fun career sites included are:

www.microspotting.com

www.viewmyworld.com

www.hey-genius.com

Recently, I downloaded the latest Zune update and found a great new feature: Buy from FM.  This feature lets Zune users listen to the built in FM radio, and when the station broadcasts song and author information, the user can purchase and download the song directly from Zune's Marketplace.  I tested this integration of FM, Zune, and Wi-Fi and found I was able to quickly and easily purchase songs I like from the local K102.1 FM Country Station.  This rocks.  Good Job Zune Team.

Some time ago, I had to figure out how to move an music collection part purchased and part just stored in ITUNES.  The move was complex because some content purchased at the time on ITUNES could not be downloaded a second time to a different PC and could not be copied from the IPOD to a new PC without first setting the IPOD to act as a Hard Drive and and using it to manually transfer the song data.  Zune made this easy today when I was transferring my collection my laptop to my desktop.  Zune software automatically seeks out DRM licensing for files when they are transferred to another system, can be copied from the ZUNE to a new host in guest mode without having to set the Zune device as a hard disk, and even better:  The Zune Software will allow the users to view purchase history and re-download content purchased from Zune's marketplace as long the user logs on with the same Windows Live ID used to purchase the content.

Nice.

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David T.

PS:  The family and I are doing great.  Alicia, Daniel, Joshua, Nathan, Lydia, and I wish you all a Merry, Merry, Happy, Christmas.

Today is Friday.  With the exception of the end of the week time keeping entries I have yet to make, the work day is done.  I spent the last 4+ hours at a local customer providing them expert guidance on integrating DNS with their 3rd party DNS as well as giving them some unexpected value add in the form of a Post Service Pack 2 fix for Windows Server 2003's:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950224.

Saturday & Sunday is the weekend:  Time for Stargate:  The Ark of Truth & Stargate Continuum.

Monday, the 20th, is my wife's B-day.  Exactly 5 month ahead of mine.

Tuesday, is 21st, is my daughter, Lydia's birthday.

I wish you both a happy birthday, Lydia & Alicia!

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David T.

Not all women lie, and not all men try to protect women who lie; but I am amazed at how some men & women, will do anything to get what they want.

Some people bully by getting in your face and using intimidation, others go right for your heart, your children.  Western culture seems to instill such a since of "mother knows best" that whole families truly believe that children ought to be with their mother without regard to any facts.  Evidently there are not yet enough liberal women in this great country, that or many liberal women are liberals of convenience.  I wonder if Sarah Palin's sister expected her then husband, trooper Wooten, to help out with baby duties, child rearing, etc... before their divorce.  Did she bill herself as a modern woman?  We may never know.  But we know for certain that 50/50 child custody was so objectionable to her, or possibly her under pressure from her family, that the judge in the child custody case had to admonish them to stop trying to harm Trooper Wooten's livelihood.

We are not talking about some creepy man who was an abuser.  "In front of Judge Suddock, Molly testified that Wooten never hit her or never physically abused her or ever touched the children. She told the judge she was feeling pressure from her family to file the order."  http://www.andrewhalcro.com/vetting_wooten_and_troopergate

The nastiness against Trooper Wooten and the brave, brave soul we know as Walt Monegan, seems to be just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on in many child custody cases.  There are people out there who will lie, threaten, defame and harass in order to get what they perceive to be the advantage in divorces, especially those involving children. 

It is very possible that the family had enough money that they didn't care if Trooper Wooten could pay child support and/or spousal support (they just wanted him to not have involvement with his children or themselves).  Also, it is possible they were trying to do everything in their power, without regard to conscience, to get more child support.  Or, both.

The details of what the Palin family did to try to "support" their daughter can be seen clearly documented here:  http://www.andrewhalcro.com/rebranding_troopergate_a_seinfeld_moment.

It will take many more brave souls to rectify the injustice of the presumption that mothers know best and therefore ought to have primary custody.  Kudos to the state of Minnesota for making some changes over the past few year to help bring us closer to a presumption that 50/50 custody is best for the children.  We are not there yet, but Minnesota bases child support on the ability of both parents to provide and presumes moves are not in the best interest of the children.

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David Taylor

PS:  Alicia, thank you for being the kind of women that lives up to her convictions even when it is not fun.  Kudos for you for not trying to shut your ex out of his children's lives despite the issues that ended your marriage to him.