Mon, 10 Sep 2012
Pandora collects information on your listening habits!
I will say this is really of very little interest to me, I personally experienced this. I had several stations set up on Pandora. I had a country station, some pop stations and a Christian station or two. I had it set up so I could listen to a particular genre of music by tuning to a particular station. That's the background. What I noticed is that the station started bleeding over into each other. This was a little curious to me initially. Eventually, it became annoying. When I tuned to a particular channel, I began to hear music from another channel. I ended up taking out all but one channel. I tried to filter music with the tools that Pandora has available. However, nothing changed. I took out all but one channel. Nothing changed, initially, but over time the channel has returned to the type of music for which it is programmed. I thought about targeted advertising, as I use the free service, but it seems to be the same ads. However this could change in the future. I wondered if they pay less for some music than others, and as you build a preference, if they push that music across all channels to try to decrease the cost of the service? I don't really have a problem with that. However, when I want to listen to one particular type of music and tune to that channel, I get a little annoyed when I hear a lot of programming from other channels. I really hope this service does well. I like it! It's great for a free service, but I do have other alternatives that I can tune into to listen the music that I prefer.
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 14:44 CST | Permalink
Thu, 30 Aug 2012
Kinda stoked today!
I'm a little excited today. At work for some time we have had a problem/quirk that we have been dealing with in regards to MS Fax Server on Windows 2003. The program saves every fax that submits successfully. However, after about 5 minutes the faxes that are not successful disappear. If somebody is close by and hears a fax redialing several times, we can look to see which one might be having trouble going through. OK, so that's the problem. I had designed an Excel app that collects our fax log and filters out all the successful faxes. While this was a step in the right direction, it lacked a couple of things. The first being that it was on demand only, so we might still miss faxes. The second being that the log does not directly capture information that we can determine exactly which fax it was that failed. So, in the past couple of days, I have designed a little program that emails me when a fax fails. Also at the same time it copies the faxes in the queue to a folder so that we can see what the faxes in the queue are. This solution is still not perfect but it works very well. So I'm a little excited. Also CFB starts tonight. I'm kinda pumped about that also.
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 16:50 CST | Permalink
Thu, 08 Dec 2011
Another Chapter Begins
About 20 years ago, my wife became sick with a very rare heart condition. Things did not look good, to say the least. As we have journeyed along, she has benefited from therapies that were not available at the beginning. Today, Lisa is having an implantable pump put in that will deliver continuously infused medication that she has been on for years. We have been able to see so many things on this journey that we didn't think about years ago. One of those things has been the hand of God at work. Lisa certainly has exceeded expectations. The median survival rate for her condition when diagnosed was three years. She has been under the care of a great doctor, however, she lives today because of the Great Physician. All praise belongs to God! He has allowed us to begin this new chapter.
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 09:39 CST | Permalink
Wed, 22 Jun 2011
Leading People Toward the Water
I love it when secular programs teach us about theology. Here is a quote from the 'American President' : "Lewis Rothschild: You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism. President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to-... Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand. President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference." One of the trends in today's church is that people are leaving the American churches by large numbers. I think one of the reasons is that our churches have become so saturated with the worldly things that we appear the same. People are still looking for the same thing they always have. They are looking for the water, The Living Water. How can they find it through us, when we appear the same as those around them? We are called to be holy (set apart). We are also called to be peculiar. We should not appear the same as everyone else. Our lives should not reflect the same values as everyone else. We must be different. Woe unto us if we lead people to drink the sand.
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 11:50 CST | Permalink
Tue, 29 Jun 2010
New..Cool..Google Voice!
One of the coolest services I've used lately is Google Voice. It is a virtual telephone number with several cool features. Coll feature 1..You can send calls through this service to any phone you want (cell phone, home phone..you pick, change when you want). Cool feature 2..Voice mail transcribed(or at least attempted) to SMS messages. This feature is good! You can look at the message and determine if, and when, you need to respond..you can also route the voice mail to your email with a clickable link to listen. Cool feature 3..Never give out your cell phone number again. Just give out your Google number and you can choose how each call and caller is routed(If you make a misread on who you release your number to you can automatically send the caller to voice mail or to receive a busy signal or to a message of your choice). I read regularly that Google is set to topple Microsoft as the next "evil empire" with the amount of data they are amassing and that they may try to assimilate your information and use it for some evil purpose..so if you have some paranoid tendencies, you may want to avoid it..otherwise it's pretty cool.Google Voice Link
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 09:00 CST | Permalink
Mon, 21 Jun 2010
Never Underestimate The Power of Positive Encouragement
The other night, I was out jogging and one of my neighbors, Howard, was sitting outside . As I went by he shouted encouraging remarks each time I dragged my big tail around the block. It was a big pick up as I struggled to make each lap. I can remember two different guys in my life, both named Dan, have offered me encouragement and the profound difference, it made in my life. Neither probably remembers that they were especially encouraging. But I'll never forget it. So, stop for a minute the next time you get a chance and offer someone a bit of encouragement. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Romans 12:8 (NLT)
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 19:27 CST | Permalink
Mon, 31 May 2010
In awe of our American Heroes
In taking a few moments to reflect on the sacrifice of our American Heroes today, I am awed by their sense of duty and honor to uphold the freedoms that we all hold dear. Today we honor those that have given their all in the name of our country. What an awesome responsibility they have undertaken. Lets all pause to remember those that have given all.
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 12:13 CST | Permalink
Mon, 24 May 2010
I am second
I am humbled..I am amazed..I am overwhelmed at the love Christ Jesus has shown for us..I am second..http://www.iamsecond.com
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 19:08 CST | Permalink
Wed, 19 May 2010
The Concept of Separation of church and state
We (Americans) seem to be the most ill-informed people on earth sometimes. One of the things that irks me the most is when our elected officials reference "the separation of church and state" and we have heard the phrase so often, we have accepted this separation as having a credible basis. There is nothing in the constitution or any federal or state law that references the separation of church and state. The theory of separation of the two stems from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a baptist association. Please find a wikipedia article here. In the letter, the subject matter is that the government should not be able to hold sway over the church. (Remember that we as a country were formed in an effort to find religious liberty and to escape the pressures being put on the church by the government.) The foundation of our nation was based on the fact that the church held sway over peoples lives (including the governing and the governed). The intent of the letter by Jefferson was to uphold that the church should be allowed freedom without censorship or impedance from the government. Inform those you hear speak about this issue every time you have a chance.
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 10:23 CST | Permalink
Sun, 18 Apr 2010
You know you're old..er
I knew at some point I would start to age. In my observance of older adults, as I was growing up, I noticed that caffeine became a regular part of the morning routine at some point. Well, I noticed that it has sneaked into my regular routine..What does this say about me??
Blog Posted By Stan Powell at 17:31 CST | Permalink