No more Windows XP

Microsoft won't sell any more Windows XP licenses after today, with very few and strict exceptions.

Although my personal Windows Vista machines have done very well (including Windows Vista running on my Mac), my work machines have been a nightmare, to a point where I had to downgrade a Vista box to XP to get it to network. And I still don't have a clue as to how good SP1 on Vista is in fixing its bugs, as my personal boxes haven't picked up SP1 yet.

This leaves my work machines in a limbo. Of course, XP will continue to be supported for my existing computers until 2014, but adding/replacing computers will force me to use Vista from now on.

It's awful that I have Windows-only CAD software to run at work; otherwise, I'd strongly push for transitioning to Macs, as both Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5 have been impressive.

MSN Tech

Travel Plans

With the end of my business trips after the Indianapolis fiasco last month, my travel plans for the rest of the year have been pared back. It looks like I will go on two major trips later this year.

First will be the hated Alaska, where my parents had bought a place, and left a California-registered Ford Econoline cruising van. It looks like the Econoline is ill-suited for Alaska use, and is needed back in California anyway, so I will be in charge of driving it back home, and purchasing a four-wheel-drive vehicle for Alaska local use. I've already purchased a one-way ticket to Anchorage on US Airways for this trip - it will be my first flight on US Airways. (Thanks to Star Alliance, I will get United miles for this flight.) This will need to be done before Alaska Highway is snowed in for the rest of the year.

For Thanksgiving, I am expecting to head north again - to Toronto, which will be chilly, but not TOO chilly then. Since Canadian Thanksgiving is on American Columbus Day instead of November, I'll be arriving on what will be a normal workweek for the locals. This will be my first visit to Toronto. I haven't traveled much at all this year for pleasure, so this Toronto trip will be well-deserved. I'm looking forward to the trip, as Toronto is Canada's answer to New York AND Chicago.

Unfortunately, I don't expect a European trip at this time - and it will have been over 5 years since my last European trip by the time this year ends. This needs to change sometime soon. Meanwhile, I am tightening my finances, in order to save up a small fortune and hopefully buy a modest condo; this will probably mean further cutbacks in my travel plans.

Not blogging much now...

I've been quiet in the past few days...

Work is picking up again, and more importantly, the 100+ degree heat is doing me in. I almost collapsed from heat exhaustion after changing a flat tire on my car on a freeway shoulder!

Health and recovery will come first at this time. For now, I'm glad to know that gay marriages are progressing well in California (and based on polls, will barely stay legal in November), and that Barack Obama is finally opening up a sizable lead over John McCain and his tired old ideas.

Speaking of Silenced Majority Portal

Image by Kayakbiker of Silenced Majority Portal

I've commented there, under my nickname "Ally McRepuke," a few times about the menace of conservative immigrants, particularly those hailing from Cuba, South Korea, and Vietnam (and perhaps Poland).

The two bloggers, Kayakbiker of the Twin Cities and Slugbug (DiAnne Grieser) of Seattle, dug up some great evidence of reactionary Vietnamese immigration, in both their hometowns, on the following post:

Silenced Majority Portal: Ally McRepuke Told Us About Right Wing Immigrants

A homophobic ad campaign

From the Family Research Council, one of the many groups of the Religious Right (and funded by Reverend Moon):

Let's protect marriage from these bigots and from abusive parents.

Thanks to Silenced Majority Portal for digging this up.

Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin

They have been a couple for 55 years, and were among the pioneers of San Francisco's lesbian community, founding many organizations including Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services, whose services I had used in the past.

And as California starts its gay marriages after 5 this afternoon, they will be among the first to be married. Just like in 2004, when they were the first to be given (now-voided) marriage licenses by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, they will again be married first by the City Hall.

Please read their story below.

AP via Yahoo!

Baggage fees

I've just received an email from United Airlines stating that it will match the new American Airlines policy of $15 surcharge for the first checked baggage, effective August 18, for tickets purchased starting tomorrow.

The only way for me to duck this fee will be to become an elite frequent flier, but given that I've decided not to go on any more business trips this year, that's unlikely.

I'll seriously consider defecting to another airline, but if the two largest airlines in the nation are doing the same surcharges, the rest of the industry is highly likely to follow.

I much prefer the Air Canada policy, where I can get a $3 discount each way for not checking in any bags, and where the base fare includes one checked bag. $3 is always better than $15. Next time, I'll just go vacation in Canada, and book on Air Canada (unless I decide on Europe instead).

United Airlines

Get married, or get fired

So says an Iranian company.

All the saber-rattling by the US is only serving to strengthen the hands of the theocrats, and drive Iran ever more backward. After all, the US itself is pretty backward on many social matters, so where's the incentive to modernize?

Besides, if the US truly wanted to bring modern democracy to the region, it would've probably invaded the worst offender of human rights (and state sponsor of terrorism) first - Saudi Arabia. Too bad, the Bush clan is cozying up to the Saud family instead.

BBC

American beef in South Korea

This is an issue that has apparently been a major news item - and even Col. Ann Wright brought it up with me - but I decided not to follow. Until now.

South Korea was once a major consumer of American beef, but that changed in 2003, when mad cow disease was detected in American beef, and South Korea's leftist Roh Moo-Hyun government banned most imports. A few months ago, the new rightist Lee Myung-Bak government removed the restrictions, in order to facilitate and comply with the upcoming secret free trade agreement between the two nations; many in South Korea were very upset, considering Lee's decision to be too hasty and not in their best interest. Protests on the streets of Seoul have been growing by the week, with many arrests.

Now, it seems to have taken a toll on Lee and his "pro-American" (more precisely, pro-Republican) Grand Nationals, as last week's local polls went heavily in favor of the leftist opponents, just a few months after the Grand Nationals' landslide in the presidential and legislative elections. And the entire cabinet is offering to resign at this time.

BBC

It's a slim picking of hope to see some sense return to the South Korean voters, after the corporate/theocratic media, run by the likes of Samsung and the Unification Church, had successfully told the voters to blame the leftists for the economic doldrums that had been created by the Grand Nationals' policies.

However, the fact remains that the Korean-American special interest community remains stubbornly supportive of Lee, and opposed to the demonstrators' message. And while Reverend Moon's religious teachings don't ring a vibe, his politics garners strong support. Here in California, the Korean-Americans are running two Republican candidates, one for Congress (against Democratic incumbent Adam Schiff in Pasadena) and one for the State Legislature, and lending strong support to the constitutional ban on gay marriage. I will fight tooth and nail to make sure that this reactionary excuse of a special interest community will NOT get its say in dictating the way of life for the rest of California.

New iPhone

I've been very satisfied with my iPhone, which I bought back in January.

And today, Apple announced a new model, that has 3G high-speed Internet capability and costs only half as much. And while I won't benefit from the 3G, GPS, and other new hardware that is found only on the new model, even my old iPhone will benefit from the new software update, which will include a scientific calculator, the ability to run custom applications, and more.

And with the long-awaited 3G capability, the iPhone will now be available in 21 countries, to be expanded to 70 shortly, instead of just the US, the UK, France, and Germany as was the case with the original.

I hope for even more miraculous features by the time I do have to say goodbye to my current iPhone, which should be in two years.

Apple

Melissa Etheridge

I am now scheduled to see Melissa Etheridge on the evening of August 29, at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre. This will be my second time seeing her; the first time was a free concert at San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza in August 1999, which I remember fondly as a very high-energy affair. As a proud lesbian, I also need to go to as many Melissa concerts as possible, if only to keep up with my reputation. :)

This time it will cost me $100, but I am not holding back.

The tour is named The Awakening, after her newest album, which I haven't listened to, save for "Message to Myself," which I liked. I do look forward to many of her older songs, however, and it will be a very good experience to sing along to many of them; I didn't know her songs too well the first time around, so didn't really get to sing along back then.

Melissa will also be only the third artist that I get to see multiple times; the other two are Mariah Carey (1995, 2000, 2006, plus a meeting in 1994) and Sir Elton John (2004, 2005, and last April).

It should be a wonderful night, and will make up for me missing out on the gay pride parade this weekend.

Update from Indianapolis

All issues, pertaining to my disastrous trip to Indy at the end of April, have been completely resolved; all my expenses were reimbursed in full, including all travel expenses.

I'm very happy right now, and it's time to move on to better stuff in business.

Lesbian fashion statement

For many, "lesbian fashion" often means the soft butch look of Ellen DeGeneres, the edgier look of Melissa Etheridge, or a butch look so stone hard that the wearer should rightfully be addressed as "sir." But for me, it's a little different story - I've bought fashions that normally are worn by hopelessly straight girls, to find that a famous rumored lesbian ends up wearing it too.

Case in point 1: miniskirt suit.

My very first outfit was a miniskirt suit, bought in 1997. Then the show Ally McBeal came along - starring a miniskirt suit-clad Calista Flockhart as Ally. Ally was known for many things, among which was her attraction to women; she kissed three different women, and some of these kisses had some beefy storylines behind them. To me, Ally is a classic case of a closet lesbian, and I feel glad to share her fashion sense. (This is also why my nickname used to be Ally McLesbian.) Even Calista Flockhart herself, though hopelessly straight in real life, went on to play a few other lesbian roles - and wear more miniskirts. I've bought several more miniskirt suits since then, and wear them well into today.

Case in point 2: leggings.

When people started wearing leggings again in 2006, I was pleasantly surprised - and embraced the trend, as it was a trend I wanted to wear in my teens, but couldn't. Then, it turned out, former teenage (now twentysomething) drama queen Lindsay Lohan started flogging the leggings trend to death, and even designed her own line. Now, rumors are flying everywhere that she is in a lesbian relationship with DJ Samantha Ronson. Yes, a lesbian with her own line of leggings. I don't care for Lindsay, but for now, I still wear my leggings from time to time.

Case in point 3: ????

I won't know until it actually happens, but I am sure I'll be hooked on some new "hetero" fashion trend that then becomes the trademark of some famous rumored lesbian. After all, it's happened twice already.

Barack Obama wins Democratic presidential nomination

The fight appears to be over. Obama's mantra of change has resonated with voters, and outshone Hillary Clinton's experience and name recognition.

Obama gave a speech at St. Paul, Minnesota this evening - at the very site where the Republicans will have their convention in a few months. In typical Obama fashion, it was a very eloquent speech.

Now, the Democrats need to re-unite and present a strong agenda, if they want to win the presidency.

Text of speech (BBC)

Gay marriage ban WILL be on CA ballot

Secretary of State Debra Bowen has reported that enough valid signatures have been gathered for the petition to constitutionally outlaw gay marriage in California. It will be voted on in November at the same time as the presidential race.

I have already given $120 to the opponents of this constitutional amendment, and will watch closely. I have told everyone that this will be decided among the conservative Third World homophobic immigrants, and that unless the LGBT community does extensive outreach to them, they WILL get this ban passed.

Indeed the opinion polls appear to be 50-50 at this point, and could go either way.

MSNBC

Raed Jarrar

Karen Bradley at Democracy Cell Project tells me that Raed Jarrar, who spoke in Long Beach with Col. Ann Wright two nights ago, is indeed the very Raed who was almost booted off of a JetBlue Airways flight over his T-shirt.

I blogged about that back in 2006.