Disqus - Latest Comments for bucoughman

Re: Bu•cough•man, Finally completed my Paul L. Gaus (my former...

Jessi Baughman — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 08:12:00 -0000

Yep. Typically if I enjoy the book/have a connection with the author I'll buy a copy. The author's new publisher now offers digital versions, but they're priced about the same as the hard copies (~$10), so unless you have a strong preference for digital there's not much point. I like when the digital is priced lower so I can test drive a book, but you can usually get a used copy of this series for as little as $1.

Re: Bu•cough•man, Finally completed my Paul L. Gaus (my former...

Jessi Baughman — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:11:42 -0000

I've read the first four, have the next two (A Prayer... and Separate...) to start reading, and just ordered and pre-ordered the last two. I'll probably re-read Cast... first as I can't remember that story too well.

Re: http://bucoughman.com/post/1587122346

Jessi Baughman — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:07:54 -0000

Well this was just a re-post (originally from Random Good Stuff) ... but following the link I found these which might be close to what you're looking for. http://www.skymall.com/shop...

Re: http://bucoughman.com/post/23590896897

Jessi Baughman — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:18:44 -0000

Ok ... but what if you're in the woods and your fancy cell phone isn't getting signal? How you gonna see boobs then? Plus - live boobs come in HD 3D with no extra hardware required! And there's no buffering ... unless you want too. ;) hahaha

Re: Day 15 - Tread Lightly

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:44:00 -0000

While there's some broad generalizations you wrote about I don't completely agree with, the idea that man has some sort of given right of domination doesn't sit quite right with me. In our actions we've come to dominate the world in an overly parasitic fashion, yes, but was this through neglect of the consequences of our actions or abuse of a gift?

Might you also consider thinking about your new found vegan view from another perspective other than one founded on Christian views? I don't mean to attack your justifications but what I mean is, what if you thought about nature from say, a common Native American's perspective*? To them all forms of life are equal. Man was not given domination over anything - no matter what the reason. Man is one with nature - created with nature, not in addition to - an equal to all things living and nonliving (rocks, fire, etc). Killing a deer was held to the same moral level as cutting down a tree. A life is a life. Which makes me wonder if you have given thought to as why you hold one form a life above another?

Typically the first response to this I hear comes from disappointment with the conditions and welfare of animal farms, but what about plant farms? These farms destroy the quality of top soil over time so much so that they end up relying on supplements to bring the soil as close to its original condition as possible. Furthermore they use pesticides to preserve their products during growth. Needless to say, these chemicals get into the water table and come back to harm all forms of life. And you still have the effects of pollution that comes with any sort of farming.

Well go organic right? Except for one problem. That's expensive. And if say the world turned vegan to stop animal abuse (not that easy, but let's pretend it'd work) obviously demand for vegetation would go up and so then would production. And organic farming and big farming don't really mix. So we'd still have a problem with animal abuse, albeit a silent, long-term one.

If we truly treated all forms of life as equal we'd starve to death. Predator/prey relationships are a part of evolution, a part of nature. The problem is we need to properly address our abuse of this system on our end. And the first step to changing how people act is to change the way they think. Assuming man was granted domination over any form of life, no matter the reason, starts the road to progress in the wrong direction. We shouldn't end abuse on plants and animals because it might be our vocation but because that's what's necessary for this planet to continue on healthy and successful. The golden rule can be applied to more than just human-human interaction. We should provide well for nature if we intend for it to return the favor.**

*And of course there's other similar belief systems out there. I just figured you're probably more familiar with this general one.
**Which I think you were getting at this idea - I just wasn't with you on the method.

Re: http://bucoughman.com/post/1126247014

Jessi Baughman — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:56:14 -0000

Yeah, there was starting to be dog hair everywhere and I had enough. Bought a carpet steamer too and that picked up more than I even thought was there. She's grown it back pretty quickly. It's still short, but she's almost went from gray to black again.

The worst part was I'm too cheap to buy clippers so I shaved her with a battery-powered beard trimmer that wouldn't run off the power cord. So this took about three days (~20min each day as allowed by the battery) to get through all that puppy fur.

Re: http://bucoughman.com/post/1024158186

Jessi Baughman — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:33:49 -0000

For those who are interested, the post by Kevin mentioned above can be found at: http://kevinrose.com/blogg/...

Re: http://bucoughman.com/post/1024158186

Jessi Baughman — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:28:28 -0000

Digg v4 has its issues yes, but what I posted on Kevin's blog was simply recognizing his efforts to listen to what the users wanted back or changed and actually doing something to implement them.

Digg took chances with v4 based on past usage logs to better the site (though due to dropped user traffic - as opposed to people clicking through Digg buttons, they didn't quite reflect what the users actually liked/used). You have to take chances if you want to evolve your product and sometimes those risks backfire. At least Digg isn't just acting like other sites like Facebook who have traditionally ignored most users' requests.

In a few months v4 will look like a bubblegum version of v3 (I'm not the biggest fan of the cutesy, big-text-for-old-people look, but it's still a polished design nonetheless - at least it's easier on the eyes than the now overly-hyped-up Reddit).

I predict My News won't be a forced option and it'll be based on top news rather than upcoming. Furthermore, once Digg realizes that auto-submit is demonizing quality content providers and hurting their name on Digg, they'll refocus their efforts on getting people to follow users, not blogs and corporations within their recommendation pages. Basically they'll bring back the recommended Digg users based on what you've dugg up.

So do I like v4 as it is now? Not really. They took away too much and released v4 too unpolished. But give it a month or so for them to implement the features the users want and talk to me then. V4 doesn't bother me too much right now because v3 didn't engage me well enough to make me very active on the site / I don't browse Digg very often. So I'm not using it much now. Of course that just shows that v4 isn't at the point of being the magical icing to seduce me into a daily user.

What I'm supporting is Digg proactively listening to the community and taking chances with their company to improve. This time it didn't work out so well initially, but fresh thinking should inspire a good change for Digg.

What I don't support is all the negativity happening across the web about v4 even after Kevin made it known they are listening and working to implement users' requests (before then it could be seen as necessary to get Digg's attention). He basically reposted a comment verbatim and answered it. Yes, this should have been worked out in beta and perhaps what is needed is an explanation as to why the product was released too soon.

In the meantime try Reddit, Stubleupon, or just subscribe to some RSS feeds to pass the time. Leave Digg alone for a month or two and see if you like it then. The drop in usage will only push them to work out things faster (and deny them the up-in-users-and-traffic stats).

Re: Kevin Rose - blogg - Digg v4: release, iterate, repeat.

Jessi Baughman — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:03:35 -0000

Thanks Kevin for listening and implementing ideas shared by the users. Obviously you can' tackle everything at once, so it's a little disappointing that the user-base still carries so much negativity when you've just made it clear you're listening. Sure it would have been nicer to have extended the beta and maybe have ironed out this first, but who knows, maybe those in beta didn't find these issues important to them. So thanks for not giving the big middle finger to your users like Facebook tends to do. I think in time, people will settle and Digg will take off again.

Re: Apple Files for Patent to Disable Jailbroken iPhones

Jessi Baughman — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:32:16 -0000

If you sold a wheelbarrow to someone and then slashed its tire because you didn't like that they painted it, wouldn't that be considered vandalism? How is disabling an electronic device any different? End the warranty sure, but attack the product and that's vandalism to me.

Re: Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Arrives in October, Gets a Price

Jessi Baughman — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:39:32 -0000

I'm waiting for someone I know to get it and see how they like it. Buying '08 was a mistake and I downgraded back to '04. It runs great and hasn't ever given me problems like '08 always did. 2011 might be better than '08, but I have little to no faith in Microsoft. That and I hate that stupid ribbon menu makeover.

Re: George W. Bush Joins Facebook

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:42:36 -0000

I'd like to see a dislike button on his page and compare the number of fans to the number of haters.

Re: Kelly Creative Tech || Websites and application design in Columbus and Coshocton Ohio || The Web Prophesy, 2010

Jessi Baughman — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:41:12 -0000

Well maybe there's hope to reviving the integrity of the the word Netbook. I'm thinking Netflix for books. Of course that'd have to be iPad specific since other readers work off files where-as a service like this would have to work off the cloud.

But it'd be like a convenient [membership] library. You could "stream" books that are in the public domain, and rent others. Once you're done, hit a button and rent another. Granted I think the monthly fee would have to be less than Netflix, else you're only going to attract power readers.

Then again, the chances are high this is already in the works. But yeah, hardware-wise this would be another example of iPad > trad. computers or tablets.

Re: Kelly Creative Tech || Websites and application design in Columbus and Coshocton Ohio || The Web Prophesy, 2010

Jessi Baughman — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:55:15 -0000

So in comparison, how do you compare the iPad with previous tablets that have been on market for quite some time now? Most tablet PCs are able to use pen or touch input, so does it just come down to hardware design and battery life that makes the iPad the game changer? Or is it because the mighty Jobs hath spoken and thus it must be so?

Re: NYU Students Raise More than $100,000 to Build Facebook Alternative

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:28:20 -0000

I like the idea, but not the name. It's not as memorable as Facebook. "Face" and "book" are pretty common words (granted "facebook" was only common in schools), but "diaspora" isn't a word that's used much, so it'll be harder to catch on. What's that site again? "Disaster"?

Re: RIAA Defeats LimeWire in Major Piracy Lawsuit

Jessi Baughman — Wed, 12 May 2010 19:39:16 -0000

I've seen more stats showing most of the loss in capital coming from a shift to a cheaper medium and the lack of the industry to capitalize on the newer model than from (misnamed) "piracy". A CD used to run $15-20, and an mp3 album costs around $10, so losses are going to happen. Furthermore, the music industry is largely riding on 3rd parties to sell/distribute leading to a loss of profits (compared to selling/distributing yourself) to companies like Apple. And with more upcoming artists deciding to sell directly themselves through sites like CDBaby and BandCamp to avoid an industry that's fallen into a negative public opinion, losses are going to continue to happen. If anything I think there's a stronger argument that piracy helps promote new music, as most people will go back and buy the album if it's not locked down and easy to find/purchase online once they're convinced they're not making a poor purchase (of something they don't like). Granted, with sites like lala (which I realize is closing) which allow you to listen to the full song and not just a 30sec clip before purchasing, piracy looses a lot of this argument, but I think most people like to "test drive"music away from their computer, which these sites don't allow for and piracy does (or services like Zune, but that's a limited market). All I'm saying is that if the record labels want to argue the piracy affect sales card, then they should at least put more effort into effectively selling music themselves and coming up with a method for people to try-before-you-buy. That last part alone would pull a majority of the market away from 3rd parties if implemented effectively.

I'm still not convinced that software companies need to police themselves any more than gun makers do (to useRandy_Stuck's example), but I can see how a feature like iTunes integration would promote piracy, even if doing so was unintentional by improper settings configuration. Still this is the equivalent of heat-seeking bullets. They may or may not be used on people, but when do we decide when to monitor their use/production? I've used P2P services like Limewire and torrents to distribute my band's music, so it's a shame to see it go. Then again, I can't name a single person I know who still uses Limewire.

Re: Major University Dumps Gmail Over Security Concerns

Jessi Baughman — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:27:21 -0000

The University of Akron switched over to GMail this year for undergrads/grads. That made me happy as I now easily dump that account into my personal account. Gmail is way better than any institution-based email I've used (that being GATech and College of Wooster). I wonder if it's more a matter of control than security. Does it make them unhappy all that data isn't on their servers to control?

Re: Conan O’Brien Visits Google HQ [PICS]

Jessi Baughman — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:50:09 -0000

Haha yes! Bagpipes!

Re: Hulu to Charge Monthly Fee for Access to Unlimited TV Episodes [RUMOR]

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:12:23 -0000

This seems fine. But if the show's websites allow viewing the whole current season, I think Hulu should push to get the same. Personally I'm still just going to use Netflix for past episodes. If I didn't have a Netflix subscription, I'd probably consider it since I don't have cable tv.

Re: Why Facebook’s Change in Privacy Settings is Detrimental to Users

Jessi Baughman — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:17:56 -0000

The only thing so far that's highly annoyed me is that the search options aren't functioning as they used to. I had the settings set so that only those in a college network could see that I existed on Facebook. Now I receive unwanted friend requests, and more annoyingly - suggestions, from family who couldn't see me before. My setting is currently "Friends and Networks", but people from outside my network can now find me through search. True all I have to do is put them in a group and limit what they see, but Facebook started as a way to stay connected with your classmates and that's all I want to do with it. Fortunately the block person from sending invites works. One more farmville request and I was going to close the account.

Re: Reckless Love — Snow Leopard is a Kitten

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:52:12 -0000

Ha, yeah the last time I saw that error message was when I plugged an amp directly into my mic jack. However, I got that message because a mic jack doesn't really like the voltage/amps that an amp outputs (brain fart moment) and I blew something in the motherboard. Needless to say I wasn't lucky enough to have my computer restart. But that's where Apple Care comes in I guess. If you still have problems and are still under Apple Care you might want to check to see if you can have them check it out for you to see if something happened to your processor/motherboard/etc.

That's the only time I've seen it, but hopefully in your case it wasn't something as bad as a motherboard screw up.

Re: Reckless Love — Snow Leopard is a Kitten

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:51:31 -0000

I've heard a lot about Snow Leopard freezing / being slow, but haven't noticed it myself. I'm starting to think it has something to do with the processor. I run on a Core Duo, whereas I think the people having issues are using Core 2 Duo. Is that what you use? If so, it could be that their attempt to optimize for a 64bit processor didn't pan out as they hoped. Regardless, Apple still should have had things straightened out a bit better. After all, they've been working with those processors for quite some time now. I can say that at least in my case, I haven't seen these freezing issues on a 32bit processor.

Re: Apple’s Snow Leopard Is a Smash Hit

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:38:47 -0000

I upgraded directly from Tiger, so I've noticed quite the change. However what annoys me most about Snow Leopard is the dropped support for 3rd party apps with the Apple Remote. IMO I shouldn't have to use a 3rd party app like Remote Buddy to run Boxee, Hulu, and MyTube the same as I did in Tiger. The menu button always brings up front row and the play always opens iTunes and begins playing a track.

Snow Leopard also drops support for using iSync with Palm devices (I still use my Zire 72s), but I kinda saw that one coming since Palm's dropped support for most of them due to the Pre coming out.

Re: IE 6? Really?

Jessi Baughman — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:49:05 -0000

Haha. Yeah I've come to realize it's going to take a generation change before schools actually realize how to properly utilize technology. Until then I guess schools (for the most part) get to suffer.

Btw, so you don't have to view the vid so crappy, if you want to watch it again, you can just goto http://bucoughman.com/PT.html. I put the vid in a plain page without the harassment script, so you should be able to see it fine there. (oh, the second part is attached at the end now, I can break that up for you if it matters)

Haha good job working around the block. I remember doing the same, though at that time browsing through free proxy servers and accessing the site directly via IP address did the trick.

Re: Servee.com gets a sales-letter format makeover - Kasey Kelly :: Web Design :: Akron, Canton and Cleveland Ohio

Jessi Baughman — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:40:37 -0000

Wow. Classy.

Believe it or not, that's what your dressed-up, retardly huge text made me think. I think it plays on us dumb folk's "big and shiny" desires.

I also like how all the upfront questions now are answered on the front page. Given that it's the page most people will ever see. That whole first impression bullshit you can never escape.

Also nice work on the subliminal message of "get free stuff", "it's easy", and "my cms can kick your cms' ass" - or something like that. Also enjoyed the pop-out extra info on roll-over.

That header does look like it's from a luxury car company's site. But I like it.

The only thing I don't get is the features button at the top. I think you meant to send it to an anchor tag for those who have trouble looking below the shiny text - unless that's just a page-in-progress, because it's not doing much besides changing the url.

I still don't get the push for using green, but it does make those "Try it free" buttons look like candy. Sweet delicious candy.

I think this might do well for Servee. Time will tell. You got this retard to think "Ooo pretty! I wanna touch!" so there's probably more out there that'll fall for it as well. However I paid up front for 2 yrs of hosting w/ GoDaddy and my tight-wad self is waiting to run it out, so it'll be a while before I switch since pricing is comparable to what I paid (given the addition of a cms).