Lynda.com -- nice. Drupal -- nice!

Lynda.com is cool. For Berkeley City College, it's only $10/mo, but only the topics in our class.
I'm hella impressed, & I think there should be something like this free for all.
Educational videos, passively absorbed (but you can do them NEXT TO the app).

Here's a few Lynda.com hacks (from a Forums.Macrumors.com article):

For Safari users
I don't use Lynda.com but have saved youtube videos by choosing the Window menu in Safari and choosing activity.
(Window --> Activity --> download file)
This will show links to all items that are part of the page. You should be able to find the link to the video by looking for the item that is megabytes in size instead of kilobytes. When you click that link in the activity window it should download the file.

For Firefox users,
1. Open the movie in a Firefox window
2. Select Tools>Page Info
3. Select the Media tab
4. Press the Save As button
One thing though. While the movies play fine locally, they are well protected from being easily transcoded to another format. None of the usual suspects work such as QT Pro, ffmpegX, or MPEG Streamclip.

Frankly, I don't blame Lynda for having security. Those help files are their gold. BUT, it's not that hard to 'work around' so you can re-watch videos after ending your account. And you can download these with a 'plain vanilla browser', not any website rippers or similar.

So this has me thinking, why not have HELP FILES that are all video?

I was just troubleshooting a phone system, and any kind of help besides their old & confusing paper manual would've ROCKED.

Future super help systems = videos, a chat option to talk to an expert, maybe point your video phone to the problem & have a human troubleshooter, and easy-to-search forum.

Hmmmm, maybe I should make the damned thing!
& I'm really liking Drupal. And BADCamp is this month! Wow, a free weekend-long DRUPAL learning fest in the Bay Area (hence the name). GO OPEN SOURCE!

George Carlin - the Real American Rulers

Have you heard George Carlin before? Give this clip a shot. His humor is often the truth...



John McCain has a posting on Linkedin.com where he asks:
What is the biggest challenge America faces?
(He writes) Our country is faced with challenges as we enter into the 21st century. I am prepared to effectively deal with these challenges and lead our country as President on Day 1. Please let me know what you view as the biggest challenge America faces and how you would like your President to address this challenge.


(I responded)
Mister McCain, I'm so glad you (or your assistant who knows how to use a computer) asked this question. The answer:

The biggest challenge America faces is people like you, and the other Neo-Con 'New World Order' right-wing zealots / fascists. Bush goes on and on about foreign terrorists making war against the USA -- however, he never acknowledges that the USA (via the CIA) has been making terrorist wars against many countries for decades.

Now your group is trying to argue that torturing others is helpful in beating the enemy in a war where there are no lines between friendly or enemy.

It's a 100% lie. Al Queda was created by the CIA and given billions of dollars. Now, assuming it really did turn against the USA, which is what the USA always wanted so it could validate having agressive military foreign policy, the CIA and the military-industrial complex can argue that the USA needs a superspy force full of James Bond types to go and kill these 'evil' people. It's the perfect contrived scenario for an unrestrained war-time expansionistic policy.

However, I don't want superspies or billions more poured into the war machine. I don't want corporate welfare while poor American people starve or become homeless. I don't want fenced borders against supposedly "illegal aliens" or the CIA doing covert wars against foreign countries. I don't want GM foods, oil barons, or a health-care system that makes a profit on suffering.

I want the military budget cut in half, and no more offensive illegal wars, period. I want an end to homelessness, and social security extended to all ages of Americans, and I want medical care to be socialized. I want to see oil and all natural resources become socialized (at least in ownership) and a cap placed on maximum corporate profits on necessities, especially since these are all derived from publically owned resources. I also want radio and TV to be reclaimed by the public and to carry more non-corporate footage.

I want to see the Republican party address some of it's inconsistencies, like "Right to Life" and Death Penalty policies, and tax breaks for wealthy but no substantial breaks for lower classes. I can name many more.

There is no free market and never has been. You seek a world of haves and have-nots. If we wanted truly free markets, then no wealthy people would be able to leave any wealth to their offspring; Brains and skill would determine merits from the start. But we live in a society controlled by old wealth that tries it's best to hide behind a curtain of obscured ownership. But I can see you.

You represent death and domination. Any American that votes for you is voting for maintaing a class system of old wealth and tyranny over the middle classes, the poor, and the disenfranchised.

See the link below and hear it from a comedian -- at least he can make the truth sound funny. (the George Carlin link)