"This New Year"

This year is about to end.
Been a wild ride, my friend.
A change coming on The Hill.
Celebrity deaths leave us ill.
Out of the ashes, we'll rise,
And find a way to survive.
An ending so deranged,
We're ready for a change.
Won't go quietly in the night,
But we'll give a good fight.
In chaos, there's beauty.
That we all need to see.
We can't predict the future;
But refuse to stay bitter.
Forget the fears and tears
As we start another year.
Improvement starts within.
Every small step is a win.
My hope is this new year
Gives us a reason to cheer

“Carnivores of War”

More bullets being released.

Feeding the political beasts.

Blood staining the ground.

Hopes of peace falling down.

Itchy fingers covering triggers

Our society is becoming bitter.

Not looking at internal good;

Judging souls beneath hoods. 

Streets once filled with laughter.

Now where death is splattered.

Everyone trying to remain quiet;

As a few voices call for the riot. 

Fires of anger burning in chests.

The donning of bulletproof vests.

A nation slowly begins to divide.

The only guide is stubborn pride.

What will end this damn insanity;

And will it restore our humanity?

Darwin is now the law of the land

As we keep killing our fellow man.

Slowly devolving into carnivores.

Longing for the call of a civil war.

When will this total madness end?

Wish I knew that answer, my friend.

"The Rose"

A representation of love.

An ambassador of peace.

A symbol of an empire.

An icon of  champions.

To this day it still amazes me

How a rose can be all these thing,

Yet it still gets tossed to the side.

To wilt away forgotten in the gutter.

I pluck this once mighty rose out

From its watery, roadside grave.

I examine it and begin to smile

For one petal has refused to fade.

This rose is too stubborn to go quietly

Clinging on to the last remaining petal.

I gently put the rose in my coat pocket,

And make my way over to the hospital.

I make my way to one particular room

The room where my lovely Rose lays.

I gently wake her by kissing her cheek

She opens her eyes and smiles at me.

I say nothing and hand her the flower.

She looks at me; I motion her to be quiet.

“Like you, this rose refuses to let go

Still showing the world what it was

And how much it still has to offer

For that, I will always love you

Alas, my dearest Rose, like this rose

There is a time you must let go

Today is that day, my loving wife

I have returned to take you away

So once again we can be together

And live in a much better place

A place where our love will never end”

With tears in her eyes, she replies,

“As long as I'm with you once more

I don't care where we will end up

As long as I'm in your loving arms

I waited for this day with all my heart

That I will get to be with my husband”

 With that, the petal falls off the rose,

And my loving wife stops breathing.

I cry as I watch her succumb to death.

I stop when I feel her hand on me.

I turn around and hug her deeply.

My arms have longed to hold her again.

Once again, my Rose as at my side.

Heaven is now for me truly a heaven

For we will be together for all eternity.

"The Mirror"

A shattered mirror.
A broken photo frame.
Reflections of what was,
Broken over time.
The rifts it caused
Never will repair
No one is to blame.
A curse on our name?
We drift in life's sea.
Each of us an island.
An occasional word
About our success.
We hide our failures;
We all dream of fame.
Tired of the darkness;
Feeling of loneliness.
Time heals all wounds,
But this one still bleeds.
Mirror shards cut deep;
Severed all our bounds.
The new era of healing
Begins with reaching out.
The mirror can be repaired;
The reflection will return.

Life

Some days, life feels like being inside a fertilizer plant caught in tornado. You get no warning at all, but when it hits, there's suddenly nonsense everywhere. You pray you come out unscathed, but you walk away from the destruction covered. It takes weeks or longer to remove all traces of the stench as you try to get life back on track. When you finally escape the remnants, you're weary another such storm will happen.

Tech News 03/25/16

               Today, I'm going to discuss two technology issues that been on my mind laterly. I'm mostly going to discuss Windows 10, as well as current scams. As usual, I'm breaking it down in very basic terms. 

-Windows 10

As some may have experience and/or read, Microsoft has made it where a PC running 7 / 8 will install Windows 10 if they are set up to receive updates automatically. In laymen terms, unless you configured Windows Updates out of the default settings, there's a good chance 10 will be downloaded onto the PC, and ready to install during a reboot. Now, before everyone gets up in arms, let me explain why this is happening.

The main reason Microsoft is trying to get everyone on Windows 10 is they don't want to deal with another Windows XP scenario. Windows XP has been the longest supported Windows in history, and no one should expect software to be supported for 10+ years all the time.  I'm saying this because despite support being dropped over 3 years ago, it's still being used despite how open it is to security threats. To be blunt, I know what I'm doing, and I won't even run XP. Now, with Google dropping XP support in April, I'm hoping Windows XP will finally go away.

Microsoft's biggest fear is over time, Windows 7 will turn into the new XP, as in no one will upgrade or get rid of it. To make things worse, Microsoft has extended support for 7 till 2020. Don't get me wrong. I still love Windows 7, but there will be a time it will be outdated, and harder to find support for it. Unless you need an older OS for a very specific reason, then I suggest upgrading your system every 3 years where they become cheaper to replace than repair so you're not facing this issue.

In case you're wondering why I barely mention Vista and 8 is because they were commercial flops. Like Star Trek movies, Windows releases follow a good-bad cycle. They release a good one, and the next one is bad. Vista was a failure at launch, and the new interface for 8 killed it. In order, here's the cycle for the last fifteen years or so:

Good: 98, XP,7, and 10

Bad: ME, Vista, and 8

Also, like XP, any Vista system should be tossed at this point. The level of support for Vista is getting to XP levels.

Far as removing 10 once it installs, I honestly feel unless you have a very specific program or reason, learn how to use it. It's the new direction of Windows, and honestly, it's not that bad. The interface is way easier than 8's, and it runs better than Windows 7.  Far as Office (since most people reading this are writers), I can verify every version from 2000 up does work on 10 with no issues.

-Scam Sites / Calls

Computers cams will always be a topic when it comes to technology. However, instead of going through their entire history, I'm focusing on the two major ones out there.

The first one is the scam site. When you click on the wrong link, you may see this screen:

This is purely a scam. If this was a true Windows error, it wouldn't be loading in your web browser. Second, it's such a scam, I can get them to load on my Android phone. In other words, never call the number, and don't freak out. It's all a scare tactic website, so whatever it's claiming is 100% nonsense. To remove it, either close down your browser, or worst case, reboot the PC.  That's how you fix them.

The second one is the scam call. A person who claims to be calling from a major computer company, mostly Microsoft, will say you got a virus. This is a scam as well since computers rarely, ever call you directly unless you called them first and make arrangements for them to call you back. Also, if Microsoft really did call everyone that has and/or had a virus on your system, they would do nothing besides phone calls. Again, hang up, and ignore whatever you say.