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 INFYMUS .COM
© 2006-2008
Michael S. Hoenie
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INFYMUS 2006
Total Articles:
13
Infymus, his 38th year of life.
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| | Ok, Did You Miss Me?
Posted: Jan 31, 2006, at 05:18 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus |  | |
A portion of the bills for Spencer are now coming in. So far it's just a hair under $13,000. Insurance should cover 80% of that, but I will still end up paying and paying.
Talked with my mortgage broker and I'm setting up a small loan (line of credit) for 8.5% interest. Rates are prime +1 right now and that's 8.5%. That's a lot more than I'm used to paying and it's slowing down the economy. Anyway, that loan will take about three weeks to complete and will pay for the pregnancy, etc in a way that allows me to pay it off towards the end of two years.
Tonite I'm re-heating up some very yummy lasagna I made last nite.
Spencer lays awake for up to a half hour at a time, gazing around the room.
Emotions in me are high, as always.
My father called to let me know he's flying out back east to attend the funeral of his father. First time he will have seen some of the family in almost 25 years.
And so it goes.
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| | I Thought I'd Always Understand
Posted: Feb 20, 2006, at 04:09 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
I've been in computers since I was 12 years old. I'm sad to say that was 26 years ago.
I was there when emotes began - our generation created them using 300 baud modems and self-written basic code. Now a cell phone company has patented the goddamn things? WTF?
I was there long before bloggers, email and myspace.com.
I was sending routed packetmail in 1982, full network packetmail by 1986.
I met Phil Katz, the author of ZIP back in 1986 at a convention, just after SEA sued him.
I ran over a dozen bulletin board systems from Atari 800 to the PC Compatible - all the way up to 1995.
I know IRC, networking and the ins and outs of the Internet. I have seen shit on the Internet that would cause the average person years of therapy.
I always thought I'd understand and comprehend today's youth as they use the Internet to communicate and socialize.
I was wrong. I don't understand it. Perhaps it's because I'm older and more mature. The way that youth communicates now must seem absolutely forein to their parents, most of whom have no idea the Internet works.
Take http://www.myspace.com/ for example. This http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?... is some of the nastiest shit I've ever seen in website design or attempts at social communication. YET, these young adults spend a great deal of time spewing out the details of their lives in a blogger-type fashion to the rest of the world. Then you have sites like http://www.ratemybody.com/ where young adults (many as young as 15 or younger) spend their time sharing intimate details of their lives including passing pictures back and forth that adults would consider pornography (a great deal of it IS pornography).
I was accused when I was a teenager of bottling up my entire social life into my computer. I can admit to that. My friends were there. We communicated online - LONG before the Internet was ever around. We sat in BBS chat rooms, we ran our own websites, we had forums and downloads - and we shared our lives. So I can understand how young adults play around on these websites and share their intimate lives together - it is a natural evolution of social growth - and it will only get larger. I know hundreds if not thousands of people that I have never met. I have friends all over the world that I've never personally spoken to in person or on the phone - our friendships exist in what is referred to as Cyber-Space.
Where is the line? Does there have to be a line? I don't think so. I think all of this is healthy as long as it stays safe. The world is full of disgusting perverts who would rape small children if given the chance - these are the kind of people we have to watch out for. And for websites like myspace.com? Well, you have the right and the ability to click that little close button your browser and never go there again.
I look at my two-year-old daughter, who is now playing on http://www.sesameworkshop.org. I know it was difficult to even get to the site since spammers and pornographers have hijacked hundreds of URLS around it in order to try and trick you in your miss-spellings. I look at her and realize that in ten years, the Internet will morph again and if I don't keep up, I'll have a difficult time tracking her online habits.
I do have an advantage - I'm a software engineer. I spend a great deal of time on the Internet researching and keeping up with technologies. I hope that it's enough, but somehow I still feel inadequate. I want my daughter and my son to be able to see the Internet and understand it. Know the tools that run it and how to spot the perverts, the get-rich-quick schemes and the cess-pool that is mankind.
I hope that I can protect them as much as possible as they both grow. And perhaps they will dump the intimate details of their lives on something similar to myspace.com - who knows. It's solely up to them at that time.
For now, I squeeze both of my children in their hour of pure innocence and keep my protective arms around them.
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| | And Yet Another Goddamn Year Has Passed
Posted: Mar 22, 2006, at 04:00 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
Isn't that enough said?
I find it interesting that at age 38, the game is over. What I fail to comprehend is that the game was over a decade ago, not that it really matters.
Ah who gives a damn.
Kim and I are taking off for Wendover and are going to hit some slots, some tables - and I promise to have a beer in my hand before noon.
Oh Death
Oh, death Oh, death Won't you spare me over til another year
Well what is this that I can't see
With ice cold hands taking hold of me
Well I am death none can excel
I'll open the door to heaven or hell
Whoa death someone would pray
Could you wait to call me til another day
The children pray the preacher preached
Time and mercy is out of your reach
I'll fix your feet til you can't walk
I'll lock your jaw til you can't talk
I'll close your eyes so you can't see
This very hour come and go with me
In death I come to take the soul
Leave the body and leave it cold
To drop the flesh off of the frame
The earth and worms both have a claim
Oh death
Oh death
Won't you spare me over til another year
My mother came to my bed
Place a cold towel upon my head
My head is warm my feet are cold
Death is a movin upon my soul
Oh death how you're treatin me
You close my eyes so I can't see
Well you're hurtin my body you make me cold
You run my life right out of my soul
Oh death please consider my age
Please don't take me at this stage
My wealth is all at your command
If you'll remove your icy hands
Oh the young the rich or poor
All alike to me you know
No wealth no land no silver or gold
Nothin satisfies my but your soul
Oh death
Oh death
Won't you spare me over til another year
Won't you spare me over til another year
Won't you spare me over til another year
- Anglin brothers, 1938
Another year, another step closer to the grave.
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| | Pulling Data From Old Floppy Disks
Posted: Apr 12, 2006, at 05:29 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
Last nite my father in law and I pulled an old 5 1/4 drive out of a dusty old 386 and put it in a P4-3200 as a "Legacy Device". I have long since gone through all of my 3 1/2 disks and copied the information off and archived it. I've got a collection of 5 1/4 floppies - some that I have had for almost 23 years. They're in pretty good condition so I thought we'd give it a try.
I was amazed. These 23-year-old floppies still contained data and still were readable. I had a total of 14 floppies my first go-round and retrieved 1.8 meg worth of data off of them. I had DOS 3.2, I had READMACS going back to 1986... I had Pascal source code from projects in 1987, 1988 and 1989. I had data files, resume and DOS utilities, NANSI and basic compilers. I was ecstatic. It was amazing to see source code for projects that I had worked on a decade ago or more ago. Very cool.
This weekend I'm going on a hunt for all of my diskettes so I can get every inch of data off and archived onto CD. That way the data will exist for at least another couple of decades before I have to move it to the next storage format.
Pretty cool that my children will be able to go through my collection and see everything I've done.
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| | Volkswagen Crash Commercial
Posted: Apr 24, 2006, at 06:49 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
Volkswagen has started running these new commercials that really tick me off. They start off with people in the car discussing some lame topic, and then out of nowhere, they get slammed in the front or the side by a truck or a car. You're not expecting the sudden violence and to see someone's car just completely smashed in out of nowhere is violence on an extreme level.
I try very hard to keep violence away from my children on television. There is a great deal of it out there. Now, Volkswagen has shoved violence in our faces by tricking us with their obscene commercials.
Now when I see Volkswagen commercials, I immediately change the channel. Their marketing scheme has failed on me because now I don't give a damn how safe they're touting their cars - I am not watching.
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| | Happy Anniversary Dad, 24 Years And Counting
Posted: May 17, 2006, at 06:40 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
On May 17th, 1982 I was adopted by my (now) father, David.
Left to Right, Lorraine (Foster Guardian), Me 14 years old,
and my new father, David in a blue suit.
I was a scrawny 70 pound kid who was given a chance by a man with a heart of gold.
After spending the first 12 years of my life in Utah Foster Care, going through 28 homes, abused both mentally and physically for a great deal of that time - this man set me free.
I quickly aged my new father by twenty years over the next 8 years.
Dad, I love you - thank you for loving me. Thank you for setting me free. Thank you for being tenacious enough to put up with me and teach me that someone could love me and that the people in my past were wrong to do what they did. Thank you for showing me that there was love in the world and that I could also love.
Thank you, I love you - and can't wait to see you and let you see your grandchildren this July.
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| | Irregardless Of What You May Think, It's Still A Word And Though Logically Absurb, It's A Wonderful English Blunder
Posted: Sep 22, 2006, at 12:07 PM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
ir-re-gard-less [ir-i-gahrd-lis]
-adverb Nonstandard.
See: REGARDLESS.
[Origin: 191015; ir-2 (prob. after irrespective) + regardless]
Usage note Irregardless is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less. It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable. Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis. Irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.
Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.
My favorite part of this word is how it makes english majors cringe.
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 | Writing In Journals
Posted: Sep 25, 2006, at 05:26 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
I have been writing in my journals for 19 years now. 19 years is a long time. I started writing in my journals shortly after September 18th, 1987. I'm surprised that I didn't start writing earlier considering I've had computers since 1982. Of course, I didn't have the media or the ability to print my journals until much later. I was printing my 1987 journals on a dot matrix printer that wasn't set to bold. I'm actually concerned about that because my 1987 journal is beginning to fade.
In actuality I began writing journals in 1980, the last year that I was in the Hill's foster family. Imagine, 26 years ago, I was in foster care. Just 26 years ago.
I think over the next few years I am going to begin compiling my journals into a media format that can be saved for future generations. I think my daughter and son will want those journals for the future, especially if they have children and want to know who their grandfather was.
Who is their grandfather? Can you really understand who I am by my journals? Probably in my earlier days you could, up through say 1993, but as time goes on and I become more comfortable with myself and my life, I begin to write less. And even when I'm having difficulties in my life, I tend not to write. And I think that's a problem in itself. When you have trouble with your life, you tend to write more. When things are going smoothly, you write less. If you are truly open and not afraid of what you are writing, then you write exactly how you feel and how you are acting. When you are afraid of putting down your feelings, you write less because you're afraid of the words appearing in front of you. You are afraid of what other people will think.
I think the best writing I ever did was in 1990 through 1993. I was no longer afraid. I didn't care what anyone thought. I figured that nobody would ever read it anyway and therefore I wrote my heart out. Because of that, in 1990 I did over a 1000 pages. In 1991, I did nearly 1500 pages. In 1992, probably somewhere around 800 pages, and then it dropped from there. Today, being busy and a father, I write whenever I get the chance. No longer do I write constantly - like at work and so forth.
Today I have over 8,000 pages of personal journals. That's a lot of writing. This year has probably been my least journal writing - as I've documented more on my website than I have in personal journals. I figure that I'll document out my website into readable format and combine it with my personal journal (about 180 pages this year) and that'll be that.
I encourage everyone to write a personal journal. Something that nobody else is going to read. Make sure that if you lock it - (ie. password protect it) - put your password somewhere that someone can get it in the event that something happen to you (ie. you get hit by a Mack truck). A journal is a good way for personal therapy. The more you write the more you will understand yourself. I've written thousands of pages in my journal. Thousands. Sometimes (in the case of 1991, over 1500 in one year).
I understand that some religious organizations such as Mormonism ask people to keep journals. I think it's a good idea. Remember: Some of the very best works of literature, art and music have come from people who are depressed and have written about it. Write a journal - even if you keep a website blog (like this one), write a journal because there is shit you will write in your journal that you're not going to write on your blog. A journal helps you write out your feelings - it helps you understand yourself. Even if you are deathly afraid of what you're writing - write it anyway. When you can get to a point where you write regardless of what you "think" others will think of you - you will begin to heal yourself.
Write - it may be the only thing you leave behind.
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 | "I've Never Seen Such Speed Before"
Posted: Oct 3, 2006, at 05:32 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
I was looking through my 1996 journal and came across this gem:
This week I get my new computer. It's a 75mhz Pentium with 16mb of RAM and a 1.6gb drive. Flying, with a Quadspeed and SB-16 Pro. It's got the new Windows '95. Won't be using DOS applications any more. This is the fastest machine I've ever seen!
In March of this year I upgraded to a P4 560 running 3600mhz with 2 gig of 533mhz memory. The chip actually has stamped on it "Intel Confidential" and we have overclocked it to 4200 mhz.
I wonder what I will be upgrading to in 10 years.
"Michael, would you like to play a game of chess?"
"No Hal, just reset the interactive Pr0n server and queue up Misty."
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 | The Lies About Savings Behind Grocery Membership Cards
Posted: Dec 3, 2006, at 11:36 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
I have been shopping at Smiths Food King (a local supermarket chain) for over 18 years and I have watched it change both in size, mentality and in prices.
A few years back the big heads at Smiths Food King decided they wanted to begin tracking what their consumers were purchasing so they could target those customers with advertisements and goods.
When you sign the card, you agree to the following. Use of the card allows the management of Smith's to keep records of all the products purchased by each patron using the cards. In return, the patrons receive discounts on their purchases. The form filled out and signed by the people applying for the card contains the following in fine print at the bottom of the form.
I understand that when I present my Fresh Values Card, Smith's will keep a record of the products I purchase for it's own internal use. I also understand that from time to time I may receive direct mail offers from Smith's which may contain valuable coupons, offers, or samples. The Information which I provide Smith's and the records of the products will not be sold or given to any third party. By checking this box, I am indicating that I do not wish to receive offers. Please present this card every time you shop any Smith's stores to receive your valuable discounts.
One danger in this is that it will help desensitize people to government intrusions into their personal lives.
Smiths called their new tracking system the "Fresh Values Card" and tempted customers with an initial 10% to 20% off their entire grocery bill - a one time savings. To Smiths's dismay, most customers didn't want to be tracked by the corporation and refused to fill out a subscription and obtain a card.
Smiths then decided to change tactics and raised the prices of everything in the store by 5% to 10%. Then they raised that price by 10% to 20% - and some items as high as 50% - and then lowered the prices "With the Fresh Values Card" back to the 5% to 10% first increase stating that customers who were Fresh Value Members would be saving money.
This effectively forced customers to apply and carry membership cards at Smiths. Now the corporation could track the customer spending and purchasing habits - and could in turn target them with advertisements. Those who did not carry membership cards were charged outrageous prices. Employees at the check out stands would circle the "Savings" the customers were obtaining by using the card. In reality there are no savings and has never been savings - it is simply forced membership and fake savings. What the checker should say is, "This is what you didn't get charged extra because you used your card."
When this new corporate tracking system went into place, other grocery stores such as Albertsons claimed "You don't have to have a membership card for savings here" - however; they also caved in and began using "Preferred Savings" (as they call it) and tracking their customers as well.
Now most all grocery chains have membership cards - forcing patrons to register and be tracked - or pay outrageous sums for goods. Now we're used to it, as we're just another Customer ID to mega corporations who track every penny we spend.
So when you go the supermarket and the checker circles your receipt and states "You saved $$ today!" - just smile. It isn't the checker's fault - it's the corporation. And know you didn't save anything - you just avoided paying the hyper-inflated costs by selling your soul for corporate sake.
From WIKI:
Critics see the lower prices and rewards as bribes to manipulate customer loyalty and purchasing decisions, or as a case of infrequent-spenders subsidising frequent-spenders. Others worry about the commercial use of the personal data collected as part of the programmes. It is also highly likely that consumer purchases are tracked and analyzed towards more efficient marketing and advertising (in fact one of the purposes of the loyalty card). There also remains the possibility that law enforcement agencies could be granted access to the stored information during an investigation of a customer's activities. For example, in 2004, a Winn-Dixie key-ring card was left behind at the scene of the crime, which led to the criminal.
When I go to Costco, I can hand my card to one of the numerous employees running around with hand-held scanners. With a quick swipe they can tell me my name, address, social security, frequency of my shopping, how much I'd spent at any given time (month, day, year) - and other information about my shopping habbits.
From Seattle PI:
Diana Buist, an epidemiologist in Seattle, was recently shopping at Costco when a cashier scanned her membership card and told her she had spent $2,600 this year. The clerk said that if her spending pattern continued, she was on her way to becoming an "executive member."
"I was horrified that information was in this hand-held piece, and they just announced it at the checkout line, in front of everybody standing there," said Buist.
"I have absolutely no idea how those data are stored and the length to which (businesses) go to protect our identity."
Costco Wholesale Corp. Chief Executive James Sinegal, the company's only spokesman, was out of the country Wednesday and unavailable to comment.
Personally I cancelled my "Executive Membership" at Costco. Regular membership is $50, Executive is $100. You have to spent enough to cover the secondary $50 bucks before you actually start to make money back with their "Cash Back Rewards". I earned $47.85 last year, so regular membership at Costco cost me $52.15 - an extra $2.15 that went into the pockets of Costco. And how does Costco give you your "Cash Back Rewards"? They give it to you in the form of a Check that can ONLY BE USED AT COSTCO. So basically last year when I paid $100 bucks for that Executive Membership, what I really did was buy myself a $47.85 dollar gift certificate only good at Costco - and that could not be used for one year.
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| | Tonight I Heard From An Old Friend
Posted: Dec 7, 2006, at 06:55 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
Tonight I heard from my old friend John - and it totally made my day - no, make that my week.
John and I grew up coding together in the early 80's. We both had Atari 800 computers with tape drives.
We both wrote a lot of code and played a lot of games together, like Blue Max:
And of course, my absolute favorite, Ultima II:
I wrote 18 "Arm Chair" adventures, starting with Adventure #1 - Count Crisco's Castle. My friend John played through every single one of them.
An interesting note that when his mother put her house up for sale - I bought it and have lived in it ever since. John later moved to Texas where he is a Software Engineer (but of course).
I haven't talked with John in years and it was so good to read his email this week saying "HELLO INFYMUS!".
Hello John, I have missed you.
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| | Almost Christmas, And We're All Sick
Posted: Dec 23, 2006, at 09:18 AM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
Only two more days until Christmas and I have one hell of a nasty cold. I'm so tired of coughing and now little Spencer has it, which means Momma and Lexi are not far behind. I seriously dislike winter, but I totally hate colds in winter. It's so friggin miserable! Argh!
Ah well. Dope up and drink a lot of fluids.
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| | Happy New Year 2007!
Posted: Dec 31, 2006, at 11:59 PM
Stored Under Topic: INFYMUS 2006 -GUID-
Posted By: Infymus | | |
I'm on about my sixth drink and it's only 7pm, so...
Happy new year to all the friends of the Hφenies. I have only the best wishes for everyone in this new year. Please have a safe and happy new year!
Infymus,
Michael S. Hφenie and the Hφenie family!
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