Kaptain Family Update
The Latest - 03 December 2006
- I ran for Texas State Senate on November 2006
Election Day 2006 was on November 7. I was on the ballot running for
Texas State Senate District 2 against
Senator Bob Duell as a
Libertarian Candidate.
I have been an offical Libertarian Party member since 2004 when I felt
betrayed by the Republican Party. They had sold me on small government only
to grow the government more than any administration EVER. Then, they start
stomping on the Constitution with such things as the poorly named Patriot Act.
Then in early 2006 the Libertarian party started activly canvising their members to run for
an office. Just to get names on the ballot. This way when voters see the
enough races, people will get curious and investigate who these Libertarians
are.
So I got 22,523 votes or 22% according to the Dallas Morning News on
November 8, 2006. It was fun talking to the reporters and getting calls
from people who wanted to know what I thought / would do about some issues.
I was just doing what I believe in. I'm not sure I'll do this again if I'm
asked but we'll see.
- LASIK Surgery
Every LASER pointer or product I've ever seen has strict warnings about not
pointing the LASER into your eye. On November 17, 2006 I had LASIK surgery
done on both eyes. After careful research I decided on
Dr. Gary Tylock.
My experience was good. After an initial visit where it was decided I was
even a candidate for the procedure I was given some eyedrops, instructions,
and the date for surgery. When I arrived for surgery, they gave me some valium
to mello me out and some eyedrops. The procedure is really easy. You just lay
on a table and look at a light. Fifteen seconds later, done! Next eye. Then
you move to another table about five feet to the left and repeat. Then you go
home and sleep. The valium makes it easy. Just in case they give you some
sleeping pills. When I got home my house was pretty busy so I couldn't sleep.
I took one of the pills and then it was Saturday morning. :-)
Today my vision is pretty good. My eyes are still recovering. It may take
as long as 12 weeks for complete recovery.
- I got my Pilot's license July 19, 2006
After years of threatening, I am finally going to get my private pilots
license. For all the dirty details see my flying
page.
- Home-school
We are still home-schooling our children.
Karen and I are still the presidents of
Mesquite Christian Home-School Association
although Karen does ALL the work. I do maintain the website, posting our
monthly newsletters and keeping the directory up to date. I also wrote
the web site and all the code underneath to manage the database.
- Español
I am STILL studying Spanish. I am getting better all the time.
A mi, ¡yo no puedo creerlo! ¿Qué estan pensando?
- Geek!
I am still a major LINUX fan who loves
computers and programming. I like to write in PERL/Tk. I also do very well
with PHP for web applications.
I am still pushing FOSS (Free Open Source
Software). I think everyone, yes this means you, should be using
Firefox for your web browser rather
than Internet Explorer and
Thunderbird
for your email rather than Outlook and
Open Office for your "office"
applications. Please check these programs out! I really mean it. They are
100% FREE, Stable and Secure! Using Firefox means you will not get
EVERY bug that's out there on the Internet just because you are
visiting web sites with Microsoft Internet Explorer®!
Thunderbird email client is designed to reduce SPAM and VIRUSES!
Using OpenOffice means you don't have to spend
$400 just to view a Microsoft Word® document or set up a spreadsheet like
in Excel®. If you want you can even make very nice presentations like
in Microsoft Powerpoint®.
If you are already using these programs and are comfortable with them,
maybe you should try LINUX? LINUX is a FOSS
operating system. You can download it for FREE! I have not paid for an
operating system since Windows 98®! LINUX runs very well and is quite
good for a desktop environment. If you want to give it a try, email me.
I'd be happy to discuss it with you.
If you are wondering why I care? It's just that Microsoft designed it's
products without considering security. Due to the ease of cracking/
infecting a Microsoft computer there are thousands of viruses, trojans, and
other nasty computer bugs out there. Using the FOSS programs I mentioned
will #1 help you keep the nastys out of your computer. #2 you will be
able to save a little money (for office at least). and #3 you will be a
better net citizen by keeping your machine bug free and not allowing it
to become a zombie controlled by crackers and spammers.
Friends don't let friends use proprietary software.
Here are some funny things I have picked up along the way:
If you understand these, you may have some geek in you.
If you think these are really funny (like me) you are hopeless :-)
- Roses are #FF0000 Violets are #0000FF
- There are only 10 kinds of people, those who understand binary and those
who don't.
- There's no place like 127.0.0.1
- Q. How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can
read hex? A. 57006.
send e-mail to Dennis
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Work like you don't need the money, Dance like nobody's watching,
and Love like you've never been hurt.