As I mentioned I now have a Canon Rebel DSLR and I got it yesterday and took it outside right away. Here is a sample of my first attempts.

​Years ago I took 2 years of professional photography training and worked on a major motion picture with a small walk-on roll. That of course is the basis for my interest in photo/video art. Now It has been many years since I have used a professional camera, but recently I started up again and I will be posting some of my photos here, not to brag, but to share.

I have noticed a few changes, terms has changed. “Rules of Thirds” is not longer used, instead they now “explain” in detail what framing and subject off center is. Why not teach “Rules of Thirds” and continue to teach the principal. I recently spoke with a young wedding photographer and to my surprise he had no idea what “Rules of Thirds” was. I also read the manual for my camera and was stunned by the fact that very childish terms are now used for the big photo words of the 1980's. Sure ISO, F-Stop, etc is still in the picture (ha) but so many principal concepts are gone. In one case I said “frame them between ‘this and that’” and in the photo there is a real picture frame coming out of the subjects head. Another feature being defaulted with today’s cameras and being taught it “mass snap”. Back in the days of roll film you had 12-24 frames to get the shot, so that met doing it right the first time. Cameras today are defaulted to take as many as 4 images with a single click, and iin some cases 3 that are combined into one. One manual I read instructed the photographer “set the camera to Automatic and take several show of the subject” it then instructed them to choose the best one and photo edit it. You realize of course ones who practice that is NOT a photographer. I have also learned that many “professional wedding photographers” do not know how to pose their subject. Well anyway it’s just the way the world of photography is today, anyone can buy a camera, set it to take photos and call themselves a “wedding photographer”. I will not make such a claim, I have never used one of these modern DSLR cameras and this is my first encounter with them so it is all a learning experience.  

​Forbes has a weekly column called “Microsoft Monday” I like to think of it as “Manic Monday” you simply have no idea what Microsoft intends to drop on you regarding their WMD. (Windows Managed Desktop)
So in a new leak Microsoft is rumored to plan on releasing a “major” update regarding WMD somewhere around March-May of 2019, nearly 6-8 months ahead of earlier rumors. At this point I suggest that anyone who will leave Microsoft and Windows 10 when they start charging the monthly fee to start making arrangements.
I have had many conversations with my family and several of my friends on a course of action. I will present the 3 points we discussed.

1) I Installing Android or Linux on a Dell Venue. Although you will find those who have managed to get the OS installed it was not without challenges and in the end failure. In a partnership with Microsoft OEM computer companies are producing devices that will only run Windows and rumor has it that when Microsoft releases WMD all OEM hardware will be proprietary to Windows only.

2) Apply devices. I have to admit I was anti-Apple most of...well all of their existence. Why, because their OS was proprietary to their hardware and they charged too much for their devices, now that Microsoft is moving to that same format my reason for dislike is spread even. Due to years of disdain of Apple I have never learned anything about them. I mean I do not know what is even current in their tablet market or laptops. I do not have any working knowledge of Apple at all. So for me and my family we will have to pass Apple by.

3) Android + Windows 7 or Linux. Well this 3rd option may end up the most popular. For home use we will use Windows 7 computers set to NOT check for updates and never check for updates. This also means practicing “Safe Browsing”. It’s something everyone should do anyway but there is added reason to do so after January 2020 since Microsoft does not intend to update Windows 7 and this includes Defender. So avoid the following sites, gambling, online gaming, coupon discount sites, some free software sites, all sites with .ru at the end, to good to be true sites, porn sites, free stuff sites, etc. If you use Google Chrome or Firefox you can install addons that alert you to dangerous sites. For tablet use we will be returning to Android. I have been doing research (we used Android before Windows 10 was released) and have found the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1" to be what we will return to. My family intends to get the one with the S-Pen. (Samsung if you read this you can send me 3 to review) 

Microsoft could not financially survive too long with giving Windows 10 away and this was not without talk in the days that Microsoft was giving it away, but it still is frustrating and disappointing. I enjoy my Windows 10 tablet and with the continued rumors of the impending released of WMD my family and I may make the move sooner then expected.  

​The cop who thought he could fly.

Recently in the town of Livingston.....back story needed.
Most of the patrol officers in Livingston are very young men. Few have been to the academy, in fact you can serve for 2 years as a police officer before having to go to the academy. These who are hired off the street do not have to know what th 1st or 4th amendment is, or know it exist. They do not have to read the drivers manual or understand the word civil. They are hired, given a gun and told to go.
Another feature of the police in Livingston is the mayor will not give proper funding to the chief so he can afford to pay the offices a progressive wage. In nearly all cases once the new kids get some police training they move on to another better paying town. So Livingston police are under trained and under staffed and way under paid, and it shows.

So one of our younger officers was having trouble with his patrol car, in fact he had to stop a pursuit due to the issues he felt he had. One his next shift he reported it to his supervisor and his supervisor told him to test it and to hit pursuit speeds. Now this young officer has the night shift and trusted his supervisor so he obeyed his supervisor and took his car to the Livingston airport to hit pursuit speed on the runway.... during a cloud covered night. The runway is designed for AIRPLANES not cars, so there are no stop lights at car level at the end of the runway, and the end of the runway is not an open field but a cliff, over a sub-division.
The young officer obeying his more educated supervisor starts at the far end of the runway and takes off, hitting pursuit speeds, at that speed he will need about 1,000 feet to stop...stop...take off. Yes he did, he drove off the end of the runway at full pursuit speed, bounced off Airport Road and plunged 250 feet to the bottom. 
He lived, he was kept over night for observation, but he walked away with only minor injuries.
Now the young officer was a very inexperienced young man, so he could not have seriously thought through what could have happened...but his supervisor...he should have known better.

But the accident speaks loudly of the issues between the mayor and the chief and the lack of funds and proper education for the officers. This officer nearly died and in truth if he had the blood would have been on the mayor’s hands.  

​Options in Windows “To fee or not to fee...is that a question?”
I was watching TV on Sunday evening when I saw an advert for the new Surface Tablet, the advert did not mention any OS but the price impressed me. Recall that Microsoft said in their announcement of WMD (Windows Managed Desktop) they said the new Surface would have it preinstalled? Well the price on the Surface Go was $399.00, the Surface to customers was selling for $899.00 a huge drop. So why $399.00?
I looked it up and learned that the Surface Go has Windows S-Mode on it. Now Windows S has been around a few years but for Education, now it is going to consumer use.
Windows S-Mode is worse then WMD, WSM is perhaps a below the belt hit. A device with WSM on it is a Microsoft based device ONLY. You can only install Microsoft software from the Windows Store. You can’t install 32 or 64 bit software from ANY other company.
You MUST use the following exclusively...
1) Edge for Internet
2) Office 360 for production
3) Bing for searrching
etc etc...No Firefox and NOTHING made by Google, no Corel, no Openoffice, no Watchtower Library. 
Any software that runs on WSM must e produced by Microsoft.

So if you use the Watchtower Library it will NOT run on a Windows device with Windows S-Mode. This discovery caused me to dig deeper and I learned a very disturbing thing. With the Redstone 1803 update ALL Windows 10 devices had the Windows S-Mode downloaded and installed and it is sitting quietly by the side. 

So does it make sense for Microsoft to announce the release of Microsoft Managed Desktop for all Windows 10 devices and install Windows S-Mode on those very same devices? Think it through, Microsoft announces the future WMD for all Windows 10 devices then it is learned that all Windows 10 devices was installed with WSM...

Here is what I think Microsoft intends to do. I did not find this stated anywhere, but logic dictates that releasing WSM whiling announcing WMD lends itself to this conclusion.

Microsoft will offer users 2 options. When the time comes....for all Windows 10 devices

1) Downgrade to Windows S-Mode and continue to use you very expensive Windows 10 device. However choosing this option menas you must let Microsoft make all the choices of what software you will use and how you will use that software. But you will still be able to use the physical device that you paid for.

2) Pay the monthly fee to continue to use your Windows 10 device and allow Microsoft to control the security, updates, etc...and you pay each month to use it.

I learned some other things on Sunday. Microsoft will bundle some items. Windows 10 + Office 360 users will pay less overall. I am sure that Microsoft will also make deals with other software companies to bundle their software as well.

So all the above is nerve racking enough, well perhaps this will make you cry. Microsoft said with they announced the WMD that the new Surface would not be released until after March 2019, it is NOT March 2019, it is August 2018, 7 months before. So Microsoft released the new Surface (if this is the one they were talking about) 7 month ahead of when they said they would. Could it be that WMD will be released sooner than January 2020? With Microsoft S-Mode already installed and ready to go, how easy would it be for Microsoft to flip the switch any time they want.
I would view Microsoft’s announcement of a January 2020 released date as a diversion and every day be prepared to make that awful forced choice.

​Linux Rising - 2019

In digging deeper into Microsoft’s fee based OS I have discovered a few more uglies.
1) MS has been testing this with a private company since 2005, that is pre Windows 8.
2) It was written in the FREE TOS of the free upgrade to W10
3) Worst of all, the last few Windows updates (think Creators & 1803) have included much of the fee based OS. The last update included features for TimeLine and resume transfer, both are cloud based features, now I understand.

According to a source from Australia that works for MS the update that will unleash the fee based system should be called simply “Windows” no 11 not code name just “Windows”. It should change the properties window in your computer from “Windows 10" to “Windows”. 

Since most of the future OS is already installed and ready to go on all Windows 10 devices (remember updates are no longer optional) about the only thing for MS left to do is apply the fee code, or “Windows” code.
For the home user the name is reported to be “Windows Managed Desktop” now the acronym for that is WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction).

So the name of this post is “Linux Rising - 2019" why? I strongly feel that MS has at last opened the door to wide spread personal use of Linux. Several things will happen in 2019.

1) Windows 7 systems on eBay and sites like LSN will sell fast and high. With W7 you can turn off the update options and as long as you are not surfing to dangerous sites use it on the Internet. We currently have 3 systems running Windows 7 and I intend to purchase several more, I am stock piling Windows 7 systems for the start of MS-WMD. 
2) Linux has come a long way and many users can’t tell the difference between it and Windows and Linux is able to run many Windows programs. I believe the Linux community will step up very soon and start to make the “Windows User Friendly” request because by the end of 2019 Linux may just be on more personal devices then Windows.

I do have a request for the Linux community. If there is a means please work out the bugs to get Linux working flawlessly on devices such as the Dell Venue 5055 and 5130 and the 7000 series. I have already started my research into installing Linux on my Dell Venue 5130 and currently there are several major issues. It would be a nice take down to MS to get Linux working as a smooth tablet alternative.

The most upsetting part of this MS announcement is...they are violating my personal rights. I bought (meaning I paid money for and I am at the poverty level) my  tablet. I paid cash for my Dell Venue, and soon I will not be able to use it, unless I pay to use what I paid for all ready. That amazes me. I have to pay to use something I paid for.

I believe the Linux Community will become mainstream and I believe that 2019 will see a surge in Linux users and I believe “Linux Rising - 2019" will happen. 

I still think the fee based, cloud based version of Windows is a violation of the GDPR. That alone may stop the madness.

​Dear Microsoft

RE: Your release of WMD (Windows Managed Desktop)

Please don’t.
I paid for my Dell Venue and my wife’s and we are a family of little means. We can’t afford Netflix, cable, satellite or even in home Internet. We do not smoke, use drugs or even drink wine (maybe a bottle a year). We manage to put food on the table and pay the utilities and keep the fire burning in the winter, but I can’t afford to pay to use something I already bought. 

Microsoft, if you choose to implement your WMD on the world keep in mind that there are millions just like me. Let’s consider facts. Of the nearly 8 billion people on Earth only a little over 2 billion have regular access to the Internet. In most developing areas of the planet most devices have Linux on them due to it being more practical and free. So of the 2 billion people that have regular access to the Internet, it is likely less than half use a Windows device. Granted those that do, one user may use several Windows devices, but here is a hard reality.
 
Of the 500+ million users that use a Windows based device, many struggle just like my family. I will not put a fee based OS ahead of food on the table. If I will not pay for Internet, cable, Netflix, or Satellite then it stands to reason I will not pay for your WMD. Consider how many millions of families struggle and how many will have to make that choice. A per device fee and many families have several devices, most families will feed their children first.

Like me these families will look for something else and they will find Linux and leave you. But it is apparent you intend to go through with this madness of releasing your WMD, so I have already canceled my Office 360 account, yes WordPerfect opens DOCX files just fine and I can save in DOCX, no problem. I also canceled my OneDrive account and am currently porting everything over to my Google Drive. (I call it Gdrive) 
You have convinced yourself that the general public will pay for this and it will be a success, many people with WMD’s have done the same, 
“What are we going to do tonight Brain?”
“Try to take over the world Pinky.”

My family and all my friends that I have talked to are leaving you when you unleash your WMD, I do not wish you any goodwill, you stole my Venue.

A former supporter.