Started my own practice with my wife. Having lots of fun setting up the place. It’s amazing having a dream finally come to fruition.

Microsoft Quarterly Revenue Falls

I am inclined to believe that the root of the problem lies with Vista and I know I am not alone. Despite the economy, MSFT shot themselves in the foot. This is the situation I am in. I can’t update my website because Vista is extremely temperamental. Some of the site is powered by Java beans and JSP which is run through Caucho’s Resin. After some really bad experiences, I can’t program any updates to my modules that would otherwise improve my site.

I also love gaming. The only games that run OK are Warhammer Online, Halo 2 (and that only runs well with a Xbox 360 wired game pad and also jams LIVE down your throat), and Supreme Commander which is a real-time strategy game. I’ve purchased about 4 others that crash to desktop or cause the computer to commit seppuku. So what”s a PC gamer to do? In the case of Vista, switch to a console. Fortunately, having a Wii or Playstation 3  will get you out of that bind. Sadly there are a lot of great games I want to play, but my computer [AMD Phenom x4 2.6 Ghz chip with 2 Gigs of RAM ] has been reduced to a word processor/browser. Sony and Microsoft have been competing heavily. Now that I can’t use my computer the way Bill Gates thinks I should, looks like I’ll be playing Dead Space into the wee hours of the night on my PS3.

I have never invested money in the stock market…and I’m glad I never did. A few years ago, my brother managed to gather about 3 grand that he wanted to invest. He asked for my advice. We both didn’t know anything about investing, but we consulted many online resources, such as The Motley Fool and others. Within this past decade, we have seen 2 financial bubbles burst: The internet bubble which affected me directly by evaporating any chance for landing a job within a reasonable amount of time and the current housing bubble which burst because banks were lending money willy-nilly without giving any thought to one’s finances. This risk was repackaged into securities that started going belly-up as soon as the foreclosures started to happen. With capital now tied up in houses that have been foreclosed and a decrease in buyers, banks are now (more…)

Vista is a true piece of garbage operating system reminiscent of Windows Millenium.  It is extremely geared towards DRM to the point that it’s not even worth buying any songs or videos out of fear of running out of licenses because of Vista’s  instability. Vista is like a diamond encrusted turd. It’s very pretty, no doubt about it, but fundamentally short of being useful. Microsoft has lost its way. It is writing software instead of operating systems.

Don’t believe the non-sense Mojave commercials. If Microsoft had any balls they would show someone bring in a program to install. They don’t because the look of horror on the face of the one installing the software would look as if someone had just killed their loved one as the machine commits suicide, right in front of the installer, to a brand new screen of death color.

Microsoft has basically declared war on the human race and would probably turn on humanity if Roswell really happened.

My advice is to stick with Windows XP or get an Apple. In retrospect, Apple has been excessively kind to Microsft in their advertisements. I would personally get an apple if the programs I like were on it.

As some of you may know, VSP has merged with Marchon. This in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, but it further shuts out the private opticals. Please refer to the OAA response to this. There is no reason for VSP to continue to maintain their current position. I would urge everyone who has Marchon in their office to make the necessary decisions to remove their merchandise from your offices until VSP changes their position.

Contact VSP

My submission is below:

As a licensed optician, I resent being excluded from your insurance plans. The merger doesn’t benefit licensed opticians at all. As someone who has used Marchon extensively, I will gladly replace all Marchon lines with other frame lines. It’s time to be fair. Eyemed, Cole Managed Care and others do not impose any rules similar to VSP. I urge you to consider a change in policy.

I will never be getting another Linksys product again. A router failed in an office that I work at. That router happened to be a linksys. I replaced it with an 8 port switch. When connecting all the computers to the switch, no network. The computers were all set up to accept DHCP IP assignments etc… Nothing. The switch would refuse to assign any computers an IP address except for one computer. I called up Linksys and got an exceptionally average tech support person. The person kept indicating that I needed to call Microsoft since there was internet connectivity on one machine DESPITE the fact that there was no Intranet. The Intranet aspect was more important since I needed several rooms to access the same information which was located on one machine. I happen to be a techie myself and the support person clearly refused to listen to what was happening or to what I was saying. I am returning the product. I know the difference between the different layers of networking. I needed an ethernet layer that was connected to a switch so it would support the Microsoft’s filesharing network.

As some of you may know, PA and TX are unlicensed states. There is a petition that is accepting signatures. This petition will eventually be brought up to their corresponding State Legislature. I think it is time that all states become licensed. I truly hope that this will start a nationwide trend. Also, the NCSORB has a survey that will help supply national exams with an understanding of opticians’ priorities in order to test them.

National Committee Of State Opticianry Regulatory Boards (NCSORB) survey.

You don’t have to be a resident of that state to sign the petition.

PA Opticians Licensure Petition

TX Opticians Licensure Petition

There is something really strange happening in the major news outlets. It’s getting harder and harder to find news sources that actually try to report news.

The surge in opinion media has affected the way we as regular citizens get our information. A notorious example is the use of weasel words as used by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. The use of weasel words needs to be eliminated because it presents a story as having two sides which is clearly NOT the case. These faux debates have added an element of uncertainty to public discourse. (more…)

A Refraction Course will be offered by the ROATx in our area for NY, NJ, PA and CT. This course is meant to be an introduction. It would be held on Saturday and Sunday. The course would be 10 hours and would cost $100. The course is to gauge interest in the certification of refraction. Of course, in NJ this wouldn’t hold any water as opticians in NJ can’t refract. Still, it would be something interesting and more importantly further opticianry through knowledge. The place will be determined by the participants. Please contact info@roatx.org for more details and enrollment info.