Category: news

Personal Update 201411 | 30 November 2014 | Sunday

Greetings,

I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.

This month I’ve been busy on a few fronts including small houses, wellness practices, technology support, and consumer advocacy.

Small Houses. There’s been a lot of activity lately in the small house movement. Interest is high. The Small House Society Facebook page has over 12,000 likes and the website has over 15,000 cumulative subscribers. Today I posted an article about the need for a small house land caretaker needed in Washington State. That page has had 10,000 visits in the past few hours, and over 100,000 views on Facebook. This past week I was able to do a small living interview with Jay Shafer and Don Otto on Iowa Public Radio. I enjoyed having the opportunity to connect with Jay and Don on the topic of housing. I was in Maryland at the time, staying in a tiny cabin while on vacation.

Wellness. I’ve continued my work on researching wellness practices, with my own body as the laboratory. To help stay fit, I’m planning to ride my bicycle through the colder Iowa winter months on my daily commute. Lately I’ve been testing the impact of maintaining a hybrid diet of low glycemic index foods, low carb foods, and almost eliminating sugar, sweets, and caffein. The typical foundational elements remain such as getting plenty of quality sleep, staying hydrated, and taking a robust and comprehensive portfolio of vitamins, minerals, and other supplements. The diet seems to be working well so far for weight loss, maintaining energy, and maintaining optimal blood glucose levels. The blood glucose level ends up being an excellent measure of overall health since it’s lowered by exercising and eating nutritious foods.

Technology. In November I wrote over 20 support articles about technology on the IowaCityTechnologyServices.com website. The topics cover mobile devices, networking, hardware, software, and more. You can scroll through the news feed to get an idea of what’s been posted recently.

Consumer Advocacy. Since September I’ve been communicating with Republic Wireless and Motorola about a specific misrepresentation in advertising that was impacting both companies. It took a couple months, but Republic Wireless finally made a public statement clarifying the issue. As you might imagine, with this kind of work there’s rarely any public acknowledgement of fault, or statement of appreciation. So, it’s hard to know the actual impact of my involvement, but I’m glad the issue is corrected. If you’re interested, you can read more details.

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

~ Greg

__________

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began over a decade ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways, health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.

Personal Update 201410 | 31 October 2014 | Friday

Greetings,

I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.

This past month I’ve been spending most of my time posting articles on my technology website IowaCityTechnologyServices.com.

I’ve been seeing what seems like a trend, not just with technology specifically, but systems and processes in general. I’m seeing is an increase in system failures. In the area of product design (software and hardware) it seems that even the most rudimentary product testing hasn’t been done. Usability issues that just about anyone would notice and encounter in the first few minutes of using a product have been overlooked by the developers and testers.

For example, with the release of Apple Yosemite (Apple’s new operating system), basic software programs and processes that people use daily don’t work or work poorly. There are user interface problems or quirks. These aren’t the expected bugs one finds in any new product. Some have existed in previous versions as well. This is significant because it shows that even Apple, a company that is thought to specialize in quality design, is now showing signs of not thoroughly thinking through and testing their hardware and software designs. One expects to encounter problems with low-end products, but not with premium products.

When you go to the online Apple community support forum, you’ll find thousands of people having the same problems. It’s not a user issue. It’s a design issue. Sometimes these crowds of consumers complain about a problem for months before something is done about it.

I’m finding what seems to be an increase in poor practices among companies in general. Decisions are made that favor efficiency and profits over quality or the human impact. Practices are established that are short-sighted. Customer service has been replaced by online community forums where customers must help each other. Companies are dumping untested and poorly designed products on the market and then expecting consumers to fend for themselves as they discover flaws and find solutions. Quality design and thorough testing are replaced by relying on the crowd-sourcing of consumer feedback and frustrations. Then, in the 2.0 version of something, the company fixes the things that consumers identified — often taking the consumers’ collective intellectual property and then patenting it as their own. Then, they sue their competitors over those same innovations.

I’ve reported about some of these issues on my consumer advocacy website, ConsumerDefenseResourceGroup.com.

In general, what all this means is that it takes longer to get things done these days. As a technical support person, I probably see more of these issues and notice when they are wide-spread. For example, a common practice among Internet service providers is to charge a premium rate for faster Internet service, but deliver performance that’s only 10% of what’s promised. It takes multiple calls and service requests to fix the problem, and then over time, the poor quality returns. I’ve seen this happen with multiple clients of mine. In those cases, I put on my consumer advocacy hat (as well as my technologist hat) and fight for the consumer’s right to get what they have been paying for, and be reimbursed for what they weren’t given.

I’m going to continue documenting these product design flaws and consumer issues. I think it helps people who might have otherwise felt they were alone in their frustrations with poorly designed products and poor consumer practices.

In my next update I’ll cover more news beyond technology and consumer issues.

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

~ Greg

__________

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began as a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways, health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.

Personal Update 201409 | 30 September 2014 | Tuesday

Greetings,

I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.

Wellness. I’ve been experimenting with a new wellness program I’m developing. On the program, I was able to lose about 8 pounds and the program has a positive impact on blood pressure as well as blood sugar levels. The diet portion of the program excludes breads, foods high in refined sugar, and drinks with caffeine. Cheese is used as an effective appetite suppressant (effective once breads, sugars, and caffeine is removed). The exercise component involves strength training, bicycle riding, and walking. I’m still tweaking the system and documenting the results. I’ll probably write more about this on my SuperShrinkMe.com website.

Ubuntu Linux. Last month I began using the Ubuntu Linux operating system. This newsletter is being created using Ubuntu. With Ubuntu as my primary computing platform, most of what I do will be done using Ubuntu. From my initial experiences over the past few weeks, I’ve written up an extemporaneous listing of the software needed for completing most tasks in Ubuntu. I’m hoping the move to Ubuntu will help me be more able to support others who choose Ubuntu.

Social Networks. For quite a few months I’d been staying regularly active on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and other social networks. This month I took a break from being online so much, and took more time off-line to refocus on my priorities while evaluating how effective social network are as a method for actually accomplishing anything. I’ll write more about this in future articles.

Technology Writing. Most of the writing I’ve been doing this past month has been technology related. You can read those articles on the IowaCityTechnologyServices.com website News Feed.

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

~ Greg

__________

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began as a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways, health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.

Personal Update 201408 | 31 August 2014 | Sunday

Greetings,

I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.

New Web Page Header Images. If you visit my About Greg Johnson website, you’ll notice that there are now new header images for the website. Some of these are from my trip out west this summer.

Ubuntu Linux. Today I switched from using the Apple operating system over to Ubuntu Linux. The transition was surprisingly easy. This newsletter is being created using Ubuntu. With Ubuntu as my primary computing platform, most of what I do will be done using Ubuntu.

Here are some of the benefits to using Ubuntu:

• Versatile. Ubuntu installs and runs on Windows computers and Apple computers. It runs quite well on older used computers that cost around $150. It also runs on the $40 Strawberry Pi B+ computer. If you have a mix of older Apple and Windows computers lying around, you can get them all running with Ubuntu.
• Low Cost. It’s available for free, although you may want to donate something toward development.
• Quick Setup. It installs fairly quickly without much configuring.
• Compatible. Because it includes the LibreOffice suite (a free equivalent to Microsoft Office), there’s no need to pay for and install additional software.
• Mobile Ready. If you use cloud storage for files, or an external drive, you can be up and running in minutes. For those using Google Chrome and Google Drive, your files and favorite bookmarks can be quickly available.

I’m hoping the move to Ubuntu will help me be more able to support others who choose Ubuntu. For those hesitant to continue spending hundreds or thousands of dollars annually on computers and software, this might be an option worth considering.

Technology Writing. Most of the writing I’ve been doing this past month has been technology related. You can read those articles on the IowaCityTechnologyServices.com website.

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

~ Greg

__________

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began as a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways, health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.

Personal Update 201407 | 31 July 2014 | Thursday

Greetings,

I hope your summer is going well. Mine has been really enjoyable. In June I went with my wife and in-laws on a ten-day road trip from Iowa City to Cody, Wyoming and visited Yellowstone National Park. It was a really nice break. I’ve been delayed on getting my photos posted from that trip, but hope to get those online soon.

Fitness. As mentioned last month, I’ve been doing some fitness training with Marq Divine. You can learn more at MarqDivine.com/Fitness or click here to view my workout recap videos.

Palestine-Israel News. I’m sure some of you have been following the news from Palestine and Israel recently. Having Palestinian and Israeli friends, I’ve challenged myself to find ways to offer constructive criticism and support for both sides. Sadly, both sides are losing the current war.

• Website. I’ve launched a website called PalestineIsraelNews.com to feature and promote some of the affirming, collaborative, inclusive, and meaningful efforts being made between various religious and secular groups.
• Facebook Page. In an effort to aggregate the moderate and extremist narratives from all perspectives, I’ve created a Palestine Israel News Facebook page to post news from all sides.  There’s not been much interest in the page so far, because people generally like to be immersed in those things that reinforce their own opinions rather than being challenged to understand others’ views.

If you’re inclined I’d encourage you to check out these resources.

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

~ Greg

__________

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began as a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways, health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.

Personal Update 201405 | 30 May 2014 | Friday

Greetings,

If we’re not already connected on Facebook, please visit my new Facebook page and click Like.

During the month of May, I’ve been doing more with photography. Just about every week, I’ve been uploading my favorite photos. My photo collection for May 24-30 are mostly from a trip to the Des Moines Zoo and downtown area, as well as some photos from my early morning walks. Previous photo collections are also available for viewing online.

Most of my online content this past month has been related to reporting on our two Johnson County Attorney candidates as well as maintaining the Johnson County Justice Center website and Facebook page.

For those following current justice issues and trends, our County Attorney candidates are interesting and inspiring. For an overview you can read my article on the candidates and issues. As you may know, there’s a big push nationally to establish collaborative data-driven outcomes-based approaches to justice services. So, it’s an interesting time to be following developments in justice reform. In addition to marijuana legalization, and clemency programs, leadership are advocating retroactive discretion. The FBI is considering the loosening of their employment policy to allow the hiring of marijuana users. The White House and Justice Department are planning to release thousands of crack cocaine users from prisons nation-wide.

Our current County Attorney, Janet Lyness, has worked with local law enforcement, education administrators, and dozens of “upstream” youth-serving agencies to see if we can reduce undesirable future outcomes (such as crime, arrest, and incarceration) by creating opportunities and support networks for at-risk-youth and their families. Youth involved with programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters are 46% less likely to use illegal drugs. It’s not surprising then, that overall, mentoring programs have been shown to reduce violent crime by 44%. This preventative approach seems to be working and costing far less than paying for incarcerating people. Johnson County now has one of the lowest incarceration rates on the planet. Given the U.S. average for incarceration, a county of similar size might have over 900 people incarcerated on any given day, our daily average of 127 is an accomplishment. At a recent community forum, education administrators, law enforcement officials, and those involved in juvenile justice discussed the desire to have at-risk youth connected directly to the services and support they need while skipping past any criminal charges when problems arise. The current workflow includes the costly and resource draining process of giving kids a permanent criminal record before connecting them to the services that help get them out of trouble. This new approach would correct or prevent issues without the criminal justice system being involved.

While we’ve managed to become a world leader in reducing incarceration rates, we’re unfortunately continuing to experience some of the same racial disparity issues as many other areas, and in fact we’re the worst in the nation when it comes to racial bias outcomes. On June 4, 2013, the findings of a national ACLU study concluded that Iowa is the worst state in the nation when it comes to racial bias. The press release stated: “A Black Person in Iowa Is More Than 8 Times as Likely to be Arrested for Possession Than a White Person, Despite Equal Usage Rates.” That’s not exactly what we want our state to be known for. John Zimmerman is running for the County Attorney position with a desire to address racial disparity as well as other issues (economic disparity, pretrial detention, victimless offenses, etc.). Zimmerman has decades of experience in social justice, has served as a pastor, and now has a law degree. His campaign Facebook page has about 3,000 likes which is impressive, considering that most local candidates in an election might have a few hundred likes.

You can read more about these and other issues on the JCJusticeCenter.com website.

I’ve been providing website support for some local non-profit groups, including the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.

Given how busy I was with other projects, this past month I only posted a few articles on the Iowa City Technology Services website. See under Recent Posts on that site.

Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.

~ Greg

__________

Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began as a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways, health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.