chris-portela.com

WOHO I’m on a cruise… Leaving as we speak on this blog. I’m bloggin with the 3g dongle I have … By the way this thing is AMAZING I love it.  So yea we are leaving and I will soon be posting links to pictures/videos and random documents me and my sister create like “Cruising Guidelines”… lol … you just wait till Wensday or thursday when keywest is around so we can get a 3g signal

I’ve taken on 2 new things to learn, C++ and Assembly. I know Assembly is rediculously difficult. I am learning that to help understand how things in a computer are really done. I am also learning C++ because it will also help me understand how the computer really works but it also allows me to try getting to the FOSS movement. Maybe I could even try switching to Linux since C++ development on Linux is a very popular option for programmers. Although I would loose the power and ease of use of the best IDE ever, Visual Studio. I think anyone who has used visual studio would say that it’s the(if not THE then ONE of THE) best IDE available for C++, C#, and VB.net. Because you CAN get alternatives from the open source world but they could never beat visual studio just because visual studio has been refined so much that it’s basically just adding new features as needed to the PLUGINs. Like for instance updating the C# plug-in to be C# 3.5 instead of 2.0 or 2.0 SP1 or 3.0.

But now I’m getting off topic. I really want to get into security stuff because I’ve become kind of paranoid about my information on my computer, and it’s with good reason too.

Ok I’ve been remaking the silverlight mail client in silverlight 3 which allows for navigation and a bunch of other cool things.
Only thing holding me back is that I can’t really access the service reliably and once I can the silverlight app will be able to be finished and posted for everyone to enjoy

These guys speak to me. When they writes an article they writes it from the perspective that I think I would view it and try to write it. But they do something I simply can not. That is spend the time and energy finding all this information about things and linking it all and all that good stuff. These guys posts blog stuff fast, well written and simply put its very good. with an average of like 5 posts a day (I know because I use outlook to get my RSS feeds and I am looking right now and see like 5-6 per day)

Really I just love these guys’ articles and I almost want to post them all here to share… but I might as well just give them the biggest thumbs up I can and tell you to go to their website and subscribe for your selves! I mean these guys makes a living off of this and I just do this for fun. Like a learning experience… So support the guys and visit the blog and subscribe to his RSS feed!

The RedState Blog(http://redstate.com)

On that blog site I personally think that the author Moe Lane (Red state-Moe Lane) is pretty good and Normally follow him the most.

Mexico, Don’t Blame Us

by Ted Nugent (more by this author)

Posted 04/08/2009 ET
Updated 04/09/2009 ET

Border security and gun control? No problem here. Got both. In fact, I have virtually perfected both culture war issues at Ground Nuge to the point of untouchable. You see, even though I am just a guitar player, these are the tip-o-the-spear culture war lies I have railed against for more than forty years. I control my borders, and I control my guns. Wild, huh?
Take, for example, the fact that the Nugent property has never been invaded, for we, like all life loving, law abiding Americans we know, have sent out a loud and clear message that even mentally deficient felon wannabes understand without pushing "1" for English: Invade my home, and I will kill you. Case closed. No invasions and no one killed. Perfect.
Reminds me of when Mayor Daley decreed to the National Guard and law enforcement "shoot to kill" all looters caught out after curfew during the 1968 Chicago riots. No one shot and no one killed and no one dared be on the streets of the Windy City, because everyone knew old Dick meant it. Well, this guy means it too. Good, effective, logical win-win policy. Maybe our government should give it a whack.
Now if I can do it, why can’t Fedzilla? I figured it out: because they don’t want to point their guns in the right direction. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano — she who kept Arizona’s border’s open to illegal immigrants and all the mayhem they can bring — thinks it’s all our fault. She — and Hillary, of course — buy into that absurd report that 90% of the guns involved in Mexican drug war killings come from America.
How can they be so dumb to fall for that? Well, they are liberals.
It matches nicely with the insane message that our unaccountable Fedzilla beast has been sending loud and clear to law breakers and America-haters for at least 30 years: Come one, come all to the good ol’ USA, invade us at will and we will reward you handsomely with all the healthcare, welfare and hand-held lessons in recidivism that an out-of-touch, anti-American government could possibly provide you with.
And the icing on the invader cake is that if any of our heroes of law enforcement, dedicated and sworn to defend our sacred U.S. Constitution and enforce our laws while, dare interfere with your invasion, we will give you a free get out of jail card while we actually imprison our own warriors if they shoot you in the butt.
Bring drugs, destroy America, bloodsuck us dry while maintaining allegiance to the corrupt hellhole of a tyranny you so desperately take your life into your own hands to escape, and you will be treated better than many Americans will be.
The producers of Planet of the Apes would reject a script like the one unfolding before our very eyes because it’s too stupid to believe. Too stupid, that is, for everybody but cult of denial leftists hell-bent on collaborating with the invaders to assist in the destruction of America from within. Liberalism is cannibalism.
Liberals are immune to facts. That’s why Hillary Clinton — when she’s not tossing ash trays at Bill — spouts the absurd lies that estimate over 90% of Mexican drug cartel guns come from the U.S., including the weapon of choice down there, the machine gun.
Lighten up, Hill baby. And write this down: the irrefutable fact of the matter is that the actual number of machine guns from the U.S. used by Mexican or any other criminals anywhere is zero. As in none, zilch, nada, nuthin, nary a one. You can’t just buy one in any U.S. gun store, and to get one at all requires a mountain of Fedzilla paperwork that few Americans are willing to put up with.
And according to ATF, DEA, FBI and every other boot on the ground on the border wars, at the very most "a possible 17% of semi-automatic rifles and standard handguns" can be traced back to a U.S. origin.
I’ll tell you where 90% of the gangbangers firepower comes from. All that artillery is supplied by the demonically corrupt Mexican government, their own “law enforcement” gangs and from places like China, Venezuela and an unstoppable pipeline of uncontrolled gunrunners from countries where guns are virtually banned from private citizens.
Mexican residents are not allowed to keep and bear arms, so based on law, Mexico should be a gun-free zone. Guess how that worked out for them? About as well as it has in Afghanistan.
And remember, even Amnesty International will tell you that at any given time, more than 2000 Americans are incarcerated in Mexican prisons and jails without any formal charges brought. Including simple American tourists who committed the horrible "alleged" crime of being in possession of a spent .22 shell. No guns, no loaded ammo, just a tiny piece of used brass "allegedly" found in their vehicle. And these innocent Americans will sit in those cages until the out of control Mexican Federalis extort every dime from their families.
But like all other gun-free zones, this is the guaranteed recipe for the most innocent lives being gunned down. Forced unarmed helplessness is such a peace and love kind of thing.
It is sad and pathetic that there are still so many Americans complicit in the life destroying death orgy of drug running by maintaining a huge criminal consumer base to keep the drug terrorists in business. But like the terrorists’ allies in gun running, they represent an evil lunatic fringe that must never dictate policy forcing good Americans into unarmed helplessness.
Unarmed, helpless Americans are exactly what criminals and liberals dream of, and as the invasion of America throttles on, we the people must be dedicated to stopping any attempt of the Obama administration to make it easier for invaders to breech our borders, or the disarmament of U.S. citizens with more counterproductive gun control. Don’t tread on me, and I won’t Ted on you. Send the ultimate message of freedom: join the NRA today.

Rock legend Ted Nugent is noted for his conservative political views and his vocal pro-hunting and Second Amendment activism. His smash bestseller Ted, White & Blue: The Nugent Manifesto, is now available at www.amazon.com. Nugent also maintains the Official Ted Nugent Site at www.TedNugent.com.

Adult Stem Cells Are What Work

by Rep. J. Randy Forbes

Posted 04/07/2009 ET

Prof. Ian Wilmut of Edinburgh University is hardly a household name. However, most people would recognize his Nobel-Prize-winning scientific development. Prof. Wilmut was the individual who led the team that created the cloned sheep Dolly and pioneered a technique many would want to use for a type of embryonic stem-cell research. His action resulted in both uproar and applause all over the world and was instrumental in bringing the discussion of cloning and stem-cell research from the laboratory to the dinner table.  
For years, the moral and ethical issue of destroying human embryos for scientific experimentation has been the biggest argument against embryonic stem-cell research. But now there is a new argument against embryonic stem-cell research: science.  
Obama Ignores Science
Just recently, President Obama signed an executive order lifting the ban on the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research, an act based more on politics than it was on science. (Private funding for this research has never been banned.) His action reignited the contentious issue for many individuals in the U.S. — it also ignored the miracles we’ve seen in advancing science.
Adult stem-cells are derived from umbilical cords, wisdom teeth, amniotic fluid, and various tissues, and they don’t hold the same ethical concerns that stem-cells taken from human embryos do. Over the years, adult stem cells have resulted in 73 successful treatments for various diseases like Alzheimer’s, Type 1 Diabetes, Parkinson’s, and various forms of cancer.
A U.S. doctor, Amid Patel, has used adult stem cells to successfully treat over 1,800 patients who suffered from severe heart failure, dramatically increasing their quality of life and chances of survival. Two years ago, I met a man named Stephen Sprague, who had been treated for leukemia through the use of adult stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood. There are success stories like Dr. Patel’s and Stephen Sprague’s scattered across the globe where individuals have been treated for their diseases by adult stem cells, and the hope for future breakthroughs seems limitless. On the other hand, despite millions of dollars of research, not one — not one — embryonic stem-cell trial has resulted in the successful treatment of a human patient.
Perhaps most incredibly, though, is the fact that scientists have just recently figured out how to reprogram adult stem cells to the point where they function exactly like an embryonic stem cell. These cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), can do everything an embryonic stem cell is capable of, only without having to destroy a human embryo. Because of this development, there is likely no medical benefit that can come from embryonic stem-cell research that cannot be obtained from adult stem cells. IPS cells also have a greater advantage because they can be derived from a person’s own cells, so a patient’s body is less likely to reject the stem-cell treatment.  
Science is truly outpacing the embryonic stem-cell debate. Scientists across the world who were once advocates of this research have reversed course. They overwhelmingly say the future of stem-cell research lies in iPS cells and adult stem cells. Dr. James Thompson, known as the father of embryonic stem-cell research, has said that “it’s probably the beginning of the end for that controversy.” In fact, even the sheep-cloning Prof. Wilmut has abandoned embryonic stem-cell experimentation saying that the use of iPS cells is “extremely exciting and astonishing” and shows more promise for the future.
Stock Price Hikes
Why then do we continue to push federal dollars to embryonic stem-cell research? At least part of the reason may be found in the jump in stock value of several major companies involved in that research on the day that President Obama issued his executive order. The share price of some of these companies increased as much as 88%.  
I reintroduced the bipartisan Patients First Act, (H.R. 877) to ask a single question: If we have limited federal dollars to spend on stem-cell research, should we not put our patients first by spending these dollars where we will get the most near-time clinical benefits for patients? If we do, the answer of where to spend the money is clear: adult stem-cell research.
When human lives are at stake, we cannot afford to take steps backwards in scientific development for the sake of politics. It is time to put the divisive political debate aside, unlock the potential in adult stem-cell research, and focus on the common goal on both sides of the stem cell debate — curing and treating patients.   

A Republican, Mr. Forbes has represented Virginia’s 4th district since 2001.

I’m sorry but really I thought flex would be cool considering it has many control that silverlight doesn’t… But the problem is that it’s nice having those controls but you have to work so hard to write code it’s ridiculous! There is no excuse! they have eclipse, a FREAKING IDE for a ‘language’. I mean php is a web script language and that is different but action script? you can give me a good auto complete feature? or breakpoints?! i mean EVEN SHARP DEVELOP has breakpoints and a working auto complete feature that is way better than the one i got in FlexBuilder3.

I am now a Silverlight guy for SURE. it’s lots easier because it’s C# and Visual studio. Believe it or not people that makes ALL THE difference.

IT’S AVALIBLE FOR FREE TOO! Just download the Visual Studio Web Developer Express edition and install the Silverlight SDK and your all go! IF you have Visual studio already(like Standard or Pro or Team suite) then just install the Silverlight SDK.

I was looking in flash for possibly doing stuff with it cause it may had been better for certain things and there is always some curiosity why most RIA’s are flash… now I’m kind of wondering WHY this is how it is considering Silverlight is SO much better. I am definitely sticking to silverlight after finding out how ineffective it is the develop for it.

Yep, My silverlight viewer is working now. Turns out my server didn’t have the correct MIME type set up so that it would know to give the file to my website’s plug-in thing. No wonder it only worked on my computer locally! Cause the development server for silverlight HOPEFULLY has the MIME type automatically set up right?

Anyways go here to view the blog viewer, it’s pretty good for my first public silverlight app.