Johannesburg - Dianetics & Scientology Basics Book-a-Thon

Johannesburg - Dianetics & Scientology Basics Book-a-Thon
Originally uploaded by scientologytoday.

This is from the 2007 Scientology & Dianetics Basics Books Book-a-thon! See http://bookathon.wordpress.com for more information!

Dianetics Book-a-Thon in L.A.!

Someplace in Wyoming

Someplace in Wyoming
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

I just found this one, taken by my old buddy, Amy, somewhere in Wyoming (see my Flickr map).

I need to go camping.

Cappy's Chowder House in Camden, ME

Cappy's Chowder House in Camden, ME
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

This place has positively the best Clam Chowder of any place on the planet. Including Boston. Including the west coast. Most certainly including New York City.

I took a trip back there to ensure my childhood memory wasn't failing me, and it wasn't. Their chowder is out of control.

This one made me cry

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Enhance my download experience? Another symbol of moral decay.

I just got the following message when downloading a new Windows Media Encoder:

"Some downloads are made available only after users have validated their versions of Microsoft Windows. Firefox and Netscape Navigator browser users may install a helper program, the Windows Genuine Advantage plug-in, to enhance their download experience."

I'm not sure precisely what this means.  I think that the inference is that when you can download the software, it enhances the experience - more so than if you're prevented from doing so.

Personally, I think the whole WGA ("Windows Genuine Advantage") issue is a enormous framework and hassle trying to solve the absolutely wrong problem.  It's the same thing as DRM and all of the woes that befall anyone trying to live with DRM-based music.  It ends up being more hassle than it's worth.

Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard had a much more simple solution.  He wrote it in The Way to Happiness, and it's called "Seek to Live with the Truth" and "Don't Do Anything Illegal". 

 

Click here to view other Public Service Announcements

If you've really bought something, just be truthful about it, and don't tell harmful lies.  The simplicity of just having and following a moral code like this is more powerful than any DRM solution there could be. 

 

Click here to view other Public Service Announcements

Likewise, it just doesn't pay to steal.  You can tell people that, or you can educate them on it using an easy text like The Way to Happiness. 

This is the reason why you have big banks, insurance companies, hospitals, credit card companies, etc all getting and distributing TWTH to all of their customers.  You can harp at someone to be good, you can make it really uncomfortable and inconvenient for them to be bad, but in the end -- if you target the actual problem, which is declining moral values in society, you'll have ended up making a positive change.  As opposed to more digital rights management, more restrictions, more whack solutions to try to make it more and more difficult to pirate software, etc.  All you end up getting there, in Microsoft's case, is people moving over to Linux because they can't stand the hassle.

It's the same in the music industry, and look what's happening with the DRM trend.  People are fed up with it.

So, let's try to buck the trend a bit and actually attack the heart of the problem.  Sure, it's way bigger of a subject to tackle (the international decline in moral values) but in the end it will end up solving way more than just my download of Windows Media 9 encoder.  That's for sure.

Maiden's Cliff, Camden, Maine

Maiden's Cliff, Camden
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

When most people ask, I tell them "I'm from the United States". Mostly because I am, and have lived on every corner of the U.S.

But to friends, I'll tell them where I'm really from, and that's from Maine.

Despite mosquitoes large enough to carry small children away, I still consider Maine one of the most beautiful places on earth.

I look at places like this photo (which I took while on a hike along Maiden's Cliff in Camden, Maine) and remember why it is that I'm involved in Scientology, and why it is that this planet is worth doing something about. There are a lot of real beautiful places left, and a lot of genuinely good people around.

Glenfinnan Scotland 2nd October 2007

Glenfinnan Scotland 2nd October 2007
Originally uploaded by loose_grip_99.

Whoa - that's another one taken with my model of camera -- a Konica Dimage Z2.

My photos were all with the wide-angle attachment, but this fellow doesn't look like he needed it with that expanse of country.

That's Scotland. If you're a Scientologist in Scotland, or want to get involved, there's a Church of Scientology in Edinburgh.

They Said Half a Hit of Ecstasy Would be Fun....

After seeing this Anti-ecstasy PSA on I was just over at a pro-ecstasy forum to see if this is really the case.  Its actually ridiculous to me.  In the same sentence people were saying how the xtc made them feel all fantastic or whatever, and at the same time were saying that it makes them soil themselves and vomit all over the place.

I really don't get it.  Can someone enlighten me?

Note on Flickr Photos in Search Results

Just noted this, and figured it'd be worth mentioning - even if just as a note to self.  I posted a few days ago about the anti-psychiatry photo that I posted on Flickr, which was - the next day - the number  1 result on Google when searching for "anti-psychiatry".   By the end of the day, it was at #2, and days later it was at #4. 

Now, I just checked for the same thing, and found it back down on the 3rd page of search results.

So, for blog-type content, it appears that freshness is a bit of a factor in where it appears in the results. 

Hmmm....curious.

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Wife Swing Dancing at the IAS Christmas Ball

Wife Swing Dancing at the IAS Christmas Ball
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

My wife is a whupass swing dancer. At the Christmas Ball of the International Association of Scientologists in DC, swing phenom and instructor Tom Koerner showed up, and started dancing with my wife. She took classes with him years before. When he said, "Damn, you're good - who taught you to dance?", she replied, "YOU DID!" :) And yes, those are the Swing greats, the Jive Aces playing in the background.

It's Blog Action Day: Safeguard and Improve your Environment

Click here to view other Public Service Announcements

As a part of Blog Action Day, make sure that you apply the above precept from The Way to Happiness, and do your part to Safeguard and Improve your Environment!  Obviously this means different things for different people, but if that means riding your bike in to work, not throwing your lead-acid battery into the ocean, recycling your paper, cutting down on your trash output, helping push through legislation, or whatever - everyone can help make the planet a cleaner place!

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Are Flickr Photos Well-Indexed in Google?

Something I wondered a bit ago, was that with the billions of photos that have been uploaded to Flickr and Photobucket, whether or not all of these photos and their content would actually be indexed in Google.  I had read in a little SEO Best-practices article that someone wrote that utilizing Flickr images could possibly be a good source of inbound traffic for your site. 

But I was then left to wonder whether or not these photos actually get indexed, and whether or not they're used at all. 

So, I just now Googled for "Anti-Psychiatry Demonstration", the title of a Flickr photo on my anti-psych demonstration in DC which I uploaded not too long ago.  And what do you know - the photo in Flickr is right now the number one result for that!  Wouldn't have thought it would be the case, what with so many anti-psych demonstrations happening around the world, but it proved an interesting point on whether or not Flickr content is indexed!

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At the Delphi Soccer Jamboree '93

At the Delphi Soccer Jamboree '93
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

After blogging about the school Tom Cruise sent his kids to in Oregon, I found this little one from the photo archives. This was soccer jamboree at Delphi in Oregon that I played in back in '93. This was back when I played sweeper on the team and had a 39bpm resting heart rate. Oh, for the old days!

What if you debugged a computer like a psychiatrist?

Anti-Psychiatry Demonstration in Washington, D.C.
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

At the APA convention that was held in Washington, D.C., my wife and I joined a ton of other people (I think the count was a few thousand by the time the event was in full swing) to protest the big pharma drones and their yearly vote-in of psychiatric disorders.

I wish that debugging computers could be done in the same method as psychiatry uses for debugging people. It'd be great! Check this out - instead of having to actually dig around and find out the root cause for something (the 'Why', if you've studied Scientology Data Series tech), all you'd have to do is state the phenomena that you were running into, and develop an excellent term for it that you and the other engineers in the room could agree on. The name of the term would be key - otherwise nobody would believe you. If someone was complaining about a slow Internet connection, you could just let them know about the reverse-transductive route congestion disorder his line was experiencing. When asking for a handling, you could just act like a psychiatrist and bring over a portable rack of 10 12-volt car batteries hooked together, and then just take both leads and touch them to the network card int he back of the computer.

Then, afterwards, when the stinky black smoke clears, you'd ask him if he was still experiencing the same network lag. I'll bet you that same behaviour he was experiencing would no longer be present! Validation of therapy!

Unfortunately, their debugging methodology for people is about the same as I describe above, thus you see outraged people like my wife and I out in protest when they go to vote their next disease into the DSM.

Harper's Ferry West Virginia at Christmas

Harper's Ferry West Virginia at Christmas
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

This was another one I just dug up from the archives, when looking through my photos for something else. It's my wife & I on a bitterly cold Christmas morning, taking a drive out to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, for a little space.

She was just my fiancee back then, though - our wedding ceremony (which we used a Scientology wedding service for, quite similar to the one Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes used when they were married).

I'd have to say that it worked. That photo was taken close to 8 years ago, and I'm still rather married.

How about those hills, too!?

RX7 in a Snowy Driveway in Bloomington, IL

RX7 in a Snowy Driveway in Bloomington, IL
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

I just happened to find this photo, and it reminded me of when I was back in Illinois. It was terrible, actually. Though the projects I was working on were fun, I was 2 1/2 hours away from my closest Scientology Organization. The Church of Scientology of Saint Louis was over 2 hours to the south, and the Church of Scientology of Chicago was close to 3 hours to the north. And there I was stuck in a cornfield!

First try at posting a Photobucket Slideshow

We'll see how this comes out!

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Rocking old Honeywell E-Mail Ad

Mmm....just like back in college.  :) 

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Lighting Striking Sears Tower

This is a slick video I found of lighting hitting the Sears tower in Chicago.    I need to dig up a similar one I have of lighting hitting the MetLife building in New York, which I took when visiting the Church of Scientology in New York. 

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Sun's new Intel-Based 16-Core Server

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Dubai: Scientology Organization Technology

Skyline von Dubai
Originally uploaded by jochen.westermann.

Skipping through Flickr, I happened to come upon yet another intense photo of the Dubai skyline - something (as you can probably tell) I have been intrigued with of late. Look at the sheer number of cranes here, and you'll see why the local slogan is apparently "Dubai will be great, when it's finished."

Well, one of the things that immediately hits my mind, seeing an affluence of this nature, is to give people tools that they'd need to be able to continue this affluence into the future.

The introductory Scientology text, "Problems of Work", is one that has also been on the forefront of my thoughts since the new Scientology Basics books & lectures were release by Mr. David Miscavige in July of this year. Problems of Work, specifically, is probably the simplest book you'll ever read - yet it has page after page of just jaw-dropping simplicities that can utterly save a business or a culture.

Now, why would I bring that up when referring to an affluent town like Dubai? Dubai is certainly not the same thing as a town like Buffalo - where it itself had its peak years ago, and is now due for a new renaissance. Dubai is one where, if you don't handle the affluence right - and ensure the people have a good game to play and a purpose and a reason for being there -- can crash and burn and you can end up with all manner of crime, people moving away in droves, etc.

This is why a whirlwind of a place like Dubai could stand to make use of key principles covered in Problems of Work like Confusion and the Stable Datum and the solution for worker exhaustion (that ISN'T Red Bull!), and others.

I know from my friends at Scientology publisher Bridge Publications, that there is interest in Scientology basics already brewing in Dubai - but I just wanted to put in another plug for it.

Dubai: A Trip Through the Time Machine

A Trip Through the Time Machine
Originally uploaded by UAE style.

I've posted before on the growth in Dubai which to me is just beyond astounding. It's almost indescribable for a westerner like me, who's used to things staying somewhat the same from year to year.

This gives you an idea what 14 years worth of industrious work can accomplish. This is Sheikh Zayed Road, with the lower photo taken in 1991, and the upper one taken in 2005.

These guys are actually putting a future their for their country which is beyond just oil, which is what I find quite respectable about the whole ordeal. Now, they just need a Scientology church, as there isn't a single one right now in the whole country!

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Video

This is a test of the VideoBlogging feature in Flock.  I just found this video of the Scientology Volunteer Minister campaign -- something that is also in translated languges on the Scientology VM site.

Embedded Video

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Scientology Volunteer Ministers Work with Buddhist Monks

I was just browsing around and found this on YouTube on Scientology Volunteer Ministers helping in Banda Aceh.

Give your Sun Server a Squeeze

Sun Server X2100
Originally uploaded by cfq.

Ha! Just saw this one on Flickr when searching for something else. That's exactly how I felt when I first got my stack of x2200's! They've been great ever since - I love those little leaf blowers.

Stuttgart - Panorama Photo

stuttgart turnout panorama
Originally uploaded by fasttyper.

I was just browsing around, looking for some nifty German photos, and found this one of Stuttgart. I have friends from the Church of Scientology in Stuttgart - and it's a place I've always wanted to go -- even if just for the Mercedes-Benz museum!

Russia "Dissolves Government" Story

I just saw this story about Russia's government being "dissolved" that caught my attention yet again as another ploy to attempt to create a dangerous environment where you have to be afraid for your life and "no stability is possible".  Seriously, what could be more destabilizing than your government 'being dissolved'? 

Read the article, and you'll see that the actuality of the situation is that Putin just replaced his Prime Minister.  The rest of the country still exists, we aren't reverting to communism, and you don't have to stand in line for TP again.

Some people know innately that the media loves to spread nasty news just to get you to read it, and that their stock-in-trade is chaos and confusion and terror. 

However, others are more vulnerable to such, and actually get upset about things like this.  Quite a few, actually.  So, what technology is one to apply in such a case?  Best suggestion I can make would be getting a hold of the "Solutions for a Dangerous Environment" booklets from the Scientology Handbook.

From this chapter - taken from the works of L. Ron Hubbard:

" A great number of people are professional dangerous environment makers. This includes professions which require a dangerous environment for their existence such as the politician, the policeman, the newspaperman, the undertaker and others. These people sell a dangerous environment. That is their mainstay. They feel that if they did not sell people on the idea the environment is dangerous, they would promptly go broke. So it is in their interest to make the environment far more dangerous than it is."

I would recommend this technology completely as a way to make the environment less dangerous, so you can get on with life.

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Auto-Detecting an XML API

I have a Scientology blog over at xeeks.com (www.xeeks.com/scientology) which I started a while back, but literally just dumped because of the fact that I couldn't figure out a way to use any of these nifty app-type clients like Flock or LiveWriter to be able to write to the blog.

It's so much easier to be able to just be surfing along and just hit one hotkey and blog about it, than it is to have to go to some website and log in and then start typing.  It stops being a natural extension of your communication cycle, and instead is something else you have to remember to do sometimes. 

Does anyone know of a way to be able to take a regular old blog like this Xeeks blog and find out how to detect its XML API? 

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Nifty Success from the new Scientology & Dianetics Basics

I saw this one in a success newsletter I got from Bridge Publications, and had to redistribute it. 

This is from someone who's trying to recount how incredible the new Basics are, and what makes them so nifty:

“I would be very hard-pressed to explain exactly ‘what it is’ that has so greatly changed for me and my study on Dianetics, Science of Survival and Self Analysis. Unquestionably there is a very positive change.

“Could it be glossaries? Certainly these are incredible — they always have the words I need to clear and always the most pertinent definitions for the specific usage. In the past this would have required looking up these words in several dictionaries. That is, if I had the inspiration and doggedness to continue digging for the right definition, rather than settling for what was ‘close enough.’ Now the glossaries give me the exact intended definition — worlds different than ‘close enough.’  [see an example of the glossary here]

“Maybe it’s the content? Certainly I’ve had experience of re-reading some LRH reference and getting more out of it. But not to this extent. There are entire major concepts that are new to me and that open up huge levels of understanding!  

“Perhaps it has something to do with the checksheet. I’ve read Science of Survival before, but from a completely different viewpoint, and not as any sort of companion to Dianetics. It is absolutely intended as such, of course. That its usefulness to other LRH technologies and life in general is not diminished in any way, but my appreciation of its original purpose has further endeared this book and LRH to me.

“Probably, it's a combination of these things that has made such a difference to my study of these materials.

“The end effect, and the most important part to me, is that where before I was more of an observer and casual participant of this technology, I feel that now I am a true student of Dianetics and Scientology. These materials and the underlying technology are truly mine as they never have been before. My deepest thanks to all who were involved in allowing me to more fully experience LRH Source. I am indebted.” — J.H.

Ever since these Basics were released by Mr. David Miscavige some months ago, I've been studying them myself -- I'll try to sneak in a win or two I've been having as well into this blog, as  there's nothing to compare with this!

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I'm the Flock Equivalent of Beetle Bailey

"Beetle Bailey, you're last again!"

That's about how I feel.  Here I am, blogging on the various and sundry differences between using Flock and Windows LiveWriter, and I'm now 2 versions old on Flock and didn't even know.  Where's auto-update when you need it?  

I just grabbed Flock for my Windows Vista VM, noticed that it looked WAY cooler than my Linux version, only to find that I've been at 0.7 on Linux, and the newest is way up at 0.9.   I guess auto-update doesn't work for major version updates.

The new Flock, in addition to looking much slicker, has some updates to the blogging tool which make it easier to insert images, easier to add tags, and has a nifty preview feature as well. 

Nice to be up-to-date. 

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Reading the Scientology Basics?

After the release of the Scientology Basics a few weeks ago, I've all of the sudden found myself with my nose in a book once again.  I've been a Scientologist for, well, I guess around 20 years -- but the core of the religion and the essence of what it is, is contained in these books.  And these are books that I have, in some cases, never read before at all.  It's a bit like being Islamic and having only read parts of the Q'uran.

These books were all recently released anew by Mr. David Miscavige at an event where he briefed all Scientologists about the massive project that had resulted in a complete verification and restoration of these Basic Scientology materials so that they were 100% true to what L. Ron Hubbard had originally written, and so that they are in that regard 100% easy for any new person or old hand to pick up and get all of the basics of Scientology and Dianetics.

So, I've started from the beginning (according to the Scientology Materials Guide Chart), and am now in the middle of reading Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.   I'll write more when I'm through it, but for sure -- I'm now more positive than ever that the easiest, best way of understanding what Scientology and Dianetics are is to just grab one of these books and read it. 

Referencess:

• The Golden Age of Knowledge materials release, by Mr. David Miscavige
• Scientology Materials - Bridge Publications
  

technorati tags:scientology, materials, david, miscavige, basics

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New Way to Happiness Public Service Announcements

technorati tags:way, to, happiness

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Video Sharing Sites

Sorry about the prior post - I was testing out some various video sharing sites and looking at how their controls worked, their automatic one-click publishing features, etc, and one of the sites I went to happened  to have old Gramma wielding an MP40.  I yielded to the same pressure that many bloggers do, and posted it.  Just shows you the pervasive power of a preposterous video. 

Definitely am intrigued though with the potential of Internet video.  I've been used to being a back-end sysadmin for some time, and just now am looking at the relative persuasive value of being able to circulate little videos that can be continuously re-watched.  Gets me thinking.

technorati tags:video, sharing, grandma, mp40

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Grandma with an MP40

Grandma MP40
Uploaded by LSD25

technorati tags:video, sharing, grandma, mp40

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Sharkle - Video Sharing test of Wife @ Beach

Here's another test -- this one is Sharkle. This is a video of my wife at the beach.

Zannel Test - My Wife in the Malibu Mountains

This is a test of a blog post from another video sharing service, Zannel. This is my wife and 2 of her friends, up in the Malibu mountains. We were definitely getting some space after some long days, a la Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's Problems of Work!

Sweeny & Scientology - Grouper

I'm testing out some of the various video sharing sites I've seen, seeing what it looks like to embed their player in your blog. This is a grouper shot, made famous on YouTube, of dork BBC reporter John Sweeney's insane tirade against a Scientologist. (Full thing is on Scientology's Freedom Magazine.)

30-Story Transformers Billboard - world's largest?

Using Linux as a Router

I'm implementing some basic routing in a LAN I've got and am looking into using inexpensive Linux boxes as routers. I'm trying to clear all of my misunderstood words on IPv4 routing and so forth, but in the meantime am trying to get some sort of professional advice on the matter.

I've got Quagga installed on a Fedora 7 box, but there are no man pages, and googling around is producing jack diddly in terms of sample configurations.  The ripd.conf.sample that comes with it is a joke with nothing really in it (i.e. compare this ot the squid config file!) 

This is leading me to believe that nobody who is anybody actually uses their linux box as a router.

Looking for other opinions, though.  Anyone else actually using Linux as a router?

technorati tags:linux, routing, fedora 7, misunderstood, words

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VirtualBox Virtualization in Fedora 7

On the suggestion of Liquidat, I decided to fire up virtualization on my new Fedora 7 PC, so that I could see if I could get my Windows Apps all working in a real windows virtualized box, and still have my excellent Gnome/Compiz desktop.  Well, worked like a charm. 

Above, you can see my widescreen Gnome desktop, with a virtualized Windows2003 Server running in a window on the left side.  This is running using innotek VirtualBox, which has an F7 executible that installed in about 10 seconds and worked straight-off.   You can see a little warp action on the window - just to show that it is running right there, and you can bounce & drag it around just like any other window.  It has great mouse integration as well, once you install the local tools on it -- all you have to do is put your mouse inside the virtual box's window, and now your mouse cursor is sync'ed with the local box. 

It actually rocks. 

Now I can ease up on all my various posts (for now) about how I can't get Dreamweaver on Linux.  Now, I literally just run Dreamweaver on Windows, on my linux box.   As Dan Kegel pointed out on my other blog post on Dreamweaver, some application of the Scientology Communication formula may still be in order to test, bugfix and work with the community to reach that lofty goal. 

technorati tags:linux, virtualbox, scientology, communication, windows2003

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Underwater Hotel in Dubai

I think someone's going to need to put a Church of Scientology in Dubai, as I'm going to have to move there. The gadget/technology lover in me has now boiled over, after seeing their latest project - a massive underwater hotel being built in the Persian Gulf.

I've read posts on this sort of thing earlier, from the Burj Dubai's site to various other articles on the massive growth of Dubai.

What I don't know, and what Dubai does not have, at this time, is any similarly-sized Churches of Scientology. Everything else is oversized and, well, over the top. However, I'll still be tied here to the States for as long as there's no Church there for me to attend. Does anyone know if other Churches are represented in Dubai? Seems like there would be, with how International the place has become.

In any case, intriguing all the same. What's next?

Map of Scientology Volunteer Minister Activity in Blacksburg, VA

Map of Scientology Volunteer Minister Activity in Blacksburg, VA
Originally uploaded by scientologyvm.

A whole Scientology VM team is already on the ground in Blacksburg to help the grief-stricken students and faculty after Monday's shooting. Many more are needed, however.

A team of 25 VMs are at the University. Another 15 to 20 are about to leave to join them. But 100 VMs are needed on the ground within the next 24 hours.

This tragedy has overwhelmed the students and faculty of the school and the local residents. And the families of the victims are in urgent need of our help.

Scientology VM's have been asked by the Salvation Army staff, who are manning the official relief center on campus, to provide 24-hour help for the next two days in the form of grief counseling and trauma relief for the parents and families of the victims.

To meet the need and demand for our help 100 VMs are needed immediately. If you can help, call Abby in NY at (212) 757-9615 or cell (646) 235-9994 or Kayleen in DC at (202)797-9826. You can also call the DC Scientology VM Hotline at 1-800-435-7498. You will need take care of your flight and living expenses. Local Scientologists will arrange your accommodations.

Smiling Children from the Solomon Islands

Smiling Children from the Solomon Islands
Originally uploaded by scientologyvm.

Another by-product of the Scientology Volunteer MInisters tour that's in the Solomon islands now, helping the area recover from the 2 April tsunami. Smiling kids!

Child from the Solomon Islands

Child from the Solomon Islands
Originally uploaded by scientologyvm.

This is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. From the Scientology Volunteer Ministers disaster response efforts happening in the Solomon Islands.

Hi-Tech Scientology Churches

Scientology Hamburg
Originally uploaded by scientologytoday.

I posted a while ago on the new hi-tech Church of Scientology in Berlin, with its many displays, films, etc that allow one to easily just walk in to the place and find out what Scientology is, and what it does.

However, the Church of Scientology Berlin represents what really is a whole new breed of Scientology Church - one where the intensely workable technologies of Dianetics & Scientology are communicated at a quality level commensurate to their workability.

Churches like this are going up all over the world now, as the question of "What is Scientology" is just as hot in the United States, Spain, Denmark, England, etc as it is in Germany.

Pictured is the Church of Scientology in Hamburg, Germany - another Ideal Scientology org.

Chewy at the St. Louis Arch

At the bottom of the St. Louis arch
Originally uploaded by Typos in the Key of E.

I was actually looking for a great shot of St. Louis, as I was going to talk about the new Church of Scientology which is shortly being constructed in the city - something I'm actually quite excited about. But then -- Chewy? It was so random, I had to blog it.

Also, as one of my fellow Scientologists has a Chewy blog, where he blogs just about everything Chewy. Well, honestly, what's not to like about Chewy?

In any case, in an attempt to try to veer back on-topic, there is a new Scientology Church in St. Louis which is soon to be constructed - where they're renovating an old, historical building into a magnificent new Church. One of my best buddies is a staff member at the St Louis church, and is definitely excited beyond belief.

Church of Scientology of Kansas City getting New Building

Kansas City
Originally uploaded by andropolis.

The Church of Scientology Kansas City, which has been expanding faster than just about any other area of Scientology on the planet, is soon to get a much larger and more magnificent premises in Kansas City. I've only heard of it so far, not seen the real deal.

R2D2 Mailboxes! USPS Celebrates Star Wars 30th Anniversary

R2D2 Mailboxes! USPS Celebrates Star Wars 30th Anniversary
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

"I guess we'll have to find new ways to mmmotivate them..."

-- Darth Vader

The US Postal Service is getting into the spirit this 30th anniversary year of Star Wars. Apparently, they’ve even got a website planned : uspsjedimaster.com.

Sun "Raptor" Cluster at Mississippi State

Raptor
Originally uploaded by Roger Smith.

A new high-performance compute cluster was recently set up at Mississippi State University, which is now the fastest all-Sun cluster in the world. It has 2048 AMD Opteron 2218 compute cores and has a total of 4 terabytes of memory. It has a peak performance of over 10 trillion calculations per second (10 TFLOPS).

I just recently got myself 5 of these new Sun "Aquarius"-class warships, of the x2200 variety - each running 2 dual-core AMD Opteron 22xx processors. Now, these new Sun boxes sport a brilliant green system status light (the only LED on the front panel) which is bright enough to light the room up if you turn the datacenter lights out. I always wondered what a full rack would look like, but here's a ton more than that -- and what amounts to what's now the fastest all-Sun cluster in the world.

I've grown to really like these new Sun boxes, even if they are at the low end of the spectrum. The integrated lights-out manager rocks -- lets you just plug in and watch the thing from power-up, through the bios, all the way into running the system -- all via a Java-based window in your browser.

They're also fast as all hell.

No, Sun didn't pay me to write this. I just happen to like Sun equipment (or any Quality equipment for that matter) and when I saw this post on Flickr, I had to say something. I know most of my posts are on the Scientology end of my "Scientology Network Engineer" beingness, but sometimes I just have to gush about hardware. :)

Scientology in New York

The Church Of Scientology
Originally uploaded by Ozzdo.

This is a beautiful photo someone posted of the Church of Scientology of New York. Clearly (based on their comment on the photo) they've not gotten a chance to go inside and meet the staff. I have, and they're some of the most down-to-earth people I know.

Anticipating Soreness: Soccer this Weekend

Throw In
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

If you've ever read "The Way to Happiness" by L. Ron Hubbard, the precept I'm applying right now is "Take Care of Yourself".

Unfortunately, sometimes that sometimes means beating the bejeesus out of your body.

I've started running again on a daily basis, after a period of slothful computer geekage. That has helped, significantly, and this weekend I'm going to hit the soccer field again after a long period of inactivity. I'm preparing for the Monday morning "aaaarrrgh".

However, as any soccer player can tell you, being sore as all hell, barely being able to move, etc -- there's sometimes nothing sweeter than that feeling.

As L. Ron Hubbard said in a lecture from the Philidelphia Doctorate Course in 1952, "...this body was made to be threatened with death three times a day. There's nothing like being threatened with death to bring somebody up to present time." - LRH

Sure beats just trudging in with the morning Starbucks. :)

Team Dianetics Takes Another One

Team Dianetics Takes Another One
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

Well, this didn't just happen - but was one of my Maryland photos that I decided to blog on today. Why? Because I can. Flickr rocks.

My friend, my wife and I, when living in D.C., had a Team Dianetics relay team, and would go around racing at various area bike/run/swim type races.

This one was some type of fat-tire fiasco, with around 1000 people there all geared up to go.

My wife was a pro backstroker, but hadn't done any racing in years, and so was a bit flipped out about even making it around the lake. It was a good half-mile she had to swim, flat-out -- and the other heats had their swimmers starting out, doing the first 1/3 of the race in FLY. Nuts. So, she finished her heat in something like 115th place, tagging me to do the mountain bike thing.

I took off on the bike, and luckily I had been riding from our house to the Church of Scientology D.C. each day, and was a bit more in shape. I passed about 100 people on the trail, and by the time I tagged our runner, we were in 10th place. John then cleaned up on the 5k trail run, and we ended up winning the thing.

Anyhow, one of my funner runs, and another thing where I try to keep myself from being a total computer geek. :)

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Mozambique

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Mozambique
Originally uploaded by jetteroheller.

This will be my first post using the Flickr integration into the Blogger beta. I'm definitely finding this to be a useful app - especially when one has a photo story to share.

This particular photo is one that a guy from South Africa sent me. He has Scientologist friends who just left for Mozambique to assist the Scientology Volunteer ministers there with organizing clean-up efforts. It really is quite a disaster there, with hurricanes and flooding providing all manner of issues. Destroyed houses, mowed-over towns, theres a few hundred thousand people displaced. Not a lot of fun. So, I know his friends are there working their tails off to try to get people back into their homes and get the place rebuilt.

Volunteers needed to go to Mozambique

There's a time to code and tinker around with little networking gadgets, and there's a time to get one's hands dirty. Well, unfortunately for me right now, I'm stuck doing network engineering tasks. But if I were slightly more mobile, I'd be heading to Mozambique.

The Church of Scientology International and the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg in South Africa are putting out a call to all Scientology Volunteer Ministers and people who have wanted to train to be Volunteer Ministers, to saddle up and get to the Zambezi river in Mozambique to help with the massive flooding they're having there.

Following is the release on this from ScientologyToday:

The Church of Scientology of Johannesburg urges all Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Southern Africa to join the Scientology Disaster Relief Team, preparing to move into Mozambique in the wake of Cyclone Favio.

With estimates of more than 120,000 homeless from this and earlier flooding, and possibilities of a second cyclone hitting this weekend, supplies, funds and emergency relief personnel are urgently needed.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers are needed to lead the teams and train others who want to help. With hundreds of thousands needing assistance, the VM team will follow the pattern developed over recent years, of training local residents and other volunteers and emergency relief personnel in the techniques from the Scientology Handbook. This maximizes their ability to provide help, and was effective in their work after the South East Asian tsunami of December 2004, the 2005 hurricanes in the US, cyclones in Australia and typhoons and earthquakes in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The team is funded in the field entirely by donations, and anyone who can do so is urged to help. You can give your donation online at the Volunteer Ministers web site.

If you can participate in the relief effort, contact the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Coordinator at the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg, or visit www.volunteerministers.org.

References:

• ScientologyToday news article on Mozambique
• Mr. David Miscavige briefing on Scientology Volunteer Ministers
• Scientology Volunteer Ministers Blog
  

Kansas City Planning to be one of the next Ideal Scientology Organizations

Back in mid-January, I wrote about the new Church of Scientology in Berlin -- a brand-new, state of the art Scientology Church which has some of the most high-tech systems you can shake a stick at to make it easy as falling off a log to walk in to a Church of Scientology and find out all about what Scientology is.

Well, that same concept is going to shortly be making its way to the heart of the midwest, where the Church of Scientology Kansas City will soon be the next Ideal Scientology Organization. Or one of them, anyhow.

They're looking to purchase a gigantic new building in downtown Kansas City, MO -- to keep pace with their rapid growth. A few years back they were actually honored with an award as having the fastest-growing Scientology parishionership in the world. Well, that growth hasn't abated and the Church continues to need to find a space that's large enough for all of the people currently training to be Scientology Volunteer ministers.

I hope to have some photos of the place soon!

Volunteer Work

Volunteer Work

This is a cute blog I found about Youth Scientology Volunteer ministers. Just found it when I was browsing Yahoo! Groups, looking for any other Scientology Volunteer ministers out there. It hasn't been updated in a little bit, but still - is cute and has some good info on what Scientology Volunteer Ministers were doing around the time of hurricane Katrina.

Delicious Library

I found this one when going through my Ambient Findability book, looking at how to properly design user interfaces:

Delicious Library

They had a "blog this" icon, so I couldn't resist.

London: Beautiful Panorama Photo

Jason Hawkes: September 2006 Archives: "Image_2184.jpg"

I just saw this one on Reddit.com, referred from today's top user. This is probably one of the nicest city panoramas of London I've yet seen. Unfortunately, my familiarity with London stops at the data I had when blogging about the new Church of Scientology of London that Mr. David Miscavige gave his grand opening speech at last fall on Queen Victoria St. Honestly, I don't know if that's even in the frame, but the photo sure looks cool.

Scientology Today: New Program Launched by Foundation for a Drug Free World in Honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.'

On the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, the Foundation for a Drug Free World announced a new program to help parents learn how to communicate to their children about drugs. Since so much of the crime that plagues our cities is drug-related, helping children and teens decide to live drug-free lives can help our communities enormously.

And with the sheer amount of devastation drug abuse causes, what could matter more to parents than helping their children make the right decisions about drugs?

Take that Press: Scientology Berlin Opening

If you check any of my last posts, I wasn't too impressed by the media coverage granted to the Scientology Grand Opening in in Berlin. The media (obviously under someone's influence) kept trying to downplay the thing, saying that there were only 150 people there, that it wasn't really happening, that it was all just protesters, that the public weren't invited, etc. All utter, complete, total fabrications.

A friend of mine just had his wife return from the Grand Opening there, as she was representing her Scientology Church in Florida. The final count of Scientologists there ended up being something like 5,035 or something like this. Perhaps I'm off by thirty or something, but it was in that range. Another friend of mine told me that even hours after the Grand Opening, it would take 20 minutes just to walk from one office in the buiding to another, because of the mobs of people one had to walk through.

2 days after the opening, there were still mobs of Scientologists and non-Scientologists alike hanging around the place.

So, in any case, I just see it fitting and funny to point out the fact that when you're a reporter, and you come to an event like this Church of Scientology Grand opening with your story already written for you, completely abandoning any journalistic integrity, you'll end up getting burnt. Unfortunately, this is now the case -- as the Grand Opening in Berlin was a huge success.

Ever since I heard Mr. David Miscavige announce the new Berlin church at my Church's Scientology New Year celebration, I knew this was going to be big. Well, all the press controversy turned out to create is to make it bigger. So, I guess their lying did some good for once!

German Power Elite Freaked out about Scientology

It's all over the news -- still.

You'd have to be living under a rock to be in Germany and not know about the new Church of Scientology that just opened in the capital city of Berlin. However, you do need to do a bit of reading between the lines to fully interpret the media that has been running on such.

Now, anyone with half a brain knows that the easiest way to pursue a political agenda is to completely manipulate the media, and let people know what "public opinion" is, by simply fabricating it and putting it in a news article.

Such is the case with Scientology in Germany, and has been for some time.

Read my last article on the new Church of Scientology in Berlin -- the new Berlin Scientology Church has displays and seminar rooms where anyone can just walk in off the street and find out what the Church is all about. Hardly the 'secretive sect' that some odd German media is trying to pump up the jam on. Seriously, the new Berlin Church has 360 degree windows that go all the way around the building -- you can't even have an office in that place without having a window. Just try to be secretive there!

But talking to friends I have there, who went to the opening and were some of the people from the U.S. waving flags all over the place, said that Germans on the street were just utterly curious, wondering what in the heck Scientology is -- as all they had heard was the random maunderings of the media. It's far from this scene that German news tries to trump up.

So, it really makes me wonder what in the heck various German government officials are trying to protect -- like, what are they sitting on? It's pretty well known that the Church of Scientology vigorously investigates people who create human rights abuses, and won't stand for that sort of thing at all. So what are these officials worried about? What would cause them to try to continue to badmouth an organization which has a dedicated following, which zealously works in fields of social reform, drug rehab, and general help?

When the grand opening was happening, I kept seeing odd news articles that talked about an "exclusive opening ceremony for 150 Scientologists" while the photos showed 1000 people, all out on the street, celebrating the opening. Who's kidding who here?

Seriously. Being in Germany, when all you hear is German media, it must be tough. But looking at it from the U.S., it just looks like wagging the dog to draw attention away from something we don't know.

References:

• Church of Scientology
• Sister Scientology Church in London
  
• David Miscavige - Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center
• Scientology Volunteer Ministers
• Scientology-sponsored Anti-Drug Programme
• Scientology - Human Rights Initiative
  

High-Tech Approach to Religion - Scientology in Berlin

Everyone is talking about the new Scientology Church in Berlin. Nasty politicians in Germany are pointing fingers at one another (especially the ones with their vested interests to protect) and the general public has just been pouring in to the building to find out what Scientology is all about. It has been at the top of Google.de news for the past 48 hours.

Now, that is where things get interesting -- especially from a technical standpoint. There's a curious problem that you get into when you're trying to explain to someone what your religion is all about. You're either very well versed in language, and can easily explain it in ways that someone can understand, and do this one-on-one, or you figure out a way to explain it much faster to more people.

Just try doing this for something like Shinto. What is it all about? You need to read a lot, and probably talk to some Shintos before you really grok it. Scientology is similar, in that you either have to talk to a Scientologist who's in the know for some time, or just go in to this new Berlin organization.

Inside the organization are some of the niftiest displays and films that have been devised specifically to solve this problem. Explained at a Scientology event by Mr. David Miscavige -- Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center, which is the holder of the Scientology & Dianetics trademarks -- this organization includes panels that literally let anyone walk in, touch a screen, and then by themselves -- with no input from others or person trying to explain anything -- get a full explanation of the various facets and practices of Scientology.

You can see some of this here:

A gallery of photos from the grand opening of the Church of Scientology of Berlin is available at the Scientology Berlin website.

The screens there just let you walk up, and visually get an explanation of the various principles of Scientology - such as the A-R-C triangle, which the average person got introduced to during Tom Cruise's wedding.

In any case, I would highly advise anyone who has been trying to find out what Scientology is really all about to actually just walk in to this new Berlin Church (or one of the other Scientology churches which have such panels in them) and just spend some time alone finding out what this movement is all about.

Other Churches I know of which have such panels are:

• Church of Scientology of New York
• Church of Scientology of London
• Church of Scientology Stevens Creek (San Jose, CA)
• Church of Scientology of Madrid, Spain
• Church of Scientology of Tampa, Florida
  

References for this article:

• Official David Miscavige website
• Scientology Germany Website
• The Scientology Handbook
  

Church of Scientology Releases International Epansion Figures

The Church of Scientology International released its expansion figures for 2006 this week and announced the launch of community outreach programs for 2007 that will far surpass any year in the Church's history.

Los Angeles, CA. (PRWEB) January 4, 2007 -- The Church of Scientology International released its expansion figures for 2006 this week and announced the launch of community outreach programs for 2007 that will far surpass any year in the Church's history.

Our programs are there to combat every one of society's ills

"We live in a world where conflict, crime and continual chaos dominate the news. It is time for positive and sweeping changes," said Church of Scientology International spokesman, Rev. Bob Adams. "Working hand in hand with other churches, community leaders, government officials and a wide range of organizations, we are making a difference. And we expect 2007 to be the most spectacular year yet, in terms of positive change."

Recapping the religion's growth in 2006, Rev. Adams pointed out that in the last year more than 1,500 new centers, missions and churches of Scientology were opened, including large new central churches in both London and Berlin. With new groups this year in Afghanistan, Niger, and Bahrain the international Scientology presence now totals more than 7,500 centers, missions and churches in 163 nations.

In far-flung regions of the world, Scientology Volunteer Ministers---best known for their disaster relief efforts---set up large tents where anyone encountering a problem in their life can go for help. Carrying forward the message that, "No Matter the Problem ... Something CAN be Done about it," the Church's Volunteer Ministers Corps numbers 87,000 in 114 nations.

With the 2006 release of 30 public service announcements that bring each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to life, the Church's human rights campaign spans 71 nations. These compelling video clips aired on 2,000 TV stations worldwide in 2006, reaching over 50 million people.

"The purpose of the campaign is to educate people on their human rights. These rights are the foundation on which freedom and peace can be built," said Rev. Adams. "More than 200 schools have adopted the campaign and are teaching human rights to children and teens. Young people are getting involved."

For two decades, Scientology Churches have sponsored a worldwide drug abuse prevention campaign. In 2006, in response to the increasing demand for drug prevention information, the Church launched a massive drug education initiative --5 million drug education booklets printed in 19 languages and distributed throughout 30 countries.

"We recognize that drugs---both street drugs and psychotropic prescription drugs---are the source of a multi-billion dollar industry that is ruining an entire generation," said Rev. Adams. "Our drug prevention programs keep young people from falling into this trap."

Beyond activities administered directly by the Church, the popularity of the secular social betterment programs that use L. Ron Hubbard's discoveries was tremendous in 2006.

From its flagship organization in Oklahoma, Narconon delivers L. Ron Hubbard's solutions to drug abuse in 184 centers across 44 nations. Criminon administers successful criminal rehabilitation in 2,000 prisons. Applied Scholastics International saw to the introduction of L. Ron Hubbard's solutions to illiteracy to more than 1.6 million people this year. And The Way to Happiness Foundation International has distributed copies of L. Ron Hubbard's common sense moral code to 70 million people worldwide.

"Our programs are there to combat every one of society's ills," said Rev. Adams. "Drug abuse, crime, illiteracy, immorality, human rights violations---these problems cannot be ignored. And while the past year saw expansion greater than at any time in our history, 2007 will be even better."

The Church of Scientology International urges all people of goodwill to take part in making a better world. "We offer our help to anyone, no matter their religion, race or creed," said Rev. Adams. "We only ask that you use these effective solutions and make them available to others."

Scientology Introduction DVD

Dang! The sales of the Introduction to Scientology DVD are now over 91,000 -- just 3 days after release! Says so on the Scientology site! Yet another example of L. Ron Hubbard's work continuing to generate interest, year after year.

L. Ron Hubbard "An Introduction to Scientology" represents over 100,000 man-hours of film restoration

Just released on DVD last night was the filmed interview with L. Ron Hubbard, An Introduction to Scientology. This was released at the Scientology New Year celebration in Los Angeles just now, by Mr. David Miscavige - Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center. Similar to the release done last March by Mr. Miscavige of L. Ron Hubbard's Clearing Congress, the DVD An Introduction to Scientology encompassed hundreds of thousands of man-hours of work to restore and produce - quite a herculean task.

In this filmed interview -- the only filmed interview L. Ron Hubbard ever gave -- he answers the most commonly-asked questions about Scientology.

The questions answered in this DVD include:

"What is Scientology?"
"What is the Mind?"
"How did L. Ron Hubbard come to develop Scientology?"
"How did he make these discoveries?"
"What is an auditor?"
"Why is Man on this planet and what is his purpose here?"
"Why is many basically good?"

I would definitely recommend it for anyone who is endevoring to find out what Scientology is all about. More data on it can be found at www.scientology.org/interview/.