An now a word from our sponsor…
Not really, but the above kinda suggests I’m going “off topic” for a moment. I expect to post something more relevant to Liberty in a day or so. Meanwhile, I’ve been sidelined somewhat lately as I’ve taken up chess again. Part of my reasoning is I want to finally establish a proper rating (with the USCF and elsewhere I only have a “provisional” rating due to a lack of rated games to me credit.) To be rated in the USCF (United States Chess Federation) one must play rated games and to play rated games one must typically have to play in tournaments. Well, around these parts I’ve faced a bit of a challenge finding anybody to play with face to face (aka OTB or over the board). Being naturally anti-social doesn’t help me much. It was over 20 years ago when I established my provisional rating when I was heavily involved in a local club and several of us decided to enter the Charlottesville open. Since then I haven’t played much as I moved away. The nearest chess club where I now live is a 40 minute drive at least.
To this end my playing has been relegated to online. The great news is, I’ve found tons of online chess resources – enough to overwhelm even me and I’m not easily intimidated. So I decided to create and upload some videos to help others pick through the massive offerings. I also plan to delve deep into at least one site I’ve found most useful. These ideas compliment some others I’ve been mulling over for some time. As any regular reader knows, I often cite scripture here. For some time, I’ve wanted to upload some videos to help others explore the scriptures for themselves. Like chess, there is almost too much available. Since I mostly use just a couple of them regularly, it follows that others might benefit from what I’ve learned.
Gripe Section
So while I’m sludging along trying to post my debut video on YouTube (own by Grrrgle like almost everything else on the internet) I remember I need to add some links – one to this site and one to my writer’s site because I promised them in the introduction video. Well, guess what? In order to add links – any links – I have to verify my identity with a “government issued picture ID”. What!?? Hell I don’t need to provide a photo id to VOTE, why do I need one to post a freaking link? Of course, Grrrgle, whom some say is owned by our very own CIA, wants to link my face with my name with my address with my YouTube videos with any sites I link to. Oi. It’s not like they don’t have all that crap anyway but still… I don’ t like it. I went along anyway because refusing isn’t going to even slow those bastards down. But that’s not all…
While I was doing all this, with my phone (Oh yeah, they want to add that to the tracking trail, of course) I tried to load it all up but again the system threw up roadblock after roadblock. First my phone “time and date” were “incorrect”. Again WHAT!? It’s a cell phone. The time and date are NOT incorrect. It is probably more accurate than the Navy’s atomic clock. Okay, well maybe not but really. THEN they say it couldn’t happen because I had the wrong browser. Seriously? It’s a Chrome browser on an Android phone. How can it NOT be the latest and the greatest? Grrrgle. Bite me.
End rant. (Yes, I could go on but they ain’t worth any more time.)
In any case, I uploaded the video to both Rumble and YouTube. They are linked respectively. I won’t post the links directly ’cause WP likes to display
screenshots and I don’t think it is needed here.