Dumb Fuckers Frequently Asking Questions

In response to...

2011-02-08T13:12:00.001-07:00

In response to http://www.michelepac.com/:

It is not my place, or yours, to tell people what decisions they should make. While I would not personally seek to abort an unplanned pregnancy I believe it is the right of the mother, ultimately, to make that decision. I am not in a place to tell someone what decisions they should make and what decisions are or were wrong. I don't consider myself a conservative or a liberal but a constitutionalist. This means I believe in the rights of others to live how they see fit so long as it does not impinge upon the rights of others.

I also believe in fate, destiny some would say: if a fetus is destined to be aborted then a soul is not granted to the shell of life. The same is true of miscarriages. Are you now saying that a mother who has a miscarriage is guilty of terminating a life? To me there is really no difference. Let the fates, gods or whatever higher existence you believe may or may not exist sort it out in the after.

And for all the biblicals: judge not lest ye be judged.

Fun and useful tool

2011-02-08T02:00:00.002-07:00

I'm working on updating my exhaust on my bike and I'm going to have to build from scratch. While I was tooling around on the internet I came across Engineering Toolbox and they had a link to Google Sketchup.

It's a 3d modeling program that's a hell of a lot easier than any others I've ever used. It's simple, so don't expect it to do extreme stuff unless you go to the pro version. Cool news: it's from Google so there's a free version! I downloaded it and just started dicking around. It's easy to use for basic shapes. I'll have to see if I can do complex modeling on it (and I'm out of practice as it is) but it's fun and integrates with Google Earth. Be interesting to see how well it works and what others are doing with it.

U go there now

2011-02-06T17:55:00.001-07:00

http://nik.bot.nu/index.fu

Huge. You can torrent it too. 250+GB of walls.

【七色のニコニコ動画】 7 Colors of Automatic Mario Douga

2011-01-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

組曲『ニコニコ動画』グランドフィナーレ　全自動マリオVer

2011-01-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

2011-01-26T11:23:00.004-07:00

***Edited: blogger doesn't like it if you text in two messaqes...***

Castle doctrine: look it up. Especially important for utah gun owners you can now carry a concealed weapon in your car as they have extended castle doctrine to include your car. Be smart, be safe and be responsible.

Ok, that was short...

2011-01-25T20:13:00.002-07:00

So my analysis was short. It just ended. Oh well, previous statement stands.

Republicans after talking about 'the message resonate[ing] with the american people' is a load of horse shit. Much of what he does and says is contrary to the will of the people of this country. And that does not include he illegal immigrants. And no, they're not 'migrant workers'. They don't work, they weren't invited and they're not welcome if they do not follow the process required to legally enter this country.

Enough ranting. I'd rather have someone who is willing to do the work rather than talk about it. I'm tired of hearing 'this is where the hard work begins', which this Republican representative on CNBC has said 7 times in the last five minutes.

Yes, there are a few things that I agree upon in principle but I've yet to see positive actions taken on promises made and I've seen negative actions taken based upon subversive measures to hide results. The health care bill will be a great tax upon our nation supporting persons who are not putting forth effort to support themselves. This does not mean that I believe everyone taking advantage where they should makes them a leech on society. What I am saying is people who over-tax based on a burden they do not bear is what this bill is allowing.

The thought that he has championed since before his election to President was to grant amnesty to all illegal immigrants presently in the country. This tells me that Obama is not concerned with the sanctity of our country and this is contrary to the office he was elected to.

What I caught of the speech, the last 20 minutes, illustrated no difference to me from the last three years I've been watching. I believe it is time to bring impeachment procedures in to effect.

State of the Union 2011 play by play

2011-01-25T20:09:00.003-07:00

I'm going to run somewhat of a play by play of the current state of the union address as I watch it.

[paraphrase] We know that some of those men and women who serve in our military are gay. We will no longer make any determination about anyone's ability to serve based on who they love. [end]

Standing ovation from all but the military commanders in attendance. Actions speak louder than words...

Random

2011-01-25T02:45:00.002-07:00

Random thoughts today. 0200 is probably the best time to do this.

Music is good. Grabbing a bunch of new stuff (eat me RIAA).

People need to respond to my poll. Jerks.

Being unemployed blows ass. Everyone who says 'treat it like a vacation' needs to have their head examined. With a sledge. And some fire. Yeah, fire.

Car stereo install is easy work. I don't know why people pay others $80 to do it. Only problem I had was a) GM (and apparently every other car manufacturer now...) likes to tie EVERYTHING on the dashboard to the back of the radio. Spend the $100 for the advanced harness if you need it. b) Buy the Scosche harness if you can. The Axess is a piece of garbage. c) Test BEFORE you put your dash back together. Then you don't have to tear it apart again (yes, I had a DF moment).

DF of the moment: AT&T
From The Blog of Helios
First, everyone who's in to Linux should at least look through Paul's blog to see if it's something they'd like to read on a regular basis. I like to.

AT&T is telling people Linux isn't a supported operating system. I'd like to attack this issue two ways. First they DO NOT support it. I don't know of any ISP that really does. Their people are trained for either Windows or Mac. Yes, you're calling support. But calling them support may be a bit of a stretch. For the most part they're morons off the street who know how to use their iPod so they get the job, some basic training, a script and directions to be as condescending to users as possible (yes, I'm more than a bit jaded).

Second this is a larger problem than just AT&T, as I've stated above. This is an issue with virtually all computer companies who provide any kind of 'computer' service. I guarantee that if you take your system to Best Buy for anything and it has Linux they'll tell you they don't support the entire system. That's the way they're trained. Part of the reason for this is there's no software company that provides Linux that pays them (the supporting companies) to support the product. It's money people and I've said that for years. And yes, it's bullshit.

I actually had to get support for my Linksys router a few years ago. This took three months and talking to a developer (no, I don't recall the name, but he was a dev responsible for some of the firmware available on their now defunct FTP site). Their T1 and T2 people responded to me like I was insane because only Windows or Mac exists in the world. They didn't bat an eye when I told them I had my BS. I had to escalate (as always when I call anywhere) to a supervisor and request someone who actually knew the TCP stack.

So, here's my solution to all of you: fake it. When you're on the phone and they ask you to open run ask them if they want you to get your IP address or ping something. When they ask you to go to the device manager ask if they want the status of the device (NIC in this case) then go get it. I won't even presume to tell you what utility to use because we all use different utilities. In general if you're working on a Linux system you know what you're doing or you call the person who installed Linux for you. That's the best place to start. You need to be or have someone be the translator for support. That's just the only way to go, trust me.

Hottie with Krinkov Uses Live Ammo On Attacker!!!! Girls Rule!!

2011-01-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm on a gun kick and this is fantastic. One of these days I need to get down to their location...

My response first

2010-05-31T12:43:00.002-07:00

This is going to be out of order in posting terms but I needed to make sure that it was posted asap. Expect more on this later.

This email is regarding the actions of the Utah Highway Patrol on 05302010. It should be noted that this email, as well as any responses to this email, will be posted on the Utah Sportbike Association forums and my blog at http://dffaq.blogspot.com/.

The actions taken by UHP on 05302010 between the exit at Miller Motorsports Park and the entrance to I-80 were atrocious. I cannot fathom what possible reasoning any official could have had for detaining for any length of time any motorcyclist under the guise of 'safety inspections'. All of the riders who had valid Utah registrations were also required to have their motorcycle inspected concurrent with Utah law within the last year. Further I personally do not know any sane rider who would willingly be on an unsafe piece of equipment. The actions of the UHP also needlessly interrupted traffic on the road for an extended period of time.

Per Utah State Code 1501 - 1536, 41-6a-1501 - 41-6a-1506, motorcycles to not need turn signals; need only one mirror; do not require passenger accommodations unless there is a passenger; and the rider does not require a helmet unless under the age of 18; a motorcycle jacket or other safety equipment. Further the bars must be below the shoulders; there is no restriction on modulated headlight or tail light; and no regulation on sound beyond what is considered "excessive or unusual noise" as defined in 41-6a-1626. (Side note: as most cruiser or 'chopper' motorcycles are at least twice as loud as any sportbike I've ever heard, one can only assume that we are within acceptable limits.)
http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE41/htm/41_06a150100.htm

I am requesting a formal apology to the members of the motorcycling community that were detained outside of the scope of Utah State Code during this charade of an operation. Any officer who condoned or participated in this operation should be repentant of their actions. I wasn't in attendance, yet I am outraged at these actions.

I close my thoughts with a question: To whom do we turn when we feel oppressed by those who have sworn to protect our freedoms and way of life?

Holy rusted keyboards Batman! It's an update!

2010-05-23T08:27:00.005-07:00

And here I find myself a bit lost. Year of the Tiger. Overt, strong and typically overbearing. And I do feel overbeared (yes, it's a word, otherwise I wouldn't use it).

The song 'Broken' by Seether seems to typify my current state. I don't necessarily find it a negative or depressing song, more just a statement of how I am. And generally lonely. But that's because the half of the species with the fun bits is batshit insane. Wait, that describes our species as a whole, no?

Thanks for joining me on this minor personal journey.

DFOTM:052010
Global warming fanatics
Seriously? You really think that cow farts and people breathing are the cause? hey jackass, when was the last time you threw your net carbon emissions on the scale? Don't forget your dead skin (aka DUST) you fucking lunatic...

OK, lets dispel a couple myths. First, contrary to what your kindergarten teacher told you, plants do not 'exhale only oxygen'. They intake all the same crap we do and transpire the same things we do, just with a higher concentration of oxygen and lower concentration of environmental nasties than their intake. Don't believe me? Transpiration is the process most plants use, and it's not air they're breathing, it's water.

Geologists have been telling you for frickin' years that a moderate sized volcano (an active volcanic system with gas emissions may or may not have visible lava or measurable magma flow) produces in 5 minutes what humanity as a whole produces in a year. (This may or may not be an exaggeration but I'm pretty sure it's correct.) (BTW: an observable, active volcanic system, arguably the second most famous in the world, is the entirety of Yellowstone. Think those hot pots and pretty colored pools smell like festering terds because some bearded dude said 'Hey, that's a good idea!'?)

Global warming huh? It's the end of May, well in to the summer, I live in a desert and it's 45F outside (SLC, UT, 05232010:0913MST).

We're heading in to a cooling period. Geological studies have shown that every 8000 years we go through a minor cooling trend with global temperatures dropping an average of 3.5-5F. Don't think it's that much? Ask someone who lives in a non-temperate climate what the difference between 95 and 90F is. Or someone in the middle of winter what the difference between 30 and 25F is. I can tell you from experience that it's the difference between lifting your hand and sweating vs being comfortable in the shade (latter) and I need a coat vs my fingers just fell off (latter).

Major volcanic eruptions cause more massive shifts in temperature than the last 100 years of industrialism we all enjoy. (And you sad sacks can kiss my ass: industrialism is the reason you can read this anywhere in the world.)

Know what's funny? I feel better after this. Next week: Why PETA is retarded XDDDDDDD

Gryyphyn, out.

My recent letter to the editor of Time.

2009-05-21T22:41:00.001-07:00

Thought someone may enjoy this. And I wanted to post it for posterity's sake...

This email is in response to a recent article,
Boom in Gun Sales Fueled by Politics and the Economy
By Sean Gregory Wednesday, Apr. 08, 2009

The headline was copied from your site.

There are two key points that I would like to comment on. First is the following:
"The gun culture is hypersensitive," says Miles Hall, an Oklahoma City gun-shop owner. "If someone sneezes in Washington, we hear it and get nervous. There's a lot of anxiety out there."
And these elected officials wonder why... We, the collective sporting shooters, have every right, cause and reason in this country to fear for our constitutionally guaranteed right to keep, bear purchase and use firearms of any variety. The alarmist bureaucrats in office currently have their heads so far up their collective rears that they can't seem to see passed their own pants to realize that the crimes committed with firearms are, by and large, committed with illegal guns, not the benchrest and hunting rifles, or sporting handguns and revolvers, that my compatriots and I use.

The second topic I would like to discuss is the recent actions of these types of politicians. In particular, NY Bloomberg's actions interfering with law enforcements efforts outside of his own jurisdiction to literally litigate law abiding citizens, entrepreneurs and businesses out of commission by conducting illegal and unsanctioned sting operations in five states. His actions alone speak to the majority of these lawmakers: sportsmen aren't the ones panicking, we're simply watching closer. These people who see their actions causing them to lose control of a situation they have no business attempting to control is causing them to commit illegal acts under the guise of enforcing laws that are themselves illegal and unconstitutional.

When do we start holding all of the criminals responsible for their actions?

Gryyphyn, out.

The Sad State of Linux PR

2009-01-20T13:32:00.002-07:00

Something I missed this December passed was a middle school teacher ranting off at Ken Starks of HeliOS Solutions. Ken is the author of HeliOS, an open-source Linux distribution, and sells refurbished computers for disadvantaged kids running his Linux distro. First, for reference, please view the following, original blog article and the retraction just after:

Original post

Retraction

Now, let me state that I have read both articles as well as several opinions, both negative and positive from both sides of the fence on this one. Having done so I can say that the teacher's actions against her student, given her reasons as stated in the retraction, were correct. Her actions against Ken were completely off base and almost entirely illogical. And honestly I'm not that upset at Ken's initial response. Why?

Ken's first response was to defend himself. Given the information in Karen's initial email I don't blame him. While the assumption would be Karen was blustering and had no intention to seek litigation he still had to take it seriously. While his reaction and the retort may have been a little overboard I can't blame him. There have been a few times where I have had to defend my choice of OS to others. There have also been a few of those times where I was told that what I was doing was illegal because there's no such thing as free software. Everyone charges something. You can't get anything for free unless you steal it. Well, whinedows users, I've got news for you: you've been finnagled in to believing that you have to pay ungodly, entirely unethical amounts of money to get something that is entirely free, as in beer and spirit, elsewhere.

The problem I see with this entire situation is that there's no education about what Linux really is or can be going out to the everyday computer user. I know many people who will sit and bluster about how great the penguin is without handing the user information. "Well (winblow$, whinedows, whatever other creative annecdote about the MS OS) is overpriced software created by fucking thieves. You should try the flower child OS." These aren't good arguments but, unfortunately, I've heard them used by multiple, self proclaimed zealots who know how to use the system but don't know how to explain it to others in a valuable way.

Even in Ken's argument there was no explanation about the licensing (GPL) or what functionality was available, just the hint of what was there. People don't understand what we mean when we refer to OOo (OpenOffice.org) as an 'office suite'. They've been fooled in to thinking that the only productivity software (there's another one of those trick terms...) is MS Office. In large part this is due to Microsoft. Before we tread this path let me qualify the statement: I'm not ranting and raving all over MS. It's just simple fact that they have fooled everyone in to thinking that theirs is the only OS/software that the world can function on. The uneducated masses, the unwashed asses, have bought in hook, line and sinker.

As an alternative maybe we should start referring to OpenOffice as a productivity suite, which it is, that has the same capabilities as other office suite software has. Remember, it's not just OOo but there's also it's progenitor, Star Office, KOffice and others I can't remember now, as well as Google Docs and other online alternatives.

Perhaps instead of referring to Linux as distributions, which is the proper term, we should refer to them as different versions of the same core OS. (I can hear the fanboys now...) Linux is a kernel, not an OS. But how many people do you personally know and interact with on a semi-regular basis know what a kernel is? Honestly guys, let's learn how to communicate.

The bottom line is that we know what Linux and OSS is capable of. Let's work better to relating that information to people without the same understanding that we have.

Gryyphyn, out.

DF of the Month

Every once in a while some person goes above and beyond, standing tall above the rest, a thumb just a little more black and blue becuase they shut it in the door a second time. It is those who we honor here, the DFs of the world who are exemplary role models for those proud to say a rock has more grey matter.

Last week one of these ID10T5, a true example of PEBKAC and BOFH, decided to quit college. It wasn't her class load. She wasn't being hazed by some sorority. It wasn't an inappropriate contact from a professor. No, she just didn't know how to use a computer:

Idiot student

While I don't typically support flaming anyone, and even given the nature of this update, well... she's an idiot. So much for the old saying "ignorance is bliss" eh?

I do have to say that it's not just this student who's at fault here. It's also the company that she purchased the system from. There response was ridiculous, unfounded and a complete load of waffle. Hooray for role models!

Music video finished!

2008-05-22T00:57:00.002-07:00

Not sure if this will work right (given my options on youtube) but here's the embed:

If that doesn't work here's the vid:

http://www.youtube.com/v/N8kd81OO6mc

Don't be harsh.

Gryyphyn, out.

Semantics

2008-05-20T17:04:00.002-07:00

A friend pointed out a great article about ditching the 'ready for the desktop' thought process (no pun intended). I happen to agree with him, though more on principal than the semantics of the statement.

A little qualification here first: to me the term 'ready for the desktop' means nothing more than at least 98% of the bugs and interoperability issues for a given release of any operating system and it's bundled software have been handled and either patched, repaired or a documented workaround developed. Having said that...

I think it is time to get rid of the sentiment that one OS or distro or [insert comparable software package term here] is any better than any other. You can spend your entire life arguing that one anything is better than any other but what it comes down to is your preferences versus another person's preferences. The same is true in the OS world: Windows is good at what it does, so are Mac and Linux. They all have their flaws (I speak from personal experience on all accounts). They all have their benefits. And they all have their uses. Take a look at any linux form, fansite, discussion board or junkie hangout and you're likely to see at least one poll asking "which is better: a, b or c flavor of linux?" Why? Because we like to discuss it.

By the same token you can go to a Mac forum, board, etc... and see the same discussion: which version of OS X/Mac OS do you prefer? And there's the constant argument between the different versions of Windows that are out there and which did the best job. Wanna know what the secret to computing life is? Being satisfied with what your are happiest using and makes you the most productive for the work you are doing.

So, did I make my point or did I spend the last five minutes blowing smoke? Let me know, my HTTPDoor's always open.

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9/The Wired

The return of the DF/W!
Yeah, I suck. Want to know who's worse though?

/ring
Gryyphyn, how can I help?

Tell me why my computer sucks. I can't log on to the internet because my crappy anti-virus program won't let me! It keeps saying that it's out of date and it's locked down the internet!

Did you update your anti-virus?

How do you do that?

Hook it up to the interwebs and tell it to update.

I really did say interwebs, force of bad habit I have to keep under tight control most of the time...

I don't want to hook it up to the internet until it's updated! I don't want to get a virus! You're trying to get my computer infected!

Do you see where this is going?

you have to hook it up to the internet so it can get updated. It has to go out to [virus manufacturer's] website to get the updates so it can apply them and protect your computer.

long pause

Now it's telling me that it can't update because it's not registered! You're making this worse!

30 seconds of me yelling at a muted headset

You have to register the AV or the servers won't allow the program to get updated. In order to register you have to be online. It registers through the AV program so you don't have to get on IE.

laboring under the delusion that it's not the interwebs if it's not IE

long pause

Ok, I'll register it and let it update. But if I get a virus I'm gonna sue your damned company for making me get on the internet without any anti-virus to stop the popups!

Yeah, cause viruses are the primary cause of popups. I love my job, I love my job, I love my job...

New Beginnings

2008-03-27T22:49:00.003-07:00

I've been gathering a new collection of computer stuffs recently. It started with my new monitor that I bought myself for my birthday, a 32" LCD TV. Also got some stuff for my Mac, pai, so I could hook her up to said TV as well. I'd been wrestling with the idea of getting a wireless Apple keyboard and finally caved to that.

Now I was planning on going to a concert this weekend, but that didn't happen (tickets were sold out by the time I was able to purchase them). So, having set the money aside already, and missing my shot at the concert, I decided to perform my last upgrade on pai: hard drive. I've been dealing with a measly 60GB on her, which isn't even enough for my iTunes library (yeah, it's bloated). So I went to Best Buy with the intention of getting a 160GB drive. It's enough space for what I want to do.

Side story here: I get to the store and b-line for the HDD section. I get back there and there's this guy looking all kinds of lost and confused at the USB stuffs. So I kinda stand next to him and make like I'm looking for something right there, knowing that he's got a question and is being ignored but the Geek Tards (sorry baren...). Sure enough, he asks me what's better: thumber or 2.5" portable.

"Well, what are you mainly using it for?"

"Well, if I get the bigger one then I can do more, right?" Way to dodge padawan.

"Yes, but you still need to consider your primary usage." I figure if I can show him I know what I'm talking about he'll give me the answer I need so I can give him the answer he needs.

"Well, I'm really just going to back a few things up and move some music around from my friends computer to mine." Yayz! A real answer! So I tell him to get the portable. He pulls this drive out, $100 for 160GB. Not bad I says.

He starts walking away, the whole time me waiting for the last question. Ta da! "Well, what's your personal fav?" WD, of course. So I check the price for a WD Passport and ?!? it's 250GB for $100! Jeez, that's just killer... and this guy walks with it.

Now, this does have a point to the main story here. I'm a WD junkie. They could probably rape me in a dark alley and, so long as I get some storage out of it, I'm OK. So I check the price on the 160GB. $100, not bad. Right next to it is a 320GB. Now, working for who I do, I know that's not a cheap upgrade. So, just for shits and giggles, I check the tag, expecting a heart attack considering their normal pricing scheme. I had a heart attack all right... $160!!! OMGs! So I walked with 320GB.

Well, I just finished the main part of the install of OSX on pai. I know I said before that it's painless. Well, I just found out how painless OSRI can really be: Time Machine. Now I knew you could restore from TM, but I thought it was image-style restore. So I didn't re-image, thinking I'd have some volume errors if I did so. So I was expecting to have to wait until I actually got in to the environment to restore my prefs. Nope! Step 1 after install, aside from choosing language stuffs, is set up accounts. But there's this option I forgot about when I first installed: retrieve options from another Mac. Only when I get in there, just to check it out, there's another option: restore from TM backup!

So total time to get to my desktop after installing a new drive, installing OSX Leopard and restoring from TM backup (insert cheesy ass drumroll): 52 minutes! God I love Mac...

Gryyphyn, out.

Afternote:
I did have one hiccup in the way this went. For some reason I wasn't able to log in to my account after everything. A quick search on Apple/support turned up this article:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306840

Now I was expecting some horrific experience. No. First, single user mode takes about 4.5 seconds to load. I mean usable prompt "I can start typing shit now" 4.5 seconds. And the commands were relatively easy. This article had nothing to do with my search though: after five fruitless attempts I just went to the main Leopard support page and it was the last link on the Troubleshooting listing from the front page. So anyone else who's had this problem, there ya go.

En Memoriam Pt. 2

2008-03-05T00:13:00.002-07:00

I know I posted a bit of a downer last time and it isn't going to get any better this time. However this is along the same line as my previous post, something that doesn't happen often.

I like roleplaying. Tabletop gaming is one of my favorite pastimes. The man who introduced the entirety of the world to pen and paper RPG, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons, Gary Gygax, died today (yesterday as you read this). Moment of silence for one of the most ingenious, charismatic and prolific men to ever walk this earth. May his memory live on in all our minds next to the literary greats that likely inspired his mind to create the most successful games in existence.

Even if you didn't play D&D but you like RPGs generate some traffic at the site to show your support for the man who invented the genre.

Gryyphyn, out.

En Memoriam...

2008-02-29T04:54:00.002-07:00

Friends. The last day of school. Weekends simply hanging out. Conversations over coffee. Discussions about books. The first day you've seen each other in a long time. Reintroducing yourself after years apart. A game of pool. A beer. A passing hello that triggers a memory. Thoughts about times passed.

There's a feeling you get, or a feeling you remember, when you consider time spent with friends. Somewhat inexplicable, usually pleasant, sometimes painful and sometimes it brings a smile to your face. Think back to that first 'last day of school' when you realized... something. A change, a shift in the dynamics of your first real friendship. A lasting bond that formed in that split second and you suddenly felt older, wiser. When that last peg fell in to the board, the one you'd been trying to get to fit for some time. When what you were missing was suddenly what you had and you finally realized it.

Imagine never having that feeling. Never coming to that realization. Never experiencing the loss when that person, that relationship, is gone. The dissolving of a thread that bound a part of your mind together. Imagine having never had a friend. Never experiencing that part of life.

Imagine never losing that bond. Never having to experience the loss of a friend. Never learning the lesson, never having to realize that you can live without some person occupying a small part of your thoughts constantly. Never having to hold someone to console them, to assure them that you are there, even when a part of you is gone, seems empty.

Consider having only lost. Having that feeling, the other part of your soul, then losing it every time, over and over. The depth of loss that numbs you to the rest of the world. Filling a gaping void in your soul with apathy, uncaring. An unflinching, ceaseless, roiling sense of blase. Unending laissez faire (see 2).

Now imagine having to live that every day. Being in a perpetual state of flux, never stopping, never slowing, never stabilizing. Endless, almost monotonous change, no predictability. Never a bad day, just bad moments but never knowing when they'll come. No continuity, no dogged grind. Just a turbulent sea of events.

What would that be like? What could that be like? Would you want it to end? Would you want it to change? Would you simply wish to cease to be? Or would you just want to be on the outside looking in, a casual observer, never involved? Or would it be better to float, unaffected, in the void, never knowing anything? Perpetual loss or perpetual joy? Endless flux or constant monotony? Contact or seclusion? Thoughtless or riddled mind?

"For in dreams we can climb the highest mountain or reach the farthest stars."

Gryyphyn, out.

Yayz! I suck!

2007-10-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

Yep. I suck Wanna know why? I'm running veestuh now. Like the rest of the poor shleps in this world, I'm running the worlds second-worst operating system (WinME, of course, being the worst thing every created). And on top of that I haven't talked to any of you for a good, long time. But you don't get to feel all of the sorrow of my loss. I also haven't read web comics in about two weeks (I'm lucky if I get to hit them twice a month now), I haven't checked my DA updates in forever, I have six more fan-fiction updates I haven't been able to read, I haven't read a book in know's how long and I haven't updated/written for my own fanfic since sometime early August.

Hopefully I'll be able to update you all on what's been going on soon. Until then... suck it up and soldier on.

Gryyphyn, out.

I love it when stuff just works

2007-09-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

I really love it when things just work. Especially things that just don't work in the beginning.

For those of you who are unaware I purchased a Gigabit ethernet card recently (Linksys eg1032 v 3.0) and haven't been able to get it to work. Ever. Well Sabayon, my new favorite distribution in the entirety of creation, detected my Gb card after I re-seated it (turns out the power connector for my AGP card worked it loose during my last cleaning and I didn't check).

Now openSuSE has detected the card before but it's never worked, even following the instructions on the LQ boards. So, as much for me to remember as for you to get the solution, here's what I had to go through after I re-seated the card:

run the command 'ifconfig eth1 [address]' to set the ip addr (dhcpd isn't picking it up but this is a command that can be entered in your profile script)
get knetwork manager to recognize it as the primary network device

What, you were expecting more? That's seriously it. I thought I'd have to modify config files again! No. Sabayon just detected the card, correctly might I add, selected the right driver (r8169 in this case; fucking miracle with this card I tell you...), defaulted it to Gb mode on full duplex and brought it up. I love Sabayon.

Do me a favor: if I ever change distros again please, please make sure I didn't violate my ethics and take a bribe, mkay?

Gryyphyn, out.

Long Time Coming...

2007-09-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

My review of Sabayon Linux 3.4e has been a long time coming. It's not that I've been running it for a long time. I've only been using it for about a week. ^_^ No, it's because this is the first non-SuSE distro that I've used since who the hell knows when. So, here's a quick rundown:

What I like
1. This is the most beautiful install environment I've ever seen. You actually boot in to the distro (bootable distro with installer options from the grub menu) and the installer starts. You're in an xfce environment, which is fairly sparse, but it's an actual desktop. While you're installing you can be browsing the web using your browser of choice, mine being Firefox. So when you run in to any sticky bits you're able to search them from the installing machine rather than having to run to the next room to grab someone else's computer. Nice.

2. The startup music is fantastic. Yeah yeah, big whoop, right? While KDE has some nice music it's not very energetic. It reminds me more of MS Win95 startup sounds, to be honest (don't kill me!). Sabayon, on the other hand, sounds like it was put together by Michael Kamen or SqEnix. Seriously.

3. Pretty colors. The default theme is a nice red one. Normally I have problems with the color red but this is really well put together and ties in to all of the applications. Even Amarok's OSD shows up as red.

4. KDE is all set up (mostly). The menus are already set to transparent and it uses the new default KDE menu system that behaves like Vista wants to (did I save that or what?!).

5. It's based on Gentoo. This means that you have access to what I now believe is the nicest package management system ever. There's graphical front-ends, lots of text-based tools and huge repos full of stuff.

6. Default applications are complete. Sabayon includes almost every application you could ever need. K3b, Amarok, Firefox, etc... are all present in their resplendent glory along with a decent selection of OSS games. The distro, since it's actually a live CD that can be installed, also includes some advanced games that can be installed by default if you use Gnome and are available as separate boot games. Pretty cool.

7. Configuration is a snap. For the most part it's just like any other distro: edit config files or use the specific application's configurator. Straight-forward and simple.

8. iPod support. In a world that is dominated by the iPod it's become fairly important to support the device, as well as any others. iPods in particular are a difficult item to support for a few reasons. While mine didn't work straight off (an update was required for Amarok because they're kinda dumb sometimes and journaling was enabled on my pod) it didn't take a whole lot to get things rolling. Once I stopped being an idiot (imagine that) and checked my Amarok version I saw I was out of date. I got one error that Google was able to provide a repair link for (aforementioned journaling) I was up and going. It's so bloody simple that it's like being on a Mac (yes, you need to fix those sometimes too).

9. Ease of use. In large part this is due to KDE. However Sabayon makes things a little more simple. Installation takes less thought than installing OS X (having done it now I can say that with confidence). Most everything is set up and working for you when you first boot. There's really nothing for you to configure unless your anal (high, I'm Mr. Tight Sphincter).

10. It's all inclusive. I haven't had to download anything that a normal user would need. Multimedia, browsing, file support... it's all really there.

Let me detail quickly the problem with the iPod. It's not particular to Sabayon, it's a general problem with a general solution. First, make sure you're running the most up to date version of Amarok (it has the best iPod support from what I've seen so far). If you're running your pod from a Mac primarily then it will have journaling turned on. Linux doesn't like that much (it's a kernel thing) and will only mount the pod as read-only, which Amarok can't have. So, boot in to your Mac and hook up your pod. Open a terminal (if you don't know where that is just go to Searchlight (apple-key + space)) and issue the following command:

mount (this command will give you your volume name which is needed by the diskutil command below; look for what you named your iPod near the bottom of the mount command output. You're looking for /dev/yourJournalNameIsHere)
diskutil disableJournal volumeName (replace volumeName with the volume you found for your iPod from mount)

That's it. Next time you have Amarok running and plug in your pod it'll detect and mount it, allowing you full browsing.

What I didn't/don't like
1. The options for installing on 3.4e are backwards. When you select KDE it takes you to Gnome stuff and visa versa. I had to re-install. Make sure you're paying attention to the packages.

2. It's a long install. Yes, there is a lot of stuff to install but do we really need all of it? A granular package manager would have been very nice here.

3. Config files are loaded with comments. Samba alone, which shouldn't be more than 40-80 lines for a typical, secure configuration was ~300 lines. That's crap.

4. Java was broken out of the box. Sabayon comes with Azureus, my favorite torrent client, but the java classes are broken due to god knows what and there was no jre/jdk, both of which are required. Fixing it was easy for me but an average user is going to be on the phone with someone real fast for this problem.

5. Desktop icons are ginormically huge. I mean really fucking big. Running 1280x1024 the Google Earth icon was literally the size of a golf ball. WTF?!

I like it. I'll keep using it for a while. The problems I had were minor in consideration to the ease of use and the ease of fixing said problems. If you're bored or just want to see something else pull down the iso, burn it and boot it. You can give it a test run with all the cookies enabled (including XGL for fancies).

http://www.sabayonlinux.org/

Gryyphyn, out.

Mac World

2007-09-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

This is a short update about my post last night (this morning?).

I'm at the Apple store right now and just found out that if you bought an iPhone within the last couple weeks you can get a refund on the price difference with the new pricing scheme announced Tuesday. You have to have your receipt but it's available. Listened in to a conversation at the counter myself. So there you go.

Gryyphyn, out.

The World

2007-09-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

The world, in all it's eccentricities, has decided to punish me. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, god damn it! It's been a shitty couple of months, though things are taking a turn for the better. I'm not going to go in to it. Those who need to know already do.

So, it's been a busy two months in general. Top stories of the last two months since I've been on hiatus:

1. Apple has made a great deal of news in the last two days. If you didn't know then you need to get out from under your rock and join the connected civilization. Go watch this:
Apple makes news (again...)
It'll do you good. I do warn you, however, that the rest of the living world is either watching this for the first time as you click the link (yes, they too were under a rock) or is watching it for the ^nth time.

2. NBC done shot themselves in the damned foot. While the official announcements have just breached within the last couple of days it's a situation that has been brewing between them and Apple for a few months. They have pulled all of their television show episodes from iTunes because they're greedy mother fuckers. That's really what it is. Who in the hell would pay $4.99 for an episode of anything?! If you buy a TV series season in the stores it'll run you about $100, making it ~$3.00 per episode. iTunes charges $2.00 per ep, which, even though I don't purchase stuff from iTunes at this point, seems relatively cheap comparatively. I hate greed, almost as much as I hate stoopud come to think of it...

3. Baren has come back to the world of the living! I say that not because he's a zombie now but because I just can't imagine there being much life without being connected...

4. Macrosucks (read Microsoft) is making huge headway in the computer an gaming industry with the launch of a Halo 3 XBox and Halo 3 itself, along with the news that they will release SP1 for Vista in Q1 2008. Now, this is all in the future, but it's still noteworthy news. I still have to wonder what the hell they were thinking with the Zune and why they continue to release operating systems (can you call it that if they don't operate well?) when they know they're broken...

5. KDE, one of the many available window managers (? still don't know how to define it to be honest...) for Linux, Unix and BSD (among others) announced a final date for their much anticipated 4.0 release to be some time early Q4 2007. The myriad of enhancements made, including, but not limited to, native XGL support, will make it the single most advanced window manager (? again) in creation (is it still opinion if it's fairly accepted fact?). I personally look forward to this newest release and plan on updating my OS (again), Sabayon Linux, as soon as they integrate KDE 4.

I think that's all I want to talk about for the time being. I would like to delve deeper in to some of these topics soon, but now's not the time. Next update will be about my experiences with Sabayon Linux 3.4e. (Hint: I like it a lot so far.)

DF of the week
The whiners who complain about some of the changes made to pricing from Apple, announced 09042007. I understand why you're pissed, honestly. I was a little miffed that six weeks after I got pai, my MacBook, they dropped the price $50 and gave the same level 1 Gig of RAM and an 80 GB HD. Honestly, I understand... to a point.

Apple dropped the price of the iPhone two months after it's launch by $200. Early adopters have to suffer that. It happens, you should know the consequences. Dumbass.

They're charging $.99 to make an iTunes song, which you already paid for, in to a 30 second ring tone. Ok. First why can't your phone just fucking ring? No, I'm not using an actual phone ringer type ring tone, but that's because I can't hear the damned thing. But there's no reason in the whole of existence to have your damn phone blast some shitty rap song when someone calls! Do you have any idea how annoying that is? And I sure as hell don't want to hear your phone completely mangle The Eagles 'Hotel California' ever again. You want music listen to a CD or your (insert portable digital music player here).

I have to deal with the fact that just three months ago I paid $349 for my 80G iPod and now there's a 160G in the same price spot. How pissed do you think I should be? Not very. Even I'm searching for shit to fill the damned thing up with! I don't think I need 160G worth of music, let alone the video I hardly ever watch (I watch video podcasts on a regular basis; that's usually the extent of my iPod video enjoyment).

Please, stop the bitching. I don't care. Nobody else should either. If you're that pissed off send a letter to Apple. I'm sure they have a Capuchan who's more than willing to burn your rant for you.

DISCLAIMER: That last commment should in no way be misconstrued in to my telling anyone that Apple's customer service sucks monkey balls. I've had nothing but positive experiences with every Apple anyone I've ever communicated with. The monkey is the one with a grudge against you.

Section-9
gryyphyn@motoko$:> exit

I'd like to be light-hearted...

2007-07-19T01:35:00.001-07:00

I'd like to be light-hearted right now, but I just can't seem to be. Coming from someone who seems to be like that a lot you probably just think 'what's new', right? Well, keep thinking that and maybe, in some alternate dimension, it will be true.

If anyone has seen Baren please tell him to talk to me! I'm ronery, so berry ronery... ;;^_^

Anyway... DF of the month, hell, maybe the year, is me. It's not something I want to talk about but rest assured that it is. Anyone who's read the last oh, I don't know, four months of fucking fucked up posts should agree. Let's just say I didn't get any more intelligent over the last month or so.

What's more life completely blows. I've had nothing but a very shitty three weeks on this god-forsaken planet. There's not many things that could make things worse right now, only one or two that I can think of. And yes, whether you believe it or not I've taken abso-fucking-lutely *everything* in to account that could possibly happen.

So, if you can find it in your heart to do so, send a happy my way. Just a small one will do.

Gryyphyn, out.

In Response To...

2007-06-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

In response to the letter I posted previously, and also sent to a number of US political figureheads, I received the following response from US Senator (UT) Orrin Hatch:

~~~~~
June 21, 2007

Dear Mr. Crosthwait:

I appreciated reading your comments regarding our nation’s immigration system and the recent debate over comprehensive immigration reform. I welcome the opportunity to respond.

As you know, the Senate recently considered a comprehensive immigration reform bill (S. 1348) intended to address the many problems that plague our immigration system. The bill was debated in the Senate for two weeks and, on June 7, a motion to end debate on the bill was defeated, preventing a final vote from taking place. I agree with the bill’s proponents that we need a comprehensive approach to fix our immigration problems. However, I voted against the motion to end debate because I couldn’t support the bill as it was written and I did not want to let its sponsors force it through the Senate. It is anticipated that we will again take up this issue in the near future.

When it comes to our immigration policy, the status quo is completely unacceptable. Foremost, we simply must do more to secure our borders and develop capable and workable enforcement practices. I believe an approach that couples increased border security and more efficient workplace enforcement will help to stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming to the United States. This is a particular concern in Utah, especially in Southern Utah, which has become a focal point for various networks specializing in the trafficking and smuggling of illegal drugs and immigrants. I am working to direct more Federal government resources to addressing these problems.

In addition, I believe we must find a fair and lawful way to deal with those that are already in our country illegally. However, I will not support any proposal that I believe amounts to blanket amnesty for all illegal immigrants as that would be unfair to the thousands of people who have waited in line to enter the country through the proper channels. Also, a limited guest worker program must be created for our American – and specifically Utah – businesses in need of foreign workers. Finally, for any immigration system to work, we must distribute visas and green cards in a more fair and efficient way.

The current Senate bill would address a number of these issues. For example, it would impose a series of border security triggers that would have to be met before any new immigration programs could be implemented. This is intended to assure that our borders will be secure before we allow any guest workers to enter the country. In addition, the bill would create a more efficient system for employers to verify the immigration status of their employees. The bill would also impose a merit system and a more extensive criminal background check for those who apply for entry into the United States.

That being said, I continue to have a number of difficulties with this legislation. I am hopeful that, as the amendment process moves forward, we can work to improve the provisions of the bill in order to ensure we enact sensible changes to our immigration system. Rest assured that, as the Senate debates this legislation, I will remain committed to enacting substantive reforms that serve our nation’s interests and uphold the rule of law. I will certainly take your comments to heart as this process goes forward.

Thank you for writing.

Sincerely,
Orrin G. Hatch
United States Senator
~~~~~

I'd like to publicly thank Senator Hatch for his timely response and for his thoughtful views on our current immigration laws.

DFOTW (maybe the year...)
Recently, Vice President Dick Cheyney declared that his office and staff are subject to jurisdiction only by the judicial house of the US government. This is absolutely contrary to his office, which is subject to jurisdiction of all houses of every branch of government. Mr. Cheney is setting himself up, apparently, to become the next president, nay, dicator. Alarmist view? Possibly. But if you can show me any other reason for someone is his position to make such a declaration I'd be more than happy to listen to your arguments.

Gryyphyn, out.

An Open Plea to United States Citizens and Patriots

2007-06-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

I cannot honestly believe that the new CIRA bill is to be considered beneficial legislation for the United States by any organization or party in the United States. This is a terrible blow to those of us who call this nation ours. And it is ours. This new bill that that is supported by organizations such as NILC (National Immigration Law Center) and the ACLU is the most ridiculous example of poorly written law that I have seen in my entire life. And that fact that anyone considers it to be beneficial to the United States of America is absolutely ludicrous. I want my country, to which I contribute, to remain my country. If we continue the direction we are currently headed we will have to soon change our nations name to the Divided States of Mexico, Canada and America, a prospect which I don't think any true citizen would like to see happen.

This bill needs to be removed from consideration by all representatives and members of the Senate, the House of Representatives and Congress. Furthermore, any person who suggests legislation such as this and calls it beneficial, honest and constitutional needs to be tried and convicted of treason against the United States in federal court and thrown in a maximum security federal penitentiary for a good, long while for suggesting that we hand over our country for free to the rest of the world.

Here we are, the year 2007, and every honest American sees the problems with illegal immigration, lack of jobs and the problems presented by the amount of illegal immigrants on the health care, welfare and school funding monies available in the United States and wonders why we have these problems. Unconstitutional bills, such as the proposed CIRA legislation, violate America in unnameable ways and hamper the ability for lawful American citizens to receive the benefits guaranteed to them by the existing legislation. Rather than the assistance for health care going to the employed Americans that pay for it through taxes the money is given away to illegal immigrants who have never paid taxes in their lives and most likely have never worked in the United States, either legally or illegally.

I've spent enough time being nice. This must all stop immediately. I am very, very tired of paying for every illegal immigrant to get their 'free' health care. I'm tired of seeing myself and my friends have to jump through hoops, often on to a bed of spikes, just to get a job, and more often than not be denied because the employer is either cheap or afraid of things like Affirmative Action and the ACLU.

Throw every single illegal immigrant out of the United States and give me back my country. I do not want illegal immigrants here taking my money and taking advantage of me. I never did want them here an never did I abide them being here. If you want them so bad then you clothe, feed and house them on your own because I won't. If their country is so damned horrible then they can spend the time making it better like I have, like my parents have, and like every generation of my family, who immigrated here legally, (a concept I do not have a problem with) has done for the last 180+ years.

Call me a bigot if you want. Because I hereby declare that you and your compatriots are unpatriotic and treasonous if you and yours support such legislation. And if I had the power and means I would indict every single supporter for exactly that: treason.

Since I will most likely be misunderstood by sending this letter to the people that I have sent it to openly, please allow me to state one fact that must not be omitted and must be taken in to consideration: all of the subject matter contained in this letter is in reference to illegal immigrants. I have no problem with naturalized citizens, legal immigrants and those who apply for their work visa within 90 days of coming to the United States, with the following provisions: if they choose to bring their families to America their family must apply for their visa or full citizenship within the same 90 day period after arrival and they must all learn English within two years of entry. I do not ask that they write a doctoral thesis to illustrate their knowledge of the English language, simply that they be able to communicate with me in the language of my country, the same country they chose to immigrate to.

I implore you, as an American Citizen, as a taxpayer and on a moral and ethical level: if you support the bill, or legislation that is similar, please stop supporting this bill. If you oppose such legislation, or this bill in particular at least, you have my thanks. Please, have the bill rescinded. Burn it on the steps of Capital Hill in front of all America. Do the right thing.

*Copies of this letter or links to my blog, where it will also be posted in it's entirety, have been sent to the following recipients:
Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah)
Senator Rob Bennet (Utah)
Representative Rob Bishop (Utah)
Representative Chris Cannon (Utah)
Representative Jim Matheson (Utah)
The ACLU, Utah branch (aclu@acluutah.org)
AAAA (American Association for Affirmative Action) (ExecAdminAsst@affirmativeaction.org)
NILC (National Imigration Law Center) (info@nilc.org)

If you have received this letter and believe in it's spirit please forward it on to your constituents, like minded or not.

Chuck 'Gryyphyn' Crosthwait
American citizen, 9th generation+

Firstly, I appreciate... (My Letter, pt. 3)

2007-06-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

Before we begin kiddies I need to express my thanks to Joshua from the FSF who posted the following:

"In either case, we make the premise that a user of software is no less important than an author and that their interests and needs have equal weight. If you do not share this premise, then it is likely that there will be many fundamental disagreements between us."

(The full post from Joshua can be found as the first comment from the previous post. I will leave it posted for reference and posterity.)

Thanks for replying Joshua. Now in to the gritty: it's fluff. It's the kind of stuff that you tell your kids because you want them to drink their milk and get big and strong. It's like repeating the ages old 'sticks and stones' saying to yourself. Try it when you're getting reamed by a loved one. Or a friend. Yeah, words fucking hurt. And comments and idealism, like that expressed by the FSF (in large part, anyway), are detrimental to the entire OSS world. I have a number of friends who have really begun to hate the FSF because of zealots like this. It hurts the cause, guys. A lot. To be honest I don't consider myself equal to a developer. If I did I'd be writing code, contributing to the projects. But I'm not a programmer, therefore I'm not equal to one. Let me put that a different way to better illustrate my point:

#test
string gryyphyn = new string("user");
string programmer = new string("author");

if (gryyphyn == programmer)
console.writeline("Gryyphyn == programmer");
else
console.writeline("Gryyphyn != programmer");
end

gryyphyn@motoko$:>test
Gryyphyn != programmer
gryyphyn@motoko$:>

That clear enough for you?

Really, if you want to release your software for free I applaud you and appreciate the work that you do, as well as thank you for allowing me to use your software without charge. Having said that I'd also like to thank the paid software world: thank's for making software and not charging ungodly amounts of my money for me to use it (obviously I'm not talking to Microsoft here).

Joshua states that we'll have 'fundamental differences'. I think that's simply because I believe in freedom of choice, not just freedom for beer (yeah, that's a badly adapted phrase... oh well). I don't think it's right for anyone to force someone to patent their software and, in the current state of affairs, it's not forced on anyone. But I also think that people should be able to patent their software if they choose so.

Let's all remember something here: it is possible to patent software and still make it available freely. As much as I like it there are other licenses out there besides the GPL that allow for such distrobution. Abolishing patents doesn't keep an author from distributing freely, nor does it force them to charge; it just protects their creative property claim. It's like a signature. Like a sticker on a box. It's there to make sure that someone can defend themselves when someone tries to steal their work, in this case by not giving due credit. So tell me, FSF guys: where, in all fucking honesty, is the harm in that? Why do you want to force everyone to do it your way?

Gryyphyn, out.

My letter to Richard Stallman, pt. 2

2007-06-07T19:41:00.002-07:00

For the unaware: there's a discussion that has been going back and forth between certain members of Section-9 / The Wired. The argument is about the FSF and FOSS. Now, as a personal rule due to difference of opinion, I am not a fan of Richard Stallman. I don't believe that it is the duty of the FSF or any of its representatives to state that all software should be free (as in beer). I do believe that an author, artist or developer (they're all the same thing, believe it or not...) should be able to do what they want with their software, however. This is the spirit embraced by the GPL, the free as in freedom portion. The statement that I quoted from Richard in my previous post is what pissed me off (I'll not be so nice here; it's my blog).

I think it's garbage for Mr. Stallman to attempt to speak on behalf of everyone that he associates with by stated that patents for software should be abolished. The GPL allows authors to do whatever they want with their software that's released under the GPL, and that includes patenting it. Now do I think that patenting GPL licensed software is anything effective? No. It's really inne-fucking-fective, but it's your beast. You should be able to do what you want with it, not what Richard Stallman or any other right- or left-wing ding dong says you should.

Now this particular post isn't in response to anyone but Stallman. The man just pisses me off. So, I formally pose the following questions to him, if he decides to read my dinky little blog: Who the fuck do you think you are trying to force people to follow your way because you think it's better? Do you seriously think that it's better to abolish software patents when corporatized America is simply going to take the lack of patent to steal software, regardless of the license it's released under? And, if you get your way and I'm right about corporate thievery of FOSS, are you going to foot the bill for these small-time developers to sue?

To be completely honest I think you're worse than Microsoft, Oracle and all of these other corporate America/multinational entities: someone who wants to force people to do things their way or none at all. Microsoft wants to prosecute people who have supposedly stolen their software. Let them beat at the wall for a while, it won't hurt any of us. Oracle doesn't fight battles it can't win but, as the leader in the database market (bitch if you want, it's the truth). But you, sir, are a fucking leech on the OSS movement when you make disparaging comments and seemingly try to force people to do things your way or none. Don't pollute the GPL with your right-wing horse puckey.

Now, what the hell is so wrong with people using and developing proprietary software that helps people use their computers? People want to play DVDs on their computer, but you would rather remove CSS. What the fuck? I want to use my iPod in Linux but I can't because Apple wants to keep their stuff closed source but you want to force them to make it open source. Again, WTF? I'd love to see MS Office on Linux. Not because I use it. Hell, I hate it. But because it would help Linux grow into the mainstream market, which is exactly what we need. But would you limit the growth of the strongest soapbox FOSS has so nobody could stand on it and be heard when they speak of the benefits of open source? Because making it so Linux could not use proprietary software, which seems to be the direction the GPL v3 is going (I don't speak legalese fluently), would cripple it like breaking a child's legs, making unable to walk.

Disclaimer:
Mr. Richard Stallman, if you do decide to read my pitiful little blog: If my statements about your beliefs, assertions or anything else are incorrect please feel free to comment. I'll be more than happy to correct my errors. But I doubt I'll have to make any changes to what I've posted.

DF of the... however long it's been now
Me. Why? Because I'm arguing (most likely with myself) on the internet. And arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics: no matter who wins you're still retarded. (And anyone who takes that as an insult has a) no sense of humor and b) a misguided definition of the word.)

Gryyphyn, out.

My letter to Richard Stallman

2007-06-07T19:39:00.001-07:00

Full post to follow, this letter was provided for reference.

~~~~~
Hypocrisy I say. I read and re-read the recent article regarding the GPL v3 fears of most users (http://gplv3.fsf.org/rms-why.html). I agree with much of what was said, specifically regarding the ability for people to continue to release their products (after all, that's what they are) under v2. However I take specific exception to the following phrase, taken from para 16:

"The only way to make software development safe is to abolish software patents, and we aim to achieve this some day."

This comment is upsetting. The GPL enables people to do what they want with the software they develop. It's designed to not inhibit the creativity of developers and this statement is contradictory to the spirit of the license. If a developer wishes to patent his work the GPL v2 allows him to do so and, as far as I know, so does v3. But the statement seems to me to state that authors of software should not be able to patent their works, not just the corporations but small-time coders as well.

It is my opinion that Mr. Stallman should not let his beliefs about software affect the ability of coders to do with their software what they want. Microsoft doesn't force everyone to patent what they release so why should the GPL completely outlaw that possibility? This is not conducive to a good relationship between those who want to make money from their software and those that want to allow users to benefit from their programs without charge.

In short, Mr. Stallman, please do not attempt to speak for everyone with statements that appear to not be heavily considered before being stated.

This letter will also be posted on my blog along with a link to Mr. Stallman's original work and the creative license will be posted with it, as requested. My blog can be found at http://dffaq.blogspot.com .

Sincerely,
Chuck "Gryyphyn" Crosthwait
Section-9
~~~~~

Quoted section in paragraph 2 is protected under the following license:

Copyright 2007 Richard Stallman
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are permitted worldwide without royalty in any medium provided this notice is preserved.

Gryyphyn, back soon.

Why We Fight

2007-06-05T16:51:00.001-07:00

I got this email today. I don't have a real post for you, so I'll give you what I have. I like this email. If you don't like it that you most likely need to go back to your country.

~~~
The other day, my nine year old son wanted to know why we were at war. My husband looked at our son and then looked at me. My husband and I were in the Army during the Gulf War and we would be honored to serve and defend our Country again today. I knew that my husband would give him a good explanation. My husband thought for a few minutes and then told my son to go stand in our front living room window.

He said "Son, stand there and tell me what you see."

"I see trees and cars and our neighbor's houses," he replied.

"OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United States of America and you are President Bush."

Our son giggled and said "OK."

"Now son, I want you to look out the window and pretend that every house and yard on this block is a different country" my husband said.

"OK Dad, I'm pretending."

"Now I want you to stand there and look out the window and pretend you see Saddam come out of his house with his wife, he has her by the hair and is hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He hits her in the face, he throws her on the ground, then he starts to kick her to death. Their children run out and are afraid to stop him, they are screaming and crying, they are watching this but do nothing because they are kids and they are afraid of their father. You see all of this, son....what do you do?"

"Dad?"

"What do you do son?"

"I'd call the police, Dad."

"OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations. They take your call.They listen to what you know and saw but they refuse to help. What do you do then son?"

"Dad......... but the police are supposed to help!" My son starts to whine.

"They don't want to, son, because they say that it is not their place or your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it," my husband says.

"But Dad...he killed her!!" my son exclaims.

"I know he did...but the police tell you to stay out of it. Now I want you to look out that window and pretend you see our neighbor who you're pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same thing to his children."

"Daddy...he kills them?"

"Yes, son, he does. What do you do?"

"Well, if the police don't want to help, I will go and ask my next door neighbor to help me stop him," our son says.

"Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening and refuses to get involved as well. He refuses to open the door and help you stop him," my husband says.

"But Dad, I NEED help!!! I can't stop him by myself!!"

"WHAT DO YOU DO SON?" Our son starts to cry.

"OK, no one wants to help you, the man across the street saw you ask for help and saw that no one would help you stop him. He stands taller and puffs out his chest. Guess what he does next, son?"

"What Daddy?"

"He walks across the street to the old ladies house and breaks down her door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on fire and then...he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in the window and laughs at you. WHAT DO YOU DO?"

"Daddy..."

"WHAT DO YOU DO?" Our son is crying and he looks down and he whispers, "I'd close the blinds, Daddy."

My husband looks at our son with tears in his eyes and asks him. "Why?"

"Because Daddy, the police are supposed to help people who need them and they won't help. You always say that neighbors are supposed to HELP neighbors, but they won't help either. They won't help me stop him. I'm afraid. I can't do it by myself, Daddy. I can't look out my window and just watch him do all these terrible things and... and... do nothing... so... I'm just going to close the blinds so I can't see what he's doing... and I'm going to pretend that it is not happening."

I start to cry. My husband looks at our nine year old son standing in the window, looking pitiful and ashamed at his answers to my husband's questions and he says...

"Son"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Open the blinds because that man, He's at your front door. WHAT DO YOU DO?"

My son looks at his father, anger and defiance in his eyes. He balls up his tiny fists and looks his father square in the eyes, without hesitation he says: " I DEFEND MY FAMILY, DAD!! I'M NOT GONNA LET HIM HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD!!! I'M GONNA GIGHT HIM, DAD, I'M GONNA FIGHT HIM!!!!!"

I see a tear roll down my husband's cheek and he grabs our son to his chest and hugs him tight, and says... " It's too late to fight him, he's too strong and he's already at YOUR front door son.....you should have stopped him BEFORE he killed his wife, and his children and the old lady across the way. You have to do what's right, even if you have to do it alone, before its too late," my husband whispers.

THAT scenario I just gave you is WHY we are at war with Iraq . When good men stand by and let evil happen, son, THAT is the greatest atrocity in the world. "YOU MUST NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALONE!" BE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! BE PROUD OF OUR TROOPS!! SUPPORT THEM!!! SUPPORT AMERICA SO THAT IN THE FUTURE OUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER HAVE TO CLOSE THEIR BLINDS..."

Steven R Chandler, CMSgt
332 ELRS/Vehicle Management
Flight Balad Air Base , Iraq
~~~

If you made it this far I'd like to give you another thought cookie: be proud of your own country. I have respect for ethnic diversity and for the beliefs and values of other cultures, even when/if they conflict with my own. If we didn't have diversity we wouldn't have life. But, with all due respect to your native country's flags and songs and traditions, I don't want to drive down Mexico Street or Tonga Boulevard or Africa Lane. I keep my music turned down because I can enjoy it without the rest of the world having to endure it. I keep my traditions inside my house because they're mine. I celebrate my national holidays in a park because this is my country and our society allows me to do such, so you have no fucking right to get pissed at me when I do so. It is my country after all.

So please turn down your stereo and have some courtesy. Take your !Vive! la Mexico flags back to Mexico if you think it's so fucking great. If you think I'm a bigot then you can kiss my ass. I don't go to Russia and expect them to speak English, give me free insurance, not deport me for not getting the equivalent of a visa or expect them to either provide translators or give me forms in English to fill out. That's just fucked up.

I want my documentation for products sold in stores to be in American unless they're strictly import, like Japanese candies or real Belgian chocolates. I want my billboards along American highways to be in fucking American English. That's the language here. I don't want to pay $6000 / yr for health insurance because we're treating illegal immigrants for free. I don't want to get paid shit wages because we have a bunch of illegal immigrants who will build computers for minimum wage when the job should pay at least $12. And I'm really fucking tired of having to search and search for a job so hard when I'm over qualified because of this affirmative action horse shit. So, mister HR man, you don't want to seem racist so you're going to hire a whole bunch of people who don't put Caucasian on their application? What you're really doing is practicing government protected bigotry.

Why is it so hard for a single white male, 18-35 to get a job? Because we're hiring a) illegal immigrants, b) unqualified non-white-male peoples to make the fucking ACLU happy and c) everyone else who isn't "better off than everyone else". Let me tell you something really god damned important right now, just to set the record straight: I'm 25, white, have a bachelors degree in Computer Science, 10+ years of customer service experience, 10+ years of production line experience, a clean driving record, can read and write fluently and precisely, and am more qualified for 90% of the jobs I've applied for. But I've lost all of them to: illegal immigrants that needed to have a translator both in the work place and while they were filling out their applications; unwed white mothers 18-25 who can't type, lift heavy objects and have made the business revolve around their schedule; people who haven't completed high school, let alone even attended college; and a myriad of others who simply weren't qualified for the positions. Because of all of this I have a job that barely pays my bills, have to live with my Mom, I can't have any health insurance at all because it's too expensive and I have to work twice as hard to get half of the money that my background, experience and education should get me.

My solution to all of the above
1. Stop breeding: stupid; thievery; dishonesty; and children who think it's okay to do any of the aforementioned.
2. Stop stealing resources from everyone else
3. Deport all illegal immigrants, no questions asked. If you're country is broken then fix it. We don't walk away from problems here in the US.
4. Keep your shit to yourself, even if you think it smells like fucking roses.
5. Learn at least some of the language and customs of wherever you visit.
6. Visit, don't stay.
7. Be nice to others. You'd be amazed at how much better you feel. (And being nice does not include handing everything you have over, but it does mean that you can take action against those who try to take everything from you. Unless you want parasites like tapeworms and leeches all over you. Then you can go make your own fucking country.)

If you don't like what I've said then you probably shouldn't have read it. If you did and agree good for you because you've realized that we have a serious problem. If you read it and hated it then you have a serious problem. I'm willing to help others but not at the expense of 'me and mine'. And if you know how to resolve it please let me know because all I have are suggestions and everyone's too afraid to speak up (see story above).

Gryyphyn, out.

The coolest fucking thing you've ever seen...

2007-05-29T00:48:00.000-07:00

And I promise what the title of this post says. I was turned on to it by Squall. And, now that I have it running, it's the most fun I've ever had with a computer. Including free porn.

Beryl, Compiz and Xgl
First there was Xgl, an OpenGL implementation for XWindows and X.org (etc...) and for a time it was good. But it wasn't being utilized (unless you count screen savers, which I don't). Then came Compiz and, while it's a fantastic implementation of OpenGL for the Linux desktop (thank's Novell!) there wasn't too awful much you could do with it (I can hear the complaints now...). Then came Beryl. "And on the 42nd of Juvembtober he grabbed a beer and ejoyed his work."

Beryl is the coolest goddamned thing I've ever seen for a computer. Ever. Better than the internet (well, maybe not the internet, but definitely better than the intrawebs). I'd love to be able to explain this in my usual flowery way with big words that don't make sense to 80% of the unwashed asses but I can't. Words fail. So I'll let YouTube do it for me:

That's only a little bit of what it can do. Three hours fucking around with it and I've only played with maybe half. Aero can kiss ma ass (could from the start, but yeah). Aqua, I love you and you're easy to use, but I like Beryl more.

Thank you Linus
Let us give thanks to that which started it all. To the tiniest of programs which runs the largest of computers. To the innocuous little guy that keeps everything running, never stopping, never complaining, and only rarely panicking (usually due to some stupid BKAC (think PEBKAC) error). That fantastic monolithic creation called the kernel and it's creator, the Helsinki Hellian (I don't know either...), Linus Torvalds. I tip my hat to you sir for showing the way and ignoring the people who said it couldn't be done, shouldn't be done or wouldn't be done. We (now this is where you all put fingers to brow) salute you. Semper fu, tarry on.

Gryyphyn, out.

Fink Ployd (aka. From the Middle of Fucking Nowhere)

2007-04-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

So, here I am in MOFN (middle of fucking nowhere), also known as Wyoming. I'm on a road trip with my mom, heading for the hills and relaxation. It's been a while since I've taken a vacation and I'll tell you, it's very welcome.

We're almost to our destination, a fantastic little town called Steamboat Springs in the northern part of Colorado. So far on this trip I've used Pai (my Macbook for those not in the know) to write a spreadsheet, listen to music, watch a movie and take a cool picture (which I'll apparently have to load later. DA isn't playing nice... :( ).

We were in the stretch between Evanston and Rock Springs when Queen came on. I didn't think about the song until my mom looked over at me and said “Waynes World!”. We just couldn't help but sing the refrain WW style. God, we're such nerds...

We've listened to everything from Ozzy to Queen to, now, the Stones. I asked her at one point “what the hell did people do on long trips when all there was was the occasional AM radio station?” I've never had to deal without music on a trip. Now I'm a little spoiled. I have a laptop with a DVD drive and a ton of battery life (I'm on hour 5 right now, after the music, movie and everything else). We truly are the most fortunate generation to come so far.

We're old enough to remember what values are. We know what 'the look' is. We know that when someone says “no” they mean it and, if they're older, you damn well better listen. But we also get the most benefit from technology. I've grown up with computers, almost from their mainstream inception. Our level of education (for those of us who aren't extremely freaking lazy) is higher than it has ever been. We're catching up to the eastern countries, something that hasn't happened before.

The new generation, on the other hand... lazy bunch of fuckers. They don't know how to spell and rely on Windows to do it for them. They don't know how to add, they have calculators for that. They get away with murder because their parents are too lazy and/or self-absorbed to punish them. They get pampered because mommy and daddy are indulgent pricks. And I'll be damned if I've seen many that know what work is.

Now see, this is what happens when I get time to write. I bitch and complain. My whole point for this entry is I'm having a good time, I'm relaxing, and I fully intend on not doing a lick of work while I'm here. Have a nice day everyone! Burn some incense, make some tea, sit under a shade tree with your significant other and enjoy being alive. They're rare moments and we should all embrace them when we have the chance.

Dumb fucker of the... how long has it been now?
It's fun to laugh at people. I laugh at myself all the time. But there's just some people who make your muscles hurt with all the laughing at them.

We recently lost one of those. Joseph Barbera, beloved creator of many cartoons I grew up with like The Flintstones and The Jetsons, passed on to the great drawing board in the sky. I honestly thought that everybody in the world knew who he was, even if it took a little prompting by mentioning a cartoon he worked on (we all forget things)...

But this person... so help me ... One of my coworkers looked at me and said “What movies was he in?” Blank stares all around. “Well was he in TV shows?” Again with the looks. “Well if he wasn't anything important like an actor then why do you care?”

This caused two reactions, anger being the first. How could you not know many kids' secondary heroes? The man basically invented the SatAM genre for hell's sake! The second reaction was contemplative. Has our society really bred people to not care who someone is unless they're the ones on the screen? Don't we care anymore about the people doing most of the work? Cause I'll promise you right the fuck now that the actors do only about 25% of the work on anything. The months, sometimes years, that go in to pre- and post-production for something like that are what really makes it happen.

Author's note: The title... yeah. Apparently after six hours in a car Pink Floyd becomes 'Fink Ployd'... blame my mom!

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

Fuck AIM and the jackass who wrote it

2007-04-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

First, this won't be in my usual format as I'm still working on another big piece.

AIM is a piece of crap, as is AOL. It's not user friendly if you know how a mouse works rather than just how to use it. You can't upload your own pictures like you can with every other IM client I've ever used. And god forbid you want to keep your running processes down because it requires three.

Here's the message AOL: bite my pasty white ass. Let the big kids make the useful stuff. You can stick to being one of the last, sorry companies offering dial-up for damn near the same price as cable service and cram the second worst application ever conceived right up your pretentious ass.

Gryyphyn, out.

Quickie...

2007-03-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie for everyone: I'm working on a full-fledged article right now. Couple things to think about while you wait:

Linux would not exist were it not for Linus Torvalds (no shit, right?) But it also wouldn't exist were it not for Richard Stallman and Bill Gates too. I can't wait for the flame war this one might start...

I've said many times, thanks to Squall, that Emacs isn't a text editor, it's an operating system. But I saw something new recently, that it's a thermonuclear word processor. Just kinda funny.

Last, if you want to see what the spurning thoughts for this article were, go to here:
http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
and here:
http://codev2.cc/

Gryyphyn, out.

Fanfiction

2007-03-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

It's official, I've finally become an amateur author! I just uploaded my first fanfic "Enmity" to Portkey. It's a Harry Potter fanfic that takes place eight years after book 7. Thought you might want to know...

Gryyphyn, out.

YouTube, how we love thee...

2007-03-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

Ethics and OSS/FSS

2007-02-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine,who shall remain nameless as I haven't received his permission to use it, sent me an email recently asking about the ethics of using closed-source modules in Linux (at least that's what the root of the question was interpreted to be by me). Things like PDF reader and MP3 decoders are considered closed-source programs and are normally charged for. Doing things like cracking codecs is technically illegal. I say technically because it's what the law says. But is the law always right?

I'm having an ethical issue within myself. What are your thoughts on using restricted formats on Linux even though it is not legal? I do of course (every proprietary format I can think of) but I'm not sure if it's right. On the one hand it is wrong that everything (most web functionality it seems) is built around a restricted format (streaming wmv, mpeg, etc.) so only certain OS's can legally use them and I want to say to hell with the "man". But on the other hand I'm not entirely against restricted formats. If I was an artist who made a living of selling my music I wouldn't want it obtainable legally for free. If someone comes up with a piece of software or format it's their prerogative if they want to restrict it or sell it (I'm not against non-free software, people put their hard work into it). My personal belief is that all information and data should be free (this is different than a piece of software), but the majority of multimedia formats is not (should multimedia be??). So you are left with: a) pay out the ass for microsoft or mac, b) use the formats illegally anyway and tell everyone to go to hell, c) refuse to use non-free formats and miss out on most of the webs multimedia goodness.

Thoughts?

Below is my reply but before you get to that I ask you to consider this: do the people that create and enforce our laws really have our best interests in mind or are they protecting those who can already protect themselves? I don't know about you but I don't have the money to cover my ass should certain companies find out I'm using their software without paying for it. I can't afford to pay for the software in the first place, that's why I'm using it 'illegally'. So does that mean that I'm supposed to be denied the right to utilize media that's created by, or directly uses, the format/program in question?

My reply
The debate that you're referencing is more than just legality or OSS vs. closed-source or proprietary programs. The point that you raise is the same standpoint that the FSF (Free Software Foundation) clings to, that all, or most at least, software should be free. The problem isn't in the paying for software, it's in the price, I think. It's not fair that a company like Microsoft charges exorbitant amounts of money for their software. Charging for your work is ethical, overcharging for it is morally wrong and illustrates the social ineptitude of people who call themselves entrepreneurs.

People like Bill Gates they want to capitalize and monopolize on the success of an idea and the work of others. Bill Gate's couldn't program a robot around a corner. His idea was to invade, control and capitalize on a market that nobody else had thought of as a private quarters sanctum. He wanted to build something that the business public would use. Then, once he got the market penetration he thought he deserved, he capitalized on the idea and made everybody sign blood pacts with him so he could charge shitloads of money, all the while knowing that things only worked with his idea and he could therefore get away with it. Pro: The hardware's cheap. Con: The software is ridiculously expensive.

Then you have people like Steve Jobs. First, he let a businessman control the overall finances of a company he built. Second he hired people who could do what he wanted. Third he hired more people who could build what he envisioned. Then he sat in on the design meetings and gave his input. Steve knows how to produce a product that the public wants, that will work and continue to do so for a long time and that the public will embrace emphatically. iPod wasn't a fluke, it was a well thought out design. OSX wasn't an operating system, it was truly a work of programming art that was designed to be easy to use, effective and as near flawless as you can get as an OS. Then he went out to all of these companies and said "here's our product, come work with us" and offered everything as a package deal at a reasonable price. But he didn't say only work with us, he just said "here's what you have to do for us and we'll work exclusively with you", not "do this and work only with us or fuck off". The hardware's more expensive but the software is dirt cheap in comparison.

Next comes Linus Torvalds (praise be!). First, he wasn't designing a product, he was designing something for the sake of it and for himself and a few close friends to use. The idea wasn't to build some money hogging conglomeration and market it as his own. He simply built the core, the foundation on which everything else is built, and told the whole world to use it if they wanted to. All he wanted was for people to give him credit for the work he did. He wasn't going for fame or money, just for fun (coincidently that's also the name of his biography). He let everyone else use it, gave and took credit where credit was due and let anyone who wanted to work with it work with it with no real restrictions. Hell, he even said change it if you want, just let me and mine test it if you want everyone else to use it. Nobody else did that.

The main differences between the three ideals here is the ego. Bill is all ego, all money, all acclaim. Steve is egotistical but doesn't suffer from nepotism like Bill and wants to make a profit, just not rape our wallets. Linus is at the opposite end of the spectrum and follows his ideals without charging, realizing that his work is just a piece of the puzzle. Steve and Bill want to make money while Steve and Linus want to make stuff that works well. But Bill doesn't want to play nicely with others, not everyone can afford a Mac and pretty well none of us are so disconnected from the world that we can rely solely on Linux (don't take it like the insult it seems to be).

Bottom line: using closed source applications isn't unethical, it's just breaking the law. Anyone who said the law is always ethical needs to be beaten to death with the smart stick because they've already been hit enough with the dumbass bat. Also there's companies out there, namely Novell with their SuSE product who offer the binaries (not the source code, thus making it closed source instead of open source (code)) for use on Linux and other non-Windows/Mac systems. The binaries are freely available from the openSuSE project (http://www.opensuse.org).

I highly encourage you to follow the link that's in the title of this entry. It's the preamble for the GPL (General Public License) that governs the use of open source software. While it's not used for all open source software the spirit in the preamble doesn't change for the most part through the different iterations of the different GPL licenses (yes, there's quite a few different GPL versions and license levels). Let me answer my earlier question: I shouldn't be denied enjoying the different things out there, be they movies, music or on-line readables. Just imagine if you had to pay $15 just to read my blog for a year. Would you? Cause there's no way in hell I'm that entertaining and if you think I am I know a really good psychologist...

Also I think that of the three Steve Jobs really has the right idea. I know how hard it is to make stuff like this and I don't want other people using it without my permission. But I wrote all of my stuff with the GPL in mind and gave everyone permission so long as the gave me my credit, though none of it was good or useful enough to charge for.

DF of the week
There's a new show out called "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" This is a fantastic show, especially if you like to watch people make asses of themselves on national television. And it's nice to see kids get the ego boost from realizing what we won't tell them: that they're smarter than most adults.

Farewell unwashed asses.
Gryyphyn, out.

Just take the damned quiz

2007-02-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

Take the quiz. Then post your results. J00 15 n07 1337 n1nj4 1f j00 d0n7.

Are_You_a_Ninja

You are ninja. Sign up at NinjaBurger.com immediately.
Take this quiz!

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I'm a sinner!

2007-02-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

Yes,I'm a sinner. You know why? Because I'm going to buy a Mac. I'd like to say that those hurtful towards PC commercials didn't affect me but... they're really fucking funny!

I knew that spoofs of the commercials existed. I did. But not the following NSFW spoof:

Go, watch, enjoy.

gryyphyn #: exit
Section-9:Motoko
Login:_

Dumb Fuckers of 2006

2007-01-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the DFFAQ I now humbly present... The Dumb Fuckers of 2006 awards! (Note: I got this in email. Thanks Squall.)

Number One Idiot of 2006
I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology at the poison control center. Today, this woman called in very upset because she caught her little daughter eating ants. I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed down and at the end of the co nversation happened to mention that she gave her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants.

I told her that she better bring her daughter into the emergency room right away.

Here's your sign, lady. Wear it with pride.

Number Two Idiot of 2006
Early this year, some Boeing employees on the airfield decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were successful in getting it out of the plane and home.
Shortly after they took it for a float on the river, they noticed a Coast Guard helicopter coming towards them.
It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency locator beacon that activated when the raft was inflated. They are no longer employed at Boeing.

Here's your sign, guys. Don't get it wet; the paint might run

Number Three Idiot of 2006
A man, wanting to rob a downtown Bank of America, walked into the Branch and wrote this, "Put all your muny in this bag." While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, he began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he reached the teller's window. So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to the Wells Fargo Bank. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note to the Wells Fargo teller. She read it and, surmising from his spelling errors that he wasn't the brightest light in the harbor, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America.
Looking somewhat defeated, the man said, "OK" and left.
He was arrested a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at Bank of America.

Don't bother with this guy's sign. He probably couldn't read it anyway.

Number Four Idiot of 2006
A motorist was unknowingly caught in an automated speed trap that; measured his speed using radar and photographed his car. He later received in the mail a ticket for $40 and a photo of his car. Instead of payment, he sent the police department a photograph of $40.
Several days later, he received a letter from the police that contained another picture, this time of handcuffs. He immediately mailed in his $40.

Wise guy........ but you still get a sign

Number Five Idiot of 2006
A guy walked into a little corner store with a shotgun and demanded all of the cash from the cash drawer. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of Scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, but the cashier refused and said, "Because I don't believe you are over 21." The robber said he was, but the clerk still refused to give it to him because she didn't believe him.

At this point, the robber took his driver's license out of his wallet and gave it to the clerk.
The clerk looked it over and agreed that the man was in fact over 21 and she put the Scotch in the bag. The robber then ran from the store with his loot.

The cashier promptly called the police and gave the name and address of the robber that he got off the license. They arrested the robber two hours later.

This guy definitely needs a sign.

Idiot Number Six of 2006
A pair of Michigan robbers entered a record shop nervously waving revolvers.
The first one shouted, "Nobody move!" When his partner moved, the startled first bandit shot him.

This guy doesn't even deserve a sign

Idiot Number Seven of 2006
Arkansas: Seems this guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run.
So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back knocking him unconscious. It seems the liquor store window was made of Plexi-Glass.
The whole event was caught on videotape.
Yep, Here's your sign

(Please note that all of the above people are allowed to vote)

IDIOTS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
I live in a semi-rural area. (probably Weyauwega, Wisconsin) We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road.
The reason: "Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! - I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore."
> From Kingman , KS .

IDIOTS IN FOOD SERVICE:
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for "minimal lettuce." He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.
He was a Chef?
Yep...From Kansas City !

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked,
"Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?"
I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?"
He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."
Happened in Birmingham , Ala.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when its safe to cross the street
I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine.
She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for.
I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red.
Appalled, she responded, "What on earth are blind people doing driving?!"
She was a probation officer in Wichita , KS

IDIOT SIGHTING:
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker. She was leaving the company due to" downsizing." Our manager commented cheerfully, "This is fun. We should do this more often." Not another word was spoken.

We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare.
This was a bunch at Texas Instruments.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her own life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.
A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office no less.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the drivers side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "its open!"
His reply, "I know - I already got that side."
This was at the CHEVY dealership in Canton , Mississippi !

STAY ALERT!
They walk among us .. and they REPRODUCE ...!!!

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

The Human Condition

2007-01-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

So, the human condition is a major philosophical debate. We're all subject to external forces that cause us anxiety. How we deal with these occurences is defined in part by genetics, learned behaviours, programmed responses and our cognitive processes.

In my last update I was pissed. I'm not so much anymore, at least not at the target of my initial anxiety. My perception was that I was betrayed by management. Instead I was betrayed by a coworker, stabbed in the back in effect. As a result I confronted the previously stated person in a dignified, professional manner and, although I saved face by how I handled the situation I still managed to make myself look like an ass.

In summation: I still hate most of the people in this fucking place, though I can add one more person to my white list. And there's still very, very few deserving people who are on my black list. I love the world in grey.

Who's on the list
Black list:
1. Osama Bin Laden: Go fuck yourself. You're a pissed off child because somebody else has something that you want: freedom of choice.
2. Sadam Hussein: Go have a little oni rape your ass while you're in hell. You were pissed because we wouldn't let you control the world. Boo. Fucking. Hoo.
3. My ex: How can you take an honest apology for a wrong done and turn it in to an insult? Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.
4. Every racist, biggoted motherfucker out there: If you feel it necessary to berate someone just because of their fucking skin you can just walk right the hell of a cliff, without a parachute or an ice-cube, right in to the pit of eternal torment.

Grey list:
Everyone not mentioned in the white or black list. There's many levels in here. I'm almost entirely indifferent to your existence.

White list:
A select, few people who know who they are. If they don't then they're probably in the grey.

When all else fails...
Take out your aggressions on video games! Or rather on real life depictions of annoying, invasive game characters.

I highly suggest that everybody in the world do one of the following things:

Break something. Not a stick, not a pencil. Break something that makes lots of noise. Glass makes fantastic noise...

Get some of that bubble wrap stuff and pop the ever living shit out of it. Or, better yet, wrap yourself and a friend in it and have a sumo match!

Yell at someone. Just once fly off the handle in the parking lot at the piece of shit who took the parking spot that you weren't in yet but were closer to than he/she was. There's something great about berating another person for being a perfect asshole.

Get laid. Or buy a porno. They're kinda the same thing unless your married. And don't take my advice as license to not use some kind of contraceptive: there's enough of you running around as it is.

Dumb fucker of the week
Captain Jim Kirk, USS Enterprise NCC1701 ("No bloody A, B, C or D." Scotty, ST:TNG)
If you've watched the original series you know why he's here. Who could be worse to captain the flagship of the UFP? Maybe Gomer Pyle...

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

What do you do...

2007-01-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your management gives you instructions or responsibilities and then rescinds them without your knowledge? How are you supposed to react to a situation like that? How do you handle the issue when it has to be discussed? How about when they tell someone else that your job has changed and make you look like an ass to your peers? I have to ask myself these questions now because that's what has happened to me.

I'm supposed to be directly responsible for a specific aspect of my team's duties. This was established months ago. And I just found out today that my manager has been telling people, in a meeting with other management persons and proverbial higher-ups, that I'm full of shit. Isn't life just fucking grand? Then, the person given this information by a manager, calls me out on the floor in front of the people I work with. People I'm supposedly assisting and training on particular detail where necessary because my ass is on the line if it's done wrong. They want an explanation about why I've been lying to them and everyone else.

So not only does this person, who I've had a lot of respect for, call me out and make me look like a fool, I'm supposed to handle it in a diplomatic matter. I don't know about you, dear, few readers, but I don't handle personal attacks in a diplomatic manner. I get defensive and I get pissed off. Then I have the terrible habit of taking it out on the wrong person apparently. So now I have to find out why management is calling me a liar, explain why I've blown up at someone and explain why I've been referring to my manager as a less than favorable and effective leader. Fan-fucking-tastic if I do say so myself.

To boot I have to answer for myself at some point to upper management, the client of the company I work for, why I've been shouldering this responsibility without endorsement of management.

I hate my job right now
I really do. I don't like the atmosphere anymore. The environment has become one of kill or be killed. I have to go in to every action, every decision, like it could be the last I make at my job. This shouldn't be a bad thing but should, instead, be a motivator to help you perform better, a kind of ethical guide-rule one keeps themselves aligned to.

I don't like my management anymore. They're effectively calling me a liar, making me less credible in the eyes of my peers and other managers. In all actuality they are making it seem that I'm some kind of rogue who's out to screw everyone. I'm not so sure, because I've never been a manager, but I don't think that you do that to your employees.

I don't like the people I work with anymore. Someone cries foul and all of the sudden I've wronged everybody in my office. I'm supposed to train these people and they make me look like shit because they ignore what I've taught them. Yes, I know, I could be guilty of the same thing but I take credit and blame when it's due upon me. People say I have a hard time admitting when I'm wrong. Those are the people who apparently don't know me because I'm one seriously fallible person. That's why I'm a person, not a fucking automaton.

I don't like the work I do. Not because it isn't rewarding. I like working with customers, especially when they like working with me. But I don't like that it changes. Not the infrequent, minor changes apparent in so many jobs but the fact that what I do changes on a daily fucking basis. And then I don't get told about it but I'm still held accountable for it.

Then there's the people I deal with. I have to fix other peoples fuck-ups. I have to explain to at least one customer per day why they were told something wrong. And I have to show the courtesy not to directly blame anyone when that's what the customer really wants: "Someone fucked me up, now I want someone to get fucked up. Since you're on the phone it's gonna be you asshole." Gotta love how you get to be a scapegoat because somebody can't seem to pull their head out long enough to check for changes in the weather.

Fuck everyone
I just don't like people right now. I'm at a point where, for the moment, I just don't really like a whole lot of people. There's a few who I still like to be around. I can count them on one fucking hand... literally. All of them know who they are. If they don't then they're not on that list. I could do with a vacation from people.

Let's define persons and people really quick here. A person is an entity, human, who has an intelligence level greater than that of a newt. Someone who, for a cumulative total of at least five minutes per day, has something intelligent, insightful and worthy to open their mouth to utter. People, on the other hand, is a group of two or more persons that cause the average group intelligence to drop by a decent proportion each time another person is added, making each new person added worth one half the previous addition. A fantastic example of this is a customer.

One customer is equal to one person and, let's say, 10 points. They are informed about the world around them and are capable of dealing with more than one person in a two sided conversation without becoming stupid. But add another customer to your first and you have customers (the plural of customer), therefore people (the plural of person). When you have two customers to one customer service worker the conversation dynamic changes. Math would state that you should now have 20 points. But you really only have 15 because the new person can only add half the amount of new, valuable information as the first. Add another and you only have 17.5. See where I'm going?

It's a downward trend friends. You see this most when you have a conference call. Oh holy fucking hell. The general consensus is that each additional person will have something new to add, some facet of the stone that needs to be revealed. The problem is that at a certain point, very early in the game of add-on, the new information either is irrelevant or trivial to the point of unnecessary. Don't believe me? Ever read a blog?

Think of blogs as a conversation, especially news blogs. CNN drops a story about a bombing in Iraq. NBC hits it at the same time but each has details the other doesn't. Then comes CBS and they have a new detail but it's something like "the car the bomb was in was a Toyota that was bought from Abu Nahasapemapetalon". Okay, so they like to use Toyota's from Abu but it's not really relevant to the reader, just good for troops to look out for. Then Fox says it was a white Toyota. Now we're getting stupid. Then it hits the bloggers. By this point all necessary detail has been gleaned from the incident and all new "detail" is ridiculously useless or simple conjecture.

But this is how people work. Persons are intelligent. People are dumb. This means that humanity, in general as a social species, is collectively stupid. I'm not separate from this condition. I can be pretty fucking dumb (quite a bit actually... fnord).

Okay, I'm done
Really, I'm done. Just done with all of it. I'm going to ignore my homework (can't concentrate on it anyway) and read. Need to turn my mind off for a while and read some smutty stuff... yay!

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

God I want to go skydiving...

2007-01-16T15:42:00.001-07:00

The following comment about the above video is not mine and has been left intact out of respect of the original author. That said enjoy this mini-update.

"After almost a week of training a group of dedicated skydivers put together the largest parachute formation ever built. It consists of 81 skydivers in the formation and several video people flying around. It took place over Lake Wales Florida USA just before sunset and has some incredible shots by some incredible video fliers, and a picture-perfect "starburst" break-away."

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

Thinking hurts!

2007-01-03T01:30:00.000-07:00

Finished Ergo Proxy
And you know what? None of my fucking questions were answered! Have you ever watched Serial Experiments Lain? (Quick side note while we're on that subject: a show about the wired doesn't have it's own website...) Ok, now have you ever watched Neon Genesis Evangelion? Yeah. Put those two together with a little Laughing Man and there you have the ending for Ergo Proxy. It gives a little more explanation in to the underlying problems that the series posed but doesn't really answer the damned question.

All in all, though, I still highly recommend it. Good watch, good animation, good scripting, blah blah blah. Everything you could want, including language, violence, deep story, attractive characters of both sexes (even some robots, mrowr!), and enough underlying psychoanalytical forethought to keep even me busy. Seriously. And I have a teacher with a masters in clinical psychology to turn to for answers!

Back to NGE
For those of you who may not know yet, and how could you not, NGE has four new movies coming out starting this summer. This is to be a clear departure from the normal storylines and will chronicle more of the teenage, angsty shit we seem to love and eat up in the states. But did you know this isn't a new concept?

On the contrary, Neon Genesis Evangelion: R is a full-fledged fan fiction and doujinshi. And it rocks! There's fan art, the fiction itself, and a manga to go with it. Go and read it, monkeys!

Real life recap (feel free to skip this part...)
Over the last two months I've been updating more and more. I'm trying to purge my brain here. I've been in the process of writing no fewer than three books and two fan fictions for anywhere between 3 years and 4 months and I keep getting sidetracked. In an effort to keep my mind on track I've been focusing more on getting my brain to turn off, getting it to turn back on and getting all of the shit out of the way that keeps me from focusing. I think it's working.

Part of this is to empty my mind on to this place. Maybe if I dump enough of the practiced motions and emotions I'm forced to go through in my every-day life I can feng shui my sorry excuse for a brain back in to the raw, powerful form it once was. No sign of humility there...

What's more I'm getting ready to graduate from college. I'm the first in my family, out to four points, that I'm aware of that will finish college in shit knows how long. This is another thing I need to rid my mind of: the friggin' worry of everything after that. I've not come to it yet and shouldn't have to deal with it yet.

I still don't feel better.

And we're back.
So, want to hear about more stupid fuckers? Well I have a great one for you.

"Duh, I'm your customer! Don't you know you're supposed to lie down on the floor while I step on your balls? Let me tell you how to do your job why don't ya?!"

Yeah, we got ourselves a live one here. Dumb-ass actually told me he knew how I was supposed to do my job. Tell me something unwashed asses (tee hee: a Barenism!): Do you really expect people to hand you everything in your sorry fucking life? Did it never occur to you that my saying "no" actually means no? Well, I'm sorry that I can't fulfill your every fucking wish because you think you're more important than me. Tell you what: you give me your product for free and I'll give you mine for free. Fair trade, no? No? Oh, sorry, you want free stuff. Well too fucking bad, asshole!

Seriously. Guy wanted me to give him free shit left and right because "I spent money on your company and without it you'd go under". Yeah, no. He spent $200 on eBay. The real thing costs $750 and that's our cheapest device by some $7,999,250. No joke at all. I work for the second largest networking company in the world and $200 doesn't mean shit to me. The bonus? If he wants what he's asking for it's going to cost him twice as much because he didn't go about things the right way.

The moral? Play by the rules, no matter how stupid they are. That's seriously it.

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

MMO stuff

2006-12-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

New MMO
So I found a new MMO. Thanks very much Tycho and Gabe for the link. It was posted on the news page for PA for all to follow. I did and I'm impressed so far.

The game is Xiah, an "Asian martial arts MMORPG epic" the site says. The art drew me to the site. The fact that it's an MMO turned me on a little (damn you Baren). The fact that it's completely fucking free from what I can see has me more than interested.

Just a short one, go check out the game now you tools.

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

Yarr matey! There be comics here!

2006-12-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

New web comics
So I found some new web comics today. PA had a link to it, I think. Soze I thinks to meeself "Sure, why not? Gabe and Tycho love me, right?" and I goze to teh site. Funny shit there. It's actually a partnered list of some web comics and I started at the top with Action Trip. The comic is OK, though a little out of context if you either a) don't work in the worlds they talk about (i.e., WoW) or b) just aren't in to the occasional B-rated humor, but it's funny for the most part. And they have nakeds! Lots of them! A new hot chick of the day contest every day! And they just released their hot chick of the year awards!

Not as high-quality as the stuff I normally read (e.g., MegaTokyo) but it's good. Haven't checked out the others yet but I think I'll like most of them...

Some new reading material
So I've finnaly picked up the Inheritance series. This is the one Eragon comes from. I've been wanting to read it for a while now. Christmas was good to me. I didn't get any gifts to speak of but was able to buy some things for some of my best friends (Baren, yours is coming soon...) and some stuff for myself that I've needed. I spent damn near $100 at Barnes and Noble alone. Then went to a really cool home decor store called Tai Pan Trading Co. I found a lot of cool stuff there, not the least of which is candles I actually like. Haven't found any of those since Glifx went out of business. If you have one near you I highly suggest you at least go browse for shits and giggles.

Yeah, I'm done now. I'm keeping a promise to keep my posts shorter. I guess it can be a real drag to wade through all of the shit I write sometimes.

P.S.
Check the link in the title.

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9

This shit is weird...

2006-12-22T02:57:00.000-07:00

I've been watching a fairly new anime, Ergo Proxy, and it's fucking weird. That may seem strange to those of you who know my tastes in anime (NGE anyone?), but it's weird even for me. I'm having a hard time following it.

There's a lot of hidden meanings behind the story, as there is in any fictional work. But this takes the principles of read between the lines to a whole new game, not just a new level. I've got the Shinsen Subs version and I'm on episode 9. Already there's been reference to the beginnings of science fiction as a genre, multiple references to greek, norse, celtic, hindu, chinese, japanese and wiccan lore and five psychologists/psychiatrists (none of whom my teacher, who has a masters in clinical psychology, recognized!) that I could count. This one definitely goes in my "Shows for people who think to much" for sure.

I'm not going to get in to what the series is about. There's plenty of people who've done that already, and much better than I can at 0300 wee-fucking-hours. Just watch it, or at least look at it.

DFQ of the year!
I know it's been a long time since I did one of these but I've got a doosy.
"But then you can't get to the same internet, can you?"
Honest to god story here. I was doing some work for someone on their computer. I introduced them to Mozilla Firefox with the expressed desire that they use it instead of exploder. So I tell them how to use it and they actually whether the could because they thought they wouldn't be able to get to the same internet. Do I really need to fucking elaborate on why this is one of the dumbest fucking questions ever?

gryyphyn@section-9, out.

Music

2006-12-15T02:51:00.000-07:00

I love music. Music has a power that no other force on earth can match in intensity. No extreme emotion, love or hate, can match the experiences that can be brought on by music. Music can invoke emotions, can move thoughts, and can take you places that words can't. There really is no force like it.

Sometimes, like now, I'll sit and read while listening to music, not noticing that subconsciously I'm reading at the pace of the music. My mind has grown so accustomed to the music I listen to, and can predict it without bringing it to the forefront, that fantastic points in the story are mirrored in the music and make the experience and the picture that much more complete.

There are other times when I will watch the images on my screen, moving rhythmically to the music, and my mind and emotions will be taken somewhere else entirely. My mood will shift dramatically through the effects of emotions and that will call up memory cues while my mind pieces together some new story.

Other times music can be meditative, taking me to new places within my sense of self, helping me discover new things or reach some realization that has been out of grasp. There may be some place in my mind, a feeling or a location, that I've been trying to reach but that has been elusive, even just subconsciously. The right music will come on at the right time, with no prompting from me, and I'll be taken there. I'm always satisfied, even if I didn't find what I was looking for when I set out on the metaphysical journey.

Just some thoughts...

The Spoils of War

2006-12-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

So I recently sent a post to my Linux group with reference to a certain article and this has spawned a very serious and heated argument.

The post, as you'll see, is related to French Parliament's decision to incorporate, even replace, Microsoft Windows with "the open source operating system, Linux" for their government office computing. Before I get much further in to this whole story let me make one thing very clear: THIS IS A VERY GOOD THING FOR THE LINUX COMMUNITY. This is government openly recognizing the power, capability, cost benefit and ease of deployment of using a Linux infrastructure.

So the post spawns a debate about which distro will be chosen. Myself and a couple other users suggests that Novell's SuSE Linux would be a good choice (find the open version here). I stated that the interoperability with closed-source functionality will be a key factor in their decision. That's a founded concern in the IT field and I felt justified in saying so. Many agreed with me. But some didn't, and voiced their concerns vehemently.

This all turned to an ongoing argument about the partnership between Novell and Microsoft. Some good arguments were made about this, both for and against the two rival companies cooperating. I even commented on the parntership, which I am very much for, by the by. So "what's the big deal?" you ask.

It was off topic. I'm all for being a little off topic but this was getting out of hand. In the space of a single day the argument had turned to insults, innuendo and general backbiting. I don't approve of this and stated so. I was greeted by semi-apologetic replies from the offending parties and now all is well.

What the fuck am I talking about?
The deal between Microsoft and Novell is that Microsoft will, over the course of the next five years, distribute SuSE Linux to 350,000 of their customers in an effort to "work together to improve the interoperability between Linux and Windows". This is good, right? Microsoft gets to lie and say they don't fear or hate Linux and SuSE, at least, will get more exposure to the world.

SuSE is, at least in my opinion, the easiest Linux distro to use. I set it up just today and it just friggin' works. With the exception of DVD playback, which is easily solved by getting libdvdcss. Everything else, from simply browsing the web to installing programs to reading (not writing to, unfortunately) from NTFS partitions, is unbelievably easy or works automatically. I RPMd Firefox 2.0 and it just worked. It replaced the existing version (at least as far as I can tell it's gone) and just started working. I had to run a version check just to make sure because I wasn't interrupted by install scripts and wasn't asked to reboot, something that happens quite frequently in Windows and other Linux distros.

Sound worked from the get go, as did video and networking. The cards were detected automatically (and correctly, much to my surprise...), drivers loaded for them and they just worked. I set my monitor type (LCD), resolution (1280x1024) and aspect ratio (4:3) and rebooted. I was logged in automatically and there was a beautiful, high res desktop in about 23 seconds. I've never had to work less!

I've yet to run in to any issues that I didn't cause myself (tried to download libdvdcss the first time and grabbed a package that contained the utils but not the library; my bad). Changing system settings is never more than a few clicks away. The shell is still BASH, so no change there and it has yet to fail me. Things load exceedingly fast, close faster and the whole thing just works almost flawlessly (I won't say completely flawlessly because a) I'm not that far in to it yet and b) it'd just be stupid; there's always some little thing that makes it incomplete).

These are a few of my favorite things...
GET OUT OF MY HEAD, JULIE ANDREWS! Sorry, stroked out for a second there.

1. YaST, the installer/configurator/guru tool for SuSE is much improved over previous versions. It's not nearly as invasive as it has been in the past and is truly enjoyable to use now.

2. RPM management, whether through YaST or the other system installer tools, has gotten a hell of a lot better over the years and I don't have to think as much if I don't want to. You click to download an RPM and 99% of the time the browser asks if you want to save or launch the file with the appropriate utility, resulting in a fast install.

3. GNOME (haven't played with KDE yet and don't think I will now... :) is just as fantastic as always. The re-org on the interface, namely the sys bar, makes it way too easy to use. The menus make more sense and things are where they are supposed to be. If you browse your applications and go to the "Multimedia" menu you expect to see media players and tools. That's what you see. Isn't it great when you don't have to think?

4. Size has always been an issue for SuSE. My last installation, SLED (SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, these are the boxed versions) 9.3 Pro, was a whopping 8.5 GB. That's huge. Open 10.1 is a mere 3.44 and theres probably stuff I'll remove. I didn't install everything for either of them but being less than half, almost 1/3 the size, of 9.3 is a huge accomplishment and Novell should be very proud of themselves.

Hey Mikey, I don't think he likes it

1. The package selection used to be as granular as I wanted. Not so much now. During install YaST makes many of the decisions for you, just like it should. But I like to get picky, to the point of taking an hour or so removing this and adding that (why do I need the Arabic help for PERL again?). I can't do that as much now. While the packages are available for review it's pretty much grouped by dependencies or application. In other words "you take all of this stuff or none of it".

2. Partitioning and disk setup is somewhat lacking. All of the partitions are available but the expert mode isn't as expansive as I prefer and mounting Windows partitions is a little... weird.

3. Documentation, while available online, feels like it was relegated to the back seat. I downloaded all of the docs that were available but they didn't go much beyond "this is your computer, it has disks; this is SuSE; go at it, big guy". In other words it was lacking in the detail. They should really get O'Reilly to write their docs.

Wait, that's it?
Yep, that's it. Those are really my only complaints. I'm used to being on the phone with Squall while I'm configuring stuff. I'm smart but he's miles ahead of me when it comes to Linux. After all, he introduced me back when SuSE 8.0 was "new" (god, I'm old... :( ). But this time I was able to call and tell him "it just...fucking...works!". And that's a really good feeling.

Dumb fucker of the week
Maybe it's DF of the past few months. Haven't had one for a while, but this is a doosy.

"Is that those flappy things that look like wings?"

Yeah, this one was fun. My friends and I were up camping on a four day trip a while back. We'd been getting drunk until well in to the evening. The group was mixed company and all but one of us had someone of the opposite sex on our lap. Except Scott. Kid is completely fucking hopeless.

So we're pretty sloshed and talking about sex in general. You know,... well, you know. Drunk and sex are like peanut butter and jelly, they go between bread (or sheets, as it were). Somebody gets on the topic of female anatomy and brings up labia, a subject I never get tired of talking about (god I need to get laid!). We've been having a serious discussion about what types of labia we enjoy, what we like to do to them and whether or not it's proper to dress them in little dresses or make them carry heavy objects when Scott pipes up with what I thought was a joking comment. "Labia (he pronounced it lab-by-uh)... is that those flappy things that look like wings?"

I looked at him, as did everybody else. He had a serious look on his face, like he was in math class and wanted to know what the pythagorean theorem was. The rest of us thought he was in math class and had just asserted that 2+2=5. So everyone completely fucking lost it.

We'd been laughing for about 15 minutes when we all finally regained our composure. Then Brandon (not you, Baren) decided to fuck it up for us again with an impersonation of what should have been a baby seal but wasn't. More hilarity followed by weird barking sounds, accompanied by wet sloshing and slapping sounds. I really have to get some new friends...

Gryyphyn, out.
Section-9/The Wired

Green Society

2006-11-22T03:17:00.000-07:00

What is a 'Green Society'?
Apart from being an environmentalist society tied up in politics a green society is one where many public laws and regulations, pertaining largely to environmental decisions, is governed by a naturalist viewpoint. This means that a good portion of the society is interested in so-called 'green energy' that does not harm the environment to produce and low-emission, non-petroleum based fuel sources for transportation.

Many ideals that have come from this point of view are: electric rail transportation (New York's subway system is a great example); bio-diesel (diesel fuel manufactured by purifying and modifying vegetable oils used in restraunt deep fryers and corn oils); solar and wind power (this solution is expensive to implement but works exceedingly well); and electric/hybrid car designs.

One of the more revolutionary ideas comes from GM: the hydrogen fuel cell platforms. Their Hy-wire designed skateboard platform vehicles run entirely on hydrogen fuel cells and put of clean, pure water. A renewable resource that is clean and *could* help our environment recover some.

What the hell am I talking about?
I was out driving earlier tonight (which for me, coincidentally, is about 0300 hrs) and was looking at the dealerships along our local auto row. 4.5 miles of auto dealerships, most of which are full of SUVs and trucks. I love trucks, having owned three previously, but hate SUVs. Why? If you've ever looked at a) the people who drive them and b) their mileage specs you know why. Before I explore this tangent let me make one thing very, very, clear: I don't hate the smaller SUVs such as the Toyota Rav series or the Subaru wagon/SUV concoctions. We're talking about the larger vehicles here. The kind rappers usually drive, incedentally...

Why do I hate SUVs so much? Their mileage is horrid. "Our new SUV has an industry standard high mileage of .5 mpg!" The other reason: they cost way too fucking much. "Our high mileage means we can charge you $48,000 for $8,000 in materials!" Don't believe me? Ever check what kind of mileage the Hummer gets? 15 piddly-ass miles per gallon. You know how bad that sucks? It sucks real bad. My '04 Cavalier costs half as much as I have it configured and gets almost twice the mileage. If I stay off the pedal and stick to the high speed roads it gets more than twice the highway miles.

Who needs SUVs? People who carpool with large groups. I can fit four in my car comfortably and I don't know many people who carpool with more than that. People who run sports teams, but a van is better suited to this purpose. People who haul pets around, and I'm talking about medium to large dogs or many pets, not your fucking poodle or chihua"annoying little yipping bastard"hua. No contention there. And people who haul Girl Scout cookies. Soccer moms, you know who you are. Now buy a damned van because it's better suited to what you do!

What I'm trying to say here is if you're not in the military and running through bogs you don't need a fucking Hummer (and the new ones, bless GMs stupid think-tank brains, suck). If you're not rock crawling and camping in a different canyon every weekend you don't need a big Jeep. If you're not hauling a soccer team all over the place and their gear at least once a week you don't need a Yukon Denali. 'Nuff said.

Trucks and their place in society.
Ah, the truck. It's the perennial choice of transport for Americans... that are farmers and contractors! The people who need trucks are the guys hauling just enough hay to fill a small trailer but not enough to require a flatbed. Guys that are hauling loads of lumber and sheetrock to do one house, not five. Guys that go up in the hills at least once a week when they're not hauling previously mentioned articles and get muddy heading to a favorite camping spot!

You know who doesn't need a truck? Your 17 year old son who managed to pass a test for once in is wretched life. I'm serious here! An old friend of mine had his parents co-sign on an F-350 because he got better than a C average in school for a year! A-fucking-mazing, isn't it? "You're a failure at life and you've had too many accidents to get a fast care so we'll get you a big truck!" Then, and this is my favorite part, he jacked it 4", put 36" tires on it and, get this, refused to take it on a dirt road because "I'll have to wash it once I get home". Why don't you just chop your dick off now and save your future wife (or husband, you fucking nancy) the trouble?

As I said previously I don't hate trucks and have owned three. First was a '69 F-100. Beat the hell out of it. Sunk it 6' in to a river bed up in the hills (heh heh heh, that one was fun!). Rebuilt the trans myself. Next one was a '79 GMC C2500. God, that thing was a beast! Shit mileage but ran perfect (until the engine seized going down the freeway). Managed to put 130,000 miles on it myself, bringing the total to 300,000 w/ rebuild. They don't make 'em like that anymore... Last one was a late 1980's Toyota pickup. Great little truck, perfect for the city, the hills, the highway and haulin' stuff. Know what I did with all of them? Hauled stuff around, moved people's homes, made regular runs to Lowes, got them dirty (and fucked up) in the hills and had the self-satisfaction of being able to fix them myself. I did a lot with those trucks. Even made a trip across country in the GMC with 1500 lbs. of my friends life in the back to move him 1400 miles! Yeah, I used them like the trucks they were meant to be.

What's the point, Gryyphyn?
My point is that to get to a green society we should start with our transportation. If you look at other countries there are strict limitations on what types of vehicles you can own/operate under normal circumstances. Gas prices are higher to help influence people to use mass transit. There are also manufacturing standards that are 300% more strict and effective than ours, cutting pollution drastically. I've made the vow to many of my friends and I'll make it publicly here: the moment GM releases one of their hydrogen platforms I'll be first in line to get the coupe. I am committed to making the environment a better place for future generations because I just might sire kids in to the future (gods help us...). And because I know that I don't need a seven-ton SUV to drive 1/2 mile to work and back every day.

I'm going to continue this line of thought for the next little while. Next post I'll be delving more deeply in to electrical power and alternative systems for achieving a green environment and lower cost than is currently available.

Sony's PS3 vs. Nintendo's Wii

2006-11-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

The Contenders
In the black corner, weighing in at a, *ahem*, hefty 16 lbs, Sony's next-gen contender: the Playstation 3!

Yeah yeah, I'm a bit late posting this. But I haven't had time to gather enough information for this battle until now! Sony owns my soul, so this article should be biased. But I've got a soft spot for Hyrule's princess, right in the nethers, so it won't be too bad.

Sony's PS3 came out on Friday. You would have to live in some god forsaken spot in the north pole not to know this. Hell, my mom knew! I don't think she's touched a controller since I torched my last Atari 2600! And by god, the commercials... If it wasn't for the fact that Sony has put forth one of the most elegant, simple and understated advertising campaigns seen in 5 years I think that only 98% of the world would know about this in stead of the 99% of the world that does. (I think I heard some Amazon forest pixies talking it up.)

I've seen arguments all over the web about the pricing for the PS3. Whiny little bastards if you ask me. "I don't want to pay $600 for a console that plays BD (Blu-ray disc for you 'kunt-ry folk'); PS1, PS2 and PS3 games; DVDs; can browse the web; can connect to my PSP and any other Wi-fi enabled device; has 7.1 audio and up to 1080p Hi-def resolution; can read most major SS (solid-state) memory devices;" etc..., blah blah blah, boo Hoo HOO!

You know what else it can do?
Play and record CDs in three formats (MP3, WMA and ATRAC)
Dual boot with the "Other OS" feature (going to test this soon...)
Respond to motions via the (fan-fucking-tastic!) SixAxis controller
Back up data from your PSP, PS2, PS1 and PS3 memory cards
Handle up to six players
Download PS1 games (feature to be unveiled later this year according to SCEA)
Do online gaming (is this a de facto feature now?)
And, although unconfirmed, I'm pretty sure it can give a pretty kick-ass blowjob.

I can see where, normally, you wouldn't judge a console by it's first day, or even first week's, sales. But the PS3 is a whole different ball of wax.

Sony, JP, is playing the box as more than "just another console". In fact, the PS3 is: the cheapest BD player on the market; the cheapest actual HTPC with Hi-Def video and audio support and one of the cheapest web-capable, set-top type devices on the market. Cisco and Apple's partnership will provide a web-ready box for about the same price and functionality (minus the disc-based playback and game support?) but the date has yet to be set for that device.

Playability is fantastic, at least from my limited play time. The controller is impossibly light and feels like nothing. But it remains ultra-responsive and the inclusion of two full-travel 'triggers' is a welcomed addition. It's wireless, so no more "cord flip" (sorry, couldn't find the Penny Arcade reference I was looking for...). The issue I do have is the text input system on the main menu: it's based on a cell-phone type text entry scheme! Yeah, I really don't like that. My suggestion is to have a USB keyboard of some kind on hand for browsing and other text-based needs.

Also included is a "removable" 20 60GB hard drive which may or may not allow for upgrades. My guess, indeed hope, is that it is user servicable and upgradeable. If this is the case I'll not hesitate to throw an 80Gb or larger in, install Linux and make the thing in to a true HTPC. God, wouldn't that be nice (insert dream sequence here...).

Sony has stated that there are some games from the previous systems' libraries that won't play, but "8000 plus games is nothing to scoff at". I did cause the box to crash at one point, though this was probably due to a layer-8 conflict on the physical interface. Shit happens. Given information like this it's easy to see how this will be one of the most widely desired devices on the market for a good, long time.

And in the white corner, weighing it at an impossible (figure to be added when Nintendo's site stops being a bitch!), is Nintendo's highly playable cutie of a box: the Wii!

The Wii, Nintendo's next-gen console due out 11192006, doesn't even compare, technologically speaking. Although it's biggest selling point is a better use of motion-based gameplay, a sore spot for many PS3 gamers, and the ability to browse the web, the only other visible reason to pick one over the PS3 is the price: a full $250-$350 less than the 'black box'.

Wii's web capabilities come from the Mozilla camp, a group of highly talented programmers who provide some of the best web-browsing software available. We shall soon see if Nintendo was able to cram the svelte browser in without mucking things up on launch day.

The Wii's most anticipated capability is it's motion detection prowess. Using a sensor bar that is placed by the unit itself the Wii is capable of detecting the motion of the controller in 3d space. This gives you the ability to pull off some kick-ass Kung Fu shit in your living room. Pair this with a karaoke version of DDR and you can really make an ass of yourself!

While the Wii can't play DVDs (unconfirmed at this point is a firmware upgrade to allow standard defenintion DVD playback), you can download the entire (?) Nintendo cartridge library. That means N64, SNES, NES, Sega Genesis (OMG!) and TurboGrafx-16 (OMGWTFBBQ!, gotta find a towel...) games will be available for a small fee and downloaded directly to the console's hard drive. (Maybe this is what pushed Microsoft and Sony to enable similar features?)

There's a slew of controllers available for the Wii:
The standard "Wii-mote" controller
The 'Nunchuk' attachment
The "Classic" controller, reminiscent of the SNES controller with two analog sticks
And, rumored by the now defunct E3, is another gun. This elusive controller combines the Wii-mote and Nunchuk in a large, gun-shaped casing. No official word yet on availability though.

Nintendo has officially announced a service that will update your games while the system is in standby mode. Dubbed "WiiConnect24", the service is designed to seamlessly update your games and includes "other surprises" each time you turn the system on. This should be an interesting feature.

The verdict
There's touting and, conceivably, failure at every major console launch. Sony has informed it's customers and vendors that the promise of 1-1.2M units out by years end would be broken. We're some 400,000 units short, bringing the total to somewhere in the neighborhood of 750,000-800,000 units. These delays are due "to the availability and production times of the Blu-ray drives", which is (in my humble opinion, anyway) a forgivable offense. Some analysts say that early adoption of the newest technology, namely BD and Cell technology, is a faux pas. But if the PS2 is any indicator of Sony's potential for marketing, packaging and support prowess then we have a lot to expect of the PS3. I personally think sales will live up to expectations if Sony can get their production facilities up to snuff within the next two weeks as predicted.

The Wii, on the other hand, will be shipping between 7M and 9M consoles. The fact that they had 2M consoles produced and sitting in warehouses waiting to be shipped for the launch date alone is amazing. According to certain 'sarces' I've managed to scour, Nintendo's aim is to have some 11M units out by end of calendar year. That's amazing! I don't think that any launch has ever gone off this well. Nobody can make these numbers without some serious forethought, something that, unfortunately, Sony did not accomplish. While only time will tell which system rakes in the numbers better I'm going to give my opinion as to who the winner in this match will be.

And the winner is...
Microsoft, given weak numbers so far, will finish fQ42007 in second place by system numbers and second in revenue.

Sony, due to the high cost of the system, will finish in third in both respects. Even taking in to consideration the lowered price of the unit in Japan there are too many people with too small a wallet to pull this one off. Hell, I won't have one for a good long time (being moping and self loathing session...)

Nintendo, both by numbers and revenue, will out perform both by percentage. They may fall behind in apparent gross earnings due to the higher cost of both competitors' boxes, but the low cost and high production numbers will ultimately put them in the lead worldwide for console sales and revenue.

Something else to remember: XBox 360 only has one prior system and a small smattering of downloadable content to count on for game revenue. PS3 has some 10,000 (approx.) games, both downloadable and physical. And the Wii has an ungodly number of games for download and due to the GC's library. I'm pretty certain that those of us who are market and brand whores (yes, you are, you're just in denial) will be paying for the games of our childhood all over again, mostly to Nintendo. All hail Miyamoto-san!

Gryyphyn, Section-9 out.

Smash my PS3!

2006-11-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

Smash my fucking $600 PS3!
Yeah! Smash the holy living shit out of it! Why? Because you can! I love SmashMyPS3.com! It's fucking hilarious! Go, watch, enjoy.

Other links of interest:
Smash My XBox (360)
Coming soon...
Smash My Wii (Nintendo)

Begin edit...
I forgot to add this:
I'm an asshole!
This guy's a serious piece of shit. Everyone knows (or should know...) that I hate stupid people. Everybody also knows (or again, should know...) that Sony owns half of my soul. Probably more. But I was cheering for this one. Hell, I've been waiting for it since the announcement of the PS3! I hate stupid people.

Stupid-assed comment of the week!
"I hope that you all put up douchebag comments and I hope a big pile of shit falls on them!"

Blurb

2006-10-31T23:01:00.001-07:00

UPDATE
I've just upgraded to the Blogger Beta which runs on a Google platform base. I strongly urge you to make the switch if you can. This should help in getting the new Blogger up and going faster. ^_^ But I'll be god damned if I can figure out how to edit a friggin' post with the new interface!

For the love of...

2006-10-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

It's official: I'm a jerk
It's been months since I've updated. And yes, I am aware of this.
Have you ever been just unbelievably busy? I have. I am. And it's not stopping.

Quickies
Head over to Baren's blog and you can see his update about Anime Banzai! 2006. I'll have mine up soon with more pics.

Check out Hookie Dookie Panic!, a new favorite web comic of mine.

That's all folks!
That's all I have for today. Look for a more detailed update soon.

Gryyphyn, out.

UPDATE
I've just upgraded to the Blogger Beta which runs on a Google platform base. I strongly urge you to make the switch if you can. This should help in getting the new Blogger up and going faster. ^_^

Dumbass

2006-06-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Dumbass: Contraction of the words 'dumb' and 'ass'.
Dumb: Definition: voiceless; Synonyms: impaired, inarticulate, incoherent
Ass: Definition: idiot; Synonyms: blockhead*, bonehead, dolt, donkey*, dope, dunce, fool, halfwit, idiot, imbecile, jackass*, jerk*, nincompoop, nitwit*, numskull, schmuck, simpleton*, twerp, twit*

These words are perfect descriptions for Scott Kurtz. This guy is a fucking idiot. A moron. A dumbass. And I'm done reading his shit.

PVP, what would be a decent web comic, is now totally bullshit for me. I've been reading for a year now and my opinion, my thoughts on it, have changed due to Scott's desire to prove he's a fuckwad on a daily basis. This is not designed to be a flame or a personal attack. I could care less for this shit. My biggest problem with Kurtz is it's so damned easy to make him feel like he's making a difference. He's begun going right-wing on the Net Neutrality issue and touting savetheinternet.com, a site that I disagree with on principle.

Yes, net neutrality is something the everyone should be pushing for. Yes signing petitions is a good idea. However this site has taken things to another level: personal attacks. You should not make something like this a person to person issue. It's about government regulations and big business limiting our right to accessing information. And the COPE act is a hollow injunction similar to the Emancipation Proclimation. It doesn't do anything, doesn't sanction or ban anything and has no real reprocussion except what you want to make of it.

My point is that this site is garbage in my opinion. Also I'm not trying to force you to stop liking Scott Kurtz or stop reading his comics and thoughts. What I'm trying to tell you is he's a dumbass. Fighting on the internet is like running in the special olympics: even if you win you're still retarded.

Oh, yeah, here's what I envision Scott Kurtz being like in real life, minus the anonimity thing. He knows he's getting traffic and that people 'listen' to him. What a fuckwad.

Such a freaking slacker...

2006-06-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

I'm a slacker!!!
And yes I'm fully aware of this. There is no need to remind me. But damnit I deserve to slack a little bit. I'm a busy man! Anyway, since it's been over a month since I last updated I'm going to give you a real present: a full review on some flash animations. First up is one that, from the reaction I have received, needs some explanation.

Before I begin let me state that, for the record, I am not the artist for these animations. I do not know the artist nor am I aware of their opinions or motivations for the creation of their flash anims. The opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone and any correlation of my opinions to the authors are sheer coincidence and good artistic taste on both sides (viewer/creator). On the link provided for each animation is the author's report on the flash and I highly recommend viewing their statements. Also please watch each animation before you read my review. That said enjoy!

For what it's worth (I'm sorry)
Ok, so what I'm hearing from everyone is that this is a creepy animation. But how far from the truth are we here? We're talking about recycling humans for use as 'helpers'. Let's look at the title first: "For what it's worth (I'm sorry)". Which side of things is this statement coming from? There's no remorse from the 'person' who is making and selling this contraptions. Aside from the fact that they can't think there is no emotion from the automatons. No, the appology is coming from the 'users'.

That's what they are. They're users. They are using an appliance that is designed to make their life easier. What correlation do we have in our world? Computers, perhaps? I would say yes. We mindlessly use computers every day. We rely on them to help/force us to get up in the morning. We use them to give us the news of the morning as we are getting ready for school/work. We rely on them to get us to work in the morning when we start our communte. We rely on them to keep traffic flowing. To tell us how much we owe for breakfast. Keep track of hours at work... Print out reports and other things for work... We use them to learn... We use them for entertainment... To make our food... To track our resources... Manage our time... etc...

What if they all stopped working? The artist for this video, Matt Merrill, has shown us a different aspect of the computerised world that we live in. Rather than spending gobs of cash to make a computer or computerised man he takes a man, severs his free-thinking mind from his body and markets the 'robot' as a do-all machine to do our work for us. Then, when the robot malfunctions we get angry at it as though it will solve the problem or make them work harder. Only when one person realizes what's happening to things change for him. He realizes that having another do his work for him is accomplishing no good and he feels sorrow, remorse for his actions.

We've become a complacent society that gladly gives up working for itself and pushes the actual or perceived work off on others. We gladly force someone else to do our work so we can work on things that are more entertaining, more desirable, more fun. So we can be lazy.

On the horizon...
Within the next few years we are going to see a change, a shift in the computing and daily living world. There some devices and computing shifts that are going to affect our daily life in ways that most can't imagine. I'll highlight a few of these here.

1. HTPC (Home Theater PC)
Commonly known as Tivo, variations on this device are already prevalent on the market. Tivo uses a slimmed down version of Linux and a hard drive to record shows, replacing your VCR. It is able to record more than a typical tape and is much easier to maintain and program. You can even tell it what your favorite shows are and it will tape them automatically by downloading the times from a distributed database held by it's manufacturer.

You can build a similar device at home and completely replace your entire home theater system. For the same price you would pay for all of the components in the typical home theater/tv/gaming setup you can build a PC with the same functionality and better components. DVD player, Tivo-like functionality, good TV and a great 5.1 or better sound system. And it all fits in one box. Later I'll outline my ideal HTPC setup.

2. Quantum Computing
A new development coming down the pipe is the thought of quantum computing. This involves more than I can fully list here but I'll give you a rundown.

In computing currently you have what are called bits. A bit is a single-state object: either a 1 or a 0. Combinations of bits make up larger collections called bytes, then kilobytes, then megabytes, then gigabytes, etc... It's these collections of bits and bytes that make up things like documents and songs on storage devices within your computer.

The principle behind quantum computing is the qubit. A qubit is a quantum bit. Rather than existing in one state it is in a constant state of flux. The principle that allows it to hold information, in fact many times more information, is Quantum Bit Discovery. The theory holds that the bit does not have a definitive state until you examine it. Then and only then do you see what information it holds.

I wouldn't be able to say how viable the technology is. The reason is I can see both sides: It will work because the theory is sound and we have the ability and mindpower to make it happen. It won't work because we don't have anything that can exist in multiple states except for plasma (not blood plasma you phlebotomists) which is too unstable to work with currently.

3. Perpendicular recording
This technology, specifically for harddrives, reorganizes the magnetic structure of the recording layer by aligning the bits vertically rather than horizontally. This allows for higher bit compaction than is available currently: approximately 75% more compact for increased storage.

4. Mass quantity solid state storage
We are currently coming to a headway in harddrive technology where we are exceeding the physical limits of the recording media. The next closest technology that could solve these problems is solid state storage. Working similarly to the memory module in your digital camera they store bits within an electrically charged core of silicon, also similar to a processor. The current issue is the sophistication of these devices requires an extremely high price right now, upwards of $100 per GB. The technology is effectively here but it is not in high enough capacities or low enough price to be truly effective. But it will be soon.

5. Blu-ray
The industry is facing another format war similar to what was seen between DVD + and -. The difference is there is a clear winner this time: Sony's Blu-ray. BD (Blu-ray disc acronym and common reference) has 8x the capacity per single layer than a single layer DVD and 1.7x more than it's competitor: HD-DVD. The reason for this is the tighter focusing tolerance of the blue laser and the ability to cram more info on the same diameter disc. It is also thinner, lighter and more scratch resistent: it has a protective coating over the disc's play side, similar technology to your plastic-lensed glasses. This means a more resilient disc with higher capacity. And it's backwards compatible with your current collection. Oh, yeah, it's going to be the new format for the PS3. Need I say more?

Dumb fucker for the past month...
This award goes to someone who can't speak. She can't even walk anymore. Nope, she's dead now. And she used to be a ninja. Now she's not. My pet rat decided to take a header of the top shelf of her new cage apparently. I got home for lunch and Baren told me she was dead. She was more than dead. Her legs and tail were blue. We just can't seem to keep the little fuckers alive.

Dumbass award number two goes to Baren's little shit who drowned herself last week. I wish some people would do that to themselves... Wishful thinking.

Closing thoughts...
Get bent. It took to long to write this post and longer to read it. Good night.

Life... doesn't completely suck?

2006-04-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

The hell is this?
Life doesn't completely suck for me? Why didn't anybody tell me! And here I was thinking that I just couldn't be happy even though this is my year.

Why so good?
Well... Let's have a review of last month. I got sick, depressed, wound up in the ER, didn't get to go to a concert, didn't get anything for my birthday, lost my computer to a rootkit, etc...

Now let's have a review of the month so far. I got to meet Lacuna Coil, met a few of the members from Empty Spiral, got to see LC in concert, finished the install of some new components in Motoko, got a pet rat, found out that my insurance isn't going to completely fuck me over, etc...

I guess I can't do much complaining about this month. It's been pretty rockstar so far and it seems like it might just stay that way, save a couple people trying their fucking hardest to piss me off to the point of absolute self destruction. Fucking bastards.

What's this LC news?
So LC came to SLC last Tiw's Day and Baren and I already had our tickets. The night before I received a message from Gandoof over on ES stating that they were doing a signing and acoustic performance before the show! Sweet Sejenus, how can I turn that down? I had been working on a piece of LC art: Cristina, taken from March's Revolver centerfold with Angela Gossow. I wasn't satisfied with the piece at the time but I am fairly proud of it none the less. Rather than taking my liner notes from the LC albums (yes, I have every last full album) I decided to take the art piece down to the signing. What better way to show my love than to show them my fan art? Besides, I've never seen another piece of fan art signed by the subject, let alone an entire band.

What happened...
We got to the cafe where the performance was to be held (Borders Books Cafe, just for reference) and picked a spot. We had a lone camera with us (I left mine in the car in a frenzy) and tried to get the best spot we could. That spot, due to the amount of people in the cafe (thank God, I was worried/happy that we would be two of just a few), happened to be stage left, right behind the sound equipment. We were standing literally right-the-fuck-there when the band came in! We were standing not ten feet from one of the band members who was walking around the whole time, though nobody else seemed to notice.

We waited for some time for everything to be ready. When the band finally came out, speaking Italian phrases, the crowd just about lost it. We maintained our composure for the most part. My hands started sweating and my heart started racing. (I don't think many people understand just what Lacuna Coil means to me.) The band played, made jokes, and Criz (I think, can't find a pic to tie to the name; Yes, I'm fired) spent the time on the sidelines finding books that he found humorous and flashing them to the crowd. That was an FTW (fut the wuck for you lamans) moment if ever I saw one. Missed taking a few great shots cause I was laughing my ass off.

Unspoken, Closer, Within Me and a special treat, Swamped were the acoustic performance songs. All I can say is see them live when you can, see them acoustic in that wonderful, intimate atmosphere if you can. If/when they come again I will be there with fucking bells and whistles on. It was just that fucking good.

The signing
Baren and I were in the line working our way through from about the halfway mark. I had my art pad in my hand, trying to keep from soaking it with sweat. I was shaking a little and was having to wipe my palms on my levis almost constantly. No, constantly. Baren had to leave the line when we were getting close, leaving me with his ticket 'just in case' because he didn't have anything for them to sign! Can't blame him really: we were in a serious hurry and neither of us were thinking straight. I digress...

As I approached the table I caught a glimpse of our wonderful siren, Cristina, just over the counter. (I'm still getting butterflies thinking about it...) I had my finger marking the page in my art pad so I didn't have to search for it when I got to the table. Quick glimpse of what was going through my mind: I get to present a piece of fan art to my favorite band! They're going to sign a piece of my fan art! Cristina's first in line and the art is of her! I get to meet my favorite band! My favorite band is going to sign some of my stuff! That all took place in about half a second. Then I was up next.

I was shaking, nervous as hell and couldn't decide if I wanted to be sick, jump the band or just have a hysterical breakdown of some sort. I got to Cristina and fumbled with my art pad. I almost didn't get it open! When I did I handed it to Cristina. I didn't set it on the table, I handed it directly to her. It was the most exhilirating and terrifying moment of my life. She glanced up at me (she looked at me) and gave me a strange look. I still can't decide whether she was saying "the fuck is this garbage", "the hell is this?", "my god this is gorgeous" or "you brought this?". I don't care and I'll continue delluding myself by believing she thought it was fucking great. She signed the piece, almost reluctantly I thought, then passed it to Andrea who was next in line. I quickly handed Baren's ticket to her and moved on.

I stepped in front of Andrea. He looked at the piece and considered it for a moment. He looked up at me with, I swear, astonishment and said (with a fairly thick Italian accent) "You want me to sign this? It's of Christina!". All I could manage to say, because I wasn't really thinking at that point, was "yes. FuckJesusGodFuckingYesPleaseSignIt!". His reply was a simple "Okay" with a questioning tone. I honestly thought he was going to say something like 'this sucks' or 'I'm not going to sign it and I'm insulted that it's just Cristina!' but they really aren't like that at all. They're one of the nicest groups of people I've ever met.

As I made my way along the line to the rest of the band they all happily signed it and three of them congratulated me. I felt like a schoolgirl I did. A giddy little schoolgirl who just got her cherry popped (what a horrible analogy!).

I can't put in to words the elation that I felt. I wanted to laugh, scream, cry, die, etc..., anything that would relieve the tension! All I could do was walk away and let out a sigh of relief. That drawing is the only thing that I got signed. I considered, quite heavily, buying one of the albums again just to have them sign it but it would have ruined the moment. I just wanted to revel in the whole thing until the concert later that night.

Please check out Baren's blog for his part of the signing and check out Gandoof's (aka utah_coiler, aka Paul) review of the whole day (it starts on the second post). You think I write a lot? This guy just might, with practice, beat me some day... >:)

Before you think I've lost my cynisism...
I'm still a cynical fuck even if I'm having a great day. In fact being happy (or something close to it) gives me focus. While I'm not going to tell you about the concert I will tell you about

The sluttiest girl at the concert contest
5'5", dark brown hair, good looking if not a little young (about 19). She really was attractive, then she turned so I was looking at her ass (yes, I do that kind of thing). All I can say is: cammo g-string that was hitched up to her ribs. It was like a vine caught in a canyon. Butt floss can't begin to describe it. And what made it worse was her pants (or what was there of them) were hanging off her ass. Nuff said.

Dumbass question of the week
So it'll have to be the dumbass question of the last two weeks. Sue me. Yes it's a joke but it's actually happened. Got it in an email, you've probably heard it and I don't fucking care. It makes me laugh and makes me want to destroy humanity just on principle.
"What were you doing last Tuesday morning Dr. Autopsy?"
"I was performing an autopsy on Mr. DeadGuy."
"Did you check for a pulse?"
"No."
"Did you check for breathing?"
"No."
"Did you check for reflexes or blood pressure?"
"No."
"So the deceased could have, in fact, been alive?"
"No."
"Well if you didn't check for vital signs how could you know?"
"His brain was in a jar on my desk."
"Okay but taking that aside he could have conceivably been alive, couldn't he?"
"Yes. He could have been alive and practicing law."

Tee hee hee... makes me humorous.

Links
Ha! No links for you! I really do expect you to check out the LC official site and LC fansite EmptySpiral.

Thoughts...
"So she said 'that's not my 39 pin interface'. I said 'that's okay cause that's not my gold plated connector'!"

Books, games and legislative battles...

2006-04-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

Before I start
I would like to make very clear before I start this rant that I am in no way a law expert. I'm just an intelligent, educated person and consumer.

The story so far...
Legislation in multiple states have attempted, many times, to pass legislation that would limit the sale of video games, on all platforms, to minors. The proposed legislation almost always involves the ESRB rating "M", ensuring that the games cannot be sold to minors.

A short blib on the ESRB: I have a lot of respect for what these people do. They are trying to uphold the values that our country was formed on. That's formed on, meaning past tense. The evolution of the american society, and most societies in the world for that matter, has progressed to the point where we are beginning to explore things outside of the core values that were instilled by our forefathers. The fact that a group of people would seek to enforce their values on others is oppressive and demeaning, not to mention unconstitutional.

The ESRB rating of "M" or higher (yes, it goes higher, just follow the link you tool-user) is reserved for games that have extreme violence, sexual themes and content and graphic language. All the things that make up our society. After all, you can't define "light" without "dark" as a reference. The principle of this thought process is, admitedly, very sound. But government intervention is an intrusion on our rights as americans and it tells parents "it's okay to be a lazy fuck. We'll take care of the tough stuff for you."

The real problem
The real problem, especially in the united states, is lazy parenting. Why the hell should a five year old have an xBox? I've long lived by the principle that GameCube is more for children and xBox/PS2 is more for adults. This isn't a design flaw and I'm not saying that adults can't play the GC. For hell's sake I own one myself! What I am saying is that GC has more games designed for and targeted at younger consumers, i.e. "kids". And I use that term loosely.

Think for just a second about the games available for the GC. Mario Party, Super Monkey Ball (if you don't like SMB as an adult then you're fucked up in the head) and Pikmin. These games are designed to be played with your friends and really aren't too violent. After all if the ESRB says it's okay it must be (guffaw).

ESRB
The ESRB would have you think that they are the be all, end all of ratings commitees in the US. The reason that perception is correct is nobody else has stepped up to the plate. How many rap albums do you see with the PA sticker? What about rock albums? Ok, now think about pop albums. Britney Spears with a PA sticker? Never. Why? "She's wholesome music and little girls should look up to her" is what the parents would have you think. Review her last two years: Dating at least three "men", married one then divorced him, then married another right after, all while singing songs that promote promiscuity in teenage girls and jerk-fests in stupid, pre-pubescent boys. Yeah, that's a real good fucking role model.

Now let's take a look at the games side of things. First, fuck San Andreas and all the sniveling little pissant fucks who use it as a scapegoat. Fuck them right in the ass with their xBox turned sidways. How about sports games? First raise a child to be a fan of a violent sport like football (sports! yeah!) and introduce them to their parent's beer swilling, wife beating foul mouthed friends. Add a dose of "I won't love you if you're not QB" and we have the average teenage male fucktard. I'm not worried about Trenchcoat Johnny and his obsession with morbid music. That shit paints an accurate reality in which life sucks. No, I'm worried about the dipshit jock and his 15 drunk friends who think it's fun to taunt, tease and otherwise make life miserable for those who are smaller than them.

Violence isn't caused because of games, other than the rare cases with the really fucked up individuals. Again, not the point.

What does this have to do with books?
Well if you look at the current level of literature being produced today the only censored media within the print world is graphic novels. The reasoning behind this is "you can see her nipples" arguments. Apparently people have forgotten that many people are still aware that their imagination exists and that they can use it, though very many more have forgotten how to use their imagination, most of them sports fans ("Sports! Yeah!").

One of the series I'm reading (yeah, like I have time) right now is Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker. It's a very vivid tale of Earwa, his world, but it has many moments which are sexually explicit. The pictures are painted beautifully. But I would definitely want anybody under 12 reading it. (I chose twelve because that's about when I started reading this stuff.) There's no need for a child to be exposed to that type of stuff at such a young age. But there's no problem with that type of literature. It enriches our lives.

It becomes a problem when people lose the ability to differentiate reality from fiction. I don't think that's the issue with games. Games are most decidedly unrealistic most of the time and the ones that aren't are typecast and geared for a specific audience that understands the place for the type of actions in said game. For instance there's Full Spectrum Warrior. The original intent and use of this game, by design, was a tactical, full emersion simulation for use by the military. It was in fact comissioned by the US military by the game maker for exactly the purpose of training. It was released to the public because, for it's purpose, it would make a significant impact in the gaming world. In short it's fucking gorgeous at what it does.

But the people who play it are, in all honesty and from experience, either current, prospective or ex-military. The fucking point is that video game violence doesn't breed real violence, being a complete fuckwad breeds real violence.

Why legislation shouldn't be passed
There's nothing I could say that hasn't probably already been said. What I'll say instead is that I don't want our society to end up like this. If you've never read Farenheit then you need to. If you have then you know why I'm terrified of shit like this.

There's really not much else I can say. It's bullshit, it affects every gamer and it's the fault of the parents, not the "vid-ya games", that american 'kids' are fucked up in the head.

Gryyphyn out.

Just... fucking... no.

2006-04-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Recent discoveries...
It has come to my attention recently that I may be too smart for my own good. What I mean by that is I have recently taken up arms ethically against perceived atrocities within the technology industry. I'd like to pick up where I left off last...

Three personality types
I hate to do it but I must quantify three distinct personality types. The first is the intelligent log, aka the 'nerd'. A nerd is someone who is so tecnically inclined that they bury themselves in their chosen arena. This type of person is completely detached from the outside world and, therefore, completely incapable of holding an average conversation without offending or "putting off" almost anybody.

The second type of person is the exact oposite of nerd: social overachiever. This personality type tries too hard. The one who considers themselves 'extra special' because they have more friends than computers. In all actuality this person winds up alienating people due to the fact that they try so fucking hard to be everybody's friend they ignore the basic courtesies everyone should be afforded. More on these people later.

The third personality type, the catagory which I fall in to, is the 'geek'. I'm not talking about the Websters dictionary version. No, they would have you believe that geeks and nerds are the same, just interchangeable names. The person I'm talking about is the one in your office who helps you fix your computer or shows you how to use a new program without acting like a condescending asshole. This is the person who offers to fix your computer but shows you the process along the way. The one person in the office who you can go to who a) knows what the hell they're doing and b) doesn't make you feel like a complete fucking idiot in the process.

Scenario: Your office has recently made the upgrade to a new version of the operating systems on your computers. For the most part everything is familiar but there are a few intricacies that you don't know how to set up.

The nerd's solution: Use a lot of technical jargon, describe the process once and expect that you will remember it for all time. While this may work for some you feel like he doesn't want to take the time to help you with it because he thinks such things 'are beneath me'.

The condescending asshole's solution: Don't use a lot of technical jargon and take the time to help. The problem is this type of person over simplifies, making you feel like a preschooler who's being shown how to pull up their pants. This type of fuckhead (as you can most likely tell it's this type of person who pisses me off the most) seems to gain some kind of satisfaction by debasing everybody else because 'they just need to be taught what I know, even if they don't want to hear it'. Fucking bastard assholes.

The average geek's solution: Find out the technical acumen of the person requesting the help and gear the solution and description to their level. The reason I group myself in this category is because I am, by trade and experience, a customer service expert. Even if you are the lowliest tech at the biggest corporation in the world everybody expects that you will be willing to help without resorting to overtly simplistic or technical terminology, i.e. your demeanor is professional without being a jerk or condescending.

What does it all mean?
Well... shit. I just don't know. I would say to take the path less travelled. Three suggestions that I could make to help anybody achieve the status of great technical support rep:
a) Work in a fast food joint at least once. The humility you are forced to undertake gives you the perspective that every blue collar has. You absolutely must realize the level of intellect that you will be dealing with 99% of the time.
b) Be a phone support rep at least once. The ability to convey information through language is an absolute must and this will force you to learn how to control situations that are frustrating for both parties when communication is limited.
c) Learn from mistakes, both yours and others. Pierre and Marie Currie discovered how to halt the progression of cancer cells by working with the basest of chemical and energetic reactions on the cellular level. However this exposed them to a time based radiation sickness. In the current world even children understand the basics of the reactions from radiation exposure and know what the consequences are. This illustrates perfectly the act of learning from mistakes.

I've followed all three of these pieces of advice. I currently work as a phone rep, I just left a job in the food service industry and I've been fucking up for my entire life as well as watching others screw things up. I've learned from all of these situations and I know when to force my hand, when to let others force their will and I now know when someone needs to have a little humility interjected in to their life.

More slack-assery
Ah, you poor uneducated fools. So the number one past time on the net is decidedly porn. The second most popular internet past time is friend to friend communication, whether via email, 'IM' or blogs like this. (warning: possibly insulting material follows. Please don't take any of the following comments to seriously unless you meet all of the criteria for punk ass kid who thinks 1337 5p34k is the 'bomb diggity'.)

For the most part none of you know how to spell. I'm not talking about the people who are educated. I'm talking about the lazy fuckers who would rather text their friends from home than walk the two blocks to talk to them. The spoiled little ass heads whose caudling mother and doting father baught them an xBox for their sixth birthday and a new game every two weeks. The little pricks who have never had to make a living no matter how old they got.

These are the types of children that people have been raising since 1993. I don't know about the rest of you but I bought my first game system, car, computer, etc..., by myself and I'm disgusted to see these kinds of things going on. Back to the point they're also the people who are too lazy to lrn how 2 fukin spel rite. God, that took longer than I would have liked. Seriously it took about 5 seconds longer to write those six words than it did the two sentences before it. Why? Because I'm not some lazy little fuckhead who thinks that it's faster to read and write incorrectly because 'you don't have as many keystrokes'. How about learning to type correctly and well? It really doesn't take that much effort and people don't have to work so hard to understand you.

Dumbass question of the week
This brings me to the dumbest fucking question of the week:
Why do we have to type out the whole sentence? It takes to long and you get the same point accross if you type the 'shrt wy'.
Why you ask? Because it takes too fucking long to decipher which letters you've left out and build a cohesive sentence from the garbledy-gook you call fucking typing. And it bleeds over in to the professional world too. Everybody I know that types like that on IM has at least 5 spelling errors per page. Read one of my rants and you'll see correct spelling the whole way through. Lazy fucktard ass hats.
1, 2

Links and other shit
I'm just so pissed off right now. Sorry. I'll try to make your day a little better:

Under Power is the story of Mr. Cynical and his gang of really fucked up 'super heroes' who have to save the world. Read it at your own risk but it's hilarious.

Digital Purgatory is everything we've talked about today. Even the little xBox whores.

Twisted Links. Damn, I want a chainmaille bra! And the chick to wear it in bed!

Cable Organizers: Just another wierd fucking link from me to you.

Thought of the Day
"Always live within your means.
Endeavor to extend them regularly."
Gryyphyn, Section-9/The Wired

All tech, no personality...

2006-03-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

What the hell is wrong with us?

What the hell is wrong with people these days? In particular I'd like to highlight a particular facet of our current society: nerds. First the defenition of nerd and geek:
A nerd is "A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept." A geek is defined by websters as the same thing but they are generally better looked upon than nerds due to a) a better sense of style; b) better grooming and personal health care habits; and c) they have better personalities and know how to interact with other generic carbon units!

Where's this all going? I was just on a site that is a commented techie blog. The problem with all of this? It gives space for the technically, though only sometimes sound, minded people to 'voice their opinion' on a particular news story. Only they aren't always the most intelligent people. One person, for instance, goes off on Sony's MiniDisc technology, stating "Here we go again, In the tradition of the Mini-Disc and other sony-only Proprietary formats, We are presented with yet another "this is the future" format that will flop within its first year..." Yeah, like that's even remotely true. MD is a very viable format. The problem is the i-Pod fever that's bitch-slapped the market-whores and teeny boppers of America. Do I hate i-Pod? Yes, but that's a personal thing. Am I a market whore? No. I'm a brand whore. Sony owns my soul and half of my body, but that's beside the point. I'm still objective.

The American marketing firms would have us believe that you have to have 250 GB on one device to be cool or have any kind of capability to carry music around. And then they put video on such devices. Is it so much to ask to have one fucking device do one fucking thing? And if hard drive type players are so fucking great then why doesn't everybody have a Kenwood Keg? Because it's not worth it. Back to the point...

MiniDisc: Generates shitloads of money for Sony and the other MD makers in the US. And God only knows how much money it makes in Japan. A couple of my friends recently came back from Japan and they made an interesting observation: there were more MD players walking around than there were mp3 players. Hell, even little grandmas were walking around with MD players.

According to them there were very few players on the market and in the shops there that weren't MD players. I've even read tales on the net of people being ostracized for having an mp3 player because the general opinion is that MD players are better. But it's the opposite in America. I have personally been made fun of for not carrying an mp3 player. Then people listen to me and the player for a few minutes. Here's my spiel (and do remember we're talking about Hi-MD players):

MD players cost about $100 - $200 less than the i-Pod. They come with a 1GB disc that is capable of holding (at max compression) approximately 45 hours of music. 1GB discs cost about $8 per. 80 minute discs cost about $10 for a pack of ten, or $1 per disc and hold about 13 1/2 hours of music max. i-Pods hold about 15,000 songs for a 60GB pod, 4 minute average at 128 kbps. The comparable MD format is Hi-LP, 64 k. How much for MD? Well, My player costs about $200. i-Pod 60GB costs about $400. That's about $200 worth of MDs.
Formula: (10.14 (hours approx) * 60 (minutes) / 4 (avg. song length in minutes)) * 200 discs = 30,420 songs. Run it yourself.

What does this have to do with BD?
Nothing. The point is that Sony has had the better tech for years and will continue to do so, considering market trends. The BD format has a higher bit compaction rate allowing for more storage. Better laser technology allows it to stay far ahead of the game. The number and size of studios already onboard, with lists of media ready to go, beats the hell out of HD-DVD.

The worry is that consumers won't buy either technology. Considering the format wars between plus and minus media over the past couple years gives them reason to do so. But that doesn't mean that adoption will be slow. The tech heads always lead the way and input from the geeks trickles down to the average consumer market area. Think people don't listen to guys like me? You're wrong. I spent 4 years in the tech-oriented sales field. I still have contacts within the consumer field who value my input. I see them in stores and they ask my advice. Now they trust me on blu-ray.

Look at the facts from both sides and the independant media and make the decision yourself. I'm just here to tell you that going with HD-DVD over BD is a bad choice. The more viable option, in this case it's honestly blu-ray, is the one that wins.

Enough of that tech stuff
So now it's time for the rant. Nerds. They're not all bad, just most of them. I'm a geek. The difference between myself and a nerd is that I have a sense of style and am good at, and actually enjoy on occasion, interacting with other Homosapiens Sapiens. Nerds on the other hand have poor hygeine, bad manners, and are 'wiring closet gnomes'. Don't get me wrong, I like the wiring closet. But I like to leave it and go enjoy the burning ball of death... on occasion.

The people I meet in message boards like the one above are spread in to these two categories. There's always a split when it comes to tech. xBox vs. PS (duh, PS is better. Fuck you if you don't think so you damn jock.) Jock vs. Nerd (I've been both and don't like either.) Gamer vs. Athelete (again, I've been both and gamers are a hell of a lot more intelligent. I've made my choice.) etc...

I'll not ask if we can all just get along. I'll just ask that the nerds shut the fuck up until they can articulate their thoughts better and the geeks to keep the bullshit down. We all love to do it, some of us are good at it and the rest are just dumb.

And the next person who calls me a biggot is going to get the tongue lashing of a lifetime. Not my fault that your world is black and white.

Believe it or not there is a grey area. That's where I live, I know it well and it gives me excellent perspective.

Links
Blu-ray official site
MiniDisc info site
The xBox deserves this. I'll watch later for the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution just for fun.

Beware what you do and watch what you say. I practice my thoughts carefully so as to offend completely.

Oh shit...

2006-03-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

I just realized as I was reviewing my blog that I've gone and fucked up Baren's blog name. It's not actually "Darkness Bunnies" it's "Birdhouse In Your soul". I've made the requisite change to the original post.

Have you ever...

2006-03-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Have you ever...
Have you ever had a day that just seems to drag you through razors? How about a situation that acts like a black hole, sucking you in to a pit of torment that is inescapable? An occurence that you not only created but continued to foster until it reached the breaking point? You should try it. It's a very sobering experience to have.

Shall we try to make better reading?
Hey, what do you know? I actually have a decent life. I've spent the last couple of months amassing a collections of books. Now that the government has finally, after three and a half months, decided I can have my money back I've gone and made improvements to Motoko, my PC (it just seems wrong to call her a 'PC').

Her new upgrades consist of:
An Asus 6600LE video card;
A FujiPlus 19" LCD Monitor;
And a DVD burner with a free 25 pack of DVD-R media.

WARNING: Shameless plug alert! I got all of the parts from Newegg. I was fairly impressed with the service, though it did take some time to contact their billing department when there was a problem (about an hour). Not bad though.

I received the drive and media last night. For being refurbished equipment (the drive, not the media) I am fairly impressed. Nothing was scratched, the software bundle was intact and the drive is pretty freaking quiet. I burned my first DVD last night (yes, Motoko broke my cherry again ^_^) with the drive and it seemed to do okay. I still have a couple gripes about Nero but hey, who doesn't?

I haven't received the monitor or video card yet so keep watching for a review of the hardware.

What about that first thought?
Well... That thought at the top of the post is hard to explain. If you've read my previous posts (and damn you if you haven't!) then you'd know my life is usually sugarcoated shit. This this week, today in particular, has been the culmination of a storm front. Now that storm is threatening to tear down everything in my life. What a fun fucking day this has been.

But enough of that shit, let's get back to the good stuff, mwahaha...

Who's the dumbfuck today?
Let me give a quick shout out to Hellen Powers of KBER 101.1 radio in Salt Lake City, UT. You, my dear child, have the best theme song ever. What? You've never heard the song? I'll give you the lyrics. You can set them to pretty much any childs song and it will sound good.
"Dumbass roundup here to stay. Dumbass roundup... have a nice day!"

So it's only Wednesday night, not the end of the week yet, and I already know what the dumbest fucking question of the week is:
"Why is corn the second most evil vegetable?"
My answer:
"Because brussel sprouts are the absolute worst, therefore making them 'el numero uno'. But the reason it's on the list is there's no other edible substance on the planet that you can chew the hell out of and still shit whole kernels. It's the same way with creamed corn and tortilla chips." That's just vile.

But it is the truth.

The "piece de resistance": Links
The Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker
Megatokyo web/print comic by Fred Gallagher
Half Life site with all of the information you'll ever need about the greatest game series ever. Yes, I'm sorry to say that it really is better than Final Fantasy. (Now Baren's really going to kill me for making such a sacriligious comment.)
And last but not least my other best friend Squall's blog. Be gentle, he's just been let out of the cage and hasn't eaten for a while.

Final thought
Did I just taste purple for a second?

Welcome to the fold...

2006-03-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

"And if I don't see you later good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!"

This post has been edited.

Baka baka baka!
In our wonderful little shithole that is Utah we've created a new society that communicates through bastardized words that have lost all meaning and semblance of what they once were. Of what do I speak? I affectionately refer to it as "utah-nese". After all, this is one of the few places in the world where you can have a true amalgam of ethnicities coexist. They actually do so peacefully part of the time! We're just so fucking cool, aren't we?

Now you have phrases like "howdy yall niggas!" and "wutch yu talkin' bout homie?". Welcome to my life. Okay, so that's a bit of an allegory, allusion, hyperbole or whatever the hell you want to call it. But walk through the local underage whore's sellin' post (old-school hick reference) and you'll see 14 year old girls wearing pounds of makeup and hairspray and more perfume than clothes shouting phrases at eachother like "wutch you talkin bout bitch! that thar's my man, g girl!"

I shit you not.

Ah, gamers.
I'm saddened to say that we'll all be mourning the passage of a current GameStop employee soon. Yes, he's going to die. Why you ask? Well it would seem that he's recently told one of my good friends that the PS3 will not be backwards compatible, that the revolution will not have access to old NES, SNES and N64 games and that the xBox is the king of all gaming platforms, PC/MAC included. What a horrible way to die: me shoving your beloved xBox 360 sideways up your ass, cords and controllers included.

You see children people like this young man are called morons. Morons are a curse put on this world by God to see just how long I could go without killing one. So far my self control has gotten me through 24 years, give or take a week. But my patience wears thin; Pam Anderson's tits in a latex glove thin. I'm afraid that I'm just going to have to go on a killing spree.

Happy happy joy joy
I have good news for once! It would seem that my life of shit has a creamy center full of stuff that tastes like shut but sure looks better. Here we go, counting down the top five reasons my week doesn't totally suck ass:

#5: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex gets another season! The official title is GITS:SAC Solid State Society and it will be showcased at the Tokyo Anime Fair in April.

#4: I went to the mall this weekend to pick up a book from my absolute favorite comic shop. There, a full two months earlier than it was supposed to be, was Intron Depot 4: Bullets, a book I've been waiting for for God knows how long (which means about two years). Now I have the whole ID collection. ^_^

#3: The Power Puff Girls Doujinshi has a new game written by a Bleedman fan.

#2: I've started downloading all of my media again since Motoko crashed.

And the number one reason my week didn't totally bite Goron ass: I've finally gone and picked up my first console! Believe it or not I've never bought a console in my life. My Ataris were gifts, as was my NES, the PSOne is actually my brothers and Baren owns the PS2, I just use it.

Well, isn't that a good way to end hump day?

Closing links
New thing here that I'll try to keep up. I'm going to start providing you with links. Links to cool shit. Just a few at a time though (don't want your brains to explode with all of the goodies you know).
http://www.ic#code.net
http://www.jlist.com
http://darknessbunnies.blogspot.com (yeah, I know, it's already here... blah fucking blah)

"And to the unwashed asses I bid a fond farewell
for the next time we meet I'll be kicking your ass in hell."

Ah, the Unwashed Asses

2006-03-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

I'd love to have something positive to write. But I don't. I just can't get over short sighted, small minded people that I am forced to interact with.

I took a vacation that ended yesterday and now I'm back into the swing. I've never had problems getting back in to the swing. So I decided to catch up with some people. Note to self: never do that again.

The first person I caught up with had nothing but a friendly jab at the ribs. Gotta love friends who you can make all kinds of fun of. The next person decided to be a colossal asshole. That I can do very well without. He decided that it was his job to probe my vacation for weaknesses and then pummel the thin walls of what should have been a very relaxed catch-up day. What a fuck. He proceded to tell me that he knew exactly what had happened, why it happened and that my whole reasoning about life for the past 9 weeks is fucked up and my conclusion was incorrect.

Why is it that there's always someone who thinks that it is their duty to attempt to make you feel like shit if only to prove the point that "you can take it, I know you can do better" when in all actuality you're doing things exactly how you want to? I propose a solution to the problem: stop taking shit. Just fucking tell people exactly what you think of them and the way the talk to you. Let them know that they have no control over what you do with your own life. And be sure to tell them that they have absolutely no right or reason to talk to adults barely six years younger than them like they're fucking preschoolers!

People have this innate, inane, insane fucking mindset that they have to completely dominate "their" world and all of the people who interact with it. They believe that it is their right, privelege or what the fuck ever to make sure that you keep your shit in one hand. Some people just don't understand that others are entirely capable of making their own decisions and fuck up their life in their own fashion.

And I've just been informed that my life is fucked up.

On a more positive note I've also just been informed that I need to escape my world and start a new one. Have you ever met one of those people who just seem to know how to cheer you up or know a solution to a problem that you know how to solve but you just weren't listening to little Jimeny Cricket screaming at the back of your eyes? That's another type of person I get to interact with. Someone who's been through most of it, if not almost all. A veritable Socrates of human study. An Archemides of life's problems. A person who has spent most of their life studying people in order to better understand the insane species of Homosapiens Sapiens that he belongs to and then pass that knowlege along. And now I've come up with a solution to this problem: I'm going to leave the so called college that I'm currently attending and go to a full time university.

I now realize that he school I'm at now is the source of most of my stress. It's not learning everything that's got me so stressed. It's fairly the opposite: I feel that I've been spending money I don't have on an education I can't get. The principle of equivalent exchange states that you must give something to get something in return. The thing you give should be of equal "mass" to the return that it garners. One can only put in so much without a return though and I've far exceeded that amount. I've surpassed the return with effort. Everything I've learned so far I could have learned by spending 1/10th the amount on books. And I would have been able to keep the books. I will admit that it would have been harder to find the drive to do so, and I wouldn't have had the interaction that I did, but I fully believe that my money would have been better spent.

So, where does all of this leave me? Well, I now have to pray that my current credits will transfer over to a full time university and that I'll be able to work my schedule for study time and still keep my job.

A word of advice for all of the college age students who haven't decided where to go yet: DO NOT ATTEND Stevens Henager College. Spend your money somewhere better, like a community college. At least the people there have a reason to act like assholes: they've spent their whole life working with assholes to dig the diamonds out of shit.

So, what type of person does this make me? I'd say a philosopher with a fucked up sense of smartass-ism who likes computers. I think that sums it up pretty well.

Thought of the day:
Make sure that your endeavors are pointed, concise and that you take shit from no one because once it gets to your neck it's hard to breathe.

Terrible way to start a blog

2006-03-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to DFFAQ. Are you assailed by morons, idiots and generally stupid fuckers querying your database of useless and useful knowledge they'll never understand anyway? Welcome to my world. That's my life. Constantly receiving a barage of BS. Shit these people should have learned in fucking preschool. Feel free to now indulge yourself in tales of stupidity and fascinating idiocy. Welcome.

Formalities:

First, a heads up to my best friends blog:
Birdhouse In Your Soul
This is Baren's blog.

Let the fun begin.

Weather sucks. All weather. Good and bad it always fucks me up. I just bought a very nice Specialized Hardrock Comp Disc and it's now been snowing for since the day I got it. Nice joke ma Nature.

Then my computer, Motoko, decided to die. Horribly. Screams and all. Somehow or another I got a rootkit installed on to my MBR. Piece of shit. Lost almost 200 GB of data, most of which is irreplacable (downloads of TV series and anime that's not available on DVD or by download anymore). It's supposed to be my year!

Now, as you'll also see at Baren's blog, Dream Theater has had to cancel their SLC show. I blew all of my paid time off to go to this concert. I had been planning it for almost two months. I had dreams about it. God damn it. Don't get me wrong. I don't blame Dream Theater. If my calculations are correct they got caught in that shit-storm coming through Donners Pass in the Sierra Nevadas. I do hope they're okay. I just hate mother nature right now.

Now for some good news

Lacuna Coil is coming on April 18. I've been waiting to see them for two years. I own every album. I know the word to every song (that's been officially released anyway). I have seen every web and print-available picture of Cristina and the band. EmptySpiral has the best information available about what may be the best import band in history, bar none, including a countdown timer for KarmaCode on the main page. Yes, even better than The Beatles (gak) and, at the very least, right the hell up there with Motorhead (hi Lemmy).

Check them out if you don't know them. If you're a fan head over to EmptySpiral and show some love. If you don't like this type of music there's something wrong with you. Seriously wrong.