Bostongraf Speaks!

Tim Gallivan

2009-09-16T09:35:00.002-05:00

Tim Gallivan, if you lost something on a bus in Boston, please leave a comment to this entry...

Page counts and such

2008-11-11T10:24:00.000-05:00

Two things have happened since I last posted about my Dune readings.

1) I have purchased the latest addition to the Dune saga, Paul of Dune.
2) I have found out that there are at least three more books to be released.

The first was a planned thing. The second surprised me considerably, as I was led to believe that Paul of Dune would be the last book to be released. But we will get to that in a minute. I haven’t done the math on my pages per day, or scheduled end date in a while, and am excited to do that.

Oh, before I do, I think that I messed up last time and assumed a start date of June 14, when it should have been July 14th. So I no longer trust the details from at least one of those entries...

But, let’s do some math, shall we?

Okay, books that I have completed since July 14th, 2008:
Butlerian Jihad
Machine Crusade
Battle of Corrin
House Atreides
House Harkonnen
House Corrino
Dune

And I’m on page 59 of Paul of Dune. That brings our total to 4,852 pages. This happens to be a nice round date today, with the total number of days since my July 14th start is 120 days. So, 4,852 divided by 120 = 40.433 pages per day. Not bad, in my opinion.

Now, with the total pages being 8,163, that means there are 3,311 pages left. If I maintain my pace, I should be completed in 82 days. And that brings us to a nice round February 1st, 2009.

My very first estimate was for March 12, 2009, so we are definitely picking up speed.

I would like to point out that I was VERY happy to make it back into the original Dune book. After thousands of pages of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, it was very very good to be back to the original. I honestly believe that my reading of that book gives me the same sense of awe and peace and comfort that christians get when reading the bible. Except I understand that what I am reading is fiction...

Now that I am back on Brian’s and Kevin’s books, I can tell you that they have improved after years of writing for the Dune universe. The second chapter of Paul of Dune was something I had thought about for years, and was fantastic to finally read in a book. The basic premise is that Fremen are desert people. They have never seen open water, nor have they experienced rainfall. However, their difficult living situation has turned them into fantastic fighters. Once they establish themselves as the rulers of the spice (which is what allows the known universe to travel, etc) they go on a jihad to gain control of all of the planets. Of course, what all Dune freaks have always thought of is the fact that many planets will have water forces to deal with, however, Fremen have never seen water en mass! So the second chapter is a quick story about the first Fremen that were taught to swim...

With regard to the upcoming releases, at first I was a little ticked off because I started this whole thing because Paul was supposed to be the last book. Now there are three more. But, all three are books that expand on an individual character in the novels as opposed to trying to extend the story in either direction. I actually find it to be an interesting idea. And if I said I wasn’t going to read them, you all know I would be lying.

Anyway, I hope to scorch the February 1st timeline. I have a couple flights coming up for Thanksgiving that should help out. I would like to be well under the 3000 remaining pages mark before then, and would love to be nearing the 2000 remaining pages mark by the end of Thanksgiving weekend.

If I can do that, I have a decent shot at beating February 1st.

Getting Through The Legends

2008-08-25T10:31:00.000-05:00

1,557 pages done. 2 books completed. 53 Pages into The Battle of Corrin. 6,606 pages across 13 books remaining.

The Machine Crusade ended well, and the short story that was at the end of it was required reading before going on to the next book. While I gave mediocre reviews of the start of The Machine Crusade, it picked up steam and had some very nice twists and turns all the way through the second half.

Overall, I’m quite satisfied with how it’s going. I must admit to being sick of the robot Erasmus. I just don’t see the real need for some of the crap integrated into the story. It could be a lot cleaner, and it feels like they use his character just for shock value at this point. Personally, I would enjoy the character if they kept him more philosophical instead of trying to come up with more and more horrifying things for him to do.

Okay, going by this pace, I have 178.2 days of reading left. The pace has picked up a little. We’ll see if I can maintain. After the book I’m currently on, I will get into a stretch of books that I have already read. Will be interesting to see if that picks up my pace or slows me down...

Walking Without Rhythm (Updates on Dune Saga)

2008-08-13T15:39:00.001-05:00

969 pages in. 7,194 pages to go. The Butlerian Jihad (the book) is complete. And I'm 265 pages into The Machine Crusade. 13.667 books remaining.

This in my first time reading The Machine Crusade, and I'm enjoying it. But I do find that there are a number of times in this book that the author(s) is(are) writing a summary of what has already happened. Words for the sake of words. It made sense to me when reading Philip K Dick, because he would get paid by the word. But authors with this much experience shouldn't have to resort to that type of page filling technique.

Sticking to the my primary motivation, which is gleaning the stories that lay the foundation for the Dune universe, I enjoy it. It does a good job of trying to play religion off of government off of military, but it will never be done as well as Frank Herbert did it in the original six books.
But the exposure to how the personal shields and Holtzman engines were created is nice. I'm digging the groundwork for the Ginaz swordsman training facility. You can definitely see where the Bene Geserit are going to come from, but it's not quite there yet. The universe is now exposed to The Spice Melange as a recreational "drug", and is loving it. But the Atreidis and Harkonnens are still getting along, so something will have to happen there!

The books do an interesting job of trying to lay down how thinking machines would act, think, speak, etc. And they try to talk about circuits doing this or that. Blah blah blah. I don't need it. I don't believe that AI's would have half of the thoughts described in this book, but that's the programmer in me speaking. I can get past it.

Overall, I'm glad that I am finally reading these books from the Dune universe that have been kicking around. But, so far, if I were to talk anybody into reading the Dune series, I would still say to start with the original Frank Herbert books. If you REALLY dig those, then go for these preludes.

I REALLY dig the originals, so I'm digging the preludes just as backstory.

Why The Spice Must Flow

2008-07-25T09:17:00.002-05:00

The spice mélange.

A friend of mine recently asked for a description of the spice mélange as it is found in the Dune universe. The spice is considered to be a vital food/drug of the empire. Even though the original Dune was written in 1965, there is an obvious corollary to oil as the spice is only available on one planet and the production/harvesting of mélange holds a direct influence on the economy of the entire empire.

The spice is used by almost all of the populace in the empire for various things. As a food additive, it does add flavor and is actually a food source on its own. Habitants of Arrakis (Dune) have been known to survive on pure spice in times of need. However, its life-extending properties are what most other citizens of the universe use it for. In continual small doses, it extends a human’s life span to (I believe) just over 200 years.

However, this is not the main impact that the spice has on the economy. When taken in heavier doses, mélange will have a heightening effect on an individual’s awareness. Because of this effect, it has become integral to the dominant religious group called the Bene Gesserit. As the Bene Gesserit take the spice in heavier doses more regularly, the addictive nature of mélange grabs hold, and withdrawal is something all Bene Gesserit fear.

This heightened awareness is integral to another group's functioning, as well. And this is where the true economic influence comes into play. Guild Navigators pilot transports from star system to star system by “folding space”. Transports are massive ships large enough to contain and transport hundreds of space ships within its holds. They use an engine that is capable of folding the space-time continuum and touching two points thereby placing the transport in two locations at the same. This allows for near instantaneous movement across unlimited distances, and this is what is truly vital to the economy of the empire. Otherwise, it would take months/years to travel between even the closest of planets.

Guild Navigators literally immerse themselves in tanks filled with spice in a gaseous form to heighten their awareness to a point that will allow them to perform the calculations required to prevent the transports from reappearing in the middle of a planet or some other catastrophic misplacement.

The spice holds more relevance in the development of the epic that is the Dune series, but that is the general situation that a reader will encounter when starting the books.

The Golden Path

2008-07-24T09:19:00.001-05:00

10 days along and I am 325 pages into my Dune marathon.

I don’t believe that I’ve mentioned it in my (infrequent) blog entries, but I am something of a Dune freak. By that, I mean that I have read the original Dune books, multiple times. By multiple times, I mean the first three have been read five or six times, and the last three have been read three or four times. I have also read most of the newly written books.

I first read the first three Dune books (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) while in high school. I enjoyed them, but I must admit that I didn’t get everything out of them. I was just a bit too young to really see all of the layers. I read them again at around 20 years old and finished the whole set of six.

That was when I saw the power of these novels. Frank Herbert did an unprecedented job of weaving all aspects of human life into an epic that spans millennia. Not an easy task to do! His methods of playing government and military off of religion and superstition to form an empire that had risen in rebellion against robotic rule 12,000 years prior to the first Dune novel was so intricate and fascinating that I could not help but read them all again…and again…

And I have continued to do so for a good decade and a half since then. I will frequently cause my friends’ eyes to roll when I announce “I’m reading Dune again”. I actually read them repeatedly enough that I had to force myself into a hiatus. About two years ago, I established that I needed to expose myself to more than the sci-fi books that I was reading, and specifically avoid the Dune series for a good bit of time. It was good, and necessary.

But it is time again.

Now, I will never claim to be a fast reader. That has never been my goal in reading any book, never mind this particular series that I prefer to nibble on and savor. But the series has grown. Frank’s son Brian found a number of Frank’s notes, and he has taken up the mantel. He first wrote three books that immediately preceded the original series (I read those three). He then wrote three more books that outline the robotic oppression and human rebellion that took place over 12,000 years prior to the original Dune novels (I read the first, but not the second two). Then he wrote two more books that follow Franks outline for what was to be the conclusion of the original Dune novels (I have read the first of those two). In September, he has the final book coming out that actually takes place in the small span of time between his first three, and Frank’s original books.

You will notice that the writing of the books is very scattered in the chronological sense. But the book slated for September is supposed to be the last one written, and that inspired me to get back in to the fold.

This time, however, I want to be sure I read ALL of them. And will be following the timeline in order. That will be 15 books that span over 20,000 years.

Eight thousand one hundred sixty three pages.

Yes. 8,163 pages.

10 days along and I am 325 pages into my Dune marathon.

That comes out to 241 days left…

Playing god

2008-06-29T08:26:00.002-05:00

So Spore's Creature Creator has been released for only $10. I must admit that this thing is a lot of fun. I've made about a dozen creatures so far, and they can be seen here:

http://www.spore.com/view/profile/BOSTONGRAF

I'd like to remind those of you that are creating creatures, that there needs to be some creatures that are not overly complex. Please be sure to create some interesting simple creatures taht will be able to be used in the earlier portions of the game!

The Commute

2008-06-24T09:37:00.001-05:00

So it has been a full year since I started commuting without my own vehicle. I guess it makes sense to report on my state of mind regarding the use of public transportation.

First, I will say that I miss my car. She was a sweet, sexy beast and it was an honor to drive her, never mind own her. I have an mp3 of her accelerating from dead stop to fourth gear (wide-open throttle, red line red line red line), and I still very much enjoy listening to it. But this is not a write up on missing my Boo.

I still follow the same commuting route of bus to train to walk, and the reverse going home. There are other routes I have taken that are easier. There is a train stop closer to my office than the one I usually take. It’s less of a walk, and I can jump on the train, go two stops and switch trains…then just ride all the way out to my house. But it takes just a little bit longer (15 minutes) than the route I stick to. If I’m not feeling well, this is my way home, as I’m guaranteed to have a seat for the whole ride.

Overall, as a review of the MBTA’s ability to get me from Point A to Point B, I would have to say that I am quite content. There are a couple other places that I’ll head after work, and I can always get there. Sometimes it takes longer than I want, but I can get there.

Then there’s the actual act of commuting. As a whole, I enjoy it. I can do Sudokus, read books, read the news, etc. As a guy that has been living in Boston for just shy of 15 years, it actually feels good to have the connection with the city, and the people of the city. Granted, I still get pissed off when people talk on the bus/train but that is part of the connection! While I’m stewing about some idiot talking on their cell phone, I can look around and see lots of other Bostonians stewing about the same ill-mannered behavior. Is it anti-social to not want anyone talking while on the commute? Yes. Is that the Boston way? Hell yes.

Over the year, of course, I have dealt with all of the weather this city can throw at me. Sickly sticky humid heat? Check. Torrential amounts of rain dumping straight down on me while waiting at an uncovered bus stop? Check. Wind that would knock me down if I were a smaller human? Check. Blizzards that pile the snow above the knee and drive snow into any opening in my outer wear? Gawddamn, check!

But I love it.

Like I said, it makes me feel like part of my city again. It is the feeling of having to survive it.

Today I encountered something that doesn’t happen very often. Nice sunny day, and when I got off the train underground, I was the first person to hit the steps leading out. I fly into that sun light. I bound up those steps into that freedom and stretch my legs for a half mile, enjoying every step.

Overall, I really enjoy the freedom of not having a car.

That being said, I still love having my ZipCar membership for those moments that I want the instant gratification of, say, Kentucky Fried Chicken or some computer parts at MicroCenter.

Giant Lego Man eats Giant Plastic Muffin

2007-08-10T08:18:00.000-05:00

So Lois has a lovely post about the giant Lego man that was found someplace other than the U.S. And now CNN.com has a link to the mystery of the missing giant muffin.

I can't help but think they are related. The Lego man was hungry and hired some kids to steal a giant muffin. The kids didn't melt it. The Lego man has digested it, and that's what Lego poop must look like.

The Lego man is now a fugitive, and will be extradited from someplace that is not the U.S.

Also, I can't help but think of the GingerBread man in Shrek when the kids are being questioned about the Giant Muffin.

"Not the gum drop buttons!"

Closing

2007-08-09T08:51:00.000-05:00

Ouch. Really nothing quite like closing the bar on a Wednesday night. Now, Boston is a candy-ass town, and this bar closed at 1AM, but it is still fucking difficult to get up the next morning...

Which leads to my new guilty pleasure. I do not like that I like it. But I have started to enjoy Red Bull. I don't have them usually, but when I am hung over, they make the world a better place. Now, I'm not saying it's a replacement for coffee!! No. No no no. But it makes the bus ride easier to handle.

The bus ride. Ah. This morning's ride was something else. For some reason, it was packed. Now, I hop on the bus at the second stop. It should not be packed, and normally isn't packed until the fourth or fifth stop. But I was the second to last person to get on at my stop, and I got the second to last seat on the bus.

This did not make the bus driver happy. At the fourth stop, the aisle was full. Anybody getting on after that required a shoe horn. This means that the driver had to spend the whole time yelling "Push it back!" "Is there anymore space back there?" "We need to fit a few more"

Now all this is fine and good and even humorous from the standpoint of a hung over, Red Bull swilling, enjoy a good tirade kinda guy like myself. But there were two really magical moments on this ride.

First, we're at a stop, and he goes to pull into traffic, and some idiot cuts him off.

(Small tangent here. Do not cut off city buses. These guys work hard, deal with everything, are professional drivers, and can crumple anything else on the rode driven by non-professional drivers. They deserve better. Cabbies? Fuck cabbies. Bus drivers? Mad respect.)

So my already pissed off and probably hung over driver gets cut off. He leans on the horn. He then takes his hand (fist) off the horn. The horn stays on. And on. And on. He his now banging the side of the steering wheel, smashing the top of the horn, enraged face, the whole bit. But, of course, he's still driving. Right behind the guy that cut him off. I can only imagine what that dude was thinking looking in his rear view mirror. I'm guessing that he won't be cutting off anymore buses any time soon.

Now the horn didn't shut off for TWO STOPS. The expressions on the new passengers that were trying to board a bus that had too many people on it, with a driver that was madly pounding on the steering wheel while the horn was in perpetual ON mode...It was priceless. It was really just priceless.

So, this all happened fairly early in the ride, and all leads up to the second magical moment. As I said, the bus soon became too full to allow anymore passengers. But the driver still needs to at least stop at the remaining bus stops. As he's saying "Probably too full for you" to some poor soul at one of these stops, they shout back "Is there another one coming behind you?"

"Absolutely" he yells back.

"Thanks" says the poor soul.

Driver closes the door.

Then says "In about 10 or 15 minutes" and drives off.

I don't know if this driver was hung over this morning, like I was. But I'm pretty sure he's gonna be hung over tomorrow.

Chants to keep you calm

2007-08-08T11:34:00.000-05:00

The Red Sox have the best record in baseball.

The Red Sox have the biggest lead of all of the first place teams.

The Red Sox have a remaining schedule that includes a bunch of teams that the Red Sox have already beaten the crap out of.

The Red Sox have one of the best starting rotations in baseball.

The Red Sox have the best bullpen in baseball.

The Red Sox have one of the best fielding percentages in the AL.

The Yankees are the furthest back of any second place team.

The Yankees have a remaining schedule that includes a bunch of teams that have beaten the crap out of the Yankees.

The Yankees have one of the worst starting rotations in baseball.

The Yankees have one of the worst bullpens in baseball.

The World Series is won by pitching.

Barry Bonds is a cheater.

Moo...Moooo....

2007-08-06T09:04:00.000-05:00

I am cattle. Moo. Eyes down. Move with the herd. Trudge. Bump. Shuffle feet. Moo. Clip-clop. Bump. Pack em in. We can get a few more in. Shuffle shuffle bump shuffle. Moo. Through the gate. Clip-clop. Shuffle. Up the stairs. Bump. Eyes down. Moo. Clip-clop.

Each morning, along with thousands of other Bostonians (Americans...world citizens...), I become part of the herd of cattle that is commuting. The bus is somewhat like cattle, although more like a prison transport. But the train. The train truly is herd mentality at its finest. Packed in like veal, so tight that you can't turn around. The only way to move is to look down and make sure your feet aren't stepping on somebody else's hooves.

Making your way through the gates...Reminds you of every show ever to depict a slaughterhouse. Livestock blindly finding their way through half a dozen turnstiles that a thousand other doomed creatures are trying to make it through, without understanding or dreadfully accepting what it is they are shuffling towards.

The stairs going up and out are both the worst and the best. People TRUDGE. They take one stair every three seconds. It is an agonizing plight. A daily death march. You are stuck in the middle of thirty to fifty people, half of which are begging the other half to just move a little tiny bit faster, PLEASE. And the other half is acting as though they are crippled and blind and will barely make it to the summit.

But that summit. That summit is embodies the best moments of my days. It doesn't matter if it's going to work or coming home. When I get out of those stairs, I am a rocket. I am a race car that have left the garage and landed on the Autobahn. The sun blinds me for half a second while I get my bearings, and then I am gone. Legs stretching more with each pace. All six foot two of me striding with the sole purpose of speed. Passing anyone and everyone that is around me. Smiling at the other race cars that have the same appreciation for this open highway. And slipping through the cattle that haven't figured out they aren't fenced in anymore.

It is freedom. It is escape. It is a period of victory between spells of living the life of cattle.

And those of you in automobiles? You go through the same thing. You just pay more money for it.

Animal Shaped Food

2007-08-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

I'm enjoying lunch with a dude from work. Good guy, I just happen to have something I want to make fun of him about.

I get to the point in my lunch where I am enjoying a bag of Goldfish (think crackers, not sushi). He has finished his lunch, and i decide it is only polite to offer him some Goldfish. He declines. And explains. He has a thing. Since he was a kid, it has always disturbed him to think about eating foods shaped like animals. He gets grossed out by thinking about accidentally biting off their heads or biting right through their eye.

Of course, I instantly bite the head off of a Goldfish. But they are so small he doesn't notice.

(I would like to point out that this man has just finished devouring a pulled pork lunch special.)

Of course, I instantly start rattling off every animal shaped food I can think of:

Animal Crackers - Nope
Goldfish - Nope
Gummi Bears - Nope
Gummi Worms - Nope
Swedish Fish - Nope

What really got me about this was that I, as a child, and as an adult, specifically ENJOY the idea of biting the heads off of gorillas and giraffes. I would TEAR the heads off of gummi bears in grand dramatic sweeping motions, gnashing my teeth and growling maniacally! I would nibble their little paws off and make them dance around in the air without any feet. Many times attempting to increase the gore by biting off HALF of their heads...

Ahhh...Good times.

Anyway. He's a meat eater. Eats sushi, pulled pork, burgers, etc. But he does not like non-meat that is shaped like live meat. I think I'm going to place a gummi bear army in his cube some morning.

Henry Rollins Show

2007-08-02T08:47:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if anyone has checked out the Henry Rollins Show on IFC, but it is definitely worth the half hour it consumes. I've seen some fantastic interviews with people I'm actually interested in:

Larry Flynt
Christopher Walkens
Gene Simmons
Russell Simmons
Dude from Rage Against the Machine
Dude from System of a Down
A couple Iraq veterans
And a couple others that aren't popping into my head.

But a key to remember is that it's Henry Rollins interviewing these people! It is uncensored, and almost always takes a political slant that I usually agree with (not always). There's a "Teeing Off" segment right at the start of the show, then the main interview, then another short that is usually either Henry or Janeane Garofalo kicking some perspective, and that's followed by a musical guest. The musical guest does a one song in the studio, and then the show is done.

There is no studio audience.

I'm terrible at remembering the musical guests but I have seen Bob Mould (who is one of my fav's). The episode I saw last night had The Pogues. Holy shit. That dude was wasted. I should put a capital W on that...Fuck it. All caps.

That dude was WASTED.

He was plowed. He could barely stand up. You couldn't understand the words he was saying...and that was BEFORE he started singing: "Fuck Bush...something something rrrggrgrr..." His fingers were brown and yellow stained from smoking. His teeth looked like they had been knocked out in a bar fight. And his eyes had the classic red glaze of whiskey and Guinness.

I loved it.

The show is worth checking out. Set your DVR to record it. It's on a couple times per week on IFC. Usually, it's a pretty late-night program. Very enjoyable, and always leaves you feeling like you learned something, or want to do something. A little different from most programs out there.

The Joy of Getting Married

2007-08-01T09:08:00.000-05:00

In case nobody has picked up on it, I am engaged, and my lovely bride-to-be has been planning the wedding. Happily(?), she has decided to include me in this planning, but not too much. Now, this is a very special time. Last night, I experienced one of the greatest joys of being engaged . It was truly wonderful, and memorable, and a fulfilling experience.

We went to a tasting for a caterer.

Oh, yes. Full bellies abound. I will try to recall the whole menu, as it was quite scrumptious. Of course, I won't know ALL of the ingredients because..well, because I'm a man.

Passed Hors d'oeuvres

Beef Carpaccio with spinach and marmalade on toasted bread
Tuna Tartar with some sort of sauce with seeds
Mushroom Bisque Shooters (yes, shot glasses of mushroom soup)
BBQ Duck with some green leafy thing served on some toasted bread thing

First Course

Salad, but not just any salad. This is salad that is spread out like a bouquet of flowers, even included some actual flowers that are edible.

Main Course (Vegetarian Alternative)

Some sort of veggie ravioli that was awesome. It was resting in a fine tomato broth, and served with asparagus, carrots, and some other long-ish vegetable.

Main Course ("Why wouldn't you get this" alternative)

Petite Fillet Mignon lightly peppered
Lobster tail buttered with lemon
Carrots..with something done to them that was fantastic
Butter Fried Potato Cake with Prosciutto

Desert

Key Lime Pie (we may or may not have a cake, and the key lime pie would be the alternative)

After the tasting, we went home and finally got to see the movie '300'. What an awesome night.

Radios and Red Sox

2007-07-31T09:35:00.000-05:00

So it's the trade deadline.

A little while back, I picked up a little Sony AM/FM walkman. No tape, no CD, just the radio. I have an iPod for everything else. The only reason I got the radio was sports radio. I would almost prefer an AM only radio, but have you tried to find an AM only radio in a store these days? Now, I only went to Best Buy, but I had a hard enough time finding JUST a radio (without CD/Tape/etc).

So it's the trade deadline for the Red Sox, and I am at my desk sitting listening all day to WEEI through my headphones.

The only thing that's pissing me off is that there is a HUGE trade that is happening for the Celtics. It sounds like a good trade, etc. But that's not why I'm listening! I do not care about the Celts. Sure, it would make it more interesting, but I don't care. I want to hear about my Sox, dammit!

Does anybody actually watch basketball anymore, anyway?

And can't I get a Red Sox only day on the trade deadline?

And why is it so impossible to get a POS AM radio? Or perhaps I should try to build one?

Sister Mary

2007-07-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

My routine of having no car is pretty well established at this point. Wait for bus, get off bus, hop on train, hop off train, walk to work. Then, at the end of day, walk to train, hop on train, hop off train, wait for bus, hop off bus, get home.

All of the time that I am not hopping, or walking, I am reading a book or filling in sudoku's. Okay, sometimes I'm looking at pretty girls, but I SHOULD be reading a book or filling in sudoku's.

So on the way home today, I walk to train, hop on then off train, and sit down to wait for bus...

SM: "Hi, I'm Sister Mary of the [get in your face] church. What's your name?"

BG: "[BostonGraf]"

SM: "We have a table set up over there that has a lot of [brainwashing techniques]"

BG: "Yeah, I'm an atheist, and am really all set"

SM: "Oh, well, do you believe in family?"

BG: "Yep."

SM: "Well, we have lots of information that [can brainwash them too]"

BG: "Yeah, but it requires belief in something that doesn't exist. I'm really all set."

SM: "Can you tell me what made you not believe in [invisible all seeing sky buddy]?"

BG: "Sure. Logic. I looked at all of the myths and religions around me when I was very young and realized that morals are good, and all the myths and stories all have the same morals but different characters. And I don't need to believe in the characters to agree with the morals. So it makes sense to treat them like fiction."

SM: "Well, I know that I have had my prayers answered by [invisible all seeing sky buddy]"

BG: "But don't you agree that it is better to be good for the sake of being good, than doing so because of some punishment/reward you might receive after you no longer exist?"

SM: "Oh, it's not based on a reward system! [invisible all seeing sky buddy] has many mansions for all those that are judged, and after this life he will sort some into some houses and others into others"

BG: "But if you don't do his bidding, you will go to hell, right?"

SM: "Well, [invisible all seeing sky buddy] will decide that based on your actions and desires."

BG: "But the Greeks taught us that we all die and have to cross the river Styx and will be judged below the earth, and there are many different levels and outcomes from that judgement, and those stories were around before your stories."

SM: "But I KNOW that with prayer to [invisible all seeing sky buddy], all will believe if they have faith in their prayers."

BG: "So you have to HAVE faith to propagate faith. There's really no REASON to have faith. And BLIND faith is the only way to REALLY have faith."

SM: [says something that I don't hear because bus is pulling up]

BG: "Yeah, that's my bus. I got to go." [start walking, she follows]

SM: "But you won't know it's too late until it's too late! When we are all judged by [invisible all seeing sky buddy]"

BG: "Oooohh...I see..." [gets on bus]

Now, I've engaged in MANY conversations about the existence of god, and felt as though I've won some, and felt as though I've lost some. This one, I felt I won. But that's not the point. The point is that I had three sudokus in my hand (easy, beginner, and professional) , and I know that I need that wait period at the bus stop to do the easy one to get my brain going to finish the other two by the end of my bus ride.

And this broad just took away my waiting period! So, I didn't get to finish my freakin sudokus by the time I got off the bus. The nerve of these people! Don't they know that they interfere with people's lives with their crap. They can cause some real damage if they don't watch out...She's only lucky there wasn't a pretty girl I was trying to watch! Then there woulda been trouble.

TypeR 00-0642 has retired.

2007-07-26T13:17:00.000-05:00

So, I've been putting this entry off because it is very sad for me.

My poor car has been totalled. After they caught the theives, the insurance company took a look at the car and they said she was dead. We talked about getting second opinions, etc, but in the end, we would have to go through a lot of work for something that wasn't guaranteed. So it is totalled. They paid us a good fair amount to close out the policy, and I am now sans vehicle.

I will have to live with my memories of her. I did a LOT with that car.

I took her drag racing up at NE Dragway in New Hampshire.
I did autocross with her with the BMW Car Club.
I reached 150mph at 2am on I-95 south.
I enjoyed many a great street race against all sorts of cars.
I tried to kill my buddy RoadTrip and myself by flying over hills in Campton NH. When crested a hill, the car got a little air. Then the road turned...while we weren't touching it. But the car saved us. When we landed, I cranked the wheel and the car held. It was amazing and beautiful and memorable and incredibly stupid.
My fiancee and I enjoyed multiple drives up to Montreal through the beautiful mountains of Vermont and NH. The last time, coming back, we didn't even turn on the radio for the entire ride back. Just listened to the car.
My buddy Fellswoop and I had a great drive down to NYC. This was right when SUVs were reaching their full gratuitousness and we both saw our first Excursion. The highway was empty, and the Excursion was in the middle lane, I was in the passing lane, of course. So I pass him, change lanes in front of him, then to the slow lane, drop behind him, back into his lane, passing lane, pass him again, and do the same thing again...He wasn't too happy . So he tried to chase me. An 9,000lbs SUV trying to keep up with a 2700lbs sports car. I toyed with him. Then we came across another truck in the middle lane, I matched speeds with the middle lane truck, trapping the Excursion in the passing lane behind me and next to the truck. He didn't like that, so he dropped back behind the truck and passed him on the right hand side...At which point I dropped into third gear, and redlined through up to about 130mph and never saw him again.
And so many more...(Fiancee and I driving through NYC traffic, Fellswoop and I driving up to Montreal, Roadtrip in his GS-R on I-95 North, and on, and on , and on...)

But in our later years together, we calmed down. We still enjoyed an occassional street race, but not with the same veracity as before, just kind of out of nostalgia. I still enjoyed listening to her throaty screams at 8,400rpm.

I even recorded her. As far as execution on random ideas, this has to be one of my all time greatest:Boo's Throaty Screams
I attached a microphone to the inside of my engine bay, and hooked it to a mini-disk recorder sitting on the passenger seat. I love it.

For those that don't know what my car was, she was an Acura Integra. But not just any teg. She was 2000 Acura Integra Type R #00-0642. There were only about 1200 of them, they were serial numbered, and they were production race cars. The engine got an extra 30 horsepower over the GS-R. She sat .75 inches lower than the GS-R. There were extra welds in the frame for a stiffer body. She had extra body stiffening additions like a crossbar over the engine bay, and at the trunk. She has a 3" air intake instead of the 2.5". She had a high spoiler, and a sexy front lip. She was made with no sound proofing to reduce weight, and that made the sound INCREDIBLE. And all of this was stock. I replaced the air intake with a cold air intake for even more performance. She had great shocks, great brakes, great acceleration, great sound, and great looks. Everything I will ever want in a car.

And that is why I can't get another car. Yet. I need to make sure that I'm not getting a rebound car. I need to make sure that I find a car and that I'm not trying to REPLACE my Type R. I can't replace my Type R. And she will always be the first car that I really loved.

I'll miss you, Boo.

More SimpsonizeMe Fun

2007-07-25T10:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have a picture of my cubicle. I actually printed it out, framed it, and it is now the only picture IN my cubicle.

But here is the picture of my cubicle with me in it:

Simpsonizer

2007-07-18T09:15:00.000-05:00

Well, now this is just cool. Thank you Lois.

Get a Simpsonized verion of yourself: http://www.simpsonizeme.com/

And this is what I look like in Springfield...

Space, and lots of it

2007-07-13T09:35:00.000-05:00

I got a new iPod. Finally. It is a wonderful piece of gear that I have been enjoying immensely, but I will not bore you with the usual review type crap. Everybody knows what a fucking iPod is. Everybody knows how to use it. Everybody knows. Everybody knows. (good song by Concrete Blonde, BTW)

The story I would like to tell today is about a mistake. You see, I got the 80GB version. Lots of space. LOTS.

Now, I also have about a thousand USB devices plugged into my home PC. I might go so far as to say too many. I know, I know…impossible, right? Well, this is actually too many, because my system has developed the bad habit of dropping its connection with one device when another device gets plugged in. One of the devices it tends to drop is my external hard drive. This is the external hard drive that I do my automated nightly backups to. (Yes, I am enough of a geek that I wrote some scripts to automatically backup specific directories nightly)

Now let’s jump forward to just a few minutes ago. I plugged in my fun new iPod and noticed that I only have 3.3GB of free space left on it.

What?

I bought an 80GB iPod and it is FULL? I had checked my music library, and I know that with the music, videos, and pictures that I put on the iPod, I should only be using about 30GB. But I spent a couple minutes and figured out what happened. When I plugged my iPod in the other day, I kicked my external hard drive off. And the iPod assumed the same drive letter that the external drive had been using. So my iPod became my backup drive. It stayed plugged in overnight. System did a full backup cycle. And I hadn’t noticed what happened until just now.

This means that the iPod is not only large enough for me to put ALL of my music (between 400 and 500 CDs or 6000 songs) on it. But it can then perform a full data backup to it, which includes ANOTHER COPY OF MY MUSIC FILES, and all of my pictures, and etc, etc, etc … And STILL have a couple gigs left over.

That, my friends, is a beautiful thing.

Fuck Harley's

2007-07-02T14:00:00.001-05:00

This is an instant messenger session between myself and a friend of mine. It's been a little while since I voiced my disdain for the Harley brand, and I think I did a reasonably fine job of it here.
(I have corrected some spelling mistakes, but have kept the words and flow in their original form)
.
.
.
[14:34] bostongraf: Hell, it's feasible that I could have a motorcycle by saturday, and this is all moot!
[14:35] qabacon: ooooh?
[14:35] bostongraf: (how much would that rock!)
[14:35] qabacon: what kind?
[14:35] bostongraf: Up in the air
[14:35] qabacon: I have a friend selling a barely used sportster cheap just to dump it
[14:35] bostongraf: I would love a Katana or a CBR or a Ninja
[14:35] qabacon: ah wrong market
[14:35] bostongraf: or a SV650
[14:35] bostongraf: I am a sport bike kinda guy
[14:36] qabacon: I could see that
[14:36] bostongraf: Fuck american bikes. They sound like shit and run even worse
[14:36] qabacon: I'm not ;-)
[14:36] qabacon: ouch!
[14:36] qabacon: though when it comes right down to it I'd buy a Honda Shadow
[14:36] bostongraf: The only american product worse than american cars is american bikes
[14:36] qabacon: it's pretty much a harley with a different exhaust
[14:36] qabacon: and much cheaper, and more efficient
[14:37] bostongraf: Right. And they actually take advantage of technology developed after the 1960's
[14:37] qabacon: right
[14:37] qabacon: actually honda and harley co-developed the engine
[14:37] qabacon: harley design fine tuned by honda
[14:37] qabacon: and they both use it
[14:38] bostongraf: Yeah, harley throws the engine into a frame with a couple paper clips and staples. Honda actually uses it
[14:38] qabacon: ha!
[14:38] bostongraf: Then Harley sued Honda to make sure it didn't SOUND like a Harley.
[14:38] bostongraf: great priorities, guys
[14:39] qabacon: wasn't that in the prenuptual agreement?
[14:40] bostongraf: Actually, I think you're right
[14:40] bostongraf: Honda could use the sound for a couple of years
[14:40] qabacon: harley had exclusive use of the engine for 5 or 10 years then honda could use it
[14:40] bostongraf: Oh, is it the other way around?
[14:40] qabacon: but only if it didn't make the potatot potato sound
[14:40] qabacon: yes harley got the better end of the deal
[14:41] qabacon: well, aside from finance. i don't know how that all worked out
[14:41] bostongraf: The funny thing is that Honda actually KEPT DEVELOPING engines and doesn't need anything from that design anymore
[14:41] qabacon: true
[14:41] qabacon: and you pay about half price for the honda and is more economical for the same/better bike
[14:41] bostongraf: While it was the first advance in HD technology since LITERALLY the early seventies
[14:41] qabacon: you just pay for the name with harley
[14:41] qabacon: hahahaha
[14:42] qabacon: my friend selling that 3k miles sportster with lost of extras on it wants like 4k and is open to better offers
[14:42] qabacon: I'm seriosuly considering it but I have nowhere to put it
[14:42] qabacon: so I can't
[14:42] qabacon: :-(
[14:42] bostongraf: Since then they have developed the Buell bikes, but I don't think there has been any carryover into the classic line
[14:42] qabacon: haven't paid close enough attention
[14:43] bostongraf: If you haven't noticed, the whole harley concept kinda pisses me off.
[14:44] qabacon: I see
[14:44] bostongraf: I see it as a seriously grotesque aspect of american counter culture that is not about freedom and livelihood, but is simply about status, degrading women, and crime
[14:45] bostongraf: Which would ALMOST be okay, except it's associated with a poor quality product that should have been removed from the market two decades ago
[14:46] qabacon: yikes
[14:46] qabacon: I can see where you're coming from
[14:46] qabacon: but still; yikes
[14:46] bostongraf: One of the things that opened my eyes was riding around on a ninja for a couple of summers. I learned REAL fast that HD guys do not wave at sport bike guys
[14:46] qabacon: true
[14:46] bostongraf: Sport bike guys wave at everybody
[14:47] qabacon: well, it is the "Harley Wave"
[14:47] qabacon: it's been adopted by other riders
[14:48] bostongraf: So these slime that ride around with their rent-a-whores think they can look down on a superior product that costs significantly less money because they have a fucking HD badge on theirs
[14:48] qabacon: right
[14:48] qabacon: well, some of them
[14:48] qabacon: don't know how many
[14:48] bostongraf: It's no more appealing to me than some bitch with a prada bag
[14:48] qabacon: hahaha
[14:48] bostongraf: Only the harley is an more inferior product than the prada
[14:49] qabacon: graf?
[14:49] bostongraf: yes?
[14:49] qabacon: how do you really feel?
[14:49] qabacon: don't hold back ;-)
[14:49] bostongraf: I think I want to print this session out and make a blog out of it
[14:49] qabacon: hahaha

Castlebar Castle Bar

2007-06-26T08:11:00.000-05:00

So I am helping out a friend/business partner. We are business partners in the sense that I give him money and he gives me beer. We both benefit.

He is my bartender. He is also the operator/manager of the bar. That bar is The Castlebar. Not Castle Bar. It is Castlebar.

Anyway, he knows NOTHING about this whole interweb thingy, but he thought it would be a good idea for the bar to have a website. I happen to know a little bit about this whole interweb thingy and told him I would help him out.

Happily, he doesn't know enough about the web to know that the page I made for him is pretty icky. I plan on making it better and even spoke to him last night, but he's not paying me, so there's no hurry. You see, if he pays me for the website, then I HAVE to do the work. No pay, and I can be casual about it. If he EMPLOYS me, then there is a chance that I would get uncomfortable going into my bar. And I would rather do work for free than be uncomfortable in my bar. There are priorities, people.

Anyway, I've noticed that it's getting a little bit better finding the right site when doing a Google search, but it's still not quite there. So I am taking advantage of all of you and exposing you to an ad.

That's right! This is just one giant ad! The only reason I made this post was for a higher slot on a Google search.

Anyway, it's a good bar. All the bartenders there are quite good and friendly. And there's a slight off chance that you MIGHT run into me there. Maybe.

Now that you've read the ad, you might as well check the website: www.castlebarboston.com

The Latest Car Chronicle

2007-05-20T17:05:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday morning, I went out to my car to find that it had been
broken into, and the ECU had been stolen. The ECU is the car's
computer that controls fuel, air, etc. It also is coded to match my
key and will not start unless the codes match.

We start dealing with insurance on Wednesday night, and get the rental
car. We were told to wait until the appraiser checked out the car to
tow it, so it stayed in the spot. I re-enabled the alarm that had
been disabled because of problems with it. And it sat there.

Friday night, the insurance company tells us that we should get it
towed to the dealership, but the dealership is already closed, so we
plan to do that Saturday. Get up on Saturday, go out to the car, and
it is gone. (Like, GONE)

We call the insurance company to make sure nobody towed it, and make
sure it isn't at the dealership already. Wishful thinking, I know.
We ask the people that live upstairs from where the car is parked if
they heard anything, and they described the alarm going off at 3:15am,
and lasting for about two hours. They sound as if the alarm was
annoying enough that somebody may have called the cops and had it
towed.

We get some hope, and head to the police department in Brighton. Tell
the officer at the desk that our car was either stolen or towed, and
give him our plate number. The car was towed. WHOO-HOO!

It was towed from a street in ROXBURY! What?!?! It is now in a lot
in Charlestown listed as "Possible Stolen / Safe Keeping".

Okay. Okay. The car is not GONE. The officer does not have info on
the state of the car, and really can't help us any further. We need
to contact the tow lot, and go to the District 4 Police Station. We
get the numbers and go home.

Once home, we collect the camera and city maps. Knowing that we need
to actually physically go to the police station, we call the tow lot
to ask about the condition of the car and what we need from the police
before going to the lot.

The tow lot has the car. We ask the condition, and he responds "I
don't think it's drivable" . Okay, but is it totally stripped? He
yells over his shoulder "Hey, that Acura we brought in? How is it?"
I hear someone in the back ground yell back "It's not driveable".
"Yeah, but is it terrible?". "Nah."

Great! The car is not TOTALLED.

We ask why it was towed, and he says that some guys were caught trying
to steal it.

CAUGHT!! WHOO-HOO!

We say thank you and head down to the police station. At this point
we notice that it is impossible to find parking around police
stations. Both the Brighton and Roxbury police stations have ZERO
parking near them. Whatever...

We tell the officer on duty that our car was stolen, and upon getting
the plate number, he prints out the police report. Turns out a
witness called the police when she saw a couple guys doing what looked
like breaking into a car. The police responded with EIGHT OFFICERS
and FIVE POLICE CARS! The guys fled in their BMW and were surrounded
by cop cars a little down the road. The witness was taken to the
scene, and positively ID'd the guys as the ones that had been
stripping my car. All three guys were arrested.

I love this woman. We will be sending her a thank you card and a
Dunkin Donuts gift card.

So we head down to the tow lot, and find the car. The tow lot guys
were very nice. This was shocking to us, and it deserves mentioning.
They were nice and helpful, and very appropriate and considerate of
our situation. They point us to our car, and off we go.

The car interior is destroyed. The front seats are really the only
parts that aren't damaged in some way. However, everything is still in the car. The steering wheel column is destroyed. The alarm has been ripped from where it was. The back seat was pulled out and sitting in the trunk. Even the rear view mirror was ripped out. But everything is still actually IN the car.
I pop the hood.

No damage. Zero damage. Nothing under the hood was taken, except one
thing. The siren for my alarm was not there. Now this goes back to
the people that live upstairs from the parking spot.

Recall they said the alarm was going off for a couple hours. Well,
the siren for my alarm has a battery back up. If it is disconnected
from the battery of my car, it will go off. And it will keep blaring
until the battery back up is drained. It appears as though the
theives found the siren, ripped it out, and threw it someplace that I
haven't found yet. So it was going off for a couple hours after the
car was already gone.

So, now we're at the tow lot. Going through the car, taking pictures,
etc. As we are going through our car, a bunch of guys enter the lot,
and go over to a BMW that is nearby. Recalling that there was also a
BMW that was stolen, I shout over to them asking if theirs was stolen,
too. They give a murmurring response of how it cost a lot to get the
car outta there, or something, and I go back to checking out my car.

After the guys left, the tow truck driver comes over in his truck. He
asked if the guys in the BMW said anything. It dawns on us.

Those were the guys that stole our car. We saw all three of them.
According to the police report that we checked again later, they were
wearing the same clothes that they were arrested in.

We were taking pictures of our destroyed car, and going to drive home
in a rented Accord. These guys just drove out of here in a 2001 BMW
330ci.

So now, I'm going to make certain that the police will add the
original ECU incident to the charges. I want them arrested again.
The ECU that was stolen on Wednesday was found in the car in their
possession on Saturday. That should mean that they get charged for
breaking into my car TWICE.

We now have to get the car back to the dealership and repaired. The
last (couple of) time(s) this kind of damage was done to my car, it
took just around a month to get it repaired. We are going to be
certain that the insurance company reimburses us for the alarm that
has been destroyed. And we're going to beef up the alarm system. We
will be finding a new parking spot, and hopefully finding one in a
garage.

And that should conclude this episode of my car's chronicles...

Tonka Trucks

2007-03-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

I am a kid in a sandbox...

Well, I am kid watching a kid in a sandbox. But it's still cool.

I am not a high rankiing person in my company. I just happen to have a cubicle that is against a wall, and that wall happens to have a window. But that window is pretty neat sometimes.

Right now, for instance.

Those of you that don't know, it snowed this past weekend. So the parking lots that I look down on (I'm on the 8th floor), have a lot of snow piles.

Right now, there is a front end loader (the BIG kind, not the backyard kind) that is filling its scoop up with snow, and dropping it into the back of a dump truck. A couple scoops will fill the dump truck. Once full, the truck drives away to the back end of the lot, and dumps the snow into a larger pile. Meanwhile, a second dump truck is in position with the front end loader...

It is the quintessential Tonka Truck sandbox routine.

And I'm far enough away that they are toy-sized.

All in all, very satisfying.

WoW, I am doomed

2007-03-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

That's it. The world is over.

I am now hooked on World of Warcraft.

Any chance I had of leading a normal life is done.

I now have a Night Elf Warrior that is running around killing Giant Spiders and Swamp Beasts, while I collect flowers to make potions. I am concerned with the type if armour I have and how many arrows I have left.

And I'm thinking about making another character so that I can take some of the potions my Night Eld Warrior is making, and use them to enchant items...

I am fearful that this will impact my ability to follow the Red Sox.

I made a good run at being a normal adjusted person. But then they took D&D and turned it into a video game. I'm done.

Pointing Fingers

2006-11-21T13:24:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine recently reminded me of my rage by sending along this editorial:

Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history

Now, I will concede a good number of the points that the author makes regarding conflicts being political, and not religious:

"Moreover, many of the conflicts that are counted as "religious wars" were not fought over religion. They were mainly fought over rival claims to territory and power. Can the wars between England and France be called religious wars because the English were Protestants and the French were Catholics? Hardly."

Lumping the Israel/Palestine conflict in with this group I agree with a bit less, because the conflict is focused on ground that is considered "holy" by both sides.

Another group of points that I will concede focus on the amount of death caused by these conflicts/events:

"The problem with this critique is that it exaggerates the crimes attributed to religion, while ignoring the greater crimes of secular fanaticism. The best example of religious persecution in America is the Salem witch trials. How many people were killed in those trials? Thousands? Hundreds? Actually, fewer than 25. Yet the event still haunts the liberal imagination.
It is strange to witness the passion with which some secular figures rail against the misdeeds of the Crusaders and Inquisitors more than 500 years ago. The number sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition appears to be about 10,000. Some historians contend that an additional 100,000 died in jail due to malnutrition or illness."

It is true that atheists will exaggerate these numbers. I used to do the same, but have been corrected, and agree with the statements made by this editorialist.

Now that I've been nice and agreeable, I must point out the blindness with which the article was written.

"But even so, they are minuscule compared with the death tolls produced by the atheist despotisms of the 20th century. In the name of creating their version of a religion-free utopia, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong produced the kind of mass slaughter that no Inquisitor could possibly match. Collectively these atheist tyrants murdered more than 100 million people."

First, Hitler was not an atheist. There are a great many accounts of his belief in god, just not the christian mythology. Just because he did not follow the religion does not mean that he was an atheist.

Second, while the author goes through efforts to point out the political nature of the great many deaths caused by conflicts between religions, he completely ignores the very same point with regards to the deaths caused by atheists. Stalin and Zedong did not kill because of religion. They killed because they wanted political power. In other words, it is not atheism that motivated them to kill, it was politics. It was the same form of politics that prompted Saddam to kill.

This is the key difference between communist tyrannies and religious wars. Religious wars are fought because one religion believes that destroying another religion will elevate them in the eyes of god. Tyrannical mass murder of religious worshippers is performed because one man does not want religion to interfere with his rule over the people. And this has nothing to do with atheism.

Then the writer goes where every church going non-thinker has gone before: Ethics

'The crimes of atheism have generally been perpetrated through a hubristic ideology that sees man, not God, as the creator of values. Using the latest techniques of science and technology, man seeks to displace God and create a secular utopia here on earth. Of course if some people - the Jews, the landowners, the unfit, or the handicapped - have to be eliminated in order to achieve this utopia, this is a price the atheist tyrants and their apologists have shown themselves quite willing to pay. Thus they confirm the truth of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's dictum, "If God is not, everything is permitted." '

First, I think it is important to point out that the author is currently living in a secular state (the U.S.A.) and employing the freedoms of thought and voice that has been instantiated and maintained by that secular state. The horror. The horror.

Next, he claims that the history of atheism has proven Dostoyevsky's dictum. However, this is a very easy way to ignore the advances that have been brought in the absence of religion. The first that comes to mind is Socrates. Then there is Confucius. I'm not particularly a fan of Confucius, but you can't deny that he had morals. There are more modern examples, but these two are outstanding because they established firm philosophical stances in societies that had not exposed them to religion. In other words, they had morals before the idea of monotheism existed.

"Whatever the motives for atheist bloodthirstiness, the indisputable fact is that all the religions of the world put together have in 2,000 years not managed to kill as many people as have been killed in the name of atheism in the past few decades."

What the writer has done is taken the actions of two atheists (TWO!!!), and assaulted the moral standing of approximately 10% of the world population. Is that not exactly how Hitler got started? These two (TWO!!) atheists were very very very bad people. But I would like the writer to take a count of the theists that can be counted as bad people. Go through history and tally the number of religious people that have committed mass murder. Remember, this is not counting the number of deaths! This is counting the number of murderers. Counting the number of murderers gives a better idea of how many evil men a theological position will create.

Oh, and don't forget to include child molesters in that count. I understand the church has produced a couple of those in recent decades.

To use his own words against him, what D'Souza has done is taken the responsibility for man's actions and made them about religion. What he is taking away is that man's actions are man's responsibility. The good that man does is not dependent on god or religion. Nor is the bad. The ability for man to view a world through moral eyes is man's ability, not god's. If a man has no morals or ethics, it is not because of his religion or lack thereof, it is because of the man.

And if you start judging religions based on the people they create, every religion (or lack thereof) has a lot of apologizing to do. And has a lot of thanks coming to them. Really, the only commonality of all human action throughout history is the human. To ignore this is blindness.

Stay Tuned

2006-09-29T13:02:00.000-05:00

I feel another tirade against humans building. I can only hold it in for so long. I want to vent, but have work to do...

Damn stupid people.
Yet another infringement on our rights.

Nothing like proving the point...

BASIC is Obsolete

2006-09-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine passed me this link:

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2006/09/14/basic/index_np.html

Unfortunately, you need to pay to read it. But I'll give a quick summary:

This dude has a son. In the kid's math text books, there are chapter conclusions that always say "Try It Yourself In BASIC". Then lists a quickie BASIC program that runs the algorithm that the chapter was about. The problem that author has encountered is that modern operating systems do not support BASIC. And he finds it unacceptable to have to download a BASIC interpretter. He is unsatisfied with the many responses of "BASIC is obsolete" (His exact quote is:"Get past all the rationalizations. (Because that is what they are.) "). And he is also unsatisfied with the response of "Go download a BASIC interpretter".

Well, Mr. David Brin. You have made many an assumption that is false.

First, your main premise is that all early computers were BASIC ready. This is wholly incorrect. To be specific, original IBM's (running MS-DOS) required the user to load q-basic to enter any BASIC code. Q-basic is still readily available. You even listed it as one of the interpretters that you were unwilling to download. Original IBM's running OS/2 did not have ANY BASIC interpretter. Yes, Apple II's and Commodores did have built in BASIC interpretters at the command line. The original Mac had nothing.

Second, I'm going to display how snotty I am. You frequently refer to modern programmers using "higher-level languages" than BASIC these days. This statement is (generally) incorrect. When referring to scripting languages such as Flash, HTML, or JavaScript, you are referring to languages that are on the same level as BASIC. When referring to languages such as Java, C, C++, you are getting the expression wrong. Those languages are considered lower-level languages. It is an industry term. The closer to the OS, the lower level the language. BASIC is a very high level language. I make this correction to imply that you may not know exactly what you are talking about.

Third, you want your child to learn abuot computers the same way you did. This doesn't make any sense. Mainly, because you are not a programmer! Why do you think you are qualified to say that your way of learning was the best way of learning? Next, computers are different animals now. There is a reason that Commodore's and Apple II's are no longer the dominant standards in home computing! Their systems were not robust. They were not user friendly. And they are not comparable to modern systems.

You want the answer to your problem to have stayed the same since you first learned it. You don't think its the text books that are the problem...Even though that type of entry in a text book didn't exist in your day (or my day). Really, by the time they started including that in text books, BASIC was already obsolete!

And BASIC still is obsolete. BASIC teaches in-line logic. With regards to programming, in-line logic actually teaches BAD programming habits.

And what you are finally missing is that there is a language that is readily available on nearly every modern home computer. This system does not require ANY additional setup. JavaScript will solve your problem. JavaScript can be run on Mac's, PC's, and any Linux box running a GUI. JavaScript is easy. JavaScript supports all those functions that BASIC supported. JavaScript does not require any compilations. And if you complain about having to initialize your web page properly, you're missing the point.

And, perhaps even more importantly, JavaScript is viewed through a web browser. It is this connection between code and online experience that needs to be taught. People are running around using browsers for all of their computing time, and they don't have a clue what goes on behind the scenes. Kids play online, and don't consider how the online experience is developed.

JavaScript is a great introduction to modern programming and computing. Why would you want to introduce your kid to obsolete programming and computing?

If you think this is "all rationalizing", then you have your goals aligned incorrectly. If you want something to help teach your kid about math using a computer, then go buy a math tutorial program. If you want to teach your kid about programing, then unplug the internet connection and make him/her start writing "hello World" programs using JavaScript and HTML from a local file. If you want the two to be combined, then show him/her how to perform math functions using JavaScript.

What's that? You don't know JavaScript? Well, I guess that's my fucking point...

Hang Up & Drive

2006-08-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

My buddy, fellswoop13, and I have been ranting and raving ot each other for years about the idiocy of talking on cellphones while driving. There have been numerous tests that show it to be a great hindrance on any driver. The latest is in a USA Today article:

Cellphone calls affect drivers' brains

One of the key points that 95% of the population just doesn't get is that hands-free phones doesn't change anything. It's the fact that you are having a conversation with somebody that is not physically present. Yes, it's better that you have two hands on the wheel instead of one. But your brain is still impacted by the activity.

A great clip from the article:

In Strayer's lab studies, adults on cellphones drive and react more slowly. "Twentysomethings on a cellphone have the same reaction time as 70-year-olds, and older drivers are super-slow," he says.

That's reaction time, folks. Not ability to turn the wheel, but the amount of time between when the need arises, and when your brain recognizes that need.

There have been studies on this for about seven years, and it has never faltered. Even MythBusters did a show on it! Granted we'll all remember them getting just to the edge of being drunk instead of the results of the cell phone driving. But they did show that driving while having a conversation on a cell phone is near, if not equal to driving drunk.

So next time you see some idiot go left into your lane even when his/her directional has been indicating right from when they took the on-ramp onto the highway a mile and a half back, and they almost clip you...and they never even notice because they are on a fucking cell phone...file that moment away for when you decide to call home about what kind of fucking pizza the kids will want even though your going 85mph on the highway. You are putting peoples' lives in danger because you want to save a couple of minutes.

And when you complain about your schedule and how you NEED to take this call: I DON'T FUCKING CARE!!! You are risking my life, not yours.

Hang up and drive.

FUSIC Update

2006-08-03T09:04:00.000-05:00

Okay, its been a month. And, Cake has reminded me to actually USE my blog, so I guess I can write up something about how my phone sucks.

The only problem is that it is still freakin great! I used it as the sole source of music on the five hour drive to Montreal a couple of weeks ago. No battery issues. No transmission issues. It is a bit of a pain in the butt to change that station that the phone is transmitting on, but I can live with that.

I have purchased the 1GB card that I said I was going to, and have more than a dozen albums on there. I also just read an article that they released a 2GB version of the same memory card. I figure I'll wait for the 10GB or 20GB version of the card before I get a new one, though.

I've figured out some of the fun stuff like videos for screensavers, and custom images for contacts, etc. And in doing so, I've determined that the camera portion of this phone does indeed suck. But I would be more pissed if my phone took better pictures than my camera!

The volume of the phone when talking is outstanding. Battery life is great. Customizable navigation and menus are pretty good.

The other thing that sucks is the volume level of the media player. If I'm trying to play music from my phone, it will NOT get loud. But, again, I would be more pissed if my phone was a better stereo than my stereo!

EZ Tip Calculator is WAY cool. Alarm clocks and scheduling looks good, but haven't actually used it. Reception is good. Using it with headphones is outstanding.

So, to sum up:
The phone rocks. Most everything about it is as good or better than expected.
Two things about the phone suck:
1)The camera (does not SUCK during day, but not great either. REALLY SUCKS at night.)
2)The speaker amplifier
In response to both sucky things, I must scream "It's a Fn phone!!"

So, I am also still the only person I have seen with my phone. I have one friend that is considering getting one. But I don't want anyone to get one, because I still like being the cool kid basking in the ooo-aaaah factor.

Fusic - I Dig It

2006-07-06T08:50:00.000-05:00

I got a new phone.

So what, you say. Hell, that's what I would say if you told me you got a new phone.

But this one is different!

Bullshit, you say. Hell, that's what...Bah, you get the picture.

Anyway, I got this new phone. It is exciting to me for a couple of reasons. The first being that I have never gone out and purchased a new phone without there being some form of catastrophe that forced me to get a new phone. (Theft, damage, etc...) So it's neat to just have a new phone, and that be the story, unto itself.

It is also exciting because it is actually a pretty cool phone. It's new. Super new, actually. So new that it isn't even available on the Sprint PCS website yet! Here is a link:

LG Fusic

I'll start with my biggest (and only, so far) complaint. It is pearl white. It isn't flat white, which would be worse. And nor is it pink. But it's white. I may end up spray painting it, or getting some model paint for it. But white is not good.

Now the cool shit:

Has a memory card. Comes with 64 MB. Can buy a 1GB card for under 50 bucks. Sweet.
Has a 1.3 MegaPixel camera, and camcorder. Has a flash, as well.
Comes WITH a USB cable, and a feature that turns the phone into a USB Flash drive. This is VERY sweet. Complaint about GF's camera phone is that the only way to get pics OFF of the phone is to spend money on some picture mailing service. Fuck that. The Fusic is drag and drop, baby. This USB cable will come in handy for some of the other REALLY cool shit...
USB cable can plug right into my Canon printer and print pics right off the phone. Will probably never use it, but I dig that ability.
USB cable lets me pull pictures from PC onto phone. Those pics can then be assigned as the backgrounds for either screen, and can be assigned as photo id's. Again, I dig it because I don't have to spend four bucks on some bullshit theme that will expire in 90 days anyway.
[Begin REALLY cool shit] This phone plays music. All formats. MP3. AAC. WMA. MP4. etc.
USB cable can be used to transfer music from PC direct to phone. Again, I don't have to pay Sprint to use their weak-ass selection of hip-hop trash. I bought the CD once, I want to be able to play it everywhere.
This phone has a BUILT-IN FM TRANSMITTER. That's right. You know that add-on that you have to get for the iPod or whatever that lets you listen to what the thing is playing through your radio? BUILT-IN!! Comes with it. I bought the phone last night (JUST the phone), and I listened to MY music on the way to work this morning in my car. No wires. No add-ons. Just glory. Sweet sweet glory.

So that concludes the ultra-fabulous stuff that I know about my phone in the five waking hours that I've had it. I recommend it, so far. I'm sure I will piss and moan as soon as something sucks about it.

But do me a favor. DON'T BUY ONE!! I want to be the coolest kid on the block for a little while. I've never been the guy with the newest phone, before...

Honda is Forcing the Issue

2006-06-22T16:54:00.000-05:00

Acura will be releasing their first production line Forced Induction engine, ever.

Import Tuner Article

It will be pushing their mini-vans, but it is still a production Honda turbo. This is a fantastic way to try out the technology on production vehicles that aren't overly performance oriented. Once they get the kinks out of the system, they can start to consider slapping a turbo onto the Civics and the Integras (RSX in the states). Probably earlier than that, they will put one in an Accord or a TSX or TL. They want to be able to compete a bit more with BMW, right now on the high end lines.

Then they can look at taking back the sport compact titles that they used to have.

BUT, if you're thinking about taking this monstorous engine and throwing it in your current Civic or Teg...well...think again. Motor mounts are different. Height is big. And the tranny may not match up either.

But this is one of the most exciting things I've seen from Acura in a long time. I've maintained some pride that they never took the Forced Induction route that gave Subaru and Mitsubishi the edge. But I've also spent enough time looking at Honda being in third place.

And then I think about a 2010 Honda Integra Turbo Type R AWD...

A-hem. Pardon me.

Hawking Says "LEAVE!"

2006-06-16T10:50:00.000-05:00

Stephen Hawking has called on the human race to expand civilization into space beyond our solar system:

CNN Article

{clip}
Hawking said that if humans can avoid killing themselves in the next 100 years, they should have space settlements that can continue without support from Earth.

"It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," Hawking said. "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of."
{/clip}

There are a couple of geeks that step up and say that what Hawking proposes is not going to fit within the realm of what technology will have to offer within the next 50 years. I say those guys are pussies.

{clip}
But, he added, "I don't see the likely possibility within the next 50 years of science technology making it easier to survive on Mars and on the moon than it would be to survive on earth."

"I would still think that an underground base, for example in Antarctica, would be easier to build than building on the moon," Guth said.

Joshua Winn, an astrophysicist at MIT, agreed. "The prospect of colonizing other planets is very far off, you must realize," he said.
{/clip}

Why do you think he's telling you now? Because he knows that you need to pick up the pace! He's not saying it CAN be done within the timeframe of 100 years. He's saying that we need to start figuring how to get something done in a time frame as close to 100 years as possible. He's saying that you pussies aren't thinking outside the mutha-fuckin box!

Hawking is the man. I don't care if he's never read a single book on the subject. If he says something, it is right. When he describes a theory from his research on the time-space continuum, the laws of space and time will change just to be sure it matches what Hawking has just said. I love this guy. He's a brain on wheels. He thinks, and somehow, the human race is better for it.

I wonder what this dude dreams about while he's sleeping...

Hate. A strong word.

2006-06-08T14:09:00.000-05:00

I was just thinking about hate, and how some people don't like to use it because it's a very strong word. Well, fuck that. If I didn't feel strongly about it, I would say "I really dislike peas".

No. I feel strongly. About everything. I don't just hate peas, I fucking hate peas. Fuck peas. Fuck fucking peas. Green beady little fuckers.

A friend of mine and I have a joke that's been running for over a decade now. We both get a kick out of how the other applies instant judgement on almost everything and everyone. Regardless of the circumstance, it is judged, filed, and never forgotten. The judgement may change, but that initial "Fuck this." or "Rock on." is never entirely left behind.

Now I take this line of thought, and shift it a little to apply it to meeting new people. I figure there are two kinds of people with regards to how they feel when meeting a new person.

Type A meets someone new, and they think "Oh, wonderful. Knowing this new person is going to enrich my life and give me more experiences to enjoy."
That is not me.

Type B meets someone new, and they think "Oh wonderful. Someone else to piss me off. Knowing this new person will simply provide more tripe for me to fake smiles about. Shit. "
That's me.

It is about the time that "Shit." runs through my head that I make my judgement. It's usually pretty negative. I'm not exactly a people person.

Perhaps it is this aspect of my personality that keeps me from disliking the word "hate"? Maybe? Just a thought...

The Password Change

2006-05-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

I'm sure that we all use computers at our jobs. Which means that most of us also have passwords to access these computers at our jobs. And most places require these passwords to be changed after a set period of time, like 90 days.

This is one of my least favorite things about security. The password change. I really really hate it. Every time I have to change my password, I go through the same process

Now I have to think of a new password, and this is what goes through my head: "Fuck. That last one was a good one, too! What the hell can I use for a password?"
Enter new password and verify new password
Promptly forget that you have just changed the password
An hour later, get up to get coffee, try to unlock the computer when back at desk, and immediately type in the old password. Press enter. Say "Shit". And type in the new password.
Repeat step four for the remainder of the day
Repeat steps four and five for the remainder of the next day
Show up on day three, type in the old password, say "AH!" because you remembered the password change before pressing enter. Feel very proud for remembering.
Repeat step seven for the remainder of the day, feeling less proud.
On day four, I tend to get it right for most of the day.
For the remainder of the week, any time that I rush to my desk because something is blowing up, and I need to do something NOW, I type in the old password, press enter, say "FUCK!", and reenter.

I hate the password change...I want biometrics. They can't ask me to change my finger print every ninety days, can they?

Blood Sucking Bastards pt 2 (Bad Vampires)

2006-05-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

In a previous post, I explained why am better than all of you, because I gave blood. And I said that I would probably do it again. Well, I tried.

I just looked at the post that I made about that experience, and apparently, that day was as good as it gets! A week and a half ago, I went to the Blood Drive in my office building. The experience was brutal. They butchered me.

Going through that last post, I found a couple of key phrases that are making me laugh right now:

"Machine-like Process" Nope. Not this time. This time I was shuffled around to four or five stations before being butchered. People kind of pointed to general areas where I should be waiting. And the safety measures they were conducting seemed to only be because they were required to do so, and weren't actually being adhered to.
"Rather comfortable recliner" Not even close!!! Try folding wooden table with a paper pillow.
"fantastic machine " Not this time. This time there was a nurse that was very cordial, but had very bad aim, and just kind of watched the blood trickle in.

But the big problem was that they fucked up needle. It felt more than a little uncomfortable. But I've been trained by my friends to avoid all means of being called a pussy, so I just said "It's fine". After three or four minutes, the head nurse comes over to check on what the lackey nurse did...

You know that look that people get when they say "WHOA!"? Where they step back, eyes get big, and you can see there brain starting to try to figure out how to fix whatever fucked up shit that they have in front of them? Yeah, that's the look she gave when she saw my arm.

Now, because I'm flat on my back (instead of in a comfy recliner), I can't see my arm, or the needle, or the giant fucking bulge that is indicating that something is very wrong. But this look kind of tells me that shit ain't right. Of course, my eyes go wide at her expression, and I ask "What?". The head nurse realizes that "WHOA!" is not the best reaction to give when you have someone on a folding table with a needle in their arm. Apologizes and explains that this is wrong and its going to have to come out.

Apparently, the nurse pushed the needle through BOTH sides of the vein. The bag was flling very slowly, and they had to take the needle out. They would not be able to use the blood that I gave, because it wasn't enough. And they couldn't tap my other arm because I had already lost too much blood for them to take a full pint. All this means that I did not give blood...

And now I get treated like I just walked into an ER with a spear sticking out of chest. Three or four people come over to me and carefully extract the needle. And check my arm, and wrap it up, throw an ice pack on, and give me instructions along the lines of:

Keep the ice pack on for 10 minutes.
Don't leave until we tell you that you can leave
Watch the wound to see if it keeps bleeding
Here's another ice pack for tonight
Here's FOUR MORE BANDAGES for the rest of the day
If you feel like something is wrong tonight, go to the ER and tell them what happened
Eat a fucking cookie

Now, I still have not seen my arm! And this is very different from the shiny happy people at my last time.

Turns out I have a HUGE deep DEEP purple bruise on my arm. I also have just more than minor lump where they tapped my vein as well. We all know that a bruise is just where blood vessels get broken, right? Well this one is basically that they punctured both sides of my vein, and blood was seeping from the vein to under my skin.

In the end, there was nothing wrong other than bad bruise, and sore arm. But I did look like a heroine addict that tried to spike my arm while blind folded. I've even been carrying around a note saying that I had just given blood and that's what's wrong with my arm! Just in case I'm in an accident or something, I don't want a cop or EMT putting me in the low priority pool because I look like a incapapble dope fiend.

It's now been a week and a half. My arm is still sore. The bruise has faded, but is still there, and has moved down to the middle of my forearm.

But I will try again the next time.

Need a good rant?

2005-11-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a good one:

Excellent Rant on Wired.com

While I love technology (LOVE it), I must acknowledge that it demands that I have a job that pays well so that I can maintain said level of tech. And jobs suck the life from you....

Wicked Smaht

2005-10-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

The list of smartest states is out:

2005-2006 Smartest State Award

I'd like to point out that New England occupies the top three spots, four out of the top five, and the lowest ranking of any New England state is just 16.

(We all knew that RI was the "most not smart" of the New Englanders.)

Also note that all NE states have positive Ratings, while the (slight) majority of the country has negative ratings.

Also note that NE occupied the top three states last year, as well.

There you have it people.

Yes, we are smarter than you. Yes, we always knew this. Yes, we look down on you.

Every SciFi Vision Comes True

2005-10-27T10:23:00.000-05:00

Wonderful.

Pods Drive Themselves

I love seeing visions of the future come true.

WWW.RELIGIOUSFREAKS.COM

2005-10-27T10:02:00.000-05:00

One of the cleanest parody sites around. I think I'll be spending some time around this new site:

Religious Freaks

Starbucks gets god-y

2005-10-19T13:04:00.000-05:00

So, Starbucks is going to start putting a god quote on their cups:
Starbucks gets god-y

My first thought is FUCK STARBUCKS. But, I've had that thought for quite some time now, so its no big thing.

My second thought is BOYCOTT STARBUCKS. But then I read on a little. Apparently, the whole purpose of putting these quotes on the cups is to promote discussion and thought. There are all sorts of quotes on all of the cups, including scientific thoughts, thoughts on evolution, and general philosophy. I can respect that.

It is not what the other companies in the article are doing. The other companies are announcing their faith and forcing customers to carry faith-based merchandise when they leave the store. THAT should be boycotted.

Starbucks is taking the different approach of providing diverse quotes that invoke thought and discussion. So instead of boycotting them, I think I will hang out at Starbucks (and buy their coffee/hot choc) and start up conversations with anyone that has a god-based quote about how there is no god.

This sounds like a lot more fun!!!

Recall Total Recall?

2005-10-14T11:07:00.000-05:00

This will bring that wallpaper TV into reality:

http://news.com.com/2061-11199_3-5895420.html?part=rss&tag=5895420&subj=news

Imagine what acid trips will be like when your wallpaper really is moving!

Bring on the snow!

2005-10-11T19:26:00.000-05:00

Just had Sears order me a full set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS-10 tires. These are the studless snow and ice tires.

Tire Rack Write Up

(BTW: The Sears price w/ install is gonna be $450. Very acceptable.)

I get them installed next week. Bring on the MFn snow!!

I'm one of them, too.

2005-10-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

The world is full of freakin morons. Idiots that can't think two seconds ahead. And idiots that can't learn a lesson from 2 seconds back.

There are times when I am one of these freakin idiots.

May of 2004. I do a craig's list trade where I acquire a 10GB iPod. Excellent. I get it. I charge it. I hop on the train with it. It dies in about 8 minutes. Dead battery.

Now I've read enough about iPods to know that there is a potential issue with a generation or two of iPods. This issue is that the battery fails. It can't hold a charge. And you have to spend about 100 bucks on it to get it to work again.

Well, it wasn't the only thing I got in the trade, so I wasn't too concerned. I put it on a shelf for about 15 months, ignoring it. Then my GF wanted to get a charger/transmitter so that she could listen to it on a long drive. Cool. Battery issue not a problem. Let's get this thing up and running. Load a bunch of tunes on there. Diggin it.

So I decide to check out exactly how bad this battery issue is. I press play and leave it alone...Check on it after five minutes...going fine. Ten...fine. Thirty minutes. Fine. Two hours. Fine. Eight fuckin hours. Battery issue, my ass! This thing is fucking fine! I've had a 10GB iPod shelved for 15 months because I was a freakin idiot and didn't actually verify that something was actually wrong.

Step back to July of 2004. I am installing my car alarm. Never had a car project quite as intensive. Took me about 22 hours. Only real problem that I had was once I hooked the alarm up to the corner lights, my parking lights no longer worked. They flashed when the alarm switched on/off. And the turn signals worked. But the parking lights didn't go on when I turned my headlights on.

I checked the connections. I checked the swicthes. I checked the fuses. I checked the relays. I unhooked the alarm. Nothing. No matter what I did, those parking lights were not coming on.

No biggie. I had my turn signals. It would be fine . I'll look into "some other time".

Flash forward to yesterday (FIFTEEN MONTHS LATER). My turn signal went out. Time to change the bulbs. Badda boom badda bing. Get the new bulb in there. Guess what. The fucking parking lights are working fine all of a freakin sudden. I added an hour and a half to the alarm install trying to figure out what went wrong. I've driven around for over a year without parking lights. I posted numerous questions about it on a car forum. Gee! What the hell could be wrong! Maybe the fucking light bulb burnt out, you freakin idiot!!!

Blood Sucking Bastards

2005-09-30T15:21:00.000-05:00

So I just gave blood. My first time ever doing this. I survived.

I want to get this out of the way... If you want to give blood, and don't know where to go...Go here: RedCross

I gave to the "Bloodmobile" that Mass General Hospital drives around to local businesses. Was pretty interesting. I don't have any real problem with needles, but who really looks forward to them. But I didn't pass out or faint...pretty much it went over without a hitch. Smoov as silk.

Some things to note:

The needle felt worse when being pulled OUT then when being put in
There was no feeling of your life force being sucked out of you body
I wasn't dizzy or anything when done, but if I go for 15 or 20 minutes without drinking any fluids, my muscles start to feel like they are going to cramp up.
No sick feeling.
Took a VERY short period of time.
They were very cool. And every worker that I saw on the bus said "Thank you".
I replied to every "thank you" with a "thank you" right back at them, cause they handle shit that I can not fathom.

The machine-like process that has been created for donating blood is incredible. They gave a brief interview, during which they took my blood pressure (125/78), pricked my finger to get an iron level, got my heart rate (97..yeah, I smoke. fuck off.), and took my temperature by sliding something across my forehead. This was all completed while they asked me details of every possible clandestine behavior I could have been involved with over the past couple years of my life including man on man sex, IV drug use, and "contact with someone else's blood". They did all of this in a span of about four minutes.

They then sat my ass down in a (rather comfortable) recliner, and start looking for a good vein. In goes the needle, and I'm filling up a sac with Bostongraf Juice. There is this fantastic machine that measures exactly how much blood has been pushed through it, and give off an alarm when its been enough. The sac of blood sits on a tray that automagically rocks back and forth every couple of seconds. And, if you lean over you can literally watch your blood draining into this sac. Kinda freaky...

Once alarm goes off, the vein hunter comes over, ties off the tube, and tells you to get a fuckin cookie and a juice. Says that when I finish my juice I can leave as long as I don't feel sick. And gives me another thank you.

Alacazam! I just saved someone's life. Took about 15 minutes total. I'll probably do it again sometime.

God Loses

2005-09-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

I'm just going to bask in happiness that this article brings me...no real need to add any comments to it:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1798944,00.html

News for the Red Sox freaks

2005-09-29T12:20:00.000-05:00

Some good reading for baseball fans:

Later, Senator George Allen, Republican of Virginia, made a not-so-veiled reference to Giants slugger Barry Bonds. ''As far as Hank Aaron is concerned, if a certain player breaks his home run record, it's not a question of an asterisk. . . . There probably ought to be an 'RX' next to it."

(Taken from this article : Senate Raises Heat on Fehr )

And we should have been interviewed for this article:

Harrowing Ride for Fans

And this one makes me feel better about trying to wrap our brains around the possibility of the Sox making the post-season:

Stats a Brain Strain

mmmm.....Calamari

2005-09-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

This is one of those things that floats around in the background that I've always considered a super-neato creature:

Giant Squid PHOTOGRAPHED

That this creature hasn't been photographed or even seen while alive (until now) is evidence of some of the absolutely crazy shit that might be going on deep in the ocean. And we humans may have NO idea of what's actually down there!

That there is finally a photograph of a living Giant Squid (without killing it!!) is evidence of the great drive that humans possess to know as much as possible about the world we live on.

Red Sox Nation is TIRED

2005-09-28T09:03:00.000-05:00

My second job as a Red Sox fan is killing me. It is consuming my energy and my brain. At no point in the season did I think it could come down to THIS!!

Five games left, and the Sox are in a dead tie with the Evil Empire and the Indians...And only two out of the three of us are going to the post season.

FIVE GAMES LEFT!!! Aaaarrgghhh!!!

And of course, there are no off days. No days of rest. Hell, yesterday was a double header!

Throw into the mix that Sunday's game will be on at the EXACT SAME TIME as the Patriot's game, and I start to spin.

Well, if we win the next four, it won't matter. If we win the next four, Sunday doesn't matter. We will have been even with the Evil Empire going into our series with them on Friday, then beaten them twice to go up two games, and that will be all.

I can't take it. Whatever the outcome, I just want it to be over....

(Damn, I love this game!)

Fuel Fuel Everywhere, and Not a Drop to Drink

2005-09-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

I love laughing at the SUV chumps at the gas station...

My little Integra still gets pretty good mileage. Not motorcycle or hybrid kind of mileage, but pretty good. A guy I work with just picked up a 1972 Honda CT90...If you follow the link to the FAQ and the CT90 specifications page, you will notice that this bad boy gets 175 miles per gallon!!! That is just plain sick.

Let's all take just thirty seconds to think about a country where let's say HALF of the vehicles on the road got HALF of the mileage of this thing...

Carry on.

Bad Mojo on the Streets

2005-09-14T10:24:00.000-05:00

The shouting from this got me outside last night:

Boston Stabbing

This occurred outside my back door. For those that know the layout of my condo building, the actual stabbing occurred outside the gated entrance to the backyard of our complex. The victims then moved towards Cleveland circle. The first pool of blood was in front of the first doorway next to the gate. The guy that is in the ICU was on the ground between that door and the gas station.

It happened at approx 1:25am, police were there at around 1:35-ish. I walked out as the first police car was showing up. First ambulance was around 1:45-ish (1.5 cigarettes worth of time). The kid had multiple compresses on his chest, and one on the right side of his face.

There was a LOT of blood on the sidewalk.

DISCLAIMER: The remaining account is info that I heard spreading around the people that heard people saying what they thought happened. I have NO idea as the validity of the following info.

The word was that a confrontation had started at the Store 24. This group then walked away up Chestnut Hill Ave. Upon reaching my back door, the assailants got out of a black BMW and attacked them. Jumped back in to the car, then ditched the car back in Cleveland Circle. There was a bus that stopped at the scene, and there appeared to be multiple witnesses on the bus (incl the driver). The group that was attacked appeared to have four or five people that were uninjured.

Beyond Thunderdome

2005-09-13T14:22:00.000-05:00

And I just watched Mad Max last night!

We don't need no stinking oil

Of course, I watched the original with the far less leathery younger Mel, but I can still appreciate Mad Max III.

"The hog farms are all around us. We're used to that smell -- something we live with,"

But this push in BioFuel indicates that all we need to do is get used to the smell of our own shit, and we'll be just fine without oil!

Of course, we'll have to give up race cars, and airplanes, but really, who needs 'em?

Big step for Nanotech

2005-09-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

"That's six orders of magnitude greater - equivalent to a piston moving a millimetre in the macroscopic world and being able to lift an object twice the height of the CN Tower."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4223660.stm

Excellent article that keeps the science talk understandable.

I envision nanotech as the cure for cancer. A bunch of micromachines (okay, nano-machines) running around my veins finding cancerous cells and shooting them with little tiny nano lasers.

The other vision I have is an inhalant that you use the morning after smoking fifteen packs of cigarettes. One shot into your lungs, and little nano machines fly around gobbling up the tar coating the inside chest...

Hell, we could use nanotech as a way to sober up near instantly. Drink a nano-drink, and the buggers circulate around your body gobbling up alcohol/THC/MDMA molecules. Bang! You're sober!

That's what we need. Nano-tech solutions that allow us to do drugs, yet still function in society. Count me in.

Green Ribbons

2005-09-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

Thank you very much!!

http://www.justafad.com/

Glad to know that I'm not the only one that thinks the whole ribbon craze is Fd.

We've all heard the advice to not wear your heart on your sleeve...Well, ribbons are wearing your heart on your car. Get over it. Donate the money to the cancer/war/pet fund. Please. That's wonderful. But the Fn ribbons have got to go.

Back from the South

2005-09-06T09:35:00.000-05:00

So, I just spent five days down in North Carolina...Tried water skiing for the first time. Watched movies on a 61" TV. Drove a motorboat for the first time. Ate A LOT. Relaxed even more...

But now I'm back up north and soon I will be ranting and raving about the idiocy of...well...everything.

Updates coming...

Peace.

Stretching for Jesus

2005-08-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

BAWHAWHAWHAWHAW....

A-hem...sorry...let me say that again: Stretching for Jesus

BAWHAWHAWHAW....Nope. Still too funny to take seriously. Check this lunacy out:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1098937-1,00.html

"she has had to convince potential students that meditation is not anti-Christ."

It never ceases to amaze me how much people live religion. It is absolutely insane. That someone took a yoga class, and actually FELT UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT MEDITATING is absurd. For someone to think that a physical exersize that is twice as old (more) as the christian religion IS ANTI-CHRIST is absurd.

I can see the hindu's getting pretty miffed about it, but I also think its fairly absurd to consider yoga as part of your religion...But then again, I do find religion as a whole pretty absurd.

I'm going to start praying, but modify it so that it is beneficial to atheists. Call it "inner-prayer". It will focus the mind inward instead of upward, and will call on the practitioner to think about Nothing instead of about god.

This is basically what this christian lunatic has done to yoga...

And yes, I realize I just described meditation...that's the point.

I Am Man. Watch Me Plumb

2005-08-23T11:51:00.000-05:00

Ripping CD's on Sunday night while the little lady is making dinner. She pops her head out, and quietly tells me that she thinks she just broke the garbage disposal.

Excellent.

Since getting a condo (approx 15 months ago), I have found that I truly enjoy those moments of fixing something or working on something. Specifically when it is an issue that would cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to have someone else do the work!

So I leap out of my chair and purposefully march into the kitchen. And, yes, I do make sure that she doesn't feel bad or guilty. This isn't a power trip over her. It's a power trip over contractors and repairmen!! The water in the sink is not draining, I flick on the garbage disposal (which I installed myself upon moving in), and it grinds away.

Garbage Disposal is not broken.

But, now I have to figure out why the drain isn't draining. I've never done this before.

Excellent.

So first, I clear out the crap she was trying to get down the GD. Spin it around a bunch of times, and decide that the clog is further down the pipe. Now this is where I get a little proud of myself. I've never done this stuff before. I did install a bathroom sink when we moved in, so I have handled pipes before, but I've never DEBUGGED pipes before. What I've notice on the sinks is that there appears to be a little openning at the bottom of the bend...never touched it. Just noticed it.

So, now I'm face to face with this purge valve, and I have to break out the wrench. Excellent. Happily, I was correct. I crank that bad boy open, and water pours out...Yes, I did place a bucket underneath it. Yes, there was more water and general sludge than I had planned. Yes, it was gross. No, it did not spill.

So I get a hanger, and wiggle my way up to where the pipe connects to the disposal unit, and there doesn't appear to be any clog. I run just a little water, and sure enough, it pours right through to the open valve, and into my bucket.

Narrowing down the problem. Excellent.

This means it on the other side of the valve. I wiggle the hanger up there, and there's no obstruction, but I can't make it too far because there are too many bends. Okay, gotta take this thing apart.

Excellent.

This takes a little figuring out. The only problem was that I didn't realize that the point that connects the main pipe to the sink's pipe doesn't rotate indipendant of the drain pipe. In the end, I just have to disconnect the disposal unit from the sink pipe, then I can rotate the ENTIRE pipe to disconnect it from the main pipe. Get that puppy off of there, and check if its clogged. No good. The clog isn't in there.

That means the clog is in the main pipe. I scrap a little out with the hanger, and hook everything back up. Run some water, and it backs right up. This means the clog is further than I can reach with my hanger. This means I don't have the right tools. This means I need MORE tools.

Excellent.

Monday after work, I swing by Home Depot and pick up a snake. It connects to a drill and is 25 feet long and is only 20 bucks. It's just fine.

I get it home, open up that small valve, run the snake in there until it won't go any further, and hit the drill. Bang, I'm through. Pull the snake back out. Close up the valve. Run the water. Drain starts draining.

Excellent.

I am man. Watch me plumb.

(In the end, I would not recommend the drill powered snake. Didn't feel like it was that high quality of a product. But the price is right if you just need it for little things ever 15 months or so.)

Starting fresh - The Black Box

2005-08-21T12:25:00.000-05:00

Finally got myself a new computer. Been a long time coming.

I've been working off of the same laptop since December of 2000. It was a Dell laptop that was top of the line in 2001, with a Pentium 850, 20GB drive, 192 MB of RAM, DVD player, as well as a CD Burner. Had everything you need, like a firewire port, dual battery capability, digital sound, S-video port...the whole enchilada.

I've also been a computer geek since I was about 12. Somehow, I've never built an entire PC from scratch! I've taken PC's apart, and replaced or upgraded virtually every part of every PC I've ever owned! (Right down to adding a clock card to the Apple IIe that I had to throw a clock card into when I was running a BBS off of it back in 1988!!!) But I've never bought all of the parts seperately, and put 'em all together myself.

Well, it's about friggin time!!

I've been acquiring pieces for some time now, and have finally put together an Intel Pentium 2.44 GHz PC with 512 MB of RAM, 160 GB drive (and 6.5 GB Drive as a system drive), DVD-RW, wireless network card, too many USB ports, a couple firwire ports, on board digital sound, and an extra system fan. The power supply was even purchased seperately from the case.

I'm happy with it. Have learned a couple lessons, and have realized that I'm now an old bastard...When looking for a case, I found myself commenting to the salesguy that "All of these cases seem to be built for teenagers that want flashing lights and neon signs". He smiled and pointed me directly to the simplest, blackest, cheapest case that wasn't even on display. It was perfect. Will hold a TON of drives, has two front facing USB ports, and a very small drive light, and a very low level power light.

My first goal with her is to get my whole CD collection ripped on to it, and start developing playlists. I figure this will be the perfect test to make sure that the drives are in good order, and can last a while.

Anyway...back to ripping discs.

Authors Who Want Their Books Banned

2005-08-20T16:04:00.000-05:00

Have we all notice the cute little "Flag" link in the upper right-hand corner?

If they are going to start flagging blogs, I must admit that I would love the ability to browse the "unlisted" blogs. While I doubt (hope!) that they would use this feature as a means to censor voices of the revolution, I have to believe that there is a certain "family values" element to this new feature.

Does that mean that blogs will start getting flagged for using the word "FUCK", or "Cocksucker"? Or will they be flagged for saying christianity is stupid and religion is for the weak? Of course, they describe it as being used to remove potentially illegal content, I would have to question what this content is! If drug dealers are using blogs to arrange meetings, they deserve to have it public, because they deserve to be caught. I guess blackmail, or child porn are other areas of the underworld that could use blogs, but again, I hope that they are reported and get caught.

(I would like a segue to further point out that both blackmail and ESPECIALLY child porn belong in a category far more disgusting, gross, and inhuman than drug use/dealing. Drugs should be decriminalized. Child pornographers should be thrown into the general population of the worst prisons forever and denied any form of protection. Medical aid should be provided only when they are about to die...this will provide a longer life, so that they can exist in general population a little bit longer.)

[Back on subject]
So, if there really is a crime being committed, the "unlisted" concept is virtually pointless. The only other category would be content that is objectionable when measured against a defined moral yardstick. In these days of Bush and the christian regime, I have a real hard time with that...Unless the ability to browse "unlisted" blogs is provided.

Since plenty of people want their blog to be completely unlisted and only to be encountered by people typing in a specific address, that means that there needs to (should be) a specific difference between the two. I want people to be able to find my words stating (what I perceive to be) the problems with the government, religion, and society in general. I don't want little four year olds to read my language, but I do want any adult that's looking for viewpoints to be able to find my viewpoint.

If there is an "adults only" flag, then I'm fine with it, and would even request that my blog be put into that list. If using the word FUCK is going to get me flagged because some parent can't sit with their four year old kids when they are online, then I will blame the fucking parents and say that this flagging crap is bullshit.

As I have not been flagged, I have no idea how this system is going to be run. But I will not stop using the word fuck. Or perhaps, I will just have to get off my own ass and set up my own blogging site where there is a difference between being unlisted, and being flagged as "not for christians that are afraid of the real fucking world".

Serious Beats

2005-08-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

Any of you drum and bass freaks out there, check this collection out:

http://www.news.be/asp/compilation_tracks.asp?cat_num=1456

I'm kickin the iPod at work, and it decided to rock my world with "dooms night (timo maas remix)". I love it. The beat is so fucking good, so heavy that you're exhausted after the song. You want to listen again, but you're almost afraid to do it.

The other tracks on the collection are fantastic as well. There are multiple Serious Beats collections, and the one I have is pretty old (five years). I do believe that I will be picking up another one from the Serious Beats collection on my way home tonight.

Bwaaah-bapa-Bwaaah-bapa-dundundun-duun
Bwaaah-bapa-Bwaaah-bapa-dundundun-duun

Aw yeah....

Differences in Humans

2005-08-18T09:55:00.000-05:00

In this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/08/17/school.subjects.ap/index.html

It is stated that most people hated math. I always loved math (still do). What amazes me is the differences this brings up in humans. In the article, this quote is given:

"It was cold and calculating," she said. "There was no gray, it was black and white."

This epitomizes the difference that I'm talking about. That is exactly the reason that I love math. There is no interpretation. There is no GUESSING what the author meant by this. Hell, when "interpreting" novels, we don't even know that the author INTENDED it to be interpreted!! Maybe the author character was a carpenter, because the author likes working with wood, instead of trying to make a christ metaphor. We'll never know because no one read the fucking book until after the guy was DEAD!

So English, in my mind, is not about interpreting what the authors' intent was. Instead, it is about interpreting the book in the same way the TEACHER interprets it. Right or wrong.

Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy reading. I just question how much I enjoy ANALYSIS of what I have read.

My buddy ( Fellswoop13 ) and I tried to spend a summer reading the same book, and discussing it chapter by chapter. He is one of those literary types that totally digs on getting into the guts of an authors mind. The book was I,Robot by Isaac Azimov. Short story by short story, actually. Not chapter by chapter. We ran into a couple of hurdles.

The most significant hurdle was that when ever we got together, we would just talk about other shit. Politics, life, news, cars, music, etc...

The other main hurdle was that the type of book/story that I like (Sci-Fi), generally can not be dissected in the way that classic text can be. The author was writing for pennies, not for interprettation. He included that sub-plot of a dream because he gets paid by the word, not because the dream is a metaphor for how his mother left him.

The most productive parts of these discussions came when he would ask me about the Sci-Fi elements of a particular story. (He doesn't read much sci-fi, so I had to fill him in on some of the standards for the genre) Once he knew what the author was actually talking about, he could then talk to me about how that fills in the story from a literary sense. So we played off of each other rather well...when we finally got down to these parts.

But that's the difference in humans that amazes me. I know half of the goal, and he knows the other half. Once he tells me what his half is about, I have no problem grasping it. And vice verse. But I simply can't come to the conclusion that he came to on my own...and vice verse...

Androids and Augmentation

2005-08-16T12:27:00.000-05:00

Quick article on a new type of artificial skin:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4154366.stm

Sounds super-cool. Androids can now be made to truly respond to the same physical inputs that humans do. I believe that taste and smell are the only two that I haven't seen around...although, I think I may have seen scent somewhere.

So, not only can the next level of android be made, but we can also consider the augmentation of humans!

It has always been a dream of mine to have a clock permanently dispalyed in the upper corner of my vision. With this type of skin, you could include humidity, temperature, possibly radiation levels, and weight.

Ahhh....science....

Ahhh....science fiction....

Finally Going iPod

2005-08-16T09:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I finally started pumping tuynes through my iPod. Its interesting and fun and new (to me). It is a whole new way to listen to your music, because you spend all of your time wondering "how shall I rate this?".

You also have to spend about a decade loading CD's onto your PC....which can be kind of a fun way to check out your collection again.

I'm going to have to learn how to work the whole playlist thing...Not too sure how, but I'm focusing on ripping all my disks first, anyway...

Well, reports will be posted. Rock on.

Exotic Car Day

2005-08-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

First, on the way to work, I found myself driving behind an Aston Martin Vanguish S. It had dealer plates, and the driver was having plenty of fun. And you can bet your ass that I turned off the radio, rolled down the window and listened to that RIDICULOUS engine rumble, snarl and growl. Yum.

Then driving home, I passed one of these (but in black). A Lamborghini Murciélago. Wow. Really, just wow. The driver was in traffic, so I couldn't hear any revs. But I did just STOP in the middle of the road and watch it drive by me going the other direction. Nobody behind me seemed to mind, because they all seemed to be doing the same thing....

Insurance for Speed Freaks

2005-08-10T10:49:00.000-05:00

A Swedish insurance company has finally gotten it right:

Of Course I'm Speeding!

A friend of mine and I ( Fellswoop13 ) have dreamed of the US offering a special training program for civilian drivers to learn how to drive with no speed limits. Once you pass this course, you would place a sticker or something on you car/plate.

If you have this sticker or siren or whatever, then you can drive as though there is no speed limit, because you have been trained to do so. Oh, what a dream...

While this insurance company only offers protection if you are less than 20mph over the limit, its still the best thing out there since the 65mph limit...

(Oh, except, of course, for the Autobahn...mmmm.....autobahn....)

Time for us to start preaching

2005-08-09T15:32:00.000-05:00

Print these out :

http://normalbobsmith.com/banners_fliers.html

Distribute them. Place them in Bibles in hotel rooms. Place them in pews in churches. Hand them to zealots.

I found a link for these on http://www.strongatheism.net

We're All Monkeys

2005-08-03T14:04:00.000-05:00

An interesting editorial read :

From Time Magazine - Krauthammer

As an atheist, I find some of this editorial to be lacking in harshness. But I do accept that the author probably does not have the same viewpoint that I have. And I like his stance.

I came across a quote that I greatly appreciated:

"If we are going to teach creation science as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction."- Judith Hayes

It encompasses exactly how foolish I find the notion. So-called intelligent design will crumple under the first bit of scientific scrutiny. It is a hypothesis with no proof. The only reason to believe it is faith.

What irks me the most about religious types expressing their ID fallacy is that they present it under the guise of "It's not a Cristian ideal. Every religion has a supreme being, and this could apply to any of them".

Well you know what, THERE IS NO SUPREME BEING. While I have no doubt that there are humans that are superior to these people, and I have some hope that there are extraterrestrials that are superior to humans, there is not a sole being that is hanging around out there, guiding the comings and goings of individuals. There is no such thing as a soul. There is no heaven. No hell. No angels. No Reincarnation. None of it. You're born. You live. You die. Game Over.

And even if you disagree with what I say, please respect that fact that not everyone believes in some magical sky fairy that is watching over people. Some of us find it moronic.

If They CAN Watch You, They WILL Watch You

2005-08-02T15:07:00.000-05:00

The concept of eternal flight aircraft is really INCREDIBLY cool:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4721091.stm

Just from a geek standpoint, it's fabulous. That there could be some flimsy piece of technology that's hanging around at 90,000ft, NEVER has to land, and is remote controlled....I love it.

BUT

Remember that only the government would do something like this. And the government CAN NOT BE TRUSTED! This is beyond the range of visibility. You WOULD NOT KNOW if these things were flying around at any given moment in time. You WOULD NOT KNOW what kind of surveillance setup these things had.

THEY WILL BE ABLE TO WATCH YOU!! And it will cost them less money, and it will be for longer periods of time.

Do we care? Well, that's entirely up to the individual...It also depends on what kind of legislation surrounds these things.

Could they just hover above a city monitoring traffic? Send tickets to whatever car owners have cars that speed or merge poorly? I doubt it, but it is feasible. Could cities use these to track criminals during car chases? Possible. Somewhat useful, I would guess.

How about detecting radiation around cities? That's a pretty usefull thing. It would be very nice to know if any suitcase sized pockets of radiation entered Boston...

Just remember, that's the justification they will use when they try to bring these over your city. They'll say it's for your protection...

In the immortal words of Mr. Cobain, "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you"

Coffee Talk with Hillary

2005-07-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Interesting twist on the complete waste of time that is Hillary investigating video games.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-johnson27jul27,0,1432940.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

My main reason for thinking its foolish is this:

The main way of acquiring points in this game is to kill as many policeman as you can, then get away from the police.

But sex scenes is what makes this an adults only? Come on, now.

How the hell do you explain to a kid that killing a cop is actually worse than having sex, when these are the moral standards that we are presenting?

Damn Ten's

2005-07-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

Freakin poker...
Nearing the end of the night. I'm up twenty bucks. Get dealt Ace-10 off suit.
Call the standard raise of $2.50
Flop comes K-K-Ace.
Buy in front of me bets four bucks. I double it to eight. He goes all in. I call
He's got Jack-Queen. And the fucking 10 comes on the river to straighten him up.
-=-=-=-
I've got five bucks left now. Get dealt pocket aces. All in. Get one caller with pocket tens.

Fucking 10 comes on the river.

Son of a bitch.

(I love this game)

Anti-theism

2005-07-26T18:26:00.000-05:00

It was in the past few months that I encountered the term anti-theism. I took to it immediately. It is a belief that religion is bad. A stance in opposition to theism.

However, there is a large difference between atheism and anti-theism. I happen to be both. But it is possible to believe in the existence of some form of supreme (or not-so-supreme) being, but still believe that religion is bad.

Religion, in general, has caused incalcuble numbers of deaths throughout history. I don't think that this is even possible to debate. The Crussades, the witch hunts, and the Holocaust put the number in the millions EASILY, and that's just christians...and far from all of the instances that have been recorded.

In a more modern sense, religion continues to propogate fear of an after-life throughout the masses. "If you sin, the devil will get you". And then there's the concept that life is just a trial upon which all will be judged in some after-life...The implication that this is nothing compared to the beauty of heaven. I refered to this earlier today as a "meta-physical grass is always greener" concept. And I think its bullshit.

Religion has simply taken advantage of the mass' desire for immortality. A desire that I have never understood. Take what you get. Any day above ground is a good day...

But this is only addressing the monotheistic religions stemming from the Bible and Koran. And of course, there's plenty more that can be said...

Birthdate and the geek in me

2005-07-26T15:47:00.000-05:00

Well, I refuse to have my astrological sign displayed next to my name. Fortunately, I'm such a Fn geek that I've found a couple of rules which describe my birthdate. Enjoy:

1) Each element of my birthdate is a prime number (Month/Day/Year(both two-digit and four digit))

2) There is a common digit in every element of the date

3) The common digit itself is prime

4) If you order the number of such occurances throughout the 1900's, the place my birthdate falls is evenly divisble by the common digit and another number.

5) The only digit that appears more than once in the entire date is the common digit.

6) If you order the number of these occurances(1 through 5) throughout the 1900's, the place my birthdate falls is equal to the common digit.

7) In all of the elements of my birthdate, there is only one digit that is evenly divisble by anything other than one or itself...and it is only evenly divisible by the common digit.

8) The common digit is always the last digit in all of the elements of my birthdate.

9) If you order the number of these occurances(1,2,3,5,7,8) throughout the 1900's, the place my birthdate is only the second such date.

10) It is the only date throughout the 1900's that all of these statements (1,2,3,5,7,8) are true, and none of the elements are actually the same number.

Beginnings

2005-07-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

The beginning is always an important point. Too bad I'm wasting it on this stupid test post...

But I suppose I should state something usefull like "What do I believe in" or "My Special Interests", or some such bullshit.

So here's my list of bullshit:

Strong Atheism and anti-theism - I frequently feel the need to rant about my frustration inherant in being an atheist in Goerge W. Bush's American. Seperation of Church and State my ass.
Cars - I dig cars and motorcycles. Mostly Honda/Acura, but I'm open.
Standard Geek crap - I'm a software engineer, so I get paid to be a geek...Conveniently, I enjoy being a geek.
Poker - I fallen into that pit. Have don'e a good job of not signing up for any online poker accounts though
Sports - Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. What a lucky fan I am, but don't worry...Sox fans are still pessimists. We still suffer on a daily basis.
Boston in general
United State in general
Being a corporate slave in general
Fighting the allure of conformity and non-conformity at the same time.
Pissing and moaning in general
Cheering and rabelrousing in general
Poor spelling in general

Well, my guess is that I should learn to keep these a little shorter...So I'll piss off for now.