Archive for January, 2005
This is a reprint of an article I posted on a different site way before I was ever involved with dotCULT. Anyway, I felt like re-posting it. Enjoy
I spent a few hours yesterday staring out my window watching the senile lady across the street pick up leaves. She wasn?t using a rake, she didn?t? have a blower, nor did she think to use a lawnmower. She was simply picking up random leaves. She?d pick one up, walk across the lawn, pick up another, and so on…. this continued for about a half hour before she went inside with a bag of leaves.
…And I thought I was going crazy! I swear; if I ever get like that, please shoot me. There comes a time in all of our lives when we need to just say fuck it and pull the plug. I?m thinking about doing it on my 60th birthday, why not get it out of the way before I become useless? Anyway, she made me start thinking about my life, and why I even do this site. Then it occurred to me. I don?t do this site for my readers; I don?t care who reads it, or what they think of it. I do this site for me.
This site is my creative release; it allows me to vent the frustrations that I feel toward society in a safe and entertaining manner. It helps me deal with that empty feeling I have inside. When society upsets me, I post, and you read. I guess you could say that our fucked up society in fact keeps this site going. At least I have job security.
Who am I kidding; I make more money begging for change than I do with this site. There is no money on the internet, just stupid opinions like mine. Like I said, I do it for me. I don?t get anything out of it, not emails, not chics, not money, not even respect. I just get relief, and the fact that you all read this just makes it more fun.
We as a human race are the most fucked up creatures on the planet. We try to act civilized, but we really only have three basic needs: Oral Anal and Phallic. If life had instructions they would read:
Eat, Shit, Work, Sleep, Consume, Repeat until death, Rinse.
There is nothing more to our society, deep down we are really very simple creatures. We live on instinct alone basically. This is why the current war upsets me so much. Are certain causes really worth dying for? After all, we?re animals. Sadly, we?re animals that hold beliefs, but are these beliefs really worth dying for? What is the honor in dying for one?s country? Why fight in the name of a God that may not exist. Religious wars have killed more people than anything else, and why? What good has come out of it?
We live in a society where we can come home from work and watch the war on TV, commercials and all. We put video cameras on the bombs so we can see them crash into and destroy enemy homes, occasionally taking breaks so a man in a clown suit can sell us processed beef.
It?s time we evolve people. Let?s forget these silly religious beliefs. Forget about finding God, let?s just work on finding ourselves.
January 1st, 2005
New CD copyright technology on the market
According to news.com, Sony is about to raise tons of legal questions when they release their new type of cd copyright technology.
If you?re not familiar with it, BMG released a cd copying technology last year that installed software on your computer when you put the cd in, and prevented it from being copied. Of course, as many windows users should know, if you hold down shift when inserting the cd, it will stop the autorun feature from installing the program.
Now, of course BMG says I should be arrested for telling you how to disable autorun on your own computer that you paid for. They think it?s their right to be able to install software on your machine without even telling you. (yes, that?s right they don?t even tell you, they just do it)
Now, clearly it?s bad for spyware companies to install software on your machine without your knowledge, but apparently when it comes to possible copyright infringement, the laws don?t apply.
This seems to be a growing trend in America. Copyright laws, unlike regular laws which are based upon right and wrong, are simply purchased by companies. The more money you have, the more the laws will help you.
Let?s take an example. If I buy a cd what am I buying? I?m not buying just a disc, and I?m definitely not paying only $14.99 for the rights to the song. No, I?m buying a license to listen to that song whenever I want.
Now, does it seem fair that I shouldn?t be allowed to make a backup of that song? Does it seem fair that I should ONLY be allowed to play it in my stereo?
Well, good news. Legally you can make a backup of anything you own. But wait, there?s a catch: You?re not allowed to break the encryption, even if it?s as simple as holding down the shift key! That?s right. You are not allowed to break the encryption. It?s against the law to hold down your shift key. By law, you are required to let the music industry install whatever they want on your computer. Does that make any sense? How did this law come about?
Well, it just so happens that it?s easy to prove that no matter how strong the encryption, if a computer can read it, that computer can also break it. Anything that can be read by a computer is stored in memory, and from there any clever programmer can access it encryption free!
This is where my ?copyright laws are bought? theory comes in. Sony, BMG etc know that they cannot stop the ripping of cds. So why fight it? Instead, let?s just give some money to the right people, and boom! We have a law that says it?s illegal to break the copyright protection, no matter how retarded it may be.
If virus writers can go to jail for installing things on my computer without my knowledge, the same should apply to Sony and BMG.
January 1st, 2005
The general public pisses me off. All day long people can sit and bitch (and why do they choose to do it in my office?) about local affairs, politics, religion, whatever. You all claim to have good reasons for your opinions.
You’re all full of shit.
Let’s break down the human reasoning process. Like it or not, Darwinism is our primary driving factor…so we naturally buck against things that don’t suit our personal needs. And we allow this, consciously or subconsciously, to affect how we judge things.
Let’s take politics, since that’s such a great example. I know pleny of people that can sit and bitch about Bush’s mistakes all day long. The vast majority, however, cannot tell me even one mistake Kerry had made during his political career. They don’t give a damn about how corrupt Kerry may or may not be…they’re only concerned with one or two decisions Bush made that personally inconvienenced them, and therefore Bush must be evil. This breaks down on any level of reasoning. When Louisiana was moving for stricter gun control, I was a bit miffed at first because this limited my personal habits. Then logic took over and I realized that I had formed my “educated opinion” over what was personally convienent to me…not over what would be better in general. Too bad the rest of the population doesn’t have this logic buffer to help their “educated” opinions.
In short…quit bitching. Out of the hundreds that feel the need to voice what they think is right, only one or two of you actually know both sides, good and bad, of the story. And guess what…I still don’t care.
Sidenote: This has nothing to do with the article, but I’d like to go on record here and say that I don’t support, or align with, any anti-Iraq or anti-military crap HG puts up on the site. Just because I’m substaff here doesn’t mean that I have to agree with everything the boss says. He’s got his opinions, and I can’t help but disagree with most. -shrug-
January 1st, 2005
Ahh Thanksgiving. Many years ago today the Pilgrims came over to this land in search of religious freedom. The wanted a place where they could be free to practice whatever religion they wanted.
These are the same people who later killed thousands of indians when they couldn’t convert them to christianity.
This is the same group who later evolved to burn women alive for suspicion of witchcraft.
So everybody grab a turkey leg, sit back, watch some football, and be thankful to the pilgrims. For if it wasn’t for them, we’d still be living in fear of witches.
January 1st, 2005
If you haven?t yet seen it, go see Saw, the movie. In fact if you want to see the movie without paying, just go to SawMovie.com. Their flash trailer more than spoils the whole movie for you, it shows you about 70% of the scenes in a nice interactive flash. If you click the right things, it?ll take you through the movie in order. If you make the wrong clicks, you only get to see bits and pieces.
Anyway, if you?re planning on seeing it in the theatre and don?t want me to spoil the first 10 or 15 minutes for you, stop reading now.
You awake, the room is dark, and you?re chained to something by your leg. It stinks something awful, and you think you?re lying in a tub. As you get out of the tub the water starts draining, and you start screaming for help. Soon you realize you?re not alone in the bathroom. A voice starts talking, and eventually he finds the light switch.
There?s 3 of you in the room. 2 of you are chained by your legs to pipes. The 3rd is lying on in a big pool of blood on the floor with a gun in one hand, a tape recorder in the other, a hole in his head. The room is old and torn down, probably in an abandoned warehouse, except the clock on the wall is brand new. There?s some old walls, a toilet, a tub, a mirror on the ceiling, and some small rocks on the floor.
You find a tape in your pocket, and so does the other guy. You can?t reach the guy in the room, or his gun, but you manage to use your shirt and the stopper from the tub to get the tape recorder and play your tape. Push play.
It appears you?re part of a sick game. The other chained man has been instructed that he has about 4 or 5 hours to kill you, or he and his family will be killed. If he doesn?t kill you, you will be left there to rot. Only problem is, he can?t reach you or the guy in the middle with the gun. What do you do?
The movie takes you backwards in time, and eventually explains the whole story of the people involved before it really gets interesting. I can only compare this movie to ?seven? but much more interesting and full of many more twists.
While it?s not too scary there are a few parts that will just make you cringe. This is an excellent, well thought out movie, and I can?t wait for the sequel. It?ll get you thinking and talking; something that?s well worth the $7.50 at the show.
January 1st, 2005
1. The players
Basketball players are not role models. Many of them have not finished High School or college, making them the dumbest among professional athletes.
These are not good upstanding citizens. The NBA is full of players with criminal records, drug charges, and those who have 13 kids with different ladies. We’re talking pure street thugs who happen to have skill here.
2. The way the game is played now
Today’s game replaced skill with size, and the ability to show off. Nobody shoots anymore. Today’s player would rather look pretty and miss a dunk than make an easy jump shot. Look at the increasing number of fouls. The drive to the net isn’t there which means the shot is; but players keep trying to force the dunk. Making jumpshots won’t get you on sportscenter.
3. 3 – point shot
It’s almost non-existant. Nobody even attempts it anymore. So frequent is the 3 point shot that the NBA is considering removing the 3 point line altogether.
4. The recruiting policy
If you haven’t been scouted by the time you hit 6th grade, you might as well foget about going pro. Basketball players are drafted younger and younger, and it only makes them dumber and dumber. Sure a guy might be a great high school player, but think how much better he’d be after 4 years of college ball with a real coach. A highschool superstar has most likely had the whole offense based around him, which leads to selfish play like I mentioned earlier.
5. Ron Artest (come on you thought I wasn’t gonna mention this?)
Guys like Ron Artest embody everything that is wrong with the NBA. It’s no longer a team sport, it’s a statistical contest between ghetto thugs. There is no class anymore.
Yes these guys are athletes, but they’re paid exhorborant sums of money. If a player walked up to Artest on the court and hit him, he’d be spending months in jail. Yet for Artest to do the same to a fan and only recieve a suspension is ridiculous. He should criminally prosecuted, sued and banned from the game Pete Rose style.
Ok something was thrown at him.. Great. Have the guy removed, and arrested, get on with the game. If you didn’t have a reputation for being an uneducated idiot, you probably wouldn’t have gotten anything thrown at you anyway. Does that make the fan right? Of course not. He deserves to be prosecuted too. Professional athletes however, as much as they shouldn’t be, serve as role models to millions and they should be expected to live up to that.
Until the NBA grows up and drops the “it’s all about me getting paid” attitude, I’ll stick with football and Hockey, where at least the players can read and write proficiently.
January 1st, 2005
It?s election time again, so let me give you some advice.
The smartest thing you could possibly do is to not vote, but only if you?re an American.
If you haven?t heard of the voting paradox, I?ll explain it briefly. It won a nobel prize when it was first published, but I?ll try to do it justice.
In a democratic system, it is not possible for a 3rd party to get the majority of the vote.
Suppose we have the left wingers and the right wingers. Enter a 3rd candidate. If we put him in the middle, he takes marginal votes away from the left and the right, yet still doesn?t win. If we put him on the far right, he just takes votes away from the right and the left wins, and the converse is true if we put him on the far left.
If we give him the same political agenda as either the left or the right, then he just takes votes away and the other side wins.
What?s worse than only getting to chose between 2 candidates? We the voters don?t even get to pick the candidates! It?s what Penn Jillet of the magic group Penn and Teller likes to call ?Penn Jillette?s Curly Howard Theory?. Remember the three stooges where Moe holds his fingers out to Curly and says ?pick two?. Curly then selects 2 fingers and Moe pokes him in the eyes with those two. The same is true with voting, either way we lose.
Ok what does this have to do with not voting? I?ll get to that. First, let?s have another history lesson.
In America, we have an electoral college. Under this ?ingenious? system, representatives cast electoral votes for a candidate based on how their state votes. These however work much like the trigger on a gun. It either fires or it doesn?t.
Under this system, if Michigan votes 53%-49% in favor of John Kerry, then he gets all 17 electoral votes, and Bush doesn?t get any. Also, there is no stipulation that a representative must give his electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular election. He is free to go against popular vote if he so desires. This is truly not a reflection of the public?s interest. It also tells us one important thing: your vote is insignificant.
Let?s look at it in mathematical terms. The ?return? on voting is measured by the expected gain from voting ?correctly?. By correctly, I mean voting for the party that will provide you with the highest utility of income. Interpret income however you like, it doesn?t matter.
So, unless it?s your vote that actually decides the election, it doesn?t cause the ?correct? party to be elected. So unless the election is so close that your vote decides it, your vote doesn?t cause the right party to win, so it doesn?t give you any return whatsoever.
It’s like playing poker and calling a bet when you don’t even have a pair in your hand. 99 times out of 100, you’re just throwing your money away; the same is true of your vote
Since in our discussion of the electoral college we?ve already established your vote doesn?t decide the election, you can expect no mathematical return whatsoever on your vote. In other words, your vote doesn?t make one lick of a difference whatsoever.
Why then do we vote? Perhaps it gives us a sense of false control over the election.
The media keeps reporting that election turnouts are dropping, rightly so. The true patriots are staying home on election day.
Just look at people?s rationale. Sayings like: ?Anybody but Bush? or ?I don?t like Bush but Kerry is worse.? That?s the most cynical point of view ever possible. It?s like saying ?I?m voting for XXX because the election doesn?t mean anything to me?
So do yourself and your country a huge favor: stay home on election day. Besides, what kind of scum sucking, piss poor pathetic excuse for a human being are you if you can go in there and actually pull a lever or punch a card for either one of these buffoons?
January 1st, 2005
Many of you may remember the dotBAR from a long time ago.
Well, I’ve come up with something better:
The dotCULT toolbar
It’s packed full of features, it doesn’t have any adds or annoying crap, and it’s free. Sadly, it only works with IE.
So go check it out and let me know what you think. The page has a list of features as well as a screenshot.
January 1st, 2005
The human ego has no limits. Passing a group of protesting Greenpeacers on my way to formation, I wondered just how meaningless their fight is. Their theory goes along the lines of ‘Protecting the environment, preventing humans from destroying the earth’, etc, etc. How dare we think that we could possibly have such an impact on this planet? This rock, which has been in existance for a couple billion years now, has seen countless evolutionary cycles, ours perhaps being one of the more advanced. This planet has survived eons of being bombarded by meteors, platonic shifts, natural disasters that only appear in our worse nightmares. How dare we assume that we, a species that has been in existance a mere 200k years or so, could possibly have so significant an impact as to destroy this planet?
At the base level, probably even without realizing it, Greenpeacers and the like aren’t questing to save the planet. They merely want to preserve our species. Even if we manage to completely eradicate the ozone layer, use up every natural resource, and destroy all other speicies in our quest to stay alive…the planet will remain. Earth will still have the prime conditions for forming life. The planet’s cycle will merely restart again with the lowest forms of life. And who’s to say this hasn’t happened before? We even assume that we’re the first creatures of our kind, that we’re the first of a cycle.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to protect the environment. It’s only natural in trying to save your own skin. But at least realize the futility, and recognize that humans cannot exist forever. It’s simply against our nature. We are nothing more than a small part of the cycle, too afraid of being stepped on to admit our insignifigance. But being the inferior forms that we are, will we ever be brave enough to admit to this?
January 1st, 2005
Next Posts
Previous Posts
