Pollywogs!

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I promise to update with the final Pearl Jam installment soon.  Kelley somehow snagged tickets for the Eddie Vedder solo tour, a stop on the northern point of Manhattan:

…so hopefully I get NYC written before I get yet more stuff to write about…I’m drowning in my own sloth…

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Here a couple random links from my ‘toblog’ pile (thanks Firefox 3 for making that organizational challenge that much easier!)…

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As I mention time and time again, the government pushing propaganda upon the public is unlawful.  My desire to smash the state grows with every passing day:

In a “trip report” he filed with his Pentagon handlers, CNN’s Gen. Shepperd explicitly acknowledged both the blatantly propagandistic purpose of the trip, as well as the extremely limited and controlled scope of information to which he had access in a single-day trip (7434). Shepperd stated:

“Did we drink the ‘Government Kool-Aid?’ — of course, and that was the purpose of the trip.” In his Pentagon report, Shepperd added the obvious: that “a one day visit does not an expert make,” that “the government was obviously going to put its best foot forward to get out its message,” and that “former military visitors are more likely to agree with government views than a more appropriately skeptical press.”

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Justice for Tracy Ingle:

Tracy Ingle was asleep in his house when armed police using a no-knock warrant burst in. Unsure about what was happening, he reached for a non-functioning pistol, but began to drop it as soon as he realized who they were. The gesture was too late — officers shot him 5 times.

Mercifully, he survived, but despite not finding any drugs in his house, Tracy is being charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault, drug paraphernalia and running a drug premises. He is in very poor physical shape and obviously not doing well psychologically, due to the incident. Many people in his town and even family find it easier to believe the police would not make such a big mistake. Of course Tracy’s neighbor — who saw the whole thing — believes him, but the police have intimidated him to near silence. Everyone who speaks to his neighbor privately hears his story, but after the police “questioned” him for 4 hours and “advised” him not to get involved, he has refused to testify or go on the record.

How the hell is a no-knock warrant granted?  And once they shoot the guy five times, he is charged with aggravated assault?  They found a roach in his ashtray and they charge him with drug paraphernalia?

WHAT.

THE.

FUCK.

I know if ANYONE busted down my front door with no warning in the middle of the night, I would do everything in my power TO KILL THEM, as should any private citizen.  The entire reason we formed this new country was to get away from tyranny and oppression.  This police state bullshit has got to stop.  These affronts to freedom and liberty need to be challenged in the Supreme Court, where WE DECIDE ONCE AND FOR ALL IF THE CONSTITUTION IS SIMPLY A SCRAP OF PAPER FOR THE FASCISTS TO WIPE THEIR ASSES WITH or if we still believe in the ideals upon which this country was founded.  And no, they are not Christian ideals you stupid fucks:

“The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history…It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.” - John Adams

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This link just makes me angry.  Smash the state, fuck the system…it must be nice to be able to loan your own campaign tens of millions of dollars…

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Speaking of fucking the system, anything we can do to reduce the power and influence of big business (and I use this term in the most profound sense, those gigantic multinational corporations who actively seek to get a stranglehold around the world in every manner which they can, those who have grown to the size where domination is a very real and achievable goal) has a big thumbs up in my book.  That includes both growing your own food and buying more locally, from smaller and independent sources:

But industrial agriculture has simply responded that if we’re feeding more people more cheaply using less land, how terrible can our food system be?

Now that argument no longer holds true. With the price of oil at more than $120 a barrel (up from less than $30 for most of the last 50 years), small and midsize nonpolluting farms, the ones growing the healthiest and best-tasting food, are gaining a competitive advantage. They aren’t as reliant on oil, because they use fewer large machines and less pesticide and fertilizer.

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The high cost of oil alone will not be enough to reform American agriculture, however. As long as agricultural companies exploit the poor and extract labor from them at slave wages, and as long as they aren’t required to pay the price for the pollution they so brazenly produce, their system will stay afloat. If financially pinched Americans opt for the cheapest (and the least healthful) foods rather than cook their own, the food industry will continue to reach for the lowest common denominator.

But it is possible to nudge the revolution along — for instance, by changing how we measure the value of food. If we stop calculating the cost per quantity and begin considering the cost per nutrient value, the demand for higher-quality food would rise.

Heh heh heh he said revolution, heh heh heh…

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I’m having a major case of deja vu here, I may have posted this before, or I may have just thought “I have got to do this some day”, or it may just be the blood-red rage pulsing through my head, the desire to tear it all down, to burn Washington, to have a violent revolution, to fight for liberty, truth and justice…and I’m just talking about someone wanting to see your receipt!

Here’s a scenario that is familiar to anyone who has ever set foot in Wal-Mart, CVS, Rite-Aid, or any of a dozen other major retailers. After you have made a purchase, collected your bags, or packed everything into a shopping cart, you head for the exit. Just as you approach freedom an alarm sounds (usually a sequence of ugly, electronic grunts) and a robotic voice (always female) announces: “Please return to the checkout.” Other customers immediately look in your direction, and an employee begins to approach you. What’s your next move?

If you possess an ounce of personal pride or perhaps two ounces of fortitude, then the 100 percent correct move is to proceed immediately out the door. Why? There are many reasons, chief among them being that rational adults should not instantly obey mechanical voices (unless that voice instructs us to exit a burning aircraft). Also, if you haven’t stolen anything and therefore do not require interrogation, there is absolutely nothing that should compel you to linger post-transaction. It’s depressing enough simply being there in the first place. Another good reason to make a quick exit is that you aren’t being paid to assist some giant retailer with its security measures. You aren’t part of the team, and you didn’t clock in. The clearest reason for leaving the store, however, is that there exists absolutely no legal obligation to remain there, and the store has no right to detain you.

Please peruse the entire site, the writing style is excellent.  I am almost sure I’ve posted this before.

Oh, to have balls that large.  One day, I’m doing it, I swear to the flying spaghetti monster.  I’m going to hear them ask that I stop.  I’m going to look at them in the eye and squeeze my nutsack.  I will say ‘why don’t you go call the police”, turn, and walk away.

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FUCK THE SYSTEM FUCK THE SYSTEM…whether it is a receipt, illegal propaganda, illegal police checkpoints…we’re talking about fundamental offenses to REAL ideals this country was founded upon.

Audiosurf is an amazing fucking video game. I’m partial to involved, deep video games which require a substantial investment of time and effort. Audiosurf is a casual game. Why do I suddenly love it so much out of nowhere? It combines two of my favorite things in a single, slick package: music and twitch reflexes. It is hard to explain in words, combining music and twitch reflexes into a challenging puzzle game, but basically it takes any song on your computer (or it has a radio station if you don’t have much music) and crafts a track from the music. Then, after scoring your performance, you are placed on the leaderboards (if you’ve done well enough). I placed myself on the top of a couple global ‘easy mode’ boards for a few Pearl Jam songs last night. It is intense, challenging, and fun, and yet still casual and easily picked up by anyone.
Oh, and it scrobbles tracks that you play to your last.fm account. This is gaming done right!

This was recorded on the highest skill level, so it is pretty hardcore and difficult. Actually, strike that. This is mono mode, where every block is the same color. Let’s just say that the game can be as challenging as you are up for when it is moving a thousand mile per hour and you’re trying to play tetris…

I’ve only played handful of games on the highest setting (and only on mono mode), mostly I’ve been playing on the casual setting (and dominating that shit, uun). The actual gameplay is much smoother, since the computer was both playing the game and recording, it ended up getting a little choppy. But, you get the idea. It is a fucking blast. You can pick it up on Steam for $10, and I highly recommend you do so. It has reasonably low system requirements (1.6Ghz processor, Geforce2-class graphics card), so nearly anyone enjoy it.

If you do get a copy, I recommend starting playing Mono (casual) on the studio version of Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter. It is a very easy, straightforward track, very good for starting out on.

Hell, any game you get these days, I recommend you buy on either Steam or Direct2Drive. Both places, no need to fool around with physical CDs, and your purchase is always your purchase, you can download what you own at any time. I recommend Steam a little higher, it is a little easier to use since everything is integrated into the one free program (the actual Steam client). Stay away from EA and other cock-gobbling places which want you to pay extra if you need to download the program you paid good money for a few months down the road.

Nootropil or Piracetam: daddy’s little helper. No, not in any crude sexual way, Piracetam is a nootropic drug which improves memory, attention and learning. And it isn’t a stimulant. Wikipedia has a decent write up on exactly what it is, but a short way of putting it is that it simply “makes your brain work better”. Check this out, if you’d like some dry reading. From a user’s point of view, I’d say that it quiets and centers your brain. It feels like I just got done meditating, all of the time. I feel quiet, composed, alert and aware at any given point in the day, as if that were my ‘normal’ baseline (as opposed to distracted and mentally fatigued, which is my actual ‘normal’ baseline). Apparently a lot of the magic it works is by allowing your various brain areas to communicate more effectively, especially between the right and left hemispheres.

I’m currently taking 800mg twice a day (morning and evening) and the effects are subtle but appreciated. The drug itself is extremely well tolerated, I’ve read that scientists were giving up to 9.6 grams to old folks in some studies with no significant side effects. I’ve read a number of different theories on using it, from people taking a significant dose (4.8 grams seems the most recommended) on the first couple days to prime themselves, then dropping back to a lower maintenance dose. At 1.6 grams a day, I can say that my alertness is no longer disturbed, and I like it. I’ve been flirting with the idea of a megadose day, to see how that goes, but I have no SATs or other challenging mental tasks to accomplish so ramping up my ability seems a little pointless.

The legal status is pretty safe for use in the United States. It is an ‘uncontrolled substance‘, which means you’re allowed to purchase and posses the drug for personal use. It is not regulated, not approved for human consumption, and not scheduled. I purchased mine through mail order from a company in the UK (oh how exciting, buying drugs online from a foriegn country!), along with a B vitamin (Choline) which is recommended as acting synergistcally with piracetam. Apparently you can also purchase it from companies inside the United States as well.

If anyone would like to sample my wares, just shoot me an email ;)

So for work, we use this web service call Wufoo I read about somewhere at some point in the murky time before memory.  I chose it to handle our data collection and form creation because It Is Just Fucking Simple.  Go to their website, throw down some entry boxes, and collect the HTML to embed in your site.  All of the data then gets pulled and emailed or parsed as you see fit.  Reports and everything, it is Easy As Pie!  It seems a little expensive at like $7 a month compared to the fact that we host a number of websites for that amount per month, but for a business that $7 a month isn’t really much at all.

So we must have started using it pretty close to when they started up their operations, because the developers have always seemed really outgoing to me.  I recently got a handwritten thank you note in the mail from Ryan Campbell, one of the developers behind Wufoo, thanking me for using their service.  That is really going the extra mile, and really put a nice smile on my face.

So, if you have any reason or need to collect data from users online (they can also create forms which process payments), I highly recommend using Wufoo to create a really nice looking form which takes all of five minutes to generate and post online.