Lead Vividly

Open Letter to Randy Saaf: regarding your leaked emails

2007-09-18T17:56:00.001-04:00

Dear Mr. Saaf,

Some of your internal emails from your company have leaked on the Internet, and I hope things are spiraling out of control for you. Copyright reform, though probably still a generation away, is inevitable. Your company (MediaDefender) has been built on the idea that copyrighted works deserve to be protected, but the capitalistic approach you have taken the company is evident within some of the emails that have been leaked. It's been discovered that you sell some of the pirated file download statistics back to the RIAA, this is an immoral decision your company has taken with its approach to entrapping online 'pirates'.

How dare you accuse the digg community of being pirates because they would not let the HD-DVD crack die down...this same attitude you have built within the atmosphere of your company, and I would not be surprised if it is revealed that the emails have been leaked by someone internal to your soon-to-be-defunct organization.

At one point in your career you may have had some credibility, but you should realize you have lost this completely and it's only a matter of time before you understand the reality of the future.

Sincerely,

One of the thousands of online users you have pissed off

PS) Your website (mediadefender.com) design sucks

Hasta La Windows Vista, baby

2007-07-09T17:32:00.001-04:00

Sorry for not writing in a while, I haven't even been on myspace in nearly half a year!

This post is meant to document my speculation over the future of operating systems, namely Microsoft's OS's. In recent weeks I have been able to use a distribution of Linux and I am very satisfied with it. And a few days ago I have even been able to run Windows under it using VMWare, and so far it's been very easy to use and robust. I am impressed. For now I am using Linux as my main operating system and windows as one of the guest OS's. I can sleep well at night now without to worry about Windows providing me updates and then spontaneously shutting down my computer without my consent. That really annoys me. So far Linux has not done any such thing.

Microsoft is getting caught in a corner. Apparently through some legal loopholes and through a new GPL license, Microsoft is liable to indemnify anybody who they could potentially sue under infringements of a deal they have with Novell. I am not a legal expert, but somehow the open source community has lashed back at Microsoft's aggressive behavior by modifying the well-known GPL (Gnu Public License), which is a license used to protect code. It seems like the GPL has taken a more aggressive stance, Microsoft is in its sight. The open source community in general is a bit distasteful of Windows. I feel personally that Windows makes my job pretty easy, but I also feel that it is the natural progression of our society to want to move towards a more robust and user-friendly environment. Truth be told, 10 years ago XP would have been called very user-friendly, but today we are being pampered with the likes of iPhone and Beryl in Linux.

This opens another subject of conversation: the iPhone. This little device is simply a work of genius, I know there have been other touch-screen phones out there but none have been delivered with as much hype and as much ability to live up to the hype as the iPhone. Understandably the iPhone is missing some key hardware components, but that does not matter too much which is clear to be seen among the number of sales that have been made. It is first generation anyway. The point I see in the iPhone in the future of the operating system world is that it tells the consumers that "hey, you CAN browse and play on the internet on a small handheld device." Because there are more and more online browser-based tools that people are switching to (email, instant messaging, etc), the iPhone makes the experience all the more friendly.

Google is also coming at Microsoft at another angle through Google Apps. This is the company that is providing some of the online browser-based tools mentioned above (namely email), but Google is also providing spreadsheet and document editors online. They have a bit more work to do, but the fact that they do seemless automatic backups / saves is genius, and people can have security knowing that they will never loose a spreadsheet or a document that is stored on a server somewhere (it seems that I do not have much luck with Microsoft's automatic backup and saves). Things like this are starting to take some relevance away from Microsoft. Undoubtedly one day Google Apps will work seemelessly on the iPhone (if it doesn't already).

Personally it seems like that Apple and Google are having an illustrious affair anyway. Not only does Microsoft have to deal with them, but now the Linux / Open Source world seems to be tackling them.

I should also say that I respect Microsoft a lot, at least Bill Gates I do. He's given countless money to charity and his foundation has really changed many lives. With that said, I think it's important that Microsoft should learn to evolve because their current strategies are starting to cannibalize the company. It can't be smart to be spending so much money on things like the Zune and X-box that will not dominate the industry. They need to be innovative and come up with new things rather than just attempting to penetrate different markets with so-so products.

In that regard, I hope that Vista does not perform well so that Microsoft will spend time on different strategies in the operating system industry. I think it would even be smart if Microsoft implemented a new version of Windows that is based off of a distribution of Linux, thus making windows non-proprietary. In fact that seems like it would be the natural progression. I am rooting for Microsoft, but not in the same way as most Microsoft fanboys are. Is anyone else rooting for Microsoft in this sense?

website going up

2007-06-24T09:59:00.001-04:00

localleaders.org

Am needing help to get it up and running. Looking for volunteers!

i have a few friends helping me now with the planning stages, but need more help with planning, design, programming, and most importantly, we need legal consulting on this. Any volunteers? Do you know anyone who could volunteer?

Hillary is "I'm in"

2007-01-20T19:33:00.000-05:00

After watching "An Inconvenient Truth" last night, is it that the current administration is leaving a very bitter taste in my mouth? Or Is the inner feminist coming out in me? Or am I sincerely excited to see what a female democratic candidate has to offer the people of the United States?

I expect that a lot of the platforms that Hillary will have will be shared by those of her husband in the 90s. For instance, national health care is long needed in the States. She mentions this among a few other items in her posted video. I am especially interested in the angle that she's taking, she is offering live video chats the next week or so to show she wants to hear our voice. Her quote that "Energy independence and free of foreign oil" is quite an anti-corporate, progressive stance. If this means the government would ultimately subsidize low energy alternatives (hybrid cars, solar panels, etc) then I'm all for it. These are high cost sure, but they are an investment in this potential industry. America needs to be a world leader in this industry.

Isn't this the best way to fight terrorism? Collaboratively finding innovative ways to wean our dependence on Middle East oil? Working on our trade deficit by taking part in the global industry of alternative energy?

But I digress. I am cautiously optimistic of Hillary's bid, and look forward to the next few months to see how things evolve against Obama and the next few unannounced candidates. Anything to get us out of the Iraqatrina era.

"LOLZ funnie" - sorry I could not resist

2006-12-09T13:28:00.000-05:00

I have not written in a while, but then again I've tried to write twice using blogger's 'email" feature (ie, write a blog direclty from an email by writing to a secret email address) but this has not been working.

I just came across this post and thought I would blog it.

http://www.drivl.com/code.html

What's new with me? Not really sure, I'm in the same place, same job, same friends, same life as when I last successfully posted in August. Does not mean that I am bored I suppose, just means I am too anchored down at the moment to expand myself. Hopefully I'll look back a year from now and see lots have changed. I'm already looking at my new years resolutions from earlier in the year and I've only successfully completed a few of them :-(.

An Impossible Scenario - A Three Partied Government

2006-08-19T01:01:00.000-04:00

Our current system of government no longer works as well as it used to. The U.S. Government was created in order to preserve our right to vote in light of taxation, and eventually the government gained a role to preserve every one's civil rights. There are still a few rights that are pending, but we nearly got 'em all. This legacy role is no longer needed.

Because of this, our government changed its role. As fat and happy as Americans are, the government is trying to spread our ideas to other nations in the name of providing civil rights and protecting the rest of the world, while unable to protect its own people.. This is the irony of the Iraqatrina Era.

What's next is another party to rise up. We will have a three-partied system of government. Currently there are two parties:

The Republicans representing the big corporations and other businesses (ie the private sector)
The Democrats who want to raise taxes to promote a more socialist-like government (promoting the public sector).

There is plenty of overlap, and even the members of each party are not always politically aligned. However, this is most abstract way of looking at our government in order to conceptualize the third party. The third party will represent another sector in our nation that is not represented by any single party or lobbyist organization. This third party is the communist party.

Oh no, it's not anything like you think it is. It's a party that represents all of the rapidly-growing sets of networks in the country.

Sourceforge - developers who work on thousands of software projects in the name of open-source advancement
Freecycle - local communities recycle their unused possessions by giving them to people who need them
Craigslist - an online classifieds newspaper, linking people for free and quicker like never before
Wikipedia - a dynamic encyclopedia editable by you or me, its success dependent on the fact that more people are willing to contribute accurate material rather than there are those who 'vandalize' the pages

Do you see the relationship among all of these? They are all internet-based. They are all networks. They are all communities. Once internet-illiteracy is extinguished by a system of nation-wide high speed internet, people will be networked more than ever. We'll reach a point where there are so many networks that the communist party will rise to represent them all.

How would the communist party have alleviated the pain caused by Katrina? Instead of dependent on FEMA or the local authorities, the people affected by the disaster would have had relief pour in from quickly organized relief groups that would have mainly consisted of unaffected communities local to the disaster areas. The competence of these relief groups is proven by their spontaneously-created roles in the overall relief, and a centralized structure for each relief group contributes to self-defined action items getting done quickly and effectively.

The problems with Katrina were caused by lack of knowledge of procedures, slow allocation of funds, and just simple incompetence of authorities in general. Networks with the ability to create miniaturized, dynamic FEMA-like groups customizable to the situation could prevent another disaster such as this.

It's interesting to note that the communist party can be seen as partly representing the third sector in our nation: the non-profit sector. Again, this is a generalization.

I'm open for other ideas, arguments, or criticisms. Viva La Revolución!

Rains on the Umbrella of Suspicion

2006-08-18T19:16:00.000-04:00

I am filled with a sense of overwhelming guilt over this whole news story of JonBenet. It's interesting to see where this is all leading, but I primarily feel guilty because I was one of the many 'South Park Republicans' who thought the parents had killed their daughter in some Susan Smith-like rage. It's fair to say the Ramseys had some implications pointing to them, but at the same time the media focused a lot on this and failed to emphasize the local authorities' incompetence .

So here's my public apology: Patsy Ramsey, I am sorry you died before seeing this day where you can put the media in its place, and you were a true heroine to fight this up until your end. The only consolation to my sense of guilt is knowing that you knew of the lead to catch Karr.

Here's my message to Karr: Society does not understand you and probably never will. I am glad you're cooperating with authorities, but do us all a favor and issue a public apology of some sort acknowledging you have severe problems.

The Joy of Podcasts

2006-07-31T23:30:00.000-04:00

A whole new world has been opened up to me. I have been listening to podcasts like they are going out of style (which I'm willing to bet they are here to stay indefinitely). Podcasts about wine, humorous podcasts, political podcasts, podcasts in esperanto, why have I been so blind before?

Well blogging is still new to me, and I am getting used to Google Reader as a one-stop shop to access all my favorite blogs. Come to find out, google reader lets you listen to podcasts from there too! Or should you so desire, you can download the mp3 from Google Reader. I must be getting old to be so easily amused.

Anything in the news? Tropical storm Beryl is nearby, poses no threat to my area, I don't even think we are going to get any rain. Also, Yahoo's stock apparently plunged yesterday afternoon, the greatest fall it's taken since the dot com bubble burst in the early naughties. I compared it to Google's stock, and google fell around the same time but not nearly as bad as Yahoo's. I had a discussion recently about how Yahoo's webpage is screaming with advertisements. I never go to Yahoo for that reason, there are too many links. It's bad web UI. Not that I'm an expert on UI or anything, but I would think a company as large as Yahoo would hire better consultants on how to maintain their main page.

Okay, I am going to finish my V8 splash drink and head to bed. Spent too much time with podcasts this evening. Toodaloo.

so on my way home from work

2006-07-28T19:35:00.000-04:00

On my way home from work I started thinking a lot about my niece-to-come and my sister. She is going to be induced very soon, and I can only imagine what she's going through. I am thinking she is getting very nervous and excited, the same feeling she and I would get Christmas morning when we wake up and walk into the living room to see what Santa brought. Then I thought about her during delivery, and saw my mom and brother-in-law there with her the whole time, and I saw what she looked like before delivery and after delivery. The expression on her face was different, much calmer and changed. It made me tear up a bit.

Anyways, also on my way home from work, a completely different idea came to mind. I thought about how time is money, and how much time goes wasted. For instance, if I call customer support or something over the phone, or if I email a professor at a university, ask them an important question, they would probably answer it quickly and for free. This is normally seen as insignificant, but add up the number of times this happens daily, then you get a rather large amount of time spent on frivolous tasks. If there were a way to capture these moments in time and consolidate them, and then somehow convert this aggregated time into cash, then I could be making million...no...billions of dollars!

But then I quickly came back down to reality when I realized this was the most tyrannical, selfish, capitalistic thing I have thought of in a long time. I reminded myself that I'm a communist. Pure communism of course, not the corrupted Russian communism, the ghetto Cuban communism, nor the dirty Laotian communism.

The Joy of Podcasts

2006-07-23T07:02:00.000-04:00

Well blogging is still new to me, and I am getting used to Google Reader as a one-stop shop to access all my favorite blogs. Come to find out, google reader lets you listen to podcasts from there too! Or should you so desire, you can download the mp3 from Google Reader. I must be getting old to be so easily amused.

Anything in the news? Tropical storm Beryl is nearby, poses no threat to my area, I don't even think we are going to get any rain. Also, Yahoo's stock apparently plunged yesterday afternoon, the greatest fall it's taken since the dot com bubble burst in the early naughties. I compared it to Google's stock, and google fell around the same time but not nearly as bad as Yahoo's. I had a discussion recently about how Yahoo's webpage is screaming with advertisements. I never go to Yahoo for that reason, there are too many links. It's bad web UI. Not that I'm an expert on UI or anything, but I would think a company as large as Yahoo would hire better consultants on how to maintain their main page.

Okay, I am going to finish my V8 splash drink and head to bed. Spent too much time with podcasts this evening. Toodaloo.

Long Time No Blog

2006-07-18T04:30:00.000-04:00

Many things in the news and many things in my life. First the news:

Looks like we are heading towards World War III, according to Gingrich. I think this is a bit of an exaggeration, considering the cooperation of the world powers on the situation in Israel/Lebanon. The discrepancy in the views of all the world powers do expose a certain polarization taking place, which is necessary for a 'world' war. The immediate catalyst of this conflict was Hezbollah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, which I'm sure was fueled by Hezbollah's false sense of victory in the past couple of years with successfully trading captives. Israel is pretty obstinate and rightly so, however I tend to think of their response as being 'disproportionate' as the European Union has emphasized. Hezbollah is a chihuahua up against a great dane, so it's obvious how this conflict will end if strategic diplomatic intervention is not pursued.

Ok: now about my life for all those interested. Still at my current job, I have been thinking about bartending a lot lately, and have been thinking even more about moving to a hub city. It'll be nice to hop on a plane and take a weekend trip somewhere, considering my job has not flown me anywhere for business (yet). My job is going well in terms of my contribution to it, but a lot of people have left lately and is putting a strain on those who are still around. A recent conversation with someone I just met has made me think more about pursuing my old dream of being in the U.N. and putting my time and energy towards world peace. I am now juggling with that idea but feel like I still lack the experience. And besides, there's a few other jobs I want to do before I begin in that direction. Also I have been thinking about doing a PhD program...I have only told a few people of what program this is, but I feel very comfortable with it and hope I can start it in the next year or two.

Random factoid of the day: What are indigenous people of Malaysia called, who are offered economic advantages over non-natives? Answer: Bumiputra.

Until next time, folks.

Things I am happy about

2006-02-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

I got DSL set up at my new place, my job is covering the cost and I have also talked the phone company down on the price since I contested some of the unreasonable fees they are charging
I have changed dentists, the one before was nice but I will not tolerate businesses who charge gainfully employed clients for uncomfortable services just because I am able to pay it
I got my taillights fixed, my VW insurance covered the cost
My hard drive is recoverable! still an ungodly amount to recover, but recoverable nonetheless!

And of course...I still have my health, every day is a holiday and I am positive!

Things I am angry about

2006-02-21T07:40:00.000-05:00

Trying to get DSL set up at my new place, so far the charges are adding up to $265 just to set up. Maybe I should have gone with cable internet. Lucky for us we live in a capitalist society and we have all these choices for internet
My dentist is charging me $70, for a 'service not covered by my insurance' (i.e., them telling me I need to squat and put my face in a machine and close my mouth on a rubber grip while a camera takes a panoramic picture of my teeth, but it did not work the first few tries and there was one point the dentist assistant screamed at me "DON'T MOVE!!!" making me feel like my lower jaw was about to be ripped from my maxillae if i moved a centimeter)
I got pulled over twice last night for driving without a taillight. $128 ticket, luckily the second time the cop only gave me a warning. Volkswagens have major electrical problems, by the way, way too frequently
My hard drive crashed and it's going to cost an ungodly amount to recover if its even recoverable

BUT...I still have my health. Everyday is a holiday. And I am positive!

Dictionary.com is gay

2006-02-17T12:57:00.000-05:00

I have proof!

So I was writing some documentation at work and realized that I may be mispelling a word ("griffon" instead of "griffin"), and decided to dict it in my firefox browser. And lo, what do I see? A flaming dictionary!

grif·fin also grif·fon or gryph·on P Pronunciation Key (gr f n)
n.

A fabulous beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

What dictionary uses the word "fabulous"? Isn't that a word that shows bias, which compromises the impartial integrity of a dictionary? Or am I being impartial myself by judging on the sexual orientation of a dictionary? "Not that there's anything wrong with that..." (Seinfeld reference).

2006 New Year's Resolutions

2005-12-27T12:21:00.000-05:00

Do something very humbling to myself, to make me realize how small I am in the scheme of things
Learn how to play a musical instrument well
Get certified in something else, or at least have a list of certifications I want to achieve in my lifetime
Become more comfortable with the Arabic alphabet and pronunciations
Walk on my hands to tone my upper body
Eliminate all junk food in my life, except in purposes of social interaction
Improve my spiritual life, work on finding more 'quiet' time to think and pray
Continue and complete my minimalist efforts (typing all of my notes, scanning photos, etc)
Memorize at least 3 German poems
Read all of my books that have been pending to be read for several years now, and then donate them to charity or bookcrossing

This is probably a final draft of my 2006 New Year's Resolutions, however I am still having problems distinguishing between what should be on my to-do list, my resolutions list, and my long-term goal list!

Qatar blocking VOIP usage..

2005-12-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post this from the American Ambassador of Qatar.

To Vonage Customers in Qatar,
 
     In recent days the Embassy has heard from a number of Americans in Qatar who have lost access to the Vonage internet telephone service.  The Vonage company in the U.S. has confirmed that the cutoff was initiated here in Qatar.
 
     Earlier today I spoke with the Minister for Economy and Commercie, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Ahmed Al Thani, to express concern about the loss of this service.  I noted that many American private citizens as well as military personnel rely on this service to keep in touch with families and to conduct personal business back in the United States.
 
     The Minister assured me that he would look into the matter right away.  The Embassy will follow up in hopes that this service is restored as soon as possible.
 
     Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
 
     Sincerely,
     CHASE UNTERMEYER
     US Ambassador to Qatar

Other bloggers are picking this up before the media is:

http://voip.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000440071611/
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=793

Good luck to Emily's brother Will, who is in Qatar now trying to access his Vonage service. Cheers!

It's anything but ordinary.

2005-12-14T12:27:00.000-05:00

So the superhero complex. I've been wanting to document this for a while, I've only told 3 others about this, and now it's time to tell the world...

The superhero complex is the psychological disorder in which the sufferer wants to unrealistically "save the world." In my case, I am unfocused and can be very lazy in getting things done. A lot of the things I do are motivated by the fact that I want to somehow contribute to world peace, but I am about to enter a stage in my life where I will have much more momentum.

One thing that really irritates me is personal beliefs. People allow their religious or stereotyped views blind them and not see the world for what it is. Are you really going to strap a bomb to your chest in the name of Allah? Are you really going to tell the lost little girl in China that she is going to hell because she hasn't had the opportunity to accept Jesus into her heart? Are you really going to sit on your butt with the remote control and complain how the world is going to hell in a hand basket? Of course it is, because your self-centered views are what is causing this. How about taking some time to volunteer this Christmas at a soup kitchen? Or go spend some time with some cranky geriatrics at an old folks home. Sure it doesn't seem self-rewarding, but maybe you should do it for the paradigm shift. These are good ways to meet a large variety of people, and you'll learn how the arrogance and self-centeredness of everybody on this entire planet collectively synchronizes into decadence.

Maybe it's time you start telling yourself that you are here on Earth for a purpose, and you need to find that purpose. If you really believe you are only a collection of molecules with a temporary blip of consciousness, then I feel sorry for you for when you go on your deathbed. One thing that science has revealed is that true randomness does not exist. Convincing yourself otherwise is an excuse for lethargy and apathy.

Blast you, food industry!

2005-11-21T11:52:00.000-05:00

Just read an interesting tidbit. Now I know what sort of bread to buy at the store!

"Products labeled "whole grain" are made with the complete grain kernel whether the grain remains intact as in oatmeal or it is ground to make bread, pasta or cereal. "Cracked wheat" is also made from the complete kernel, but don't be mislead by wording like "100% wheat" or "multi-grain." Don't be misled by color, either. Most "wheat bread" is almost identical to "white bread" except that caramel coloring has been added to make it look more natural."

Src: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/faqs_fiber.html

PS) can't you tell I am on a diet??? I have nuttin' else to write about since I've been staying busy with some miscellaneous tasks...once i get my rock-hard abs I'll post before and after pictures ;-).

Ask Yourself

2005-10-31T12:30:00.000-05:00

So I was having a deep conversation recently and that led me to some new ideas. Well maybe more connections.

So why don't we have world peace? Why do we live in an era where 100 years ago if people knew of the technology and advancements that we have today, that they would be shocked that we still can't live with ourselves? To me it seems like the only way we could ever achieve this sort of stage is if some outside force intervenes (cue a movie clip from Independence Day).

Here are some basic tenets held by different religions throughout the world:

"...thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord." [KJV Bible, Leviticus 19:18]
"Compassion and love are not mere luxuries. As the source both of inner and external peace, they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species." -Dalai Lama XIV
I wanted to find some quotes from people or texts of Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, etc. to see what their views on unconditional compassion are, but quite honestly had a very hard time! Any input is greatly appreciated.

So for now, I am going to categorize the types of hate that exists in the world:

Pigeonhole Hate - Racism, Sexism, Sexual Orientationism, Agism, Groupism. You give me subculture that people identify with and I'll give you an "-ism" which the counter-crowd stereotypes and classifies. Sometimes the best way to understand something is to generalize it, and yes even make jokes about it, but don't do it to the point where you develop enmity or cause others to develop it.
Jealousy Hate - You learn to not like somebody because they have something you don't. Most of the time it's not even a physical object. It could be good looks or intelligence. Ambition or motivation. Whatever. This is probably the type of hate that makes most people lose friendships or have conflicts at work.
Reciprocated Hate - You hate somebody who does not like you. Sounds fair enough. I am reminded of "Being nice is the best revenge" or however the saying goes (I'm terrible with cliches). This saying in itself is a bit hateful. Don't look at it as being vengeful, look at it at sincerely wanting to be nice to somebody to help them. Or help mollify a situation.
Over-moralized Hate - this is the type of hate that leads to intolerance. This is when you allow personal beliefs overpower your ability to develop compassion for others. Sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion. You are also entitled to the belief that you are 100% right. But implicitly convincing yourself you are better than somebody because you live a more "moral" lifestyle is hatred.

All of these types of hate are difficult for even oneself to diagnose. Sometimes it's a mixture of any of the above, sometimes it's a small degree of any of the above...but a small degree of hatred is still hatred.

So the next time you tell a racist joke, ask yourself if you are laughing because you really think it's true. The next time you tell somebody you disagree or agree with the war, ask yourself if you are identifying with your own opinions and not leeching to a hate group. The next time you complain about somebody ask yourself if they have a quality about himself/herself that you admire. I have started doing this lately and it's amazing how much clearer my mind seems now that I am finding myself more accountable for these self-disastrous feelings. Hate is a strong word, but it comes in subtle forms.

I am open to learning other types of hate, or reclassifying the ones I already have. Ideas???

The Importance of Flossing

2005-10-26T15:59:00.000-04:00

This is dedicated to my freund, Claire (who says I haven't posted in a while):

Haven't flossed in a while? Why don't you give it a try. Go on, now. Just do it once in between two teeth...that's right...go deep in there now...between a couple of your back molars would be preferable. Make sure you let that floss slide forcefully down between those two teeth. It's okay if it bleeds, just be gentle. The bleeding means you are getting the job done.

Done? Okay. Now pull out the floss and smell it.

EWWWWW. What has just happened? If your floss now smells like a dog peed on a moldy piece of bleu cheese that had been battered in man-poop sauce, that means you need to floss more. Floss as often as you can, you will thank yourself in the future when you don't have any cavities nor gingivits to worry about. I learned this "smell the floss" trick several months ago and now my teeth aren't stank like yours. Oh and I also chew trident obsessively throughout the day...it cleans the teeth (well it's the saliva that actually cleans them) and suppresses my yeti appetite. Cheers.

ps) Claire this wasn't directed towards you, however this was just the thought of the moment and directed towards my audience, all 2 of them.

New Orleans hospital staff discussed mercy killings

2005-10-13T13:30:00.000-04:00

New Orleans hospital staff discussed mercy killings

This has been on the front page of cnn.com for the past 24 HOURS. Okay, yeah, we got it. It's time to send this newspiece to headline purgatory until something else develops from this event.

How about the other news going on in the world right now? Such as the dozens of innocent people who were killed frantically trying to run away from the gunfire between Russian police and Chechnyan militants? Or Apple's new video iPod, where the first iPod already created a cultural revolution in the world paving the way for the video iPod to theoretically change how we view television and movies. Or maybe how the Iraqi parliament just accepted last minute changes to the draft constitution, only three days before it's to go to national referendum??? Big news folks. I am going to wean off of CNN and continue my trend towards more varying news agencies and blogs.

More Fun with Ratios!

2005-10-10T14:59:00.000-04:00

In my last blog entry, I mentioned how I used Google to pull comprehensive consumer opinions on mobile phone companies. It was brought to my attention that I forgot to include Suncom's love:hate ratio, which is .69. This is not as bad as Sprint's ratio, however Verizon still wins hands down with a ratio of 1.66. I am interested to see other people's opinions of the love:hate ratio and what sort of ways these ratios can be inaccurate or skewed.

So I was telling my friend earlier today about the tattoo:teeth ratio, which seems to be more known among folks who work with a wide variety of "social classes." The tattoo:teeth ratio is simply this: the number of tattoos somebody has divided by the number of teeth. My ratio is 0% because I do not have any tattoos, but if somebody has 3 tattoos and all 32 teeth, their ratio is 0.09375 (about 9.4%). If somebody has 10 tattoos and only 30 teeth, their ratio becomes 33%. You can see how the tattoo:teeth ratio is merely a measure of how 'hick' somebody is.

What is bad about this ratio is that if you never get a tattoo, your hick factor is always 0%, which I beg to differ. And if you have zero teeth, then your hick factor is infinity. Which is accurate.

Switching Mobile Phone Companies

2005-10-08T02:01:00.000-04:00

I am doing my mid-year resolutions now (a few months late...I also call it my "fiscal year resolutions" since it corresponds to the fiscal year). And one thing on my list is better budgeting. My cell phone bill has been outrageous lately, so I decided to do a statistical analysis based on Google's search results to see if I should switch from Cingular to another company:

In quotes, the phrase "I hate Company XYZ" yields:

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,010 for "i hate cingular". (0.81 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 552 for " i hate verizon". (0.18 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 11,000 for " i hate sprint". (0.29 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 446 for " i hate t mobile". (0.19 seconds)

In quotes, the phrase "I love Company XYZ" yields:

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,270 for " i love cingular". (0.18 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 916 for " i love verizon". (0.24 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 3,550 for " i love sprint". (0.19 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 587 for " i love t mobile". (0.38 seconds)

The Love:Hate ratios are as follows:

Cingular: 1270/1010 = 1.25742574
Verizon: 916/552 = 1.65942029
Sprint: 3550/11000 = 0.322727273
T-Mobile: 587/446 = 1.3161435

There you have it folks: Verizon has the highest love:hate ratio, which means Verizon must be doing something good. But then again, Sprint looks like it is the most popular, and everyone knows familiarity breeds contempt. So this could cause a slight skew towards the negative direction, but I have a feeling this is negligible.

But I had Verizon in the past, and they had crappy customer service. So what do I do?

Results 1 - 3 of about 9 for "Cingular has bad customer service". (0.07 seconds)
Results 1 - 1 of 1 for "Verizon has bad customer service". (0.08 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 183 for " T Mobile has bad customer service". (0.34 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 44 for " Sprint has bad customer service". (0.25 seconds)

There we go: Verizon must have done something right since I last had them a couple of years ago. I would agree Cingular has good customer service, they always cheerily say "Thank you for choosing Cingular Wireless" after I hand over my credit card number. Oh, and they also reluctantly credited me a whole 80 cents after I found out from my bill that international text messaging are costing 40 cents a pop (They told me they sent out a notice through mail about this change, however I have all my billing statements turned off since I do everything online!). I am going to the mall tomorrow to talk to Verizon and perhaps other vendors. Cheers to Google!

What hath God wrought?

2005-10-05T17:03:00.000-04:00

So I have been reading my friend's blog entries lately, leading me to other websites and bloggers, which has led me into an exponentially expansive adventure into this huge mass information called the blogosphere. I really did not a grip originally on how massive it really is, and honestly I still do not now. And to think, most of my friends do not have a blog or have hardly even heard of it before. In the past hour of me surfing the blogosphere, I have learned a tremendous amount...ranging from economics to physics to philosophy to spirituality.

"What hath God wrought" is the first telegraphic message...ever. Sent by Morse himself. To me this quote symbolizes a progressive advancement towards a more globalized society. I am proud to be living in the times we are living in today. I hope I keep this blog more updated now since I have not done so in the past.

What will blogs offer us in the near future? I am reminded of a flash animation sent to me a while ago, primarily dealing with how the media, Google, and other large entities over the years really respond to consumer demands and make customized information readily available (if it weren't already), which ironically result in dystopia and monopolistic armageddon...aww you gotta watch it yourself! -> Googlezon <-

Iraqatrina and Cronyism

2005-10-05T11:39:00.000-04:00

When Sandra Day O'Connor first announced her plans to retire in early July 2005, Bush appointed Harriet Miers as the head of the committee to search for O'Connor's replacement. Through an unexpected series of events, Bush eventually chose Miers to replace O'Connor! No wonder the senators are enraged. This is not the first time Dubya has done this: the last time Bush tapped the person in charge of a search committee was when he chose his vice president! That's right folks, Dick Cheney was the head of Bush's vice-presidential search committee back in 2000.

Sources close to Carrot Top say this is how Bush chose first lady Laura Bush to be his wife. This, my friends, is cronyism. Although it is not illegal, it can be seen as ethically wrong. I myself find Miers a bit mysterious and appealing at the same time. I have already lost a lot of faith in the government due to what I call the Iraqatrina (era-Katrina) era, so I am not sure of what to make of Miers yet.

What is this Iraqatrina era you may ask? It is the unexplainable period of time that we are in now, where we are feeling the repercussions of Katrina while still speculating and what will be the long term results of the US government's actions in Iraq. It is the period of time where Bush is at his lowest point in approval ratings (our economy will improve and oil prices will dip...so yes, his ratings are going to come back up pretty soon). Iraqatrina is the name given to this grey-area to which Americans do not know exactly who to blame, but we know something is wrong. The first step to solving any problem is to recognize it, or at least conceptualize it. I therefore give the name of this concept Iraqatrina.

If the bird flu (H5N1) mutates and then breaks out in the United States, in which the government will enforce quarantines and local militia rule, I am concerned as to what new name I should give this concept. IraqatriH5N1a? That looks like a pock-faced 13 year old hacker's handle.

Free Publicity via Internet?

2005-10-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

Harvey Danger, as they mention in their song "Wine, Women and Song," are "walking on eggshells." With the RIAA. Not that RIAA can do anything about it, but Harvey Danger made their most recent album available to download via their website or through bittorrent. A couple of their songs are pretty good, the instrumentals are a little simplistic but I can think of many times where I can relax in a hammock and listen to this kind of music while reading a book. BRAVO to their decision! Hopefully they will set a precedent to other artists out there, manifesting that it is indeed possible to make your music freely available while making money. I personally enjoy having conversations with other people when I learn about an artist I have never heard of. If I hear about Madonna's or even Rob Thomas' new music again then I am going to think back about Harvey Danger, how they are encouraging people to step out of their comfort zone of music and listen to artists who deserve to be heard because they are simply something different to listen to.

Blogs versus the Media

2005-09-28T22:24:00.000-04:00

I have been really into this blogosphere as they call it, more of a reader than a blogger. I came across one blog called "Iraq the Model". One thing we need to realize is that we are living in a period of time where it's getting more and more difficult for the media to supress or exaggerate the news.

The writers of the blog are cautiously optimistic about the future of Iraq. I am not trying to push any neo-conservative agenda, but it is important to see things from the eyes of the Iraqis themselves. We are doing really good things over there right now. At the same time, there is a lot of things that need to improve. A Cindy Sheehan attitude of "complete withdrawal" will not solve these problems. What will solve the problems is for the American people to be more proactive and take a stance that stands for truth rather than listen whole-heartedly to the media and focusing on isolated incidents. Cornering the politicians is what will fix the problem, they are here to represent us...their consituents. The support for the war is falling at a much faster rate than the problems in Iraq are increasing. This alone is an indication that the American people have been witless, blind lemmings in their views on the war.

You support the war? Ok, then tell me what good we are doing other than "getting rid of a dictator who supported the murder and rape of the kurds". You don't support the war? Ok, then tell me more bad we are doing other than "killing our own soldiers while instigating political turmoil." It is good to internalize what is happening over there by reading, firsthand, the experiences of people over there now.

The BBC and Al Jazeera both offer news online that I never see on CNN or Yahoo news. Of course, I expect the news to be slightly skewed (Even BBC)...so that is why the blogosphere has so much to offer. So I urge you to find media alternatives other than the one you use now to formulate better opinions on what is going on in the world. The blog that inspired me to write this is below.

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/

Vagabohemia

2005-05-25T06:06:00.000-04:00

The life of a vagabohemian is one that which is admired and envied. A vagabohemian has no permanent home, except the one that resides in his/her heart. S/he must be at a point in his/her life where s/he can comfortably talk to somebody from another culture without feeling offended, even if the person intentionally tries to offend the vagabohemian. The vagabohemian has a responsibility to not only represent his/her own country, but also represent the growing community of people in the world who are travelling and making an effort to learn another culture by stepping out of the subliminally coveted comfort zone. By disregarding conventional standards of behavior, the vagabohemian stands out of the crowd. S/he makes an effort to speak the native language and participate in local activities (within reason and without renouncing spiritual or ethical interests). Speaking the language is still a high priority even if the vagabohemian is travelling with friends who share the same cultural background as him/her. The vagabohemian also realizes the power and influence of money and is therefore very careful where s/he permits personal cash flow. Living as a vagabohemian captures the essence of the intellectual, artistic and appreciative attitude while not sacrificing thriftful tendencies.

crazy talk tio!

2005-05-16T22:55:00.000-04:00

crazy talk...it's what i say when there's nothing to say. well
there's actually a lot to say, but am overwhelmed with a lot of things
at the moment.

first i feel like my job is pushing me to my limits. i realized today
there seems to be incentive within a certain company (i won't say who)
to cheat the clients out of money. but this is probably true for
every company right? i mean its the cliched "please the stockholders
not the customers" bit. although going public puts more pressure on
the accuracy of a company's internal accounting, some aspects are just
simply not documentable. ethics for one thing cannot be measured or
documented. therefore even going public isn't enough pressure.

i guess another issue is my single status. why is there pressure to
always be with somebody? i tried to go watch a movie by myself the
last night but the couples standing together in line made me think
"great scott...how awkward would this be for me stand in line by
myself twiddling my thumbs?"....and for those who know me, i hardly
find myself in an awkward situation (except when there is a giant
ostrich in the room, i am never sure of how to approach that
situation).

a third thing is my class i am taking. this class is a polar if not
bipolar opposite of what i have learned in college. i go into the
class and there are people who have experience in the field and a
couple of flyboys (and a squid). the military tension in the room can
be cut with a swiss army knife. i am proud of myself for pushing
myself to take the class, but i cant help but think that it may just
another thing pulling me in a direction...hopefully the right one?

the last and probably more serious issue is my recent lack of
incentive. i still have pending undergraduate work that needs to be
finished, but i am finding it difficult to sit down and finish it. i
used to be able to spend hours each evening finishing it, but now i
find it difficult to spend 2 seconds thinking about it. the
difference between then and now is that now it's no longer for a
grade, i already have the grade but its the satisfaction of completing
it and potential publication that should be driving me. but it's not.
what is wrong with me?? if my incentive is wholly dependent on a
grade, then what is going to motivate me to reach my goals in life?

well the trend in my blogs seems to be current event-related so i will
somehow tie all of this to something going on in the news. im not
sure of what to discuss, one thing on my mind is Schapelle's
unfortunate incident. No, not Dave Chapelle who can stay in South
Africa until he gets over his alleged spiritual sabbatical, but Corby
Schapelle, a young model currently being accused of smuggling drugs
into Indonesia and facing life in prison (at one point facing death).
This case has somehow been swept under the rug by American media for
some reason, probably because its more important for the news agencies
to compete over news flings (terry schiavo, pope cliff cravin,
kidnappings) than for them to deliver news on a pretty face Aussie.
The western media that is covering it though is seemingly supportive
of the model more so than Bali. I think it's important for Bali to
make it clear that it will not tolerate drug smuggling, as it's a big
problem over in that area if you kept up with the sequel to the
Bridget Jones Diary. Zero tolerance in government is important on a
macro scale, but on a personal scale i think it is sometimes a
weakness. so anyways, i guess what i'm emphasizing is that its
important to see both sides of this situation. Although Schapelle may
not have pretentiously packed away 10 pounds of weed (in a not so
subtle matter) and flew into one of the major drug capitals in the
world, it's good to appreciate the severity of the situation and take
away something from it: never walk away from your bags at an airport.

i said i would tie this into my personal situation: i am now going to
quit everything and be a model prior to gaining global attention so
that i can get a book published that wouldnt have been published
otherwise. i didnt realize weed was such a pivotal drug.

Viva Palacio

2005-04-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

The only thing that is on my mind right now (besides of course the new pope whose name resembles that of the actor who played "Cheers" character Cliff Craven...Joseph Ratzinger versus John Ratzenberger) is the president of Ecuador. Why a man who has been revered by the IMF for the past year has been ousted by his very own hand-picked legislative branch and abhorred by the educated people is an interesting political anamoly. Gutierrez (pronounced goo-teeyay-reth) is this man. After doing some research into this country I decided not to bore the reader with historical details. Though many do not know that Ecuador is on the dollar after the presidents before him (Mauhuad and Noboa) had pushed for their national currency (sucre) to be replaced by our greenbacks. It seemed to have stabilized things a little bit, but the fluctuation in petroleum prices, El Nino, and the Asian stock crash seemed to have taken a toil on them as well in the early naughts.

But there is one historical fact everyone needs to know...Gutierrez removed government subsidies and funding programs to pay Ecuador's creditors (i.e., the IMF). What is the IMF you ask? The IMF stands for "Incredibly Malignant Foundation" that forces participating third-world governments into whats called an "austerity policy" so that the government can turn its revenues into a payment of debt. The IMF loans them this money that they must pay back in an unfortunate amount later, but whose money is it anyway? It's the nearly 200 member nations' money. Each of these nations have varying amount of votes in IMF's policies...the bigger the economy, the higher the clout. So who has the largest "vote"? What incentive do these member nations have to forgive all debt, or to at least institute a policy to forgive debt if certain conditions are met by the debtors? No incentive whatsoever, because why would America risk cutting subsidies to our own 'troubled' industries (for example, Abercrombie & Fitch, Pop Tarts, and other industries rewarded for existing) to save the poor Ecuadorian his job?

The irony behind this whole situation is that it was the educated middle class that were against Gutierrez and his brown nosing campaigns. Surprisingly his popularity flourished among the poorer, indigenous people (with whom he shares a cultural background).

But I try to see both sides of the situation. What is the other side? That I can live comfortably in my inflated economy and buy name-brand clothing at competitive prices compared to its foreign-made counterparts!

(I get most of my clothes from thrift stores anyways...heaven forbid buying used clothing!)

Testing Post

2005-04-21T08:48:00.000-04:00

This is merely a test post to make sure I can publish a post via email. This is very convenient for those of you who do not take advantage of this!

make love, not spam

2004-12-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

I am a bit torn. I used to see myself as a helper of the little guy, one who always tries to see both sides of the issue and suspend judgement until i know at least 75% of what's going on. but that doesnt cut it nowadays...

sometimes waiting is not an option. if a french terrorist comes down the street wearing an anarchist's-cookbook-designed bomb, aiming all of his potential energy into my direction....am i to go into red alert, or should i go into mannequin mode and think about what a bad childhood he had? And then ponder what political differences exist between us to create a cultural gap large enough to cause us to forget we are all still just human beings?

no, i should pull out my superhero weapon (can't reveal my superhero name nor type of weapon, sorry) and strike him. its survival. perhaps for other people this is not an issue, but for me perhaps its a bit of kitty genovese syndrome...but the semi-opposite.

What if I'm in that situation? Will I choose the blue pill or the red pill, self preservation versus sacrifice, amour de soi versus קרבן (korban)?

I have totally veered off the original subject of this post. Lycos waged war against spammers, by spamming them. Calling it "Make Love, not Spam," the company posted and soon pulled down a downloadable screensaver that allows users like you and me to heavily increase traffic to the websites that spammers advertise, driving up their bandwidth and ultimately the cost to maintain the site.

Is this ethical? Is this fighting fire with fire or is this a vigilante mission against the wrong side? After all, this has cost the companies who pay the spammers, not the spammers themselves.

Consider you and me, who are sometimes forced to change email accounts because we get so much spam and our spam filters are increasingly less effective (or over effective by filtering out important mail...false positives).

Now, consider the companies themselves who are in a tightly competitive market to sell their product. They provide jobs to their non-spammer employees, and they may temporarily hire spammers as cheap publicity actuators. As unbelieveble as it is, "increase your size 1 - 3" seems to be effective enough to sell and respond to a demand in the market.

Challenge yourself to see the other side and do research until you know 75% of what's going on. Don't make assumptions unless waiting harms you. Balance self-preservation and sacrifice. But don't let the french terrorists kill you.

ukrainian election...or russian selection?

2004-12-04T12:27:00.000-05:00

i realized, i had a blog many years ago before "blog" was even a name. it was a "my thoughts of the day" page which of course i updated once a month. it was mainly me whining about what was going on in school.

now that graduation is around the corner i wont be whining about academics, there's plenty of other things to whine about now...such as Ukraine. When we couldnt figure out who the american president would be in 2000, the world freaked out. and now the world focuses its attention on Ukraine (is it "Ukraine" or "the Ukraine"???).

Ukraine itself isnt something to whine about, it's Putin calling our president wanting to be a dictator over international affairs. Here's a message to all the Russians who "want a man like Putin". Do NOT start telling us how to handle Ukraine's affairs when you yourself couldn't handle it 20 years ago.

If Iraq fails, it fails, THEN you can shove your foreign policies down our throats. But that's bloody unlikely since they could hardly handle Afghanistan.

As for the rest of the Russians who disagree with Putin's biased policies and who wish for world peace and tolerance, you are the ones who drive me.

That's enough about the Ukraine, except I think the main irony behind the 2004 election is that everyone was expecting a "Florida" to happen, and the only "Florida" that happened was in Eurasia.

buenos dias, folks

my first blog

2004-12-02T23:03:00.000-05:00

I'm new to this blogging stuff, so I decided to try it out. Originally going for livejournal, so that I could wane my dependence on Google, livejournal gave me this error when I tried to sign up:

www.livejournal.com received a message with incorrect Message Authentication Code. If the error occurs frequently, contact the website administrator.

What does that mean? How do I contact this "website administrator"? Do I need to go on a scavenger hunt for website administrator's contact info?

No...so I went to blogger.