an image of an eye glowing green...

0wn yourself

2005-05-31

yesterday was quite a day wasn't it?

Technology News: Health : Red Cross Apologizes to Thousands Infected by Tainted Blood

so the canadian red cross pled guilty in the case about tainted blood. even back in the eighties and early nineties... just unfathomable.

i sure hope i find something _good_ to write about soon. my condolences to anyone who suffered in this tragedy.

--cid

bad times east of the middle

cnn ran a scary story today.

another pair of suicide bombers, and a recording of a man (possibly al-zarqawi) telling bin laden to give the order to set something in motion, etc, etc.

but my whole thing is, if we're gonna be over there, let's be over there with some PRESENCE. if we're gonna go americanize, er.. i mean provide the iraqi people with a stable, democratic, self-sustaining government), then let's process it already. let's get the bad guys, do what we've got to do, and then GET OUR BOYS HOME!!

and if not, then let's just bring 'em home now.

america has enough problems right here on home soil to be in some compromising position halfway around the globe. if we're going to take care of something over there, then why isn't it happening? why can't we catch these guys?

i mean, we trained them, after all. why should we be having such a hard time finding them now?

honestly, it may be none of our business, the whole palestinian/israeli holy war thing. arguably not our war. but, then israel's our ally, and then whole overblown use of the word terrorism, the bush administration. whatever.

we're over there. now, it's up to us to back our people. and color me crazy, but it doesn't exactly seem as if we've been _regulating_ over there.

the one less than ten and one greater than ten attack was such a dramatic media event because it was on our own territory and because it was the first of its kind, really.

but each of these suicide bombings, each soldier killed or kidnapped should affect us all just as much. we are all mixed up in foreign politics, and dammit we better back our people up.

i'm gonna stop before i really get excited, now, but leave a comment, fire off an email, or go out and do something. 0wn yourself b4 somebody else does it for you.

--cid

mixed feelings

Justices Overturn Andersen

the post has been hitting 'em, lately. enron's back in the spotlight.

the supreme court overturned the 2002 criminal conviction yesterday. and i don't quite know how i feel.

on the one hand corporations have become nearly autonomous juggernauts of evil, machines controlled be the 'elite' few who hold the reigns. i think there is a lot of corruption in the corporate world, and i think that corruption has spread to influence parts of the government. but, on the other hand....

from what i've read, only about two hundred of something like twenty-eight thousand enron employees still have their jobs. and it's not their fault. it's not their fault that a few of the high-ups were doing stupid stuff, weren't quite slick enough, and now what?

the idea of a corporation was developed as a means of protecting the people involved. i understand why that's a good thing, but don't you think that definition has been taken and stretched to mean something completely different than it was intended?

modern corporations have thousands of people's lives in their hands, affect the lives of millions through their products and services (in good and bad ways), wield budgets on par with _countries_, and shield their owners from liability.

consumers have the real power (money), but usually don't realize it, or can't agree. we, as citizens, need to be more aware of our environment, and i think we need more of the attitude of 'not taking no for an answer'.

i mean, big business is just gonna keep bullying us around and around until we stand up for ourselves and tell them how we want it to be.

get your money's worth, you know?

--cid

0wn yourself

*nix to go

qualcomm recently announced that they'd be adding linux support to their mobile chipset line. if you're anything like me, you're screaming for joy (on the inside) now that you know.

for two reasons. one, that's good for *nix. getting more distros and utilizations out there. and two, it's good for cdma.

for those of you who might not know, qualcomm owns most of the technology that cdma is based on, and they're the largest maker of cdma chipsets, so most cdma handset manufacturers are licensing the technology from qualcomm.

i think nokia had to be stubborn and came up with their own chipset, correct me if i'm wrong. pretty much every other player i know of gets their cdma chips from the qual.

some people disagree with me on this point, but i am a strong believer in cdma. it just plain works better, imo. especially wideband cdma. that stuff'll work just about anywhere (but the spectrum's already been chopped up and divvied out in most places...). public spectrum, i might add.

anyway, i'm stoked to see what cool new toys will be coming out soon with the kernel under the hood.

--cid

0wn yourself...

workyournet theAdmin
crimson51L\/3R crimsonSILVER

'deep throat' was felt--heh heh heh.... you said felt... huh huh

Washington Post Confirms Felt Was 'Deep Throat'

well, according to the washington post, the identity of 'deep throat', the informant that snitched on nixon and co during the whole watergate thing, was none other than w. mark felt, who used to be a high up at the federal bureau of investigation.

you can read up on it at much better places than this, but if you didn't know, now you do.

plus, i just wanted to be able to write the words 'deep throat' for a valid reason.

--cid

0wn yourself

the twenty million dollar vacation....

Technology News: Space: Entrepreneur's Trip to Space Back On

well, it looks like greg olsen's twenty million dollar space flight is back on schedule. for awhile, it looked as though health concerns would stop olsen from his goal of being the first space tourist.

but now, it seems he's been given a clean bill of health and has resumed his training.

personally, i'm rooting for him. if i get my way, i'll be the first person to retire in orbit--float around, listen to tunes, grow some ganj, and watch the sunrise like every ninety minutes.

doesn't sound bad to me...

--cid

that's some planet, huh? or maybe it just says something about the quality of stars in their neighborhood...

Role Reversal: Planet Controls a Star

all right, i've been meaning to post something about this for a while, now. space.com covered it, and i'll bet you could dig up something at nasa.

in a unique discovery, made possible by the special equipment and procedures at canada's most space telescope, astronomers realised that in a particular system, tau bootis, an enormous planet has actually locked it's parent star, gravitationally speaking, of course.

i don't think they quite understand why it happened the way it did, but the scientists compared the movement to the way the moon turns just slowly enough so that the light side always faces earth.

i guess it just goes to show how much more we've got to learn about our universe.

--cid

glowing runes? ancient texts? we'll see soon enough...

Technology News: Science : Particle Accelerator Used To Decipher Text

so, apparently, in the middle ages, some christian monk re-used a tablet which happened to have some of archimedes work written on it.

some of the guys at stanford are using a particle accelerator to read the previously incaccessible text. i guess how it works is the accelerator is used to focus a beam of x-rays at the tablet, which in turn excites the iron used in the ink.

from what i've read, this procedure actually makes the writing appear to glow, rendering it readable, even through the layer written over it, like secret elvish x-ray runes, or something.

cool, huh?

2005-05-30

here we go again--national id's suck

HP Announces New National Identity System Solution Built on Microsoft .NET Platform

we keep edging ever closer to a precipice. not really a new danger, but new in the us.

a national id system poses a threat for three major reasons. one, it takes more power away from state governments and deposits it right into the lap of the federal government. two, in order to properly run a national id system, there would have to be a centralized database with information on everybody (which creates a definite set of problems on its own). and thirdly, a national id system is just one more precedent for stripping the rights that our country was built on.

whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? some of you may question what this has to do with a national id system, but it effectively takes your us citizenship and transfigures it into a number. no longer a person. just a number.

and there's no clear solution. the overall system became very dependent on one's social security number (and i might add that was _never_ the intended purpose of social security) until people realized how easy identity theft became by having easy access to a number which identifies you, so then people started hiding their ss numbers. licenses began to have a separate unique number to identify you.

but that just means there's a different number to steal (or another number to protect, depending upon where you're standing). there's no real protection method, because we are _forced_ to comply with the system.

adding a physical card with biometric identification markers embedded may solve the problem of proving you are who you say you are, but it opens up several other (more terrifying) worlds of possibility.

namely, the databases that will be needed to run these things. it puts us all squarely into an easily searchable archive of american history. which sounds a lot less threatening than the reality of the situation will be.

one, centralized easy-to-data-mine source. and the feds get first crack at it. kinda defeats the whole checks and balances thing, huh?

but don't you worry (can you taste the sarcasm?) even taking for granted all the individual government workers which will gain access (whether authorized or not) to this massive data warehouse, corporate databases will certainly rival (and even feed off) the federal database, opening a plethora of other opportunities for the sensitive personal data of citizens to be leaked out into channels where they were never intended to go.

and we're gonna put up with all this nonsense for what? security? they're doing this in the name stopping terrorism, after all. do you really think that this will make you _more_ secure?

if you do, i urge you to go out with an open mind and read up on some different points of view. bruce schneier wrote some some good articles on the matter. as always, you can find an overflowing spring of info at google, as well as the eff.

and if you do realize what's wrong with our current predicament, say something. do something. tell somebody. write a letter, make a phone call, fire off and email, write a blog, protest, be active, MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

it's up to us.

--cid

making biodiesel from algae? cool.

news.com (and what's up with that .com.com thing, anyway?) and slashdot are talking about it. you can read more about it here. you can also find a plethora of other sources on google.

the oil companies fear it. but it is a must. the future. the only inevitable conclusion as to the sane path of existance for a sentient, expanding, nonsuicidal race and or species.

i'm talking (and by talking, what i really mean is _writing_) about clean(er) power. we can't ignore that we are damaging our own planet with various pollutions. whether or not it's gonna catch up with us within our lifetime is irrelevant. we're still poisoning our planet, and it's eventually going to have repercussions that _somebody_ is going to have to deal with--be it our kids or our kids' kids or whatever.

the continued profits of the oil companies is not a good enough reason to ignore the need for clean power. we already have several promising leads and ideas we already have. between biodiesel, hydropower (in its various incarnations), wind turbines, solar, fuel cell methods and nuclear reactors, the future of cleaner power seems bright at a glance.

i say cleaner because that's just what it is. cleaner. even things like solar power (which eventually renders useless solar panels) and windfarms (which take up space and create visual pollution) have certain drawbacks, certain _costs_.

but in this writer's less than humble opinion, the costs levied by several of these methods, combined with the cost of migrating from current methods, are far outweighed by the benefits we (the human race) would receive in the long run.

bottom line is someone's gonna have to do it, or it'll never get done. and even taking the long timeline, i don't want my descendents cursing my generation for what _we_ allowed to happen to their planet.

i don't drive an electric car (but i _do_ carpool, walk a lot of places, etc.) because the benefits do not outweigh the consequences. in other words, the benefit our planet would receive from me not using my car aren't enough to make it worth it to me for the changes required on my part. and i think that holds true for many of us. but maybe it shouldn't.

i simply don't have the means for an equivalent method of transportation. but if i did, i would certainly take it. if i gave up my car, it would be out of principle. the impact the lack of my one car would have on the ecosystem is practically zero, but the harm it would cause my lifestyle is not practically zero. as an american consumer, i don't have viable alternatives.

i mean i could trade the old caddy in for one of those hybrid combustion electric combination vehicles, but that's a limited effect, much like walking rather than driving when the weather's nice, or taking a carpool or public trans like the bus or train. it's not truly a solution.

even electric train systems, which in and of themselves don't produce that much toxicity, still require power, much of which comes from coal and oil.

now, earlier i mentioned nuclear as being cleaner. some of you may disagree with me on this point. i declare nuclear power as being cleaner on the grounds that while it does produce toxic waste material, that waste is in our control, rather than being sprayed incessantly into the atmosphere or dripped into our water supply.

with proper safeguards, handling, and storage facilities, nuclear waste could be contained on an indefinate basis, either on planet or off. and a nuclear reactor makes _so much_ power.

but, it certainly scares a lot of people, too.

the oil companies are finally starting to consider forward thinking a threat. in the past, every time clean power has challenged current practices, there's always been a way to shift public attention, downplay the significance, or otherwise obscure the issues. any problems they can't downplay, they just throw money at.

they've made it seem like pollution isn't our problem. and i guess we could probably treat it as such, with no immediate consequences, but is that really what we want to do? just pretend it's not happening, because it's not gonna kill us?

that seems pretty selfish.

2005-05-28

what a frightening though....

this chick's having a bad day

talk about your worst nightmare. see kids? that's why you should never give out n00die pics--and don't date psychos, eh?

--cid

puttin' on the foil, eh?

wish i could've seen _that_ firsthand

CIA Overseeing 3-Day War Game on Internet
CIA's Internet War Exercise Wraps Up Today

i wonder how this thing worked out, really. definitely a good idea, and as long as they're serious about it, i think it could bring about some positive changes.

but who knows. they may find some grandiose way to stamp out any usefulness or education. like always, we've just got to keep our eyes and ears open.

--cid

2005-05-27

gettin' h i g h at the m a l l, d00d

CBS4 Denver: Pot Patch Pops Up Among The Tulips

somehow, i doubt anybody purposefully planted the offending plants there in the flowerbed. it seems far more likely that someone was just out there somking a bowl by the tulips, tossed their seeds on the ground, and mother nature took it's course.

but it's still pretty funny, though.

--cid

0wn yourself

a quick and fun home project to stop the government satellite for beaming rays down at you...

Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie

for the truly paranoid, they've now got plans to make your own 'deflector beanie'. *shrugs*

can't do any harm, i guess. but how do you know that THEY didn't tamper with your foil before you got it?

aha!! gotcha!

internet radio -- 1N73RN37 R4D10

i dunno if you're like me, or not. but if you are, you prolly get just as sick as i do of all the crap they play on commercial tv and radio stations, these days. now, don't get me wrong, i don't think that everything that comes out of the mainstream media is crap--just most of it.

between the mpaa, the riaa, and companies like clearchannel and time warner you don't end up with a whole lot of choices. i don't know how many times i've changed channels in the car to avoid some crappy boy-band pop song in the rotations, only to find the _same_ song playing on a different channel. whatever happened to variety being the spice of life, eh?

i guess we're okay with being bland.

but not, anymore. i don't care who you are, or what you're into, there are literally thousands of internet radio and tv shows out there, on virtually anything you're into. and they're usually free. that's right free.

go read up on it. the whole thing almost blew up, back in 2002. the people revolted, got together and congress actually _listened_. now, granted, they didn't really fix the problem, just threw us a bone, but it proves that we got their attention. and it proves that groups of like-minded, motivated people _can_ accomplish something. we've still got a long way to go before this fight is won, but the point is, we're still out here.

and all that aside, there are plenty of internet radio shows which play indie music (and don't have to worry about the riaa) or compensate the artists in different forms. there are many independent artists who release their own music, often for free on the internet. go check out zearle.com. or go google for independent music donwloads, etc.

and that's just music. there's also an amazing amount of great talk radio, also available for free, on any topic you can think of. and it's so easy to set up.

got something on your mind? go start your own broadcast station. free software is available. people's eyes are starting to open. we know that we can burn a cd for a few cents. we know that artists aren't being compensated properly. and we know that illegal music downloads aren't the major reason why artists aren't getting compensated properly.

there is a whole bloated industry in between the artists and the consumers, no longer really necessary, aware of this fact, and fighting tooth and nail to keep their cozy little niche. we don't need someone to tell us who to like. we don't need someone picking out the rotation lists that stations are ONLY allowed to play (because they're all owned by the same damn company). we know that cd's don't cost seventeen dollars to make (unless you figure in the executives' summerhouse in maui as a part of the cost of production). we know we don't like digital rights management being forced into the media we buy. we know there are better solutions. we know.

and soon, the public will realize it, too.

it's all about having choices. capitalism is all about having choices, and when all the choices are coming from the same few sources, it's not really much of a choice at all, is it?

so get out there and support your local bands. check out independent labels and artists. tell the recording industry what you think about what they're doing. check out internet radio. get your own ideas out there. do something.

resources.....

alternative tentacles--jello biafra's label
prometheus radio
off the hook
binary revolution radio
or just click here
phreak phactor
ipodder podcast site
geek love radio
default radio
rantradio
google--you can find a free radio broadcast on whatever YOU are interested in

--cidViscous

all we have to do is start buying us goods again....

CNN.com - China to increase export tariffs - May 19, 2005

you know, i think this is a problem we (as americans) could fix ourselves if we would simply do it. all we'd have to do is start buying only american goods and just let the ridiculously better priced chinese goods just rot on the shelf. but the problem is, it's like a boycott--in order to get the superpowers to listen, everybody has to be pretty much unanimous on the matter.

if we simply don't buy from china, or taiwan, or any country that's not the us, all that money will stay here (and prices might even start to go back down in a little while), first of all. and secondly, china would have to pay attention, at least.

*shrugs*

i dunno, i guess the world's problems aren't gonna be solved in a day, and who could blame china, anyway? we've just gotta take care of things on our end. kind of a lose-lose situation, you know?

lemme know what'cha think.....

--cid

2005-05-22

thanks, go0gle. it's good to see you, too.

go0gle

well, as some of you may know, this site recently got thwacked by google. i was _pretty_ sure it was because of my careless use of a stupid meta tag made by this stupid meta tag generator that i was all excited about. but i realized the error, rectified it, and my suspicions have pretty much been confirmed b/c i'm actually being _indexed_, as opposed to just listed.

*shrugs*

anyway, i hope that was it, because my pagerank's probably bad enough without being penalized for keyword spamming (even though it was inadvertant).

very curious stuff. definitely interesting to watch the trends in the search rankings and try to figure out _how_ they're calculating it and _why_ it changes. but right now, at least, the g-word seems to 0wn the web.

oh, well. for a corporation, they seem pretty benign. gotta say, they still seem to be staying true to what they've always been about. not the perfect portal, but they sure get around...

--cid

2005-05-21

TEXTFILES.COM: The Collection

www.textfiles.com

so, i just wanted to give more shouts to jason scott for his extra-sweet site--textfiles.com and all the subdomains it contains. great stuff, dude, and keep it up, get it out there.

http://pdf.textfiles.com
http://audio.textfiles.com
http://www.textfiles.com
http://torrent.textfiles.com

and more. go listen to rfa 99, and go check out textfiles.

--cid

2005-05-20

Qworst telco - by meme--if you hate your telco, or you love humorous spoofing and satire

Qworst telco - by meme

freakin' hillarious. and phreakin' hillarious, too, i s'pose.
*shrugs*

check out the whole gallery at oldskoolphreak.

--cid

0wn yourself

cool sms search...

0wn yourself

haven't tried it yet, but 4info.net has some info for another sms search site. google's been at it for awhile, even though it's still in beta (heh, so's gmail). i haven't got to try this one, yet, so i can't offer much of an opinion. i just stumbled across it on howard forums. lemme know what you think.

--cid

aikido. the perfect style?

cidViscous

okay, so i promised you guys some hot aikido action, so here we go. enjoy...

aikido is what's known as a 'soft style'. soft as opposed to a hard style like

karate, tae kwon do, or kickboxing, to name a few. there's probably a few soft

styles you're already familiar with, but maybe just didn't know what they were

called. soft styles include jui-jutsu, tai chi, and chi kung (qi gong).

the ideas behind aikido can best be understood by thinking about an opponent

facing you. okay, let's say he tries to punch you. a typical karate defense

would involve blocking the advance forcefully, with a powerful strike of your

own.

by comparison, a typical aikido strategy would be to apply your counter in a

curving arc that blends with the attacker's momentum, changing the direction of

movement.

since it's easier to change the trajectory of an object in motion than it is to

stop a moving object. the physics are sound.

once you can take control of your opponent's movements, you can direct him or

her into a 'circuit of neutralization', which is basically a joint lock. or

you can simply let go (in which case he or she will simply careen off in

whatever direction their movement is carrying them).

aikido was developed by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) after a rough childhood.

his father was beaten, for political reasons. o-sensei, as aikidoka (

practicioners of aikido) call him, witnessed this as a boy.

he decided then that he wanted to be strong enough to protect himself, and to

take revenge on his father's enemies. he began to study martial arts (various

forms of jujitsu, among other things, as well as fencing, staff, and possibly

spear techniques).

somewhere along the way, o-sensei also began to get into several philosophical

and religious ideologies. slowly, his desire for revenge got lost in his

obsession with perfecting his new art.

literally, aikido translates as harmony (ai), energy (ki--also qi or chi), and

the way (do). i've also heard it interpreted as 'the way of unity with the

fundamental force of the universe,' and 'the art of peace'.

aikido differs from most other styles in that it has very few direct attacks.

some schools don't teach _any_. instead, aikidoka are encouraged to develop a

strong sense of their centre. aikido techniques are non-resistant, fluid, and

utterly davastating.

aikido works smarter, not harder, in the respect that it's a lot easier (from a

physics standpoint) to control the motions of others while allowing their own

momentum to move them, than it is to try and physically control their body

position and movement through your own strength.

maintaining such a conscious mentality of the centre also helps to sustain a

central awareness, lending aikido's usefulness in a multi-opponent situation.

simply by rerouting attacks away from their original direction, a skilled

aikidoka can control the fight, essentially controlling the order of attacks.

bodies out of control (but in the control of the aikidoka) can collide, causing

further disadvantage to the attacking party.

in a one on one environment, fierce joint locks, known as circuits of

neutralization' can be applied from virtually any angle. performed properly,

the techniques cause no permanent, serious harm. after all, if one can control

all the attacks of his enemy, and subdue him when necessary, what's the point

of physically harming him? to do so would be irresponsible.

but control is essential in aikido. it is a very dynamic, fluid art. just a

minor mistake could cause irreversible damage to an opponent. aikido, like

anything, takes an enormous amount of practice. the techniques have to become

first nature--automatic.

aikido helps you to expand and hone your senses, your _awareness_. it also

develops kinaesthetics (the ability to control your motor skills based on

tactile response) to a very high degree. and, like any other skillset which

requires much practice, the hours spent and all the hardships endured helps to

create a sense of confidence and build character.

ki.

let me just take a moment to talk about ki (also qi and chi), often described

as internal power. many people disagree as to what ki actually _is_. some say

it is a fundamental force of the universe (use the force, luke?) flowing

through everything, some think of it more as a state or condition of events,

the right thing, if you will. some circles of science refer to ki as kinetic

linking. i've even heard it called 'soul'.

personally, my beliefs lean more toward the right thing (for more about 'the

right thing' read up on the mit tmrc hackers in the '60's) ideology. athletes

call it the 'zone'. zen masters call it 'no mind'.

ki is that perfect way of doing something (anything) that works just right,

just being 'on-point'. and aikido only works when energized with ki.

the techniques require you to be loose and fluid, yet still controlled, not

haphazard. that's again why kinaesthetics take such a big role.

aikido is a very recent art, in the scheme of things, but it is basically the

culmination of centuries worth of japanese martial knowledge, and in japan, is

treated as such. here in the states, however, it has not received the

attention of many traditional styles, therefore it may be difficult for you to

find a school that teaches aikido, but there are plenty of good books out

there, some good resources on the web, and i'll warrant some like-minded

individuals in your neighborhood, just use your head about it.

i'll be posting more when i can (actually, this is a rewrite--my first copy got

wiped out, so this one may not be complete) but rest assured, this won't be the

last. in the mean time, here's a short list of online resources...

have fun....

aikido wiki
aikido.com
aikiweb
aikido online
aikido today magazine
akikai

more as it develops. aikido may not be the perfect style, but it's pretty close...

--cid

2005-05-19

ack! firefox just ate my post!

ACK!! firefox just crashed and it took my huge, long intro aikido post with it. curses!

i even took the precaution of copying it all to the clipboard (or so i thought) just in case something like this happens. i just don't understand. *sobs*

we are at war. with ourselves. with time. and with mathematics.

U.S. National Debt Clock

america is sick. perhaps sicker than we've been in a long time. pressures are building. and i don't think that we, as citizens, are conscious enough of this on the whole.

we're at war, officially, yet everyday life goes on as normal. the general state of mind is _not_ at war. we still go to work, go to the gym, drink our coffees and chais. people small talk and watch tv. new movies and music and games are always there to entertain and distract us. but war isn't on our minds.

we see the little yellow ribbon magnets admonishing us to 'support our troops', but it seems to have become almost a fashionable icon (much like the plethora of flags after nine eleven).

now, granted, these are some pretty broad generalizations, and i know that not everybody out there is numb to our state of affairs, but honestly look around yourself, watch people on the street, or just watch a little tv, and i think you'll agree that the general focus of the average american mindset is not that of someone who is at war. just because you're not a soldier, doesn't mean that _your_ country isn't at war.

in the past, americans have had a strong voice in the matter, one way or another. whether protesting for their beliefs (that what we were doing was wrong) or rationing, volunteering (actually volunteering, not talking about the draft, here), and building things in factories, american's have always been _involved_ with the wars we were involved in. we were _doing_ something, not simply slapping a sticker on our suv's to declare our support.

in the first gulf war, the country was gripped with a somber anxiousness--no one rationed or volunteered because it wasn't necessaryl we had it in hand, but the country paid _attention_. we waited. we thought. we talked.

this time around, it seems like people are simply trying to forget. but this apathy will carry it's own consequences--and they are striking much closer to home than you think.

new laws are set into action all the time. freedoms are taken away 'for our protection.' the 'war on terror' sounds like a nice idea. hey, everybody, let's get together and stop terror for good. but it's not that simple.

if we allow our rights and liberties to be taken away to protect us from terrorists, then the terrorists have WON! and i don't think enough people see that. we can't live in fear because that's not what living is about. it's not what our _country_ is about. pretending that everything is okay, or remaining ignorant to what's happening will solve nothing. and it is most definately not 'supporting our troops'.

each time we allow a freedom to be taken from us, we add strength to the ability of leaders to delve deeper into the bill of rights. it's crazy. things that were perfectly legal ten years ago are felonies now. our prison system is crowded with drug related criminals while corporations (american businesses who are supposed to be strengthening and propelling the economy) are outsourcing jobs to save money and moving headquarters out of the country to save taxes.

the government owes so much that they are quickly about to lose control of the matter, yet we continue to overextend ourselves year after year after year. the national debt is approximately $7.7 billion at the time of this post, and it's estimated that we sink something like one point six eight billion further each day. and this trend has been more or less accurate (according to what i've been able to find) since a few weeks after 9/11.

the war on terror is not going to be won by making new laws. the war on terror is not going to be won by forcing national ids. the war on terror will not be won with databases and biometics. it will not be won with embargoes.

we have real enemies out there. people who genuinely want to hurt or destroy our country. and many of them are willing to go any length to accomplish their goals. but what we often don't think about is why. many of our enemies hate americans less for their beliefs and ideologies and more for the things which our country carries our in our name.

the public needs to wake up.

the only thing that's gonna change this is us demanding change. our country is broken and it's up to us to fix it. forget social security--the ss system's going to collapse and there won't be enough money to pay us what they owe, but if we don't correct the underlying economic problems, our ECONOMY will collapse! and then social security won't mean anything anyway.

the national debt is increasing. we need to find effective ways to make it decrease. big companies are taking large parts of themselves out of the country. new laws threaten the very liberty on which our country was conceived, founded and fought for. our government is supporting other countries, and while i agree that when you can, you should always help your neighbor, but right now we need to be helping ourselves.

nothing is made in the us anymore, and most factories can't compete with imported prices, but we can't up the import tariffs (which would help us manufacturers, and consequently create more jobs in certain fields) because of the delicate balances and agreements we are tied up in with many of these countries. i mean, if you think about it, china actually owns a share of our country.

and many of the hispanic labourers are sending a large portion of their earnings home to help their families. a noble cause, to be sure (and i'm all for coming to america to make a better life), but when you add it up, that's a _lot_ of money, just flowing right on out of the country.

it seems to me, the only way we are going to pull out of this situation is to evolve. america has to shift to a new paradigm. we have to grow and expand, leaving certain fears and methods behind--but i cannot stress enough that our freedoms and rights should not be included in the parts we abandoned. we need to foster creativity and drive back into our culture. we need to curious and involved and active. and above all we must be aware.

it is up to us to know what's going on. we need to pay attention to what our government is involved in, both abroad and right here on home soil. and when they try to put something past us that doesn't quite fly, we need to REACT! we need to speak our minds and make our voices heard. that's the only way we will survive.

the government was put in place, by our forefathers, to serve and protect us. the checks and balances were put there to hinder the government from serving itself. but they are not a magic bullet. it is the duty of every american citizen to experience the world around him or her.

and when a part of the government steps out of line, you'd better belive that it's our duty to set them straight. there are various means and avenues we have available to us for these purposes--some are more appropriate to certain situations than others.

for instance public airwaves. we have the right, as american citizens, to listen to public airspace (for obvious reasons--monitoring the monitors). there are restrictions on what you are allowed to listen to (also for obvious reasons--military secrets, privacy of peoples conversations...). but slowly, the public airspace is being sold to corporations. new laws are coming out making it much hazier to determine what is okay to listen to. and many institutions, while not actually forbidding people to listen, are simply moving to new digital and encrypted systems so that one can't listen anyway.

new laws governing ids and airports and train stations. besides the fact that creating a national id is unconstitutional at best, and sporting a really bad track record at worst (eastern europe? hello?), it still doesn't really solve anything. just for an case in point example, all the terrorists recovered in 9/11 were carrying legitimate us ids. and say what you will, but even if each state still gets to make its own ids, forcing them to comply with a set of standards of included personal data (especially biometric data) MAKES it into a national id system. period. i don't know about you, but i don't wanna have to show my id to cross the state line when i'm driving home to see my family.

scariest of all is the usa patriot act, which basically lets the government hold someone, without charging them, indefinately. i guess you just dissappear or something.

and if you haven't heard about calea, either, i'd recommend a quick google on the matter. it puts the old 'mission impossible' hang-up-the-phone-quick-so-they-can't-trace-you theory to a quick and uneasy rest.

open records and open meetings. public records are often overlooked or ignored. there is a LOT of good information out there, publically accessible, just sitting there for the taking. but a lot of it is obscure, poorly documented and just plain hard to find. we need to dig into these resources. go to your library and local government buildings. snoop around on more government websites. it's public info, dig into it.

we also have the right (at least for now) to form militias and bear arms. is this in case the military fails and we end up with another conflict on our own soil? partly, but it's also so we can defend ourselves from our own government if need be. god forbid we should ever need to, but it's vitally important that we remember why we have these rights and why it's so essential that we fight viciously to protect them.

i said it before and i'll say it again--the only way we're gonna win this (and by this, i mean our continued existence as we know it) is to be better. we need to be smarter, more determined, more informed, more aware and more active than we have been lately (and by lately i mean the last two or three decades).

we need to make it known to the government what our will is and make sure we keep a close eye on them. change is not going to happen over night and it will not be a painless process.

but it is necessary. we cannot continue on the path we are on. it is the same path that orwell saw. it leads to damnation.

there are a lot of hungry counties out there with the will that we don't seem to have, and it's not going to take them more than an instant to strike when the opportunity presents itself. we have to break the curve and become good at something again.

the country needs to overcome its collective lethargy and accomplish something. we need to take our high powered microscope and point it at our own system. we need to overcome our fear and explore ourselves. we need to find our own weaknesses and problems and fix them before someone else finds them.

it's time for an upgrade. the war on terror will be won when every american is so aware, so fortified with knowledge and bonded together with unity that no terrorist will be able to slip through the cracks to exploit us. we will be united in harmonic fluidity and simultaneously poised to react to whatever new challenges these changing times bring.

what can you do? bond with each other. become involved with your friends. be open. be friendly to people you meet (but be _aware_). know your environment. become intimately familiar with your surroundings. know your neighbors and your coworkers and the workers at the places you support with your patronage. learn new things. always be curious--always ask why. make your opinions known. if you have something to say, say it. write a blog, write a letter, make a phone call, protest, get your voice OUT THERE! when there's a new law coming up that you disagree with, tell your congressmen. buy from small and independent dealerships. write letters to these corporations explaining how you feel about the things they do. help somebody you know (do nice things for people). and once again learn.

that's the most important thing i can say to you. if you do nothing else, keep your eyes open and learn. learn something new everyday. 'cause you never know...

--cid

2005-05-18

0wn yourself

0wn yourself

no time right now, just wanted to say that slashdot's running some interesting stuff today, including space deployable weapons and virtual honeypot networks out in the seedier, 'high risk' parts of the web, just trying to get exploited. i guess the hopes are that they'll be able to flush out newly found security holes in windows. actually, it sounds like a pretty good idea. i'll read up on it and post some more later...

2005-05-17

here's 0ne for you, go0gle....

the links (lynx) page

the chieftain of all the engines of search, the google, has not shown favour to the cid. and the google's second, the yahoo! did once, in times long past, hold the cid with the highest regards. but, alas, the tables did change and lo, the cid is not to be found in the esteemed index of yahoo.

and so here we are today. posting one for the bots out there. robots, feel free to index this page. here's all the keywords _in_ the body. bla-dow!!

this site is about cid, think(ing), learn(ing), exploration (explore/exploring), art (graphic, animated/animation, pen and ink, sculpture, 3d computer rendered imaging, musical art, creative writing, etc.), computer(s), music, networks, government, free, speech, freespeech, phone, telephony, urban, rural, third, seventh, first, fun, phun, 0wn, martial, aikido, bar, open, source, blog, news, freedom, exploration, hacking, phile(s), current trends, change and a host of other topics.

once again, thats....

cid, think(ing), learn(ing), exploration (explore/exploring), art (graphic, animated/animation, pen and ink, sculpture, 3d computer rendered imaging, musical art, creative writing, etc.), computer(s), music, networks, government, free, speech, freespeech, phone, telephony, urban, rural, third, seventh, first, fun, phun, 0wn, martial, aikido, bar, open, source, blog, news, freedom, exploration, hacking, phile(s), current trends, change and a host of other topics.

...but not necessarily in that order. or any order for that matter. so index away, my scripted robotic cyber-cartography keyholders of the internet, index away....

--cidViscous (that's cid)

and this one, too!

2005-05-13

forrests are in danger for their trees

CoA4WDCI News - Colorado Fight Roadless: "
"
this could be bad times for forrests. d'oh! when i suggested new research into clean power, i never thought it would involve the chance to ruin a protected reserve of natural environments.

dunno what's gonna happen.... crazy times we're living in.

make your voice known.

--cid

googlebot, where are you ? ? ?

0pen your mind

googlebot? goooglebot?! gooooooooooooooooooooooooglebot?!?

so, i guess this site's just not google's not indexing my site properly. i show up with the certain keywords, but just the url--none of the content is indexed, and there are no snippets. (therefore no related, no similar, and only one link showing, though i know there are others...)

no idea why, but it's starting to get old. yahoo's listing me like a champ. i dunno if the g-site just wasn't impressed, or if it's the few-month 'probation period' new sites are s'posed to be held under. (i've had this site inconsistently for several months, now, but it's only recently been linked to and crawled.)

more as i uncover it...

--cid

2005-05-12

well, this is scary...

CNN.com - Bush asked to explain UK war memo - May 12, 2005

minitruth? hello? anybody? the _ministry_?! *shrugs* just keep your eyes open, people...

--cid

ixnay on the i-eff-i-dee-ray

0pen your mind

this site called rfidjournal published this article about the possibility of dvd players which would only play discs tagged with the ok seal. two major problems with this scenario spring readily to my mind--for one, what about home videos and stuff you copy off tv or indy dvds (none of which will be tagged), and two, this method of 'protection' once again eliminates the ability of the consumer to back up his or her legally purchased media.

and i think as consumers, we are becoming numb to this. fair use doesn't mean what it used to anymore. hell, it doesn't seem to mean much of anything, anymore. we need to stand up before it's too late. DON'T BUY DRM-RESTRICTED MUSIC AND MOVIES (and don't forget that there are exceptions to every rule--you have to make up your own mind).

if you've got anything to say, get it off your chest.

--cid

talk about a bad day....

how'd you like to get picked up by air force fighter jets? i'll bet these guys will think twice before flying without paying the old cartographer's tax, next time, no?

2005-05-10

0wn yourself

not much going today. just doing some reading. looking for something good to read? check out phrack, 2600, how stuff works, google, cnet, wikipedia, or the audiophile's lair. oh, and the classic--textfiles.com.

or if you're feeling creative, go paint a picture, make your own blog or webpage.

you only get one life.

--cid

2005-05-09

what _will_ those crazy kids over at mit think of next?

here's an interesting little spot over at mit i just stubled onto. personally, i've always liked the whole pan (personal area network) idea, but it's gotta be implemented just right.

these guys seem to have some good ideas on the matter. modular designs have always been my favourite (in most cases that statement holds true...), simply because of the versatility they often provide. i like being able to mix and match for different purposes and occaisions (and personality types).

i'm just glad somebody's getting stuff like this out there. systems integration could be so much more than it is. better technologies are being ignored because of cost.

*shrugs*

well, at least it's not all bad, out there. shouts to the mit hacker kids (and all you hackers, tinkerers and explorers out there). keep up the good work.

--cid

2005-05-08

2005-05-07

window to the Future ? ? ?

Find a Property - window 0n the future

cool new appliances that talk to each other. spooky.

--cid

2005-05-06

christians, scientologists, and republicans, oh my!

technology news: science: kansas board of education begins evolution hearings

okay, this really bothers me. not because i believe one side is right and the other is wrong. i think they're both wrong...

whether evolution happened the way the scientific community says, or whether the creation theory happened exactly as the christian right says, both are moot points because we _can't prove it_. period.

no matter how convincing the imperical evidence or how strong your religious convictions, there's still no way to prove it. nobody's been around that long. not even close.

and now they're taking sides over it. more precedents. innocent school kids are being caught up in the middle of this crap and now it looks like church and state can't keep separated again.

i say church and state, because in this instance, the scientific community (or at least the loud majority) are behaving the way a religious movement would--there's still no proof, yet there's a raging debate over who's right and which material will be taught as law.

the message we need to be sending to our kids is the opposite. we need to make sure they know to keep an open mind, to explore and learn things for themselves, to make up their own picture of the world.

getting caught up in the norm, or taking what's spoonfed to you as absolute truth can be a very dangerous disposition...

--cid

apple let's the tiger out

so, apple finally release it's new version of osx, tiger, and appleheads everywhere rejoice. s'posed to have two hundred new widget features or something to that effect. personally, i've never had the pleasure, but i've heard some pretty good things about apple's unix-based platform.

i'm curious to hear how ppl like the newest rollout, because they say it's revolutionary in more than one way. slashdot had a thread going that mentioned apple replaced cron with their own module. i've actually heard that a few traditional objects native (and usually essential in one form or another) to *nix environments.

just idle curiosity, i guess, but one of these days i'll get to get down and dirty with one. 'til then.

--cid

oh, i almost forgot. did you hear that apple's also suing the thinksecret guy. nick something or other. those die-hard mac nerds are some of apple's biggest fans (not to mention word of mouth advertisers...) talk about stupid pr moves. anyway.... what do i know?

2005-05-05

three years...

cid Viscous 0wns the world

k. turns out i wasn't quite reading it correctly after all. you have to make some kind of attempt to use the device. but that's still pretty shaky ground. it could easily degenerate into a dangerous sinkhole of heresay and lawsuits. i dunno. somehow, i kinda feel better about the whole thing, now, though...

--cid

2005-05-03

say goodbye to big blue's little boxes forever

cid Viscous 0wns the world

lenovo has announced the finalization of their purchase of ibm's personal computer business. it's hard to keep up with warehouse direct manufacturers like dell. even gateway seems to be doing all right, these days.

it's interesting to watch the previous classifications we've mentally (and verbally) put on our devices rearranging and collapsing. my cell phone has several times the computing power of my first home computer. now, your phone can be a web browser, irc and im client, camera, speakerphone, voice recorder, organizer, walkie-talkie, mass storage device, business card dispenser (electronic, of course), video camera, mp3 player (not to mention .ogg, .aac, .wav, .wma, .flac, etc.), mobile movie player, notepad, alarm clock, email client, radio, portable cable tv, portable video game unit, gps receiver (sort of), even a credit card if you live in japan or south korea. it's just amazing how far it's come.

so, what are we to call this magical new all-in-one communications-organization-storage-media-entertainment-navigation device, since it's clearly much, much more than a simple cell phone? it allows us to extend our consciousness and connect it to other places, and enhance what we can retain in memory. most of us who carry one probably wouldn't be lost and hopeless without their phone, but we'd definately be hurting.

we need to start thinking about these multifunction devices _as_ multifunction devices. there are inherent pros and cons in having a single device that will do everything. most of benefits are self evident, but think about what all you lose, should you be relieved of your device--lost, stolen, cloned, left at home, broken, forced to check it or leave it in the car (many high security corporate facilities, as well as many government facilities do not allow camera's or wireless networking devices (i.e. bluetooth and 802.11) past the security check.

you lose one, you just lost it all.

but on, the other hand, tell me it's not friggin' cool that you can bring thousands of songs with you, stay in almost constant contact with just about anybody by several multimedia methods, keep track of your day, play games if you're board, _and_ peruse google from just about anywhere in your city, all on one little pocket sized computer.

i'm a big fan of modular, universal devices. that way, you can mix and match 'til you get exactly what you need or want. and it also can solve the 'all your eggs in a basket' problem. it also makes it that much easier to use your mobile devices in synch with your home pc. slowly, but surely, the difference between cable, dvd, video games, telephones, and the internet are going away.

mostly, the differences have already collapsed. it's just a question of how you wanna cobble it all together. dsl and video on demand over copper, or cable modem, digital cable, and voip phone service. 'triple plays' and whatnot all over the place. i even heard verizon's offering direct fiber to your home connections in select markets. fios, or something like that. ricochet's back up and running, this time only in denver and aurora, co, and sandiego, ca. s'posed to give reliable low-end broadband wirelessly, all over the city of your choice.

satellite and cell phone connections are still pricey and on the slow side for the most part, but making leaps and bounds. and new hotspots seem to be popping up all over the place. the stratellite bimps, er airships, show some promise, too, but my point is, you can have one or more traditional services routed through various other services or methods. (internet through the phone, phone through the internet, tv through the internet and the phone?)

paradigms are getting ready for another big shift, and we (meaning consumers) need to make sure that we come out on top of the new information world. right now, we've got a lot of options, and prices seem to be dropping steadily, but there's pressure building. anyway, i'm gonna stop now, before i get on yet another tangent. in the mean time, have fun and be creative with your toys, kids. so, once more, goodbye and good luck to the ibm pc...

--cid

peeps for your peeps

cid Viscous 0wns the world

nike is releasing contacts that enhance your vision. just one more cool thing athletes can do for an edge, these days.

nikes's also got a program to build a better runner. i've misplaced the link, but i'll post it when i find it. wired ran an article on it. apparently, they've got a closed environment for training in--they work out all day in low pressure (simulated mountain altitude) and then repressurize it to sea level for resting and sleeping. that way, the maximize their workout and recovery time.

with all these new performance boosters, it brings up some interesting legal, moral, and scientific questions. how far is it safe to go, physically, i mean. how far will a body let you push it?

and where does the line get drawn? is a surgery that makes someone into a better pitcher okay if the arm's already injured? what if it's not injured? elective surgery has become common place in some circles, but should it be allowed in pro sports? 'normal' players may feel obligated to follow suit.

so, steroids are bad, but vitamins and supplements are fine. surgery is okay, even if it makes you better, but only if you were already hurt to begin with. genetic tweaking isn't yet understood well enough, and people are still too scared, at least in a public forum--there's no pee test to check for genetic tampering. but it's okie-dokie to buy sports equipment to get that edge--drivers with a bigger sweet spot, lighter, bouncier shoes, the aforementioned contacts, braces, and bands, and aerodynamicly efficient clothes, blah, blah, blah....

that's the message i'm receiving from the media lately. but people are gonna keep on doing what they wanna do, anyway. athletes will always go for that edge. leaders need to put their heads together and decide what's kosher, and what's not all right. but i think it'll take some big, public display of how far these new technologies can go. some upstart rookie will come onto the scene, smokin' everybody in his league, and eventually get caught. but some of these techniques don't really fall squarely into the jurisdiction of either league rules _or_ the law.

interesting times we're living in. later.

--cid

2005-05-02

old proc - new tricks

cid Viscous 0wns the world

seen the screenshot, yet? cell, the new (sort of) microprocessor is the brainchild of sony, toshiba, and ibm. (wait, didn't ibm get sold to a chinese conglomerate?)

it's actually not really a new processor, but an old one with some surprisingly impressive grafts. the cell chip starts with a powerPC chip which regulates the control of eight 'synergistic processor elements' for some serious number crunching action. the main processor acts as a sort of brain, delegating heavy math, and repetitive functions to it's eight little slave processors. sort of like a cluster on a chip, if you will.

they demonstrated the power of their new beast by playing forty-eight mpeg-2 video streams simultaneously.

now, that's what i'm screaming--i wanna play doom 3, check my gmail, listen to icp, and watch freedom downtime _while_ i download my favourite internet radio and video broadcasts and talk on my voip phone. and i still want cycles to spare.

more cycles for everyone. free your 'puter...

--cid

p.s. and bandwidth. i want more bandwidth. i wanna pipe so fat i can never bog it out, now matter how, hard i try, no matter what i try to download (or upload)...

;D

goodbye headphones, just put your ears to the air

cid Viscous 0wns the world

woody noris just won the lamelson-mit prize for his new sound delivery system. not quite a speaker, this technology uses a hypersonic sound wave above the normal human hearing range. apparently, this beam can be focused on an individual, resulting in the listener hearing the audio source as if it were coming from inside their head.

sounds kinda cool, huh?

--cid

2005-05-01

3 years?

cid Viscous 0wns the world

so, have you heard about the new law bush signed? if, i'm reading this right, it's now a felony to have a 'video recording device' on your person in a movie theatre, punishable by up to three years in prison.

off the hook mentioned it, and i'll bet the eff has something interesting to say, about it, but so far, nobody seems to care too much.

accept me.

i agree that bootlegs aren't a good thing, but i'm just not sure if the punishment fits the crime. three years in a federal-pound-me-in-the-ass prison for _possessing_ (not even using) a video recorder.

and before you get visions of big studio cameras on tripods, just think about all the cell phones and digital still cams that do video. granted, most have drastic limitations (and besides, who'd wanna watch a bootleg recorded on a flip phone anyway?) but so far, it hasn't been specified whether such devices would be exempt or not.

incidentally, nokia is releasing a new series of 'luxury phones' which sport nice lenses, as well as hard drives, so don't kid yourselves, folks--a movie recorded on a phone may seem far fetched, but it's not very far away.

i just think that making it a felony (3 yrs!) is a little over the top, but even if you think that kind of penalty is warranted, it should be more precisely targeted. open ended laws offer too many chances that someone innocent will get scrizzewed or someone in a position of authority will abuse their station.

making laws just for the sake of legislation is never a good thing, and each new act to come out (whether good or bad) sets a precedent. and for the most part, our freedoms (rights that our ancestors fought and died for--the foundation of our country) are slowly being taken away.

even if these infringements on our liberties don't affect you directly, or aren't 'bad enough' to wanna do something about, you should never just shrug your shoulders. each freedom we lose makes it that much easier for them to strip the next one from us. and if you think there's nothing you can do about it, you're wrong.

talk to people. tell your friends. write a letter to your congressmen. america needs your help.

--cid

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