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Loading ...Apparently, it is now illegal to refresh a web page, or encourage others to do so. Not only is it illegal, but it is a FELONY ???? Please, someone get a clue here.
What has the world come to that those who do this crap are treated like felons? Seriously! Rather than invest in a firewall, the school intends to spend tens if not hundreds of thousands of $$$ to send a kid to jail, try him as a felon, and ensure that the rest of his life he is scarred. YAY, talk about tax $$$ at work here.
Come on people, get a bloody clue. A DOS attack can seriously be blocked with a firewall, and if you don’t have one, you are responsible, not the attacker here.
Basic security principles apply here. Yes, the kid did something stupid, but does it warrant a “felony”? No. If you had the basic security principles here, you wouldn’t HAVE to worry about this shit.
Should the kid be penalized? Yeah, a minor penalty, maybe some CS or suspension, but a bloody felony?
That’s right kids, be careful what you refresh, because you stand a very good chance of being charged with a felony.
Blooming idiots, the world is turning into blooming idiots. Let’s all rush out and spend tax $$$ on frivolous stuff like this, and just ignore the fact that the US debt continues to grow catastrophically.
Personally, I say take the lawyers out and lock THEM up. Any lawyer that would stoop so low as to encourage this type of a lawsuit has no right to appear before courts and waste taxpayer monies.
Well, I’m off to commit a few felonies. Gotta check a few websites out.
-=T=-
=================
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
Get 10 speeding tickets.
—–
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
Learn how to tie my shoes.
—-
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
Fart in public.
—-
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
Not forget poland.
—-
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
Start working on the street corner.
—-
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
Disown my parents.
—-
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
To be a *censored*.
—-
In the year 2006 I resolve to:
Spend my summer vacation in cyberspace.
See, now wasn’t that fun? What is YOUR 2006 resolution?
Lost Rhapsody by Robert Montjoy
If you’re a fan of the TV show “Lost” (or even if you aren’t) you may want to check out this cool flash animation by Robert Montjoy to the tune of Al’s “Bohemian Polka”!
Angry White Boy Polka
You might enjoy this video of “Angry White Boy Polka” done in Flash by Al’s friend Daniel Rocha.
I remember my first setup, was a Black Timex Sinclair IIRC. The thing was bought when I was 8 or 9 years old , had no hard drive, and had to be programmed manually.
Now? Well, I’m in the process of rebuilding a secondary home pc, which desperately needs it. Some 20+ years later though, technology has just grown in leaps and bounds, quite literally.
Take for example, the size of hard drives. Shit, when I had my first (thanks dad!!) , everything had to be saved onto TAPE. Now? Well, we’ve got 400+ GB hard drives that are rolling out. Talk about sweet!
Processing? Oh yeah, we’ve most definitely made improvements THERE (though I still think that we’re slowing down a bit). Just before I moved to PA (98 or so??) the 800m processor was coming out. It was the great thing of the future. Now? Well, the beast that I’m bu ilding now will have an intel HT 3.2 gig processor. Over 4x the processing power there. JEBUS!
Memory? Yeah, right, the Sinclair had almost none. Now? Well, this next beast will have 2g of DDR (not going with ddr2 this time around).
It’s amazing how technology seems to surpass itself every year and in a larger way. At some point there’s got to be a "stop" point, but we’ll see what happens I guess.
Hell, my ps2 (and soon to own ps3, when they come out;)) is more powerful than my first computer, and that’s just a boring gaming console!!!! Talk about improvement.
Thus ends todays lesson on technology. I’ll leave with one of the more (in)famous (mis)quotes in the field:
—————–
640K ought to be enough for anybody.
– Bill Gates, Microsoft boss, 1981
—————–
-=T=-
Sooooo, it’s Christmas, and what in the hell is going on in Tom’s world?
For the first time in 6 years(had to stop and think), Iowa will be getting a white Christmas. That is, of course, unless someone decides to move Florida type weather on us for the remainder of the wait till then. I can’t believe it, I’m actually HAPPY about that fact! One of the reasons (one, mind you) that I came to IA was the great winters. My first winter (Christmas ‘99 to March(ish) 2k) was beautiful, cold, and it was just right for me. Since? We’ve gotten jack shit for snow! Seriously, someone’s been screwing around with the weather up there. Well, this year, it’ll be nice and white for Christmas!!! Yay, Iowa!!!!
On the family front:
It looks like April is the time of year for reunions this year, and now that I know this (4 months in advance, thank you soooooo much), I’ll be there! I’ll start setting them pennies (heh) aside now to get over there and spend a week or so in Washington, can’t wait!!!
On the business front:
Hey, things aren’t just good, they’re great! 3 years in the biz is quite a landmark, given the fact that most ‘net biz types don’t last but 6-12 months. My next feat? $5k/month (and I’m getting there slowly).
It’s really nice knowing that you can take something you love and turn it into cash. From day 1 of computer land for me (as a 8-9 year old), I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and that was run a computer business. Now that I’m actually doing that and enjoying it, well, it just feels good damnit!
The next few days will be a bit hard, hell, the past week has been, as this is usually when family gets together and does crazy shit. Since I’m here, and my family’s a 2 day drive away (if I chose to be stupid enough to drive there), I am here, by myself. No worries, I’m used to it, and I’m not fucking, whining or complaining. Friends and I will get together Christmas night (or Christmas eve day, not sure), and I’ll pass out that which I got for them (tho Tony’s gonna have to choose which of two presents he wants (both he’ll like) mysteriously;)).
Christmas day is starting to be a tradition @ Mike’s grandparent’s house. They’ve become my adopted grandparents and they’ve done quite a bit for me. Kind of keeps the blues away, but that bottle of Captain is still sitting in my fridge, and there’s been at least one in there the past month or so.
New years will probably find us all @ my place watching one of the dvds got for Mike, Tony, Jonah , or myself, as this year is a decent year for dvds (a gift that really does get used quite often, and is probably a smart gift). Of course if anyone else has ideas, I’m all for it. Alcohol simply must be involved, as it wouldn’t be New Years without alcohol, however!!!
New Years Resolutions:
This is going to be the first year I do this, so I’ll probably screw up somewhere and not do at least one thing;)
–Wrestling (for Mike)
No more listening to bastards like Christ Masters!
–Family Reunion - i gotta go to this one, guys, it’s been 2 years this coming year since I’ve seen everyone.
– Business Licensing - I’m legal as is now, using my SS#, but incorporation of some type would probably be a decently logical next step 
– Home Ownership - Another logical next step. I’ve been doing a bit of pricing of homes and loans out here and they’re about $50-$100 less than what I pay now for rent, so that’s definitely something to pursue. Not sure about the down payment as of now, but it will definitely be a good thing.
– Weight
Ehh, I need to lose a few pounds, I know it, damnit. It’s not because I “eat” a lot, but because I don’t move around a lot, and don’t do a lot of “physical” activity. Hell, I sit behind a desk 10-16 hours a day, that’s not really thrilling
– New PC / Laptop
Not sure which road I want to go down here yet, but I need to update this desktop. The desktop isn’t old (about a year), but it’s starting to show signs of almost 24/7 on and use.
As usual, I ended up getting myself “christmas presents”. Why? Because I couldn’t shop for everyone else without shopping for me. It’s a Tom tradition, damnit ;). My gifts? A desk (finally a desk that fits me! and the only dvds out so far for the Foamy collection. 2 years worth of rants and all that, hillarious stuff!
2005, in retrospect was a good year. I got to see BLS, I got a mini vacation (5 days), I got the biz above 3 years, and Serenity came out Talk about one sweet assed movie there!
Of course, 2005 also meant the end of the BuffyVerse for good, as the clueless idiots @ the WB decided to let Angel go for good (after 5 years, and despite millions of fan’s protests). Oh well, shit happens, we move on right. At least Whedon had the time to do Serenity which still kicks ass!
2006 is looking to be a decent year to start, though I’m not going to say too much yet, so I don’t spoil it. It’s going to be a hell of a year though, if everything works out.
Anyways, I’m tired, it’s bedtime, and all that crap. Hopefully I’ll have the time to update before 01/01 but if I don’t, I’ll see ya’ll in the new year!!!
-=T=-
Well, ok, old news, and they’ve even gone to say they’ve stopped shipping and making those CDs, and offer purchasers of those CDs a NON hacked copy. The catch ? You’ve got to mail it in to Sony. Yeah, and wait about 2-3 months for them to send you a “legal” version. Come on now, get real!!!
The purpose of the “rootkit”? To limit what you, the end consumer can do with their “cd”. Yes, folks, the RIAA / MPAA / Labels have decided that you can no longer back up your cds. What a load of horseshit. There are PLENTY of reasons to back CDs up, and PLENTY of reasons to use mp3s, all 1000% legal.
Firstly, let’s take the case of myself, the user who travels 1-2 times a year. Taking my entire (legal) cd collection with me is not only cumbersome, but impractical. So, what have I done? I picked up a cd player that handles mp3s . Now, I can fit about 10-20x the amount of data onto a mp3 cd than I can on a CD itself. This could be expanded to the ipod phenomonon , and to the iRiver, and all that junk. Same scenario, just more can be copied (usually).
Secondly, let’s take (again) the case of myself, who, over the years has lost at least 2x the cds he currently has. Whether that was through roomates (thanks Bud) stealing them, or just trashing them to hell, friends borrowing them and returning them in shit condition, or people in general just stealing them, it’s going to happen. Having a backup of a cd is my legal right, and the labels such as Sony, and the RIAA/MPAA are trying very hard to ensure that this does not happen.
Thirdly, let’s not forget that CDs don’t last forever. Come on now, get real, they’re made of silicon (plastic), they scratch like nothing, they skip, they are poorly designed. Putting a CD onto a hard drive (in mp3 format) is the best way to ensure that you will ALWAYS have this cd for your own use.
Yes, I see the point very well that “sharing” of mp3s is just out of hand, but let’s take a look at that for a moment, shall we?
When one pays money for something, such as a CD, they should always have the opportunity to get a refund if they are not pleased with the work. Is this the case? Umm, no. In fact, I had to threaten to contact my Credit Card company (ie: my bank) just to get a refund on a malfunctioning DVD the other day from our friends @ Wal-Mart. The dvd wasn’t working, it had numerous scratches, hey, it was clearly defected from the time it got off the line. I was happy to take an exchange for the same dvd, but they didn’t have it. So, I wanted my money back. Logical scenario, right? Not to them.
Why would people want their money back? Have you HEARD half the crap that’s coming out from the “labels” these days? Elvis would be embarassed to be a part of the industry, as would numerous other legends. This is pretty much cookie cutter bullshit that is just ridiculous. A perfect example of this would be Limp Bizkit and ANYTHING new on their last 2 albums (hitz included). Hint: Drop Wes again, or maybe just realize that your time is over boyz!
But I digress, not to point fingers or accuse anyone of putting out shit (Ashley Simpson, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, SHIT, sorry I just can’t stop!). The point is that the “talent” scouts for these labels clearly have their heads up their asses. I mean, they let kick ass bands like RCPM (the refreshments) go, yet hire total cookie cutter bullshit like Ashley Simpson, NKOTB, Boyz II Shit, N-Suckmyass, etc. Why? They’re all about the allmighty fucking dollar. They don’t give a shit about reality, or even music in general. If they did, they would have dropped *censored* Simpson as soon as they hired her and realized the woman couldn’t sing for shit.
You see, the problem is with the industry, not the public that refuses to buy their shit. If I hear a decent song, hey, I might check MusicMatch to see if they have anything out. If they don’t, I’ll definitely download (gasp) something from them and go from there. IF (biiiiiiiig chance there) I like ‘em, I’ll go out and buy a cd from them.
With the price of CDs any more ($10-$25), and the absolute SHIT coming from the mainstream industry these days, there is no excuse for the RIAA/MPAA kicking ass like they are, harassing innocent people, elderly and more. Yes, folks, that’s ALL . They don’t dare take on those that have a voice and don’t want to give in to them.
Speaking of the RIAA / MPAA , please, tell how much of this money that they “sue” for they give to the artists affected? Not one damn penny. Yep, you got it, NOTHING!!! Oh, sure, they collect money, by threatening people with huge lawsuits (and usually settling for 1% of those), but NOTHING goes to the artist/label/actor EVER. This is just fucking insane!.
Bands I will always support by purchasing cds from:
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers
Black Label Society
Brand New Sin(still need to pick up their newest, but they kick ass).
Metallica … Yeah, they were mentioned in the “shit” category, but hopefully their next cd won’t be as lousy as St. Anger was.
Anyone else has just got to prove themselves to me. I love the fact that bands scream “You need to buy this”, but put out the same shit every album. Different lyrics, same shitty music (Disturbed). Maybe, eventually some music exec will wake the *censored* up and something will change here. Until then, prepare for the onslaught of shitty music downloads, powered by the labels!
I, the Penis, hereby request a raise in salary for the following reasons:
1. I do physical labor.
2. I work at great depths.
3. I plunge head first into everything I do.
4. I do not get weekends or public holidays off.
5. I work in a damp environment.
6. I don’t get paid overtime.
7. I work in a dark workplace that has poor ventilation.
8. I work in high temperatures, and my work exposes me to
contagious diseases.
Dear Penis,
After assessing your request, and considering the arguments you
have raised, the administration rejects your request for the
following reasons:
1. You cannot work 8 hours straight.
2. You fall asleep on the job after brief work periods.
3. You do not always follow the orders of the management team.
4. You do not stay in your designated area and are often seen
visiting other locations.
5. You do not take initiative- - - you need to be pressured and
stimulated in order to start working.
6. You leave the workplace rather messy at the end of your
shift..
7. You don’t always observe necessary safety regulations, such
as wearing the correct protective clothing.
8. You will retire well before you are 65.
9. You are unable to work double shifts.
10.You sometimes leave your designated work before you have
completed the assigned task.
11.And if that were not enough, you have been seen constantly
entering and exiting the workplace carrying two suspicious
looking bags.
Sincerely,
The Management
A family is at the dinner table.
The son asks his father, "Dad, how many kinds of boobies are there?
The father, surprised, answers, "Well, son, there’s three kinds of breasts.
In her twenties, a women’s breasts are like melons, round and firm.
In her thirties to forties, they are like pears, still nice but hanging a bit.
In her fifties, they are like onions.
"Onions?"
"Yes, you see them and they make you cry."
This infuriated his wife and daughter so the daughter said,
"Mom, how many kinds of ‘willies’ are there?"
The mother, surprised, smiles and answers, "Well dear, a man goes through three phases.
In his twenties, his willy is like an oak tree, mighty and hard.
In his thirties and forties, it is a birch, flexible but reliable.
After his fifties, it is like a Christmas tree."
A Christmas tree?
"Yes, dead from the root up and the balls are for decoration only."
DON’T YOU JUST LOVE IT WHEN THE WOMEN
GET THE LAST LAUGH!!!
sorry guys…
The Arch, Union Station, Forest Park, The Loop, The Zoo, Westport, LaClede’s Landing, Busch Stadium (or what once was), Savvis Center, Downtown, The Riverfront, ALL visited, but I didn’t even get to touch most of the stuff in there…
Part of this vacation was to allow me the space to relax and enjoy a few days. That is, after all, what a vacation is about, no?
In as far back as I can remember, I’ve not done anything "special" for my birthday. Surprised? Not me. Part of being me is this whole ‘loner’ aspect of things, seriously. A few people I enjoy hanging around with and fewer still can I actually carry on a conversation with more than 10 minutes.
Jodi is one of those few. She messaged me, and , because I actually *wanted* to talk to her, I called her back, once trillian told me she messaged. Cool huh? 600+ miles and I’m still getting messages . So much for "vacations".
Anyways, when I called Jodi, she was on the way out the door. She said to call her Cell (still need that # btw), and I couldn’t get through. I called her when I got back to the hotel ( more on that later ) , and she, Ewi (her husband), and I talked for an hour or so. Egads, the ONLY person I usually spend that long on the phone with is my dad! We talked about plans and me coming that way when I can ( they emphasized Christmas, but we’ll see!!!), computers, games, music, you name it.
But, I get ahead of myself. Thursday AM was spent sleeping (I checked in at 5am), when I woke up at 10, I did the usual exploration stuff, and found myself absolutely amazed.
Firstly, public transportation in St. Louis is just BEAUTIFUL. I’m staying 22 miles outside of town in Westport, but can be downtown, in an hour, or just over it. Talk about SWEET. The bus ran me to metralink station, and I caught a rail to where I needed to go.
7 hours total, I spent out and about, and didn’t even begin to scratch the Surface. Downtown St. Louis reminds me in soooooooooooooooo many ways of Seattle. It’s just scary. Of course, they don’t have Pike Place Market, but Seattle doesn’t have a live fudge show either.
That’s right, a LIVE fudge show. Demonstration of how fudge is made, with audience partitipation and all!!!!! After the show, a sample of the fudge is given out. Cute!!! That was incredible fudge, too.
Dinner was @ Hard Rock Cafe. Originally, I was going to Hooters, but I walked in to pick up a t-shirt and walked out eating. I had forgotten how expensive shit there is. $5 for a bloody drink!, $15 for a burger & fries. My GOD!!!
Of course, dinner wasn’t the only overpriced thing. Cabs in downtown run outrageous rates. They charge not per mile but per 1/10th of the mile. It works out to be $2.5 per mile or so which is just insane. The cab ride to the hotel from downtown was absolutely outrageous. It cost me $50 to get to the hotel! Not taking that route again, unless it is absolutely necessary, especially when I can get there cheaper (much) on Metro.
After the conversation with Jodi and all, I went to bed. Yeah, me collapsing at 830 isn’t good, but when I’ve been out all day long, walking, it’s quite necessary!
————————————
A Birthday with Black Label Society?
————————————
Friday consisted of two things, and only two. I should have reserved it for ONE, but couldn’t bear to do so.
Originally, the plan was to catch a riverboat cruise on Thursday, leaving Friday completely open, as it was for the concert, the MAIN reason I actually WENT to St. Louis. However, that just didn’t happen. When I got downtown on Thursday, I found that the latest cruises ran @ 130 pm , which just SUCKS mind you. It was just after 130 and there was nothing more until Friday. Well, so, I got the Friday cruise. We got done with the cruise around 230, and I hauled ass to the metralink station, knowing that the schedule would be screwed up.
Why screwed up? It was a federal holiday after all. The bus running up by the hotel DID only run once an hour, so it would be a challenge to get back to the hotel, clean up, then take off again for the show. Of course, I knew ALL of this in advance.
Well, I ended up waiting 2 hours at the Metralink station, and just freaking out. Ended up making the show, but in doing this, I learned that the Hotel WOULD indeed give me a ride up to the airport (free) where I could catch the Metralink. Now WHY hadn’t I thought to ask that before? The metralink runs from point a (airport) to point b (shiloh-scott) between Missouri and Illinois, and takes off every 10-30 minutes, depending on the schedule (usually 10), so that made things a LOT easier. Again, more on that later.
Anyways, long story short, I got to the show @ 720, when it didn’t start till 8, so I got there in PLENTY of time.
On to the show:
This was possibly one of THE most energetic concerts I’ve been to in ages! Brand New Sin opened up for ‘em, and I’ve got to say if you HAVEN’T seen these guys, DO SO!!!!!!!!! Seriously! They kicked major ass for an opening band. They brought their own "bartender", and misc other things, going into how the world was in need of REAL rock now, not rap, not glam rock, not hair metal, but REAL rock, and, I agree with ‘em. More shit like Brand New Sin needs to come out and just kick major ass. For the final song, they said they wanted to see the whole front of the stage open up into a pit, and believe me, it DID, myself in it!! Talk about SWEET! I’m still a bit sore from that one
After an hour delay (hey, they gotta milk it), the sirens went off and out came Zakk and BLS. These guys just took the fucking show, no question. I’ve been to shows from Crue to Metallica to RCPM, and found that this show just kicked MAJOR ass. Zakk had a TON of energy and it showed. Gotta love that kind of energy! While I didn’t mosh in this one, I could have easily, just chose not to. I wanted to remember this night for a very very very long time (I paid enough for it damnit;))
Show was over, I headed home. Unfortunately, the hotel didn’t cover my cab fare back to the hotel as it was too late, but hey, again, lesson learned. It only cost $25 to get back this time, anyways.
————————————
The Day After?
————————————
Unlike most RCPM shows I go to, I didn’t drink the night before, though I could have. There were a few reasons for this
A> I wanted to actually ENJOY the show, which, in this case meant joining the pit. First time I’ve EVER done so, and I’ll do so again, but ONLY if sober. C’mon, you can’t mosh drunk. Well, you can, but you’re only asking for trouble there.
B> I wanted to spend as much time in St. Louis as possible and remember it.
C> I wanted to get an early start Saturday
Saturday was Forest Park day. If I’d thought the first two days were hell on my body, this one certainly was going to be worse. In fact, it WAS worse. Walking through Forest Park to the zoo, well, by the end of the day, I was beat assed tired. I DID get a chance to view the Missouri historical museum, and MOST of the zoo (only got a couple hours in there, damnit), but next time, next time. I took this day short, because I knew I’d be regretting it if I didn’t
————————————
Pack it up, time to go
————————————
Unfortunately, every vacation’s got to end. This one ended all too quickly. Sunday afternoon came and I checked out of the hotel. Not out of St. Louis, just out of the hotel. Caught another train downtown , stowed my stuff @ greyhound, and just went out for a few hours. I took the metralink everywhere it went , and loved every minute of it. Some of the BEST shots are the "downtown" shots, all taken on Sunday afternoon.
I wish there was more time in the world, I mean, things like this don’t just happen all the time. I loved EVERY minute spent in St. Louis and will gladly visit it again. Hopefully I can remember what I was thinking when I took some of my odd photos, but you can view them all in the vacations section of my gallery (http://gallery.wolfstream.net). We’ll see what comes from everything, but hopefully I’ll have more from a Seattle vacation in December/January.
-=T=-
Yeah, like much could be new. You know me, same shit, different day. Actually talked to dad for about 3 hours on Monday, which was very very nice. We talked about silly shit, as always, some serious, some not so. It was all in all a damn good conversation.
Haven’t been bowling in a few weeks, I miss it actually. Unfortunately, that’s being put on hold until after I return (probably 2 weeks after) from St. Louis, because St. Louis is going to be one exhausting, draining trip.
Tickets purchased, hotel confirmed for St. Louis. Just the show, hotel and greyhound (not flying out of W’loo) ran me just around $350 alone. Talk about a HUGE chunk of change, but it’ll be well worth it I think.
My apartment building has been taken over by new owners, and I’ve got to say I’m FAR from impressed. These guys took over, and immediately "changes" went into play. They tried changing the date rent was due (violating my lease), tried changing the cable setup (violating a verbal agreement), tried changing any number of things about the way things are handled here, and I’ve got to say I’m just disgusted. Hopefully things will settle down, but if they don’t, I don’t plan on sticking around past my lease. Yes, this means (bah) moving again, but these guys deserve being shafted by everyone in this complex(it’s that bad).
Halloween was allright, wasn’t anything spectacular. Typical Monday night, we all sit around and watch Raw, which was predictable, due to the ppv the next night.
The weekend BEFORE haloween though, I got a little surprise.
I constantly check new stuff out (and I do mean constantly), and every once in a while I’ll run across a gem. Usually when I do this, I bookmark it, and keep going back. For some reason though, I didn’t, just once. I’d run across this kickass internet radio station that plays quite good music (depending on the DJ), has a kickass community, and station.
When checking my mail last weekend, I got an announcement from this station about a Halloween show. Talk about great stuff. Of course the station had popped into my head a few times, but never, for the life of me could I find it. So, now, all of my related sites have links to it. Second Shifters (http://www.secondshifters.com) is probably THE best out there as far as online radio stations.. Check it out, and enjoy
And on that note, I’m off. Got chicken to enjoy, movie to watch and whatnot. Enjoy!!!
-=T=-
