the cognative disconnect still exists in america

Someone posted this on Sarah Palin's facebook page in response to the fact someone who Palin disliked, and was mentioned in Palin literature with a gun site placed on the state she represented, was shot in the head at a public event.

"NAME REDACTED: I had to 'unfriend' some people on my facebook, just because of
the  ignorance and profanity they were spouting, as if Sarah had pulled the
trigger herself. You think they'd be saying these things about her if it
was a Republican who was shot? I'm sick of people showing their
ignorance and immaturity this way. *click 'unfriend'* makes it easier to
read the updates anyway"


Uhm no we wouldn't be saying that about her if a republican got shot because
she didn't create a map of America with gun sites on the states of Republicans
she thought something should be done about them.. derp derp!

no its a case of we think the republican party and its darlings encourage a level
of tension and stress that causes people to resort to this kind of behavior.

you act like its a matter of life or death on whether the democrats are in office
then fain surprise when some one uses violence to "save" themselves.

In truth life or death urgency isn't even the issue its the use of pro violent
imagery used when discussing the fact that something has to be done.

You freak out wanting to hold democrats responsible for every word they utter
and any event you can tangentially connect to those words. Then you turn
around and say that free speech applies to republicans when they put gun sites
in their literature and some one gets shot.  I KNOW ITS SUCH A STRETCH to
connect the two.

I am sure the original poster of that statement would feel fine if someone posted her
picture for use as a target for shooting practice.  It could not be an endorsement
to shoot her it would be an endorsement to shot at an image of her so we all know
how saintly I could behave if anything went horribly horribly wrong.

you can't yell at the dems for doing stupid shit like that because its beyond
the pale to them and the majority of them wouldn't stoop as low as republicans.

both parties suck but one has guns and the other doesn't
if I needed to choose the lesser evil I think the choice is obvious.

I have a habit of writing my thoughts as they come to mind and sometimes they get lost on the hard-drive. here is a classic about hip-hop I found that was written last year. In particular its about a supposed nerd-core rapper called YTCracker.. blech

I had bitched him out on youtube but then said later "you aren't such a bad guy" which left him confused. Was I a troll, he asked.. lets find out shall we?

-----------------------------------

So I listen to hip hop, but I seem to have a bone to pick with the majority of it because of it's game of one up's menship and machismo. Its a crying shame that people feel so powerless in a world run by capitalist scum on top of their pyramids of power, that the culture they fill their lives with is about emulating the jack booted thugs at the top but just on the black and grey market side of things.

I get it. They tell the world "money is the way it goes and that you can't do shit". Some people break the law and make it big others just listen to people singing songs about doing the same. Robin Hood popped into existence for a reason too.. I get it. It doesn't mean I gotta like it or listen to it.

quite a while ago I stumbled on nerdcore hiphop and went on a downloading spree (of the legal variety for the most part). I stumbled onto the ryhme torrent collections and started to pick thru the good and the unprofessional. I say unprofessional instead of bad because for the most part everyone donating to the ryhme torrent albums tried real hard and have their hearts in the right place at a minimum. Some people's work got me out on a hunt to find what I could find. Turned out I stumbled on a old fashioned ftp kind of webpage full of YTCrackers files. I Dunno if he was making it available on purpose or someone messed up YT's html, but geez did it remind me of the old crappy days of da intarwebs when so many files were just left lying around idiotic obtuse directory trees (made so by the old 8.4.. glad thats gone!).

So I see YTCracker tryin to sing about how great he is and shit so I lump him in with the mainstream gangsta rap tenatively. I then find a sub directory with other files worked on by YTCracker and it turns out he works with more than just nerdcore but damned if I didn't see nothing but a bunch of braggards trying to make up for with words what they can't do (or can't feel good just doing) in their life.

Ok but that was a while ago, and I wanted to check up on the nerdcore rap scene since I started collecting nerdcore youtube vids recently (march09). Going thru vids by the artists I narrowed my radar down to, I see vids for YTCracker recommended off to the side by the youtube bots. I decide to see if my opinion of YTCracker is justified since I have a short memory and I always like to form my opinion on facts not vague impressions. I get the same vibe off of the music and I get the drunken idiot vibe off the fan base posting about the vids so I decide to post insults like a jack ass (the anon aspect of the net brings out the ass in peeps).

But here is the thing, some fans respond like jerks but on their second replies to me they are actually level headed, while others were level headed from the start. Also people come out of the woodwork talkin about how nice he is in person. Hm. This got me thinking so I investigated his vlog styled posts and you know what? he's not the devil. go fig. But then what the hell? I decide to reavaluate my reasons to hate and diss YTCracker.

inner dialog went like this (good vs evil):

g: ok so YTCracker is a bragard.

e: uhm MC Frontalot is a bragard.

g: ya but Frontalot is being an ironical smart ass. If you were meant to believe it I wouldnt like it.

e: uhm ok but MC Chris is a bragard.

g: ok ok. He's not even as clever as Frontalot but he IS sarcastic too.. uhm.. for the most part.

e: ok but if YTCracker is a nice person in the reals then cut him some slack.

g: I would but he still drives me nuts with rage.

e: you got issues.

g: shut up.

e: you think a rapper must be self effacing to be good.

g: no, but doing nothing but self promoting kinda sucks.

e: there are some bands who chant their own name, driving your girl nuts, yet you like them alot so..

g: ok ok ok you're right... Maybe its the frat nerd aspect.

e: frat nerd?

g: ya I knew a girl who dated one once. He was a engineer working on robot vision who was a huge Doctor Who fan but he still hung out with socially competant people and did not suffer the pain of being different.

e: canada doesnt have frats..

g: Its just an expression.

e: So you think for nerds to be nerds they have to maintain status in the social underclass so to speak.

g: No.. uhm, maybe?

e: Ok so thats a yes.

g: I'm going to poke your eyes out you know.

e: uhm good luck - I'm in your head.

g: oh ya.

e: so its the lack of humility huh.

g: no, I think I realised it's the lack of content devoid of self promoting.

e: no I bet its the 'wigger' thing.

g: AcK! shut your mouth! I'm not racist and I have no probs with hip hop culture.

e: yes you do, you think taking the bragging out of hip hop would make it evaporate.

g: no I don't. I would still have jurassic5, Digital underground, SweatShop Union, Jesse Dangerously.. uhm.

e: Having trouble thinking of anyone else huh? Remember you'd only get half the lyrics from those bands too.

g: crap

e: I win.

g: Oh I know! I associate gangsta rap (but not hip hop) with the thug culture that is the bully and jock type that is the enemy of the nerd. To watch someone self identify as a nerd but act like the bully is gonna set me off.

e: and make you act like a bully.

g: fuck you and the brain you rode in on.

e: Let's end this schizo conversation and go play madworld.

g: now theres an idea I can't argue with.

WINDOWS7 and OSX secretly working for RIAA - MPAA?

(Windows7 part first, if you want to skip ahead (don't do it) the OS-X part will be easy to find below)

in an article defending microsoft against an attack on windows 7 drm by slashdot, Peter Bright over at arse technica wrote the following that I would like to dissect. mind you, its almost a year old but its relevant to new news that has come out.

After pointing out there is no reason to expect windows7 to backtrack on vista's drm, he explains the current situation like so.

"The Protected Video Path—designed to provide a secure way of playing back Blu-ray and HD DVD video—was new to Vista. When PVP is active, drivers must ensure that they keep the video safe. In particular, this means disabling high-resolution unencrypted outputs lest they be used to dump the decrypted, decoded video."

Strangely enough the original video data, if it had been recorded in this method, would still be kept INTACT so I dunno about calling it an issue of SAFE or an UNSAFE state.

"On top of PVP, Vista includes a secure audio path called Protected User Mode Audio, or PUMA... it is there to protect audio from being recorded or otherwise captured."

The use of the word protected is interesting. The security system is there to PREVENT something from happening. The debate on whether it is a legal or illegal thing its preventing is another matter

"Little or no media actually demands the use of the protected paths, so on most users' systems, Windows never invokes them.

Play back unprotected media on a Vista machine and the DRM subsystems simply don't get used.

All these Vista DRM features are found in Windows 7. But just as with Vista before it, the vast majority of users will never see the DRM in any practical sense; the features are there just in case Hollywood decides to make use of them. The overblown, unrealistic, and just plain made up horrors of DRM in Windows Vista never came to pass (in spite of the huge publicity that the Gutmann diatribe received), and so it will be with Windows 7."

Lets try our best to ignore his double speak and just take it at face value. hell, let's even go so far as to say you only rent media even when you think you have bought a "hard copy".

damn, we're all lucky they let us pay to see it long enough to finish watching it eh?

but then we bump into this article..

the interesting facts are that a windows update caused:

"Shutdown problems consistently occur after running media center. Also have problems with recorded TV programs. Intermittently can't burn a recorded TV program to disc. After this failure occurs, a subsequent shutdown produces a hang 100% of the time."

Meanwhile the patch was a simple one only meant to address

"..keyboard malfunctions, notification icons, and screen saver problems."

I find it hard to believe just how many people are commenting on message boards about this issue, without any comments on the patch being another failed attempt by the RIAA and/or MPAA to install root kits or the equivalent embedded software - just this time with Microsoft's secretive co-operation.

Secretive though? Of course there are no patches for software that admits it installs better anti-piracy counter measures. Those are always hidden amongst the patches for minor throwaway issues.

On their side.. humans seldom if ever opt in to deals that prevent them from getting things for free.. its just the mammal imperative.

EVEN IF I WAS OK WITH DRACONIAN MEASURES, I WOULDN'T BE IF THEY BROKE MY COMPUTER!!

OS-X is not free from this either

Just read a story, which explains how Mac Pro users are suffering through problems just as outrageous - and it all seems to tie into running sound ports?? how very "Protected User Mode Audio-esque" of them..

"The problem manifests as what has been described as excessive increases in power use and processor core heat when playing songs in iTunes, watching videos via Quicktime, or even when keeping USB or FireWire-based audio interfaces plugged in and active. While hardware monitors only report a small percentage of processor use, it can still cause performance decreases of up to 20 percent for other tasks...

...Strangely, booting affected Mac Pros into Windows 7 also eliminates the problems, leading one user to suspect the issue is related to power management kernel extensions. Additional tests show that the problem happens even when FireWire or USB audio interfaces are plugged, even if they aren't actively being used."

Please people.. start the conspiracy now about how your computer is not your computer anymore. Because we need to get everyone interested in how their machines are being gimped or they'll just keep pushing machines that do less and less onto the buying public

and then those of us who care will only be able to say, "when I was a kid, computers did what you wanted, not what big brother wanted - that was called television"

Video Games and addiction - the followup: numbers don't add up

once again, such as when companies talk about how much they loose to competition or piracy, or when American politics needs to push whatever agenda they want down our throats, they use numbers that upon closer examination they just don't add up.


http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/23/abc-news-polling-guy-rips-apart-game-addiction-figures/

to quote barbie 'math is hard' so most people are willing to trust the numbers handed to them through the media are correct, even when they add up to 120%.. (I've seen it happen). It's a shame it happens. use your head people, or at least a calculator.

Video Games and addiction. don't be mislead by so called experts.

The Following is a blog piece copied without permission from 'Say yes to no' which has as a mantra an idea I am 100% behind. As it turns out the site itself mostly just reiterates the obvious that parents should lay down rules, and that video games are kid-harming evilness, despite the fact that it is the parents who are letting them play it. If I give a kid a lump of drugs to take and permission to do so in my house, I am not about to harp on how the drugs did it when the kid is screwed up. It is a shame this is the exact thing people try and do when it comes to the various media the children consume.

So I can say you've been informed on what I am commenting on, here is the blog post originally found here

My comments follow bellow PLEASE read them they are the main reason I posted this!

***BEGIN ENEMY COMMUNICATIONS***

Video Game Addiction, What to Do?

“How do I keep my kids from being addicted to video games?”

This is a frequent question at any talk I give. Video games are a powerful, addictive technology that sits right in the middle of our homes, often right in our kids’ bedrooms. Are video games fun? Sure. Can kids learn anything from them? They are learning every time they push the "on" button.

“What should I do? My kids love video games. They could play for hours.” Video games are as common for kids today as TV was for the previous generation.

As parents we teach and guide our kids. We need to pay attention to and guide our kids to a healthy use of technology and media. Most games are fun, teach positive skills like problem solving, and even get kids moving instead of just staring at a screen. How do we make sure that video games are healthy recreation for kids and don’t turn into the horror story of addiction and violent game playing? Some kids (and unfortunately a growing number) get so involved with gaming that it takes on all the traits of an addiction.

The Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Fifth Estate is Canada’s version of 60 Minutes. Last Friday they ran a forty minute documentary on video game addiction following the tragic story of Brandon Crisp, a young boy whose obsession with video games eventually led to his death. I was interviewed as the expert.

This tragic story reminds us that we need to pay attention, be the parent and set the rules for video game use:

(Edit: if you have to, read the post through the link for these rules, its just translates to be a parent.. Except this one!)

8. Children should be playing in the 3-D world as much as possible. Keep the video game playing in balance. Children’s brains need experiential, 3-D play as much as possible.

(KJ - I think he would have come out better saying REAL SPACE or real world. What happens when video games go 3D? he'll look like he is saying something he didn't intend!)

Check out our resources on video game addiction at the National Institute on Media and the Family.

Many parents have told me, “If I only knew what was in the game, I never would have bought it.” Check out game content before you buy. It’s hard to rewind, once a child is into a game.

Dr. Dave
Monday, March 09, 2009

***END ENEMY COMMUNICATIONS***


He is right. Parents should police their children and its a crying shame people are too mentally challenged to do so these days.

BUT HERE IS WHERE SO MANY PEOPLE GET IT SO VERY WRONG.

As Ghost Tiger and I have discussed many a time, addiction should be made into a blanket illness in the DSM (the standard book of diagnoses).

The current situation requires new studies and investigations into whatever fad is happening that year to see if its 'addictive'. This however, is a waste of resources since a wide and varied list of things that are enjoyable are addictive, signifying that it is insanity to try and catalog everything while the issue is the brain and its handling of pleasure.

One can argue games should be treated the same as drugs because studies have shown brain chemistry goes through a response during game playing. This ignores the fact that EVERY action one goes through over the course of the day, and indeed, over the course of their lives, effects their brain chemistry. It ignores the fundamental structure of the brain and how it works. Even when one narrows the brain chemistry reaction to the pleasure responses, then its addiction to the pleasure responses, NOT to whatever is triggering it in the individual.

If I see and comment on someone showing signs of addiction, I shouldn't have to wait for the DSM to recognize it after studies have been done. The medical profession owes us (not the pharmaceutical industry) a more sane approach to this situation.

P2P EATS BABIES, LAUNCHES MISSLES TOO!

Ok this isn't politcal in nature but it does need some rational thinking..



Recently a news piece is making the rounds about how data on marine one was leaked to iran, marine one being the american president's helicopter. The data covered the plane's layout its wiring, and its missle defense system.



The article, and the company responsible for the "discovery" of the data leak, refuse to mention what specific p2p network was used. Heres reuters take but there are many more hits for the story.



http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0242383320090302



the company, called http://www.tiversa.com/ has made a niche market for themselves as the security experts on all matters P2P. This self imposed task, by which they hope to get rich I might add, is accomplished by monitoring peer to peer networks using monitoring software and then notifying people who have had content distributed in an infringing manner that it would have been easy to stop this behaviour if only they had hired them in the first place.



To scare companies into hiring them they like to lump all P2P together in the ability to give access of your entire hard-drive to the whole of the internet.



As it turns out this is false. By using weasel words like "most" and "virtualy" they are able to change the facts into this nightmare scenerio that requires all P2P to be stopped and banned on most if not all people's computer wether home or at work.



they are not the only ones though. Way back in May 07, 2008 Dan Kaplan wrote an article about McAfee announcing how they discovered "infection impacting hundreds of thousands of users whose machines contain poisoned media files" (I only mention the old article because it was featured beside the article on Obama's 'copter as related topic)



I implore you to not get your sole opinion from the article I am about to link to, I am only linking to it so that you have a refrence for the rest of my post.

http://www.scmagazineus.com/Fake-P2P-media-files-lead-to-adware-attack/article/109894/


media files do not harm your computer - its when you are dumb enough to click on a link or executable that the poster of the BROKEN file tells you will make the file work.



the article DOES go on to make that point.. albeit vaguely. But worst of all is when Minaxi Gupta, assistant professor of computer science at the Indiana University in Bloomington states:



“The only thing you can do [to protect yourself] is not join a P2P network and not download anything, or you can scan it to anti-virus when you get something,” she said. “Most people don't do that.”



So here are the facts.



Its when your employers are using OUTDATED P2P software instead of Torrents, that the contents of your hard-drive can be served on platter so to speak to the rest of the world. With torrents, you only serve what you create a torrent file for so since you have to select the contents you are sure to witness what is going into it. It was Kazaa and Napster and their spin-offs that had a "pick a directory" mentality to what data of yours to serve.



so. As a company, inforce a scan everything for viri policy, a policy against any codecs, dlls, or un-scanned executables being installed by anyone other than your company's I.T. guy and you will be fine.



Its when you freak out over the three letters P2P that you might miss out on some usefull collabrative software that just so happens to fall under that header. Also if you follow the above ideas you can save yourself the trouble of hiring a firm whose sole job is to spook you into hiring them.

interesting discussion about a lego game version of a clockwork orange here -

http://blog.pjsattic.com/corvus/2009/01/a-lego-orange/comment-page-1/#comment-82921

corvus is worth watching and I will have to start following him over at -

http://www.zakelro.com/