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?

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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"