Brain Abyss

Conspiracy?

2009-07-24T00:33:00.001-07:00

Every now and then I like to stay up late in bed and go into deep thoughts I normally wouldn't even touch during the day. It came to me while listening to a remixed song of Nine Inch Nails song Light's in the sky. I started thinking about the alternate reality game that Trent Reznor had set up to build up hype for his Year Zero album.

The game builds up a story around America as we know, with war building up and tensions in other countries. The game revolves around the end of the world through biological warfare. Clues were scattered across tons of websites, within a wide variety of formats ranging from text publications to audio and video. Some of the sites that participate, I am trying to believe ; Church of Plano ; 105th airborne. Obviously they all follow the same style being affiliated and all.

Now to my point. Browsing around the other day, I remember reading about a fictional scenario where one man reports that not drinking city water makes him feel much better, clearer minded, and more alive. So while laying there, listening to this song I start thinking about that page I came across that I didn't even bother to give more than one minute of my time.

I may just be paranoid, but it might also be possible for a government to participate in something similar. Hell, over half our population is on some sort of medication or other anyway, myself included. We take drugs so that we can be "normal" again, but do we really know what normal is?

I remember also reading up on Chemtrails, another conspiracy revolving around jetliners. According to what I've read (which probably isn't completely accurate) the military is allowed to conduct tests on communities without their knowledge, as long as its deemed safe. This brings me back to the tests the military did with LSD on their own soldiers to record results. Now imagine those Chemtrails as a sort drug, fly a few jets routinely over a big city and nobody would ever question it. What if they were using those jets like crop dusters over a harvest? It's all about control, keep the people on your drugs and nobody will question, everybody obeys.

Perhaps I'm digging too far, but its an interesting thought. I don't like to just sit here and pretend I'm the only one thinking this way. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Time flies....

2009-06-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been almost 3 weeks since my last post?

Anyway, a lot of action has happened recently. There's been the graduation for the majority of my friends, leaving me here to realize I need to start focusing on my studies. I recently got promoted to a manager position at work, so now I can start kicking ass and taking names. I've also been averaging about 5-6 hours of sleep every night, which has been taking its toll on my sanity (good thing coffee was invented).

Not much more to say at the moment, aside from the tree that just fell in my backyard 15 minutes ago not much else is interesting in my life. I work and sleep, that's it. *sigh*

Oh joy

2009-05-28T17:58:00.001-07:00

Know what I love more than anything else in the world? Overdrafting multiple times on your bank account because they fail to keep you updated, or inform you that your even overdrafting at all, and then getting hit by a $200 overdraft charge. Thanks Chase banking! You bunch of f***ing legal criminals.

Theanine

2009-05-12T18:12:00.001-07:00

So, I had a bunch of energy drinks the other day. Amp's "Elevate" to be specific. What's interesting is that it contains a ton of L-Theanine. So what's so special about it you may ask? I noticed that having a lot of theanine increases my attention to details, my sight and smell seemed to become much better and clearer than usual. I'm fairly sure that Theanine was the reason for this, but I intend on finding out soon. I'm going to the store in a few minutes here to look for some, I'll keep you all posted.

Digg vs Reddit

2009-04-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

I've tried to fix the table so its closer to the introduction text, but it doesn't want to work so well. Scroll down to see my table.
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Topic	Digg	Reddit	Winner
Page Look	Digg is very friendly on the eyes, it's pretty and easy to navigate through. All around creating a great experience by the end user.	Reddit doesn't feature nearly as many colors, and still offers a broad spectrum of navigation. However, to the untrained eye it has the potential to look like an HTML mess.	Digg
Categories	Digg has quite a few categories, and certainly any topic in the world could be sorted into one. However, users may find that they have the potential to be a little too generic at times.	Reddit has all of the same categories that Digg does, but it also allows you to include user created categories. This type of addition allows users to be able to narrow down a group of news that they'd be incredibly interested in.	Reddit
Content	Digg has a fairly up to date content system, and front page stories are almost always current. Occasionally Digg's users will push a very old article to the front page, causing much frustration for us seasoned internet users. Digg has also started to interview celebrities with questions that get upvoted by the users, something not many of us are used to.	Reddit always has current events on their front page, and will hardly have old repeats. The content on Reddit is so fresh, that I usually find Digg has it's stories on their front page the very next day, with the title's copied word for word (creating a very negative image for Digg). The submitions seem to come from diverse sources as well, whereas Digg's articles all seem to come from the same and somewhat questionable sources.	Reddit
Users	Digg has a userbase that can be funny sometimes, but more often they seem cocky and rude. I say this because they seem to find any reason to bury you're comments or articles, and once they start it won't stop. I remember posting a joke, and they all took it seriously. These people seriously took the liberty to tell me how wrong and disgusting I was, while I laughed at how stupid their attitude was. I guess part of the problem is that because the site is so colorful and friendly looking, people flock to it in the masses just like myspace. Keep in mind that Myspace is rivals with Facebook (a far more intelligent social network). With that mass comes great stupidity, and hostility towards us educated folk.	Too often I click solely on Reddit's comment links, I do this because I find the users not only funny but useful as well. Reddit includes a section called self, where one user can ask the entire site their opinion. I came by a user who posted a question about our judicial system. After 1 or 2 replies funny replies, someone actually had made a post that included further research links, as well as a brief explanation.	Reddit
Politics I bring up politics because I feel that a site should try very hard to take the most neutral path, and allow everyone's voice to be heard.	During the heat of elections all I heard from this site was "OBAMA OBAMA!", not that I'm against him, not that I'm for him. It just seemed a little fishy to me that the only articles ever making it to the front page were either bashing other parties, or praising Obama's.	During elections we still had the occasional "OBAMA OBAMA!", however, it wasn't that way 24/7 365 like on Digg... I actually found it relieving that Reddit's articles were questioning his policies and pointing out those of other candidates, while not drowning out the voices of others with senseless gibberish.	Reddit
Upgrades	Digg is constantly changing their site and working to provide the newest features for their followers. I tend to use the mobile version of their site quite frequently. Since the creator of the site (Kevin Rose) is a huge techie himself, I'll bet he's the one thats driving them all onward. However, I'm not too fond of the new Diggbar it's rather horrible.	Reddit, well... They haven't really changed too much because they haven't really needed to and users have grown rather fond of the simplicity. They also have a mobile version of their site, but they tend to keep their updates very hush hush. Also, I'm almost 100% certain you won't see a Redditbar ever annoying you there.	Digg -Based on the progression of ideas, despite how shitty the Diggbar is.
Fanboys you know about these well if you've spent time in forums.	Thousands and Thousands, all congesting the comment space with their arguements in one back and forth never ending tug o'war. I've never seen so many people gloat about apple products in my life, the same applies to microsoft or pc's, but really I have never heard sooo many people willing to talk on and on about why their Apple products are supreme.	One or Two here and there. However, for the most part they would rather spend their time debating over a current event article, rather than their loyalty. This silent subgroup is part of what makes Reddit nice, people know when to shut the hell up and respect others.	Reddit
Front Page	Digg has a sidebar displaying the top stories of the day, and while this is a nice feature. You will find a consistency among certain users postings getting to the front page and being the top stories of the day, despite being dupes of other stories. As a user, this is frustrating when you submit a story before this "superuser", and yet they still make the front page. You feel ripped off, and many of digg's users have noticed and complained about this with very little being done.	Reddit's front page may look very bland, as mentioned in the Page look category. However, much of the content is fresh and diverse. It would probably be nice to be able to have the top stories directly on the front page, but it Isn't too much of a hassle to click directly on the "top" button to access them. I believe Reddit's admins like's to keep the site looking clean, while they do this well it's almost too clean, almost.	Reddit
Choice Winner: Reddit

Blogs

2009-04-23T00:52:00.001-07:00

Apparently I'm too lazy the past couple weeks to post anything new...

I'll post something interesting tomorrow. (hows that for procrastination?) ;)

A long class

2009-04-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered how it is that a teacher can take 20 minutes worth of actual teaching material and stretch it out for 2 hours? I think I've figured them out.

Step 1: repeat yourself 20 times and keep making horrible analogies.
Step 2: keep repeating step 1 til the last student falls asleep.
Step 3: bust out the bourbon, drink until you're vision is fuzzy.
Step 4: play solitare until the 2 hours is up.
Step 5: have your wife call you after those 2 hours so that the class wakes up
Step 6 : smile and talk about an exam next week, watch the fear in their eyes as you leave the class hiccupping.

A good day

2009-04-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Ever have those days where you're outlook is grim, but you bust out the karate and go "POW". Yeah, my day's been like that. I didn't complete all my homework in time for my first class, but somehow managed to get it done before the class finished. Went in for a quiz that I hadn't studied for and Aced it. Then I got a phone bill with $30 in overage fee's and managed to get them to remove it by calling in and complaining. It's amazing how much you can get done by keeping a smile on your face and just chilling. So yeah, when you've got your neck deep in mud, climb out of that shit and smile! Because tomorrow will probably be just as good if not better.

Relaxing

2009-03-29T04:09:00.000-07:00

Just got off work a couple hours ago, Here's something to relax to.

For the best effect, put this on full screen and toss on some high quality headphones if you can.

Video games and beer.

2009-03-26T02:44:00.001-07:00

As the subject might suggest, I've been trying to make the most of a much needed spring break. I've actually been waiting to receive my copy of flash, which has been on hold for 2 days now. I'm sure that in another day or two more interesting posts will come up, but for now its all about the beer and video games.

Adobe Flash

2009-03-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a long time since I've used flash. So long, that I forgot how much I knew. Apparently I wasn't nearly as terrible as I thought I was, I came by a cd that I had created in 2004 demonstrating a website that had flash banners and links. I don't think it could've come at a better time. I've currently been working on a template for a site and couldn't really remember how to get objects to work. It's a good night :D

Done and DONE!

2009-03-20T16:20:00.001-07:00

I've finally finished finals woooo!!! Finally I can get a little bit of a break from the hectic schedule that I subject myself to. All I have to do now is visit home to help my parents fix their computer, don't you just hate having to be asked to work on a problem when you're not really sure what they did to create it? Anyway, you can expect more updates from me over break since I won't have photoshop available I'll probably spend more time creating plans on here.

Busy Week

2009-03-17T16:46:00.001-07:00

So, its finals week at school. Somehow I can't find the motivation to sit down and study yet, but I know that when I do I'll pretty much be in overdrive until I'm done. I seem to have this mindset where I'm either really lazy or really really productive, unfortunately for me today is a lazy one. I've also noticed I've gotten quite a few more hits since I posted an article on rooting the G1, I'll try to bring a few more updates for anyone who may be interested. I love having readers, despite how anonymous they may be.

Rooted G1

2009-03-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

So after finally researching what the risks to rooting my new phone would be, I decided to give it a go. Suprisingly, it was fairly easy. I followed the instructions here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=442480 and I can't be more pleased. I had much more trouble with flashing my router to run dd-wrt, I actually ended up bricking my router at one point and had to use a paperclip to cause a shortcircuit that put the router back to its default state.

Now that I have root access to my phone, I'm able to do all sorts of nifty tricks that I wasn't able to before.
for instance

Multitouch screen support, just like the IPhone (Apple patented the idea, so google removed it from Androids source code at the last minute, but with hacks its still accessable)
Autorotate, just like the IPhone again (Another idea that apple asked google not to do, but once again hacks prevail, however I don't really like the feature so I have it turned off)
Wifi / Bluetooth tethering, now this is really cool. I already am paying a bit more for the data plan which gives me 10 gb of bandwidth every month. For a phone, this is a somewhat absurd amount, but with this hack I can use the usb cable to attatch my phone to my laptop and run internet off my phones wireless data plan. This is really great, especially if travelling and unable to get an open WiFi connection.
Themes, I can now flash the phone with modified themes built by the hacking community, for some examples, visit this forum http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=450
SDcard management, I can now use the 8gig sd card I purchased to its full extent. With a g1 that isn't rooted I would've been limited to the internal memory limit (I believe its around 80 mb), however now I can use some programs to hotswap applications off the sdcard automatically. This allows me to put even more app's on my phone, as well as minimalize the use of internal memory to speed up my phone!

Since I jumped on the bandwagon for rooting my phone somewhat early, I can't help but anticipate the future developments that become available through my unlocked phone. I suspect that due to Android's open source and ability to be rooted easily, it will surpass the IPhone in terms of popularity among developers, especially since the IPhones OS is a piece of junk. Anyway, for anyone looking to root their phone I strongly encourage it. Also, please let me know what other features you may use with your rooted phone.

The "Scene"

2009-03-06T04:52:00.001-08:00

"Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy"
-Janet Long

A quote that if true, must mean that I am the sanest person around! Seriously, it's 4 am and I still don't feel like getting to sleep.

Regardless, the only thing I've really done today has been researching the "scene", or for those of you out of the loop, its the underworld of pc hobbyists and future/current people within some sort of computer tech field. I've always been fascinated as to how they usually like to work, however since they rely heavily on trusting their friends they tend to barricade much of what they do from the outside world.

Often, it is these groups that look into creating cracks and keygens to circumvent anti piracy in software. These people do it for various reasons, but a big part of it is bragging rights. I mean, what better a way to be an online hacking god than to have knowledge of getting anything to work for you, despite how heavily it may be protected.

This reminds me a lot of a british man that I learned about who managed to hack into some of our government computers. He had a passion to figure out if aliens exist. Although he has since been caught and may be extradited to the U.S., he's proclaimed that he found all the evidence he needs and is completely satisfied with the potential jail time that may come.

Now, back to my point. These groups in the scene share a lot of software that usually involves breaking copyright laws. However, the majority of them believe that should you enjoy the software that they helped make unrestricted, you should go and purchase it yourself so that the company or developer is encouraged to make it better or develop new versions.

I guess what I'm really getting down to is that I believe in their cause, often the price for software is rediculous or the information that you can be provided with in the "scene" could be invaluable to oneself.

Perhaps we should make all information publicly available you say? Well that won't be happening because there are some people out there that really shouldn't know some things. So I guess you could say this is why I'm infatuated with the scene, in my search for knowledge I have to learn to jump through a few hoops. Also, with a continuing education in the "dark arts" of computing, you can learn how to keep your own secrets safer.

I feel I have more to say, but because its late.
That's all for the night

Shugyo and Education

2009-03-04T02:36:00.001-08:00

While browsing the net last night, I came by a game designers website where he mentions his love for Shugyo. After reading his definition of it, I decided it would be a good thing to post here. More specifically I'm interested in the Shugyo education model vs our traditional western one.

According to his page, This is what Shugyo is:

Shugyo (Chinese: Xio Xin, 修行 ) is the Japanese pronunciation of a word which basically means deep mind-body training. I think that any kind of training could be described as shugyo... but it is more of the mindset that accompanies said training that is the defining characteristic. In general, we use the term shugyo for training done in the pursuit of higher (deeper) levels of consciousness, as well as the refinement of an ability. Thus, we typically refer to Buddhist training as shugyo... and it is usually quite demanding, requiring unlimited amounts of effort, mindfulness, and refinement. The training can, for example, take the form of Shaolin Kung Fu, seated meditation (Zazen, 座禅 ), archery, or artistic endeavors such as shodo (calligraphy) and ikebana (flower arrangement). Ideally, however, a Shugyosha ( 修行者 one practicing shugyo) should extend their efforts (energy, concentration, and mindfulness) to all aspects of their life. After all, even washing dishes and brushing your teeth can lead to enlightenment.

From: http://www.lion-gv.com/v08/shugyo/html/what_is_shugyo.html#01

You can see that some of the key features are Buddhism, Enlightenment, and Meditation. While I find the Buddhist culture interesting, you rarely hear about anyone practicing it. Regardless, I found it incredibly interesting what his site says about their education system. Given my rant about general education requirements a week ago, I find the Shugyo model much more interesting. I guess you could compare it to that of a tech school, except it's one that you've been building on for a much longer period of time. As they progress they learn a much deeper knowledge of their subject, perhaps this is why our school systems fall behind that of other countries.

Here's an excerpt from his article explaining the different models.
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The shugyo educational paradigm is characterized by an emphasis on the depth of knowledge, wisdom, experience, technical ability.
In the shugyo model, the student takes only a handful of skills or forms and repeats them time and time again. Each repetition refining the skill or deepening the knowledge.
The aim here is total mastery over one's object of study and oneself to the point where both subject and object disappear into the void of experience... enlightenment.

The western educational paradigm is characterized by an emphasis on the accumulation of knowledge, experiences, and skills.
In the western model, the student usually only touches the tip of many icebergs... almost never achieving mastery and rarely achieving proficiency.
The aim here is... well, it does help one to become well rounded, but I find that I have forgotten most of what I had learned in high school.

From: http://www.lion-gv.com/v08/shugyo/html/what_is_shugyo.html#01
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An interesting concept, it makes me wonder how I would've turned out had I been put into the Shugyo model rather than the western one. Now all I need to do is invent that damn time machine and get back there to move myself around.

The hidden lives on the internet (Bookmark Googledork)

2009-03-04T01:09:00.000-08:00

So I was browsing a database of google hacks, because I've always been interested in how Google is able to search deep down into the structure of webpage. Anyway, I came by this googledork today

intitle:Bookmarks inurl:bookmarks.html "Bookmarks Toolbar Folder" "Add bookmarks to this folder to see them displayed on the Bookmarks Toolbar"

click here to see how its used

Essentially this lets you browse the bookmark backups that people have made to the web. Some people may know that their favorite links are saved online for them just in case. However much stuff I was able to find is quite revealing about a persons personality, indicating that they don't know its publicly accessible through a few Google hacks.

What's really interesting is that the descriptions are also carried over. I came by a page that had a list of email accounts this person used, in the description bar was the username and password in clear text. After hopping on a proxy or two, I decided to test and see if they were legit. Lo and Behold! Everything about this person's life could've been compromised by me, instead I sent him a email to what appears to be his primary email account from his secondary. Letting him know the dangers of publishing usernames and passwords to your computer.

Here's a censored image to prove it.
I censored all the usernames out with green boxes, and passwords with red.

While it is really interesting to me to see how it is that other people may think or what they might be doing in life, this is why I will never save any of my passwords onto my computer. Should this ever get into the hands of someone malicious a persons life could be destroyed. Just look at how many email accounts are there, one was obviously for business and the others all seem to be personal use. I'm sure after just a few more searches there would've been even more information about this person, perhaps a SSN or Paypal password. I guess this is why whenever I hear about my parents saving their passwords to their computer I slam my head against my desk and can't help but think they are absolutely not related to me.

Anyway take care everyone, I'll post again soon.