Wednesday Whatevers

Time for some more Wednesday gooey goodness.

1. What items should be free, not for sale?
Welp, I think that nothing should be free. Yeah, you heard me. Free goods are nonexistant anyway. People always put time and energy into their creation--so they need some sort of compensation. I say pay 'em. It's the least you can do. And if you can't do that easily, work it off with some of your time.

On a similar note, though, I would like to add that peer-to-peer sharing is grossly wrong unless we're talking about music. Frankly, I don't think most people making a living off of music deserve it. Technicians, maybe, but those could go the way of the dodo like welders passed on from the robotic arm. You see, now everyone can record perfectly on their personal computers. Now, everyone who is a good artist can express themselves and do it right. But they still shouldn't really get paid. I mean, it's just one small group. If you rip off a blockbuster movie, you're screwing hundreds of people out of their hard-earned cash. Same with consumer-level software. But a couple of tracks in mp3 or wma? Give me a break. Most people would never buy those songs at the store anyway. So who's bottom line is being impacted, then?

2. Why do we study history?
We study history because we, as a race, are incredibly stupid. We can't remember what happened two years ago, let alone fifty, two hundred, a millenia. Some of that stuff we learned is kinda important. Like, how to see the warning signs of war and genocide. How to negotiate and get what's best for both parties. How to avoid complete annihilation from invaders. History is a tool that keeps us on top of the horse. Forget it, and you're falling right off.

3. If humans didn't need sleep, would you still do it?
What kind of stupid-ass question is this? No! I'd never take a break. I'd laze around with the extra eight hours or so I'd get each night. I'd maximize that time to become really good at stuff. I might even fast-track my schooling, just so I wouldn't have to deal with this academic socialist BS any longer. Maybe take a part-time job from 12:00-6:00 coding or debugging or something. I don't know. But I wouldn't sleep. Sleep is a waste of time unless you want some revelation in your dream. Then, by all means. But normally, no.

PearPC

Yup, Power PC emulation on a Windows XP box. Pretty sweet, huh? If you're considering "switching" {and kudos to you if you do, I know I have been}, check out http://pearpc.sourceforge.net/ for this kickass app. You have to get the OS X CD and convert it to an image to run it as a mac {or skip the intermediary, if you catch my drift ;-) }. Only real caveat is that it's damn slow and the learning curve is kinda high up there if you don't know how to manage code-ridden configruation files. Although PearPC Control Panel {http://ppccp.sphosting.com/} is a pretty spiffy way to even get around that. Again with the slowness, though, it's 1/10 CPU emulation. So don't expect any miricales during that huge installation. Just set priority in Task Manager to realtime and cross your fingers it finishes before you want to log off and go to sleep. Lastly, http://www.pearpc.net is also a good community forum to search if you have any questions.

For The Ages.

Alright, I'll say it: I can't stand free thinkers who can't think.

Think about all the people you've heard criticizing social norms, challenging authority, and pushing the boundaries of deep questioning. They talk incessantly, and have very strong opinions. But where is the thought? Where is the critical analysis of the problem at hand? In most cases, it's simply not there.

Most take the easy route--first-tier thinking. Some may believe that government funds are better spent exclusively on social welfare programs. These individuals almost always fail to realize the consequences of nursing the public at the expense of, well, the public. Can't they consider the impact of altered motivations in a self-feeding society? Or justify their opinions with the empowerment that people might gain out of this arrangement? I'm not neccessarily criticizing or defending Socialism, but I'd like to hear some decent argument on the subject before some other dumbshit splurts out, "we need more public housing," without a thought in his/her head.

What's worse are the constant academic failures of these liberatory individuals. I've had discussions with some people that can't comprehend why they are limited to run-of-the mill, plain vanilla colleges following Senior year. They yearn for a system that allows anyone who enrolls to be accepted, unless their performance is frighteningly bad. The fact is, they can't even reason out the constraints of the quantity of applicants, space, and hell, just for kicks, time for that matter. Oh let's make it space-time. Whatever you introduce to these misguided individuals will be taken in, sorted into one of only a few stereotypes in the hopper, and then put straight back out as something that sounds like an educated, calculated answer. But you're not really getting that. You're getting the borrowed thoughts of someone who was more willing to get off their lazy ass.

I have a message for my generation, and those that follow us: Learn to think! Really think! Invent, be creative, let your mind play! Education should be more than study! It should be a way to generate forum discussion, a vehicle towards higher planes of thinking! Don't fall victim to the monotony of the daily grind! Keep life fresh, and you'll be able to solve some of the world's deepest problems!

Yours too.

Wednesday Whatevers

Type, type, typing my bloooogggg....

1. Why do people make New Year's resolutions?
Because they're hopelessly shallow and can't even realize that resolve will never come to their pitiful, pitiful problems. NEXT QUESTION!
2. Why do countries have flags?
To get third graders confused. Example:


France | Italy
Any questions?
3. Is it better to be unknown or infamous?
Unknown. If you're infamous, you die a very public death. That's no good. Why would you ever want to live forever? It makes no sense. It's not like your life is any better than another's. And besides, you'd probably be a role model for people not to base their lives on.

This concludes today's session. Please log off and power down the computers. Don't forget you bags on the way ou...oh wait...this isn't Data Structures and Algorithms, is it?

iPodder

Wow, awesome software. Just subscribe to RSS feeds with audio embedments, and this thing synchs with your media player. It's like having a DVR for internet radio! Just browse over to Podcasting.net for a very complete listing of all available series. I suggest Leo Laporte's KFI broadcasts, every Saturday and Sunday: http://feeds.feedburner.com/kfi