Apathy Online

My wife purchased an 8-inch die cast model of the Enterprise from the original series. We checked the price when it arrived, and it looks like she got a killer deal on it also.

The Einstein NewtonOS emulator was updated for Android recently, and I couldn’t wait to get home from work to try it out. I had the older version on my HP Touchpad, and it was too pokey to be of much use. I was really hoping for some performance enhancements.

Got home and installed it. It works very well on my 32GB HP Touchpad. I’m running the latest CM9 nightly from 12/30. Sadly, I have no sound (oops, I broke my sound when I , or any way to adjust the resolution (but I can’t remember if the latter was an iOS-only feature).

Regardless, it was very speedy. It boots much faster than I remember my original 2100 being able to do. Outside of that, it seems to match the 2100′s speed in many areas: both the fast and slow ones. Writing on it is enjoyable, and it isn’t sluggish. I took notes at work today exclusively using Newton’s notes, and it didn’t hinder my work at all.

If the aspect ratio were exact, the upscaling seems like it would be excellent. It’s nicely smoothed and it look very good even on the 1024×768 display.

Adding the green backlight was a nice touch. It’d be nice to be able to control it so that I can always keep it on if I chose to (it really is a nice shade of green), but its not that important. What is important is this: this is the closest I’ve gotten to using a Newton since I reluctantly sold my 2100 for rent money years ago.

See the rest on Flickr!

Spent a bit of free time today testing the 3D mode on the Olympus VR350. I haven’t had time to get used to the new camera, but I’m getting there, and the new 3D mode is entertaining, and slightly annoying. It’s one of those camera modes where the only setting available is “take a picture.”

See the rest on Flickr

Ryan Pierson and Chris Pirillo discuss how ad-blocking software is ruining their revenue from LockerGnome on Google +(PDF). I’d link to LockerGnome, but I don’t really feel like it now. It’s because Chris Pirillo acts like he hates his readers. Publicly also. His response to the people that disagree with him? Calls them worse than parasites. Some screen grabs:

And later on he responds by calling everyone in the thread freeloaders: 

(Side note: The offensive action here is not from Ryan Pierson, or the respectful way he shared his opinion. Chris Pirillo verbally attack readers.)

I think Chris has a problem outside of ad-blocking. I rarely ever look at LockerGnome because it is irrelevant and basic. There is no new information in there. It reminds me of the content on Kim Komando’s website. There isn’t very much discussion on the site either. Almost every article on the front page has no comments. It’s no Engadget. It’s no Gizmodo. What if their real problem is their articles generally aren’t very good, and the bid for ads to be displayed has decreased?

Of course not! There real problem is that everyone of their readers/customers is evil, a parasite, and uses ad-block. The problem can never be with them, it must be with the customer. And that’s a winning attitude that causes companies to disappear.

I guess you may not be surprised to find someone with a blog titled “apathy online” didn’t vote. But my non-vote had nothing to do with apathy or laziness. Voting in this country is a huge mess of nonsense at this point, but here is what it really is, in no particular order. These reasons stem from me considering myself a Christian, and desiring to live according to Christ’s teachings, namely, “… Love one another …” I’ll add verse references later perhaps. I’ve been extremely busy not being lazy, but I’m sure you are intelligent enough to find what I’m alluding to. Even Jesus didn’t use Bible verses.

• I am not just voting for me. I would never be voting for someone to be ‘my president,’ I would be voting for someone to be your president too. It’s a moot point if you are participating by voting also — participating in the game means you agree to the rules and outcome. What about the people who don’t participate or can’t participate for whatever reason?
  Should I be participating in a schoolyard game that enforces it’s rules on those who don’t play? Isn’t that what bullies do? Does that demonstrate love?
• My vote makes me responsible in a way for what I vote for. It would be an endorsement for the actions of a particular candidate. I am saying, “I want this.” When I voted in 2004, I voted for Bush. I was saying “I want George Bush as my President.” And back then I did. And I got what I wanted: a horrible person was given power to do horrible things in my name. In 2008, I decided I would vote my ideals, and voted for Chuck Baldwin (who was even endorsed by Ron Paul). I wanted Chuck Baldwin. And Chuck Baldwin turned out to be fascist leaning.
  In light of the previous point, should I really be trying to force my neighbor to be under Bush? Under Baldwin? Under Obama? Under Romney? If I am opposed to the ideas of a candidate, should I be endorsing that candidate?
• The American system is not the best thing ever, oorah. The American system is based on violence. The government tells the people what to do, and enforces those dictates with threats of violence. Practically speaking, that’s just how it works. It’s just dressed up to look civilized and nice.
  Worse still, many people, thinking this is okay, try to use that violence for their own means, using the state, and voting to command things over their peers. This isn’t just an Obama thing. This isn’t just a GOP thing. We have a culture where it’s perfectly acceptable to use violence to get our way, and we rationalize it by abstracting the instruments of violence away. We vote to raise taxes, vote to ban ‘drugs,’ give away land, etc. And in the end, all these things we legislate on our neighbors and fellow Americans is backed by threats of violence, usually via arrest. Is this something I should contribute to? Did Christ say I should participate in violently forcing my neighbor to do anything? Should I be endorsing a system of neighborly oppression by my participation?
• Christs kingdom is not of this world. Jesus wasn’t partisan. He did not root for the Romney of the Roman Empire. He didn’t cheer the Obama either. And when the people ‘voted’ to make Him ruler, He didn’t want any part of it.
• God didn’t want insertCandidateName to be president. There is a horrible presumption in modern Christianity that God want’s X candidate to be elected, therefore Christians must rise up and vote for God’s chosen person. A person that shares God’s values and is a ‘Christian.’ Usually this person argues for killing in Christ’s name, stealing in Christ’s name and oppressing in Christ’s name.
  And the church says that it is God’s candidate? Isn’t this blasphemy/taking Christ’s name in vain? Didn’t anyone learn anything from the history of the crusades, manifest destiny and other horrible actions that were labeled “of God?”

I’m sure there are valid reasons for voting, however, the above is why I did not and will not vote. These are not excuses for “laziness.” Instead of participating in voting to change the world, I’ve decided to work outside of that: real work, and not just donating to causes I like. There really is an entire world outside of the political landscape that gets neglected. Your neighborhood, your family and friends are all in your sphere of influence. You can be a friend. You can help others instead of demanding that others help. You can use your time and money towards causes as you see fit without forcing others to join you.