Stuff and more stuff.

[silveradept]

Just realized that my schedule may have me doing a bit of dashing about this week trying to make sure that my projects all go off on time. Ah, well. The weekend shift does that to your weekday hours.

A most interesting drawbridge - it folds up rather than just lifting.

Another blow struck at the idea of RFID being really secure: A skimmer is built that can read RFID at 25cm.Cheaply, as in under $100 for all parts, all told. 25cm still means getting close, but basically all someone would need to do to get it at that range is make sure they have the skimmer in a pocket that's closest to the card they want to grab and walk by the mark's card. So RFID for sensitive purposes is still probably bad. For commercial purposes, may also be bad, especially if someone wants to rewrite prices.

The Pentagon may still consider homosexuals to be mentally disordered, a position that mental health professionals abandoned quite some time ago. Might be why "don't ask, don't tell" is in effect... are there regs that state someone has to be discharged if they're mentally ill by military standards?

Two memes:

Raziel

So you need Healing (25%), Knowledge (90%), Inspiration (30%), and Strength (43%)? Archangel Raziel is the Angel of mystery, mystery, and more mystery. Luckily, he is willing to share his secrets with mankind whom he brings the gift of wisdom and knowledge. He inspires us to learn from our experiences as we go through the different stages of our lives, and to work to improve our understanding at all times.

Raziel offers special support to those who seek to learn, and encourages us to ask questions so that we may illuminate our mind and spirit and come to know the truth about the wonders of life. He is a magnificent teacher who helps us grasp complex matters with ease. At the same time, he guards knowledge from those that are not ready to receive it; there is a time for everything, and disturbing the order by rushing and forcing things against their natural flow has seldom done anyone good. That’s why Raziel also teaches us to study with “more haste, less speed.”

Raziel the personification of divine wisdom and the Patron Angel of those who wish to understand esoteric material, engage in alchemy or manifestation, or just going through an especially tough time filled with sleepless nights of studying. Also, Raziel presents us with the ability to unlock our subconscious knowledge and memories through meditation and hypnosis.

A Bit of Trivia:

Raziel is officially known as the Chief of the Supreme Mysteries. He is the legendary author of "The Book of the Archangel Raziel", wherein all celestial and earthly knowledge is set down, which was said to be given to Adam so he may learn all there is to know about life and the secrets of the universe. Raziel appears quite tall and has large sky-blue wings. He is the ruler of the planet Neptune.

Jophiel - Michael - Israfel - Raziel - Ariel - Uriel - Gabriel - Raphael - Zadkiel - Jeremiel

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 99% on Healing
You scored higher than 99% on Knowledge
You scored higher than 99% on Inspiration
You scored higher than 99% on Strength

The Angel Test written by Nitsuki



You scored as Mystic. You are a Mystic. Practical magic isn't really your thing; you much prefer to take the inner roads to self-development and spiritual evolution. You find ecstasy in meditative silence and commune with the divine without aid of any church or religious leader to guide you. You will seek the light of heaven in your own way, even if that way is not apparent to the casual observer.

</td>

Discordian		80%
Mystic		80%
Otherkin		70%
True Alternative		60%
White Lighter		55%
Aimless Eclectic		50%
Magician		50%
Spiritualist		40%

What Subversive Alternative Paradigm Are You?</table>

One notes, perhaps humorously, that "Mystic" and "Discordian" have the same scores. No wonder I feel like I'm going nowhere fast.

And lastly, I go from issues of mind to issues of body - although in a more general sense than personal, because I think it applies to more than just one person.

bladespark made an astute observation - "...if there's a female in the entire nation that doesn't have some sort of image insecurity of some kind or another, well... she's a rare thing." Most people will read that and nod. After all, some part of the economy revolves around telling women "You're not pretty, but don't worry, we can fix it with our product/service." And there are some mindsets that actively discourage women from feeling pretty or thinking they ever will be.

I think there are just as many guys with image insecurity. I've said that before, with regard to the stereotype of masculine behavior, and probably more, somewhere (my memory, it is like a sieve) about how that applies to the body image. Probably a tirade about how the "beefy-muscular-six-pack-abs!" body image is not the standard and never should be and young boys are being dragged into steroid abuse to get that and such.

Still, the thought remains that both guys and girls are insecure about their own attractiveness. And to some degree, I was fishing for responses when I asked about getting hit on, because I suspect that getting randomly hit on by the right kind of people is a significant part of how people get over that insecurity. It's a pretty easy thing to think through - if someone random finds you attractive, without knowing anything about you other than what they observe or get from a small amount of conversation with you, then there's a good chance that they find you good-looking. With enough of that happening, then either there's significant denial (which needs help), or there's acceptance that the physical body is attractive. For women, who probably get hit on indiscriminately, especially in certain places, the caveat applies, but even then, it's still probably at least a small ego-boost that people keep hitting on you.

For guys, though, the problem gets a little trickier - for one, even with Liberation, the Sadie Hawkins style doesn't seem to be the popular one, at least to me. I feel like there's also a bit of an undercurrent that frowns on a woman who tells guys she finds them attractive, placing her in the company of prostitutes. So it's less likely that a guy's going to get hit on, and instead, has to take initiative. The risk of rejection and such. For a guy who's not motivated enough (by the attractiveness of the target or by whatever other factors may be at play), it's going to be pretty problematic, and it's a bit of a circular thinking of doom (DOOM!). If not secure enough to think they have a chance, well, then they don't really have a chance. Women like confidence, or so I've been told. Most guys, probably like most women, I suspect, don't want a flock of admirers, but it would be nice to be hit on once in a while.

Where this is all leading up to, I suppose, is a theory that people who get hit on with regularity don't have as many body issues. There's no bets on anything serious like anorexia or such, but regular (heh, if there is such a thing) "Am-I-pretty?" doubts probably don't show up as often. Shred, provide counterexamples or corollaries at your leisure.

Comments

[silveradept]

When the "buzz" friend passes out, I hope someone catches her.

I know about "pro-ana" groups, yes.

And not obsessing over things like that says you have at least some confidence, or don't really care about it that much. So long as you're healthy, and you feel okay with you, I don't think it matters what weight or size you are.