Bwah. Day off all done.

[silveradept]

Today was spent mostly running errands for annaonthemoon and her bad right knee. Dropped off her computer to technical support, did laundry, changed a lightbulb, stuff like that. She was appreciative and cooked for me. Also, short umpiring shift tonight. I think things are going to get a little more crowded in my schedule from here on out. But then there will be school, and while it'll be tough, it'll be a bit of a breather.

In attendance at the umpiring shift tonight were the Magnificently Malevolent Mutant Michigan Mosquitoes. Marvellous.

Wasn't in Cleveland yesterday, or wherever in Ohio this was supposed to fly, so did anyone who's there see the giant banner of an aborted fetus fly over yesterday? Or if it hasn't happened yet, keep an eye up for it?

More information about the Tesla Motors electric car. It'll blow away some of the more conventional ones, from the sounds of things. It's an electric-power sports car. Now the only question left is to figure out where the energy supplies are coming from - will it have to be plugged in?

An 8GB portable desktop. Works under its own interface, requires no installation, and you can run your own programs off it. Kind of like what you could turn any mass storage device into, really. I'm sure that people could find a way of installing all their programs to a separate drive and then just being able to plug into it and use it. Although it's neat factor is that it's compatible with any OS, which is definitely cool.

An interesting story: Taking a cell-phone picture could lead to your arrest. Unless the officers were doing something that's illegal, unethical, or against the rules of behavior, why would they arrest someone for taking a picture of a drug bust? On the small chance that he's going to use it as a warning to other dealers, there's no way that can be conclusively proven. So I wonder what was so important about the picture that the police felt they needed to take the person who took it into custody?

Something about this following blog bit reads more like a condescending pat on the head than a serious look at why it's worthwhile to be self-employed: Ten Reasons You Should Never Get A Job. Most of them involving the fact that if you have a job, you have a boss/slave driver, you pay a significant amount of your money out in taxes, and you lose your ability to think or act independently. The gilded cage with the people inside thinking they're free. It came off to me as "You poor, deluded fools. Do as I have done, go into business for yourself and your income with magically increase exponentially!" Umm, riiiiight.

Dart Hangars. Something to spruce the walls with, perhaps? And if you really need the help, you could probably get a dozen self-timing eggs to go in the refrigerator of such a place.

That's how it is in my corner of existence. How about yours?

Comments

[greyweirdo.livejournal.com]

I stopped reading the don't get a job guy after the seventh time he called the reader stupid. After that I skimmed. I noticed that anyone who has a job is dumb, a moron, a cow, an idiot, and a coward. I didn't really see any useful information, or even a valid argument for people to quit their jobs here. Of course, as I said, I stopped reading and just skimmed.

[aoanla.livejournal.com]

No, I got the same reaction, plus the incredulity that he's arguing that paying taxes is some kind of insidious social evil, in general. Oh, and that he can't conceive of a job which would be interesting and challenging (and hence involve "doing what you want") while also paying well.

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

I don't really care either way. If he's happy out of high school (I mean, imagine his logic against paying for college!) starting a website and making money that way, yay for him. I've dedicated my life to discovering a treatment for a disease that kills tens of millions people a year. To do that, I'll need to be employed. Some of us will take a little social evil to actually live the life we find fulfilling.

[greyweirdo.livejournal.com]

Particularly the taxes thing got me thinking. He just makes the comment that employees pay more taxes than anybody, and never justifies that statement. No numbers, no back up, nothing. His argument sounds like Steve Martin's "You can be a millionare and never pay Taxes. First, get a million dolars. Second, don't pay any taxes."

Re: Picture Phone usage @ Drug Bust

[uncle-pervy.livejournal.com]

The main reason that the Cops put up is that most of the time when they do a Drug Bust (The ones they plan out, not get lucky when pulling someone over) they usually set it up as a Sting, hence they use undercover cops. If any footage is shown on TV, they are told to blur or mosaic the faces of the undercover cops so that their cover isn't blown & they can get back onto the street to get more drug dealers.

If someone was to just take an image with a Picture Phone, it won't be controlled by the PD & News outlets and as a result could out the cop to the Dealers & Makers. There was an episode of "Law & Order" that dealt with undercover cops being killed by dealers after their faces were put up on a website saying that they were Narcs.

Do I think it was overboard? Yes, but then again this is America: Home of Paranoia, Suspicion & Eroding Rights.

Re: Picture Phone usage @ Drug Bust

[silveradept]

That makes some sense, yes. Still, that was definitely an overboard reaction to something like that. There was nothing there that couldn't be explained to the person there, that taking pictures might expose officers of the law. They could probably reasonably request that pictures that had the undercovers be deleted and stay within the realm of law and civility.

Yeah, the country's moving closer and closer to hair-trigger reactions.

[yarha.livejournal.com]

Everyone should turn pirate!

"A Pyrates Life be the only Life for a Man of Spirit."
-Bartholomew Roberts, the most successful pirate (paraphrased)

Yarha, Getting an Eye-patch Right Now...

[silveradept]

Would certainly help the Flying Spaghetti Monster's cause out if everyone became a pirate.

Silver, Noodling Along

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

N) The question comes to mind: if becoming employed is stupid, and starting your own business is the only right choice, and everyone should do that, then... who will work for them in their business? If having a boss is such an intolerable thing, then how can it be justified to be someone else's boss?

In practice, though, it fails as a mass strategy (unless one lives off unemployment benefits, which need other people working to exist).

[Disclaimer: very little time left before one must leave, and so responding to comments about link rather than the link itself, which I may not have time to read. Gomennasai.]

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the tragedy of the commons doesn't apply as an argument against personal advice. (This is not to say that this is good advice, merely that your rebuttal is a little flawed.) If I suggested that you get up early to beat the traffic, it's not a bad suggestion even if in the hypothetical case where everyone else did the same thing, traffic will be just as bad early in the morning.

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

N) But who are the addressees? A select few, who are being advised to take advantage of the majority's habits? Or is the written article intended to be read and--ideally--followed by as many people as possible, without an upper limit? If the first then, yes, you're correct.

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

wait. isn't "starting your own business" still being employed? I mean, you'd be working for yourself and paying yourself, but it's still a job....

[sharpsight.livejournal.com]

N) Assuming that you've read the article, and I've just returned and haven't, I bow to your superior knowledge of the situation.

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

*sratch scratch*


an aborted fetus flyover? Eww. Almost as bad as 1knighthawk's latest default icon....

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

Regardless of what operating system the host computer runs on, you can use your preferred programs,

Ah, if only we had been able to purchase THAT, we'd have been all set. Ah well. The mac's not *that* bad...I still miss my izzy though.