8/31/2013: We live in an informational age where the cradle of ignorance can be reduced to splinters by one of several devices throughout your waking hours, one possibly even existing under your fingertips at this very moment. For what purposes do I use this technology? Well, today I discovered that the infamous chattering gremlin called Furby does NOT have the capacity to learn, but rather interacts with the volume (not content) of your speech, slowly revealing its lingual programming through time.

8/30/2013: Vladimir Putin is a fictionalized super-hero, and lauded for it. In no small way has his hyper-manly image (communicated via scripted photo-ops) contradicted the “in Soviet Russia _____ [verbs] YOU” meme. Now, I’ve no doubt the guy is an authenticated bad-ass, but the ex-KGB’s presentation as role model feels drastically skewed from a much darker place. This concept echoes an era when populations rallied behind infallible myths, the likes of which Kim Jong Un implacably dreams of.

8/29/2013: “If a tree falls in the wood and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” It is some egocentric logic to even postulate that physical laws disappear in the absence of human speculation. This concept suggests that human presence, alone, powers the cosmos. The very vibrations caused by the tree’s impact would absolutely travel the medium of our atmosphere, ricocheting off solid objects until dissipating. Of course, deciduous forests sprouting in outer-space are another matter.

8/28/2013: I apologize to all two of you whom even glimpse these gibbering, unintelligible blurbs expecting a simulacrum of consistency. I’ve been behind because it is entirely too easy to devote 40 hours a week to a product, nurturing it, playing the ever-attentive surrogate…. only to be booted to the curb because you no longer fit within someone’s warped idea of company value. I’m roughly one and a half employees worth of ardent effort and am paid 90% of other members on my team. No longer.

8/27/2013: Three thoughts in opposition to my country’s imagined duties of policing the globe: (1) 20,000,000 gallons of Agent Orange were used by us as chemical warfare during Vietnam. Up to 1,000,000 people died from exposure or suffered birth defects. (2) “Precision ” drone strikes have killed over 900 civilians in the last decade and injured more than 1200 innocents, a kill ratio of 4 terrorists to 1 “other” (3) We’re also the only maniacs to drop a nuke on a city and then a second one as they were surrendering.

8/26/2013: It’s labeled as the “Defense Department”, but our military budget is used to wage war and spread America’s vision of a uranium-saturated future at the tune of over 600 Billion dollars annually. It’s an unfathomable 45% of the world’s TOTAL amount spent on this stuff (that’s the next 14 countries combined). Hopefully, we’ll wake up one day and give Democracy a try since dictators fly multi-colored banners as they bid on your support to hijack the country. America has needs, Obama, and you work for Me.

8/25/2013: Let’s see…. War on Drugs (that’s going well), War on Terror (’til the last drop is gone), the Iraqi War, Afghanistan. We’re sticking our noses into Palestine and our ships/missiles/drones have a lot to say in just about anyone’s conversations these days including Egypt, Darfur, Lybia, and now Syria. Since World War Dos, we’ve also ruffled feathers in Vietnam and Korea…. so WW3 is shaping up to be a cage match, one vs all. “Just arming the rebels”, was how America birthed the Taliban by the way.

8/24/2013: Science is not a Religion and Religion is not a Science. Both are essential to millions struggling with the human condition and it is, indeed, somehow possible to be a member of both “parties”. The problem arises from the myopic followship of a person either too ignorant or too blinded by assured confidence in their limited knowledge. Taking what is given at face value without questions is a failure regardless of affiliation and it is on the end-user to remedy. If you are to follow, do so while looking forward.

8/23/2013: Science Vs. Religion: Most organized religions aren’t “open-sourced” in the way that individual concerns impact the organization as a whole, even when clear errors of judgment or outright mistakes are made (nevermind philosophical changes over time). Practitioners are welcome to shop around for a religion and have freedom to assimilate the bits they agree with, but the product tends to be as-is: one oddly-specific set of rules. Science embraces its mistakes and even declares its weaknesses.

8/22/2013: Science Vs. Religion: Science is ultimately wikipedia, but with a bit more credibility. Every now and then some jerk pops in to fuck with it for the lulz, but the caretakers go out of their way to set the record straight or to expand the entry. Tons of references are at the page’s bottom, but it merely gleans the surface of any given topic. In religion, we’re to believe that God left a piecemeal journal. Any unwritten answer will be fielded at the Apple Genius Bar or go cryptically ignored by a smug half-grin.

8/21/2013: Here’s a formula for less spree shootings: 1) stop selling automatic weaponry, 2) bury the legal sale of weapons in the bureacracy it takes to purchase a home, 3) arm a handful of certified teachers, 4) stop attending media coverage that sensationalizes a shooter’s blaze of glory 5) disassociate guns from your masculinity, the bible, or your patriotism and protect the children you fucking morons. These steps will reduce the national tragedies that I’m forced to spiritually assimilate weekly.

8/20/2013: The “Life Cycle” of water is complex and amazing. From rain to ground, through an aquifer, bubbling up from a spring or pumped from a well, transported, treated with chemicals, skimmed from the sediment, passed along filters, disinfected, stored, packaged, transported, poured into my 5 gallon jug, cooled, consumed, pissed, passed, and piped to more than five stages of processing and aeration leading to the final phase in which it is finally dumped back into local rivers.

8/19/2013: I didn’t know this was a Thing until I read a GI article warning of companies releasing buggy Free-to-Play games to the public as Open Betas. Not only does this lower expectations in the way a one-legged man curries crowd support at a marathon, but the developers are reaping profit from the in-game store which, imagine that, is fully implemented. My knee-jerk remorse for $20 spent on Mechwarrior Tactics flared up, though I still support the idea of browser-based commanding…. if the UI runs smoothly.

8/18/2013: According to NPR, college professors remain irked at millenials. Aside from the predicted de-volution of term papers lacking depth in a generation of 140-character thought, this is also an age of hand-holding and immediate feedback. When a Facebook junkie peaks their head out the palpable support bubble they’ve cobbled, the student will apparently harrangue the teacher for input, not wanting to make independent steps towards forging an education. The absence of confidence is logical, but concerning.

8/17/2013: I can be annoyed by the mentally disabled but I just re-watched about 30 minutes of footage re-affirming that complex thinking resides behind the face of autism just so I could properly digest another story: MS-suffering Karla Begley was targeted by an incendiary note encouraging the euthanization of her loud autistic child. Although I agree the community shouldn’t be subjected to frantic wailing while the unsupervised kid runs amok, a modicum of humanity would have kept those suggestions unwritten.

8/16/2013: Want to stimulate the economy, cash in on an existing enterprise, soothe the woes of an ailing nation, and fight an Effective war on druglords? Legalize It. I’m not a smoker, but even I see the futility of the current system, can notice that the infamous “gateway drug” is mired in fictitious dogma demonizing it beyond the dangers of traditional alcohol and cigarette usage. You can poison yourself from even drinking too much water, so the lesson is: moderation and regulation, personal and governmental.

8/15/2013: I hate that first 30-60 minutes of crawling into bed, the period where I’m actively shutting down my brain. With pieces of “brilliant” prose spinning somersaults and vivid flashes of detailed art prancing unrealized in my skull, I battle urges of bolting upright to pay homage to the torturously nocturnal muse who prank calls as head joins pillow. It’s hard to say if the imagination is conjuring solid works that hold up under daylight scrutiny or if strained neurons just belch up death rattles in protest of sleep.

8/14/2013: Owning Google Glass makes you a douchebag. I said it. That unitard-wearing cyborg future, the one that gives turtlenecked lens-less framed introverts a woody, is embodied by yet another frivolous accessory (hope you like thermometer wristwatches stapled to your eye in distracting PIP). It’s as if a marketer said, “Make me look like Geordi La Forge…. but without the blindness.” At least sociopaths now have a companion to iProducts, gaining new ways to stratify the rift in our caste system.

8/13/2013: Let’s be honest. People don’t follow directions but Pinterest is clearly a bulletin board of refined products painstakingly crafted by pros who sculpt, weave, bake, and assemble for a living. Just LOOK at what Ludwig Von Beethoven posted from beyond the grave– “Step 1: buy a Piano/stool combo; Step 2: contract Typhus and go partially deaf; Step 3: compose nine angelic symphonies to earn the Lord’s accolade.” It’s no wonder so many Craft Fails demonstrate our collective amateurishness.

8/12/2013: I’ve ultimately outgrown Nintendo’s demographic, but the hardware specs for the original DS Lite are perfect for me, personally. Great battery life, rugged design, two-screen functionality, stylus support, accurate controls, fits in tight pockets, has tiny game cartridges, and when I slam the lid closed it pauses and launches an energy-saver mode. It had simple [viewable] graphics that clever RPG, strategy, puzzle, and adventure titles made the most of. The DS Lite prioritizes MOBILE gaming….

8/11/2013: Evidently age, itself, is a rite of passage as I’ve not heard, “You’ll understand when you’re older”, in quite a while. It’s just assumed that I’ve been subducted from the culture systematically placated with the false idea that age=wisdom, a juvenile sentiment propogated to avoid explaining complex thoughts to children whom adopt this same conceptual procrastination. The truth of the matter is: we’re all just “winging it”. I wonder how many folks grow old, never to learn those promised lessons?

8/10/2013: The internet is not a hallowed Cloud of particles floating in the frothy aether that composes anti-matter, neutrinos, and Red Bull energy drink. It’s stored on hundreds of thousands of very-tangible servers scattered about the world in an almost undocumentable format. I very much doubt that people know in what state/country that their data is even stored but it certainly isn’t slung into a nebulous galaxy by some pointy-hatted, bearded recluse. You’re simply accessing someone else’s computer.

8/9/2013: It floors me when a sequel removes the enjoyable features or, worse yet, embellishes on the least likable facets. You expect asshattery by the 3rd installment on a single platform, but the immediate sequel SHOULD be about refining, not revamping. Compartmentalizing gameplay into short mission burps and terrible controls paint this theme: Devil May Cry 2, A Valley Without Wind 2, Driv3r, and Dragon Age 2 were all terribly stripped versions of their predecessors. Super Mario 2 is an odd duck.

8/8/2013: Buzzfeed has a citizenship test. I’m not sure if it’s accurate, but it’s more appropriate to quiz the “contestant” on integrational abilities including the correct side of the road to drive on, how to file taxes, what wars we currently wage, and how not to get lost in the Deep South without whiskey and a spare pig to barter. This would seem more relevant than questioning how many House Representatives there are. I did nail the, “What large ocean is to the west of the USA?”, though. An 81% isn’t bad, right?

8/7/2013: I believe that I understand Vices better. Drinking, smoking, gambling, promiscuity, anything to take your mind off the convoluted ruleset thrust upon us via social mores and hypocritical standards set by pontificating dillweed liars. Healthy living is for people looking to grow old, anyways. My vice is video games, but improved reflexes and problem-solving skills probably won’t inflict irreversible brain damage and debilitating physical limitations. Unless it’s Tony Hawk’s Ride…. That shit’ll kill you.

8/6/2013: One of the most emphatic blurbs of advice that I can offer is: Your merits, skills, importance, and hard work rarely speak for themselves. You must act as your own personal advocate, proud of what you do and offer. Employers, professors, and even friends can subconsciously ignore your abilities and efforts, if not dismissing them outright. To get the raise, the grade, the respect, you might have to be tenacious. Didn’t work for me but hey, might work for you.

8/5/2013: There’s an interesting dichotomy between Fear and Curiosity of the Unknown. Knowledge is power that fosters lust for more knowledge, much as traditional strength invokes insatiable self-perpetuation. Fear, itself, is strong enough to keep most at bay…. until the first ape shuffles up and deflates the stigma. Some are inclined to poke it, prod the mystery until secrets spill forth. I take this to mean Fear is our genetic foundation for all action, before disdainfully shunning it as perceived weakness.

8/4/2013: Anyone who identifies with the Far-Left or Far-Right is simply a rhetoric buyer. There are far too many compelling arguments broadcast from opposing shades of our political spectrum to have our world transmit in only Blue or only Red. Hear them out. Make a decision. Don’t stomp on somebody’s livelihood or freedoms with the intent of ignoring those who don’t share your own narrowing world view. The planet and its people exist with or without your narcissistic, myopic outlook on a duality of colors.

8/3/2013: People say such nice things about jerks after they die. I wonder why it’s frowned upon to be truthful about their overall impact on society, shying from what their closest friends understood about the supreme A-hole? Funeral attendees can harbor secret thoughts, remarking off-handedly to a spouse before being chastised about their irreverance. Hitler is (yet again) the one exception to a rule, where we openly admit joy at being rid of him. It’d be nice if our species was less afraid of the Great Beyond.

8/2/2013: I learned that Global Warming has another unforeseen consequence: increasing temperatures may have an indirect affect in raising crime. A 6% flux in assaults and abuse (abroad and locally) can be linked to heat according to some studies, falling in line with many historical records of summer crimes. I’m certain it’s not proportional, where degrees equal muggings, but it’s another burner on the global crisis stove. “Hot-tempered” has a whole new meaning now, or was it always implied?

8/1/2013: I received the most useless message from a fortune cookie: “Let Reality be Reality.” The sage-like dessert would have made sense if it stated, “Let Dreams remain Dreams”, or even, “Fiction dictates Reality influences Fiction”, but this is a special brand of nonsense. The back is a bit more useful, delivering educational tips for a future America: “LEARN CHINESE – French Fries, zha shu tiao”. This phrase could be handy when ordering at a 2023 McDonard’s…. but I hope that this Reality remains Fiction.