Meltdown
· š disappointed · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 9th Style - BREEDING (premium party MIX ) (Be
After much thought (wouldnāt it be fun to start a post with the phrase, āAfter a minimal amount of thoughtā), I have concluded that there is no rational basis for the foundation of any belief structure. So I am resigning myself to certain fundamental principles without a rational basis, knowing full well that they are most likely tainted from norms internalized in early childhood. These will be my āweakā commandments, so to speak, and I will hang onto them until someone can show me why I should discard them.
Variation on a classic logic puzzle
· š amused · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 5th Style - Radical Faith (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemanistyle[dot]com Radio)
During your daily meanderings, you come across three knights: one red, one blue and one chartreuse. They guard three paths: left, middle and right. A nearby sign tells you that one path leads to certain doom, one leads to fortune and glory, and the third leads to a boring but fluffy place. Alas, the sign fails to specify which is which! It does say, however, that one of the knights always lies, one always tells the truth, and the third never answers questions but instead punches you in the face. So tell me: how do you determine which path to take?
Pointlessness
· š cheerful · ♫ Eric's laptop has no music!
You scored as Pride.
| Ā | Ā |
|---|---|
| Pride | 62% |
| Lust | 62% |
| Wrath | 50% |
| Sloth | 38% |
| Envy | 31% |
| Greed | 25% |
| Gluttony | 25% |
Seven deadly sins
created with QuizFarm.com
Drowning in perspective
· š confused · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 9th Style - ADVANCE (Bemanistyle Radio: Beman
What is the objective basis for holding a political view? It seems foolhardy to hold any tenets (e.g., the Constitution) sacred unless there is a good reason to do so. The only one I find compelling currently is to perceive law and morality through the lens of societal chance of survival (and secondarily, happiness, although such a secondary criterion complicates matters significantly). Nothing else is firmly grounded in reality.
Advice
· š annoyed · ♫ EnergyRadio.FM - Energy Dance
Conversations like this frustrate me:
Them: Give me some advice.
You: Well, do this, that, and the other thing.
Them: Thatās stupid. Itāll never work.
You: Well have you tried X, Y and Z?
Them: Oh come on, why would I do that?
You: Because of reasons A, B, and C?
Them: No, those are bad reasons.
But I keep trying anyway. I suppose every once in a while you get a gem like this instead:
Them: Give me some advice.
You: Well, do this, that, and the other thing.
Them: Wow, those are great ideas! Iāll get right on that!
Materialism & self-awareness
· š¤ thoughtful · ♫ Mambo A Go Go - Gamelan De Couple (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemani
As usual, Iāve been reading all manner of unhinged babblings from every dark corner of the Internet (at least, every dark corner Google has indexed). Normally I try to link these articles together through some common thread, cunningly embedding them across various words and phrases for your amusement. Iām suspect that todayās ramblings are a bit more fragmented than usual, and for this I apologize in advance.
Spewing hate-filled bile
· š” angry · ♫ Bleeding Through - Love Lost In A Hail Of Gunfire ( ChroniX
Democracy, even our half-assed democracy, only works if people are not idiots. On November 3, it was proven to me just how stupid America is. The rest of the world is appalled, aghast and disgusted at what we have done, describing the American Bush supporters as āthe self-righteous, gun-totinā, military lovinā, sister marryinā, abortion-hatinā, gay-loathinā, foreigner-despisinā, non-passport owninā red-necks, who believe God gave America the biggest dick in the world so it could urinate on the rest of us and make their land āfree and strongāā (The Daily Mirror). The ramifications of this election on the future of America are terrifying.
The cat food of soft drinks
· š amused · ♫ (EnergyRadio.FM - Energy Dance)
Staring at the lone Minute Maid Lemonade can next to my mounting pile of Mountain Dew, I see the topās enlarged opening and remember back to when they were smaller. āWasnāt it Mt. Dew that started this craze, to distinguish itself as more āextremeā than those other sodas?ā I think to myself. Now that the others have caught up, Mt. Dew will have to take it one step further. Like one of those easy-open cans ā perhaps filled with cat food ā youāll lift the tab, breaking the seal, then pull the entire lid off the top. Cheers!
P.S.: A stupid post about the function of government is next, partially in response to the comments from my last post about welfare. Itās just a matter of time till I get around to it.
Freedom vs moral obligation
· š¤ thoughtful · ♫ Beatmania 5th Mix - Paranoia Max ~Dirty Mix~ (Bemanistyle Ra
I just had an interesting phone conversation with my mom about liberalism vs conservatism in the context of moral obligation and government involvement. It started when she said something to the effect of opposing conservatism. After a brief discussion, we realized she was largely referring to the implementation of conservatism in our nationās past (e.g., the tie-ins to religion, etc.), but I did find out that she feels that everyone has a moral responsibility to assist those in need. I found myself defending the āpure conservativeā viewpoint of small government against her suggestions that we should prop up the needy through government mandate.
Miscellaneous trivialities
· š„± tired · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 7th Style - Glorious Days (Bemanistyle Radio:
I donāt have much of general interest to post; however, here are some miscellaneous personal updates. After all, this wouldnāt be a true LJ if I didnāt ramble on about my personal life occasionally!
I love it when computers and philosophy overlap
· š® impressed · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 6th Style CS - Outer Limits (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemanistyle[dot]com Radio)
Paul Graham is my new hero. His essays on various computer and philosophical topics are awe-inspiring. I havenāt read nearly all of them yet, but Great Hackers and Taste for Makers are both wonderfully insightful.
His reasoning has really got me to begin reexamining my choices as a programmer and computer user, at a time when I was already beginning to do so. (I think his articles have just accelerated the process.) Itās definitely time for me to work harder expanding my horizons, learn additional tools, and spend more time experimenting. I predict that Paul Graham is influencing my thoughts on programming in much the same way that David Sirlin has for competitive gaming and game design.
It worries me that Graham likes Lisp so much, though. Can Lisp really create great, efficient software and handle issues of user interface effectively? I feel obligated to find out, now. Who knows? Maybe in five years Iāll be hardcore pro-Lisp. But somehow I doubt it.
Wherein I continue to look forward, ever hopeful
· š amused · ♫ Van Halen - One Way To Rock (Live) (METAL EXPRESS RADIO - The best heavy metal collection on the ne
(15:51:36) Restless Warrior: Are you excited about the future?
(15:51:52) Lord Aristar: THE FUTURE?
(15:51:55) Restless Warrior: Yeah!
(15:52:17) Lord Aristar: I dunno. Is something going on then?
(15:52:29) Restless Warrior: Yeah, lots of things.
(15:52:31) Restless Warrior: Exciting things.
(15:53:28) Lord Aristar: Yeah, I guess
(15:53:33) Lord Aristar: I have to go run an errand.
(15:53:41) Lord Aristar: Be back in half an hour or so
(15:53:45) Restless Warrior: Ok, talk to you then!
(15:53:51) Lord Aristar: I think I shall be going to karate at 6
(15:53:54) Restless Warrior: Itās the future!
(15:53:58) Restless Warrior: Errands and karate, and talking to me!
(15:53:59) Restless Warrior: The FUTURE!
(15:54:11) Lord Aristar: <.<
(15:54:14) Lord Aristar: >.>
(15:54:19) Lord Aristar: Yeah.
(15:54:28) Restless Warrior: You know Iām right. Not get going, the futureās waiting for you.
(15:54:42) Lord Aristar: Aw, crap. I donāt want to keep THE FUTURE waiting!
(15:54:51) Restless Warrior: No, that could be disasterous!
(15:54:56) Lord Aristar: Oh, wait. Thatās THEORETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE
(15:55:17) Restless Warrior: Dammit, youāre making it really hard not to laugh out loud in front of my coworkers.
(15:55:25) Lord Aristar: hehe
Vision of the future
· š excited · ♫ Triumph - Time Goes By (METAL EXPRESS RADIO - The best heav
The original idea behind the Minion series of computers that I have built has always been for them to function as living room multimedia computers, integrated as much as possible with my home theater system, providing core storage for all types of media, including music, videos and games. The first two Minions have been largely successful, thanks to both nVidiaās decent TV-out support and my girlfriendās addition of an ATI TV Wonder card for doing video capture.
Democracy is the new religion
· šŖļø restless · ♫ Iced Earth - Gettysburg 1863 (The Devil To Pay / Hold At All
I am terrified and disgusted by the growing neoconservative influence in the USA. People have always been angry, hateful creatures to some extent, especially in mobs or when attacked within their own territory. But I never imagined that our countryās leaders would embrace those vile traits as strongly as they have.
I finally found God
· š amused · ♫ Metroid Prime - Gamecube - Samus Vs Meta Ridley (Gaming FM
When geeks collide
· š good · ♫ Yasunori Mitsuda - Star-Stealing Girl
I had a neat conversation with Jessie the other day following up on my post about the value of human life. Apparently, my desire to seek clear-cut, agreed-upon definitions for terms being utilized in a discussion has netted me a sly new moniker, as illustrated by this conversational shard:
Presidential death cycle
· š§ curious · ♫ Offspring - Huck It
One of the few ideological disagreements between my girlfriend and myself is our respective opinions regarding the validity of astrology. I had been planning to post a scathing criticism of this so-called āscience,ā but instead Iām going to look at something much more fun: the Presidential Death Cycle!
Of souls and human worth
· š pensive · ♫ MSM - Guess What -- YOU DIED FOO'!
I was having a discussion with noonereally the other day about the value of human life. Can a life be measured? Can each life be assigned a finite value, or is life invaluable? Are some lives more valuable than others, based on their potential to contribute to the good of society?
Politics (everybody else is doing it)
· š¼ busy · ♫ (EnergyRadio.FM - Energy Dance)
I had been meaning to do some research and write some kind of political rant, but of course, itās already been done by many industrious people. I am one of those godless communists that believes George W. Bush has been the worst thing that happened to this country since Iāve been here, and itās good to see that there are several people out there with the eloquence and logic required to explain why without resorting to rhetoric or propaganda.
āTHE CONSERVATIVE CASE AGAINST GEORGE W. BUSHā is one such great article. From a more āamateurā standpoint, I also recommend āHow Fucked We Are Right Nowā and āHow Fucked We will be With 4 More Years of George W. Bush.ā
Modern medicine: good or bad?
· š content · ♫ Konami - I WANNA DANCE
To those who answered ābadā: please do me a favor and die so thereās more room for the rest of us. To those on the fence on this issue, bear witness to my overwhelming anecdotal evidence!