Everybody, meet Will, (one of the) the nutcase(s) in our little group. See what Japan has done to him?!
I think I'm probably violating several of the listed items in this post alone, but hell...at least I don't do this one (my personal favorite):
* Inventing a nickname for your significant other that you use only on your blog. ("Last night, The Asspounder and I had dinner at a cute little place in the West Village...")
You know you all do it. Read it and realize just how many of these things you do ... and you shouldn't. Many of them are rather unavoidable. Just as many are perfectly avoidable and may make your blog less self-indulgent/ridiculous/boring/whatever.
The Big List of Cheesy Blog Entries.
Thanks to Willing Suspension of Disbelief for this one.
I think the move has been completed. It may take a little while for the DNS to propogate correctly, as is evidenced by the fact that some people see changed content and some people (mainly, me) don't.
If you see anything amiss, comment here or drop me a line.
I'm moving everything in shock-e.com over to a new server in order to better administer the site. I'm really hoping it goes smoothly, but these things rarely go without a hitch. So it may be a while. With any luck, I'll have it moved and be back to posting within a few days.
Actually, I don't want to do that. This article makes me pretty sure that I could be pretty good in the industrial design field. "Why," might you ask?
Because this thing is hideous. A coffee-table designed to look like an iPod. It's ridiculous. The iPod, while still looking like a refrigerator with a screen, looks good while small. But a giant one is rather ... disgusting.
Sure, it's a novel idea, but it's fucking ugly. Did I already say that? One more time won't hurt. I have no doubt I could design a nicer table than that. And this guy is in school for design.
I've sort of fixed the commenting section over at Shinshukan Sougo Diary but it's still acting flaky as hell.
It actually has nothing to do with me disallowing comments, but rather a comment-spam filtering system that is being unruly. You can post a comment now, but it's still weird and you will probably have to manually refresh the page after you post your comment to be able to see it. Previewing your comment before posting seems to help.
And there is this nagging problem of insufficient access privileges, which is utter bullshit ...
Some of my third year (12th grade) English students have decided to keep a web-journal thing for the duration of their Sougo (kind of like independent study) English class. So, go on over and take a look if you feel like it. There's not much yet as they don't post often yet, but I'm hoping to get them to post more often. Feel free to say hi.
がんばれ、生徒たち！
I have no doubt it's only a matter of time before anyone who gives a shit about freedom or the environment in the US is branded a terrorist.
Now this is cool. Treat clinical depression using magnets. I wonder if this really works, and if it's something that the FDA would probably shoot down because the pharm companies would lobby against it. If it does work, man that would be great.
ABC News: Using Magnets to Treat Depression
"TMS uses electromagnets to send pulses of energy directly into the left side of the brain, which is thought to control mood. In patients who are depressed, there is often less activity in this part of the brain. The magnets create an electric current and get the brain cells to fire.
...
Patients are generally treated for a few weeks and, if it works, the depression is staved off for months at a time."
This is pretty damn cool. If only this could happen in the U.S., by far the most consumptive of all the nations of the world.
Sigh.
Wired News: Brazil Schools U.S. on Renewables
"Brazil generates 43.8 percent of its power from renewable energy sources, including hydroelectricity, ethanol and biodiesel, according to Agencia Brasil, a government communications division. By contrast, the United States produced only 6 percent of its power from renewable sources in 2003, according to the Department of Energy's Annual Energy Outlook 2005."
New Harry Potter coming, trailer, blah blah. Never thought I was a fan (since I don't read the books) but I do enjoy the movies.
Shameless.
For the first time, after a long enough time in an office environment, I watched Office Space.
As it was guaranteed to me by so many coworkers, it was truly classic. If you have ever worked at an office, and haven't already seen this movie (I think I was the last office lackey on Earth, though ...), you should go see it. Good stuff.
This is, I fear, the future of America. This isn't at all an extension of liberalism but rather a disgusting turnaround of a Republican party that used to be against big government and wanted states to have more say in government. That's been turned on its head, and we are seeing more of Big Brother in George Bush America than we ever have. I don't see any liberals standing up and cheering for this chilling chapter in American politics.
My earlier comment wasn't intended to insinuate that this was a Red-State-only thing; what I meant was, I don't think we'd be seeing such a prolifery of bullshit if good ol' GW and his cronies weren't at the helm. Rather, we'd just be seeing different bullshit. I'd prefer that to being tracked every time I go to a fucking bar.
Wired News: No Real Debate for Real ID
"The legislation was created in the backrooms of Congress without hearings and without any real understanding or thought about what was being created," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program."
Every day I try to go down to my school's dingy (but happily free, in a country of very expensive memberships) weight room to train. I've been getting pudgy, you see. Since the room is locked, I have to make my way to the smoke-filled gym-teachers' room (I hope the irony is not lost on you) and retrieve the key. It usually goes without a hitch. Today also went without a hitch, but for a nagging doubt that suddenly took hold of me. I realized that every time I go in there, I get these mysterious weird half-looks. What do I mean by that? I don't really know. All I know is I feel dreadfully appraised ... not necessarily in a good way.
It got me to thinking about my time here. I realized I'm navigating through a world that (despite my time here and my apparent cultural learning) I know nothing about. I'm steadily learning my way around cultural blunders and such, but for the most part the Japanese people remain a mystery.
Japanese people are known (though I was unaware of this before coming) for being rather inexpressive. I, on the other hand, am highly expressive. My face, I guess, is like a little TV monitor showing pretty much exactly what I'm feeling. It makes for a rather shitty poker player. Regardless, because of this fundamental difference in expression, I realized today that I really have no idea what many people think about me. The people I work with are very nice, helpful, and fun, but at the same time it's rather impossible to figure out what they think. Back home, you can pretty easily tell if someone doesn't like you; (s)he'll be a complete asshole to you. Usually workplace civility is maintained, but nothing more than that. If it's out of the workplace, obvious dislike is perfectly fair game. Here, even if people hate each others' guts, they'll be, for the most part, painfully polite. I think it may be part of the uber-pacifistic nature that Japan has adopted since World War II.
And so I wonder what people are thinking when I say or do something. Are they saying "boy he is a funny guy, this ジャスティン character" or are they saying "what a dumbass ... when's the next teacher coming?" In all, it shouldn't matter. Most people say just to ignore what other people think about you and go about doing your own thing. I can't really do that. I rely heavily on the opinions of others, as I not only want to think the best of people but also I want them to think the best of me. I also want to know if I'm doing my job well. After all, I am here to do a job. As a westerner, I have been trained to read facial and body language, which is pretty minimal here. So what to do? Obviously, keep trying to learn about other (if any) ways Japanese people express themselves. But in the meantime, I find myself rather, as I said, paranoid.
You think you're a nice person and that people like you; but to realize suddenly that you can't really feel sure is distressing. It's kind of like having the floor whipped out from under you, with empty space beneath.
People like me, right? Hmm.
Note: That was just a musing, rhetorical question, for all you sassy folk.
This is fucking idiotic. I love how slimy politicians are and how they attach little things like this to other completely unrelated bills in order to pass. You think we're in Big-Brother territory yet? Wait until they can track your every frickin' move with this lovely little "security measure."
Thank you, red staters, for making this a success. This, by the way, is not some paranoid anti-government propoganda. This is real and will be happening very soon. Are you uncomfortable yet? No? You will be.
FAQ: How Real ID will affect you | CNET News.com
"Starting three years from now, if you live or work in the United States, you'll need a federally approved ID card to travel on an airplane, open a bank account, collect Social Security payments, or take advantage of nearly any government service. Practically speaking, your driver's license likely will have to be reissued to meet federal standards."
Did you know that this month is (supposedly, and obviously not endorsed by George Bush and his stagnant cronies) National (in the US?) Maturbation Month. Hey, it was enough to get me to read the article, at least. Not, uh, mind you, that I would do such a thing ... ...
"I'm so lame ..."
I never thought of flowers that way ... but boy I guess it is nothing but true.
Chopped off sex organs to your honey? How about a dozen?
Honestly, I have no idea what this comment left on my site is supposed to be about. It's funny though. I would've thought it to be spam but it doesn't refer to any crappy websites and it's actually relevant to the post. Bizarre.
I have for a long time had a particularly virulent hatred for Apple. There was a reason, but I couldn't articulate it well. This does it for me, and reminds me why Apple gets my goat: blatant lying. Any company that goes so far out of its way to manipulate the consumer pisses me off. Yes, they pretty much all do it, but this is so far out of line it boggles my mind.
Apple does have awesome design, a great Operating System, and great media applications. It also has ripoff prices, underperforming hardware, and a warped sense of reality. Eh, I lost my steam. I don't buy the stuff anyway, just thought it might be an interesting note for those who live by the word of Steve Jobs.
Note that if you do go to read that article, it is filled with those annoying "sponsored links" that are showing up these days.
Hardware Analysis - Apple cooks the numbers, again?
"Apparently Apple conveniently ignores the very basic principle of benchmarking; you should be comparing apples to apples, or at least make an effort to do so. This not only invalidates their scores but it makes Apple look particularly amateurish; clearly they don't know the first thing about fair benchmarking, or simply went out of their way to have the new PowerPC come out on top."