Mall of Me

The Passions of Blood, Smoke, and Fire (1-Hour Future Garage DJ Mix Set)

2026-04-27T20:53:00.004-05:00

26 future garage songs and 20 quotes in 57 minutes. And it's never been more pertinent!

Volor Flex - The Sign
Quote - No Country for Old Men - "What's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss? The MOST... you ever lost... on a coin toss. [coin flips] Call it. You stand to win everything. Call it! You need to call it. I can't call it for you. It wouldn't be fair. You know what date is on this coin? 1958. It's been traveling 22 years to get here, and now it's here, and it's either heads or tails, and you have to say. Call it. Call it! [coin flips]"
Bloc Party - Where is Home? (Burial Remix)
Quote - Pump Up the Volume - "Guess who? It's 10 o' clock. Do you care where your parents are?"
Quote - Phantom of the Paradise - "Gentlemen, I give you the future!"
Quote - Pulp Fiction - "What now? Let me tell you what now."
Lunova Labs - Night & Moonlight
Klatu - Chasm
Quote - Blade Runner - "Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave."
Quote - A.I. - "With all this animus existing against mechas today, it isn't simply a question of creating a robot who can love, but isn't the real conundrum: can you get a human to love them back? If a robot could genuinely love a person, what responsibility does that person hold towards that mecha in return?"
Quote - Mission to Mars - "Just how long have we been receiving these mysterious signals from outer space?"
Borealis - Razor Fragrance (Naono Remix)
Quote - Prometheus - "Fire... our first true piece of technology. 100,000 B.C.: Stone tools. 4,000 B.C.: The wheel. 9th century A.D.: Gunpowder. 19th century: Eureka! The light bulb! 20th century: The automobile, television, nuclear weapons, spacecraft, Internet. 21st century: Biotech, nanotech, fusion and fission, and M-theory. And THAT was just the first decade! We are now three months into the Year of Our Lord 2023. At this moment in our civilization, we can create cybernetic individuals--who, in just a few short years, will be completely indistinguishable from us--which leads to an obvious conclusion: We are the gods now."
Volor Flex - Elegiac
Burial - Etched Headplate
Zitan - Panacea
Owsey - The Horizon, Hidden in Our Movements (unavailable)
Quote - The Devil's Advocate - "God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do? I swear, for his own amusement, He sets the rules in opposition! It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a SADIST! He's an absentee landlord!"
16 Bit - Skyline
Quote - V for Vendetta - "My turn!"
Burial - Wounder
Synkro - Everybody Knows
Quote - Inception - "[Mal] You said you dreamt that we'd grow old together. [Cobb] But we did... we did. You don't remember. I miss you more than I can bear, but... we had our time together... and I have to let go..."
Ghosts of Paraguay - Hadron
Lung - Afterlife
Late - Dreams Are
Quote - No Country for Old Men - "[Moss] Who is this? [Chigurh] You know who it is. You need to talk to me. You know how this is going to turn out, don't you? I think you do. So this is what I'll offer: you bring me the money and I'll let her go. I won't tell you you can save yourself, because you can't. That's the best deal you're going to get."
Zitan - Stigma
Volor Flex - Gloom
Quote - Jurassic Park - "[Ian Malcolm] God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs. [Ellie Sattler] Dinosaurs... eat man. Woman inherits the earth."
Klatu - Dirt vs Wind
Quote - Firefly - "[Simon] You're out of your mind. [Early] That's between me and my mind."
Quote - Star Trek - "Proceed with voice-print identification."
Quote - A.I. - "They made us too smart, too quick, and too many. We are suffering for the mistakes they made because, when the end comes, all that will be left is us. That's why they hate us."
Clubroot - Serendipity Dub
Late - Under These Conditions
Quote - A.I. - "Come away O human child / To the waters and the wild / With a fairy hand in hand / For the world's more full of weeping / Than you can understand."
Zaika vs Liar - Inside U
Quote - Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? - "Each little Crunchie contains energy, contains pep for your growing youngsters, builds strong legs so that when they're older they can stand the long waits in the unemployment line."
Moderat + Shackleton vs Clemens Ruh - Rusty Nails (Mashed by Jaya Prime)
Owsey & CoMa - Imagine That
Quote - A.I. - "The greatest single human gift: the ability to chase down our dreams."
Synthetic Epiphany - Renovatio
Massive Attack feat. Hope Sandoval - Paradise Circus (Burial Remix) (unavailable)
Hiatus & Shura - Fortune's Fool (Clubroot Remix)
Quote - Memento - "Just because there are things I don't remember doesn't mean my actions are meaningless. The world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes. Does it?"
Lamb - Butterfly Effect (Subheim Remix)

Album art photography by (and of) Helena Kenzo Rey.

You can also listen to this DJ mix here on Mixcloud. Originally published on November 18, 2012.

"...and all the world will know..."

NOTE: Many personal edits were used in this mix, often including only a single measure and a bridge. Check out the original songs, artists, and movies to hear them as they are meant to be heard.

2016-09-09T11:23:00.000-05:00

“Spectral Iteration: A Prismatic Journey thru the Beautiful Art of Fractals and Abstracts”

Mass Market Paperback by San Jaya Prime

Purchase Spectral Iteration from Amazon

Beautiful and vivid fractal designs, hypnotic Mandelbrot spirals, as well as mysterious and inspirational abstracts. Every page is taking another step forward in the spectrum. The journey is yours to take. This 7" x 7" art book comes from the internationally acclaimed and award-winning fractalist San Jaya Prime. His designs appear on book covers, album art, video games, and as large murals featuring vivid colors that envelope lines formed from sacred geometry. This is where math and nature meet on the shores of the infinite. I walk in dreams and dream waking. Who am I?

Purchase Spectral Recursion

Purchase “Spectral Recursion”, First Edition, $24.99, In Stock from Amazon dot Com

Details on the Book

Publisher: Blurb (September 7, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1367260833
ISBN-13: 978-1367260832
Pages: 20 full-color pages
Dimensions: 7 in x 7 in x 0.2 in

12yr old girl's Zombie Haiku

2011-04-14T13:57:00.002-05:00

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English Is a Stupid Language

2011-03-07T13:58:00.001-06:00

Let's Face It. English Is a Stupid Language.

There is no egg in the eggplant,
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England,
French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted, but if we examine its paradoxes we find that:
Quicksand takes you down slowly,
Boxing rings are square,
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don't fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth,
Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?
If the teacher taught,
Why hasn't the preacher praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?
Why do people recite at a play,
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways?
How can the weather be as hot as hell on one day
And as cold as hell on another?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down,
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!

English was invented by people, not computers,
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn't a race at all.)

That is why:
When the stars are out they are visible,
But when the lights are out they are invisible.
And why it is that when I wind up my watch
It starts,
But when I wind up this poem
It ends.

Note: I have not been able to track down a verified source for this. If you know where it came from, please leave the info in the comments.

Paulo Coelho Banned in Iran

2011-01-12T08:49:00.000-06:00

Paulo Coelho is "The Messenger of Peace" to the United Nations, yet his books have now been banned in Iran. In response, he has made them all available for free download in Farsi (Persian). They are available here on his blog, and mirrored here on SoundByte Psychology. He is an outspoken advocate for WikiLeaks and a personal hero to hundreds of thousands, including myself. This censorship will not stand.

Miss Levine, in Memoriam

2010-12-28T23:37:00.003-06:00

Breanna LeVine (December 28th, 1983 - April 1st, 2010)

"Miss Levine" by Beats Antique [Click to Download]

dedicated to Breanna LeVine

Two children from the Tribe of the Desert fell into darkness this year, leaving their bodies behind. One was Miss LeVine, a child of many, many names... and she fell by her own hands.

It is a choice none can take from her.

The impact she had on the lives of so many artists can be felt even at this moment. The famed artist Android Jones, upon hearing of her passing, created a truly stunning portrait of her: Divine Levine

Wishing All Aching Hearts
Can Find Refuge In Love
Quickly And Effortlessly

Fare well, 2010. Travel well, Miss Levine... and happy birthday

2010 - Political Insights of the Year

2010-12-27T08:25:00.006-06:00

2010 has been a year of incredible political activity, surprise insights and far more. I'll only be scratching the surface here. Before covering "the bad", let's at least count the victories:

#1 - The Zadroga Bill, meant to provide health care for hundreds of 9/11 first responders, finally passed in the senate. If you've heard about the bill, it's likely that you didn't hear about it until recently... yet it's more than two-months old. The media was almost entirely quiet when it came to the bill. It wasn't until the comedian Jon Stewart dedicated an entire episode to the first responders that it blew up in the media... and it was passed just a week later. This is one of the true heroic stories of the year, and well worth celebrating. I highly suggest the main article and associated videos on here on Stewart's site.

#2 - The voiceless have been given a voice. We finally have a way to act and to stand up against a government that has continually proven itself tyrannical. The infowar, centering on WikiLeaks, has given people around the world a way to speak up just by clicking a button... or blogging... or all the way up to transmitting encrypted files. The entire world is on fire. Some are trying to silence the truth, others are fighting to keep it alive... but there is finally a way for anyone to actually get involved in something that works! Just for mentioning the name WikiLeaks, this entire blog has already been blocked in multiple countries... China included. Regulators in America are trying to pass legislation at this very moment to create this same censorship here in the States. The fight continues, but at least it's a fight for something worthwhile.

#3 - A glimpse of sanity has returned to the Netherlands. I was in Amsterdam just weeks before the Netherlands banned the sell of hallucinogenic mushrooms [link]. Soon after, they began cracking down on the Red Light District and on the Cannabis Coffee Bars. The final nail was when they enacted tobacco smoking bans... despite the fact that Europeans smoke marijuana and tobacco together. I've never before heard of a place so blatantly committing economic suicide... and I'd given up on the idea of ever returning. I don't know who talked sense into them, but they passed legislation allowing smaller pubs to allow people to smoke inside again [link]. I'm not getting my hopes up yet, as I don't know if it is enough to stop the chain-reaction. In England alone, more than 6,000 pubs have closed since the smoking ban was passed there in late 2007. But Amsterdam didn't just ban smoking, it shot itself in the head multiple times. That doesn't change the fact that it is good news, and that it may lead to larger reforms in the end.

#4 - "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was finally repealed. This ancient doctrine, founded on a compromise between racism and necessity, has finally been overturned to allow homosexuals to openly serve in the armed forces. It's sad that we're celebrating something that should have been taken into action more than a hundred years ago... but we celebrate what we can. And that's about it for the good news.

The bad news can be easily summarized:
* British Petroleum decided that the gulf needed a few more gallons of oil in its waters. The government wasn't having it, so they called in the coast guard... but, as it turns out, the coast guard was just there to keep reporters away from reporting on the spill and to arrest anyone that wouldn't hand over recordings of the catastrophe.
* An international corporation, with decades of toxic dumping, bribery, child labor and false advertising under its belt, was handed the reigns of the FDA by the president... then the FDA was given complete control over the nation's agriculture. Shortly thereafter, the FDA returned to its war on raw and organic markets with renewed vigor. Joy!
* The FCC finally passed Net Neutrality laws, calling the outcome "a compromise". Netizens were more quick to call it what it was: "a sellout". The laws allow wireless carriers to proceed with erecting toll-gates on their users, as well as tolls on companies that want their customers to have access to them.
* A leak to a news station in Pennsylvania revealed that the Department of Homeland Security has been spying on peaceful activists, as well as actively tagging and creating a database of environmentalists, rights activists and even tax activists.
* The US Department of Justice published a book titled "Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism Terms and Concepts" that allows the classification of activists, economists and third-party supporters to be designated as "domestic threats". This is the same book detailing Al-Queda and other actual terrorist groups.
* Following a rather weak "terrorist" attack, the TSA pushed thru a program to install full-body scanners in airports. These have been rightfully dubbed "nudie scanners". They literally strip a person down to their skin. It's absurd enough to where it's become an Internet meme, relegating any invasion of privacy to the TSA.
* North Korea decided that they needed to throw a few bombs at South Korea. Everyone started making threats. It's as much "not good" as the world can muster, as the bombing served absolutely no one and may end in all-out world war if it doesn't settle down.
* The US passed legislation banning trade with Iran. That's understandable. Then the US declared that they would raise trade sanctions against any country who DID trade with Iran. Those are full trade sanctions. Every single time they have been raised throughout history, they have led to war. It's quite clear that there will be no more peace talks with Iran and that war will soon be on the country's doorstep.
* The Obama administration has denied more Freedom of Information requests than any other administration, silenced more leaks than any other administration and played an active part in silencing the press during the BP Oil Spill. As WikiLeaks gathered steam over the year, that came to a head with Cablegate. The administration is now taking steps to tear up the first amendment and has already proven, by their actions, that America lives under an illusion of freedom. While this is both a good and a bad thing, in the end, I easily side with WikiLeaks: "Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime." Period.

If you want more than the summaries, then I can be much more verbose. I'm also including references, although those are more for myself should I need to come back to them.

The FCC's Net Neutrality Sellout: Before getting into this, let me get my politics out in the open. I'm not a right-wing corporatist, nor am I a left-wing statist. I am a laissez faire capitalist. When a company accepts subsidies from the government, they leave the free market and enter the realm of governmental regulation. That applies to almost all cellular communication companies and many of the cable and network companies on land. For me, it is a simple line, and I am for Net Neutrality regulations (to the fullest extent)... and believe they should be applied to all carriers who have accepted government subsidies.

Before the FCC's Net Neutrality "compromise" passed, this slide [below] leaked to the Internet. It shows how wireless carriers are considering charging each person for specific sites they access online. When the bill was passed, it allowed for exactly this sort of "toll road" mentality with wireless carriers. It also allows for these carriers to toll the companies online if those companies want their customers to have access to them. Obama's campaign promise of Net Neutrality has come to an end. When he appointed Julius Genachowski to the FCC, it was in order to fulfill the promise of Net Neutrality... yet we find just another compromise and a sellout. For more on this slide, check out this article. For more on the flaws in the new Net Neutrality laws, check out this article. For info on the idea behind "rebooting the FCC", check out this article.

Homeland Security's Spying Campaign Against Activists: Although many have talked about being "tagged, photographed and cataloged" by Homeland Security, a recent leak in Pennsylvania finally gave a glimpse into the scope and targets of this operation.

James F Powers, director of Penn's Homeland Security, accidentally included the wrong person on an email sent out to energy companies, federal employees and a private intelligence firm that he had hired using $125,000 Pennsylvanian tax dollars. The email leaked, revealing that the firm he'd contracted were paid to spy on: environmentalists, anti-tax protesters, gay rights activists, ralliers for increased education funding, anti-war demonstrators, deportation protesters, animal rights protesters and ralliers attending "End-the-Fed" gatherings.

Furthermore, these groups were targeted as potential threats to infrastructure and would be labeled as terrorists if need be. Names had already been gathered from peaceful candlelight vigils... even movie screenings. Because of the Bush administration's removal of habeas corpus, any of these deemed to be terrorists could be held, interrogated and tortured without any further cause and without communication with the outside world [link]. Because of the Obama administration's win in the supreme court, any of these who were held but proven innocent cannot even take legal recourse against their torturers [link].

It should be noted that this leak came via Pennsylvania, a state notoriously sloppy for hiding its view on citizens' rights and for its embracing of the Big Brother philosophy. If you haven't seen this commercial, it's definitely worth the quick watch:

The private company hired by Homeland Security is called the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response. Their site states: "the pre-eminent Israeli/American security firm providing training, intelligence and education to clients across the globe." This comes as a jolt, since 2010 has revealed huge amounts of information regarding Israel's manipulation of the U.S. [link] [link], as well as its ongoing spying campaigns on U.S. soil [link]. The fact that almost all stories on the Pennsylvania leak have not mentioned any Israeli connection at all is disturbing as well.

The ACLU is trying to get full disclosure on the scope of the spying and what names were on the list, but have not made any progress so far. The only thing that has been offered was an apology on behalf of Penn Governor Rendell and to cancel the contract with the private firm. No actions have been taken to remove Powers from office and no legal actions have been taken for rights violations.

We only know of this because of a single mistake and a leak that took advantage of that mistake. All the other attacks on human rights and against those defending these rights remain "off-the-record"... despite the evidence mounted against them.

The Classification of Activists as "Domestic Extremists": The U.S. Department of Justice published a book called "Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism Terms and Concepts" that has come to public attention. Alongside Al-Queda and militant extremist groups, it also lists peaceful movements (including people collecting silver). Here are a few examples:

[Pg.8] American Liberty Currency (ALC ): An alternative currency promoted by NORFED. Ostensibly, each $10 in ALC currency is essentially a certificate of ownership of 1 ounce of silver held in a NORFED vault.

[Pg.22] Constitution Party: A minor, right-wing extremist political party, formerly known as the U.S. Taxpayers Party (USTP), which is one of the primary parties that specifically try to appeal to the "patriot" movement.

[Pg.23] Constitutionalists: A generic term for members of the "patriot" movement. It is now often used to refer to members of the sovereign citizen or common law court movement. Sometimes the word "constitutionist" is also used.

The Monsanto Coup: Because of movies like "Food, Inc.", the name Monsanto is entering the public knowledge... and it's not pretty. They have a legacy of toxic dumping that has lasted decades [link]. They've been caught bribing government officials in order to hide he environmental impact of their operations [link] and they've built a history on the foundation of false advertising [link]. They run factories using child labor, with the children exposed daily to open pesticides and other toxins [DOC file]. In America, farmers refer to Monsanto using the terms "mafia" and "gestapo" interchangeably... and with good reason [link]. They donate to political candidates from both sides of the spectrum, and in almost equal amounts of funding.

Then, in July of '09, Obama appointed Michael Taylor (a former Monsanto lobbyist) to Senior Adviser to the FDA. This, btw, is just the most recent political position to be filled by former Monsanto employees... but it is the most pertinent when it comes to policy that was passed this year. Senate Bill HR 2751 (FDA Food Safety Modernization Act) extends the power of the FDA to regulate and monitor food production throughout the nation, despite the track record they have of attacking organic and raw markets, of corrupt and criminal employees and their blatant siding with factory farming. Even before this bill, raw and organic markets have been coming under attack for years from state and federal law enforcement, as well as regulations from the FDA itself. This video is only a collection of some recent attacks along these lines:

The BP Oil Spill: What started out as an environmental disaster quickly became political. While the government insulted and attacked British Petroleum on television, they worked behind the scenes to cut off the press from reporting on the actual damages, hid important information from the public and are, even to this day, trying to get companies and contractors to sign off on sheets to get them to promise not to talk. The arrests served and threats made were only a small insight into how far the government would go, alongside B.P., to attack the freedom of the press and the rights of millions of gulf residents. As the year rolled on, the government's attacks on free speech and on transparency were made even more evident when battling WikiLeaks. Here is some of the coverage on the oil spill and the cover-up.

TSA: If it wasn't a health risk and completely invasive, this "joke of the year" would be great for laughs. But it has terrible side-effects. It also does not work. There are no scanners on flights coming into America, where the greatest risk is, nor do ground-crews have to go thru scanners (or anyone who can fake a ground-crew's set of IDs and uniforms). Also, a lot of luggage does not go thru scanning and is another vulnerability. In war zones, American forces have been using trained dogs much like the Russians do. They're never wrong, and can sniff out a bomb anywhere in an airport despite incredible attempts to trick them. But, instead, we get the joke of the year with the TSA's "nudie scanners" and an illusion of safety with more loopholes in it than the tax laws.

Korea: No comment.

Sanctions Against Iran: Anything I would write at this point would only be repeating what has already been said by Ron Paul. Here he is:

Cablegate: Cablegate was such an important event that I have written an entirely separate entry on it. It's right here on Mall of Me.

In summary, there is no longer a left-wing party... no longer a right-wing party. The differences at this point are so small that they borders on the comical. Now, there is only the Lie of the State... and the Truth that netizens from around the world are fighting for alongside WikiLeaks. I believe this wouldn't be complete without a reminder from Douglas Adams on just how funny this joke really is...

...from "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish"

Preface: A spaceship has just landed, rather rudely, on the soil of England. The craft opens, and an extraterrestrial robot steps out to meet the surprised citizens of earth.

"I come in peace," it said, adding after a long moment of further grinding, "take me to your Lizard."

Ford Prefect, of course, had an explanation for this, as he sat with Arthur and watched the nonstop frenetic news reports on television, none of which had anything to say other than to record that the thing had done this amount of damage which was valued at that amount of billions of pounds and had killed this totally other number of people, and then say it again, because the robot was doing nothing more than standing there, swaying very slightly, and emitting short incomprehensible error messages.

"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."

"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"

"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like that straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."

"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."

"I did," said Ford. "It is."

"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"

"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."

"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"

"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."

"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"

"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"

"What?"

"I said," said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"

"I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."

Ford shrugged again.

"Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them," he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it."

#cablegate

2010-12-02T14:05:00.018-06:00

Besides going over revelations, I wanted to share some of the top #cablegate tweets since this last Sunday. This first one got changed and retweeted so many times that the source couldn't be tracked down:

"The U.S. government just got put thru one of their own airport nudie-scanners."

@carlmaxim - Sarah Palin says 'Julian Assange should be hunted down like Osama bin Laden.' So he should be safe for at least a decade.

@darthvader - A feisty princess, 2 scrappy droids & slews of Bothans have nothing on Wikileaks.

@vamseekamana - The big leaker is watching the big brother. Thats why we should celebrate every whistle blowing event. Orwell says 'Hi'

@peter_lemenkov - "In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act." ~George Orwell

@Bryan6666 - Do you know how you can tell that @wikileaks is a good thing for the world? By looking at who wants Julian Assange dead.

@SynLeejm - The world is not interested in kill-the-messenger tactics. The world wants to know why revealed corruption goes ignored.

After trending all day Sunday on Twitter and causing an international uproar, was the leak of so many internal cables worth it? Definitely. We have first hand documents from Condoleezza Rice on her involvement with abducting citizens and covering up Guantanamo Bay abuses. We also have proof that prisoners who had been proved innocent were held in the prison because they "knew too much". These are the same prisoners that the Obama administration has cut off from any legal means for redemption. We also know that Hillary Clinton has only continued in these footsteps and that they've bargained with prisoners with the current administration the way that the last administration had. Details on just how much spying goes on using the U.S. embassies, while scandalous, also redeems those who have been called "quacks" for suggesting that this was going on. Even more revelations were covered in The Week.

Ever since releasing the leak, WikiLeaks has been under fire from political, digital and legal actions. The site has been hit with multiple DDOS attack, shutting it down for hours at a time. China, among other countries, censored WikiLeaks just hours after the cables were released. The company Amazon turned off the servers they were mirroring in the U.S. (note that Amazon was hit by a backlash of displeased customers). Interpol released an international arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, while the U.S. has announced they plan bring WikiLeaks to court under the Espionage Act. The truth has always been hunted in this manner... but the digital age has changed things. When the WikiLeaks site went down, people started hosting torrents with archives of the cables. While the U.S. was announcing stories that contradicted themselves (it was embarrassing, actually), WikiLeaks stood their ground: "People need to know this."

While talking about WikiLeaks, one person said: "I think that guy should be boiled in oil." That is precisely the sentimentality that WikiLeaks is fighting against... precisely the world they are fighting against. That dark age mentality of the old world is still here. WikiLeaks is the promise of a new world ruled by information, honesty and openness. And what happens next? Assange, in this interview with Forbes, gives us a glimpse of the next leak.

Links for Cablegate:
* WikiLeaks dot CH - Main Site
* The Guardian's Cablebrowser
* The #cablegate conversation on Twitter
* The Guardian's Review of the Cables
* TIME Interview: Assange on Secrecy, China and WikiLeaks' Growth
* The Guardian - Wikileaks under attack
* So, Why Is WikiLeaks a Good Thing Again?

2010-12-02 Update: Senators are calling for WikiLeaks to be classified as "Foreign Terrorist Organization" and the government is putting pressure on Twitter to close the WikiLeaks account. Senators, as well as journalists, are talking about marking any person or company who donates funds or allows WikiLeaks access as "aiding and abetting terrorists". The truth is now a terrorist. "Terrorist" now equals "anyone who doesn't support us".

2010-12-03 Update #1: The digital attacks on WikiLeaks have continued under political pressure. WikiLeaks.org is now a dead domain. They've switched to the Swiss DNS http://wikileaks.ch/. If that goes down, here is a list of raw IP addresses that will get you there: http://213.251.145.96/, http://46.59.1.2/, http://88.80.13.160/. Also, the site http://wikileaks.info/ is listing mirror IPs in the event they are needed. Lastly, my respect for the Justice of Pakistan has skyrocketed. Despite political pressure for him to ban WikiLeaks throughout their entire nation, he (Sheikh Azmat Saeed) stated: "We must bear the truth, no matter how harmful it is."

2010-12-03 Update #2: Today, I witnessed an ex-marine step out in defense of WikiLeaks. I watched as he was attacked verbally on every level for his actions... then watched as a second marine stepped forward and silently joined him. Something shifted. Silence. I will remember this day. Today I saw a journalist from Salon and a journalist from The Atlantic actually agree with each other in defense of WikiLeaks. They not only agreed, but linked to each other's articles... despite the opposition between their organizations. These are no small journalists. This is Glenn Greenwald with Salon and Jeffrey Goldberg with The Atlantic. I never thought I'd live to see this day. But the day isn't over. Today, I saw a person who avidly hated and attacked WikiLeaks make a U-turn and begin supporting them with everything they've got. Something is happening. Germany has already fired execs who spied for America, and this morning brings news of Tamil supporters calling for the imprisonment of an Indian general who supported the massacre of 40,000 civilians. I've never seen so many changes made in such a short amount of time... and haven't felt such a high level of hope in years. I highly suggest this article by Glenn Greenwald.

2012-12-04 Update #1: The Tech Herald has an incredible article covering all the attacks (digital and political) on WikiLeaks: WikiLeaks faces more heat in the wake of cablegate. It also brought up Lieberman's SHIELD Act, that would cut off all news sources from ever telling us about Guantanamo Bay or any other sensitive items the government labels "state secret". This follows in Obama's footsteps of denying torture victims, even innocent ones, any right to try those who tortured them... as any case now labeled "state secret" cannot be brought to court under Obama's Supreme Court Ruling.

2012-12-04 Update #2: Anonymous (aka, 4CHAN), has temporarily pulled out of their war against the RIAA and turned their legions on PayPal. This follows in the wake of PayPal freezing the WikiLeaks donation account. The PayPal Blog was hit with the first DDoS attack by 4CHAN and, as of these writings, has not returned for public access. With the largest group of digital freedom fighters now siding with WikiLeak, it is without a doubt that first real infowar has now been fully engaged.

anonymous is legion
we do not forgive
we do not forget

The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
~Thomas Jefferson (to Edward Carrington, 1787)

Happy.

2010-11-22T15:06:00.020-06:00

"Happy.", Copyright Laura Whatever

Awarded a Daily Deviation on deviantART for November 18th
[re-posted here on Mall of Me /w permission]

An Interesting Life

2010-11-08T15:36:00.027-06:00

I would like to add to this an excerpt from Neil Stephenson's
"The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" [Amazon]

I don't wish you health nor happiness
I don't wish you peace nor freedom
But upon all who live I do wish an "interesting life"

You're a Winner!

2010-10-10T14:31:00.004-05:00

Seriously, if you've ever voted for any of the three projects I've posted so far, then you're a winner. Two of the three projects WON! Sharif Issa and Jessa Peters both won, although the Youth Hostel just couldn't take first. If you don't remember, or missed it, or just want to re-live the celebration, here are the two winners!

Sharif won $2,400 worth of gear from Cloudveil after peeps like you and me voted, shared and otherwise spread the word that the crazy guy living in a tepee had the best skid crib.

Jessa Peters didn't just win the People's Choice Award that you and I voted on, but also won the Peer Choice Award for Best Model. That's right, even other models and photographers were voting her up. The only peeps that weren't down with the Jessa were the critics at Austin Fashion Week. That's not really a surprise, is it?

Do you have a project you need votes for? Is it quirky or a bit "off"... or does it have a good story? Either contact me or leave a link in the comments. I should note that I'm an ass and I may make suggestions before promoting anything, especially if I really like a project.. . because I want it to succeed and I have a little experience in this area. Without quirky, the world just wouldn't be a shiny place.

AddictedImage

2010-10-05T23:48:00.002-05:00

AddictedImage

:[model - Mischa]: - :[links - deviantART | Flickr]:

Click any image to open viewer. Images in this entry are by AddictedImage and licensed thru a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. These writings and images are copyright AddictedImage.

If you hate your job, quit.
If you are in a relationship with an asshole, leave.
If you hate where you live, move.
If you are unhappy, change.
It is as simple as that.
~AddictedImage, Journal Entry [excerpt]

:[model - Alley Kat Alex]: - :[links - deviantART | Flickr]:

:[model - Mischa]: - :[links - deviantART | Flickr]:

I'm not a flag waver.
I'm not a conservative.
I'm not a sheep.
I am disgusted at this country.
I am a patriot in the true sense of the word.

The elite have polluted this country.
The masses have fed on it.
The individuals must take it back.

~AddictedImage, "Fight"

:[model - Mischa]: - :[links - deviantART | Flickr]:

From "Who are we?" by AddictedImage:

Addictedimage is Conan Soranno and Mischa Romo.

Mr. Soranno is a mad Italian who chain smokes and spends his days plotting ways to corrupt the pure, dominate the world, and perfect his recipe for chicken alfredo. Every once in a while he gets off his ass and presses a button on his camera (if he's not to busy arguing with people online as to why everything they believe in is wrong.)

Miss Romo is an absolute sweetheart who drinks too much, fights too much, and is a general pain in the ass. If it wasn't for the fact that she was a kick ass artist (classical and digital) and a damn good fashion designer as well as a smoking hot model... she'd have been out on the curb a long time ago.

AddictedImage Online:
:[AddictedImage dot Com]: - :[Zivity]: - :[Flickr]: - :[LiveJournal]:
:[AddictedImage on deviantART]: - :[Mischa Romo on deviantART]:
:[AddictedImage on ModelMayhem]: - :[Mischa Romo on ModelMayhem]:

3Y3 L3V3L STUDIO

2010-07-29T15:15:00.006-05:00

Eye Level Studio

no images have been edited
Real Paint. Real Models. Unreal Art.

Model

Painting

Photography

[click an image to open viewer]

Title: Metropolis
Model: Miss Gretta
Stylist: Mikel

Gaia :Title
Kristen :Model
Mikel :Stylist
Heather :Make-up Artist

[all paint by Roz, all photos by Tim]

Title: Archduchess Antoinette
Model: Dani
Stylist: Lorenzo
Make-up Artist: Davis

Goddess Minerva :Title
Kristen :Model
Mikel :Stylist
Heather :Make-up Artist

Title: Queen Midas
Model: Amber
Stylist: Lorenzo

Empress Wu Zetian :Title
Pegasus :Model
Mikel :Stylist
Heather :Make-up Artist

Peace, Illumination, Circuitry

Eye Level Studio in Action

From left to right: Tim, Roz, Kristen, Mikel, Heather


EYE LEVEL STUDIO
	Painter: Roz AKA: Michael Rosner Links: Main Site MySpace Model Mayhem Facebook Portfolio		Photographer: Tim AKA: The Foto Guy, Tim Engle Links: Main Site Model Mayhem MySpace Flickr
	Stylist: Mikel AKA: MikelSessions, Mikel Killen, Cholo Links: Model Mayhem MySpace		Make-up Artist: Heather AKA: Heather Killen, Heather Los Gatos Links: Model Mayhem MySpace
Model: Kristen AKA: Kay Links: MySpace Model Mayhem		Model: PegasusMaiden AKA: Pagasus Links: Main Site Model Mayhem MySpace		Model: Devyn AKA: Devyn Falcon Links: Model Mayhem MySpace
Model: Dani AKA: Danielle Asher Links: Model Mayhem MySpace		Model: Miss Gretta Links: Model Mayhem MySpace		Model: Jon AKA: Jon Mack Band: Auradrone Links: Model Mayhem MySpace MySpace Music
Also: Lorenzo (Stylist), Cajy (Stylist), Davis (Make-up Artist), Karri (Model), Rayna (Model), Mottola (Model), Amber (Model), Christelle (Model), Yanya (Model), Jaime Dollaga (Model) and more.

Sacramento, CA

Chicago, IL

Note: There is well over a hundred more striking works of art like this from Eye Level Studio. There are also animated versions, my two favorites being here and here. The bulk of the collection is on the Eye Level MySpace Page, although the studio's Facebook page and deviantART page have been updated more than MySpace recently. The big news is the re-birth of the Main Site. The layout is completely new, with much more information and with prints available for sale. Eye Level has been inspiring me and other artists for more than half a decade now. If you like what you're seeing... then spread the word.

For other features on Eye Level Studio, visit both of these:
• Michael Rosner Feature on Mehron Makeup News
• Michael Rosner Feature on Broodleheimer

[re-presented with permission ]

The Apple Tree

2010-07-27T22:55:00.004-05:00

Khameleon808 has made a tribute to The Glitch Mob that takes video editing to a new level. Using possibly hundreds of different movie trailers, the video was edited to maximize the energy of the music that Glitch Mob is known for. Included songs are: "Red Dress (The Glitch Mob Remix)" by TV on the Radio, "All the Cash (The Glitch Mob Remix)" by Evil Nine, "Monday (The Glitch Mob Remix)" by Nalepa and the instrumental for "Crunk de Guille" by edIT.

There is a bonus section on the way, not to mention "Project Inertia". To stay tuned, subscribe to Khameleon808 on YouTube.

Anything You Synthesize

2010-06-01T11:38:00.002-05:00

"Anything You Synthesize" by The American Dollar
Video produced by OneSize, available for free download here

Eviction Notice

2010-04-12T09:54:00.002-05:00

"Eviction Notice" by Megan Kennedy (FallenIdle)

Dear Mrs. Singleton,

I'm sure you don't remember me. I may have been one of many students who felt the sting of your proverbial whip, past and present; I may be the only one. I'll never know. You may even be dead by now, and for that, speaking ill of the dead will no doubt upset a balance I'll have to right at some point. I accept this, because I am done giving your teeth a place to rest in my dying body.

Being as old as you were, I'm sure you'd long forgotten what it was to be a child, and how badly things in society had changed since your day, when people were actually afraid to get divorced and kids didn't come home to an empty house. No doubt, this effected your ability to understand that some students in your classroom were far less fortunate than others, in ways they didn't cause or comprehend, and adjust your sensitivity accordingly. Or maybe you were just at the end of your crotchety old life and had stopped giving a shit.

But my secrets are done being kept. Whatever your reasoning, you have to leave me.

I can't remember the name of the book, now, that you were reading aloud to the class. But I was 100% sure that at some point, you uttered a word that I'd gotten my mouth washed out with soap for saying; something not meant for 5th grade ears. I was scared, but my mother had always taught me to tell the truth and if I was uncomfortable, to say something. That I had every right to stand up for myself, and she would always back me up if I believed in it.

I did the only thing a mind that little could think of: I went to your teacher, Principal Foote, and told him how upset I was. I remember walking into that big, dark office, shaking in my Power Rangers sneakers; it didn't help that Principal Foote was a lovechild between Merlin Olsen and a lumberjack. But he was a kind man; when I wrote a Fairy Tale about him years earlier for a class assignment, word reached him and he asked me if he could keep the story, he loved it so much. How would he react to this, though?

I told him what had happened. Sitting on the edge of the chair, squirming and fidgeting like I still do today, almost as if I'm afraid to stop moving lest I keel over and die, I told him what you had said and that I didn't think it was appropriate for a classroom. I remember saying that: "appropriate for a classroom". I didn't know if he felt like laughing or yelling. He knew I wasn't a troublemaker, because this was only the second time we'd met. I don't think he knew what to make of me.

Oh, but you did, didn't you? You made me out for what I was: A spoiled little shit trying to smear the good name and reputation of a dedicated teacher in the golden years of her career. A liar, a failure. An outcast. You screamed at me after Principal Foote called you into his office, shook your long skeletal finger at me and said "How dare you! How dare you accuse me of this!" And when my mom finally came (I still don't know who called her, or why), you yelled at her. You scolded her for raising such a disobedient daughter, for raising a liar. But my mom looked right at you and said, "She doesn't like attention. If she says she heard something, she heard something. Does she look like she's enjoying this to you?"

But you, Mrs. Singleton, you weren't about to be distracted with petty logic or rationality. No, you had a war to fight, a war against an eight-year-old girl bold enough to not be afraid of you. Did you even realize what a threshold all your students stood on, or had you forgotten in your long years as an adult? Because each and every one of us dangled over a vast canyon of darkness, and at any moment, our safety line could snap.

You had two roads before you that day: A defensive shield, an arrogant knee-jerk emotional response to show your horror at the accusation; or, you could slow down and consider that, perhaps, the entire exchange was a big misunderstanding. The class room is big, with so many distractions; maybe this little girl is just mistaken, and a few kind words and a promise that you'd never talk like that to students would fix everything. You chose the former, and you changed everything. So often I've cried, wondering what would have happened if you had chosen different.

It's not hard to break a child, Mrs. Singleton. It's not hard to make a child believe in an unreality of your creation, simply because it is what you want them to think, or because it keeps them quiet and complacent. But, as you must be aware, breaking a child's spirit and mind is easily the moral equivalent of beating or sexually molesting them; perhaps even worse, because the psychological signs disguise themselves much better than bruises or blood, and fester much deeper. I fear on the other side, you will find no hands to shake, congratulating you for your success, your resilience, your ability to handle dissent. For that I pity you, because then you must stand before whatever god and power is there, and explain exactly why you chose to break me. I hope that he shows you my life, shows you the consequences of my own choices based on the fear you put in me; not to blame you, for I chose my own path, but to fully illustrate to you the beauty of this universe and its flawless interconnectivity. For one thing I've learned is that many of us take for granted the ripple effect our actions take on others, and I've done my best to remember what power I have, the same power you abused so carelessly.

When you made me move away from the other children, because I was a 'distraction', you made me paranoid and sure I was meant to be alone. Your actions told me I wasn't good enough, and I believed you, because you were still an elder I was commanded to respect.

When you made me re-do papers with no direction as to what I did wrong, or graded me unfairly, you taught me that sometimes my sweat and smarts mean nothing, if a person in the right position of power chooses it to mean nothing. You should note that after this incident, I got the first non-As of my life, and after I had left you my grades returned to normal. Even a child can understand that.

When you denied me participation with my friends by keeping me in recesses to "search that book for what you thought you heard", or rejecting my applications to be in school plays, or stealing away the one dream I had to play in the Students vs. Faculty basketball game, a once-in-a-lifetime goal that you gave to students younger than me just to keep me out of it, you showed me that not only are authority figures wrong sometimes, but there is nothing preventing them from acting more childish than children. You showed that for me to trust another authority figure would be a stupid, stupid mistake; I trusted you, after all, at one point. And now, it's difficult for me to hold a job, because of how hard it is for me to be blindly obedient to even the slightest appearance of someone who thinks they have power over me. I have no problem obeying someone I trust, but once that's lost, I cannot in good conscience follow and relinquish my power to another, and society doesn't exactly understand that. So often I find myself in that same chair you had me in, being scolded for doing what I think is right, punished for standing up for something my apparently misguided brain mistook for being important. And how do I explain it to the husband depending on me when I have to report my failure? Does he understand when I tell him every instinct I had told me to fight? Are my instincts right, Mrs. Singleton? You hold the answer, because you took it from me that day, and I've never gotten it back.

When you made me cry in front of the class during a weekly meeting because I'd asked a classmate for time to play with my best friend alone, without her, you showed me true cruelty for the first time in my young life. You made me a social outcast, a joke, and the taunting that began after you threw me to the wolves would not end until I was forced into a mental hospital just to survive. You sold me out to pre-teens, Mrs. Singleton, kids trying to scramble their way to the top of the social ladder with everything they've got. And what do you do? You toss them a sacrificial lamb.

Your terror made me retreat inside myself, and I almost drowned in the darkness I found in there. I used to slice my arms open just to let some of it out, and relieve the pressure, and I will forever bear the scars and curious stares. I want you to feel that, too. I want to take you by your liver-spotted hand and lead you into eternally shadowed forest where that little girl ran away to, after you tore open her heart. I want to show you the beasts that stalk me, and the ones that I stalk; I want you to see the moon in here when it glows red and evil and turns the black oceans into a quiet mirror of blood and death. I want you to hear the monsters as they breathe, crawling closer and closer; I want you to hear your own hyperventilating as you wonder if they will reach you this time.

And when we emerge into a dark, cold city, I want you to feel the stares and laughs and taunts. I want you to hear all the terrible things they say about you, the wolves who smell your fear. I want you to feel them circling and snapping and drawing blood, a little at a time, as you cry and beg for mercy. Then you will scream as they drag you away. They rip you to shreds, and others rebuild you like a rag doll and pump you full of numbing drugs and send you stumbling like a zombie back out into the world. And you will never be as afraid as you are in that moment, even though the clouds gathering at your feet are still as dark as ever, and you know it isn't over. Now every god, prayer, devil, promise, lover, friend and dream has a dark secret buried in its belly. Now nothing is a true friend to you, because you understand how deep minds and truth and reality are; you know they have monsters, just like you do, and how do you trust a monster? How does anyone trust you? Are you here, Mrs. Singleton? Are you real? Did you know, this is all a foolish dream?

As you writhe in the arms of insanity I would tell you, this is not a punishment. This is an education, just like the one you gave me. Universally, truth has always been the most painful of all burdens to bear, and yours will be no different. And you can soothe yourself afterwards with all the stories of people who, no doubt, loved you till the end of their lives, thought you were an angel from god, and remember that all is not lost. It's true, Mrs. Singleton; all is not lost, nor is it simple to understand.

But before you go into that good night, I must implore you to take all your truths with you on your way out. Too long your disease, your fear, your terrible mistakes and ignorant arrogance have feasted away at my soul and pulled me back down into the darkness I've fought tooth, claw and nail to escape. And you are done. You chose to make yourself a part of a child's life, and you failed her.

The very least you owe her is a second chance.

I am the queen of this forest, and however dark it may get, these monsters are mine and mine alone. No longer will you rule them.

So take your claws and your hatred and be gone from my fucking mind. Because the sacrificial lamb you created is become the wolf, and she is done with your lies.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Celebrating the Marlboro Monopoly Act

2009-09-21T15:07:00.008-05:00

I thought I'd celebrate today with a very brief review of case studies on smokers, a bit of info on previous smoking bans and some random other tidbits. As of today, the Marlboro Monopoly Act (aka, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act) has made all cigarettes containing these flavors illegal: (not menthol), strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, and coffee. This is restricted only to cigarettes (wrapped in paper) and not cigars (wrapped in tobacco), so the clove industry (the only tested smoke with health benefits) has already begun making cigar versions of their clove products. This is also the beginning of a 12-year plan for the FDA to greatly reduce the amount of tar and nicotine in all American cigarettes at a slow rate.

The negatives are well-known at this point, so here are some positives that've gone without mention:

* Smokers are more honest than non-smokers (to the point where a commentator on the study referred to this as "abrasively honest"). [1]

* Smokers generally have an increased sex drive, 55% of aged 19-27 smokers being in sexually active relationships as opposed to 15% of non-smokers (the gap increasing as age does). [2]

* Smokers have an increased reaction-time (7% quicker), process information more quickly (21.65% quicker) and have improved short-term memory (5.76% higher retention). [3]

* A fifth of smokers only smoke four days out of the week. Men populate the majority of heavy smokers while women have less success quitting. [4]

* Most smokers believe smoking is worse for you than it really is, overstating health disorders and mortality rates. [5]

As to non-smokers, there is a long history of anti-smoking policies found most heavily in totalitarian governments. From the closure and burning of smoking cafes in Persia to early American 9-pin alleys, but the only one that beats out current U.S. policy is that of Nazi Germany. It should be noted that this most recent policy is nothing new, as America has trended more and more towards both Fascism and Communism for close to a century. Here are tidbits on anti-smoking from the master race:

* From Hitler, himself: "Tobacco is the wrath of the Red Man against the White Man for being given hard liquor." [6]

* Smoking was banned in all public places, government offices, shared living quarters and by any uniformed police and officers. [7]

* Smoking rose by almost 50% during the Nazi anti-smoking propaganda period. [8]

* Germany raised more than a billion Reichsmarks a year from 1937 to 1941, contributing to 1/12th of the funding used to build their army and launch the war. [9]

* "Passivrauchen" (trans. "Passive Smoking") was coined by the Nazi Anti-Tobacco League. Fritz Lickint, its author, gave no evidence to support its claim against environmental poisoning nor for the claim that coffee caused cancer, although both his statements were worked into Nazi propaganda. [10]

* The Nazi Reich Health Office produced posters stating that smoking was the filthy habit of Jews, Gypsies, blacks, intellectuals and Indians. [directly from preserved posters]

References:

1. "Smoking: The Artificial Passion", David Krogh
http://www.amazon.com/Smoking-Artificial-Passion-David-Krogh/dp/0716722461

2. "Smoking, Personality and Stress", Hans J. Eysenck, King's College, London, England
http://www.amazon.com/Smoking-Health-Personality-Hans-Eysenck/dp/0765806398

3. "Effects of nicotine and smoking on event-related potentials: a review", Pritchard W & Sokhadze E & Houlihan M., St Thomas College, New Brunswick, Canada
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11498715 [summary]

4. "Individual Differences in Smoking and Nicotine Addiction", Saul Shiffman, University of Pittsburgh
http://www.drugabuse.gov/meetsum/nicotine/slides/21Shiffman/ShiffSlides.html

5. "Smoking: making the risky decision", "Patterns of Risk Perception", W.Kip Viscusi, Harvard

6. "Hitlers Tischgesprache im Fuhrerhauptquartier", Picker H., Bonn: Athenaum Verlag, 1951

7. "Die Genussgifte", Rauchverbot fur die Polizei auf Strassen und in Dienstraumen, 1940;36:59

8. "Smoking and death", Smith G D & Strobele S A & Egger M, BMJ1995;310:396

9. "Der Tabak, sein Anbau undseine Verarbeitung", Reckert FK. Tabakwarenkunde, Berlin-Schoneberg: Max Schwabe, 1942.

10. "Berlin: alcohol, tobacco and coffee", JAMA 1939;113:1144-5

Information on Marlboro's Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Smoking_Prevention_and_Tobacco_Control_Act

Lastly, one more factoid on smokers: the majority of innovators, as well as early adopters, are smokers. With the heavy research going into locating, securing and maintaining a pool of innovators within each company, the profile of an innovator is very well known at this point. For my last three months before leaving my previous job, the top three performing agents in the world were all found most often in the forest outside the building smoking together. Rock! Here is one of the first studies that discovered this:

"Psychological characteristics of innovators", Abraham Pizam, European Journal of Marketing, ISSN:0309-0566
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=Article&contentId=852555

Suicide Through Pleasure by ~Ally23 on deviant ART

Happy Tree Friends

2009-04-21T07:40:00.011-05:00

Give... but never give up!

You know "The Itchy & Scratchy Show"? Well, those two had it easy. "Happy Tree Friends" has, for years now, been the source of cute, cuddly and horribly wrong... and oh, so right. If you're unfamiliar with the series, take two minutes and watch this fan trailer:

As of April, 2009, "Happy Tree Friends" has been banned in Russia. That limits the cutest most accident-prone cuddly creatures in the world to only 49 countries worth of viewers. Censorship wins one round, but far from winning any real ground. Here's the video covering Russia's sad choices pertaining to these cartoons:

In celebration of such a flub-up from Censorville, here's my own personal favorite episode (both parts) from the series:

[note: second video starts automatically after first]

Remember, censorship could come to your country as well, so show your support and watch some cartoon violence. To tune in, the main options are to subscribe to MondoMedia's YouTube channel or visit the main site. Here are both links:

YouTube: youtube.com/user/MondoMedia
Main Site: happytreefriends.atomfilms.com

SXSW:SXSV 2009 Full Set for Free Download

2009-03-23T04:43:00.007-05:00

My full set from SXSW:SXSV is up for free download for a limited time. With all the last-minute changes, there were plenty who couldn't make the show. This mix doesn't have BMFD's drumming, but it does include all the track-mixing as well as the quotes I mixed into them. Sadly the original link expired, but I am keeping the entry live as I'd like to mix it again in the future (update: the links keep getting hit with takedown notices, lost another). Mad love to all how made the show, to all who listened here on Mall of Me afterwards and to all the artists!

Tracklisting:
01 - Protestant Work Ethic - Beekeepers
02 - Deadbeat - Roots and Wire
03 - Stina Nordenstam - People Are Strange (UNKLE Mix)
04 - UNKLE + 3D - Invasion (Medway vs. Eva Coast-to-Coast Mix)
05 - Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Matt (David Last Pocket Pet Mix)
06 - Venetian Snares - She
07 - lacunae - from dust
08 - Kirsty Hawkshaw - Beautiful Danger
09 - X Marks the Pedwalk - Time Tunnel (Phase Two)
10 - Burial - Archangel
11 - Downliners Sekt + Evi Vine - LRAD
12 - Nine Inch Nails - At the Heart of It All (Aphex Twin Remix)
13 - Smashing Pumpkins - The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning
14 - San Jaya Prime - Time Interrupt (Eternal Nightshade Mix)
15 - Order in Chaos - Desolation
16 - Telefon Tel Aviv - The Birds
17 - The Marcia Blaine School for Girls - Still
18 - Lamb - Scratch Bass
19 - Moby - New Dawn Fades

Artwork: San Jaya Prime - Nocturne Electric

Quotes:
1 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - "The decision to flee came suddenly. Or maybe not. Maybe I'd planned it all along, subconsciously waiting for the right moment."
2 - Dark Knight - "You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. You know, I just do things."
3 - The Devil's Advocate - "God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a sadist! He's an absentee landlord!"
4 - Monsters, Inc. - "Ssshh, sshhhh, sshhh... you hear that? It's the winds of change."
5 - Mrs. Miniver - "This is the people's war. It is our war. We are the fighters. Fight it then! Fight it with all that is in us, and may God defend the right."
6 - War of the Worlds - "We know now that, in the early years of the 20th century, this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man, yet as mortal as his own. We know now that, as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns, they were scrutinized and studied. With infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small, spinning fragment of solar driftwood which, by chance or design, man has inherited out of the dark mystery of time and space."
7 - Brandon Lee* - "Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well, and yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood? How many more times will you watch the full moon rise. Perhaps four... five times more? Perhaps not even that. And yet it all seems limitless."
8 - Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? - "Each little Crunchie contains energy, contains pep for your growing youngsters, builds strong legs so that when they're older they can stand the long waits in the unemployment lines."
9 - X-Men - "I will bring you hope, old friend, and I ask only one thing in return... don't get in my way."

* Lee is quoting "The Sheltering Sky" (1949) by Paul Bowles. It's the same quote that Lee put on his wedding invitations, and the same quote now inscribed on his tombstone. I thought it fitting as a lead-in to Telefon Tel Aviv, who lost Charles Cooper this last January 22nd.

And yet it all seems limitless.

Apple

2009-03-20T02:42:00.009-05:00

Apple

To preface this, I'm an oldschool hacker who began teaching himself MS-DOS and GWBASIC at the age of 11. I spent the greater part of almost two-decades insulting Apple lovers. This blog entry is nothing less than a surrender and acceptance of a future that is not "on the horizon", but has already come. The end is not nigh; it is now.

On November 6th of 2006, Joel Garreau (author of "Radical Evolution") gave a speech on the NJIT campus about the evolution of technology and its link to human evolution. In his speech, when approaching the evolution of computers, he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, declaring this device "the future". I watched this video when it was released to the public on January 8th of 2007, knowing immediately that he was correct in his statement. A day later, on January 9th, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone to the world.

Today, not even two-years following the release of the iPhone, more than 20-million devices run the iPhone OS. It provides mail, music, videos, applications, web browsing and thousands of other features. Just two years ago, I couldn't go more than a day without hearing someone complain about their phone. Now, people can barely look away from them. The entire market was hit and hit hard, spinning about face. They've been re-acting to the onslaught of this new creation ever since... and none have compared.

PDAs and trios, the early signs of this evolution, had short battery life, well-known issues syncing with computers and they limited developers greatly in how applications could be created for these rather bulky devices. None of those early limitations exist in the iPhone, nor in the iPod touch that I use. I have more computing power in my pocket than nearly every computer I've ever owned.

The iPhone has won and much of the industry must not even realize it. But its victory is not limited solely to the phone industry. While HD and Blue-Ray were caught up in their "format wars" for nearly two-years, the consumer market was moving away from such permanent storage formats and over to data. I and others like me began storing our files online, somewhere off on a server we will likely never see... but can access from anywhere in the world that has a Net-connection. Apple has been eating into the PC market, but even this war is smoke and mirrors. Laptops will still have a place with producers and designers, but more than 90% of users are end-users, not producers. The majority of users will not even be using laptops in a few short years as computers move from the lap top and into the pocket... where Apple already owns the market. No, more than that. It now defines it.

So take a good look at the future. It's already here.

Do you know where I watched Garreau's speech at NJIT? I downloaded it thru iTunes from iTunes University, where colleges and other educational institutions around the world can upload content for free download to anyone in the world. It doesn't matter who is downloading their speeches and videos. It can be a student or laymen, it's still free. In fact, if you have iTunes, this link will open iTunes to Garreau's speech for you to download and watch. A world of education, entirely free from iTunes University.

If you don't feel that, then it hasn't hit you. Knowledge, in the form of data, is floating in the air all around us and into my pocket. Apple has created an SDK for developers designed to give them as much power as possible so that they can create the best applications for these new computers. Apple has watched what hackers have done with iPhones, then replicated the most popular of these "mods". Apple has paid attention, taken action, and worked to create something that has without a doubt changed the world.

On a closing note, I am providing full disclosure. I've worked for Apple previously (twice, in fact). I loved it, with rare exceptions. I've seen how they evolve to better serve their customers and how they aim time and again to make sure each customer who needs assistance leaves happy. Having been a worker, and seen how they treat us as well, is what gives me the extra inspiration to cede my hatred of the Apple that once was in order to love the Apple that now is.

The ATX Clocktower

2009-02-08T00:52:00.005-06:00

In Austin, Texas, on New Year's Eve 2008, we burned time.

A clock tower, fully functional and constructed primarily of wood, counted down the hours on the last day of 2008. Standing more than 34ft, and with more than 90,000 in attendance (burners and non-burners alike), it was lit ablaze by burner crews of specialists. It was the largest metropolitan area burn event ever... taking place, of course, in the largest active burn community in the world--Austin, Texas. Here is the video of the day and the burn:

The event was free to all.

Those who don't know about burners--the last great tribe of mankind--should check out the main site... this is one of the legendary icons of our time. Don't miss it.

Burning Man (Main Site): http://www.burningman.com/

Piracy, 4 Fun 'n Profit

2008-12-02T05:54:00.006-06:00

US Vice Admiral William Gortney, commander of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, said: "There is no reason not to be a pirate."

That's right. Now's the time to turn pirate! Seriously. Most targeted ships don't carry weapons. Also, even if caught, there is almost no way to bring a pirate to court due to international treatises. Corporations cannot even fire on a vessel or its people until the pirates have physically boarded their ship, or have connected the two ships in an attempt to board. If they do, they can be taken to court... and will lose. Ah, the lovely world of legalized (tamed) justice. That's right pirates.. . the law's on your side.

It's also fairly cheap, at least when compared to the investments it may take to get into other criminal careers. The ratio of potential gains to start-up costs is possibly the highest return-rate in all the black market. Don't forget the fact that you get to wear a sword. Gotta love international waters.

If you think I'm joking, think again. Here's a good place to start:
The business case for high-seas piracy

If you're thinking about turning pirate, here's where to find other like-minded parties:
Live Piracy Map

I'm free for some high-seas piracy in March of 2013. Anyone pirates who read this and have had any success, please contact me around that time. I have no morals and I'm a quick learner. I have many references, a few of which are still alive. Have your peeps write my peeps. Nos vemos.

Socrates

2008-11-23T19:45:00.006-06:00

Socrates, quotes
I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.

There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.

I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being.

You will know that the divine is so great and of such a nature that it sees and hears everything at once, is present everywhere, and is concerned with everything.

Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods.

Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.

Note: It is unknown whether Socrates was real, or simply an imaginary tool used in transmitting early philosophies. If real, then it is unknown just how real the image we have of Socrates is, or how far distorted from the source it has become. The image taken is from a bust of Socrates in the Louvre, edited by myself. The quotes are verified translations from surviving works attributed to the name Socrates.

Avarice

2008-11-06T21:42:00.008-06:00

Title: Avarice
Artist: Peter Walkley
Museum: MONA (Museum of Nebraska Art)

In July of 2000, I found myself hitching thru Kearney, Nebraska. Most of the Midwest doesn't take too kindly to hikers. In Kearney, I found the opposite. I had a place to stay and a ride to the next town when I needed it. Despite the welcome, Kearney just didn't have much attraction to stay. They have an arch--that huge brown thing they've got drooped over I-80. Most truckers and travelers have driven under it and likely wondered what the heck it was. It's an arch. That's all it is. You can go inside it. Nice thing is, it's free... or was when I was there in 2k.

There's one other attraction--MONA. The Museum of Nebraska Art was free as well. They had me keep my backpack at the front, which was a relief and a fifty-pound weight off of my back. The collection of art was worth spending a lot of time taking in. My absolute favorite piece is shown above. The cat, perched on the very edge of the mantle piece, looks up at the bird cage that hangs from the ceiling... just out of reach. The angle helps accentuate the drop to the floor, which is what really stands in between the cat and the cage.

The painter, Peter Walkley, works for the Omaha World Herald in marketing. He inserts trace elements of surrealism into his paintings, adding a subtlety that particularly catches my own eye.

It is in thanks to Lexie, a photographer out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that I have access to this painting again. Her mad Google skills, along with my description, was enough for her to locate the painting online.

Capitalist Pigs and Commie Bastards

2008-07-09T01:06:00.003-05:00

Capitalist Pigs and Commie Bastards
by Lamat Kan

Capitalist Pigs and Commie Bastards. The insults carry with them negative connotations from their respective corners of the ring. The greed found in most Capitalists marks them as pigs, growing only more and more fat as they eat well beyond their needs. Commies like to cut as much of the fat off the pigs as possible, and turn around and give it to the poor. It would sound all fine and dandy, were not a great portion of it going to the black market, a section of society that doesn't report its earnings, and grows wealthy from such systems.

Capitalists are murderers. Communists are thieves. Capitalists take peoples' lives. Communists take peoples' property. In America, Capitalism's current flagship, the murder rate is rampant. In China, Communism's timeworn fortress, you don't take anything there with you that you wanna bring back.

Capitalism starts wars, taking their property... by right of conquest, of course. Kill, then steal. There's a little bit o' the Commie in every Capitalist. The Communists take property, then kill any dissenters. Steal, then kill. Ah, the better to fatten our Commie with. Smells like bacon.

Capitalist Pigs love us-versus-them-ism. "We're right and they're wrong. Let's kill 'em 'n take their land." However, when a bigger pig comes along, you'll find these piggies begging for their lives, or find them trying to prove their righteousness so that the bigger pig doesn't eat them for their wrongness. They end by posing the question: "If wrong, how can we ever know better if never given the chance?" To which the answer: "Are they who show no mercy worthy of it?"

Communism loves equality. It loves it so much, that the mountains must all be chiseled down so as not to rise above the treeline of the forest. "None should have more than any other. The thought of possession itself must be exercised from society as the demon it is." Bastards shout and applaud when the government steps in to tell businesses how they must be run, yet they are the first to protest when the government steps in to tell the Bastards what they can and cannot do in their own households... in their own lives.

A Capitalist Pig is as much a hypocrite as the Commie Bastards. However, these are the most corrupt forms of systems that both have positive functions for society.

Capitalism excels at rapid innovation, but fails when faced with long-term staying power. This is most apparent in American architecture, which is more quickly torn down than it is erected. Capitalism plays into the greed of the pig, promoting companies who patent batteries that could last decades so that no one else can sell this very battery. After all, they couldn't sell very many of these once everyone had a set. And what happens if a marketed innovation is released in haste, and is later to be found out to be more detrimental than beneficial? Leaded gasoline, asbestos, fast food... happens all the time.

Communism is a master of retention, yet plodding and awkward when trying to change course. "If something works, then keep using it. In fact, put systems in place to ensure its usage becomes far-spread and long-lasting." And when a better system comes along? With so much invested in the previous system, the inertia already set in place causes the system to reject the improvement. "If it works right now, it'll work in ten-years. Nevermind that the leg has healed, I'm sticking to the crutch."

Capitalism has the speed to outrace Communism, but it hasn't the endurance. Communism has a ship the waves can't sink, and a constant wind at its back, but it hasn't any sails or rudder. Both have strengths and failings, and both are a part of our nature. To deny the importance of either is to betray a sense of ignorance, if not a psychological disorder within the mind that holds to this opinion.

The end result of Capitalism is Anarchy. The end result of Communism is Der Stat--Statism. The only true Justice between these (as within the Universe) is that of a well-oiled scale, and with neither side weighted. Any law that allows a person to infringe on the life or property of another is already weighted towards Anarchy. Any law that takes away any freedoms for an individual to govern themselves or their property is already towards Statism. Any law that follows either path no longer serves Justice, but works against it.

If you're not sure what side of the scales you spend most of your time sitting on, then you can take a measure of just which half of these writings offended you most, or which side you found yourself defending, or which arguments you considered subpar. These are all triggered by resistance. If you think I've burnt the bacon, or put the bastard out to die, then you're either more of a pig or more of a bastard. It's okay to be offended. It tells you where you're in denial.