The rantings of an In50mn14c

Fixing the United States

2012-10-17T09:56:00.000-06:00

As everyone has seen lately, the United States system of politics is broken. It hasn't functioned the way it was intended to function since World War II. While I was in the shower today, I was thinking of ways that we could get the people back into the government, and mitigate the role of Lobbyist money and power in the House and Senate. (Doesn't everyone think about these types of things in the shower?)My lightbulb moment occurred with this idea. Why don't we give the power back to the people paying the taxes?

Not all of it, of course. (Because the last thing I want to see is Tax Funded "Honey Boo Boo for President") What if we set up a system that allowed the people to allocate up to 10% of their annual taxes to non-profits or issues they care about? Imagine a world where women could directly fund Planned Parenthood with their tax dollars. The Right could fund their Church Outreach (soup kitchens, aid to patrons that can't afford cost of living, etc) and the Left could fund the Arts, Education, Science. This could simplify tax code by eliminating loopholes and potentially allowing a flat tax to work because those that are rich would be allowed to allocate their tax dollars (that would typically hedge in charitable contributions and Cayman Island accounts) to social programs and the greater good of the community.

Best part would be, we could make this all entirely transparent. Imagine schools getting new classrooms, with emails going out to those that funded the project via their tax dollars, thanking them for taking care of the welfare of the students. Imagine being able to give your kids teachers a little bonus because they go above and beyond the call of a teacher and actually encourage your children to think instead of just memorize facts. What would it be like to be able to see who all would donate to social programs and indulge in the Arts or preservation of our National Parks? Sure there would be those that would be greedy and donate to programs they take advantage of, but donating only 10% allows us a checks and balances approach to limiting the self serving purposes of these donations. There would likely need to be restrictions, such as you can't donate to something you have direct control of funds distribution in. In addition, you'd need protections to make sure that companies didn't extort donations from their workers. The possibility for corruption is there, but it would be much more evident than our current method of tax deductions,

These donations could be analyzed by politicians to allow a true reading of what the people want taxes funding. I can't even comprehend how much easier their job would be if the people had made the decisions as to what their 10% would fund, and that they would simply have to fill in the rest of the budget to cover the necessities. This would guarantee funding to social programs that matter, and indicate the projects that really don't deserve funding in the first place.

Of course, this is only a rough drafting of what would need to be put in place. The main benefits would be to allocate the funds as the people would see fit, and allow the politicians to view what the people deem important and further fund those projects, while filling in the gaps to maintain the necessities. We can think of this as a streamlining of the tax and funding systems, and restoring the power to the people.

Time for a Music & Lyrics dump!

2012-03-12T09:36:00.002-06:00

I've found myself jamming out to a lot of unique and groundbreaking music lately. Don't know where it really came from, or why I suddenly had the urge to create a new post after being gone for so long, but if there are any readers still around, please feel free to take a quick listen and let me know what you think.

First off is:

Bassnectar - Carried Away

I don't even think I need to say much about this track, but in case you missed it... Yes. Yes he did just pull off a Ragtime Dubstep remix.

Dash Berlin Feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn – Better Half Of Me

22JUL

Broken promises that are like road kill
They’re on the side of the street
Concrete casualties of love

Chewed up and spit out
Raise high then drop down and now
I don’t know what’s left of me

And I collect myself and crawl through the shadows
Reach out my hand to the sky and shout out
I’ll never make these same mistakes again

‘Cause someone up there holds the key to my heart
And do everything to tear it apart
By never allowing myself to let you in

When all I want is for you to see
The side that I don’t show to anyone
In fear that they may turn and run

Alone and incomplete
No more tears to cry
No more blood to bleed

I’ll fall forever endlessly
When you should be the ground beneath my feet
The better half of me

Emma Hewitt - Colours (Cosmic Gate Remix)

If you had this time again
Would you do it all the same?
I wonder, would I?
Of the promises we made
Is there anything you'd change?
In the re-runs of our lives...

If I could call you for a day just to hear the words you'd say
I would...

All the colours that you bring
All come rushing back again
All the places that we've been this time

All the people that you knew
They'll come running back to you
All the faces that we've seen in this life...

And we never took the time
To see where we were going
We were only passing by...
And we never questioned why
The river keeps on flowing
The beauty of the ride...

If I could call you for a day just to hear the words you'd say
I would...

All the colours that you bring
All come rushing back again
All the places that we've been this time

All the people that you knew
They'll come running back to you
All the faces that we've seen in this life...

The river flows...

All the colours that you bring
Will they ever come again?
All the places that we've been this time

All the people that you knew
They'll be waiting there for you
All the faces that we've seen in this life...

All the colours that you bring
All we ever want to be
All the places that you've dreamed this time

All the people that you knew
They'll come running back to you
All the faces that we've seen in this life...

Best Friendzoning Line Ever.

2012-03-08T12:33:00.002-07:00

Good friends are like vibrators, they may not give you what you want, but they'll do their best to get you taken care of

#Occupy your job, appeal to your government.

2012-01-16T09:26:00.002-07:00

It's just sad. It started out as 25 people protesting because they flushed 55k on degrees and couldn't afford to pay their student loans cuz they couldn't find jobs in underwater basket weaving... Now every freeloader that no longer gets mommy and daddy's money is protesting.

Yes. I'm talking about the #occupy movement. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for fiscal reform and bringing back the middle class, but these kids have no idea what they're actually protesting. It's sad. Almost as sad as Obama choosing to throw money into creating a new heathcare alternative, rather than reforming the one that is already in place.

I think it's on par with destroying a building because someone busted out a couple of windows, but what do I know, I'm just an honest citizen, not a corrupt politician or lobbyist.

My girlfriend talking about Tebow

2012-01-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

Greatest moment ever. I was looking at buying a jersey for me, and one for my girlfriend. (Girlfriend) initially said she wanted an Elway jersey, but changed her mind and wanted a Tebow one because "Well, I think I know just about as much about football as Tebow does."

She has no clue how right she might be...

Yay! The feds are using CarrierIQ!

2011-12-16T03:25:00.001-07:00

This its the exact reason I run a custom rom and kernel on my Samsung Continuum. I'd rather have some helpful programmer looking at my data than the feds and the government.

Interesting part is, people have been removing CarrierIQ from roms and kernels for months if not years over at XDA forums.

FBI May Be Using Carrier IQ Too; Carrier IQ Issues Report

US UAV taken down by apparent hack attack

2011-12-10T17:30:00.001-07:00

A United State UAV is undamaged and now in the hands of the Iranian government. The US military is citing a faulty self distruct, but the likelyhood of that being the truth instead of spin is as likely as Obama actually making the decision that he's credited for in this article.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security

+1 Colorado

2011-11-30T18:04:00.001-07:00

More of why I love Colorado...

2011-11-10T12:20:00.001-07:00

14:08: My quest to 'learn how to spin straw into gold bricks' was a triumph! I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS. Got a golden brick too. http://godvillegame.com

Google's Prayer

2011-11-04T12:04:00.001-06:00

Our Google

Our Google who art online
Searchable be thy name
Thy results come,thy pages load
Client side as they do Server side
Give us this log in, and our new messages
Find not results from our embarrassing past
As we search not for the embarrassing past of our friends
Link us not unto 4-chan
but deliver us from trolls
I'm Feeling Lucky.

3 years later...

2011-10-20T12:44:00.000-06:00

After 3 years of fighting charges, I finally won the battle today.

About 3 years ago, my life changed. I know, it's cliché as fuck, but it happened. In order to have a truly life changing experience there generally has to be a huge mistake. Now, it doesn't always even have to be your mistake, but you just have to be impacted by it. You hear of these mistakes all the time. Drunk drivers killing other drivers or pedestrians. People falling asleep at the wheel. Idiots killing each other with guns over drugs, territory, or just because they don't like the other person. Candlelight vigils for people who were taken too early as a result of any of these or a million other mistakes. I'm not going to claim the mistake that changed my life wasn't my fault, nor am I going to claim that I acted alone or that I was the only one making mistakes that night. Everyone made mistakes, from the (ex-)girlfriend (well, almost ex, she was cheating on me.) I had at the time, to the new guy that felt it was his place to initiate a fight to defend his new claim. The police made mistakes, they failed to document all of the evidence and do proper search and seizure which would have secured me a solid defense and speedy exoneration of my "Crimes". But nothing can change that experience or make me forget how it reminded me who I really am.

It wasn't sitting on the tree stump in the front yard as the police pulled up with their lights flashing. It wasn't the cold steel cutting into my wrists as they were secured behind my back. Wasn't the struggle to pull my cell phone from my pocket, hands in cuffs, turn on speakerphone, and dial my mom to tell her what was going on. It wasn't watching my mom sitting in the back of the courtroom while I was escorted in shackled to seven men in similar circumstances. We had all shared our stories, and in situations such as these we all seemed to accept that we didn't have to be big and badass, but rather just allow ourselves to be seen as we were. Imperfect. Flawed. Vulnerable. Human. But the turning point did not happen in that courtroom.

It happened 4 hours before.

Most people have never experienced what it's like to have to endure booking at a county jail. It's not what any TV show or news report ever shows you. It's not 40 people stuck in a single holding cell, or at least it wasn't for me. The holding cells were full (most holding 3 people, while designed to hold 2.) and the overflow was given a mat and pathetic attempt at a blanket and lined up across the floors. I was told to sleep, not knowing what the person to the left or my right was in for. The booking cell block was vastly understaffed, and if there had been any fights or unexpected events there was no way that these officers could have handled the situation before it could escalate. To be honest, I think that was mostly why everything was so calm. Among the broken spirits an uneasy angst settled in over me. The cell block was packed with people that had made mistakes, and had to spend years paying for it. This was not justice. This was timeout. Except this timeout would ruin your chances of ever being viewed in the same light, even if you were found to be innocent.

I didn't sleep much. I was trapped in my own mind attempting to understand how so many could be thrown into this system over such petty things. What happened to live and let live? What happened to settling issues between grown adults instead of having a system do it for us?

The real turning point was sitting in a cell with two other people after "breakfast." The entire night I couldn't stop clinching my fists with rage due to the events from the night before. My hands hurt. But I didn't want to sooth them. I wanted to punish them for the trouble they had gotten me in. I wanted them to take the blame instead of me. I began punching the cinder-block walls. Cracked paint tore through my knuckles. I was delivering my blows until my knuckles couldn't take any more.

It was that moment when I realized that I had strayed from my path. I hadn't been proud of the way I was living for years. I didn't even recognize my own face.

There is no easy moral, no retribution, and no way to reclaim what I have lost. I will never be person that I was in my youth, or even the person I was prior to my encounter. This disappointment is the core of my changes, and this is what has helped me turn my life around in the past 3 years. I am nowhere near the man I want to be. But I'm closer.

Every day. I am closer.

The Ride

2011-10-03T06:51:00.001-06:00

Sometimes in life, you're just along for the ride.

Random thought of the day...

2011-09-29T14:50:00.001-06:00

Homosexuality is found in over 450 species.
Homophobia is found in only one.

Which one seems unnatural now?

The dust has not settled yet...

2011-09-24T20:21:00.001-06:00

In my absolutely crazy life nothing ever seems to be fully stable. I was looking forward to working my weekend shift with Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off... But that never ended up really happening. Between the unlimited overtime at work, and the madness that is my life, it still seems that I never have any time to sit down and think anymore.

I guess that's all fine and dandy though. I've been searching for so long for a job and a life that will keep me busy, keep me away from stagnation. I believe I've finally found my life. I'm a little pissed though, because one of my favorite bloggers was in Denver today and we couldn't manage to cross paths during her short layover and the fact that I was stuck at work. Thus is life.

I miss all the bloggers, but I can't help but feel the move away from socializing online to socializing at work is necessary for me to fully embrace my new position in life. I still look at it as a work in progress, but each day I feel more fulfilled and complete.

I can't wait until the winter, and getting my new DSLR. And my new shift at work. Who knows what the future will hold after that...

I close today, with my new favorite quote. Found on twitter, of course...

Dear mom and dad, if my friends really did jump off a cliff..... It was my idea. Sincerely, Your kid is a leader. Not a follower.

9/11 - Ten years later.

2011-09-11T10:34:00.002-06:00

Rather than blabbing about my own feelings on 9/11, I feel that I would rather reiterate the statements that embrace what I feel.

The following is a collection of my favorite quotes and statements from Facebook and Twitter today:

Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And NO ONE will keep that light from shining. -George W Bush

‎"In my opinion, today is a day to remember those who died on this day 10 years ago. Those of you who choose today to push your political agenda, post about how you disagree with the war, and just generally shit on the memory of those who fell on 09/11 can STFU and GTFO. I may disagree with our country and president about a few things, but today is not the day to get on your soapbox. Learn some respect and manners." -- Phillip Reece

VINNYGUADAGNINO Vinny Guadagnino

by krazyd0h

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Beautiful Analysis...

2011-09-04T08:52:00.002-06:00

Matthew W. Miller

Over 2000 years ago, Moses said to Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land." When Welfare was introduced, Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land." Today, the government has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land to China!

New Work, New Life, Not much time for Blogging

2011-08-28T23:46:00.000-06:00

In case you missed the memo, I've been hired by a company that does small business email marketing and event marketing. The hours are long, and relatively painless (sometimes even entertaining) but it leaves very little time to actually do any blogging. This makes me sad, as I had great times with the #bloggers that I used to socialize with. I do plan on attempting to write at least one relevant blog post a week, so keep checking back for new content and catching up with me. Also, feel free to follow me on twitter @krazyd0h

Next week's post is gonna be a tutorial on upgrading your Samsung Continuum to Android 2.2.1. See you then :)

-d0h

On the recent earthquake in DC

2011-08-23T21:34:00.002-06:00

BREAKING NEWS:Resident Obama has confirmed that the DC earthquake occurred on a rare and obscure fault-line known as "Bush's Fault." He also announced that the Secret Service and Maxine Waters continue an investigation of the quake's suspicious ties to the Tea Party. Conservatives however have proven that it was caused by the founding fathers rolling over in their graves.

G+ Games Roll Out... Let the FAIL begin...

2011-08-13T23:06:00.003-06:00

So it's make or break time for the G+ Games. How did the network stack up? Disappointingly poorly. Rather than creating a default circle where you could add your gaming friends, G+ carelessly allows any gamer to post their shares to anyone who is dumb enough to follow them. The option to share to Extended Circles and Your Circle exists within games, which to those who are bothered by annoying game scores on Facebook (Failbook from this point forward) creates an EPIC FAIL from G+ in implementation. It's simple G+. Either add a circle and move all your friends that game into a Gaming circle, or create for you automatically a new circle for each game. And for god's sake, have G+ do the pairing doubleblind. Don't allow for the games to see any of your personal information or your contact's personal information until it has been confirmed that you both want to play the stupid game. We already know google is spying us, so we trust google. (Strange, but true.) We don't trust Zynga, or any other idiot gaming company that has been caught selling or leaking our personal information to advertisers or marketers. We don't mind ads, but we do care about our privacy.

Simple, secure, effective. Solves failbook's problems, doesn't clutter G+ for non-gamers. I see a Win-Win situation.

Riots in London - Organized via BBM?

2011-08-08T17:20:00.000-06:00

Over the past couple of days, the Riots in London have been headlining news. It seemed that the riots were the results of another innocent man being shot by the London police department, but it also seems that initial reaction was a conclusion that we had incorrectly jumped to. The initial riots began shortly after a group organized via Blackberry Messenger was instructed to report to the location of a peaceful protest, and start creating trouble. This is not an isolated incident, as people have been reporting via twitter that they are using BBM as a meetup and crowd control device to guide rioters away from police and organize new meeting spots.

I guess the question becomes, has our technology outgrown our humanity? Or is technology the next frontier of the social rebellion like we're seeing all over the Middle East?

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/how-blackberry-not-twitter-fuelled-the-fire-under-londons-riots/

Is google SEO broken?

2011-08-07T16:49:00.000-06:00

This is common knowledge to pretty much any blogger, but has anyone else noticed how inherently broken Google's SEO methods are? It seems that the Blackhat SEO is winning out with google, and it's not just the small firms that are looking to get a boost. JCPenny and Overstock.com were demoted and penalized by google for fake traffic to artifically boost their rankings. Seems that both retail giants had paid a company to generate the traffic for them to boost their pagerank. Capitol One credit cards also participated in the anarchy by tagteaming with an online car dealership to artificially raise their pagerank as well.

Does business have no morals anymore? Is it just free game in the wild wild internet now? Or is Google going to actually begin cracking down on shady SEO practices? What do you think?

Are black hat SEO specialists getting better at outsmarting Google? And is Google Local Search particularly susceptible to gaming?

Earlier this year, JC Penny and Overstock.com had to be manually demoted by Google because they were paying for inbound links to artificially inflate their rankings.

Last month a Chinese start-up that uses illicit SEO tactics to outrank a number of major consumer brands for keywords like “summer dresses” secured a $15 million dollar investment from Sequoia Capital.

Source:
http://ht.ly/5PQbl

New TSA Software To Nix Invasive Body Scan Images

2011-07-28T07:53:00.000-06:00

Looks like all the uproar on the internet and in the media finally got the change they wanted... about 6 months later. The TSA is implementing filters on the so called "nude" scanners that cartoonizes the body and identifies any irregularities.

When the Transportation Security Administration rolled out full-body scanners at airport security checkpoints, it produced images detailed enough to earn the nickname “porno scanners.”
Now, the TSA plans to install software in all of these machines that will put an end to the seemingly naked scanned images.
The software eliminates passenger-specific images. Instead, the machine uses a generic image to pinpoint any potential threats hiding under a passenger’s clothes that require further screening. If no potential threats are automatically detected, an “OK” appears on the screen and the passenger is cleared.
“By eliminating the image of an actual passenger and replacing it with a generic outline of a person, passengers are able to view the same outline that the TSA officer sees,” a TSA statement explains. “Further, a separate TSA officer will no longer be required to view the image in a remotely located viewing room.”

New TSA Software To Nix Invasive Body Scan Images

My view from work

2011-07-22T15:23:00.001-06:00

And yes, thats a huge grill

My thoughts on the NFL lockout...

2011-07-13T22:00:00.000-06:00

I don't often forward mail to raise money for organizations, however sometime a request comes along that is need of immediate help. This is one of those times. Please give to this most worthy cause.

Since September 11, 2001, Americans have come together as never before in our generation. We have banded together to overcome adversity. We have weathered direct attacks on our own soil, wars overseas, corporate/government scandal, layoffs, unemployment, stock price plunges, droughts, fires, mad cow, SARS, high gasoline prices, and a myriad of economic and physical disasters both great and small. But now, we must come together once again to overcome one of our greatest challenges yet.

Hundreds of Professional Football players in our very own nation are going to be locked out, living at well below their seven-figure salary level. And as if that weren't bad enough they could be deprived of their life sustaining pay for several months, possibly longer, as a result of the upcoming lockout situation. But you can help!

For only $27,080 a month, about $902.75 a day (that's less than the cost of a large screen projection TV) you can help an NFL player remain economically viable during his time of need. This contribution by no means solves the problem as it barely covers the annual minimum salary, but it's a start, and every little bit will help!

Although $900 may not seem like a lot of money to you, to a football player it could mean the difference between spending the lockout golfing in Florida or on a Mediterranean cruise. For you, nine hundred dollars is nothing more than a month's rent, a mortgage payment, or a month of medical insurance, but to a football player, $900 will partially replace his daily salary.

Your commitment of less than $900 a day will enable a player to buy that home entertainment center, trade in the year-old Lexus for a new Ferrari, or enjoy a weekend in Rio .

HOW WILL I KNOW I'M HELPING?

Each month, you will receive a complete financial report on the player you sponsor. Detailed information about his stocks, bonds, 401(k), real estate, and other investment holdings will be mailed to your home. Plus, upon signing up for this program, you will receive an unsigned photo of the player lounging during the lockout on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean (for a signed photo, please include an additional $150). Put the photo on your refrigerator to remind you of other peoples' suffering.

HOW WILL HE KNOW I'M HELPING?

Your NFL player will be told that he has a SPECIAL FRIEND who just wants to help in a time of need. Although the player won't know your name, he will be able to make collect calls to your home via a special operator in case additional funds are needed for unforeseen expenses.

Remember, a lifestyle is a horrible thing to waste...

Sony captcha fail

2011-07-12T18:05:00.002-06:00

Andrew Hintz just wrote an quick but amazing article on how hard sony just failed on their implementation of CAPTCHA technology rolled out on their websites. The link below is a direct link to his comments on Google+

https://plus.google.com/107276867598285658079/posts/KcJXYamu12X#107276867598285658079/posts/KcJXYamu12X