The Vortex

Nerdapalooza 2009

2009-07-20T01:12:00.003-04:00

This year's (third annual) Nerdpalooza music festival was MIND-BEINDINGLY AWESOME. It was, without exaggeration or hyperbole, one of the very best weekends of my life. Here's video and photos to prove to you how much of a good time it was. Taking in the performances of essensially all of the leaders in the genre, and also getting to rub shoulders and get to know many of them better was something that I will never forget. Even if you missed it, you can enjoy many of the best moments through the video and pictures below, and be sure to join me for Nerdapalooza 2010!

A playlist of my videos, or you can scroll through them in the player here:

The Economic Crisis is the Tip of the Iceberg

2009-02-20T12:07:00.005-05:00

[broken PGPF video link removed]

An Everyday Violation of Constitutional Rights

2008-11-25T23:40:00.009-05:00

My name is Lawrence Fine, and fifteen minutes ago my government violated my fourth amendment constitutional rights. This is what happened.

As I was driving home from work, I exited Interstate 75 Southbound at exit 228, into Stockbridge, Georgia, at 23:20 on Tuesday, November 25, 2008. As I approached the light at the end of the exit at the intersection with state route 138, I noticed many police cruisers with lights flashing on both sides of the exit ramp. As the handful of cars in front of me slowly crept forward, it became clear that police had blockaded the road and were stopping every vehicle that passed through.

Within a minute, there was a tall, white, clean shaven, leather jacketed Stockbridge police officer at my window, shining a bright Mag light at my face. I lowered the window to speak with him. He asked for my drivers' license. I, politely and calmly asked him why he needed to see it. He replied it was a checkpoint at they were just checking everyone for identitfication. I informed him that I was confused about the reason for the checkpoint, and I asked if I had done anything wrong, or if the police present were in search of someone who had. The officer replied that I had done nothing, but that he needed to see my identification anyway. I replied "I feel that this is an unreasonable search and violated my fourth amendment rights." The officer responded "You can show me your license, or spend the night in jail for obstruction." I showed him my license and again told him directly, "You are violating my constitutional right as stated in the fourth amendment." He replied that he thought I should go to law school. I asked him for his name and badge number. He refused my request for identification (which was presumably covered by his leather jacket), stating only that if I wanted to speak with someone, I had to speak with his sergeant, who was located on the opposite side of the road, and appeared to be searching peoples' cars, shining a flashlight in all the windows and looking inside, as well as speaking with the drivers.

I made my way to the female sergeant in charge, and she waved me over to park and wait for her to finish dealing with the vehicle by which she was standing. I did so, and while I waited I captured this photo and video of the scene.

Once she walked over, I immediately greeted her, still seated in the drivers' seat, and identified myself as a "citizen journalist" (which is what I recommend to all bloggers). I asked her what the reason for the roadblock was, and she replied that they were "Checking people for 'Click it or ticket'" (the state's program to ensure compliance with compulsory seat belt legislation). I asked her if they were also there to check for valid drivers' licenses, motor vehicle tags or other illegal activity and she replied in the affirmative. I asked her why the police chose this intersection on this evening, and she replied that it was because they get a lot of cars through there. I asked her to confirm that the police chose the intersection based upon the plentiful flow of traffic at the time, and she replied in the affirmative. I asked her who had the

idea to setup the roadblock at an intersection for this purpose, and she replied that it had been herself. She informed me that she was not permitted to talk to journalists, and that I should instead contact the station's head of public relations, Captain Bolton at 770-288-8200. I asked her for her name and she told me that it was Sgt. Savage. I asked her if I could get a photograph, and she replied "No."

The entire experience was calm and cordial, even when the words were tense. The only threat of me being arrested was when I resisted showing ID. I would like to report to you that I spent the night in jail to protect my rights, but I did not. I would also like to imagine that this is the worst thing my government has done to me today, but I am frankly not sure that it was (they took almost $6000 from you too, dear middle-class taxpayer and dollar-owner). I am going to contact Captain Bolton and also register a formal complaint against the police, and if I have a friend who will represent me pro bono then I will consider filing a claim against the city, but the chances of that are slim. This is my primary chorus of outrage. Maybe next time I'll suck it up and do the right thing, behind bars. Until then, this is but a more local atrocity from our ever-more-powerful government, that will weigh on me until all of the injustices are addressed - or the utterly overt police state reigns.

Wonder Why Elections Suck?

2008-10-22T21:21:00.008-04:00

G1 vs. iPhone

2008-10-22T15:16:00.000-04:00

Song for Sarah

2008-10-22T08:58:00.001-04:00

Fantastic tribute to Sarah Palin from a couple guys "right next door, here in Moscow."

Kill Bill O'Reilly

2008-09-11T13:56:00.000-04:00

I.O.U.S.A.

2008-09-06T14:14:00.006-04:00

I will buy your ticket to this movie. Just email me. In Atlanta, it's playing at the Regal 24.

It's non-partisan. It features Clinton's treasury secretary, Democrats in congress, all past recent leaders of the Fed, and the head of the GAO.

I think it's important that you watch it.

Obama: 4 More Years (of an 8 decade decline)

2008-09-03T14:26:00.003-04:00

Muy Borracho

2006-09-05T13:13:00.000-04:00


Rutledge gets some batteries in a huge box while absolutely fucking sloshed.

I Love My Job

2006-08-10T20:58:00.000-04:00


This is my boss, and his girlfriend, who is also a coworker/friend of mine. Working here rocks.

From D.C.

2006-05-27T23:03:00.000-04:00

"Why don't you put something on the internet again, Lawrence Fine?"

-- Pickle

Moving on Up

2005-08-25T00:55:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. This is just a brief post to let everyone know that I will be moving over to Google Talk as my instant messaging client exclusively.

My current AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) account 'threeohclock' is going to be retired after I send a mass message tonight repeating what I am saying here. Also, my (very) old ICQ handle will be greyed out likely forever, so don't bother leaving messages for '1906849'.

My new IM address is 'datavortex@gmail.com' on Talk. Please go ahead and add me, and let me know who you are if your handle is changing.

If you haven't yet tried Google Talk, you really should. It's an open protocol (Jabber), and not proprietary like AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, and MSN. This alone is enough to make it superior, but its interopibility, horde of great clients for every O.S., extensive feature set including service transports, and the slick look of the client that's built into the desktop product make this the indisputable champion of desktop messaging. If you don't know what XMPP or Jabber is and why it is so great, or if this all sounds like gibberish to you, check it out here. Basically it is simply more robust, more secure, more open, more extensible, friendlier, free (and free of ads), and gives you avenues for other free communication (like the free phone calls in the VoIP package in Talk).

Of course, the best benefit is that you can still talk to me. :)