Land of the Blind

Best $20 I ever spent!!

2011-12-27T17:48:00.001-08:00

I gave this kid Vik $20 to let me shock him with a tazer cane. The cane 'seemed' to be waaaay more powerful than a tazer, but I was sadly mistaken. Vik let me shock him a ton of times, but out of all of them only one of the shocks seems like it would have deterred and attacker.

Would you survive a zombie apocalypse test:

2011-09-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

My Result: You're screwed
-= click to take @ NerdTests.com =-

I am now an ordained minister. Wanna get hitched?

2011-07-31T00:31:00.001-07:00

Click here to get ordained.

Why do they ruin their own communities???

2011-07-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Why do we keep allowing it??!!??

On the odd occasion that I am out walking on the streets of my city (or any U.S. City for that matter) it's not gangs that I fear, nor is it fear of racial violence, robbery, or being murdered by gangs, what I fear is our own police force harassing, assaulting, and violating my rights. Why is that? According to popular conception, I should not only have no fear, but due to being a middle class, college educated, blue eyed, fair skinned Caucasian, the world should bend to my will and open up to me, baring all her secrets and the gifts and wonders that she has to offer. Nothing could be further from the truth. It has become apparent to me that the only color our government sees is the color green. I have always been under the opinion that our local police and judicial system were only there in order to protect the rights of the citizens who implemented them and to better the living conditions of the people whom they are sworn to protect. If this was ever the purpose, it is no longer the case. There is an abuse of power and a perversion of our laws that cannot be ignored. The police abuse their power blatantly, and a large majority of the populace are not aware of it until they are subjected to the gang in blue. Our courts have lost their direction and instead of interpreting the law to make a decision which is best for the community and the family, they press the letter of the law to acquire the monetary maximum possible, and they achieve this with clearly unethical measures.

The motto of any local police department has always been “To serve and protect”, and even though the 'who' of that motto is never mentioned, it is assumed to mean the people of the same communities that are being abused by them. A couple years ago I remember getting off of the freeway near my home, and I counted 8 sheriff and state patrol within 2 blocks of the exit. They were simply posting up seeking to ticket traffic violations. Later that same day in a large field behind my home, someone was discharging a fully automatic weapon. I called the police because I had no idea how to approach the situation, but they never showed up? I called back, and was told they should be coming soon, but again they never showed up. After numerous calls, and the situation resolving itself, I received a call from the staff sergeant telling me that they had come and checked it all out, but that was simply a lie. I was slightly high strung after 2 hours of crouching and being in fear of a stray bullet, and I confronted the sergeant about their lack of service and duty. The officer's reply was all about how busy they were, and he actually said, “We had a possible drowning to deal with!!” I remember all I could think was that I couldn't believe he used that as a reason? I simply couldn't imagine that even a 'for sure' drowning required over 40 deputies?? On another occasion a large group of young adults came onto our family property to drink and party in the woods. My wife asked them to go elsewhere (I was not home at the time) and one of them spit on her, and they verbally abused her and threatened her, so she contacted the authorities immediately. Approximately 4 hours later when I was back home a deputy showed up and walked around the property. He informed us that he felt the assailants were no longer present.......wow thanks officer....??? While living at the same residence our home was burglarized. The police came to do the report, and I showed them a bunch of glass that the burglars had handled, and they said they don't take prints for stuff like burglaries. They then proceeded to arrest me!!! I was informed I had failed to pay a fine from over 10 years ago!!!! I was released 24 hours later, and the judge did apologize by saying he didn't believe I should' have been arrested, but I had been arrested in front of my family and neighbors.

The police aren't the only public servants who are contributing to the degradation of our communities by their abuse of power, but the court system is another one of the big problems. I am speechless at how the people who sit on the bench can look themselves in the mirror each day, and not be overcome with shame. Here is a fictional situation of a daily court decision in our local community. A 22 year old roofer who was recently divorced after a layoff from the job he'd had since high school has his license revoked for falling in arrears for child support. At 5am he is on his was to a new job for a roofing company he just applied for , is pulled over for driving at 5 am, and is arrested for driving without a valid operators license. While being booked, he loses his new job for not showing up. The next day he is brought into see a judge. It is apparent that if he pleads 'not guilty' they will set a court date for 60 days out, and impose a bail that is unattainable for the now unemployed roofer. He quickly realizes that if he wants to get out of jail today his only choice is to plead guilty. Reluctantly he pleads guilty and the judge imposes a $1000 fine for the man who can't afford his child support and now has no job again. How does this help ANYONE?? I also know a guy who was sent to state prison for selling $80 worth of marijuana?? How can this happen?

The way that the police actually investigated and arrested him for the trivial amount of plant material was absolutely unethical too. They waited for over 2 years from the time they allegedly made the controlled purchase. At that time he was no longer even in that sort of life, but he had moved on and had a job and a life. Once he was arrested he was trying to create a time line and he soon realized that he no longer lived in the residence they said he had done the transaction from. He went through his picture albums and found a picture with the date imprinted on it showing how securely they had locked the place up after he moved. Instead of backing off the police arrested him for 'intimidating a witness'. Even though this hadn't happened his lawyer said it was his word against theirs and theirs was worth more. The bottom line is THERE WAS NO ILLEGAL TRANSACTION only a written fabricated report of one, a bunch of police and court man hours and money wasted, and an upstanding citizen falsely imprisoned and a felon for life. How in any way shape or form can this help our community?

Nearly a decade ago I had a fight with my wife and we had slapped each other (Yes I am ashamed it happened) and I was arrested for a domestic violence charge. I was interviewed by an alleged domestic violence expert and he stated I didn't possess the necessary mental functionality to understand the nature of the level of violence that had been committed.???!!?? It quickly came to light that he was also the counselor who would receive the $50 fee two times a week for 2 years if by chance I did require violence counseling. How is it ethical that the person who stands to gain the money is also the person who decides if you are in need of that counseling. The final outcome of the matter was that I went to jail, was given a $2500 fine, and spent two years of twice a week $50 a visit violence counseling. (Where the counselor collected cash, then put in a video and went into his office.). This is our fault for allowing them to keep abusing us.

I have finally come to the conclusion that I cannot change these problems, but I feel that a large percent of the populace is totally oblivious to the fact that our own protectors are our greatest villains. Just because the law allows for something does not make it just. If you work as a police officer or a judge, please consider the ultimate outcomes of your decisions. This is also your community and creating desperate citizens help none of us.

CDC EPR | Social Media | Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse - Blog

2011-05-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

CDC EPR | Social Media | Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse - Blog

Land of the Blind: 2k9 gsx-r 1000 service manual

2011-05-19T03:04:00.000-07:00

Land of the Blind: 2k9 gsx-r 1000 service manual

2k9 gsx-r 1000 service manual

2011-05-18T22:40:00.001-07:00

Here is the service manual for a 2009-2010 Suzuki GSX-R 1000:

GSX-R 1000 09-10

Make your own waveguide antenna (Cantenna)

2011-05-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

How to from "the greatest website in the world" (that's the admin's assertion) This site has a nice calculator for figuring out the best measurements for how to place the copper wire using the diameter of your can
Have you wanted to be able to acquire a weak wireless signal or are all wifi signals too far away? Well here is a great option for increasing your wireless range and getting those weak or normally unavailable signal.
Here are some youtube video how tos:

You can even do simple things like this in order to increase the wifi range:

Solutions that are even as janky as this guy's crappy parabolic antenna will work to some degree:

Land of the Blind: Is this the 10th planet?

2011-05-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Land of the Blind: Is this the 10th planet?

I think this may be our future....I really do want a fabulous sun sword.

Is this the 10th planet?

2011-05-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to all these weird conspiracy theories about Mibiru/the 10th planet/Iris and the fact that it's the reason for global warming. I am not sure if I believe it or not, but my friend heard that if you take a picture of the sun you could see it coming in. Well here is the picture and it freaks me out a little bit. However if you look closely you can see some type of reflection in between it and the sun. I'll tell you though at first it really blew me away , but now after finding the reflection...I'm not quite sure. I'd love your opinion.

Make sure if you are trolling about someone's post that you are correct.

2011-05-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

Trolls are pervasive throughout the internet, and I usually get a kick out of them. There are a few exceptions to this. I don't like the trolls who kick people when they are down. Can't you just give a guy a break? I see someone post something about having a horrid life and trolls capitalize on their misery to belittle them. This is just victimizing the weak; c'mon at least pick a worthy adversary. Another is when the trolls make fun of a decision that the poster made, but the troll is totally wrong about the facts in their opinion. I can't think of a post per se , but I did have an experience with this playing cards a couple weeks ago at the casino. I was playing blackjack and I was dealt a 10 and a 2 and the dealer was showing a 2 (this is known as the dealer's ace), and when the dealer shows a 2 amongst other combos the player SHOULD take the hit. Well these so called 'experienced' players would rush to my aid telling me to not hit, and belittling me after the play didn't work and the hit had put me over 21. This just bugs the heck out of me. I am not sure why 'cause it doesn't effect me in any way.
Another annoying habit of the trolls is to belittle a poster and use the wrong variation of a word in they''re rant to make the poster the but of there jokes.
(See it is just plain stupid :D )

They're vs Their vs There

They're = A contraction between "they" and "are" "They're going out."

Their = Indicates possession (plural) "Their shoes are wet."

There = Refers to distance "Go over there."

It's vs Its

It's = A contraction between "it" and "is" "It's hot outside."

Its = Indicates possession "Floating across its surface."

Than vs Then

Than = Refers to a comparison "I'm taller than you."

Then = Used to indicate a subsequent event "I went then you went."

You're vs Your

You're = A contraction between "You" and "are" "You're forgetting something."

Your = Indicates possession "Your memory is poor."

Affect vs Effect

Affect = A verb "It affected everyone."

Effect = A noun "It had a serious effect."
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If you disagree or have something to add feel free to let me know:

Quit wasting everyone's time and learn how traffic lights work!!!

2011-03-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

When I was a young teenager my Step-Father was teaching me about cars and driving etiquette, and now as a middle-aged man, I was wondering if I am one of the few people who received this valuable lesson.
I am an avid motorcycle enthusiast, and I am always getting caught at stoplights. There isn't enough weight/metal in my bike to activate the traffic lights induction loop.
What is an induction loop you ask? First lets get into the three different types of traffic lights you will encounter in your day to day travels throughout the United States at least. (I am sure most nations are the same, but I don't want to mislead any readers. I am not positive on other countries.)
1.) Pre-timed: traffic lights: These lights have either no induction loop at all, or the induction loop that is there is only used in order to calculate the number of vehicles through that particular intersection.
2.) Semi-Actuated: The main road does not sense traffic but the side streets will adjust traffic signals according to traffic. On these type of traffic lights the main road will remain 'Green' unless a vehicle trips the induction loop on a side road. If you are on a motorcycle or a bicycle you can get stuck on one of these for quite some time.
3.) Fully-Actuated: These intersections are fully reliant on the induction loops in order for the light to change. You can get stuck on a motorcycle on a fully-actuated intersection indefinitely.

Along with the differnt types of traffic signal control levels there are also a few different induction loop topologies.If you are in a small vehicle such as a Smart-Car, Motorcycle, or a bicycle there are some areas which are more sensitive to your presence than others. Here is a diagram which shows proper placement of a bicycle on the different induction loop layouts.

I seem to consistently get a driver behind me who refuses to get within fifteen feet of the back of my motorcycle, and in each case there are two similarities nearly 100% of the time:
1) It is someone over the age of 35! I have never been in this situation, that I can remember, that the person who was 'Wasting' my, and everyone else at that particular intersection, time.
2) Even though the whole light system has already rotated once, and I look at them and flag them forward, they remain behind the induction loop!!!!

Bottom Line: Please pull onto the induction loop, and motorcyclists, either pull forward enough to let the car set the sensor off or stop in the right place,

Stop Rewarding Mediocrity

2011-03-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

Rewarding failure in children by parents and in students by teachers is a very troubling trend that has seemed to be gaining momentum. I read the article I pasted below, and it got me to thinking about how much lee-way children get today. I really think it is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately.

Education reform: the problem with helping everyone reach 'average'

The crisis in US education isn't just overall poor national performance. Even our best students are less competitive. If we really want to 'win the future,' we have to target our brightest students, not ignore them in the fight to bring all students up to 'proficiency.'

By Ann Robinson
posted March 11, 2011 at 11:39 am EST
Little Rock, Ark.
(Read Full Article)

I recently went back to college to get some computer education, and I had an opportunity to see the effects of this first hand. I had the good fortune to score a 100% on my English mid-term test. I was very happy, yet I was confused as to how it was possible that I achieved this. I decided to actually talk to the professor about it. I approached him and said, "I am not complaining whatsoever here, but how is it possible I scored 100% on a college level mid-term while being a 37 year old laborer who hasn't been in school in nearly 20 years?".
He replied very matter-of-factually, "We lowered the standards." (...WHAT!!!...) I wasn't sure I heard that correctly, so I asked him to explain himself.
He was more than happy to do so. He shared his experiences by telling me how 10 or 15 years ago on the day before a test he could tell his students that they'd better get it together for the test or he'd fail every single one of them. The next day the students would arrive for the test and half of them looked like they'd crammed all night long, and all of them would somehow manage to do well on the test. He then conveyed that somewhere back a few years ago, almost overnight that if he said his same test prep speech to them it didn't yield the same results. He said that the day of the test maybe 5 students didn't even show, half of them were very stand offish and either scored poorly or outright failed, and only a small percentage would score well. He said that colleges can't have a 30% success rate, and they were forced to lower their standards. This really seems important to me. Does it bother anyone else?

I will continue on this topic later.

Ubuntu Linux 10.10 Maverick Meerkat with Compiz Fusion

2011-03-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

This is waaaaay better than Windows 7 or Mac

Land of the Blind: iPad now can use VMware virtual machines.

2011-03-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

Land of the Blind: iPad now can use VMware virtual machines.: "at"

iPad now can use VMware virtual machines.

2011-03-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

What is a Virtual Machine?

A virtual machine is a tightly isolated software container that can run its own operating systems and applications as if it were a physical computer. A virtual machine behaves exactly like a physical computer and contains it own virtual (ie, software-based) CPU, RAM hard disk and network interface card (NIC).

It seems that the ipod and ipad are becoming ubiquitous devices in the home, and with the additional support for VMware virtual machines; it is now finally the time for me to climb onto the bandwagon and pick myself up an ipad.

In our home we use the ipod touch quite a bit for things such as: VLC streaming from all our Windows and Linux machines, tv remote control, remote access to all the computers, video and pictures, and....well.... angry birds. We have 3 windows machines and 3 linux machines, but zero mac's or iPads. VMware support will allow the user to put any operating system they would like inside of a virtual machine (VMware is a great application that allows the use of virtual machines.

Broadband Speed Test

2011-03-07T01:14:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick little speed test to check your bandwidth.

Come to Linuxfest Northwest.

2011-03-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

Linuxfest Northwest will be held at: Bellingham Technical College in Bellingham, WA on April 30,2011 and May 1,2011 doors open at 9 am.

Linuxfest Northwest 2011 - April 30th-May 1st

Happy World Math Day everyone!!!

2011-03-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

3D Fractals

A more detailed view

IBM - Countdown to Jeopardy!

2011-02-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

IBM - Countdown to Jeopardy!

Linux: Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat and Compiz fusion

2010-11-20T23:04:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu Linux 10.10

Maverick Meerkat and Compiz-Fusion

11/20/2010

Linux Distro Overview:Ubuntu

2010-11-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

This is from almost exactly 2 years ago. That is pre-vista even. The software I used to record this was called Istanbul. I went into Ubuntu software manager and typed "capture" Istanbul came up, I checked the install box, and this it the result. The choppiness and bluriness is from Istanbul though, the actual OS runs perfectly. Also all the files I am showing in this video are off of the Windows partition on the hard drive. I really find that to be an amazing feature.

The machine that is on the video is a semi-decent box running: Athlon x2 4200+, 2Gb dual channel ddr pc3200, Nvidia en7900gtx.

The rest of the pictures are from a POS X-treme: Athlon xp1700, 512Mb ddr, 32Mb svg trio video card. Although fullscreen video is choppy when streamed, this lightweight box can run compiz-fusion effects pretty darn well.

Remember when people smoked in the grocery store or restaurants?

2010-05-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

I want to start this by stating that "I am a non-smoker" , and I am sick and tired of hearing all the sheep who don't follow the facts about it and try to impose their morals on society. The anti-smoking agenda is pretty much a joke. I can't believe ANYONE believes this crap. Your POS car is more dangerous to me or my children than some old man puffing a smoke on the corner.
Every smoking stat is based on the 1992 the EPA highly publicized "official" report
(Quote from Appeals Court Ruling Striking Down EPA Report.)
"In this case, EPA publicly committed to a conclusion before research had
begun.... EPA disregarded information and made findings on selective
information; did not disseminate significant epidemiologic information;
deviated from its Risk Assessment Guidelines; failed to disclose important
findings and reasoning; and left significant questions without answers.
EPA's conduct left substantial holes in the administrative record. While
so doing, EPA produced limited evidence, then claimed the weight of
the Agency's research evidence demonstrated ETS causes cancer."

bottom line is myob please and quit just following the lemming in front of you.
(the numbers come out to 49,998/100000 ppl who get lung cancer DON'T smoke. It's obviously not 'good' for you, but it's not the angel of death everyone is lead to believe and it's driving me nuts hearing ppl gripe about other ppl smoking.

I wiish I could ride my bike like this.

2010-04-30T05:34:00.001-07:00

Epic Linuxfest FAIL!!!!

2010-04-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Epic Linuxfest FAIL!!!!!!>