Open2Discussion

Here we go again...

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Fri, 7 Aug 2020 00:01:00 -0400

Those are the powerful words that Maynard opens the last song of Tool's most recent album: 7empest -- Fear Inoculum. This album released in 2019 is the soundtrack for the entire year of 2020.

So let's jump right in...

It's been a hell of a year this 2020 CE. So many things to unpack, so many lies told, and so many millions dealing with the loss of a job, loss of their homes, or loss of loved ones - surreal isn't even a strong enough word to describe this mess we're experiencing in the US of A. At this point we've already seen over 150,000 deaths related to COVID-19 and symptoms like it, but we're reopening schools across the nation this fall!

I could spend hours diving into any one of these topics, but if you've been living under a rock (and who hasn't envied it) since February, here's a rough catalog of the things that have happened.

March 2020

COVID-19 became a household term thrown around 200 million+ households multiple times a day
Tiger King became the hottest TV show
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are murdered by police

Apr/May 2020

#BlackLivesMatter and the related protests all over the US and especially currently in Portland
Protests that were disrupted by violent and illegal federal agents kidnapping and rounding up citizens under the guise of "protecting federal property". Ultimately, the federal response being an excuse to mete out needless violence against those who stand up for BIPOC rights

Mar-Aug 2020

#trump (yes that's little "T" trump) unravels and proves beyond any reasonable doubt that he's the most ignorant, racist, homophobic, antagonistic, narcissistic and incompetent President the US has ever had
Betsy Devos says schools are reopening with little to no safety requirements in place from the government - good luck students and teachers!

Aug 2020

This bears repeating: Over 150,000 US deaths related to COVID-19 infections and/or symptoms

I wanted to come back to O2D.com to share thoughts into the void because I think it will be interesting to come back someday in the distant future and objectively take a look at what'd been going through my head at this point in history.

Having just watched an episode of a show on Netflix called: Connected S01:E02 - Poop, I heard a phrase that caught my attention, "The poop doesn't lie!" Somehow that phrase inspired me to write this article. I had to express the thought before it is gone like the detritus flowing through the sewers pipes of my brain. In the episode, the host of the show: Latif Nasser makes this exclamation right after learning about all the various drugs that Londoners are taking on a given day of the week just from sampling the poop contents that are floating around in the Thames River.

I've become fixated on the fact that our current President can barely open his mouth on camera before figurative bullshit comes pouring out. His ability to completely eschew truth or facts in any of his rambling nonsense is staggering beyond any rational scale. My monomania on that phrase over the last hour or so I've spent writing this keeps circling around the idea that no matter what anyone does, or tells themselves is the truth, we can't hide from our own shit. Fun fact: we can see a map of where the queen of England's poop travels through the sewers of London.

Years from now we're still going to be talking about COVID-19, the affects it's had on our health, economy, psychology and children living through it now. This notion of irreverent truth reminds me of the guy down in the London sewers unclogging the drains and getting the boluses moving again. The thing that we can never escape is what we leave behind. Most of us live and die with our locus of influence only extending to friends and relatives. Social media allows us to let algorithms define the narrative we like to tell ourselves. Even though our lives and legacies are undoubtedly finite, we will never outrun the truth. We can hide it under a rock, bury it in the ground, or flush it all away - but we can never deny that what we take into ourselves, illicit or otherwise, our shit will never lie about us. Truth is dirty, dangerous, and ugly. Sometimes it really stinks (sorry about the awful puns). Our President might do it all the time, but the poop never lies.

What? ISPs are going to "stop" innovating?

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Thu, 15 May 2014 09:34:00 -0400

I laid this out in my last post, but I'll make it clear again - ISPs in the United States don't care about customer service, they don't care about innovation, they care about the bottom line... that is all.

In Ars Technica on Tuesday, they broke it down again. ISPs are making threats that if the FCC reclassifies internet service as a Title II common carrier service, they would stop "innovating". There is factual evidence that effectively shows ISPs stopped innovating a few years ago, and aren't making any substantial investments in infrastructure currently.

Today is the day that the FCC votes on the proposal to decide if the new rules Tom Wheeler wrote up will take effect. If that's keeping internet as an "information service" or if they decide to push it into the public utility realm. Either way, there are plenty of folks who have spoken out to the FCC that what the ISPs are doing is wrong, and no matter how much money ISPs throw at Washington, the public is going to fight what ISPs are trying to do.

The ISPs are making threats, but are they willing to piss off the people even more? When is the breaking point going to be reached that people start pulling the plug completely? Is that even an option for some? In my opinion, this needs to go far beyond just an FCC reclassification. The major ISP networks need to be forcibly removed from the content business. There are too many conflicts of interest here that are being ignored. Comcast shouldn't own NBC, and Verizon shouldn't be allowed to have major interests in companies like Redbox. The content companies need to be distinctly separate from those that are bringing it to our homes.

Verizon FIOS isn't throttling data - they're simply not upgrading, and we don't care

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Tue, 8 Apr 2014 16:45:00 -0400

OK Verizon - I get it, you aren't slowing your customers' data speeds. At least not in the sense that you're prioritizing packets or providing preferential treatment to one data service over another. What you're doing is much worse. You're intentionally refusing to upgrade your trunks for your internet service to keep up with the demand imposed by customers that purchase services from companies like Netflix, YouTube. I see now what you're doing, and I'm not happy about it.

I equate this issue to one simple problem for Verizon: poor customer service. It has nothing to do with bytes being categorized or handled differently in some way. Verizon isn't even intentionally reading the content of those packets we perceive as being slowed down.

Verizon refuses to upgrade their network because they are being greedy.

But you may ask - how are they being greedy? The Netflix's and YouTube's of the world are sending large amounts of data through Verizon's networks... why shouldn't they get paid for that? Let me answer that by asking a question of my own.

What would happen if a cellphone provider said, "I refuse to upgrade my wireless network towers from 2G up to 3G or 4G"? The answer is simple, they would lose all their customers.

If any well-known cellphone provider decided that it was going to scrap all it's tower upgrades going forward, and only provide the most basic cellular service to its customers, I can guarantee their customer base would accelerate out the door. If it so happened that Sprint or T-Mobile made an announcement like that, their doors would be spinning so fast, we'd see their entire networks collapse in no time. No self-respecting customer would accept or expect a service provider to explicitly say "I refuse to upgrade; it's too expensive. If you want faster, better, more reliable service, look elsewhere."

But that's exactly what Verizon is doing here.

When Verizon refuses to upgrade their networks, they are making a clear statement that they don't want to upgrade because it costs them money. Obviously, they don't like to spend money. But it's more than that, Verizon is acting specifically this way because the American public has effectively said this is 100% OK.

Ignorant users gladly put up with poor or less than acceptable home ISP service, while simply paying more for the appearance that we're getting more than we actually do. This remains true so long as there is a new shiny object (i.e. iPhone 1 released on completely under-powered 2G-EDGE networks). As long as the new "shiny" can distract attention away from the poor service that supports it, we never realize the service is lackluster or hopefully being upgraded, eve if it's at a snail's pace. This whole problem boils down to a perception problem on our part. Here's the logic behind my entire point to all this nonsense:

Verizon doesn't upgrade because it costs them money (obviously)
ISPs like Comcast and Verizon have enough clout and leverage, that smaller companies like Netflix have no choice but to bend and pay ISPs separately for what Comcast calls "priority service" - network neutrality be damned
There is not nearly enough competition to force the incumbent ISPs to change their strategy
Until customers start truly voting with their wallet or voice their opinion until it is deafening to their ISPs, the issue will never be dealt with

ISPs know for a fact that Americans are lazy, complacent and non-confrontational. We Americans don't like to cause conflict if we don't have to, and we gladly accept being in the bottom rung for service and network speed and availability when compared to the rest of the world. There is a ton of evidence

It's clear already, video streaming is only going to get bigger. All the major technology players are throwing their hat into this ring. Amazon, Google, Apple, Netflix, etc., they all have spent a TON of money outfitting their systems with high-bandwidth network pipes capable of pushing petabytes of data out to millions of customers at once. But companies like Verizon and Comcast are the last mile. They are the big gate keeper that sends all the data that reaches from the cloud into your living room. And now we've set a terrible precedent that allows them to bully all these technologically more advanced companies into PAYING THEM to deliver content that the ISP's own customers requested. Contrary to Verizon and Comcast's claims, the direction of the humungous surge in network traffic isn't coming because Netflix, YouTube and Hulu are forcing the data down Verizon's throat, all that glorious content is being requested from Verizon's own customers. Which brings me back to the point that this is an issue of customer service.

Verizon is acting like the Ma Bell from which it sprouted again. They are refusing to upgrade the interconnections between their networks and the large in-flowing pipes trying to provide the content that all those millions of customers are asking for. We're all paying our ISP's fees. I do so monthly for the 75/35mbps FIOS connection, but Netflix streaming in my house sucks day or night. I can't get better than 480p to work on my iPad or Apple TV.

Verizon is looking at this situation with Comcast and Netflix and wringing their hands together hoping to capitalize at our expense. I'm already paying for my internet connection and so is Netflix from their end... but Verizon is holding their hand out again saying they won't upgrade their service unless someone else pays them to do so. This is ludicrous logic, but Verizon is patient enough and they're holding too many cards to be ignored.

I will be leaving Verizon FIOS soon, but with so few other options available to me, even in a techno-centric city like Pittsburgh, what other choice do I have?

Art Through Adversity

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 03:14:00 -0400

I might come back and do a timeline later.

Here is O2D #7.

Enjoy.

Dropping a Deuce

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Wed, 3 Aug 2011 09:06:00 -0400

Conrad and I decided to try out my iMac's podcast recording capabilities last week. I didn't put any fancy music into it like Josh does, but thought it turned out pretty well. It was just the two of us, and it was fun to just chat about some things and pass the time.

I hope you enjoy.

00:00 - Google +
15:00 - MySpace / GarageBand
19:15 - Independent Video Game Developers
21:00 - Amy Winehouse is dead / Drugs are bad m'kay
26:00 - Netflix pricing increase / video streaming
36:00 - Bandwidth and Comcast / Verizon sucks
42:00 - Phones - still in your house?
43:45 - News of the week judgements
59:00 - Media Consumption
60:00 - Buffy (spoiler alert)
64:00 - Quick vs. Questions

Google told me Happy Birthday!

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:59:00 -0400

So apparently if you enter your birth-date into your Google profile, the Google homepage will tell you happy birthday!

Stroke the Furry Wall

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:19:00 -0400

Here is episode 5, wherein our intrepid hosts are joined by two lazy bastards who should really join us more often. Show notes below.

1:10 intro
2:08 Regretful purchase
17:30 Green Lantern review
21:05 Green Lantern Movie and comic book spoilers
25:50 spoilers over
27:00 Rude movie viewers
39:45 Rude patron's Audio
43:00 FURRIES
46:00 Techincal difficulties
48:00 A special guest appears. It's not very effective.
Then TV, Quick questions, and something about playing cake, for Corwin.

Don't Hack Me, Bro!

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 11:40:00 -0400

Episode 4 of the Open2Discussion podcast titled Don't hack me, Bro! is available for your aural pleasure. This week we discuss Pen and Paper RPGs, Diablo III, Star Wars: The Old Republic, the ramifications of hackers, the Riots in vancouver, Game of thrones (WARNING: Spoilers from 49:30-100:00, regarding Episode 9), and general entertainment consumption.

We also introduce a new, Conrad-approved, segment call Vs. Quick questions.

Listen to find out our opinions of hacking, riots, and who is the official superhero of the Open2Discussion podcast.

HTC Evo Shift 4G - just got an update!

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:29:00 -0400

I just checked my HTC Evo Shift 4G for an HTC firmware update (I have been every day since the big brother Evo got Android 2.3 Gingerbread).

To my surprise, my phone showed there was indeed an update to version HTC firmware 2.76.651.4, and I started downloading it over the 4G connection. It took quite some time to download, so it appears to have been a big one. It ran and showed two different update screens with a green arrow pointing down and a bar going across the bottom against a black background.

The update just finished, and my phone shows version 2.76.651.4 is complete, and I'm now running Android version 2.3.3!!!

Wii Me? Wii U!! To the Cloud, Robin

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:59:00 -0400

Open2Discussion's 3rd Podcast, entitled Wii Me? Wii U!! To the Cloud, Robin!

In this week's discussion, we speak about the news out of E3, the WWDC Apple conference, and a wrestling match made in heaven... literally.

Hands off my Google Wallet!

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Wed, 1 Jun 2011 16:23:00 -0400

Just a rough draft of the 2nd podcast, due to updating the computer I'm working on. May re-upload later.

Show notes to add later.

Um, Where'd it go?

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Sun, 22 May 2011 00:26:00 -0400

Here is Open2Discussion episode 1, tentatively titled "Um, Where'd it go?" Despite numerous technical difficulties, we were able to get an hour worth of discussion on topics like video games, movies, and entertainment news.

Below are show notes:

Intro 1:30

Who we are 4:15

What do you want from the podcast 5:15

New video games: 7:10

Portal 2: (SPOILERS 8:20-11:00)

Multiplayer 11:00

Rating Portal 2: 17:45

Mass effect 2: 18:45

Rockstar games 21:15

PSN Network 25:45

Rapture 38:00

Superhero "Meuvies": 44:30

Fast 5: 49:45

wrap up 57:0

What the hell is COICA?

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 15:16:00 -0500

The RIAA/MPAA and apparently the US Government think: An artist must have copyright or else they will not be able to make a living, and nothing will be created.

How about this... if that's the only job an artist has (selling copyrights), it's time to get a new one. When the US economy tanked in 2008, my previous employer decided they weren't going to give any raises for 3 years straight. However, the costs for healthcare, food, gasoline and living expenses skyrocketed. If I stayed at my old job, I wasn't making enough to survive. It's that simple.

So I went and got a new job that paid more money. It's not the same job I did before, but now I can pay my bills and survive, and I'm better off for it. If a musician can't make money selling their copyrights to labels, my argument is this - perhaps they should do something else. It doesn't mean they should sue someone who listens to their music without paying for it. It means they find a NEW way to make money by doing what's important to them. I don't have a right to sue my old employer for not paying me enough money for the last 3 years... that's not how reality works. And if you think trying to FORCE a listener or viewer to pay you money that you think you deserve? think again. That's not how reality works either. Treating fans like thieves doesn't make them fans any more, it turns them against you.

The RIAA/MPAA/US Government's argument is seriously flawed because it's not based in reality, and they think that musicians are entitled to compensation for creating their art... Van Gogh - arguably the world's most talented artist - made jack-shit for his paintings during his lifetime. He wasn't entitled to anything because people thought his art sucked when he was alive. If people don't want to buy your art, it's time to try something else. Van Gogh went insane and cut off his ear. I guess that's one way you can go.

If an artist wants to make money doing what they love, they'll find a way to do so (busking, touring, or begging)... Not by selling an infinitely available album, but by connecting with fans, engaging with them, providing a unique (i.e. good) experience, and enabling fans to enjoy something only you as the artist can create. I won't spend $10 on a Dave Matthews Band CD, but I'll spend $60 on their concert ticket. Which do you think is more valuable to Dave Matthews Band? I'd say it's pretty clear since $10 < $60.

Copyright for an MP3 or movie isn't going to force anyone to buy something that is infinitely available and free to anyone who can use Google. What our government calls "copyright" is a man-made monopoly over distribution for an infinitely available commodity (notice here I didn't say good, because it's not a tangible item). Copyright is not a right to force people to pay you for something that isn't even worth a penny (laws of supply and demand).

Governments were created to enforce the Constitutional laws that protect the public from harm, but apparently now they think it's more important to reinforce outdated business models. They have gone beyond the mandate of the Constitution in this regard (Ultra Vires). What do you think would have happened if Congress passed a law that outlawed using a car because it damaged the horse-buggy business? What progress would we as humans have made if we didn't allow technology to improve our productivity or increase the spread of knowledge (Gutenberg Press, Internet, etc.)?

We'd still have monks making copies of books in monasteries to candlelight, and secular music and movies would be illegal as mandated by the Church (there's a reason they called them the Dark Ages). Why do you think America exists in the first place? So humans could freely worship (or not) by their own free will, and speak freely without fear of persecution or prosecution.

Artists lose nothing (yes that's $0.00) from piracy because you can't steal something that didn't exist in the first place. When I make a copy of an MP3, it's new. It didn't exist before I made it. Any copy that's made afterwards from mine or anyone else's follows the same principle. It's simple logic that fails our government. No matter how hard folks like those at the RIAA/MPAA want to believe or make up statistics or figures that say otherwise. When you multiply any amount by zero, it still equals zero.

Don't Touch My Junk, Man.

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 14:42:00 -0500

So I don't normally follow the news but this latest "topic" popped it's way onto the forum I frequent and in my personal life as well. If you don't know what all the hub-bub is, bub, let me tell you.

The TSA, that wonderful organization created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, recently introduced two new security procedures: the back scatter x-ray which takes radiation based photos of your skin, and intensive pat downs. Some people cannot--or choose not to-- go through the machines for various reasons. Maybe they don't like the ideas of invasive scans; maybe they don't know how bad the radiation dose is (here's a thought: no one but the TSA does), or they're a cancer survivor; there could be any number of reasons. For me, other than not knowing how much radiation goes into the skin, the scans don't bother me much.

What does bother me is the new policy for "pat-downs."

If you're randomly selected for, or fail the AIT scan, or opt out of the scan, you get to be groped by a TSO. Horror stories abound online of the rough treatment: the cancer survivors that are forced to reveal their prosthetics, have their urostomy bags ruptured on themselves. It's filled with stories of victims of sexual assaults reliving their worst nightmares as their genitals are poked and prodded. The question becomes:

Is all of this necessary?

The public seems split. A recent poll suggests the average American appreciates the extra security. However, tweets and blog reports suggest that the flying public might have a different opinion. last Wednesday, one of the biggest travel days of the year was selected as national "Opt Out Day". People were encouraged to opt out of the AIT scans if selected as protest. Most people reported that the scanners weren't in use. Why? Are they not necessary for safety, in which case why use them? Or did the TSA not want to slow the day down any more?, Why not scan everybody all the time, if they are really that necessary?

What it comes down to, for me, is that I'm generally okay with the security theater at the airport. I know that every restriction the TSA operates is based on a reaction to something someone else has already failed to do: Someone tried to bring in chemicals for a bomb, now you can't have more than 3.4 oz. Someone tried to light their shoe on fire, now you have to take off your shoes and have them scanned. All of these "provisions" were fairly unintrusive, so complying with them didn't bother me.

These new scans are intrusive. I am not a terrorist, nor are 99.9% of the people who fly daily. These new procedures humiliate and burden us. Can you even say it's worth it?

There's no evidence so far that these new measures have stopped anything. Maybe they're deterrents, but are they really worth it? 9/11 won't ever happen on a plane again. Remember, although the terrorists threatened the passengers with bombs, they didn't have any. Prior to that event, standard procedure was to cooperate with them and do what they say. 9/11 removed that "good will," that currency, that hijackers had with the passengers. Now the prevalent thought is that any hijacker wants to use the plane as a weapon, and since they're going to die anyways, might as well fight them.

Which is kind of immaterial, seeing as how the correct response to 9/11 was to reinforce and lock the pilot's cabin and have armed air marshals on most flights.

But even if the new pat downs are catching things, is that even worth it? How much does the fictional feeling of safety have to cost us before we say enough? I'm not even going to bother with spacious oversimplifications: when another man puts his hands on my wife's genitals "for security," it's gone too far.

It's Been a While...

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:32:00 -0500

So there have been a bunch of changes to the things I use most these days, and most of the changes have been positive. I ended up ditching my iphone because the pin connector housing broke and it wouldn't charge anymore. By that time, the iPhone 4 had already been release but I just wasn't feeling Apple anymore. I don't use itunes--Zunepass is my music provider of choice now--and I just wanted to try something new.

Enter Android.

I ended up going with a Samsung Captivate, which I've been using for about 3 months. I like the platform, but I'm not brave enough to root my phone. I'll just deal with substandard bloatware for now. The SUPER AMOLED screen is pretty neato, anyways. Still waiting for the update to 2.2, though.

It seems like everything's getting smarter these days. Our TV can stream Netflix and things itself, which makes my new xbox slim a little sad. I can't say I've used half of the features either of them offer, but the Wife seems to like Last.fm. I'm concerned though, I know my xbox already blogs itself, but will my TV start tweeting my viewing habits? I already had to make my netflix anonymous.

Black Friday is this week and while I want to brave the elements (read: psychotic people), I'm not entirely sure there's any MUST have deals. Several of the places have TVs, and that's fine, but I'm not really sure what's needed this year. I'm thinking of a tablet for the Wife, which she knows, but I'm not sure if it'll be an iPad or an Archos.

Hell, even the Nook Color looks good. For myself? Eh, I'm thinking about starting to get into podcasting, but we'll see.

As far as gaming goes, Halo: Reach came and went for me. I just could not get into the 5-7 shot kills without the tactical feedback that's been present in the Call of Duty series. Black Ops, however, is pretty much everything I've wanted in my arcade shooter, but that's a post for later.

Hey Apple and Steve Jobs - stop shooting your feet!

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Fri, 9 Apr 2010 10:46:00 -0400

OK, so everyone has gushed and gushed about the iPad. It's gorgeous and fun, and all that wonderful stuff, but let me make some serious points about why Apple seems to be the most brilliant and idiotic company on the face of the planet Earth.

Google
Adobe
Verizon

I'll start with the first two because it's basically the same story told twice. A long time ago, Apple and (Google/Adobe) had a great relationship. Their goals were basically the same - to beat Microsoft. The ties that bound them together really made the relationship beneficial to both parties. They worked well together to make some great advancements in software, computing, and the internet. We wouldn't be here today with all the wonderful gadgets glistening under the spotlights without these companies working so well together... then something bad happened. Someone (Steve Jobs) felt cheated, and took a minor disagreement personally, and the relationship went sideways. Instead of (Google/Adobe) being a valued partner, they were now suddenly a cut-throat competitor. Apple, rather than innovating around the problem, coming up with a mutually agreeable solution, or letting it go - blow the whole situation out of control into a vendetta to destroy the once highly esteemed partner. Filing patent lawsuits and slamming doors in everyone's face who tries to bring up the point that (Google/Adobe) is a friend of Apple.

Apple (Steve Jobs) now hates Google, there's no doubt about that. Adobe has done nothing but try to make amends and help developers make software work well across as many platforms as possible. Apple, rather than applauding their success, gave Adobe the finger.

Burning all these bridges is eventually going to catch up to Apple, and I personally hope it's sooner rather than later. Business isn't personal. Taking steps to actively block or damage a once beneficial relationship is absolutely moronic. If anyone at Apple reads this - please put on your big boy pants, grow a pair and march into Steve's little world and law it down for him... When you destroy your partnerships in big balls of flame, you're going to get burned. Don't be surprised when no one wants to be your friend for fear of retribution for some minor infraction. What do you think is going to happen when Google and Adobe get together to bring the hurt down on Apple (Chrome with Flash embedded)? Competitors are going to start seeing Apple the same way that Apple saw Microsoft 15 years ago - an enemy that must be defeated at all costs.

I don't doubt that Verizon hopes Android will eventually catch up to and surpass Apple's iPhone OS. If enough developers get bitter about Apple's limitations on what they can do, it won't be long before the really good developers realize that freedom is better than limitation, and the talent will leave. You'll still have your stupid gimmick games and whatnot on the iPhone and iPad, but the great Apps, the ones that people will flock to a different cellphone carrier and device for will be someone else - hopefully Android. Verizon knows this now, and will fight hard to limit Apple's penetration if necessary. I hope the iPhone never makes it to Verizon... it would give Apple too much clout.

Money in the short term for pretty little toys is good , but when you piss enough people off big companies that could have been your friend, it's going to end badly. And look out in case Steve's feelings get hurt. He may just slap you with a lawsuit or try to bury you. Way to go Steve.

Thank you Veterans

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:04:00 -0500

I haven't really found myself commenting on anything war related - but I think today it's worth noting that war is an inevitability. No matter how much people push for peace, there is going to be someone else pushing back. It's human nature - the need for conflict - internally and externally. Externally, we see violence as part of fulfilling that need.

There are those of us who are willing to fight and die for these United States of America, and for that I am grateful. I've never fully understood or felt the need to fight with someone using physical violence. But I can see how some people are predisposed to believing so passionately about something that they're willing to lay down their lives for it - and that's a noble thing.

Veterans are important to not only our peace and prosperity, but they supply us with something to aspire to. A person that is devoted to protecting his country deserves as much praise as we can bestow, and to be treated with dignity and respect if/when they are injured or die serving those who would lead us. We don't have to agree with some of the reasons our leaders find for conflict, but we should agree that our troops are part of our nation's greatest resource - it's people. With the damage that was done recently at Fort Hood, I'm sure there will be many people believing they are mourning the loss of innocent lives... but I will not.

Even though it was an American soldier that performed the terrorist act, and American soldiers that died by his hand - those that perished were doing what they were called to do. They died unmercifully, but they were Americans who believed in protecting this nation from those who would harm it. I hope their families can focus on the good their fallen family members did instead of trying to point a finger at someone to blame for the tragedy of one twisted person. Thankfully, the shooter did not die immediately. He will be punished for his crimes, and live to understand that his heinous act was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It's not going to stop Americans from being brave. It's not going to stop them from fighting for what they believe. It's not going to discourage them from standing up to injustice. God bless America, and God bless those who have lived and died to protect the United States of America.

Talk about bad luck - I'm cursed this month

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:44:00 -0400

So a few posts ago I talked about how my PayPal account had been compromised, and I lost almost $500 from my checking account. Well, since then I've had absolutely the worst luck of any person I know of. I mean, it's like literally every single thing in my house or in my name decided it's about time to break, die, or fall apart.

We'll start with the PayPal debacle. That was unfortunate luck, and it sucked when it happened, but eventually the bank sorted it all out, and I got my money back. It just scared the crap out of me that at any time $500 could simply disappear from your bank account without doing anything wrong.
Xbox 360 - I got the Red Ring of Death (RROD) two weeks ago, and the hardware that I used the most in my entertainment system (watching movies, TV shows, Netflix, etc.) is completely dead and will cost $100 to fix
ASUS WL-500W router - While I was playing a video game one night (on my PS3 because the Xbox was already dead), I got a funny message saying the network cable had been disconnected. I didn't think about it until I went to my computer, and couldn't reach the internet. The router completely died, and won't respond to any troubleshooting techniques. I've scoured the internet on ways to unbrick the thing, but it's hopeless, and I'm not devoting any more time to it.
Hot-tub - I had to fill the tub last weekend because the weather was getting cold enough to freeze, and I wanted it to be up and running so it survived the winter. I filled the tub on Sunday, and by Wednesday, it was half empty, and almost too low to work. Luckily, Amber's brother came over and found the culprit leak and fixed it.
Toyota Camry - today my car decided to spring a leak in the radiator (a little hole dead center on the top of the radiator body), and it reached critical temperature the moment I pulled into my parking space at work this morning. I had AAA come and tow it, and now have to play "swap the car" with my wife today and tomorrow to get back and forth to work, etc.

I honestly have no idea why my luck has been so bad this month... It's frustrating because all these things are completely out of my control. I just cross my fingers, hope that nothing else breaks and keep going. What else am I going to do? It's a good thing I'm not a compulsive gambler, I'd probably have gotten my knees broken by now.

So it goes.

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:42:00 -0400

So...it's been a month since I've written an update for O2D. If either of my readers were wondering why this might be, well part of it is explained by Doug's update below and my response to it, and the rest can be explained by using today as a microcosm of my life over the past month.

Viewer Discretion Advised...

About a year and a half ago I had a job that I quite enjoyed and that I was rather good at. My boss would say, "do this" and I would do it. I would write a grant application, I would write a presentation, I would have a meeting about a program, I would do lunch, I would meet with a loan applicant, I would talk to the players and be there as deals were done. I may be romanticizing a bit, but I never woke up dreading the day ahead and I never thought my life sucked. Sure, I wanted more money, and I was a bit concerned that there was very little room for advancement since my boss showed no signs of retiring ever...but at least he was a great guy and a good boss to work for. My biggest problem was the commute: 70 miles round-trip and the price of gas had more than doubled in my time there. I killed two transmissions, and it looked like I might be rounding third. On the upside, I got satellite radio so I really got back into finding and listening to new music.

Over a couple of years, I conducted a job search for something closer to home which consisted of a resume posted on a couple of websites that I updated once every few months. Long story short...a nibble turned into a bite turned into, not a fish, but a drowning man pulling me overboard with him and I found myself stranded in the ocean of joblessness in the worst economy in decades. Several months of ego-shattering shit later with job offers that never came and outright rejections by places I wouldn't have worked in high school, and I finally landed a position with the unemployment office. It wasn't a perfect job, wasn't in my field, and I was told I'd be working four nights a week and then a 9 to 5 on Sunday, but it was a job. I went in for my first day of training and I was told that the schedule I agreed to was no longer the schedule. The new schedule was five weeknights AND that Sunday shift. One week into processing that, they guy who laid me off calls and tells me he sold his bankrupt company to a bigger company, and he's wondering if I'm interested in getting on board. My wife (who is much smarter than I am) tells me she doesn't trust the guy, so I negotiate a part-time consulting gig instead during the hours I'm not working for the state...a negotiation that takes from mid-April to July for some reason.

So, I'm doing both jobs for a while and I'm getting totally burned out. I feel like I'm sleepwalking through my life. I force myself out of bed every morning as my wife is leaving for work (no, I didn't get to talk to her at all before she left) and I try to get to all the shit that needs to be done. I'm working on my consulting job when I have the time and the energy. I'm trying to take care of things around the house, trying to make an application for a permanent job here and there, trying not to think about how much I miss my wife and my friends. I have to pack a lunch (there's nowhere to get food and make it back to work in the lousy business park and I don't get paid enough to eat out anyway) and leave an hour and a half early or I won't make it on time. It's a shorter distance but it takes me longer to get to work than my old, good job did. I work my shift, come home...my wife is already asleep. I veg out on whatever Netflix sent just so I can get my brain to shut off and I can go to sleep. Rinse, repeat. I feel like the lonely, bored, soulless early scenes of Fight Club.

I am Jack's silent despair.

Two weeks ago, my boss for my part time job sends me an email, and I paraphrase, "we're not getting enough leads on this, so we're cutting you loose. Submit your last invoice." That's interesting since we've had enough leads for me to work on one at a time, which is almost more than I felt like accomplishing. But maybe this is for the good, I didn't really feel like doing that any longer. But is this their sly way of saying they didn't care for my work and I'm being fired? I've never been fired. Great, another thing to lose sleep over.

If all of this sounds like whining, it's really just a prologue, but my narcissism goes only so far. I spend a good portion of my working day talking to people who haven't been able to find work in over a year and who don't have any more benefits coming, so I know the value of what I have. That doesn't make it any easier when the universe decides to give you a Hot Carl...which brings us to...TODAY!!!!!

I yank myself out of bed and try to accomplish a few things. Hello Mr. Headache-I-seem-to-get-every-day-now. I'll bask in your company while I take care of some e-mail...Oh, look...that job I interviewed for the other week decided that my skills were impressive but blah, blah, blah. OK, I was pretty sure that job would have sucked. Let's see what else I have in my email. What's that sound? OH FUCK IT'S STREET CLEANING DAY AGAIN AND I WORK A SHITTY SHIFT THAT MEANS MY CAR IS ALWAYS ON THE STREET FOR STREET CLEANING DAY!@!!! I guess I'll go grab the ticket off my windshield. While I'm out here I might as well check the mail. Hmm...I have two invoices pending with that consulting job and one is more than a week past due. No check in the mail. Let's see if they respond to this email informing them of when the invoice was submitted. They kind of suck at paying on time...my last check was more than a week late too. I guess I'll do some dishes. Well that took forever, but at least it and a couple other things are done. I better pack food to take to work with me. Great, the salad I was planning on packing is going all slimy and rotten. I guess I'll just have to pick out some of the good leaves and make do. Check the email before I go to work...(paraphrasing) "Conrad remember when I said I had this totally financially stable company and you came to work for me and my company went bankrupt and it took me forever to get you your last paycheck, but then I sold my company and I offered you another job and I said the company that bought me was totally financially stable? Guess who fell for it twice. Maybe we'll turn a profit some day and you'll get paid." Great...what a fun day and now it's time for work. Walk into the office and sign in...hmm, what's this sign? "Dear second-shift suckas, fuck you. We in management have decided that, while we've successfully crushed any family or social life you might have on weeknights, not enough has been done to thoroughly demoralize you. Starting in three weeks, we're taking away Saturday night too because your shift on Sunday is no longer 9 to 5, it's 7 to 3. Because my balls, that's why. And we know you'll be too tired Sunday to enjoy that evening either. Love, Governor Rendell. PS, if you were thinking about complaining to the union, remember, all the union meetings are scheduled for the evenings while you're at work. Ha ha."

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

I prayed for a job, almost any job, that whole awful period I spent being unemployed. How's that saying go? When the gods wish to punish us...

I'm social media overloaded!!

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Tue, 6 Oct 2009 16:12:00 -0400

So after so many months of trying out various social networking services to keep in touch with family and friends, I've got one final conclusion: There are too damn many social networking sites.

While I can definitely see the intrinsic value of keeping in touch with old friends, or using micro-blogging as a means of advertising, it's simply too much to keep up with on a regular basis. Or I should say, it's nearly impossible to keep up with all of them. If you have a day-job, your company likely blocked many services (like Facebook, Twitter, AIM, etc.) so keeping up to date with them becomes a full-time job outside of work. I don't care enough about all the things going on with my friends or my friends' kids/dogs/cats/etc. to have to have fresh news delivered to me via wall updates or tweets.

At some point there is a saturation level that one can reach that it all becomes overwhelming. If I had to remember to carry on this many conversations at work as I try to in Facebook, Twitter, digg, Blogger... I'd be terrible at my job, and practically lose my mind in the process. Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that there are so many ways for people to keep in touch now. Technology has truly changed the way that communication occurs, and that's a good thing. However, I've reached the point in my online life where I see it all as a wash. The deluge of twitter updates from the 43 different people I follow, plus all the wall updates on Facebook, makes me completely numb to new and interesting information when I hear it. The most mundane has become the norm, and I have no idea whether I'm reading something that's actually important, or someone updating their profile with the some crap about what they're going to eat at that moment. Are you a twitter shitter?

There are thousands of Wikipedia pages full of useless information, overflowing with an abundance of inane factoids. Not only do people somehow feel the need to keep everyone abreast to all the ho-hum things going on in their lives - it's like everyone on the internet started taking narcissism pills - all the time. In terms of famous people, I can completely understand it from their perspective (though I'm quite far from famous). If your business is to basically sell yourself, whether through media outlets like film, music or photography, you need to find a way to engage your audience. The minute people stop caring about you is the moment you become irrelevant, and your career is over. Can you imagine if Kevin Nealon had to get a day job? I hate to say it, but I can totally see him acting in real life like his Weeds character Doug Wilson. It would be amusing to watch, but a total car-wreck for his life. I may be completely wrong about Kevin Nealon (and I'm sure that I am), but the whole point I'm trying to make is he needs his audience to sustain his livelihood. Without an audience to hear his funny attitude and his bizarre ball references, he would just sound like some crazy cook you work with at Applebees.

Keeping people truly engaged is a really hard thing to do. Especially, when those people are young, impatient, and used to the go-fast lifestyle we Americans have become so accustomed. Entertainment is much harder to maintain now than it was 20 years ago because the entry level is so much lower. If you can get 100,000 views in a day on YouTube, you suddenly become an internet sensation... but fame comes when people remember your name months and years later.

Society has taken to heart the Andy Warhol phrase about 15 minutes of fame. Too many are clawing their way onto reality TV shows and doing stupid tricks for some ridiculous reason to get attention. Why is it so important to be remembered that human beings go to such assinine lengths to become immortal?

I'd say the most ridiculous thing about reality TV is the statement that goes something along the lines, "I'm not here to make friends." I see people saying this phrase, and it is so backwards I can't help but laugh out loud. Regardless of what these people are literally saying, even if they think they really mean it, it's a lie. Why would anyone go put themselves in front of people if they didn't want someone, or anyone to like them?

I guess I've strayed from my point a bit, but I think you're getting the gist. I'm sick of social networks, I canceled my MySpace a while ago, and who knows, Facebook, and Twitter may be next. We'll see. And believe me, I know how much of a hypocrite that I am - take a look at all those pretty little links below this and every article posted on open2discussion.com... won't you please share us on your Facebook/Twitter/Digg/StumbleUpon account?

Follow Up: You know you're in trouble when...

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:12:00 -0400

So after going to my local bank's branch office, and signing 24 copies of the form that says "Under penalty of perjury, I did not authorize these charges" I had a hand-cramp. In speaking with the bank representative, he said that upon working with his ACH department he discovered that of all the unauthorized fund transfer complaints submitted to them - 93% were related to PayPal transactions.

It turns out PayPal may have really screwed up here in terms of what happened with my account, and how the charges were applied without my knowledge or authorization. It says on PayPal's own website "As a fraud-prevention measure, we send an email confirmation for every online PayPal payment that you make." That means I should have received 24 emails from PayPal - one for each transaction as it would have been authorized with my authentication via the website. This simple fact apparently slipped their minds when they tried to explain how the unauthorized charges may have happened. I did not receive a single email thanking me for authorizing payment from my PayPal account. However this malicious person did this, did so by getting around PayPal's own system - not just my account specifically.

The thing that really chaps my ass about this whole thing is that even though PayPal flagged transactions 10 through 24 and said they were "holding the funds", they still charged my checking account for each transaction that had been flagged bringing the total to almost $500 when it could have been stopped at less than $200. I have no remorse if PayPal has to eat the cost of each of the chargebacks coming their way from my bank for every fraudulent transaction. If they aren't secure enough to stop hackers from surreptitiously gaining access to accounts on their own website, they don't deserve to have any sympathy.

When you're in the business of securely processing transactions, the last thing that should ever happen is losing the security you're supposedly providing. I'm sure that there will be some sort of backlash from PayPal to me - claiming that I violated my terms of service, or whatever. That's fine with me. I planned on canceling my ebay and PayPal accounts anyway once this whole debacle is over. Once again, it goes to show you that nothing is safe in this electronic world. Do your best to protect yourself - don't use services that may come back to bite you in the end. I learned my lesson the hard way. Learn from my mistake.

DnD 4e session Debrief

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Thu, 1 Oct 2009 15:24:00 -0400

So our first official foray into Dungeons & Dragon's Fourth Edition was completed on Saturday. After weeks of prep, I finally unveiled my baby to our Playgroup: Mr. Misanthropology and his Mrs, DougV, and a gamer couple, Mr. Ego and Ms. Thrace. They played a Druid, a Rogue, a Warlock, A greatweapon Fighter, and a Paladin. At first I was worried that not having a dedicated healer would be a problem, but Thrace handled everything perfectly.

And it was fun. But...

Some things didn't work. We had originally decided to have the session around a big ol' dining room table, but afterwards people complained of being stiff. I completely understand: I think my enthusiasm for my storyline was the only thing to keep me jumping and hoping at the table. My excitement also underscored another problem: they wanted frequent breaks but I didn't want any.

This is a symptom that is easy to remedy. Caught up in the creation of my epic story, I lost sight of the goal: just to have fun. At one point, as my NPC windbag was speaking, Mrs. Misanthropology laughed at Thrace and said, "thank you for taking notes." My god. I was creating homework! After this revelation I began to think and I figured it out: The details of the story don't matter if they don't progress the story forward.

It doesn't matter--right now at least--who created the world. None of the characters needs to care about that now. Later, when the plot thickens and the characters become embroiled in more than just local adventures, they will remember who did what in the history of my world. So my hard work will eventually become material for the game, but for now, they just care about Lord Marklehay and his Kobold--Or as DougV called them, Cobalt--problem.

Overall, the response to our D&D night was positive. Mr. Misanthropology said:

I thought one of the coolest moments was when Mrs. Misanthropology decided that her mad acrobatics skillz could get her on the skull-skull rope for a ride up to the second level. I thought the best encounter was the last one. Maybe it's just my personality, but I enjoy it best when there are opportunities for creative exploitation and long odds on survival. Bigger, crazier combat encounters speed up the game for me because it's easier to get into them than in a series of micro-encounters...
I liked the armor traps, and I think more skill and strategy challenges help gel a team...especially if they move the story forward, and I'm interested in the story and what our characters can bring to it.

And I agreed with him. The thing I like most about 4E is that it can be whatever you want it to be. I started to dig it because of the tactical encounters, but it seems like people were having the most fun actually role playing their characters. This is an easy fix but it was interesting for me to come across it.

The Story So Far:

Having no particular path to follow, our heros find themselves making their way to Fallcrest. There they meet a grizzled mage who takes them under his wing. The also encounter the local nobility and a pesky den of Kobolds that needs clearing. After clearing Kobold Hall, our adventurers find the young Seer Malicus Quai who is at the mercy of a mysterious priest-like figure. The unnamed figure disappears before our party can get their hands on him and instead free Quai who reveals that he's not a very good Seer, because even though he knew that the PCs would get there, he arrived a day too early.

Quai then helps the PCs discover one of the Vaults of Kanedias, known as the Master Maker. The door to the vault is covered in an ancient puzzle. After moving the tiles into their proper positions by rotating them, the door slides open, revealing several sets of armor and, in the middle, a rusted metal sword.

After some deliberation, the sword--which seems to be magical for all it's appearance of disuse--and a suit of armor with magical properties is taken. The heroes will return to Fallcrest victorious, though a little banged up. The questions remain:

Who was the Unnamed figure?
What has riled up the local Kobolds and where did they come from in the first place?
Why was Quai looking for these people?

You know you're in trouble when...

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:20:00 -0400

So, what does it feel like to have your bank account information stolen, and money seemingly ripped from your account against your will? I had no idea what that feels like until this morning. Today I woke up like any other day, checked my email, etc. before heading off to work... Except I got a horrible surprise when I took a look at my Checking account balance.

Apparently, overnight, a small video game company decided to charge me via my PayPal account almost $500 ($19.99 X 24 = $479.76) in fraudulent charges. It's like getting slapped across the face when you see something like this... but honestly I had no idea what happened until I spoke with PayPal and my bank.

Both were very helpful and understanding that something bad had happened, and tried to alleviate my worry in stating that all will be well, the charges will be reversed, we just have to walk you through some stuff to make sure it won't continue to happen.

Honestly, I've been banking online for well over 7 years now, and I've never once seen something like this happen. I've had a few scares, but they had only been charges that I didn't recognize the name for on my statement, and turned out to be legitimate in the end. These charges obviously were not. Thankfully I have an understanding father who jumped at my request to borrow some money until the chargeback process is complete (which can take 3-10 days according to my bank and PayPal).

Here's my advise, don't use a password that could even possibly be guessed with a brute force attack. PayPal offers a Security Key (keyfob with rolling encryption) that will be required any time you use the service for payment. I got one on its way to me, so this won't happen again.

Don't use any words in the dictionary, and make your password for your bank and online store purchase accounts (like ebay, NewEgg or Amazon) different across each of your accounts - don't use the same password twice. I'm honestly looking into downloading or purchasing some software to help generate completely random passwords for everything and an easy way to use them without causing too much of a headache. I'll post further with my choice of password manager software, and let you know how it works. In the meantime, I'm going to go get some more Tums to cool down the ulcer this whole experience just gave me.

Netflix and Hulu - where's the rest of the season?

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:28:00 -0400

So a few months ago I decided to completely leave the subscription cable TV world and go to purely digital content and video streaming. My wife was a little hesitant because she was worried that she wouldn't be able to watch the local news and sports (we live in Pittsburgh - so football and hockey are staples)... but we decided it wasn't worth an extra $50/month for 1 or 2 days a week of sports and news. I kept the basic cable (23 analog channels) because the Comcraptastic service for internet doubles without some sort of TV service. Anyway, it's been pretty nice watching stuff from Netflix on my Xbox 360. I had been using Boxee and watching Hulu on my AppleTV until Hulu caved to content providers and stripped that functionality out. I had hoped to use my PS3 to watch Hulu as well on my TV, but again, Hulu blocked their browser, so I've put a complete personal boycott on the Hulu product.

If I can't watch TV when and where I want to, I'm not a happy camper. And when it's being blocked for some arbitrary reason - like the type of computer or device I'm using - even though said device is perfectly capable of playing the content otherwise, I'm way past annoyed. I have absolutely no regrets for using torrents to find films and TV shows that Netflix and Hulu won't play because the MPAA and big content have their heads up their own asses. I've seen so many times that a TV show can be streamed from Netflix or Hulu, yet what's available either has a kill-date (cannot watch after some date - again for an arbitrary reason), or half the season of a particular show is missing because the streaming service can only show 10 episodes of a 24 episode/season show. Screw that. Why doesn't Netflix have the first 5 episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Season 1 when they have all the rest of it available to stream, and all of Season 2 and 3 - yet there are some select episodes missing from Seasons 4, 5, and 6? They don't even have the first 5 of Season 1 on DVD! WTF?!?! What is the point of releasing any episodes of it if you're not going to release the ALL of them? This type of shit needs to be fixed immediately.

I love Netflix, and before Hulu started inhibiting itself by blocking certain devices, I loved it too... but I have no love for the movie studios and TV studios that try to wrap unnecessary scarcity around something that should be available to all people all the time. When are movies and TV studios going to get it through their heads that by limiting their products on legal services like Netflix and Hulu, they're simply forcing people to either find it illegally, or miss out on what might actually be a show or movie worth watching? Gold and copper are scarce products. They're a physical commodity that has a finite amount of material available on this planet. Even land has a finite amount if you think about it... but not digital content. Anything that can be saved to a hard drive or burnable media is essentially infinite. It's a series of bytes that can be duplicated without end or loss of fidelity. The movie studios and music companies think that they can rent you the ability to see something that should always be there in limited windows of time. If NASA worked that way, would they block out the Big Dipper for 8 months a year with some sort of super huge space tarp? As absurd as that sounds, that's exactly what the MPAA is doing. Even if NASA could block the view of the Big Dipper to the US, there's no way they could block its view from everyone else in the world. I might have to drive to Canada to see the next Solar Eclipse, but I'm not going to miss it because some ass in a suit decided that he wants a royalty for the privilege.

Get it through your heads big content - you're wasting your time, and delaying the inevitable. Your monopolistic rule as a limiter of your infinite products will eventually come to an end. In several decades when my generation makes up the majority in the governments at the time, we'll laugh at your DMCA, and tell you to pound salt when you ask us to pass laws that sustain your out-of-date business models.

If one studio like Paramount said tomorrow, "We're going to stop limiting our content. If Netflix wants to stream it, we'll license all of it to them without any restrictions and any other provider that wants to play it." Having a saturation effect means Paramount won't get to charge each provider and TV station as much to license one particular show. Unfortunately, you'll make significantly less per station at first - but I guarantee, Paramount would make up for it in shear volume when so many stations and video streaming services jump on board because no provider would want to be the only one who doesn't show your content.

Get rid of content windows. Make your movies and TV shows available - not just your back catalog, but everything. Stop worrying about physical media sales - DVDs will never stop selling for those who like them. People want options - why do you think there are 14 types of value meals with 3 different sizes at EVERY single fast food restaurant in the US?

Top 40

open2discussion@hotmail.com (Open2Discussion.com) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:56:00 -0400

Popular. If I was a lame student beginning a term paper, I'd be using a quotation block to add a Webster's definition to that word. The way I did it would telegraph exactly how I intended to approach the topic. A single definition cherry-picked from the possible choices (usually number 3 or 4) is a statement: "this is how I am choosing to use this word. I will brook no dissent to my chosen definition and if you come at me with an argument using any other possible definition of the term, I will defend myself by attacking you as not understanding the word at all...perhaps you have a learning disability."

Listing all of the available definitions sends a few messages: "I only started this paper last night." "I'm eating up space with a large block quotation because I don't have enough to say to fill three pages." "A good strategy for putting almost no thought into this assignment would be to spend a paragraph or two discussing each of these definitions and then wrapping up with a conclusion paragraph that ties everything into my viewpoint."

My personal peccadilloes with student writing aside, I've been wrestling with the concept of popularity recently. Unlike concepts such as value, artistry and fairness which are all constructs of the human mind and vary by perception (people only believe they're being treated fairly when they get what they want), popularity is real and measurable. For instance, "Achy, Breaky Heart" was/is certifiably popular. The album on which the song was released is 9x multi-plat, spent 17 weeks in the #1 spot on the charts, sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling album ever for a male, solo-artist (if Wikipedia is to be believed). By every measure, Billy Ray Cyrus was (and probably still is) more popular than you could ever hope to be. My personal opinion is that Tom Waits' song "Hold On" (to pick at random from the playlist currently accompanying me as I write this) is immeasurably better than "Achy, Breaky Heart". However, it is measurably 40 times less popular using album sales as an indicator. Using a more modern metric, both songs retail for $1.29 on iTunes, but Mr. Waits has a single bar of popularity for his tune while Mr. Cyrus has more bars of popularity than I cared to squint-count.

The easy (lazy) explanation for this is that people are stupid. While this is not untrue, it is paradoxical because I am included in the sub-set of "people" but I'm not stupid. I like to think of my life as a Venn diagram where I am the only part where the circles for "people" and "stupid" do not meet. Unfortunately, this is a very common (one might say nigh-universal, the height of popular) viewpoint.

The problem with popular is that we almost always use the term to make a qualitative assumption about the person or thing being described with this quantitative adjective. For example, take a look at this video from Nada Surf. How do you feel about the popular people in the video? If you hate them, as the band seems to suggest you should, do you hate them because of their quantity of friends/dating partners or for how they act or, perhaps more elementally, just for who they are? Hipster and counterculture tell us that a thing's coolness is inversely proportionate to its popularity...if more than three people have heard of and like a band, they've sold out and become totally lame. For other things, popularity is used as a symbol of greatness; like the Beatles love-fest taking place right now (a phenomenon I found irritating when it happened in the 90s with Anthology. Is there some problem I'm not aware of where people are forgetting about the most famous band ever and needing to re-buy and re-discover their albums once a decade? I'm sorry, but if you've heard "Penny Lane" a thousand times before, hearing it again with different sound mixing shouldn't be the revelation that some of the critics are describing it to be.). Using the popularity of one thing or another to decide whether we hate or love those things allows us to make decisions without familiarizing ourselves with those things enough to make an informed decision.

The reality is that we all hate and love certain things which are popular. I hate anything written by Tolkien, and I've read a good bit of it. I was a bit wary of the book Dune when I picked it up a few weeks ago when I saw it described on the back cover as "The Lord of the Rings of science fiction", but I found it to be a compelling story with writing that didn't make me go into fits of bored frustration. Both are extremely popular, but my enjoyment of one or the other was completely unrelated to that fact. If I had to choose between my friends who are popular people and those who really aren't, I'd lose some good friends either way. I'd really love for this blog to become popular, but would that make DougV or Belligerent or me lame? I propose that each of is capable of great feats of lameness in the absence of popularity, but I doubt any of us will ever be cool, regardless of any measure of popularity.

So if popularity has no real connection with quality, why do we stretch its importance in that way? I think it all comes down to the human instinct for tribalism. You can be part of the tribe that thinks The Eagles are one of the greatest bands ever or part of the tribe that thinks owning the intolerably lame album "Hell Freezes Over" is grounds for ending a friendship. Full disclosure--I do own the aforementioned album. Perhaps I should have mentioned that in my "confessions" post. My ownership of this musical travesty can be attributed to youthful indiscretion and is, at least partially, mitigated by my owning "We Love 'Em Tonight", one of the most badass live albums ever. This desperation to belong to something causes all of us to miss some great stuff out there. I say we should all go ahead and enjoy something if it makes us happy. And now I think I'll end this so I can go enjoy dancing the Macarena in my underpants while drinking a Bud Light.