Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Silly Bully

I believe it is time to relive the awesomeness that is this:  
This doesn't really show all of what the little prick did to antagonize the bigger kid.




I do so like it when someone gets what they deserve.

Sadly, the big kid got suspended from school.  How about giving the big kid a pat on the back for not killing this bully little bitch while defending himself?  The big kid was literally backed up against a wall.  No justice I tell you.

Indeed

Monday, June 27, 2011

Cool Story, Bro

I pulled some alpha shit tonight. I had been flirting with this girl for a few weeks, I have known her since high school (we're both 23). I'm a war vet in college and she's a full time worker, and so she works alot. I've been to her place once and out to the bar with her before, but tonight I just threw it to the wind, grabbed like 4 of her favorite beers and knocked on her apartment door, walked in and hung out for a while before I simply pulled her into a kiss and then picked her up and took her to bed. We made love, and I went home later and she asked me to come over to watch a movie tomorrow night.  

-Someone anonymously posted this online.  I find it inspiring.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Warren and Templesmith

Look Up: 3-Quinuclidinyl Benzilate, supposedly a military grade weaponized hallucinogen.  Are Iraqui insurgents actually using this stuff on themselves to induce a berzerk state? Supposedly this stuff lasts 3-5 days but still affects you for 6 weeks.



I came up with all of the above questions and thoughts from reading Fell, an incredibly good graphic novel/ comic thing, which introduced this chemical to my understanding of the world.

There are write ups on both Wikipedia and Erowid on this substance and while I have found the information on these sites to be fairly reliable, I wanted to dig deeper to find something official from the U.S. government about this substance.  What I found is 37 page long pdf document published in 2008 by the Environmental Protection Agency describing what is known concerning the dangers of human exposure to the drug.  The file can be downloaded in pdf form here.



(Updated at 1:05 p.m. PDT): If you like CSI or the police drama genre and you haven't read Fell by Warren Ellis with illustrations by Ben Templesmith I probably don't want to be your friend you're missing out.  Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy right now via Amazon.

On a related note, I hear snorting bath salts produces similar effects.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

You're Doing it Wrong

You're doing it wrong if:

Your cellphone has a stylus

[Image goes here]
PDA != digital anything anymore, it's only used in Hollywood movies that are trying to "connect" with the younger generation

Your dog can fit in your purse

[Image goes here]
You are a cat person, admit it.

Your car has a non-functioning tail light

[Image goes here]
The replacement bulbs are like $1.50 and they can save you from a lawsuit if you get into an accident- CHECK YOURS RIGHT NOW!

You spend considerable amount of time enriching Google by posting to your Blogger account

[Image goes here]
Hey, that's cutting deep.

You've read all of these to this point
[Image goes here]
I thought we had a good relationship going here.

Friday, June 17, 2011

AARP Tells Our Generation to Suck It

AARP went from being the nice old folks that help to keep the interests of our elderly properly represented in national and state government to the enemy of all middle-class Americans today.  An AARP spokesman said that the group would not be opposed to cuts in Social Security benefits as reported in this Wall Street Journal article today.
Association for the Advancement of Rich People



I know that virtually everyone that visits this site is far too young to spend any time thinking about retirement but damn it this is actually important for you.  Just think of your future.  It was once the case that when you turned 65 the government would send you a check in the mail because you're old and you can't be expected to heft boxes around a warehouse all day.


[I would insert a photo of Randy (Robin) "The Ram" Robinson lugging boxes around the back of a supermarket here to illustrate my point but apparently the only things worthy of other people taking the time to screen cap from The Wrestler are shots of Mickey Rourke's long haired character in the ring and Marisa Tomei as Cassidy "I'm not important enough to rate being given a last name in the script" in various states of undress... sweet, sweet Marisa Tomei...]


Demonstrating another profession one should not be engaged in 
after 65

These days, Social Security benefits don't kick in until you turn 67, which is shitty considering that guys on average only live to be 75.  Now that AARP's lobbyists are likely going to turn down the pressure on politicians to avoid cuts to Social Security, the age when retirement benefits kick in might jump to 68 or 69, which mean Randy is going to have to drag his arthritic bones to the top rope for four more years of Ram Jams and Cassidy is going to have to do the only thing a female sex worker in her sixties can do: shove her aching feet into clear heels for four more years of starring in the matinee performance of a traveling donkey show (On a related note, I hope the violence in Mexico subsides soon so that I can feel comfortable visiting Tijuana again).


In the New York Times article on this subject, the spokesman for AARP made it clear that they don't want to screw over their current members, they only want to sell out future old people- you know- people like us.
He [the AARP spokesperson] made clear in an interview that the group’s willingness to discuss cuts comes with conditions: Reductions in benefits should be “minimal,” they should not affect current recipients and instead should be directed “far off in the future,” and they should be offset by increases in revenue.
I say our politicians should be looking to defend the interests of middle class Americans by repealing the Bush era tax cuts on the ultra wealthy instead of forcing the majority of Americans to be screwed out of their retirement.


TL;DR: The wealthy in America are robbing the rest of us blind.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Monday, June 13, 2011

Defending Our Economic Interests

Class Warfare:


We Demand The Head of The Federal Reserve!
step down from his post.  To be clear, we mean this only in a strictly figurative, absolutely nonviolent sense of these words.


"The Federal Reserve's policies are systematically looting 
the country to enrich one-tenth of one percent of the population."

There is a lot not to like about this video.  The repetition of "The Federal Reserve..." at the beginning of seemingly every statement makes the 4:30ish long video seem a lot longer and the fact that Rebecca Black's "Friday" most likely got more views in 10 minutes than this has since it was uploaded concerns me that very few people will ever see this material.

However, repetition aside, I do believe the person that produced this video states the case against the Fed very well.  Based on what I have read, and what the well read people I am lucky enough to be able to associate myself with understand, the claims about the actions of the Federal Reserve presented in this video are accurate.  

Media Coverage:

The Washington Post has already run a brief blurb on this, which you can check out here.
Forbes ran a brief blurb on this, which is online here.
Time ran a piece on this, which is online here.


Also, you can follow this on the Twitter using #opesr, if you're into that kinda thing.

Friday, June 10, 2011

California Quirks

California News:


"California merchants may not ask customers who pay with credit cards for their ZIP codes, the California Supreme Court decided" - so why is it that I'm still prompted to enter my zip code before I can purchase gas using the machines at gas stations?



Getting the Numbered Keypad to Work Again:
If you happen to still be using Windows XP and the number pad on your keyboard stops working, instead of getting a hacksaw out and cutting the numbers off of the right side of your keyboard, try this:
  1. Start 
  2. Control Panel 
  3. Accessibility Options 
  4. Mouse 
  5. uncheck "Use MouseKeys" 
  6. Settings 
  7. "Use MouseKeys When NumLock Is:" (select Off) 
  8. Apply 
  9. OK
Then use NumLock to use the number keys.
*If you use an Apple computer, just ask your manservant to throw out your current computer and buy and buy a new one if the number pad stops working.



Creative Arsenal

My Creative Arsenal:


As of today, I use the following pieces of electronics.

The computer on the right is an Asus Eee 1000HE netbook, which I upgraded by adding a 2GB RAM card.  I'm really in love with this relatively inexpensive little computer and would highly recommend the Eee brand to anyone in the market for a new computer.

The iPod is the 80 GB model, which was the top of the line when it was released.  I probably never would have sprung for something so expensive but, incredibly enough, I found this iPod near my garage door early one morning.  The back is really scratched up but it is in perfect working condition.  I never saw any signs posted about a lost iPod and had no idea who to return it to so it became mine a few years ago.  Whoever purchased it originally would have been wise to get it engraved with their name and phone number.  I would have called and arranged for them to pick it up.

The cell phone is the original BlackBerry Storm, which I bought the month it came out.  At the time, I was working in a demanding job and was traveling fairly often for work.  The ability to get my emails and access the internet on the go made my life a lot easier.  I don't work at the same job anymore and to be honest I don't need a smartphone any longer but I still use it.

One of these things is not like the others

OR

The cell phone and the iPod didn't really fit into the
 fingerprint v. no fingerprint classification system

These are some of the pieces of technology I own that make me productive.  The gloves are there only because  it happened to be snowing heavily when I took this photo in February, 2011.

Thoughts on Updating:

I really hope that Asus continues to make the screens on their Eee line larger.  I go though laptops quicker than most since I use them all the time at home and I bring mine with me whenever I travel.  When I replace this computer I hope there is an Eee with a solid state hard drive and a screen that measures 12"+ available.

The BlackBerry Storm isn't bad but the lack of WiFi, lack of ability to tether and the far better collection of apps available for the iPhone and Android based phones have me thinking about trading it up for something more cutting edge or scaling back the monthly payment and opting for a pricing plan that doesn't include internet access.  I'll weigh the options between an Android phone, iPhone and a basic cell phone in a future post.

The functionality of my iPod is already built into my BlackBerry Storm.  In fact, the only reason I use this iPod is because the battery on my phone is starting to go and I can use it longer if I don't use it to play music.

Monday, June 6, 2011

It Slices, it Dices and it Converts YouTube Videos to MP3 Files

Software Toolbox:

Updated July 22, 2012: Unfortunately, the YouTube to MP3 Converter software I recommended below is no longer available.  The updated version of this software comes with a ton of annoying bloatware so I can't recommend it any longer.


This speaks to one of the big problems with this blog, which is that I tend to link directly to interesting content on other websites.  When those other sites move or remove their content, it makes me look like I don't know what I'm doing.  The solution is to keep checking cleansheetsanddirtygirls.blogspot.com regularly and ponce on new content the moment it comes up.

Does it upset you that an obscure remix of a song that you enjoy is only available on YouTube?  Do you wish you could listen to that song on an iPod that doesn't have a WiFi connection?  Are you mad as hell when you try to listen to a song using YouTube on your expensive iPad only to have Apple step in and tell you that "The author of this video does not allow playback on iPad."  Enough of this bullshit.

If you're a Windows 7/ Vista or XP user, head on over to Download.com and get yourself the Free YouTube to MP3 Converter.

Can we get the icon in cornflower blue?

It slices, it dices and, more importantly, when you paste the URL of a YouTube video into this program and hit a button, it spits out the audio portion of the video as an mp3 or wav file into a folder or your choosing.  I've used this freeware on a few videos and it works like a champ.

I think only sock puppets could dumb this concept down more.

Even if you're not into converting music from YouTube to an mp3 player, it's always good to have functional software in your digital toolbox.  You never know when a friend's embarrassing YouTube video will need to become your new ringtone.  Or, when you come across Christopher Walken reading "The Raven" and want to listen to it again and again while driving to and from work (you weirdo).

TL;DR: Click the "Free YouTube to MP3 Converter" link above to download a program that will convert the audio of YouTube videos to mp3 files, if you're into that sort of thing.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

100 Followers!

Follower Milestone:

Holy balls, there are more than 100 people following this blog!

Hooray.

Here are all the blogs that are part of what I now think of as The 100 Most Awesome People Publishing on the Internet (be sure to add reverberation to your internal voice when reading this title), which are presented in more or less the order that they begin following this blog:
BRB - Going Insane....

Wallpaper of the Day

Ecchi エッチ

I could be anyone..

Matt Neumann

Doodles and Dreams

Wallpaper of the Day

I Could be Anyone...

PINECONE STEW

Mostly Irrelephant

mac and i

! Permanent Ink !

! RABBIT IN THE WEB !

! The All-Encompassing Blog !

! the answer to the ultimate question is 42

! thenitefalls

Pensamientos En Linea

Mash It Up -The Music

PhotoClasher

! XenoMusic616 Metal and Trance Blog !

! ! All About Loans

! Hовости посвященные гаджетам !

! The Ins and Outs of staying In and going Out

! ! Underrated Films ! !

! -Conceptual Gadgets- !

! ! ! Blog Roll ! ! !

! ! ! Gnarly Weather ! !

I Cant Stand Falling

The Daily Giggle

This Digital Life :.

Whatever's On My Mind

This is going on my list...

Clogging Your Intertubes...

Seven Roads Art

SEVEN ROADS TO HOME

Blogger: Permission denied

Through My Eyes;

! 0 - Doomsday Blog

!!!! grow up, get a life !!!!

1.2.3.4.5 Pictures

mac and i

Demure Fantasies

and I wont take it personal but deep down it hurt my soul.

!!!! grow up, get a life !!!!

I shouldn't, but I must

enjoy the little things

Doodles and Dreams

Serious Business

Appellate Sky

Alpha Beta Life

Puzzled Yet ???

PINECONE STEW

Mostly Irrelephant

Pensamientos En Linea

! how to make money through alternative means

WOODLOUSE Figures

WOODLOUSE Works

1001 Movie Quotes

Awesome movies. Reviewed. By a guy like you.

Because I'm Blogging

Around the Internet

Anon Prodigy

This is real life

Today I quit smoking

Serious Business

! -Conceptual Gadgets- !

Jim's Fear

man drives into a bar... Bar Science - so a wo

! This really grinds my gear !

!DailyDubstep!

A Collection of Terrible Photos

The Reel Foto

A little bit of this and not so much of that

Sauna Time

temporarily undefined

A Collection of Terrible Photos

...Almost Out Of Ink

A Surprisingly Mediocre Blog

Ram's Lair

!-Coffee-! !-black-coffee-!

!nternet Red Room.

Lawyer blog daily

! ! Beautiful Women and Sexy Pinups ! !

! ComeAtMeBro-Daily tech news

Gardening?

Absorbing what I can

Video Games
If you are one of the first 100 people to start following this blog and you don't see a link to your blog on this list, please let me know.  I do my best to follow everyone that is kind enough to do the same for me but I'm far from perfect.    

Again, thank you all for following this blog.