Friday, October 27, 2000

     It's been a long week - sorry for not getting to my web page since last Thursday. Spending a little time with Dalila, going to Macon for school every day, fixing up things around the house, throwing a dinner party of sorts, and so on and so forth... the web has just taken a back seat lately. Oh, and don't forget my cable modem going screwy. It likes to connect for about 2.48 minutes at a time, disconnecting only when I'm ready to send or receive something important. For the first time all week, I've gotten this thing to stabilize, and hopefully you'll be able to see this update!
     I really don't have much to comment on, escept that Mike asked me to show the world his new hair. I think it looks rather spiffy, so it seemed like a good idea. Here he is, in all his glory:



Aww, ain't he cute?! Well, he definitely passes for pink, anyway.
     I was reading some news today, and I discovered that this year's World Series between the Mets and Yankees had the all-time lowest TV rating of any World Series EVER, beating the old record by over 12%. Approximately one in eight TVs in the country were tuned in to the final game of the World Series, while three out of four TVs in New York State caught the game. Fox Sports (who aired the game) president Ed Goren stated in response, "Our research people are going to have to take a look and see if they can come up with some explanations." Um, hello? That was your explanation right there, genius. If one in eight overall watched, while three out of four in New York watched, what does that tell you about the rest of the country? THEY DIDN'T CARE! Or should I say, we didn't care. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of Yankee and Met fans all over the country, but with twenty-eight other teams in the majors, I'm thinking there's just too great a chance that the people didn't watch because they had no interest in New York - either one. And is it just me, or are the Yankees just annoying? The general public is tired of the Yankees. It's time for someone else to win. Someone tell Steinbrenner to stop buying World Series trophies and try raising teams from the ground up like Atlanta has done since their creation. Don't forget my quote...

Thursday, October 19, 2000

     Is it wrong of me to hate the New York Yankees? I thought not. For years I have been sick of the New York Yankees winning, simply because they don't truly earn it. For years they've gone out and bought their players from elsewhere. Do you know how many players on this year's Yankees team were home-grown in their own system? Three. Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Bernie Williams. EVERY other player on the diamond was bought, traded for, signed, etc., and if you look at the New York Yankees annual payroll, you'll see that they truly are buying their teams. On the other hand, take a look at the Braves. Seven of their fifteen regular players came through the Braves minor league organization. And nearly all of the nonregulars did. And what does this prove? Well, it proves that money wins championships, and that having [quite possibly] the best overall organization doesn't. The Braves have been recognized as having one of the best minor league programs of all the major league teams for years, and it shows. They have won nine straight division championships (a record), mostly with players home grown in their minor league system. And oh, do you know that guy that won the ALCS against the Mariners with a home run? Yeah, that David Justice guy. He was raised in the Braves' system too.
     Yankees suck. Go Mets.

Sunday, October 15, 2000 (part 2)

     This is probably the second time I've ever updated my site twice in one day. That happens when I get up really early to do it, then I get on late in the afternoon to do it, only to realize that it's already been done. But I feel like sharing, so that won't stop me! I don't know how many of you have been keeping up with the "Napster Debate" (as I call it), but it basically comes to this: The Recording Industry Association of America is suing Napster for illegally aiding consumers in sharing copyrighted music. While I agree with the RIAA that the act of pirating music is wrong, I disagree with shutting down Napster. All that the RIAA has accomplished since this ordeal began is tripling the usage of Napster, therefore tripling the amount of pirated music on the web. Besides, do you know what would happen if Napster were shut down? I do. Better programs that perform the same basic functions as Napster will be developed, those which can be used for anything, not just music, and the RIAA will be kicked in the ass ... unless the government goes 1984 on us, in which case a rebellion of some sort (hopefully not violent) will immediately follow. So, in essence, I agree with the RIAA based on principle, but singling out Napster as the culprit is ridiculous. If they are to attempt to regulate the sharing of music, they need to go for just that - the sharing of music. Not just one application that aids in the sharing of music.
     If I had decided to discuss this topic just one week ago, I would likely have taken a side with Napster and vehemently antagonized the RIAA. However, after actually researching a little, I realized that what the RIAA is doing is simply protecting their business and their clients - it's in a company's nature to do so. I've also read comments from many involved parties, including this by lead singer and song writer of Creed, Scott Stapp:

Everyone I know is excited about all the possibilities the Internet has to offer. As a musician, the Internet has made it possible for me to share my music with people that could have never been reached by conventional methods. It has been taboo for artists to speak out concerning the business side of their music. The fear has been that the buying public, as well as other artists, would perceive this concern as greed, and that the artists' sole purpose for creating was the money. This perception has silenced many artists concerning MP3 and Napster. The silence must end. As a child I created music to express my inner thoughts and feelings, and that purity has stayed with me throughout. The day I decided to share my music with the world, was the day I decided to walk the fine line between art and commerce. I have been blessed in that I do what I love and can support my family with what I create. When my music is given away, as taboo as it is for me to say, it is stealing. I need not defend my motives for making music, but the distribution of my music has made me business conscious. I have decided to sell my music to anyone who wants it, that is how I feed my family, just like a doctor, lawyer, judge, or teacher. Not to insult anyone's intelligence, but my music is like my home. Napster is sneaking in the back door and robbing me blind.

Of course this quote is taken from the official RIAA web site, meaning "of course it speaks against Napster." Then again, I wouldn't have visited that site in the first place had I not been interested in both sides of the story. Anyway, I've come to my own conclusion. It seems to me that the "pronapsters" are basically just selfish. They assume that because it wasn't regulated before, that once they started doing it that the privilege couldn't be taken away. That's incorrect. They cannot be punished for a crime they committed before the crime was actually a crime (ex post facto law), but they can have the privilege taken away.
     One thing that's made this tough to write is the fact that I am actually on Napster's side, selfishly. I want the music too, but I know it isn't completely right. However, in my case (and others like me), I don't see the problem. I download to hear the music, and if I want the CD, I go out and buy it. Downloading the free music doesn't make me want any CD any less, and in many cases I am able to hear and want music that I wouldn't ordinarily know (Creed, for instance, thanks to Zach). I am somewhat partial to actually owning a CD - no copy compensates for the missing inserts and covers. I know I'm not alone in this respect, but I also realize that it doesn't exactly dominate the masses.

Sunday, October 15, 2000 (part 1)

     Wow, I haven't gone an entire week without saying a thing on this web site in a very long time. I'm sorry. :-) Not like any of you read my page regularly anyway. Or if you do, I have no way of knowing that, because no one ever says anything. So if that's the case, then why do I keep updating it? Hmm, the world may never know. I'll give you a bit of happy news really quick. Mike Yanosy turned 19 on Thursday, yea for him. Told you that would be quick - now for some bad news. I made a 68 on my history midterm. Not horrible, but obviously it could have been better. This will make an A in that class very difficult, and near impossible, but I won't know about my grades for another two months or so. I should have A's in all my other classes! :-)
     In case someone actually cares, Rachel has added a few items to her page over there (more accurately, I added them, she told me to). Go look at them. Absorb yourself in them. And enjoy yourself!

Sunday, October 8, 2000

     Just so all of you know, 100 MHz (and slower) computers are not meant to be worked on and fixed. They are meant to be quietly (or not) destroyed and replaced with something at least three times as fast. However, this is not what Mike and I did Friday night. Beginning at about 6:30pm, we began work on two computers - one a Pentium 90, the other a Pentium 100. The Pentium 90 was actually about twice as fast as the 100 because it had dual bus, meaning the processor could process twice the memory at its speed. The 100, even processing faster, only processed half the data... Blah, either way, both computers suck. We spent about eleven hours fixing them up nicely, and now they run like they should - which is still very slow. Also, computers as old as that are not meant to be worked on internally. The internal structure is so horrible... Man I thought I was looking at a computer from 1987! Well, enough about the slowest two computers I know.
     Saturday night involved the usual activity of bowling, and let me tell you, I sucked. My first game was a 140 (which is below normal for me), and after that I bowled six games in which my highest score was a 103. In the eighth and final game, I reached 112, almost sorting out my problems in the last few frames. I had a headache all night, but I don't feel as though it was affecting me - I think I just sucked. Mr. Farinelli, on the other hand, rocked the house. His previous high score was (I believe) a 177, and he broke it twice - in consecutive games in fact. In our sixth and seventh games, Mike bowled a 184 and a 182. If he could have taken the last five frames in that first game and the first five of the second, he would have bowled a 219 (yes, Mike, I eventually figured it out)! TWO NINETEEN! He had four strikes in a row to end the first game, and three out of five were strikes to start the second game, just so you know how well he bowled. Mike - you da man.
     To those of you who have been invited to my mom's house on the 21st (Saturday), give me an email or a call to let me know if you will be in attendence. I need to know how many will be there in order to allocate space. I hope to see many of you!

Thursday, October 5, 2000

     My site is still slowly but surely being updated with the new format. As I find reasons to update different pages on the site, I redesign them with the new format. That means that theoretically some pages could never be updated, if I never get around to adding or changing any information on them (which I might opt not to do just because crossing them over is a pain). Anyway, no worries. It will be done one day.
     In other news, today I spent about six hours running around my dad's office learning the basics of updating the web page(s) there. I learned nothing new, except that the only way to update files on the logical servers is through FrontPage. Considering I've never used FrontPage before, I guess I'm making progress. Either way, if I happen to score a job there, that's a minimum of $8/hr, and up to $15/hr for whatever hours are convenient for me. Rock on, eh? Wish me luck. :-)

Wednesday, October 4, 2000

     I don't know if any of you noticed, but yesterday I had both the date and the day of the week wrong. Now one would logically assume that if I had one wrong, then the other would need to be wrong in order for them to match. Well that's just it, they didn't. Wednesday is today, which I thought was yesterday (for some stupid reason), and the 2nd was Monday, which I also thought was yesterday (how I got all that mixed up I may never know). Anyway, have no fear, the days have returned to their normal schedule.
     Say, that reminds me of an interesting exercitation of the intellect. What would happen if EVERYONE in the world decided to skip a day? Let's say Thursday, October 12, 2000. Just skip it completely and move directly on to Friday, October 13 (ooh, spooky isn't it?). Now for all scientific purposes the day isn't really skipped, and for all other purposes we just erase the day from our calendars or move our computers up one day. The tricky part comes with the press... Hmm, I'm overthinking this.

Tuesday, October 3, 2000

     Ladies and gentlemen, I just wrote one thousand two hundred fifty words (written in words to illustrate its length) on the building of the city of Macon up to 1865. That's 1250 words, four pages and a fraction of a fifth, and I'm maybe two percent through with my research on the topic. What does that mean, you ask? It means I have hundreds of pages of boring shit to sort through by December 10, when the final draft is due! Oh well, draft one of three has been completed as of two hours ago, and I'm a better person as a result. I have learned of the insensitive asshole who decided to make downtown Macon a series of highly trafficked squares and rectangles... ick. Well, I'm sure you don't care about that. Unfortunately I must, as that is the nature of the assignment. Stick with me my faithful readers, and I promise not to hurt you (physically or otherwise)!
     In other news, E.J. Weisner wishes to say hello to the world. He's alive and well wherever the hell he is (I keep forgetting, but he emails me often enough). Today he wishes me to relay a message to two particular young ladies, a miss Ashley Schoening and a miss Amy ... one of those Amy's, he didn't specify. And I can no longer remember the message. In fact, there was never a message to begin with! But he mentioned the names, which is evidence that he was thinking of the two (three, if I count both Amy's) of them. In short, I leave you with this image of the king himself. (I hope he doesn't mind...)

Sunday, October 1, 2000

     I just looked at the calendar, and I realized that in approximately twelve days we will experience the phenomenon that is Friday the 13th! Prepare to be frightened. :-) I'm sure our country's lovely USA Network (that's a TV channel, if you don't know) will play several movies featuring our favorite masked villain - ya know, the one that uses a painted over Captain Spock mask from the old Star Trek. Yeah! Jason! That's the guy! Enjoy your freaky Friday night, kids...
     In other news, I have switched over my links page to this fiery design, as well as adding and subtracting a couple links. If you know of a site that you feel I would enjoy or should be aware of, then by all means send me the address! I'll take a peak and see what I think...
     One last thing. To all of my faithful friends (and even some of you nonfaithful ones), I am planning a "family reunion" on Saturday the 21st of October. Inspired by the one and only lovely Angela Riley, this meeting will consist of spaghetti and Catch Phrase for all, as well as the conclusive bowling match to cap the night! If you are interested, you MUST (no option here) contact me in some way or another. If you don't contact me, you are pretty much not invited. So... send me an email, let me know that you would like to attend, and bring $10 to bowl. :-) See ya in three weeks!

Archived...

2001: apr, mar. feb, jan.
2000: dec, nov, oct, sept, aug, july, june, may, april, march, feb, jan.
1999: dec, nov, oct, sept.


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