The Better You Look...The More You See

I suspect there is something to the title, in both obvious meanings.

As well, I've found that being overly smart is often not the way to actually be happy. I'm not going to go so far as to say, being dumb is more fun than being smart...but would you agree that in the airheads you've met in your life, (both male an female) they usually posses a bouncy, happy attitude as if they're having a better time than you?

Over the last few days I've taken the internet-news-product very seriously (in regards to the whole global financial fiasco) and used my brain-powers of logic, imagination, politics, and society...and came up with a whole bunch of stuff that was unsettling. I thought pretty hard about how to "not be unsettled" about the whole affair, and failed miserably.

So instead, I've chosen to go the other direction. There is no "thinking" out of an equation with all negatives, where you might get a positive. Best to think down (or not think-hmm inneresting) to a level where none of these implications matter, and deny that any of them are important, or predictors that have any weight at all.

In that place, it does kinda' matter how good you look.

Then it's a lot easier to find the people who don't look as good.

And from there...well, let's just say, "the more you see."

Here's A Short TED Presentation

That actually has something to do with this evolution of the internet idea that's been floating around here (most likely) boring the pants off youse guys. The key here, is that this is an interface device, and not a literal evolution of the internet itself. They claim it's a "sixth sense" device, that can give you an entirely new way of dealing with the world by getting instant data about something in front of you.

I'm not sure this would ever really improve the quaility of your life, infact it might just suck you into being constantly manipulated (or even imprisioned) by this cloud of data. (where does this data come from, who provides this service, who makes sure this info is based on fact and not p.r.? are some questions that pop up.) But it's certainly an interesting peek into a totally different way of using the global database.

(Vid is 8 minutes long...but is pretty fun.)

A super short vid about being super cool.

Here's something good

The story of the world's largest diamond heist. It's like 8 pages long, but it's really fun.

Touching the Zeitgeist and Getting Scared.

I just saw a reddit thread today that was titled

"Is Anyone Else In Here Getting A Little Bored of the Internet?"

It's curious...

Sometimes It's About Perspective

This here blog do-hick-ey started round '05, a little more than four years ago. Yet this entire time, I was convinced that "Fjord" meant a geographical landmass that was made up of two out-thrust arms of land, between a low-lying valley that was inundated by the ocean. A clearly photogenic landmass that (while some have never seen except in pictures, such as myself) we can all agree looks phenomenal.

However, today, I was in my destiny chamber (posted link even tho there's a horrible typo. It's supposed to read "come with me to my destiny chamber" but you get the gyst.) And I was stuck with the thought of, "How easy would it be to convince people that "fjord" also means crossing a river."

If I wrote the word "Ford" what would you think? A car, a truck, a company? Would you really think that it meant anything other than a machine? If I told you the only way to cross this river without a bridge, was to go to the fjord two miles down, would you know exactly what I meant? (Of course you would, its a pronunciation difference, with a slight inflection, an inflection that is nearly a silent letter. In fact, it makes more sense in this age of word evolution to call a ford a fjord)

Would you have the cajones to tell me, "No, it's not a fjord, it's a ford! You ford a river on horseback or on foot! You can't and don't fjord anything!"

Hey, if you had the balls to stand up for ford, I'd be happy. I'm not saying I'd support you, but I'd be happy to see these things aired out in a public space. (without an iphone or google) Words are only what people agree they mean. I'm pretty sure (knowing the populace like I do) that it would be really hard to convince 60% of the audience that the correct term for "the fjord" of a river was actually "the ford" of the river.

And thus, thanx to my destiny chamber, I am now happy that 4 years later, I realize that Fjord is not only a landmass, but the passage across a river. A span of land that is covered over with water, yet still connects two divided chunks of land. Fantastic!

Soo...errm yeah...trying to back my way out of

my idea that the innernet should be like an university or something.


Here's a beautiful distraction in the form of the Peanuts Comic, re-done in Frank Miller style. It's short (1 page) but dense, and totally cool. You should take a look.

In re-looking at this thing, mebby this does give a nice example of something the innernet should be offering. Then again, it wasn't done in 5-or-10 minutes...there was some lingering done there.

I am aware that the last post was

a little tough on the internet. I mean, all this coming from a guy who looks for mummy stories, just so he can put up pictures of flame-throwers.

In my excuse I was kinda' drunk.

Please forgive me innernet, I'll never hurt you again!

Hehe...gjawd...

Well hell, 3 weeks without a good post ider, and...

now I gots three of 'em and only time to linger over one!

(or do I. Hmmm...)

*ponders*

Mebby I can smush 'em all into one far reaching, yet easily digestible post saving me and you a ton of extra work. Mebby.

Well, it's worth a shot.

***Begin Transmission***

24 jumped the shark on Monday (if it hadn't already). I'll admit to not following very closely, but I did catch the first three episodes this season, (shown 2 episodes-back-to-back for the first two Monday's of the first two weeks) and had reasonable hopes for it to still be an entertaining show.

However, this last episode was enough to make me cringe in ways I haven't cringed from a televison series since I saw a season closer on "Gray's Anatomy" where Dr. Whoseisnuts with the long locks, saved Dr Gray from a watery death in Puget Sound after a horrible ferry accident! That was the end of any of my respect for Gray's Anatomy - which up till then, I thought was a slightly-better-than-average show that would pass the "I have nothing better to do tonight than watch this and I won't feel too bad about wasting this time as I'm already wasting it" test.

The reason for expressing my opinion about 24, is the fact that the plot revolved around a renegade group of a ficticious African nation's "special forces" taking over the White House, and holding the President and members of the executive staff hostage. Seriously, as I watched, I found the opening scene in X-Men 2 to be more realistic in Presidential security (where a teleporting super-powered mutant broke thru the White House secret service protection) than the stuff that was being shovelled out of my teevee from the 24 creators. Mebby the regular audience for the show will go along with that leap-of-faith, but this viewer can not. I'll leap over a lot of hurdles to stay with the (a) story, but not one that treats Presidential security with less realism than a super-hero movie from 2003.

But this shark-jumping thing is something I'm also considering in terms of something larger, something much much much larger! Yes, my friendly fjordlings, I'm considering labeling the internet as having done the same thing!!!

Look, I read political blogs because they're constantly updating their content...which is what I crave - new fjuckin' content. Yet, there's a moment in my morning where (as I peruse said political blogs) I know I'm just reading chatter. I use reddit like a fiend, and I dig my cursor into any new chunk of information or interesting headline like a shovel. But constantly, I'm being directed to content that is not only recycled, but more than a year-old! A year old in internet years is like dog years. It's like I'm seeing stuff from 2002...and I'm not sucking in the internet for nostalgia's sake (altho I do like reading history on demand from the web) I want new! I want cutting-edge information!! I want cutting-edge entertainment!!! I want super-uber-expert smart opinion on stuff!!!!

When it comes right down to it, I get no more of that stuff than what I'd get from media that's not the net. Sure, sometimes I get lucky and am rewarded, but not all that often- at least for the amount of time I spend looking for it.

And that's where I say, it's time for the internet to grow up. Yeah, you jumped the shark internet! And while it's cute to see LOL Cats every once in a while, it's the fjuckin' equivalent of a baby running his figers over it's lips making a "bubububa" sound. Sure it's cute when the kid is 2, but fer Gjod's sake, the innernet is like - getting close to/is already in PUBERTY! This baby-stuff that was fine before is now bordering on the mentally retarded.

The beauty of the internet medium is the potential to evolve into something we can't even imagine. It can (unlike teevee shows) easily re-invent itself past a shark-jumping moment, and into something far better, far more powerful, and far more illuminating than it is. I'm not at all claiming I have the talent or even the energy to change a tiny-tiny micro-small fraction of it. But I do have the critical skills to say, "It's about time this joint makes a great leap over the shark of its own irrelevance."

Perhaps I'll come up with some amazing idea that will take that last statement, and not only prove it can be done, but also inspire others to change the whole nature of the medium. Perhaps the internet, like humanity, will only ever be a mirror focused on itself with a miriad of weak distractions to banish any thought of irrelevance. Perhaps I'm already tired of pushing this very honerable idea as far as I have, (not very), to my audience of 3 loyal readers.

Nevertheless, I have no doubt, there's something in these words I've written you can agree with. I believe it went something like this...
1) Gray's Anatomy jumped the shark a long time ago. 24 just did.
2) Baby internet has clearly jumped the shark.
3) Baby internet is capable of jumping the shark and becoming something far better.
4) The internet needs to grow up.


I had three iders tonight to smoosh into one. I nailed two, but the other was on my list with the cryptic note "baby steps." Since after all these words and thoughts, I can't remember what "baby steps" was actually about, so I'm going to declare victory and forget I've just called for an internet revolution.

***End Transmission***

How Super Awesome is Your Day!??!

Well, if you're asking me, I'd say your day is pretty super awesome!

As for me, I spent a couple of hours writing cover letters for jobs...which was sweet...and spent about an hour tracking down where my unemployment check is (in the mail, somewhere, lost) which was also sweet. I also had a lot of coffee, which was pretty super awesome. As well, it's not so far into the afternoon where something really super awesome could STILL HAPPEN!

Add all that up, and I'm giving today a +1 Super Awesome!*



*ratings may change after publication