Loose the Demons Within

Loose the demons within ye,

Fear not while they encircle thee,

For if you don’t you’ll never know

What truly lives inside your soul.

You’ve let them loose and soon you’ll see

What it is that you can be;

Indeed you’ll need to sort things out

and live your life without a doubt.

There’s no changing what we’ve done,

We must learn from where we’ve gone;

Who we are and what we’ve become.

The only life necessity

Is choosing our own destiny;

Setting out to overcome,

We can become anyone.

Truth you learn about yourself

Can’t be found on any shelf.

The power deep within your soul

Can take you where you want to go;

The only way to further growth

Is to take a stand and give an oath

that you’ll move with certainty

and you can change who you will be.

It’s not easy, that’s for sure

but you will indeed mature.

If you’re seeking happiness

Alas, with this: rest your stress.

There is nothing you can see

or buy or touch to set you free.

There is but one truth required

Self satisfaction must be acquired.

Discover this and you will see

Just how happy you can be.

Take it further and you will know

Just how much the world can grow.

Instead of bickering in petty quarrels

We can stop killing and live with good morals.

Let us protect our sovereignty

Did you know you’ve lost civil liberty?

You see while you’ve argued about Abortions,

Scandals, Drugs, and Religious Forces.

In terror you’ve missed what’s most important, see

you’ve failed to protect what makes us free.

Tagged “Patriot” during a media war,

A bill once declined can pass on The Floor

Completely abolishing what we hold dear

while idiots, confused and consumed with fear,

Will force their opinions instead of just fact

With meaningless laws that we should retract.

Completely preoccupied in a screen of smoke,

We’ve forced our opinions, now our system is broke.

We’ve sacrificed all our fathers have left us

And traded it all for war, debt and taxes.

We leave important stuff like accountability,

to a biased and lying “research” committee.

The distortion, fear and covered up importance,

Truly comes from inside this body of governance.

There’s plenty of details you didn’t see,

As they hushed them and rushed them and said “trust me.”

You can’t pay attention while you run and hide,

You’ve been deceived by your own side.

Even if there was an attacker, you see,

Lying to your people is unnecessary.

Now look at it all in retrospect,

We all messed up but, with respect,

We can still research a good portion,

Not the whole truth, but at least some distortion.

Then ask yourself, in all honesty,

“Do I really think those leaders care about me?”

It’s probable that some really do support us,

But their will alone can’t destroy this circus.

If the country were still run constitutionally,

We would actually still be free.

Instead we vote for satanic “Christian” posers

and let baseless wars start right under our noses.

With loaded terms like “Conspiracy”

We’re told these things are simply crazy!

Why do you think elections are hard to decide,

If you act day-to-day like our politicians don’t lie.

It’s talking to each other, that is the key

I’ll listen to you, you listen to me,

Don’t claim It insane if you won’t check and see,

You should admit: that’s just plain blasphemy.

A system designed to move “money” to the top,

While you’re getting robbed for all that you’ve got.

Private companies managing worth of our own sixpence,

But money no longer has value, besides “confidence.”

Economy is rated by spending, you see,

and we’re the ones spending, while they save with greed.

While we spend 100% of our earnings,

They sing and praise our mindless subservience.

Hughes, Rockefeller and Bushes resting above us,

draining our pockets and singing in chorus.

Spending a fraction of what we deliver,

while watching society’s pockets perpetually get slimmer.

Next the fake economy withers and crumbles,

So we print more money “to save the masses”

cycles everlasting in a system of shambles.

Poverty and misery and all that’s distorted,

are illusions from history when man stumbled and horded.

But we’ve progressed far—really far since then,

there is chance to recover, but our minds must bend.

There’s plenty of resources for us all to survive,

And even have homes, water and food for all people alive.

We’re going to have to work hard and strive.

It will take research and unlearning,

departure from this hive,

but satiation of yearning

can still arrive.

Even for trinkets and “meaningless” obsessions,

we have enough tools to destroy this oppression.

We will still work, and still live daily lives,

But we will be honest, without false inflation,

We will distribute goods amongst every nation.

Living in real world economy,

where we no longer think of an enemy.

We can even still live very comfortably,

With items of convenience shared for free.

We just can’t support this stupid economy,

unless we’re wealthy, stupid or we enjoy slavery.

There’s so much more that you deserve,

But they’re holding us back and making us serve.

Even spending money, to push good research under,

Just to prolong this world encompassing blunder.

The reach of those “elite” few has grown to be ubiquitous,

But our founding fathers are counting on us,

To protect their design which, to this day, remains tremendous.

The system they made was designed to protect us,

Our ignorance in using it is just plain sacrilegious.

The “lesser of evils” is the one that destroyed it,

along with me and you when we let them deform it.

Pay attention to congress and the hierarchy,

and start demanding better transparency.

It’s our fuckin’ country, made by you and me,

so stop looking for answers from FOX and NBC.

Those choices are ensuring our slavery.

Get off your ass and make a stand, it’s free,

And maybe we’ll retake our liberty.

Before you label and ignore me,

Remember the importance of speech that is free.

I’m not yet worried about UFOs

I’m much more concerned about what the facts expose

Right here and now in our own country

Awful things have happened; it’s up to you and me

To set this straight and do things right

We can’t be too indifferent or lazy to fight.

We must stand strong and gather our might

And never give up on repairing the blight

The road will be tough but we’ll do it despite

All obstacles are nothing, and this may sound trite,

But, we can restore our nation and the world’s delight.

I know it probably seems like I’m being forthright,

But it’s absolutely essential, you start caring tonight!

--

I wrote this poem some time ago and I feel like I probably didn't post it because I wanted to edit it, but I threw an excerpt of it online recently and so I've decided to post the whole thing. Another possibility is that I wasn't intending to link a long-time anonymous pseudonym to my publicly known profile, but I don't think I ever published any of the other stuff written under it so it seems like a moot point.

Is It Really Real Son?

I came to bring the pain hardcore from the brain, let's go inside my astral plane.

This is going to take a while to read but you should really consider it. If you can't read it all at least read the first link below or maybe make multiple trips. I'll warn you that this is emo as all hell, but in it there is hope and direction that could change lives and those lives could add up to a changed world. I say this more-so than much of the change I've ever supported. It's broad but it's deep and very much needed, so please take the time to read.

When you give it to me ay, give it to me raw

I just read the most wonderful and inspiring post about The Disease Called Perfection and I'm here now to show my support for being real. I'm not the only one either, it's important to know just how many people have been affected by this, and just how many more are there for support. There's a follow-up that promotes working together to be The CURE for "Perfection" and I'm in the mood to be a little more real than just one thing, but I'll try to follow the format at least loosely. I'm not so sure if these are my biggest trials, mistakes or struggles as I've had many and they've made me who I am today. I'm posting this here because even though anonymity is offered in the comments there I feel that I need to back my claims of being open and honest and catalog some of my imperfections here in front of my friends and family. All that said, here goes:

I dated someone for 5 1/2 years out of comfort and fear of change. I justified the things I should have taken as signs and I lied to myself and to her to keep it going. I was hurt and I caused pain. I became spiteful and angry, which takes a very very long time of repetition and exasperation and despite my lifelong quest for understanding, self control, patience and forgiveness, I once threw a pillow at her out of anger. Sure, "it was only a pillow" but I am more ashamed of that pillow than any other action of my life. My mother sacrificed everything, at times maybe even her last bits of sanity, saving my siblings and I from the cyclic abuse of all varieties that had plagued her family for generations and I always promised that I would never be one of those people. I wasn't true to my own values and standards and still I belittled hers for being selfish and immature.

If I could write to that person I once was I would tell him that there is a fine line but a huge contrast in working through differences of opinion and sacrificing who you are. I would tell him that he should be more confident and that he will find someone that accepts him for who he is because he's amazing, despite the few flaws that make him as imperfect as everyone else.

When I was younger and more reckless I threw a party at which a guest tried to force himself on a young lady. I was so blinded by rage that instead of just making a difference I beat him, bloodying his face and trying to break limbs, until I was pulled away. I invited the people, I intoxicated the young and inexperienced and the worst truth is that I would have killed him. It might not seem so bad to some, but even then I knew for a fact that people learn and change. My closest cousin and others in my family had already traveled those roads and, as terrible as rape is, what I did showed no more control than him. What's worse is that I've told people of this event as though it made me a protector or someone who stood against barbarianism when I myself had been one, before and after then, which may only stand to perpetuate such travesty. I probably knew this before but I didn't even admit it to myself until reading these posts and thinking back with a more critical eye and vulnerable disposition.

If I could send that young man a letter I would remind him of his own imperfections and that his place is not to judge but to support change. I would tell him that he can make a difference, even in those people, but he needs to be a good man and keep his convictions regardless of the situation or he stands only to reduce his own reliability and diminish the impact he can have. Most importantly, I would remind him, as he has thought he understood long before and after, that it matters not what one says, but what they do that defines who they are.

More recently than those is something that remains heavy on my heart, though lighter over time, even today. I found a friend who hung himself. I go over it and know that it's past and that he made his choice and that he told nobody and showed no signs, but every now and then I still break down and blame myself. What if I hadn't moved out? Why didn't I see how torn up he was? There's more, but "I know" none of that matters and that it's not my fault. He was unable to pursue the military career he always wanted in life, lost his "one true love" and probably felt that he had no hope but ultimately I believe that he felt like a burden on his friends and loved ones and thought it would be best if he stopped dragging them down. He didn't understand that his criminal record, joblessness and propensity for partying a bit too hard didn't mean he couldn't live a long and happy life making positive change in others as he always wanted but would seldom admit openly.

I'm not qualified to write a letter to this me just yet; I could put down eloquent and insightful words, but they're words I already know and have shared and hoped would put others at ease. They're words that are true and yet still I hold on not knowing why. I'm not so good at taking my own advice, though I tend to give it well. I support movements like To Write Love On Her Arms and try to make it known that life is never without value, not out of penance but because I didn't really understand just how real and close to home suicide could be. It doesn't weigh on me as heavily so perhaps it will eventually fade--only time will tell.

If I could write a letter to my friend though, I would remind him that people change and that the world changes. I'd also make it clear to him that as much as he depended on us, we were so much more dependent on him for the joy he spread so well. I'd point out how many people were changed by him and how amazing he was at bringing people together and tell him how much more powerful of a weapon that is in war than any weapon a soldier carries. I'd tell him how important it is for him to share his story, rather than leaving mere fragments of that power behind.

Perhaps it's just the way I'm looking at it, but the perfection article didn't tell me things I didn't know per se, but rather made me admit and realize many things. I reflect regularly, but the article and the amazing set of comments therein drew attention to things I had forgotten or buried. It reminded me the power and importance of open forum and gave me an opportunity to say things that are important to me with relevance to others and perhaps a chance to have a wider impact than my normal ramblings. I am also impressed and compelled by the response and have a renewed sense of hope that people will share their lessons with each other, be there for each other and help make a better world. A homeless man told me something as a child that I will never forget: "A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others."

Thank you Dan Pearce and all those taking part in this; I wish there was an adequate way to express the gratitude I feel

Is it real son, is it really real son, let me know it's real son, if it's really real. Something I could feel son, load it up and kill one; want it raw deal son, if it's really real.

Mimsy's Box

A mental delicacy prepared in race fashion by none other than the Mad Hatter Jason.

She pierces him with eyes of fire,
Revs her engine and spins her tires,
In hot pursuit he chases her,
Finding her lines, each hidden curve,
He gently follows her snaking path,
Learning more at every pass.
All is fun and the race goes fast,
When suddenly his chase doth crash!

An earth-shaking tremor of doubt,
Second guesses run rampantly,
Guiding a guilt-based inner bout,
He worries about her safety,
But next thing he knows she starts to burn out.

Again he gives chase
To see her pretty face
But down the road discovers
This time’s not a race.
She flees the scene to keep him safe
And frees the man from awful fate
But thinks not how his heart might shake
‘Til face to face they meet beside a lake.

He reads the surface of her mind,
Proving out loud that it’s clear as day,
But when he wonders what he’ll find,
When digging deeper, and what she’ll say.
In the realm of sanity,
He starts to play,
With words like a hatter,
His madness on display.

Down the rabbit hole he lives,
Beckoning her further so he might give
Insight of healing and thoughts curative.
A young Alice, she wavers at the small door,
To a world that is meaningless and yet means so much more.
Unmoving she stands debating the vial,
Wondering how insanity will help her survival.

And thus the hatter speaks,
Explaining his world,
Describing what he sees,
The girl’s being unfurled.

"An angel stuffed in a box labeled 'DO NOT OPEN. EVIL' guarded by a selfish girl shrouded in a thin cloak of innocence imagining a dark cloud of guilt overhead."

He says, then details what he wants instead.
Why oh why, won’t you be nicer to yourself and me,
I can’t wait to see inside Mimsy.
Around the question the rabbit dances,
With no meaning given, a short reply she answers
Smiling she prances "Uhuh... we’ll see."
Seeing her fence, he lures her in
To break her defense of the question
He simply states rather exactly
I’m not sure you know what’s in the box, my dear mimsy.
In playful response she takes the poke,
Inside the box? Hmm… nope
Well milady Mimsy, what remains is called "Hope."

Not wanting to hurt, or be hurt in kind,
She ignores his advances time after time.
She says she needs easiness (so she can drive blind),
But he knows it’s a challenge that will make her sublime.
Discussing Pandora and history past,
He tells her of differences between the easy and right paths.
Alas, if only Mimsy were the Borogoves,
And the past would find its tears,
The hatter could hap happiness,
And destroy all her fears.

The psycho semantic and curious chef,
To the best of his skills with which he’s been blessed
He composes tenuously a meal of mental obscurity,
With such delicious components, an epicurean rarity
And simplistic appearance on which she can dine
Where the residual flavor improves over time.
Finally she opens her heart to his mind,
Even if only a piece at a time,
Alas his chance has finally arrived,
To be such a happy Mad Hatter that he composes this rhyme.

---

This is a poem I wrote not long ago. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out (the poem, not so much the rest of the story, lol) and have kept it quietly stashed amongst close friends, but I'm so very fond of this poem and have little reason to keep it locked up, so I thought I would share it with the world. There are many reason's I'm happy with this work, some which will not be perceived by anybody, some that only a select few will understand, but for the rest of you, I'm quite happy with two things primarily: First, I wrote this from beginning to end with no backtracking, proof reading or editing (Edit: I added the subtitle when I finished). Second, is my application of the term "mimsy," originally coined by the great author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll), whom I have a great deal of respect and admiration of. Mimsy, in this work, is a person to whom, at the time in my mind's eye, both Carroll's initial meaning of the word, as well as the additional meaning and context added over the years. At any rate, do enjoy. I'm interested in feedback too, though it's unlikely that I will edit the work at all, considering the circumstances.

Longwinded Response and Declaration of Political Views

I've been working on the majority of this for quite some time and was about to paste it in a forum discussion (found here) until I realized that it's even longer than my usual rants (I guess that's what happens when I let it build over time ;p). Some of the segments/content herein are new or altered and serve primarily as response to posts in the forum.

It seems we have similar views, but I find it hard to believe that a constitutionalist (like myself) would vote for McCain simply based on his Senate record. Ron Paul was the most constitutionally aligned candidate this election, but bad press and primary campaign funding coming from the grassroots internet movement didn't put him far enough forward for people to research his platform enough to understand his position. My opinion about America and it's core values seems, to me, to be common sense from middle school social studies class, but it may be that many Americans have become too lazy or their perspective is outside the scope of my understanding. I agree with you on a lot of the points you make, but I don't think that you've actually given any particularly good reasons for your position. I also believe that more people should acknowledge just how much George W. Bush has hurt our constitutional rights; this is very important because John McCain has voted 90+% along with Bush over several years while he and his confused VP receive support from bigoted leaders without addressing the awful things they say. It's also incredibly important that the American people not be convinced to let up on their prying; these people will become the most powerful people in the world. It's massively important that we let resolution come (the opposite of postponing) to things like the next troopergate investigation before making decision about a woman who could very easily become a replacement president with an unadressed reasonable statistical possibility of natural death.

I feel that the absolute most important principle in American values is freedom. I define freedom as the right to do whatever you want so long as you do not get in the way of anybody else doing what they want. I believe that in America, the only purpose of law is to protect our freedoms. Murder, rape, theft, discrimination, etc. are matter-of-factly an aggression against the freedom of another citizen. With that said, I think that voting for a candidate (who isn't even running for part of the legislative branch, mind you) based on their opinions about concepts that we can not, based entirely on fact, say is an attack on the freedom of another should not even touch the floor of congress, let alone be part of a candidate's platform. The tiered/federalized system supports the possibility of like-minded people grouping and enforcing common opinion; the federal governments primary purpose is to protect our constitutional liberties. We do, however, have quite a mess on our hands given the state of the economy.

Income tax is entirely unconstitutional as the 16th amendment was never properly ratified and it is neither a direct apportioned tax, nor an indirect uniform tax (this interview does a fine job explaining the position) and is therefore not even remotely close to an executive branch concern so much as legislative and/or judicial. It is also against our founding principles due to the fact that it enforces taxation in Washington D.C. and other unrepresetned zones (taxation without representation, anybody?). The same branch-orientation applies to abortion as the only thing a president can do is appoint justices and choose to veto or not, which congress can, on our behalf, override in a true majority based decision anyway (overriding veto with process or judicial review with new legislation/ammendments). We should be looking for a president that knows these things well, as it will be his job, and acts accordingly. We don't need a President who is pro-choice or pro-life, we don't need a President who will legalize drugs (as much as I believe drug related infractions should be based on what laws they've broken that affect other people, like killing someone while driving intoxicated, not based on what you decided to put in your body while sitting in the comfort of your living room) since he can't legalize/decriminalize anything.

What we truly need is a President who knows to Veto a bill that does not benefit the majority of our population, such as the Patriot Act which was written before the event utilized to pass it and which passed without elected officials even reading it. We need a president that doesn't "authorize" warrantless wire-types on US citizens without reason. We need a President that knows that passing a law that gives the President the ability to declare martial law is the opposite of supporting our constitution's foundation (too late again, of course). We need a President that isn't going to lie to us to support his own agenda or cover his friends' a**es or to establish fake enemies with no proof which degrade society by supporting race/religious hate and enforce an international stereotype of the mean and stupid nature of Americans.

Unfortunately, over the last century we've dug ourselves into such a deep hole of non-majority supporting legislation that, at this point, we need government involvement just to clean up after the mess we let our government make in the first place, but far more importantly we need Americans that hold their representation accountable and force action even when our politicians turn into flopping fish because of their campaign funding or other misrepresentation rationalizations. We need Americans that are willing to push their representation for impeachment when their position has been misused, rather than over suits that with little impact on America that can be handled in civil courts.

The privatized fiat currency we've allowed to gradually destroy our economy while being convinced (for whatever reason I do not know) that printing more of it can actually fix something is a mess that can't be resolved in one term. The money we waste declaring war on our own people (War on Drugs) sending armed forces into the homes of families near "farmers" in California (this used to be illegal), or arresting large numbers of people in unfortunate circumstances negatively affecting one or two people, all the while bailing out white collar criminals who have potentially contributed to the destruction of the lives of millions (criminals punished by paying them millions of dollars for failing to perform their duties effectively). This isn't something that can be fixed without the government, it's something the government needs to fix on our behalf.

Lastly, while battleground states can be very narrow lines, the only reason that it is currently "impossible" to elect a candidate outside the two major parties is that everybody seems to think that they have to vote one or the other or they're throwing their vote away. This isn't actually a two-party country, there's just an illusion that benefits big business and continuity of current tactics. The person who wins is the person with the most electoral college votes, no questions asked, period. Still, regardless of differences of opinion I'm very happy to see that many of us are still actively engaging in discussion and debate about these concerns. It gives me hope, and it's the only thing we can use to change these dangerous illusions.

beginning: work(); try { if (sleepAllowed) sleep(6); else throw new SanityCheckException(); } catch { if (sane) goto beginning; } finally { die(); }

Life is CRAZY! :P

Apparently it's been a long time since I've posted, lol... I didn't even notice. I have been running around like a madman lately trying to finish up a project for a client that likes to complicate things in order to try to make it to a graduation ceremony for someone very close to me. It's been nuts, and I'm glad things might finally start winding down a little (I could use some real R&R, even my "vacation" for this graduation started with me leaving just in time to hit rush-hour traffic in NYC in order to update a server at work). Things aren't done yet, I'm sure I'll be partially debilitated by my wisdom teeth extraction scheduled for Thursday. That'll be fun, lol; my face hurts pretty darn bad right now though, so I don't know what else it could really be like, but I'll tell you this much: I can't wait :)

I don't have a huge bit of time to talk about what little progress has been happening with my research and the projects around it, but I will put props out for the true Project Link stumbling on my blog in search of their long lost friend Link. Here's your update: The 2D Game framework is still conceptual at this point (making sure we don't have to try to redesign again and trying to figure out a truly reusable and scalable engine) but Xem has been doing some awesome work with his 2D client nFurc, all of the knowledge and super speedy rendering of which will be ruthlessly and brutally raped of it's originality to be thrown into one hardcore 2D game engine. I haven't gone without noticing the comments either guys, we'll be in touch; thanks for the love and support.

On to something really really sad:

The graduate I sought this weekend has had some very unfortunate circumstances surrounding their life. They, admittedly, did something reasonably stupid and got arrested for it. The sad part is as follows: the student had received acceptance and scholarships from an Ivy League school, valedictorian status and plenty of other things for their services of being a truly wonderful example of a great human being. The best I've ever met for that matter (which is saying something). Well said student lives in an everybody-knows-everybody town and it just so happens that they happened to oblige a friend with something atypical only to find out that "friend" was actually setting him up because that "friend" was caught doing something really stupid and didn't want to go down so he thought he'd implicate someone else instead. Now, as a result, this valedictorian has had all college acceptances (Ivy League), scholarships, awards, and the right to speak during graduation (or be mentioned for anything other than a diploma) stripped from them for a one time mistake for reasonably small potatoes compared to many of the problems in the area. The police, for whatever reason, thought it would be wise to go after a well established high-school student with public service credentials like you wouldn't believe instead of, say, the heroin dealer that was reported to them (whom they told who narced on him) or the crack dealers, or the (excessively) numerous people drinking and driving. Now their only mission seems to be to catch the graduate slipping up again so they can really ruin lives... it makes me hurt inside to see such awful treatment of such a great person for a single mistake. Worse yet, simply mentioning this to the parents would have been plenty sufficient for repercussion... trust me. Hell I've messed up plenty of times, but I've always had second chances; why do I deserve one, or why do you deserve one when somebody who truly stands for freedom and kindness to one-another, somebody who builds houses for Katrina victims and unites with like minded action-makers that peacefully express their concerns and their reasons. A true American (and I don't consider many people to be one) is being robbed of their hard work and I would easily lay mine on the line for theirs, no matter how hard I've worked I don't deserve half of what this person should receive in praise. Why?! Why rob the world of a good person? Worst case scenario this could mean prison, and prison doesn't make a good person any better... I'm beginning to lose faith; it hurts a lot.

Now that I've got that off my chest I need to get back to work, but stay tuned :p hopefully I should have at least a little spare time coming up.

-TheXenocide

24 Hour Idea Soup

The following is a brief recipe of disaster known as the information swirling about in this thin-walled cranium of mine. Today it'll be divided into sections since my interests and ideas are a little all over the place :p.

Voting Concerns

OMG! I have recently been made aware of the voting travesty that has been taking place in our country. I'll let you do your own research because I'm not a fan of pushing "Conspiracy Theory" agendas, but the voting process in our country is diluted by an insecure, closed door system where commercial funding and part representation may play a huge factor in the reliability of voting machines or counts in precincts. One site that you might look at for some background information is BlackBoxVoting.com though i strongly urge you to look at more points of view (please, please, please! don't ever sit on one resource and assume it to be true) there is a plethora of information out there and unfortunately, it is the responsibility of each of us to review this information in our own process and come to our own conclusions.

I do not tread lightly on the subject of voting, I've been a big fan and supporter of Democracy for some time now and to find that our system just plain isn't good enough truly frightens me. If our voting process doesn't represent who we are then what is it that truly makes us American? Over-stimulated economy? Corporately backed law-makers? Ego-centric America knows-best attitudes in world affairs that allow us to inject ourselves into any global politics without any true rhyme or reason? None of these things are American; if anything they go against the general premise of America, which was to keep everything fair and provide open opportunity to all.

Now complaining of course, will do nothing to solve the problem. We are to formulate ideas of solutions and act accordingly as good American citizens. It is this process that frequently gets overlooked as very rarely does anybody feel like they alone will make a difference. Well I'm here to share my idea for a solution with you and I would be very interested in your ideas for solutions as well. This is what our country is supposed to be about.

Personally, I propose that we establish (bare with me) an Open Source project designed, directed, written, managed, tested, reviewed and accepted by the American people. We have the technology to provide significantly more secure systems. I know it seems odd to propose openly publishing something that could be so severely exploited, but I feel that public review and analysis is the only way for us to establish the fact that we, the American people, are satisfied with our voting system. If we're not satisfied with our voting process we should be able to do something about it. I submit that we are perfectly capable of developing the necessary software, hardware, and processes all in an openly reviewable process that would consist of thorough secure design with full logging, secure data transfer, tamper/intrusion detection. I propose that we require more than one person to use a secure and uniquely identifiable data transfer medium in which all of the data distributed across multiple storage mediums cared for by separate people to transfer data from each polling machine to each tabulation machine. Furthermore, I submit that, since the entire design would be open to public review, the fabrication, installation, and maintenance of all voting related materials should be viewable on video by the American people all the time. If we can keep constant surveillance of the devices and know matter-of-factly that there is no way somebody has tampered with our votes then we can be reassured that we have the power to prevent a travesty like this from ever happening again. If anybody is supportive of this proposal please let me know so that we might begin to formulate a plan of action (As interested as I am in it, I'm pretty awful at this Government stuff, too much confusion legal terminology and enigmatic processes wind up leaving me a little lost on the official paperwork side).

Too Much to Do, Never Enough Time

As of late I've had such a diverse interest in topics and I've wanted to know more and more about these topics. My general interests have always been diverse, but typically in diversity you find a lack of specialization (the "Jack of All Trades" syndrome) and so I invest the majority of my time in Computer Science because I thoroughly enjoy engineering new systems and have always had a knack for it. Well I've been more and more interested about what happens when I'm sleeping (I wake up with a lot of answers, not knowing how I postulated them) and my subconscious processes. Along my travels studying said interest I've also stumbled upon several resources about "Lucid Dreaming" and now I'm starting to think... could this be a solution to my lack of thinking time? Might I begin to utilize this construct of my mind while my body rests to continue where I left off? I'm definitely interested in what people have to say on the topic, especially if they have had any experiences being lucid, though I consider myself too inexperienced to share more than the wikipedia entryI've found for lack of being able to verify the validity of information. At least with wikipedia they provide the necessary resources for you to verify the information yourselves.

AJAX with Java Made Easy

On the development note I noticed a neat NetBeans module DWR NetBeans plugin Seems to demonstrate a pretty easy to use AJAX model with Java; good to see active competition here. I'm wondering, has anybody done a compare and contrast against the Java and .NET AJAX implementations? Perhaps I'll find some time to look into it later.

I'm running low on time (I invested a little extra time in the voting segment because I feel it is absolutely essential we iron this out) so I'll have to cut things a little short, but there's enough here to mull over :).

Thanks and TTFN,

-TheXenocide

Tesla and Other Derivitive and Integral Interests

Just a bunch of reading I've been doing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson
http://www.magnetricity.com/Tesla/Tesla_Biography.php
http://prometheus.al.ru/english/phisik/onichelson/onichelson.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~drestinblack/generator.htm
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Electromagnetic/ / http://freeenergynews.com/
http://lhcathome.cern.ch/
http://www.casavaria.com/sentido/science/2006/06-0802-new-universe.htm

All of which was inspired by my recently higher than average research and general interest of Nikola Tesla, which not only includes just about all of the Wikipedia information I could possibly click through (see one of the RSS Comics listed on the right, possibly in the read more section by now, ;p) but also a great number of discovery channel/history channel type shows and additional researched reading as well. I'm convinced that Tesla's dreams should all be possible and I am happy to see that he had the same "serve all" mentality that modern open source projects have. I think everybody would do good in paying respects to the man that invented modern society. If you don't know of Tesla as the man who invented today then I recommend you do some reading :).

With all of that said, should anybody be interested in the same things or happen to take the time to read (and click on other topics) the information above, perhaps you'll be better prepared when I try to figure out how to put some more philosophical and theoretical ideas of mine to paper, which should be interesting.

The beautiful nature of existence and consciousness (what I consider to be the random anomaly that is the independent variable in our equation) astound and captivate me. I only hope that the research we are conducting during this lifetime is enough for us to come to a true understanding
of how the Universe works (however unlikely a final end-all solution is) and that we can truly begin utilizing and being a part of the universe rather than stumbling on neat coincidences. The potential proof for string theory and quantum mechanics are right around the corner, nanotechnology is now in development (in some ways anyway) potentially solving many energy, information transport and medical needs and we could be sitting just before the crest of the next wave of mankind (if the ancient cultures accurately predicted anything this could very well be in 2012 :p).

In stating this, when my research and life accomplishments and interests are studied, perhaps even posthumously, that I did it all for nothing. Mankind has been stuck in a recursive cycle for some time now constantly inventing new scratches for our itches, integrating things with each other and starting over again, all the while finding out "revolutionary" new concepts which better mankind, when really we haven't actually accomplished anything terribly extraordinary compared the magnificence of existence alone; more likely we have been an infestation eating away at the beauty of the system (which, in being an extreme unlikeliness is a beauty in and of itself).

Anyway, that's all for me today!

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If anybody happens to want to (either manually or by writing a simple spider) extract all the images of Tesla's Patents that would be crazy cool! I wish I had a little more time right now, but I don't. It shouldn't be too difficult, the images are stored as TIFFs. Another option might be to spider the images available on this site.

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-TheXenocide