The great rants of a wannabe genius

Bess, that oh so familiar watchdog, that is regularly ridiculed and railed against. Its main flaw is that it is buggier than the bugged sites it “protects” against, and is more harmful than helpful to a school environment. Bess is an internet security program that halts internet traffic to certain websites that it finds to be inappropriate, be they porn sites, non-educational, or simply bad choices on Bess’ part. This last reason is why things like high school homepages is blocked. Most bizarre however are the reasons Bess gives for blocking various websites. Some things stand to reason but a high school homepage is not child pornography, the make magazine blog (from the company O’rielly) is not a personal page, and image searches are useful and occasionally a requisite for school work. However as useful and appropriate as they are in a school for math, engineering, and the sciences they are all blocked. So what educational providers must ask themselves is that porn is inappropriate and possibly harmful to a school environment but is blocking it in a public place where very, very few, if any people will look at it truly beneficial when it also prevents students in an engineering class from going to a do-it-yourself website, stops access to a school hosted webpage, and impedes the use of the internet as a tool for research?

At the recent Rancho-Cotati High School lockdown where the police received reports of an “armed gunman” at the school technology was brought forth as a new aspect for consideration during occasions such as this. This is because when the alarm rang parents got text messages and phone calls almost immediately, bringing these alarmed adults to the front gates in large numbers. This creates problems for the school and emergency personnel, and is possibly dangerous to the parents if there was a gunman and he had a clear shot at where the parents were massing.

However parents do deserve to know if their child or children are in any danger, are hurt, or are perfectly fine (for the moment) because they ditched school that day to go get drunk. A text message saying, “I am fine, with a teacher, safe in room,” Would easily be able to convey the needed information to a parent though a parent with no prior knowledge of the incident could be completely confused or panicked. However, nothing on the other hand could incite even more panic as could, “OMG!! There is a gunman at school I am OK and with Mrs. whosawatsit, in the old gym building that is second on the left and I hear gunshots near the cafeteria and I really need to go to the bathroom, K TTYL.”

This all begs the question of how much information is useful how much is reassuring, and how much will give a parent a stroke or the gunman a new target? I personally believe that the first example was the right amount of information if it was preceded with, “There is a Gunman at school,” and ended with, “Stay Away.” This would immediately provide background, knowledge, and helpful instructions as staying away keeps the parent safe and lets the emergency personnel deal with the problem rather than worried loved-ones.

Patrick Rothfuss, author of the Name of the Wind, is an amazing person and when he releases his new book will be doing a book tour. Click below to Demand It! that he comes, so read the Name of the Wind if you havent yet and click below.

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As dreary and diminishing as it sounds it is possible and even likely that there have been and will be people who are in every respect you, down to the smallest action. This is because the universe was created in the “Big Bang,” a massive explosion of matter that created the universe. However it is entirely possible, by my thinking, that the big bang happens repeatedly.

Imagine if you will all the black holes in the universe, then think that everything that goes in stays in. What happens when everything has gone in? what happens when all the black holes have absorbed each other? A mass singularity would be created and would in all likelihood explode. hence a recurring big bang. What is to stop these big bangs from happening a billion times? A billion billion? A googolplex number of times? In that many universes where each has many thousands of galaxies and each galaxy can have billions of life supporting planets you are sure to reappear eventually.

But the true question is, If no matter what you do it will have been done before and will be done again are you truly unique? But more importantly, DO YOU CARE?

A lambo sedan may seem impossible, I mean it just isn’t right! But then they unveiled the stunning Estoque (pronounced “es-toe-kay”) at the Paris Auto Show in October of this year (2008). It has all the sleek lines, the large power motor (possibly) and some new features such as the four doors and a possible hybrid engine. The Estoque, though it has a working prototype, will not be on the market till 2012 at the earliest and projected time is 2013, if at all. This is because Lamborghini is owned by Audi who is owned by Volkswagen who is being bought by Porsche. This normally wouldn’t be cause for concern however Porsche is also creating a four-door sedan and may nip the Estoque in its bud to prevent the competition.

Though at first glance the Estoque would seem to be a bad idea it has many benefits. These include its looks, the possible hybrid engine, and the fact that it is from an “elite” company which was what sold many of the standard Lamborghini’s. Common sentiments are that they think it is an amazing idea, “I want one”, and “the world is ending”. However an interesting division is that both the first comments came from girls, whereas the last comment was stated by several different guys. This displays a gender division over the Estoque though there are guys who like the car after actually reading more about them.

Lamborghini has also done more of the impossible, they are not only making a four-door sedan, but they are making it look good as seen in the photos below. The rear doors are elegantly hidden and despite the slightly more bulky upward dimension and shortened length it will easily fit into the ranks of the standard Lamborghini garage. This is marking a new era in car manufacturing and my only thought is that I am in desperate need of a job if I want to have the $250,000 to buy one in 2013.

Further information can be found here.

Recently the unthinkable has happened; Lamborghini has released plans for a sedan (see here), the economy has taken a downturn, and the Mac needs… an anti-virus?! The supposedly invulnerable Mac has recently become targeted by internet scams and viruses that are indiscriminate to Windows, Linux, or Mac computers. Because of this apple’s age old “invulnerability” promise is cracking and they have had to soften their stance and even say, “While no computer connected to the Internet is 100 percent immune to viruses and spyware,” on their website here as compared to some earlier ads that implied virus immunities. This is highly unusual though not entirely unexpected in the world of computer geeks.

This is because the main reason Macs were so secure was because they were so obscure. In fact the main reason Mac users have yet to be struck by mainstream viruses is that they, along with Linux users, are in the background compared to windows users. This has led to a false sense of security similar to how when you feel safe you will not worry about being stolen from. This is similar to how you might not lock the door to your house if you live in a particularly safe neighborhood or out in the country, you don’t think anything of it until you get robbed.

In the past all the email spread viruses would take over your computer for one reason or another, making it far more profitable to create one that targeted windows machines than Macs as they were more widespread. Now however the hacking community is starting to lurk on websites where they indiscriminately target anyone who enters the site. These problems are leading apple to “recommend” the use of one of three anti-virus programs Intego VirusBarrier X5, Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh, and McAfee VirusScan for Mac… they’re doomed.

We take many things for granted such as guns and knives are lethal, missiles can cause immense explosions, and nuclear warheads are the ultimate for death. However that may not be entirely true, and in fact, with a large particle accelerator one could create a weapon that could destroy an area equivalent to that of a twenty kiloton nuclear warhead that is the size of the last little part of your pinky finger. These anti-matter weapons are capable of destroying large amounts with incredibly small amounts of material, and in fact the only problem with them is that they are nigh-impossible to create with current technology.

However to understand the true horror of an antimatter weapon you would need to think of it in context. The scary thing is that a 175 pound person half made of anti-matter, a normal high school boy, would create an explosion comparable to of a 1.7 Tera-ton nuclear weapon. This is incredible as the current largest weapon is the Tsar Bomba which is a 50 megaton weapon, and which is 1/34th the power of an anti-high schooler. The resultant fireball would, assuming correct math, have a radius of 26.8 miles and the shock wave and other effects would be even larger.

This is incredibly horrifying because people wish to use this power as an energy source in an enhanced version of a nuclear reactor. However, the problem with this is that though the substances in a nuclear reactor are dangerous but you would need incredibly specific circumstances to induce a nuclear explosion. however if the container for an amount of anti-matter fails it would instantly turn to energy and create a massive explosion merely by touching the air. The cataclysm would make Chernobyl look like spilled milk as the amount of anti-matter to power a city is relatively small but to sustain it large amounts would have to continuously be created and which would therefore create a large amount of material for an explosion to take advantage of. That is why anti-matter is a horrifying but incredibly amazing substance that we should stay very wary of.

Authors have very different styles of writing some better, some worse. However in the realm of fantasy there are some who rise above the others in this respect. They tend to have unique writing styles, authors like Patrick Rothfuss, the author of The Name of the Wind, has an excellent style where he creates realistic settings and people, his style of writing draws the reader into the book with a solid consistent style with explanations for everything that would reasonably be known to the character whose perspective the story takes place in. The story is in fact two stories, the story of kvothe’s life, and kvothe telling the story to his apprentice and the chronicler during a time when the town he is living in is, possibly, under attack by demons and strange spider like creatures. The story and storytelling are both incredible and it is a very powerful book in my opinion, as it is told from the perspective of a man who was a traveling trouper, then a street urchin, then a university student, and it presents his many interesting opinions as he comes across them in the story.

In comparison, Christopher Paolini, who is the author of Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr is not as good a author because he is inexperienced and caters to the opinions of the masses. He also has problems in that he cant create a small world, and feels compelled, im assuming, to add in more and more details when he should be focusing on the story. This is evident the most in his latest book Brisingr which, it seems, was primarily taken up with wrapping up the loose ends of failed plot lines that diverged too much from where he wanted to go. This is most evident in his finding the starstone under the menoa tree and the end of the fued with Az Sweldn Rak AnhÛin, where he had large build up and various thoughts and worries from Eragon throughout the story but he ended both story lines in approximately a chapter each. His unfinished style however has much potential if he could find his limit and realize what he wants to do with his writing. I highly believe that if, in thirty years or so, he rewrote the series it would be a very excellent set of books.

Thus I highly believe that the style of the author is occasionally a very defining factor in its popularity however it is not as defining as one would hope. The popularity of a book or series can, unfortunately, stem from popularity of the author, the storyline (or lack thereof), and even peer pressure from one person or group with a bit of influence who thinks the book is amazing and presses this opinion on everyone else.

Epistemology is a word that I discovered approximately six days ago, and it is a very interesting word meaning what is known as comprised of fact as opposed to opinion and what of that we accept as truth. A good epistemology accepts primarily facts and few opinions as truth, whereas a bad epistemology may accept everything as truth whether it is fact or opinion. This is a problem that a friend of mine has and though it is not too distressing it can be, and frequently is, highly aggravating.

A good epistemology should have if not everything accepted as a truth backed by fact, then at the very least it should have everything backed by a strong reason. This is a necessary basis for a good epistemology, and should be employed by everyone though, unfortunately, it is not. In fact many people take an opinion provided by a person, group, or organization as fact due to the fact that a “powerful”, “brilliant”, or “successful” person or group has stated it. This is distressing as it leads to a unilateral epistemology of false truths that can be manipulated by a few to control the many. A better epistemology would be to note what is said and learn, research, and then develop an opinion of one’s own that may then be told to more so that they research and formulate an opinion of their own.

This would create a non-unilateral epistemology that would create a more intelligent society that can think for its self, act for itself, and lead itself. This however is not frequently advocated as it would reduce the power of the few, the powerful, and the greedy. This new epistemology is prevented by the many that are a part of the unilateral epistemology by saying the old epistemology is standard, and thus correct. This vicious cycle is perpetuated by the few, such as politicians and reporters, influencing the masses to turn a false epistemology into the “truth” of by accepting the knowledge selected and showed to them by the few as the only truth. If one broke this tradition and researched and thought for oneself then a greater society would result.

A very distressing part of this vicious cycle is how easy it is for one to rationalize the current epistemology, through peer pressure. A person should think and develop an epistemology all their own to create a greater society, especially since due to the Internet we have access to greater resources for research and the shareing of knowledge. To anyone who reads this I implore you to listen, research, and think for it is a greater society that would result. When you watch the news or listen to the next presidential or political debate think about what is said, and do not take it at face value just because someone “important” said whatever it is they said.