…in their rooms, on the streets,
utilising public transportation…

…downloading pornography,

ordering their lives
out of catalogs…

…shitting out processed foods,
cashing welfare checks…

…opining, bitching, moaning,
consuming, copulating…

…and multiplying.
It makes me sick.

What we need,
brothers and sisters,

is less of them…

and more of this.

“But I can tell you that we go to considerable lengths to inform customers of the limits involved in these plans. We display the plan usage limits and overage rates on our collateral, terms and conditions, and on att.com, And customers can check their usage using myWireless Account or by using the usage monitoring capability on the AT&T Communications Manager application.”

Well. If I log in to my account I see;

137.69 of Unlimited. This is only the 2nd of the month. 137.69 WHAT of “Unlimited”? Bytes? Kilobytes? Megabytes? Gigs?! BITS?! It isn’t just how crooked and wrong it is to consider 5GB unlimited and charging huge amounts of money for overage – But to flat out lie in interviews when people need only look at their account and see they’re full of crap?!

How are you supposed to avoid going over limits if they don’t tell you what measurement your usage is being measured in?!!?

I’ve got unlimited everything… What insane charges will I get hit with if I unwittingly go over the limit?

Link: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news
/att_charges_woman_5_large_overage_charges_gets_sued

Blaming Net Neutrality:
http://stopthecap.com/2009/10/23/at-blames-net-neutrality/

That brought me to wanting to share my list of great places around here.  So here it is:

While sort of on the subject. Some of my favorite places…

San Shi Go, Newport Beach – Top notch place. I go for the sushi. I rarely bother with the ice cream but their own flavors (toasted black sesame!) are great. Just tell Daisuke (Dice-K) or Sho Go Chris sent ya.  :-)  They’re happy, fun, smart, intuitive and caring.  Order something not on the menu or particularly Japanese off the bat so they know you mean business. (Spicey Cod Roll’s kick)

Kappo Honda, Fountain Valley – Honestly I don’t think you can expect the sushi to be 200% as I would most places, but it’s still good. This is izakaya. It’s well priced, the variety is endless and they’re open late. More women come here than I think you’ll see at izakaya in Japan.  :-P  Try the mozuku or the gizzard yaki. (I know gizzard, yuck, tastes great) Either way, snack on drunk food and guzzle booze all night.

Kitayama, Newport Beach – Here’s a classy all around Japanese place with great everything. Chefs are on the ball, they pretty much do it all right. I’d definitely suggest going with a group large enough to get a $100 minimum bill so you can call in and reserve a tatami room first, just don’t wear your 40 hole docs or you’ll spend too much time getting your shoes on & off.

Wafu of Japan, Costa Mesa – The owner is my hero. Small, personal, well priced, always best quality, always PACKED. Virtually an ideal place except for the part about it always being FULL. Anyone who hasn’t gone here is missing out on life.

Anyone who doesn’t frequent any the above should reconsider their opinions on Japanese food in Orange County, or anywhere else. (and probably should die in a fire)

I would say that the feminine values are now the values of America; sensitivity is more important than truth; feelings are more important than facts; commitment is more important than individuality; children are more important than people; safety is more important than fun. I always hear women say, “Y’know, married men live longer.” Uh, yes, and an indoor cat…also…lives longer. It’s a fur-ball with a broken spirit that can only look out on a world it will never enjoy, but it does technically live longer.

Totally worth watching this video:

American culture, fairness, morality, womens lib…

]]> http://www.cygnostik.com/2009/07/safety-is-more-important-than-fun-feelings-are-more-important-than-facts/feed/ 0 http://www.cygnostik.com/2009/04/kubuntu-amarok/ http://www.cygnostik.com/2009/04/kubuntu-amarok/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:42:19 +0000 Cygnostik http://www.cygnostik.com/?p=379 So, switching to the new version of Kubuntu (9.04) was well worth it, extremely nice.  Down side is that you’ve also got to switch to the latest version of Amarok, which I was just starting to love, and now I hate it.  They’ve entirely ruined it. Made it uglier, removed any of the features I used except for the ones that they kept which don’t work anymore… It’s just an all around disaster and the alternatives…  Phew.  Wow.  Well I’ve changed over to just using qmmp now.  The up side being that qmmp streams ebm-radio.com‘s OGG streams absolutely, perfectly, flawlessly; which I can’t say about many players on many operating systems – so, bonus there.

If anyone knows of any good way to cause deep emotional discomfort to the jerks making amarok; please do let me know.

I also see the average number of ogg listeners online at any given time are increasing.  I like to see that, people should really bother to listen to EBMR at that kind of quality level…

I’m sorry I can’t bleed for you
The way you want me to
To throw myself against the rocks
The way I used to do 
I’m sorry that I can’t prolong
The pain I’ve been put through
I’m sorry, yes I’m sorry
So sorry
But not as sorry as you 

CHORUS
You wear your misery like a crown
You’re only happy when you’re down
And the saddest part is you don’t even know why
What are you lacking deep inside?
Depression as a point of pride
If you’re not careful the world is going to pass you by

I’m sorry I can’t always drown
In rivers of despair
A man forever broken by
A need for your repair 

I’m sorry if the things I said
Were somehow misconstrued
I’m sorry, yes I’m sorry
So sorry
But not as sorry as you 

(CHORUS) 

I’m sorry that my happiness
Isn’t to your taste
A pessimistic optimist
Who’s bound to be replaced 

I’m sorry I can’t grovel in
Emotions I outgrew
I’m sorry, yes I’m sorry
So sorry
But not as sorry as you 

(CHORUS)

You’ll heart it on EBM-Radio!

I’m not even so big on MMO gaming and it’s not like I’m usually able to justify any kind of gaming to spend that much time playing around…  This was one game that had it all, everything I was looking for in entertainment and I probably would have happily paid twice as much monthly even if I didn’t even log in every month.

The back-story was great, the direction was great. Visually is was such a pleasure to play.  The controls, going for the FPS style of play, the way everything worked made it totally a blast.  Not just for grouping up and running missions or instances but even just to hop in alone from time to time and kill some aliens, to fight the good fight to save the galaxy from those who would subjugate it… And for revenge for what they did to Earth.  ;-)

Notice of the termination of the game came something (I think) less than 1 year from launch. They didn’t give the game enough time, complaining that they didn’t have the numbers needed & deeming it a failure. Of course! It had pitiful publicity!

I started in beta, man! I went all in for the expensive collectors edition… Paid plenty out in monthly subscriptions. Had to upgrade my machine, burned out a video card & power supply, upgraded those again… 

So yeah, anyway, there TR went.  The way of Firefly, John Doe, Farscape and others. I look around and I really feel like people in general are losing interest in really good sci-fi (which already had a minimal following after the age of hippies) and I think of an Isaac Asimov quote:

“Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today – but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.”

It’s not just about good writing, quality entertainment, fine acting, social commentary, people yelling “weapons to maximum!”, aliens, special effects, having a moral to the story, some of the most spectacularly hot and adorable women on TV & in Film, epic space-ship battles, nor even lots of explosions. Although being able to get all that and more in any form of entertainment is pretty cool.

Among all the rubble and abused carcases in this uninspired landscape of garbage? Comic book themed stuff. I’m all for it, but it does feel like that stuff is taking over a little bit. I think it’s funny that while killing off Tabula Rasa NCSoft’s comic hero/villain themed games remain, their other fantasy lameness continues… It even seems like geek/nerd cultures are spreading, gaining acceptance and even some understanding. So shouldn’t good sci-fi be exploding?

I doubt I’ll be able to go back to WoW. It is a fairy-crusted, magic-packed, sword carrying, fairy-tale-esque bunch of fantasy that is just old to me but even worse is the gameplay. The actual playability, I’ve just been spoiled… Heck even the graphics don’t interest me.

If I ever want to sit in front of a computer pressing the same sequence of buttons for 5 hours, or until bedtime, someone just put a bullet in my brain.

Seriously folks. You’ve all missed out on something really fantastic – those bastards at NCSoft need to be put out of my misery. The worst part still might be that the trend is growing and what that says about where things are going.

It’s not just losing a great game before it’s time, it’s not just about missing out on what might have happened in a fun TV show. It’s what it says about people and our future.