Important: The United States' Constitution

If you're not a resident of the US of A, you're welcome to stop reading here.

[ http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html ]

I'd like to present (what I think is) the most important part:

I. Freedom of Speech, Religion, Press; Right to Peaceably Assemble & Petition the Gov't
II. Right of the People to Bear Arms.
III. Prohibits State-mandated housing of soldiers outside of Wartime.
IV. Prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. Establishes requirement for probable cause.
V. Rights dealing with criminal charges: Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Due Process, Eminent Domain, May not Self-Incriminate.
VI. Rights dealing with Trials: Fair and Speedy, Jury of Peers, Notification of Accusation, Right to Confront Accuser, Right to Obtain Witnesses, Right to Retain Counsel.
VII. Right to Trial by Jury in Civil Cases
VIII. Prohibits Cruel/Unusual Punishment, Excessive Bail/Fines
IX. Rights not expressly defined by Constitution are still the People's
X. Anything Power that isn't given to the Federal Gov't is either the State's or the People's, if it's not given to the State's.

 It is critically important that you know your rights. Orwell wrote an iconic phrase: "Ignorance Is Strength". Truer words have seldom been spoken; the ignorance of the masses is all the elite require to stay in power.

Educate yourselves.

Be Privacy Conscious:

[ https://www.torproject.org/ ] and [ http://hotspotshield.com/ ] are two things you should consider.

They allow you to remain anonymous while you browse the internet, albeit at a slight cost to your connection speed (you are bouncing off of other computers, after all).

I encourage other users to be aware of exactly how the internet works - my [ privacy policy ] notifies you that the folks I've partnered with as advertisers may track your activity. Facebook does, [ too ].

I've probably mentioned this sort of thing before - but knowledge is more than half of the fight.

Also relevant: SOPA and PIPA and the imminent threat they pose.

Something something something, HIATUS.

Sorry about the tremendous cessation of content flow for the past few days. I've been busy in Deutschland, so I'll try to make up for that with a few longer posts.

For the record, posts will be put up on an as-I-can-write-them basis, but will always go up at 12:00 AM Texas Standard time.

In that vein, here are some things I thought you might like:

Picasa (and Picnik) - [ http://picasa.google.com/ ] is an extensively-featured picture management and modification suite, all of which is available online and for free. There is a limited amount of usable space if you're not willing to pay for more, but it's well worth the exchange, especially if (like me) you need an alternative to photoshop/paintshop that is available virtually anywhere.

Personal: Perfectionism?

Less of a sharing-content post and more of a ask-the-audience post.

While on the train today, I was conversing with a friend and I was asked a rather strange question:

"Why are you so perfect?"


I asked for clarification, because I don't think I'm perfect at all.

I make mistakes. I'm not particularly skilled at anything. I haven't done anything memorable- I'm not in any history books, and I'm likely not going to be.

I want to change that. I'm a catalyst for change in other people- I help other folks improve, I think.

Apparently I'm a condescending jerk on occasion, because I try to always improve myself and criticize others when they suggest doing something that I find to be unwise or a potential issue.

I'm not really sure how to change, though. I've been thinking about things like a vow of silence or only making positive statements or never criticizing anything, but they're all strawmen or likely to get shot down.

TL;DR: How can I change how other folks perceive me so that I appear to be less of a perfectionist and more of a personable, normal individual?

It's going to be okay.

[ http://isitgoingtobeok.com/ ]
[ http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/ ]
[ http://eloquentwoman.blogspot.com/2011/06/everything-is-going-to-be-okay-words.html ]

Positively uplifting.

Low-content: Lulz Security

[ http://i.imgur.com/VlZ8E.png ] is the graphical representation of the most common passwords as revealed by lulzsec.

[ http://lulzsecurity.com/releases/ ] is a list of the content they've publicized.

The folks over on "the lulz boat" seem to know exactly what they're doing. Furthermore, the fact that they're exposing weak electronic security (in the same fashion that wikileaks demonstrates weak personal security) is something that I think we need more of.

They're not doing it for the money (so far as I can tell)- they're doing it "for the lulz", and they're making a point of how laughably weak most "security" is.

At any rate, some actual content will be on the way in the next few days.

Your Lungs:

I'd say that your lungs are pretty important, but the reason they're called vital organs is because they're all important (and life-related). If you didn't read the links in the previous post, you should.


This post is about lungs, issues that can arise within your lungs, and frivolous lawsuits.


Generally speaking, you should take care of your lungs. If you're not clear on what I mean, I'm telling you to breathe the cleanest air you can, avoid pollutants, and stay as far away from airborne asbestos as possible.


More after the break (for the more interested readers).

A personal note (and some content):

I do my best to keep posts coming on a daily basis (posted at 12:00 AM United States Central Time) and I am currently unaware of whether or not I will be able to maintain such a schedule for the coming months.

I will be overseas (in Germany, for the most part), and have no guarantee of consistent wireless access.

In that vein, I will attempt to create a cache of posts and have them continue posting themselves until I can guarantee that I'll be able to add content from overseas.

Some things you might want to read up on - the next post will assume you've seen these:

(an extra-long list!)

[ Lung @ Wikipedia ]
[ Lung Cancer @ Wikipedia ] - Warning: Graphic. Discretion advised.
[ Asbestos @ Wikipedia ]
[ Asbestos @ cancer.gov ]
[ The most terrifying 45-letter word ever ]
[ Silicosis @ Wikipedia ]

Infographics: Radiation

Picture-heavy, so I'll include a pagebreak. Just click the [ COMMENTS? ] button, and you'll get to see the pretty pictures.

Contents: Information Is Beautiful & XKCD renders of radiation dosage and symptoms.

Pretty representations of not-so-pretty physics.

TIME TO LAWYER UP

American viewers will know exactly what I'm talking about:

In a litigious society, there is a colossal number of frivolous lawsuits. [ Link 1 ] [ Link 2 ] [ Link 3 ]

[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort ] is something you should read.

Actually, all of these are things you should read.

[ http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html ]

It's important to at least be up-to-date - the law applies to you whether you know it or not.

Important: The state of our Union

Read this: [ http://www.cracked.com/article_19086_5-reasons-humanity-terrible-at-democracy.html ]

While Cracked is primarily a satirical website, they make some good points.

The state of the 50 states is terrible, at the moment. We're not doing so well. (REF: [ http://www.usdebtclock.org/ ])

With 4 TRILLION US dollars owned by foreign countries, I'd say we're pretty much "in the hole". The thing is, the debt isn't the only problem.

The education of the masses - myself included - is largely neglected. Teachers (at public schools) don't make that much for the jobs that they perform. Furthermore, public schools are a state-funded institution, meaning that they typically get shafted when the government is trying to make ends meet.

In my opinion, teachers should be paid at least six figures in salary, and should be taken care of- the best in their fields should be designing the curriculum, and those implementing it in the classroom should be the best at making content understandable for children.

Education's important.

Employment's important.

Combine the two, and you'll end up with significantly better results than if you had neither.

More to come on this later.

Important: Depression / Portfolio: Neurocolor

I've been struggling with depression for the past few years (having only been diagnosed within the last two). I'm a pansy that couldn't work up the nerve to commit to suicide, instead opting to wallow in my own misery.

That was unhealthy, to say the least.

If you're depressed or anxious or otherwise unwell, my heart goes out to you. Some people claim that there's no such thing as depression, and typically they're folks who've never suffered from what is largely a maverick of an issue.

There aren't many physically apparent symptoms of depression- slightly elevated cortisol and issues with serotonin and dopamine are the closest we can come to a physical diagnosis given what science has at the moment.

My therapist recommended that I create some sort of positive, constructive outlet for all the tumult in my psyche.

[ http://neurocolor.tumblr.com/ ] is the result. It's a story, of sorts, from the first person and multiple people. It takes place in a world drastically different from ours, and places a particular emphasis on detail and color.

I'm told it's poetic, and I guess it is, in some ways. I post to it sporadically, but a follow on tumblr or the RSS feed would probably keep you in the loop.

The story starts with the first post to the tumblr. The content is largely unedited and is what comes to mind when I ask my id for the story.

Make of it what you will.

Important: Your thyroid.

If you don't know what your thyroid is, you should go and read this right now.

If you don't want to read it, "the thyroid controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls how sensitive the body should be to other hormones."

Just like the Scout, it's a pretty big deal.

My mother's been dealing with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis since she was about 30 years old. She has to worry about taking artificial replacement hormones to maintain a feeling of wellness- and to ward off the possibility of muscle and heart failure. Statistically speaking, it occurs more often in women than it does in men, and it's the primary cause of hypothyroidism in North America. More on that here.

Even if you're not suffering from a disease, it's important to know how it works and what you ought to watch out for. When things go wrong in any part of your body it impacts the mechanics of the whole.

If you haven't gone to the doctor recently, make sure to at least make an appointment for a regular checkup. The cost of a visit that helps catch something early is far more valuable than the hospital visit required to clean up the metaphorical train wreck.

This public service announcement brought to you by a concerned citizen.