Maybe it’s due to philosophical differences between the two parties that battle it’s existence.  The Republicans are dead set that it doesn’t exist, or if some agree that it does exist, they disagree about human beings having any role in it.  Then you have the Democrats who use it to push policy the other direction with the “green” movement.  Who’s right, I mean “correct”, on this issue?

Well, if these scientists have anything to do with it, we’ve all got it a little wrong; but it’s the right-wingers who’ve got it more wrongest.

And since 500px’s introduction of an “in between membership” of only $20/year, the choice has become pretty clear.  Bundle all that up with Flickr’s prudish attitude towards nudity and man, home run for 500px.

Take a look at Flickr’s page.

Now compare that to 500px’s.

There’s no comparison.  Your images are displayed nicely.  Flickr gives you an abundant amount of “white” space, surrounded by LOTS of ugly links.  500px fills that empty space with more photos.  And when you click on a photo to view it, Flickr gives you just a slightly larger version than what was on the homepage.  500px, in contrast, displays your images at their full size.  You’re not forced to click the “+” button to magnify it.

Flickr came on the scene in 2004 and has remained virtually unchanged in the years since.  What began as a resourceful repository for a professional’s work has quickly turned into a hodge-podge of mediocrity.  There are still some fine photographers on Flickr, sure, but just as the filmmakers have left YouTube for Vimeo.  Pro photographers are leaving Flickr for 500px.

So what about you?  What are you looking for in an image hosting site?  Let’s hear your rants. Should you stay or should you go?

Originally posted on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Now, more than ever, America needs a Day of Reason.

With the religious right’s influence in Congress, and with the threat to our Judiciary looming large, there has never been as important a moment in which to affirm our commitment to the Constitutional separation of religion and government, and to celebrate Reason as the guiding principle of our secular democracy. During the past year we have witnessed the intrusion of religious ideology into all spheres of our government, with such assaults on the wall separating church and state as:

• Faith-based initiatives in federal agencies that give preferential treatment to religious organizations which proselytize and employ discriminatory hiring practices;
• Restrictions on important scientific research on the basis of religious objections;
• Attempts to introduce biblical creationism and its alter-ego “Intelligent Design” into our public school science curricula;
• The appointment of judges who willingly place their religious beliefs above our laws;
• Battles over the display of the Ten Commandments and other overtly religious icons in schools and on courthouses;
• Religiously motivated restrictions on access to reproductive services and information;

As in previous years, this year’s National Day of Reason is scheduled to coincide with the Congressionally-mandated and federally-supported National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 3, 2012. We invite all who value the separation of religion and government to join us in commemorating the Day of Reason, and in building awareness for this important cause.

What can you do to demonstrate your support for a Day of Reason?

Plan a special event to commemorate the NDR, such as a protest demonstration, special lecture, or social gathering;

• Work to have a Day of Reason proclaimed by your state or local government;
• Hold a press conference for your local media to promote respect for the separation of religion and government, and to draw attention to the many breaches of that principle during recent months;
• Organize a letter-writing campaign urging your elected officials to support the separation of religion and government;
• Visit the National Day of Reason web site to sign-up as an endorser, to view planned events, or to read some of the media coverage from previous years.

We invite individuals and organizations to endorse this campaign, and to submit information about their plans to commemorate the National Day of Reason and their efforts to educate the public about the important underlying issues. Those organizations conducting events, activism or outreach in their communities will be featured on the site so that activists can readily identify opportunities to organize and participate in local events. There is great potential this year to give voice to our shared concerns about the serious threats to the wall separating church and state. We hope that you will visit our site, and we look forward to hearing about your plans to observe the National Day of Reason.

Sincerely,

Roy Speckhardt

Executive Director

American Humanist Association

I, for one, am an organ donor.  I am a full body donor.  The way I see it, I’m dead and no longer have a use for it.  If my body can continue to serve by helping others in need – well, that thought actually makes me happy.  But there are those who feel their bodies to be a “temple” of sorts.  A “vessel” if you will that needs to be “worshipped,” even after death.  That’s the rant.  Those selfish individuals.

I was watching an organ donation commercial the other day.  There were people holding up pictures of donors and saying thank you to them for helping to save their lives.  It was rather touching, actually.  And then something really disturbing happened.  And I don’t know what is more disturbing – the fact that there are people out there like this or that we need to cater to them by explaining it.  There was a couple, easily identifiable as Christians by their garb; and they said, “We were overjoyed to find out that it is not against our religion to be a donor.”
What!  How selfish do you have to be to not want to share a part of yourself to help someone else?  I hear people say things like, “I’m going to get burried.  Just the thought of my body parts in someone else’s is ‘icky’.”  Um, you do know that you’re dead, right?

Here are some positives to donating:

• Doctors can use your parts to give to someone in need, potentially saving theirs life.
• The parts not immediately usable by other people can be used by science for research in future causes.
• You’re not taking up precious space by being burried in the ground.

Now, let’s look at the negatives of being burried:

• You selfishly deny anyone who might benefit from your dead body and precious organs that aren’t dead.
• According to law, no one may perform any sort of research on your corpse.  So, no learning from your body.
• You’ve purchased a plot of land that takes up space forever and ever and ever and ever.

I applaud Facebook.  I don’t have many good things to say about Facebook; but this is something that I’m proud of.

I believe that when young people start seeing their friends/family/coworkers as donors that they might not feel so awkward about going against their parent’s ideals.  It opens up the line of discussion that we should of been having years ago.

So, show your support for human life and DONATE.  Here’s a link to help you get started.

Organ Donation: Friends Saving Lives

Glass half full, taking lemons and making lemonade, 888quote888.  We’ve all heard them.  And if you’re on Facebook, you’ve heard them more than most.  They’re everywhere.  And there IS a powerful message behind each and every one.  But that message gets overlooked.  Why?

I have a philosophy that everyone, every single human being, strives for good.  No one says, “I want to be a murderer when I grow up,” or, “I want to be on welfare when I get a family.”  Everyone wants to do good things in their lives.  But, “Shit happens.”  Right?

People see the quote and automatically agree with it.  It makes sense to remain positive.  Sometimes, problems are completely out of your control.  And you have two options:  1)  Cry about it; 2)  Laugh about it.  Logically, it’s easy to see.  But not everyone ACTS on that logic.  We often times fall into a rut of loathsomeness.  It’s a coping mechanism.  We “dislike” things we have yet to figure out.

I hear people talk about being positive all the time and think to myself, “Wow, you are the very poster-child of negitivity.” How could they be so blind?  And that’s my rant.  People need to see/understand that they’re a Debbie-Downer.

Here are some examples of what negativity is:

• If you’re in a job and are looking for a promotion.  You might be positive and work really hard.  Do more than what you get paid to do.  Hoping that it will eventually pay off.  Or, you could be negative and work just enough to keep that job and say things like, “I’ll do more when they pay me more.”  Guess what, with that attitude, probably not going to get the job.
• You’re a chef and you watch the Gordon Ramsey show called “Kitchen Nightmares.”  You instantly realize how filthy your kitchen is by watching the show.  You could be positive and get inspired to go to work and clean it really nice. Or you could do less and hope the boss takes the point and DOES something about it.  Chances are, you will only make yourself, and those around you, including your customers, miserable.
• You’ve just gotten into a fight with someone you care about.  It was stupid and not worth ruining your relationship.  But history shows that the other person may not make the first move to fix the disagreement.  You could be negative and say, “I’m not saying a word until they apologize.”  Or you could swiftly fix the situation by simply approaching them and open the dialogue about what really happened.  Hopefully they take this opportunity to join your positive attitude and truly fix this situation; and not as this being your concession, ultimately admitting you were wrong.
• Maybe your life didn’t turn out quite as you had planned.  You could be negative and blame society, the government, your family, your friends or maybe some other institution.  Or you could be positive and understand that NO ONE CONTROLS YOUR LIFE BUT YOU.  Did I say that loud enough?  And, NEWS FLASH, no one cares.  Get off your ass and take control of your life.  You and only you can change your situation.
• The list goes on and on.  I hope you have enough to figure out which one you are.

At the end of the day, folks, it’s really easy to say those wonderfully written quotes, but to live them, that’s the bread and butter.  Which are you?  Really take an objective look at your attitudes.  Remember, today is yours.  Don’t waste that opportunity to better your situation.  You don’t like where you’re at, move to a different spot.  Good luck and I hope you took something from this post.

Diablo came on the scene December 31, 1996.  It was for the computer only.  It had a resolution of 640×480 and we loved every pixel.  Diablo is what’s considered a perspective scroller.  You, or the camera, is positioned at an isometric angle to the playing field.  This gave the illusion of a third dimension.  Long before 3d graphics were a staple tool.

While Diablo was successful, it was not half as successful as Blizzard’s followup with Diablo 2.  It boasted superior graphics, story, a more streamlined user interface and added a few extra classes.  And with it’s multiplayer aspect, infinite game-play possibilities.  I still hear friends talking about playing the game.  So what took so long for their third entry?

My opinion, take it for what it’s worth, is money.  Blizzard, contrary to popular belief, is actually a pretty small company – by comparison.  And maybe you’ve heard of their ultra-successful World of Warcraft?  It’s MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).  Maybe they’re milking that game for all it’s worth.  Or maybe they didn’t quite have a good product to release and felt it better to polish the game.  After all, ten years of speculation kind of raises the proverbial bar, does it not?

Enter Diablo 3, eventually…

Diablo 3 isn’t even out yet.  But there’s been a few years worth of game development screenshots, notes, movies even of it’s progress.  Just enough to get old fans salivating and reliving those long runs with friends over Battle.net servers.  And, garnering new, younger fans.  Maybe those little brothers and sisters who sat one the sidelines as you thumped away some baddies while wearing Sigon’s Complete Steel.  Good times, good times indeed.

Open Beta is this weekend.  Get your Diablo 3 fix now before the release next month!

So I’m playing the Open Beta.  I signed up for a Battle.net user account.  My old one is long forgotten – it has been ten years after all.  The download went extremely smooth.  I averaged 2mb/s for a total of over 3gb.  10 minutes or so later, the game was fully installed and ready to play.

I might add that they conveniently added a “Ready to Play” button when the download/install progressed to a certain level.  How nice of them to consider those on a slow connection.  That’s customer service my friends.

I started the game.  The first thing I noticed was how quickly I got to the main menu page.  I typed in my login and password and clicked the “Play” button.  I immediately got the error screen that they are experiencing congestion.  I’m fine with that.  I finally got in after about twenty minutes of logging in over a hundred times one right after the other.  I setup my character, a Demon Hunter by the way.  And clicked “Play.”  The game loaded instantly.  No waiting.

I am completely amazed at the subtle differences I noticed right off the bat.  Sure the graphics were way better; but there was a certain nostalgia that Blizzard stayed true to.  I immediately got chills at this notion.  It was a romance not experienced in over ten years.  Even the soundtrack was eerily the same.  I was blown away.  And coupled with the instant load times from scene to scene, area to area.  I couldn’t ask for a smoother beta.

Then the server begins to overload.  I get booted off and am taken to the home screen.  Logging in just takes me back to the “overloaded” screen where I started.

So my first impressions?  All issues with server load aside, it is in beta after all (I gotta give them a little slack), I loved every minute of it.  It was completely immersive.  I felt a part of the story.  The controls were extremely simple.  Given the right mouse, you could lean back in your chair and play with one hand.  Bravo, Blizzard Entertainment, bravo.  An excellent rebirthing of this amazing franchise.  I can’t wait for May 15th.

Wanna play with me on Battle.net?

My user ID is Zohso.

I might have some nice trinkets for you.  Or, if you’ve always wanted to slap me around for comments I’ve made on this site; this is the exact venue to take out those frustrations.

Share your experiences here.  Let others know how your beta testing is going.  Then how you like the game come May.

Neither can appeal to the average American. The GOP keeps talking about “taking America back.” What they’re really saying is, “We want to go back to a time when a white man was king. We had a nigger mowing our lawns, our wife making our dinners and we’d beat the hell out of faggots on the weekends. We’d rape us some señoritas and make fun of the Chinks, Wetbacks, Towelheads and Japs. We’d drive around in 4mpg vehicles on Saturday nights, beat some heads and the local bar, then drive to church the next morning to repent our sins. We hate anyone that ain’t like us. You ain’t white, you ain’t right.”

This, this is what they want to get back to. Yeah, America was great in those times. I would be a king – I’m white with a dick. If you happen to be of a different color, religion or sex, you were screwed. How selfish is that?

All you have to do is read the constitution,

read our bill of rights, all of the stories and poems from our earliest days in this country to see that THIS image that the modern GOP has painted has been perverted.  But they’ll have you believe that THAT’S the way it’s always been.  They’re wrong.

The America I was proud of is the one that stood for hope. For prosperity.

A beacon for a world of tyranny and pure evil. We used to welcome the worlds sick and poor (as written on the Statue of Liberty), but now we would watch them starve so that we can protect our big screen TVs.

We’ve become not a beacon for good, as in olden times; but an evil dictator of the world.

The world hates us.

And for good reason. We have people like Bush Jr/Sr, Gingrich, Santorum, Boehner, Holder, Romney, Palin, Bauchmann, and the list goes on and on. Are we not rich enough? How many billions do people need before they are happy. How rich before we can give them a medal and say, “You win. You’re filthy rich. You must be happy.”

Romney/Santorum: I’m a happy person. I’ve got my health. I’ve got great friends. My family is doing okay. I’ve got a beautiful wife and a baby on the way. I’ve got a house, two cars, a big screen tv and many other luxuries. I’m happy. You have many times more than me. Did you pass happiness and are somehow working on a new state of being that I’ll never witness? If so, I think I’ll just stay where I’m at. Because if you are the example of someone who is beyond happy, then I need not go any further. I’ll stay right here.

I hope, for the sake of mankind, that Obama can pull off this election.

Not because I necessarily believe he’s the best president or anything, but because he’s the only candidate that still knows what it’s like to be plain old happy. And happiness, my friends, is contagious. And we could all use a smile.

I’m really tired of the bugginess.  And I’m really tired of having to update the damn thing every couple of days.  And statistically, 80% of all web browser crashes are caused by Adobe Flash Player within your browser.  It’s time to cut ties and move on.

Dear Flash,
You’re really beautiful.  You are.  And it’s not you, it’s totally me.  I just prefer the sleeker, newer, more efficient HTML5 and her hot older sister CSS.  Sorry.

We had a good time, right?  I mean, think back to the days when it was just text and a few low res images to fill my 15″ CRT.  Wow, how happy was I to see your animations in all it’s crisp, vector goodness.  I was in love.

But you’re really old now.  You’re slow and honestly, you’ve got bugs.  And that’s just gross.

So let’s not make this hard.  Just go away peacefully and let us all be happy.  Okay?

Love,
Lyn

They just don’t make’em like they used to.  Below is a YouTube playlist of some of his music.  Sit back, close your eyes and enjoy some true soul.  A true storyteller.  You can truly feel his joy during the happy songs; and his real pain during the sad ones.  You’re welcome, friends.  You are welcome.

We all thought that Google and Facebook are our enemies when it comes to personal data storage.  And they are, absolutely; but you’ll be surprised to know that the big four know more about you than your closest friends.  And more frightening, who are they sharing it with?  Here is a quote by and ACLU staff attorney, Catherine Crump.

People who are upset that Facebook is storing all their information should be really concerned that their cell phone is tracking them everywhere they’ve been.  The government has this information because it wants to engage in surveillance.

We know for certain, considering the source of the document, that the government is part of the game.  But who else?  Are they selling our data?  I don’t know, but I do know that our archaic communications laws need to be brought to the 21st-century.

Here is a quote by Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

I don’t think there there is anything on this list the government would concede requires a warrant.  This brings cellular retention practices out of the shadows, so we can have a rational discussion about how the law needs to be changed when it comes to the privacy of our records.

Here is the PDF: