| entryscan; aluminium foil hats |
[Fri, Feb. 24th - 4pm] |
Flying out of SFO, they asked me to step through this thing:
So I did. And I near to pissed myself. I am somewhat ashamed to say that I was jittery and upset for the next 30 minutes or so. It was dehumanizing, and immediately occured to me that someone with past trauma could be much more upset by the experience. I was skeptical (/paranoid) about whether the TSA employees had been fully informed about its function, which they said was to blow a little air on you and sample it. The thick walls make it look like it could contain x-ray machinery and shielding.
This guy engaged me with some extremely self-conscious "aggressive hospitality" when I took a few pictures:
Today I googled "entryscan", but it's mostly industry stuff for the first page. Plus Popular Science talking about how cool it is. GE has A list of supplies you may purchase for your EntryScan, and they all do appear to relate to explosive and narcotics detection. I'm still not convinced that they aren't xraying or something, but whatever.
You can view a photograph of their "Dopant, Explosive" product. Dunno what they use it for:
Maybe it's used to treat whatever air they collect for sampling. Maybe it's how they produce the air blasts, as according to Wikipedia, dichloromethane can be used as an aerosol spray propellant. Also according to Wikipedia, it's carcinogenic:Methylene chloride is the least toxic of the simple chlorohydrocarbons, but it is not without its health risks. Chronic exposure to methylene chloride may be carcinogenic, as it has been linked to cancer of the lungs, liver, and pancreas in laboratory animals. It is a mutagen and teratogen, causing birth defects if women are exposed to it during pregnancy. Prolonged skin contact can result in the methylene chloride dissolving some of the fatty tissues in skin, resulting in skin irritation or chemical burns.
In many countries, products containing methylene chloride must carry labels warning of its health risks. However, it is often mistaken for paint thinner which can be applied freely to the skin. Note "chronic exposure". Anyway I'm not going near one of those things again. I will avoid flying out of SFO, and wherever fly out of, I will provide an extra six hours in case I need to explain myself to security. I can't begin to explain how embarrassed I will be. |
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| I just forgot about him last time. |
[Mon, Jan. 5th - 12pm] |
1) Michael Moore
2) Orrin Hatch
3) Adrian Lyne
4) Darl McBride
5) Richard Linklater
6) Paul Reiser
7) Lenny Kravitz
8) Billy Crystal
9) My dead grandparents (Living one is ok.)
10) Neil Gaiman
11) Barry Levinson
12) Steven Spielberg
13) Karl Rove
14) Walt Disney
15) Adrien Brody
"I bet they didn't tell you that was in the gift bag."
The only cure for this kind of jackass is a shotgun. I don't care how pretty he is.
Edit:
16) Jack Nicholson |
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| (no subject) |
[Fri, Dec. 19th - 11am] |
Ms. Marvel 1 Reminds me, on the reinvigoration tip:
After I finished watching the show, that sentiment really stuck with me. In the big scheme of things, re-doing your house and your appearance is a pretty insignificant event, but something like that can really reinvigorate you.
In middle school once, my homeroom teacher had us all visit a Head Start program preschool. Once. It was a very weird experience, at least somewhat in that it was based on our privilege. Admitting privilege without doing anything about it. Such charity. Anyway, we had about the same number of students as the preschool class, and each hung out with one of the kids. The kid I hung out with was sullen and unfriendly.
I get the idea that he had never, in his life, had anyone pay full attention to him for an extended period of time. We had a bit of fun. I barely remember it.
What I remember perfectly well is returning four months later, for a repeat visit. His teacher approached me and said that the kid (I didn't remember his name at the time, let alone now.) had completely changed after our visit. He was more outgoing. He was cheerful and a little charismatic. He's been looking forward to our return visit very much.
And since it went so well that first time, could I also play with this second kid, who is also sullen and dejected.
Ugh. I was in sixth grade, but I could tell that was braindead. My previous buddy wanted to kick a soccer ball around. My new buddy was sitting alone, staring at the ground. My previous buddy thought my new buddy was "silly" and I should forget about him and pass the damn soccer ball already.
I tried to get the first kid to pay attention to the second kid, but it was the wrong tack. I expect it was an immense let down for him, to have me return and not pay him attention. And I had no idea what to do for the other boy.
Boys have so much going against them. Girls too, obviously. Perhaps to a greater degree. But, Jesus God, boys have so much going against them. |
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| Enemies List, December 2003. |
[Tue, Dec. 16th - 3pm] |
Recent additions are in bold.
1) Michael Moore
2) Orrin Hatch
3) Adrian Lyne
4) Darl McBride
5) Richard Linklater
6) Paul Reiser
7) Lenny Kravitz
8) Billy Crystal
9) My dead grandparents (Living one is ok.)
10) Neil Gaiman
11) Barry Levinson
12) Steven Spielberg
I'd add Karl Rove, but I only hate him 'cause he's working for the other side. If there was someone similarly skilled and criminal-mastermind-like working for my side... No, I'd hate them just like I hate Michael Moore, so:
13) Karl Rove
Edit: Upon pressure from my girlfriend, Adrian Lyne (director of Unfaithful) has replaced Craig Barton in slot 3. If in the future I feel that I am being too forgiving, I may put Craig back on the list in a lower rank.
Edit: Zach reminded me:
14) Walt Disney |
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| Spreading Santorum |
[Wed, Dec. 3rd - 12pm] |
SpreadingSantorum.com is Dan Savage's new site dedicated to santorum, that frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes a product of anal sex. As I discussed before, the term was coined after Senator Rick Santorum made a few idiotic comments about homosexuals and made it clear that he'd be leading the charge in the senate to avoid giving queers the rights that we heterosexuals take for granted. There was brief media coverage of his initial homophobic comments and his subsequent non-apology. Dan Savage's readers didn't want the world to forget. So we're smearing santorum everywhere we can.
Edit: Someone at Spreading Santorum (perhaps Dan himself) linked my old post about santorum. |
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| Let the googlewashing commence. |
[Wed, Nov. 19th - 9am] |
I'm sure y'all know the story about Rick Santorum. I'll tell it again anyway. Rick Santorum is a senator that made some offensive comments about homosexuals, and advice columnist Dan Savage didn't want the world to forget about it. So, Dan Savage asked his readers to submit & vote on a new definition for the word "santorum." They decided that new definition of santorum should be the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that sometimes results from anal sex.
Today, Dan Savage requested in his column that his geekly readers do their best to improve the google ranking of his definition, so that when folks google for santorum, they get this new definition, not the asshole's senate web page. Repeated linking from the same page probably won't make any difference, but repeated linking from many pages certainly will.
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| (no subject) |
[Fri, Oct. 3rd - 3pm] |
I'm sure this is going to be all over the web log planet, but:
BBC on the first use of spy cameras
Any guesses who the first criminals were that were surveilled in such a fashion?
Ladies and gentlemen! Please, allow me to indroduce to you:
The Suffragettes.
Humans can be so twisted up inside. |
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| You are cordially invited |
[Thu, May. 8th - 11am] |
We're having a housewarming party Saturday, May 24th. It might also be a wedding party, as one of my roommates is getting married.
EVERYONE IS GETTING MARRIED! QUICK! GRAB YOUR NEIGHBOR! SAY YOUR PRAYERS(VOWS)!
Drinks/entertainment on the house. If you come wearing spring wedding attire (Tux? Seersucker? White lacey dresses?), I'll consider inviting you to my private "bachelor party."
67c Hoff St, Between 16th & 17th, Mission & Valencia. (415)299-9242 for questions.
If I know who you are, you're invited. |
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| Regarding cock. |
[Fri, Apr. 25th - 10am] |
They don't want me listening to my iPod at work. It apparently doesn't fit the company image for me to be bop bop bopping in my chair.
I swear, listening to music is one of the few things that can distract me from slashdot and ars and get me to really focus on work.
They better hire me, or this is an annoying fucking move.
Edit (1/16/2004):
Yeah, they hired me. No, I still can't listen to my iPod at work. And yes, I still read slashdot and ars too much. And LJ. |
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| fear and loathing |
[Thu, Feb. 13th - 10am] |
Smaller, more usable nuclear weapons.
Multiple drug resistant staph infections in certain limited communities of gay men.
Multiple drug resistant TB.
Computer security is a problem that is, by definition, NP-hard. See the halting problem. See the myriad spyware packages on most home PCs. I am no longer confident of my privacy, and spyware proves that we're all a target.
Stopping a smallpox breakout might be very difficult. Causing a smallpox breakout might be comparatively easy. Something makes me think that no one would do it, were GW not the president. The essence of GW is hate. Not that he's necessarily full of hate, it's just something that he revolves around/is based upon. I wish I knew how to put it.
Data, please. If you give me raw data, I will be *more* interested in your product. Try using sony-ericsson's website to choose a cell phone. They don't want to tell you the actual features of their cell phones. They only want to tell you about how many ring tones you can get, and they don't want to tell you about cell phones that aren't marketted in your area. This is a minor example. Try getting information about your internet access service quality. It is *this* kind of dishonesty that will destroy our economy, let alone corporate malfeasance.
Some marketting companies employ shills to hang out in nightclubs, act interested in members of the opposite sex, and casually promote their product. Their product might be a movie, another club, a personal electronic device. This is essentially different than hiring cute girls to hand out flyers. As if meeting strangers wasn't confusing enough already.
Paranoia, fear and loathing. Dangerous vibrations. I crave control over my surroundings more desperately than ever before in my life. Perhaps just better understanding. Something feels terribly wrong. |
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| Enemies list |
[Thu, Jan. 16th - 9pm] |
1) Orrin Hatch
2) Craig Barton
3) Paul Reiser
4) Lenny Kravitz
5) Billy Crystal
I try to feign politeness to friends' friends that I hate, so they aren't going on the list. Yet. Oooh. I forgot:
6) My grandparents |
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| (no subject) |
[Sat, Nov. 23rd - 8pm] |
[editor's note: This post is dumb as crap. I'll leave it up for posterity.]
I wish libertarians weren't so dumb.
If they weren't so dumb, I'd be one. Sure, some of them are smart. Some of my best friends are libertarians (hehe).
But so many of them seem to miss the point, and go on and on about corporatism and the virtue of American business. If they just spent all their time talking about how authoritarian the US has become, they might win some converts. If they went after corporate welfare *first*, and social welfare *second*, then maybe they wouldn't seem like heartless bastards.
Even better, if they made more noise about limited, targetted social programs that could replace social welfare, maybe they wouldn't have to *be* such heartless bastards.
Anyway. Between the CSEA, the CTEA, the DMCA, and fucked up patent law, authoritarian government is squashing the American technology industry. Things that can and should be cheap, easy, and decentralized, are going to be expensive, hard, and controlled by a few large corporations. This is an old story, of course, but it's happening as we speak.
Of course, the problem isn't libertarians. The problem is how apathetic most of us are about our freedoms. So everything's going to have to get a lot worse before people start to care again. Maybe we'll start with the CSEA. |
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| Shit I found in my closet |
[Sun, Sep. 29th - 3am] |
This was my college entrance essay for several schools. I don't recall exactly what my batting average was for acceptance, but it got me into UPenn. Well. Once I was accepted, someone told me that with a decent SAT/GPA combo, they don't care what your essay is like in the engineering school. That was really disappointing. Anyway, I remember a few people asking to read my college app essay, so I'll post it here for their perusal.
It also bears mentioning that while this essay is the truth, it also omits plenty of stuff that was also the truth, but made me look bad. I don't even remember how it actually happened now. Anyway. Whatever. I wrote this almost six years ago, so cut me some slack.
Walker Creek Ranch
About eighty fellow students and I were staying in a former cult complex for a couple of days. The place is now called "Walker Creek Ranch," but about twenty years ago, it was a home for a brutal pseudo-religious drug rehabilitation organization called Synanon. Synanon was evicted by the federal government, and now the owners rent out the old barracks to schools and corporations for bonding retreats. My friends and I were under explicit instructions to bond. I looked forward to seeing my girlfriend, Cicely, as she had been out of town.
Early that morning, I walked up to her and said, "Heya, Cicely, how ya' doin'?" She looked me up and down and walked away down the white concrete corridors of Walker Creek Ranch. She walked away with my two best friends.
Cicely was known to have delicate tastes, and I was wearing a rather outrageous outfit, and I imagined that was why she snubbed me so. It was still a little bizarre, because in the weeks previous, I had begun to care more and more for her, and I thought I was falling in love.
I moped around all day. I mopingly performed my bonding exercises with other members of my class. I mopingly ate lunch in the cult mess hall. I mopingly used the cult communal bathroom. I mopingly played boring card games with people that weren't really friends.
I was moping around when Cicely and my two best friends walked up to me and said, "We need to talk."
"Yes, we do," said I, for now I was vaguely angry in addition to moping.
"The group is very angry with you." Cicely said, referring to herself and our two friends. "We are mad at you for the way that you have been treating us lately, and especially the way that you have been treating me."
The three of them had written a list of grievances. I couldn't help thinking of the Declaration of Independence. They read them. I was surprised and devastated.
So, they left. I didn't participate in any other bonding activities. I didn't go to dinner. Cicely didn't want to speak to me, because she thought I'd flex my mental muscles and intimidate her into forgetting all her complaints. So, I lay down on the benches in the old cult outdoor auditorium, where old cult leaders must have given old sermons to the old cult. The benches were horribly uncomfortable. I stayed there, and in my altered moping state, I thought about a letter that I would write to Cicely. After receiving a sunburn and a sore back lying on the benches, I went to my cult barracks and wrote out a letter. I wrote several drafts, and I was up until two or three in the morning writing my extensive apology. I also explained that I had begun to fall in love with her.
The next morning, after breakfast, I handed her my four page long, meticulously crafted letter. Afterwards, we took part in bonding exercises with our class members. (My group, for example, did finger-painting in the cult community ballroom.) After three hours, Cicely came to me and said, "We have given it a lot of consideration, but we can't trust you not to do it again. We hope to remain friends."
Although other relationships in my life have deepened, we did not remain friends. |
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| (no subject) |
[Tue, Sep. 24th - 1am] |
I'm watching Last Call with Carson Daily. He's interviewing Alicia Silverstone. He's being very careful to call her "aleeseeya" rather than "aleesha." They seem to take each other very seriously. Someone end me please. I'm going to go watch the supplemental material for the Royal Tenenbaums. |
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