Android will crush the iPhone under its foot

I own an iPhone and I hate it. At least three times a day I want to smash it into the ground. That said, it is still way better than all the other phones currently out there (only because of the app store). I am so sick of all of the fanboys fawning over Apple’s design blah blah blah blah blah. Go on the web for 5 minutes and you will find far sleeker and more functional designs everywhere. Apple is already starting to squander their new success by censoring developers in their app store, and being overly controlling with their platform. Google is going to do what they do best, which take another’s great idea (Yahoo) and make it even better and more universally used. I rest my case.

Old Spice pays their marketing department

These commericals will never get old.

I don’t get nearly enough angry comments

So here is a post on ABORTION….

I have to say that Pro-lifers, even with all the dead fetus posters that ruin my breakfast, make the most sense. Essentially their argument hinges on the beliefs that life is at the moment of conception, that human life is more valuable than other forms of life (washing your hands does not qualify as “murdering” bacteria), and that life is not one’s to take (at least when they are arguing for the rights of an unborn child…if you want to complain about the stereotypical Pro-lifer’s views on other unrelated matters, I guess everyone is a hypocrite).

On the other hand, Pro-choicers employ stupid and hypocritical logic. Despite being interested in choices, they refuse to recognize important choices that have occurred prior to pregnancy; for instance, the choice to engage in acts that carry the risk of making a baby. I guess having a responsible discussion with that hot latin guy grinding on you from the bar is too much to ask, but in the non-sociopath view of the world choices still come with consequences. Stop moving the finish line. When you happen to get caught breaking into a store, you still go to jail even if you decide to put the TV back when the police get there; get a sense of personal responsibility. I will concede the point that if life does not exist at conception, then a decision doesn’t “officially” have to be made until the point that that life begins. Putting it off just makes you somewhat irresponsible and procrastinator, but there are worse things to be.

Above all what I find hypocritical, is that only a woman’s choice to participate in parenting (and the birth) is recognized. If you want anyone to take your argument for choice seriously, try acknowledging that men have equal privilege to choose whether they want to parent instead of forcing them to participate in parenting by paying child support. You can’t have it both ways.

Feel free to debase my claims on the grounds that I am completely lacking in first hand experience with abortion.

Monkey with a megaphone

I started blogging a month or so ago (with blogger) to spare others from being raped with my opinions repeatedly. Since then, people seem to think I am a lot of things…an “intellectual” (pretentious douchebag), a “professional” (member of a fraternity of fascists), and other more unsavory things (my personal favorite).

I am just a monkey with a megaphone, who happens to be right over 90% of the time (I actually do have a megaphone, and I love peanut buttter).

I consistently rant about IP

The concept of intellectual property as it is defined today is entirely illogical, and counterproductive. Slowly people on their own are realizing and adapting, but we are still stuck with a broken system. Here is an excellent lecture that sums up my righteous viewpoint nicely.

I weep for your children

If you think Obama stands for hope or change you are a fool. Both candidates suck. Vote Bob Barr.

BTW: Moving to Canada is for filthy hippies; upgrade your economic freedom and at least move to Australia.

The Grand Discussion

I happened across an interesting article after clinic today, and I puzzled over it on my way to try out yet another burrito restaurant. I have to agree whole heartedly with the author. Blogs are fantastic launch pads for conversation, but could use some help supporting and enhancing debate. The development of discussions surrounding a post is limited by the community that a given article can reach, and is further hindered because conversation will not exist in a singular forum where it would have its fullest growth.

Instant messaging and forums provide the truest conversation, but like blogs related conversations still may not find each other to interact. Aggregated options like Friendfeed offer the greatest opportunity for interaction and growth of discussions, but they mismanage the chance to build upon blogs’ abilities to spark dialogue. Without building the appropriate bridges between items, places like Friendfeed become nothing more than a threadless inbox of content.

Conversations are streams and when you neglect their tributaries and distributaries you turn the stream into a pond. Sure when content is created within social aggregators the streams flow quite well, but the purpose of aggregators was and still is to pull items from across the web into one place. To really empower discussion, they need to aggregate into their site the comments and trackbacks along with the blog, allow for articles posted elsewhere to be linked to and designated as replies to existent blog posts, as well as allow for establishment within their site of real-time forums to discuss and/or interact with any content created or streamed to the aggregator. I think the foundation is in place to create something even more unique and powerful, but we aren’t there yet.

Redesign

I was sent a message through Meebo chat that the old design made it difficult to read the post (thanks Martin). I thought the 4 columns design was cool at first, but content, sharing, and discussion are the goals here. I am going to continue to look at other designs; I don’t do my own hosting so I am a little limited. I might change the layout again especially if I find a design that brings the comment count up to the top near the title.

Shoot me a comment if you have any suggestions.

This is what I do all day

I spent the week in oral surgery cutting stuff out of peoples’ heads and sewing them back together. One of the attending doctors had some old forceps designed for horse teeth, and we snapped off a picture with a helpful volunteer. Somehow the picture makes me look fat and weird…I blame the lighting and our gowns, which retain way too much heat.

RIAA

So the entire dental student body received an email today about downloading songs “illegally.” In the email the various policies that were being violated were cited. I get the DMCA violation and the respectful use policy violations (abiding by state/federal laws), but claiming a violation of the school’s ethics code is just ridiculous. The laws are what they are for now, but laws and ethical standards are entirely different. In fact, I would be taking an ethical stand by continuing to disregard unconstitutional and illogical restrictions on fair use.

For the purposes of debate, I offer the prize of one free burrito to anyone who can argue in favor of intellectual property without grossly distorting the concept of property.

Good artists copy. Great artists steal.

Pablo Picasso with a great quote