For your consideration . . .

Ways to stimulate economy.
1) Lower taxes to encourage spending.
2) Begin to tax organizations abusing their non-profit or charitable status, namely financial sinkholes hiding behind the mask of religions - e.g. Scientology, etc.
3) Robin Hood
4) Sell off politicians and CEOs whose bad planning put us into this mess ... to our foreign and domestic creditors as slave labor. Their families, too.

Normally, I troll. In this case, I question. When the US is roughly 50% of the WORLD'S military spending, why do we need to increase our military budget?

www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending

Dear greateone@omniscience.org
We're writing to confirm your purchase of the following item from
the seller:

1 of Outlaws of the Marsh (Chinese Classics 4-Volume Boxed Set) [BOX SET]
(available to ship by June 30,2009)

Excellent. This was according to my plans, and prophecy as well.

I am incapable of feeling love.

Almost every one of the qualms I have with faith and religion boils down to one thing - I have a fundamental qualm with and distrust of authority. That is to say I do not believe that something outside myself knows what's best for me or is in a position sufficient to judge my decisions and character.

The reason I dislike the concept of God, in western civilization is relatively simple. I don't trust anyone (and being raised Mormon, God was very much an anthropomorphic concept) or anything with that much power. Based on the old testament, God would have to be a very terrifying being indeed. It is hard for me to conceive of something with absolute power that also has absolute compassion. Perhaps impossible.

As one can only base one's views and opinions (well, the sensible kind) on extrapolation from past experiences, it seems as though history has taught us that power concentrated in the hands of the few (or the one) tends to lead toward degeneration.

When I troll about and advocate support of systems such as communism and so on, it isn't so much an advocacy of a particular system as it is a distaste for hierarchy. I view a society in which people are on the same level as one that is less likely to tend toward corruption, abuse and so on.

I troll because I find in humor a vehicle through which one might come to subtly regard my ideas and way of looking at things. A lot of what we do and see is taken far too seriously and I'd like to lessen that and create some distance between the subject and one's opinion of it. Humor's a way of doing that, but I can see how it might be offensive as well.

I believe it would be unfair of me to attack things without offering what I believe to be a valid replacement. So I will submit such a replacement as I currently conceive of it.

As an idealist, I suppose what I want is some form of a hybrid Communist-Democratic industrial/business sector under a minarchistic government. I believe such structures would allow for the competition inherent in Capitalism, would give employees more direct control (and with it, passion and interest) over their corporate lives and would allow us to have a government that interferes as little as possible with people's lives.

... is something as mundane as the fashion industry. This is not simply due to my gender - it goes far beyond that. Here are a sampling of questions that it forces me to ask:

First, and most prominently in my mind, where do trends in the fashion (or any other industry) start? Do they begin at the bottom and work their way up or are they a concentrated effort by a few companies, or is it mostly imitation of the famous? Who decides what's "cool" or "in" in any given season? It all seems so arbitrary and lacking definition according to logic and sense.

Second, name brands. When I was last in Las Vegas, I'd see these exorbitantly expensive articles of clothing or purses - and they all had in common some brand/designer name. What I value in a product is its utility (preferably multiple) and longevity. I did not see, in name brand devices, any extra utility or workmanship that guaranteed they'd last long enough to off-set the initial cost. I don't get how a label can confer so much arbitrary value on a thing.

Fashion as a symbol of status. The notion of one's clothing as a status symbol is comical at best. Are we so close to our evolutionary past that we still have to show off our feathers, as it were? (Right, we probably didn't have birds in our biological past, but it's meant figuratively.) If status is important, it seems like one could confer it in their mannerisms and deeds and speech. So why are some cultures so hell-bent on clothing?

I suppose the arbitrary nature of this "industry" coupled with the generic lack of logic is what confuses me most. Probably one of the most INTPy posts I've ever written. (PS, INTPs are > everything else.)

If we were to believe the conventional wisdom that true happiness comes only from meeting challenges and productively exerting ourselves towards responsible goals (etc), then we should conclude that young children are never truly happy, and we should develop work-schedules for infants – to prevent the misery and degenerate idleness that must result from all that pointless play, infantile wishful thinking, daydreaming and sucking on a nipple.

... www.icache.com/

This comes reasonably close.

http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles/87189/projects/149088/871891227153418.jpg

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1901762,00.html?iid=digg_share

One theory for the growing number of cases like these, says Sinacore, is what he calls "the more relaxed if not blurred boundary lines between teachers and students as teachers try to communicate with kids in this day and age." Those kids, as the media have often reported recently, are far less shy about innocent physical contact, like hugging, than their parents were as teens. That can be exploited by any male pervert overseeing a classroom. But it can also embolden predatory female teachers, who experts say are often in emotionally needy states. "The trend with female offenders, more than males, is that they have emotional turmoil going on in their lives," says Sinacore.


Why is it that female teachers who have sex with students are portrayed sympathetically, but the males are portrayed as perverts? Stupid media.

One of the greatest advantages of the English tongue is its versatility and flexibility. Since the evolution of the language from its Germanic roots, it has borrowed words and phrases from other cultures and has established relatively flexible grammatical constructs and split infinitives left and right like a hyperactive bull smashing through the walls of the Kremlin. With that in mind, I'd like to draw attention to a few words that I think need some reshaping, like clay in the hands of a hyperactive bull smashing through the Kremlin...

The object of today's focus is the word "faith". Here's the problem we have with it. It is enmeshed and amalgamated with "hope". Hope is a concept that should be completely removed from the idea of faith. When one says that they were sustained by their faith, the author's anger-cells arise and flash a bright and furious red. It is more fitting and altogether proper to say that hope was the sustaining quality.

If two men were in a desert and both saw an empty, dirty glass —

One man regards the glass as being full and for a time is sustained by his imaginary water. Or at least the hope that gives him. Only it's not hope. It's epoh which is a term I've coined for a backwards sort of hope. Epoh is the hope of faith, which is not based on reason but on fancy. It is of no benefit to survival other than emotional masturbation. For a while it gives one the joy of having what is not.

Then there is true hope. The second man regards the glass as empty. But he knows that the glass indicates that the trail has been traveled before. He would perhaps look for signs of the previous travelers. That is a realistic hope. It's using the evidence at hand to further one's knowledge in a useful way. He may not survive, but at least this second man has taken the evidence and applied it toward his survival and benefit.

So I guess when one says that their faith gives them hope, I simply see it as "My delusions keep me going". Whatever works, I suppose.

 Out of the Silent Planet by Iron Maiden from Brave New World (Rating: 2)

Capitalism has, of course, failed and it's time to correct that. The market should go on a hiatus and (Marx be praised) communism shall rise again. Eat it, pigs! Eat it.

Ahh yes, those were saved notes from an earlier entry. Anyway ...

THIS!
http://www.livescience.com/technology/080626-cellphone-backlash.html

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-08-23-microsoft-letters.htm

Reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Sideshow Bob wins an election on the votes of the dead.

One of the things that happens in organizations as well as with people is that they settle into ways of looking at the world and become satisfied with things and the world changes and keeps evolving and new potential arises but these people who are settled in don't see it. That's what gives start-up companies their greatest advantage. The sedentary point of view is that of most large companies. In addition to that, large companies do not usually have efficient communication paths from the people closest to some of these changes at the bottom of the company to the top of the company which are the people making the big decisions. There may be people at lower levels of the company that see these changes coming but by the time the word ripples up to the highest levels where they can do something about it, it sometimes takes ten years. Even in the case where part of the company does the right thing at the lower levels, usually the upper levels screw it up somehow. I mean IBM and the personal computer business is a good example of that. I think as long as humans don't solve this human nature trait of sort of settling into a world view after a while, there will always be opportunity for young companies, young people to innovate. As it should be.

( Demo behind the cut... )

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/24/earlyshow/contributors/melindamurphy/main1650774.shtml
It's an article on bio-diesel. One user claimed he got 180 (that is not a typo) MPG on this stuff. So, you know ... I'm just sitting here thinking how much better this could be. Bio-diesel hybrids anyone? Those 40 - 60 MPG cars I see advertised as being fueliciously economic seems like such a paltry joke to me.

Maybe this guy's results weren't typical, but even if they weren't, it proves it's doable. Possibly replicable. 200 MPG as a standard? From a renewable resource? ...

Again.
Why aren't we doing this?

Unless I'm a fool and diesel engines can't be used in electric hybrid vehicles, but I'm pretty sure they can be.

It frustrates me how willing people are to settle for less. If a biodiesel hybrid was on the market, I'd pay top dollar for one.

I have absolutely nothing to say here.
Er.
Play Oblivion
or
DIE!

Fiddler's Green is the afterlife imagined by U.S. cavalry and artillery, where there is perpetual mirth, a fiddle that never stops playing, and dancers who never tire. There is some evidence to support the claim that the major propagators of this belief were pirates who, knowing they would never meet the criteria for entry into Christian heaven, simply created a religion of their own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddler%27s_Green

Why do people so lovingly and so willingly hand over their sovereignty as soon as they are able to do so?

Have arrived today. Took one tablet of them and here's what I can report.

Unsweetened lemon juice is still lemony but easily drinkable. It's kind of like the last stages of sour powder in those soured candies, just before you get to the sweet.

Ketchup is delightsome. It goes well with everything.

Vinegar is tolerable, but still vinegar. You'll get a very acidic kick.

Vegetables have no flavor.

My bologna sandwich on white bread with butter as a topping had no flavor.

Spicy foods are interesting.

Mustard tastes like honey mustard.

Yogurts are almost too sweet.

Haven't noticed the effect as much as I'd have hoped on strawberries.

Eating a green apple now - mild flavor, no tartness.

I've heard goat cheese tastes like cheesecake on this stuff but I have none lying around. American cheese ( Kraft-style singles ) produced no noticeable effect.

Milk remains milk.

As does ranch dressing.

Combining ketchup with yogurt is not disgusting on this stuff and is quite enjoyable.

Grapes are candy.

Any suggestions of what try on these are more than welcome.

I have ordered Miracle Berry tablets from the UK.
No, none of you can have any. They were pricey.
I will describe their glorious effects upon their arrival.
In the interim, imagine a week or two of maniacal laughter.

The Legendarium and the Mythographer



Clayton Roethel is our mythographer and I am hard pressed not to have his introduction begin on a bright cold day in April in victory mansions. Let's go ahead and place him in a contemporary setting.


Age: Mid to late thirties.
Occupation: Mythographer.

Dislikes: Jews?

Mmm, *gives of his ability and takes what he needs* :D

How can one ever be full in a world that perpetually tells him hunger is good, natural and right?

Consume, little gear. Consume.

The simple truth of the matter is that capitalism is fueled by perpetual inadequacy. It's this concept that you can never obtain enough. Products exist that purport to improve one's standing or self, or  to induce happiness. And they're all on sale TODAY, in aisle five at the local Wal*Mart. That's great, but it's not an answer. Simply buying and owning more won't make the difference that's so often shewn in advertisements.

The status quo was never good enough. It never will be. Many people would want to just shut up and accept things. That's sort of like saying just stop breathing. While possible, it's detrimental and unnatural (to me). To just accept things as they are is disgustingly complacent. If one exists, one should attempt to change things until they are beyond satisfactory.

I get annoyed - easily, perhaps more so than most. I have this latent tendency to want to improve things. At any job where I've had a small degree of flexibility, I've looked for ways to get rid of annoyances or to automate repetitive tasks. For example, at Sento, I was able to combine 7 steps in installing McAfee's software into a single batch file that involved minimal input on the customer's part. Or here, at this current job, I found a way to disable this annoying pop-up IE would show any time you'd reload a webpage. (I've since gone over to Firefox, since it's infinitely better.)

It's why I'm attracted to futurism.

[Still in need of revision.]

"I would be delighted if the Office at which I'm employed had some beds - I feel a strange, Lovecraftian compulsion to check them for paper sounds."

.. Utah seems to be the only state that uses numbered streets? Grids are awesome!

Concept: A society, weary of the wars and conflicts caused by interfaith hostilities, decides (quite forcefully) to throw away their gods, faiths, and mythos. Our setting situates us several centuries after this concept is firmly established.

Present Day: Society is strictly atheistic, if faith exists it's in a small body of agnostics. Religion, if any, takes the form of ancestor and hero admiration (not worship).

Character concept: MYTHOGRAPHER - Our main character is a mythographer, whose occupation it is to scry the historic records and watch social trends for two reasons, (a) to identify which individuals are starting to form cults around them (both living or dead) and dissuade such leanings and, (b) to find which heroic individuals no longer have influence on present-day society and gracefully phase them out. (i.e. Hercules isn't a role-model too many seek to emulate, in modern times.)

Mythographers work in Legendariums, which are places akin to convents, I suppose. The problem here is avoiding a work subtly similar to that of Neal Stephenson.

Potential plot: Character starts developing a sense of faith? But is wrong, wrong, wrong? I'm not sure.
The idea seemed interesting though.

It has come to my attention that I am great. I believe that this message requires publication.

If anyone's interested, I have a small zip file containing a fairly broad selection of Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks, translated into English, annotated and with scans of the original manuscript.

Since there has been interest in this post, the link is -
http://tinyurl.com/ldavinci

The document is in HTML, just open up index.html after you've extracted the zip.

Next up, Aeroponics.
My previous post was about living off the grid — primarily in terms of energy and water. Today, I address food.

The following video clips demonstrate the concept of what I have in mind - Aeroponics. This first video is from the Epcot greenhouse in Florida. They've got some interesting ideas floating around there that might all be applicable, but ...

Skip to around 5:23 for the one I'm talking about.


This video somewhat describes the process.

For those too lazy to play videos or click on links, here's the essential premise. Rather than using dirt or even pools of water to feed nutrients to plants, the idea is to spray their root systems periodically with nutrient enriched water. It doesn't need to be that frequent and actually ends up saving water (and therefore time, money and resources) in developing a plant. The technique also reduces the chance of disease and makes cloning (not the kind of Sci-Fi) easier. It interests me greatly.

Right.
Our first order of business is addressing those to whom my absence has either been particularly noticeable or irksome. The only explanation that I can offer is that I am an intensely private person, and I find it extremely difficult to seek company at any given moment or to respond...

That said, in answer to questions about how I've been doing - fine and dandy, albeit bored. That is all on that front.

Next up, ideas.
As always, I live in my head and my latest idea(s) follow:
For as long as I can remember the idea of "living off the grid" has been an appealing one. Essentially this means not being hooked up to the city power grid, water, sewage and whatnot. Before anyone accuses me of being a nambly-pambly environmentalist, I'd like to address that simply with: No, I'm not. The environment is what it is and my ideas are not motivated by its conservation or destruction. However, as a side effect of them, the environment would benefit.

If fortune smiles upon me, a device like An Archemedian Screw Generator could serve as both water delivery system and electral turbine. Such devices generate energy from a renewable resource (running water) and according to proponents are environmentally safe for fish and other such aquatic life. So that'll keep those silly PETA folks off my back.

Part of the water could be pumped up to a tower for personal consumption, as well as for running greenhouses for food growth. I'll have to do some research on the dimensions needed, but I don't believe they'd be all that large for one person growing their own food. Soil nutrients and minerals can be added via composting and other techniques as plants demand. More research will be needed.

As for waste, much of it would be composted or perhaps put through a Savage-esque process mentioned in his excellent book of grand repute.

I said, from the outset, that my motivation in this is not environmentalist in nature. It's not. It's ultimately saving money by avoiding recuring costs and cutting dependencies where possible. I gather that the majority reading this won't feel as passionately as I do on this topic, but I see a sort of nobility and security it cutting reliances wherever possible.

Take, for example, the world (of early 2009)'s economic situation. I'm not an economist and the factors all leading into this mess are outside the scope of my thinking and awareness to address. But it would seem to me that an individual who has made an effort to produce as much of the goods and services they consume in a micro-economy would be the least affected by external economic situations. And that's a huge benefit, not being at the mercy of a society.

Anyway,
I suppose I'm probably the only person who cares about such things as this. Have for as long as I can remember but I've never been that great at articulating my interests in a memetically infectious way.

P.S.
My icon, a combination of Julius Caesar and the hair of Stalin with random googled eyes, is still awesome.

It would be rather amusing if someone were to make an attempt to deify Richard Dawkins. That said, I've yet to see the man misstep in a debate. Perhaps ... oh, never mind.

I really have nothing else to say.

Not feeling well today.
Canceling all previously established plans.

News:
1st. I am employed and have been for the last two weeks. Training is eight weeks long.
2nd. I own Spore.
3rd. I now have, in my possession, an Apple Newton MessagePad 2100.

End.

This entry posted using the antiquated QWERTY layout, to see if I can still use it . . .

I'm, at best, a lawn-chair economist (and not a nice one, either - it's probably one of those dinky dust-covered plastic contraptions), but reading Wikipedia's entry on The Great Depression and comparing to the present day situation shows an uncanny number of parallels, such as:

• People living beyond their means to keep up with the Joneses* next door, hence large credit debt.


• The failure and collapse of large numbers of banks.


• The decline in industry, principly in the automotive sector, although for differing reasons.


• The total and complete failure of Capitalism.

Okay, so I added the last one in there to troll - as I am apt to please myself through such deeds. But there are some significant parallels that are rather unsettling.

Additionally, my WoW account has run out. I'm not renewing it. I have found other ways to sate myself, but I really don't feel like spending the time and energy to re-establish what I had on Blizzard's servers. I blame the mages.

I believe that is sufficient to communicate my thoughts.

P.S. QWERTY sucks.

Here we see a field, represented by the brown texture. The field is a crop of plants represented by a familiar leaf. To the left and right of the field are two running bodies of water, on either bank of these bodies of water are fig trees. Among the fig trees are people tossing apples into the field. At the far end of the field are mountains, represented by the darker stuff on the right.

What is the point of this? GENIUS, I tell you.

A lot of inspiration comes while doing a repetitive task like plowing and farming. The apple tossing is in the hope that those doing the plowing and farming get hit on the head, like Newton. The fig trees are the trees under which a sage became an enlightened one. The water is there as the movement of water has served as inspiration, too - same for the mountains. And the leaves - well, people have had interesting thoughts around drugs.

So! This is it!

Working in this field will revolutionize mankind.

While I've scant doubt that intelligences immeasurably superior to my own will scrutinize and critique these words harshly, I believe otherwise. Here is what I will say.

I'm bothered and annoyed by the fact that there are religions out there who are able to hold a copyright on printed religious works whilst at the same time -being- a religion. Religions are the spiritual interpretation of universal truths, and the ethical codes founded upon said interpretations. The important, operative word here is "universal". Perhaps, the point is lost on those naive enough to fall for a bag of lies, but I will make it clear by analogy.

Arithmetic is a field of mathematics with absolute laws governing the additions, subtractions, multiplications and other manipulations of numerical values. The laws that govern those manipulations are universal truths, albeit of a non-spiritual nature (unless you're in a Pythagorean cult - which would be cool, you triangle-worshiping carpetbagger). In any case, the idea of copyrighting mathematics would be unthinkable. Imagine having to pay a licensing fee every time you added two numbers, or being told you couldn't pursue further mathematical thought because it was owned by someone else and to do so was heresy against the Math God, Dodecehedron III. Okay, so maybe my analogies don't tug at the heartstrings like those who're better able at that. But, math has probably saved more lives than any faith ever has or ever will.

The point being, how can a universal truth be owned and locked away? How can truth be proprietary? Truth is truth, self-evident. You can't own the basic spiritual ideas of a culture. If anything, copyright on religious works stinks of a need to control more than a need to safeguard truth.

Of course, the primary example of this is the "Church" of Scientology. There's an organization that hides behind religion in order to denounce its critics as religious bigots whilst using copyrights to hide the inanity of its materials from the general public. If there is truth it need not cower in the dark corners of the earth.

With infinite complacency men went to and fro about the globe, confident of their empire over this world. Yet, in their holy places, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely drew their plans against us.

I've been hoping to find completeness in myself before ever deciding to pursue romance and intimacy. It's, perhaps, why I invented that Ethé Ra notion. Most belief systems that exist don't fully reflect my views. So, I wanted to build my own, make it logical and consistent and then live up to it and derive purpose from it.

The hard part is, one can't find completeness if one can't forgive one's self. I suppose it's a matter of viewing each mistake as a mar in marble. Something that can't be erased, it's inherently there. And time is your sculptor - not you. So time weathers the mar, smoothes out the bits you'd rather were never there to begin with.

But it takes too long.

Anymore, understanding is more important than time.
I don't want to build empires, faiths, or change worlds.
I just want to be understood.
And perhaps, in that, find someone who shares in my values.

I know there's cabin fever, but are there any documented cases of basement fever?

I is bored.

Payment the first, due June 6th.
Also, I'll be around to get the camping arrangements negotiated.

Comments from a Digg Article about improving gaming - some funny, some insightful.

"Jolly good chainsaw you have there chap! I hope to meet it with my neck once again in the near future!"

---

"When you care about something, of course you are the first person to point out its problems and what needs fixing."

If only people felt this way about topics other than video games. This kind of opinion labels you anti-American in politics for instance.

---

To me the real problem in online gaming is the ridiculous desire to win at all costs that results in team stacking and often hacking and cheating. I cannot for the life of me understand how a game is fun when its as easy as pissing, or easier? How does that stroke your ego? "yeah I shot a bunch of fish in a barrel today, I totally pwn!" I get bored and feel guilty and switch sides usually when I'm on a team that is winning by streets, even though I rarely contribute much. The most fun is had in balanced games, for winners and losers, I don't understand why so few people think this way?

I doubt anyone see why, but Edward Bernays was, perhaps, one of the most maliciously calculating men ever to have lived.

And yet so many people would vigorously defend the evolution of his contributions to human culture because it's their identity.

No one would see what he did as creating a cult-like mentality, but I do, in a manner.

Pisses me off too, because it works oh so well.

For some reason, Batman (or myself, it's hard to tell) was in Western Australia. While there, I/He was talking with the local residents. I kept seeing this monkey who would walk around on their shoulders and tease them. Without really noticing it, one of the residents looked quite simian himself and he would, from time to time, appear to be whispering with the monkey.

Suddenly, the Ape-Whisperer pushes a button and this mechanical suit envelops him - at which point he announces that he's APEMAN, some kind of local super hero, I suppose. APEMAN fires some kind of jet-pack on his back and flies up into the cockpit of an aircraft that speeds by.

I, being Batman, shoot a grappling hook at Apeman's craft and start climbing the line. Why this is done, I don't know. It does, however, turn out to be a good thing. Apeman is actually a villain as I soon find out.

The flight continues until we approach a hangar, both open ends of which are attached / end in, sea-side type docks. We come in for a landing and he somehow dislodges me, turns about and starts shooting. I dive into the water . . . and it gets fuzzy here.

Eventually, I'm in a vehicle, which is flooding and I'm saying something like "What the hell? The doors are locked? They never locked up when the car's flooding before." Anyway, I kick my way out of the flooding car and start running along a hedgerow, hiding behind them to avoid whatever pursuit may be following me.

Some kids walk by. I talk to them and eventually about six of them are involved in my plight. By this point, I'm now running toward a University's Campus that greatly resembles UVSC (U?). I run in and want to head toward the highest building on the campus, which somewhat resembles a Mayan Ziggurat. The kids don't quite understand my purpose, so I explain that a high vantage point makes it easier to see my pursuers.

Eventually, as I'm crawling the maze of stairs on campus, I meet my dad who (and somehow, I'm no longer Batman) says something like "I thought I'd find you here." He's not disappointed; he almost says it half jokingly. (How he found me in the middle of Western Australia is best left to the inventors of such devices as GPS, compasses and Cheeze-Whiz).

Upon leaving the bathroom (which was really a bathroom within a bathroom - those Aussies are weird) I end up near the Ziggurat's inside, which happens to be hosting a graphics arts conference - oddly enough two of my friends are attending. I talk to them, and we decide to take some seats to blend in.


The speaker gets up and begins announcing that a special visitor was bringing in six children for their experiment. As I'm the only one to have brought in six children and I arrived rather late, they assume that's me and begin to escort the children I'd brought in to the front of the room toward those sort of desks one sees in libraries that are used for studying. The children's heads are covered in that goo one uses to improve electrical conductivity...

The speaker continues for a while and the children are brought around front again. As the speaker talks, and mentions various words, the children's appearances would change. One of them, upon hearing the word "devil" began to grow fleshy horn-like lumps on the back of his head and noticed that we were staring at him. At one point, he runs up to me and in this very demonic voice starts asking if I've a problem with him.

That's about when I wake up.

As most of you know, I hate work and get depressed about the idea of having to do multiple decades of it to scrape by. Name some jobs that don't suck. Go!

Any suggestions are welcome. I saw a list and a field as odd as volcanology struck some interest, until I realized I'd have to work.

Any job that could contribute to the ideas in Marshall T. Savage's stellar work would be of even greater interest so long as I can supervise others doing them!

I've upgraded to one of the Firefox 3.0 Beta builds and, with the Nightly Tester Tools, have been able to preserve -most- of my addons or find equivalent replacements.

It's -fast-. Insanely fast really. I've never seen any page render in more than 2 seconds so far. Granted, I have Fasterfox installed and enabled. But even before I enabled it, this browser was zipping along.

The zoom is like Opera's. (FINALLY). The UI fits in beautifully with OS X - one of the team's goals was to make it fit in better with whatever OS it was running on. That's definitely a success. It actually FEELS like a native Application now.

Even given that I am using a utility to make incompatible extensions compatible (which should cause instability) it runs very solidly for me. If you're running an older version of Firefox, it's worth the update:

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html (Browser)

-and-

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6543 (Nightly Tester Tools)