My Most EPIC Broke Down Adventure...

Summer, 1996, was before my ol 72 bus took a dump on me. NW of Tucson, AZ rolling round the desert roads. We started not too far from Avra Valley, off Pipeline Rd and were just cruising the desert roads. After awhile I was going down a very small inclined dirt road, hit a small pot hole and my RH ball joint popped out. Couldn't steer the bus, she just kinda slid into a Palo Verde tree and snapped it in 2 (was about 8 inches thick too) Put a 10" dent in the front, no biggee. Luckily I had a few friends with as I had crap for a jack. After about 30min of messing with the RH BJ I got it to pop back in.

By then, the sun was gettin kinda low, so we decided to get outta there. Needless to say, we were having a little too much fun and forgot which turns/roads we took to get out there. After 45min of driving, aimlessly, the veil of night began to cover us. We find what looked like a 'main' road and take it. It goes and goes, hill after hill, grrrr. So, I decide, maybe we should turn around? Bad idea, right as I try and crank the wheel to U-Turn, I hit a rock and out pops the RH BJ again, I roll down the hill backwards and come to a stop.

We pile out, knowing what we need to do, though we are more tired than earlier this afternoon. An hour or so later and I got it to pop back in by use of VW bus force, I got super frustrated and decided to rock the bus (ever so slightly) while my buds straightened the wheel with some big branches. Somehow, we succeeded and that stubborn BJ popped back in.

We pissed on our fire (used for light) kicked some sand on it and got the crap outta there. Not 5 min into driving we see a set of headlights, though lone, they were still headlights. After convincing ourselves that it would be a good idea to ask these complete strangers in the middle of nowhere for directions, we drive a lil closer and one of my friends and I get out to ask them for assistance.

Heh, turns out they were 'lost' as well, but they had a map. The ultra-uber funny thing is and still puzzles me to this day is, they were from Canada (with Canadian plates) and they were lost in the southern Arizona desert?

Turns out, we ended up a stones throw away from I-10 (we were west of the hwy) not too far from Eli, just a tad north of Picacho Peak, some 40 miles north of where we started. What a day...

picture courtesy of www.ratwell.com

At-Home Activism for Proposition 19

Ways to Activity support Proposition 19,
from the comforts of your home.

A Historical Election day is fast approaching! The great state of California is going against recent government policy, and is allowing voters to vote on a proposition based on facts! Proposition 19 proposes the legalization of Marijuana for adults over the age of 21.

There are many benefits to passing this proposition, two of which are extremely important:

• The mighty green (Marijuana) will generate a lot of mighty green ($$$) for the government (AKA: Taxes).

• Police will not have the authority to arrest or ticket adults over the age of 21 for possessing Marijuana, leading to less traffic in our courts and a large decrease in the prison population. Police and Courts will have resources and manpower to uphold the law in other areas, such as finding, dismantling, arresting, and convicting real drug criminals, such as the Meth, Heroin, and Crack suppliers. They will finally have resources and manpower to solve murders, find missing people, keep the peace, ect.

This site has all sorts of information on Proposition 19.

Another benefit to passing Proposition 19 will be that California will be the first state EVER to legalize marijuana because the VOTERS decided what their rights are, regardless of what the Federal Government decides our rights should be. This huge step will open the eyes of other states that are not so Marijuana friendly, paving the road for unfriendly states to at the very least, allow Medical Marijuana or at the most, replace the “No Tolerance” policy with a "Decriminalized" policy.

Not every marijuana lover lives in a “marijuana friendly” state. Many states are still "No Tolerance" and will imprison a person for the possession of marijuana, even if it is just a pinner joint. Yes, the Courts will place that person in jail with the Meth, Heroin, and Crack users. Hopefully the person imprisoned has no family members who may be effected by the fact that this said person decided to smoke a joint at some point, and things went terribly wrong. (you know, someone smelt an “odor” and BOOM! You find yourself in jail and your dog got shot by the PoPo during the "raid".) It happens people, all the time. Let's not forget how many parents each year who are imprisoned for marijuana possession yearly. Passing Proposition 19 will mean that LESS CHILDREN WILL LOOSE THEIR PARENTS and VIS VERSA.

The problem with trying to get a Proposition of any kind passed all comes down to the VOTERS. That means YOU and ME! It is our job to vote on Proposition 19 and/or get the word out to others about the importance of voting YES for Proposition 19. There are quite a few ways to help the cause.

Being a anti-social person, I have discovered quite a few ways to actively help support Proposition 19 from the comforts of my Laptop. Mind you, I do not even live anywhere near California, but I see the importance of this election.

Although I can not be a voter on this, I can still educate and pass the word. SO CAN YOU!!!

Election Day: NOVEMBER 2nd, 2010

Ways to help:

Call various people in California to get the word our about Proposition 19. This is perfect for those who are good on the phone and can read a script. Super easy, and FUN!!!

All of these sites have all sorts of information on ways to help Proposition 19, even from the comforts of your home.

Good Luck and Peace

~IttyBittyTittyCommitee 10/25/2010

the Sanctimonious one...

Let me introduce myself, I am Sanctimonious (no, thats NOT my real name), though sometimes I wish it were. For those of you who don't know, here is the definition of sanctimonious;

sanc·ti·mo·ni·ous [sangk-tuh-moh-nee-uhs], adjective

1.	making a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, righteousness, etc.: They resented his sanctimonious comments on immorality in America.

2.	Obsolete. holy; sacred.

Origin: 1595–1605; sanctimony + -ous,

—Related forms

sanc·ti·mo·ni·ous·ly, adverb

sanc·ti·mo·ni·ous·ness, noun

sources: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.


Now that I am done giving that small lesson, let me continue. I am here to voice my opinion, which I feel is also the same as many others(yet are afraid to let their opinions be heard) out there and NOT just Americans like myself, I am talking about people from all walks of life, from all over the world. Heck, maybe even multiple universes for that matter, but for the most part lets stick with Earth. Which wont inhabit man for much longer if we keep thrashing our home.
Be prepared for some seriously juicy content, as I will NOT try to be politically correct whatsoever! I have a journalistic background and my writers block is finally lifting. Consider my articles within this blog to be purely "editorial" in style and HIGHLY opinionated as well as somewhat controversial.

Stay tuned...

Spam, Spoof and Phishing Emails, MUST GO AWAY!

Spam, spoof and phishing emails must cease and desist once and for all. The amount of these emails grows daily and the threat is ever increasing. Too many people are falling prey to these online predators and penalties need to be assessed be the countries that allow hosting companies to host these websites and email servers.

Should this issue be left to the general populace to deal with? Many people feel that enacting yet another law will cost them too much by raising taxes or adding fees to some services; therefore they usually choose not to pass such laws. For the most part, for every new law or act that is passed, there is usually some type of tax stimulus act to go in place to ‘counter’ the fees imposed.

The thought of my taxes going up is unnerving, to say the least; albeit, I would rather see a little less money upfront, rather than having thousands of dollars in debt because of a case of stolen identity. Even worse, imagine your aging relative falling prey to such online criminals trying to access the pictures of the Walt Disney World trip you just emailed to them.

Ever since September 11^th, 2001, our nation has bolstered its defenses at home as well as abroad. The Homeland Security Act was enacted in 2002 in light of the 9/11 World Trade Center happenings and is there to prevent terrorists attacks, reduce vulnerability to such attacks, and to minimize damage and assist in recovery when such acts of terrorism occur within the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already implemented the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) and the United States-Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). These cyber criminals need to be found, charged and prosecuted in order to resolve/lessen the spam, spoof and phishing threat many Americans face daily.

Most people, companies and organizations do a majority of their business through online transactions. Now, imagine your financial institution of choice uses the internet to transfer funds to and from its various branch locations. Now suppose the interface for requesting such transactions has been spoofed. Your money, along with that of many others, will be lining the pockets of these online terrorists behind such vile acts. Sure we have Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect our assets, but what happens when the FDIC itself is spoofed?

With the implementation of programs such as NCSD and US-CERT, monitoring and safeguarding our great nation’s online infrastructure, citizens can feel more at ease when surfing the web and making online transactions. Even still, without worldwide help in eliminating these online terrorists, the threat may not be as great, but it still looms on the horizon.

To Police the Internet or Not?

Online acts of terrorism such as spam, spoof and phishing emails must cease and desist once and for all. The amount of these emails grows daily and the threat is ever increasing. Too many people are falling prey to these online predators and penalties need to be assessed be the countries that allow hosting companies to host these websites and email servers. Many forms of cyber-surveillance and security are being developed by a few organizations determined to put an stop to these acts of crime online.

Should this type of online fraud and deceit be left to the general populace to deal with? Many people feel that enacting yet another law will cost them too much by raising taxes or adding fees to some services; therefore they usually choose not to pass such laws. For the most part, for every new law or act that is passed, there is usually some type of tax stimulus act to go in place to ‘counter’ the fees imposed.
The thought of my taxes going up is unnerving, to say the least; albeit, I would rather see a little less money upfront, rather than having thousands of dollars in debt because of a case of stolen identity. Even worse, imagine your aging relative falling prey to such online criminals trying to access the pictures of the Walt Disney World trip you just emailed to them or being tricked into sending their bank account info to a ‘needful relative’.
Ever since September 11^th, 2001, our nation has bolstered its defenses at home as well as abroad. The Homeland Security Act was enacted in 2002 in light of the 9/11 World Trade Center happenings and is there to prevent terrorists attacks, reduce vulnerability to such attacks, and to minimize damage and assist in recovery when such acts of terrorism occur within the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already implemented the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) and the United States-Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). These cyber criminals need to be found, charged and prosecuted in order to resolve/lessen the spam, spoof and phishing threat many Americans face daily.
Most people, companies and organizations do a majority of their business through online transactions. Now, imagine your financial institution of choice uses the internet to transfer funds to and from its various branch locations. Now suppose the interface for requesting such transactions has been spoofed. Your money, along with that of many others, will be lining the pockets of these online terrorists behind such vile acts. Sure we have Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect our assets, but what happens when the FDIC itself is spoofed?
With the implementation of programs such as NCSD and US-CERT, monitoring and safeguarding our great nation’s online infrastructure, citizens can feel more at ease when surfing the web and making online transactions. Even still, without worldwide help in eliminating these online terrorists, the threat may not be as great, but it still looms on the horizon.

World Wide Web of Games

Whatever happened to a good old fashioned game of stick ball or kick the can? These days the local neighborhood playgrounds are not as populated as they were a few generations ago. Most kids (of all ages) can usually be found playing video games on gaming consoles or PC’s (personal computers). With the help of the internet, there is no longer a need to congregate at a friend’s house to play a couple rounds of video games. Instead, friends meet up online at their favorite server and get their game on.

Before the invention of home television electronic game (“electronic game”, 2009) consoles in the early 1970’s, the only kinds of games people were playing were coin-operated pinball and arcade machines at the local convenience stores, theaters and burger joints. Ever since even the earliest home games, such as Pong; people have been totally captivated with video games. The Magnavox Odyssey was the first home video game console being introduced to the public in 1972. The Odyssey featured a game of Ping Pong (“Pong” 2009), otherwise known as table-tennis, in which two people could play against each other on their home television. A small American company called Atari Inc. produced a very similar arcade version called Pong. Magnavox sued Atari in 1974 for stealing the concept for Pong. Although, in 1977 Magnavox had von the lawsuit against Atari; Atari Inc. had licensed the patent from Magnavox for $700,000. In the early 1980’s, the home video game market exploded. The Atari had staked its claim in 1977 with the Atari 2600 Video Computer System (VCS) which carried Pong and a few other titles. Nintendo came onto the scene with its Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (also called just a Nintendo) and enthralled children, juveniles and adults across the globe with its best selling, side-scrolling plat-former Super Mario Brothers. Dozens of other companies popped up producing their version of the almighty Nintendo. Through the years, the only true competitor to the Nintendo system was the glorious Playstation manufactured by the Sony Corporation under Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). The Playstation was the first console to offer networking capabilities available on the Playstation 2 (PS2) console in the 1990’s.

Since the introduction of the Internet to the public in the 1990’s video games have evolved in many ways. Not only can you play games on home game systems such as the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2 or the PS3, as well as Microsoft Corporations Xbox and Xbox 360, but home PC’s and laptops have many great offerings to tantalize even the most hardcore gamers (also known as core gamers). Whether playing pool against a few friends on a simple game engine running in a web-browser or gunning down the blue team playing Team Fortress 2 on a complex game engine such as the Valve Corporation’s Source Engine (“Valve Source”, 2009); the internet is an integral part of a gamers’ life today. Even one of the most played games in the world such as World of Warcraft, also known as WoW, uses the internet as to bring players of all shapes and sizes together in one battleground. Most games you buy for the PC and consoles only have to be paid for once, there are some that charge a monthly access fee(usually around $15.00 a month), World of Warcraft and City of Heroes (CoH)and Eve Online to name a few. Microsoft Corporation has even picked up on the Pay-Per Month idea with their up and coming Xbox 360 and the Xbox Live (“Xbox Live”, 2009) network which costs around $5.00 a month. Nintendo and Playstation jumped in on the bandwagon as well with very similar console based networks.

The future of gaming is an ever expanding universe and that universe is expanding exponentially. As today’s lightning fast PC’s technology is near doubling every 6 months and the features offered by today’s hottest selling home game console’s gets better and better with each new release. Thirty years ago, we only dreamed of playing a video game in a virtual environment let alone the ability to view a virtual world in a full stereoscopic 3-D viewing experience. Nvidia, a major graphics cards and chipset manufacturer, embodied this very idea in their new technology known as Nvidia GeForce Vision (“Vision”, 2009). To most core gamers, the ability to see in 3-D while in-game would be a great advantage as well as even further immerse you (the player) into the game. The gaming market in the computer industry is what drives the further development of newer and better technologies. Competition between companies such as AMD’s ATi, Intel and Nvidia helps curb the prices as well; allowing the price of performance PC’s down, thus forth sponging capital from the console market.

Since the internet was introduced, it was many different things, from a shopping mall, to a meeting place as well as a mailbox. Thanks to innovation, creativity and the desire to play video games with other players not in your home, the internet is also referred to as a playground. A place to meet your friends online at your favorite game servers IP address and play a couple rounds of some fast paced first-person shooter types such as Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead or Battlefield 2142. Other popular games such as World of Warcraft and City of Heroes have worlds very similar to our own within the game; they allow you to design your own characters whether it is male female, a hero or villain. Many days of game play go into leveling and building your character, aka toon, up to its full potential. Then there are the serious RPG (role playing game) gamers that spend hours online with friends just planning their next online in-game escapade including details you would find at some confidential top secret meeting at the Pentagon.

AMD vs. Intel

There are many choices these days when it comes to buying a personal computer and with the ever-expanding technology of processor development it can be a difficult choice to choose between manufacturers. The two biggest names in the computer industry are AMD (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) and Intel Corporation, both of which are American based companies. With both manufacturers developing better and faster chips, the decision on which product to buy can be difficult.

Whether you are looking for the more traditional x86 (32-bit) processor, or the enthusiasts x64 (64-bit) processor technology, both AMD and Intel have multiple x86 and x64 CPU’s (central processing units) to choose from. Though AMD is known for taking the helm when it comes to x64 technology, Intel has decided they would like a piece of the x64 market as well. With Intel’s i7 Core and AMD’s Phenom II CPU’s, you can have both 32- and 64-bit technologies on a single chip.

The hottest CPU’s on the market today happen to be of very complex design. No longer are the days of being limited to a single-core CPU. There has been an influx of multi-core processors since the introduction of the first dual-core processors a few years ago. Say good bye to the antiquated Pentium 4 (P4) single-core CPU and say hello to the double-, triple-, quad- core CPU. The most common multi-core processor in use today happens to be a common household item, the Playstation 3 (PS3). The PS3 boasts an awesome 8-core Cell processor and its close rival, Microsoft Corporation’s Xbox 360 has a tri-core Xeon CPU.

Not only have processors doubled and quadrupled in core-capacity, they have also been getting smaller with each new progression. The Pentium 4 of 2002 was built on the 130nm process (nanometer) and today’s CPU’s such as the Intel i7 Core and AMD’s Phenom II are using the 45nm process. The next generation of processors will shrink even further in size as there is already a 32nm and 22nm process being developed.

It’s no wonder that Intel sits atop the hill known as the CPU market. No matter what AMD dishes out, Intel always one-ups them. Intel’s much faster; more intelligent multi-core technologies deliver higher performance benchmarks across the board when compared to AMD’s top chips. The i7 Core 940 packs a wallop at a blazing 2.93GHz per core speed; while the Phenom II x4 940 cleans up, ringing in at3.0GHz. Intel one-upped AMD with the release of their latest, the Core i7 Extreme Edition and it's lightning fast 3.20GHz per core speed.

When it comes to purchasing a computer, the price plays a big role in the decision of the consumer. Not every consumer is going to buy the same computer. Although most computers bought today have very similar features to each other, there is no “one size fits all”. Being one of the first chip suppliers in America, Intel capitalized on that and has all but cornered the market in CPU production. In order for AMD to stay afloat in today’s market, they have had to put smaller price tags on all their products. Thus forth, meaning, smaller prices equals bigger sales. Watch out Intel.