Maggie's Farm

Bad news, I guess.

For the time being, I've decided to split the difference and keep the Internet line but dump some other things (I was actually getting a little tired of Netflix anyway), enabling me to further corrode your mind with inane movie reviews, subliminally imply you should dump your job to concentrate full-time on engaging computer games, warp and usurp your very being by tempting you to leave the warm bosom of alcohol and join the ranks of the pothead, ravage and destroy your last vestige of reason with a heartwarming post on the swastika — and that's not to mention filling your sleep with nightmares of gigantic, human-gobbing insects.

So I plan to be busy.

Also, under the heading of "Duh!", my thanks to BobZ for mentioning starting up a wi-fi from scratch.  I had tried a unit out, just to see if there was anything around, but I hadn't thought of getting one of the line-of-sight neighbors around me to let me hook into their (duh!) Comcast cable line (!), then beam me a signal.  I'll have to shell out for the hook-up, but it looks like the service, itself (as an add-on to the cable line), is only $20/mo, so I'll start asking around.  It'll be wi-fi slow, but what price, freedom?

I'll be on the road today, but have a couple of promised goodies ready for tomorrow and Friday.  My post tomorrow on 'Meaningless Words' is a hoot.

Again, my deepest thanks to those who donated a little something to help me out of this bind, and if I can get a wi-fi going and dump the expensive Internet company, I should definitely be in the clear.  This morning I'm going up to Homestead to talk to another prospective web site client, so things are lookin' good.  I also made an appointment for next Friday at the hospital to do some extensive blood tests.

In the meantime, here are two of the best AGW articles I've read in a while:

The Climate Circus Leaves Town

The Real Deniers of Climate Change

I think we can all agree that it's sad when a religion enters its death throes.

With the gun control measure failing miserably in the Senate, it's thought that the next thing Congress will turn its attention to is an online sales tax.

Senate planning vote on Internet sales tax bill

Internet sales tax faces Senate vote, Obama backs

Marketplace Fairness Act, Bill To Tax Online Sales, Moves Toward Senate Vote

Like that.

As the bloggers fall all over themselves decrying this outrage to humanity, bear in mind that the entire sales tax issue is inconsequential compared to what's really going on.

I thought the following deserved a repost at this point in time.

Congress has only been talking about taxing online goods for, oh, about as long as the online has existed.  But without any kind of precedent or track record to go from, they could never pull it off.

Until now.

A wave of states, including Virginia, have passed laws that will require consumers to pay sales tax on all Internet purchases as soon as next year.

For states struggling in the troubled economy, this could mean $23 billion in new revenue each year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.  Had online retailers collected sales tax this year, Virginia would have added nearly $423 million to its coffers, while Maryland would have seen $376 million and the District $72 million, the group said.

Now they have a track record (at least on paper) to point to and, sure enough:

The movement in state capitals is driving newfound support for a proposed bill in Congress that could make collection of sales tax a standard practice on the Web, no matter where a consumer logs in to shop.

Like you, my hackles bristle reading such words, because the Web is supposed to be free, Free, FREE!  Always has been, always should be.

Or, should it?

Well, I just can't decide if I should go offline for a few months or not.  As I mentioned the other day, I need some expensive medical tests and dropping my $120/mo online fee and some other things (associated online services, Netflix, food) would save me about $300/mo, which is enough to keep the hospital happy as I rack up the costs from the tests.

Between a small handful of very appreciated donations, an unexpected check from the stock broker (one of the stocks I sold last summer had been held up in a court case) and getting a small retainer to construct a web site for a soon-to-be local businessman, I could stay online for now, but I'm worried that I'll be right back to square one in a couple of months, albeit this time with a large outstanding debt to the hospital that I'll have trouble paying.

Put another way, right now I feel great mentally but poor physically.  Assuming they find out what's wrong, I'll then feel great physically but poor mentally!

Pic: Artist's concept of Doc's life right now

If I'm going to suspend the Internet service, I have to call them before 6 pm today, so I'll think about it.  Any thoughts on your part are welcome.

On the subject (your thoughts), am I wrong in thinking there's absolutely no way to make money online outside of direct involvement, like webmastering?  I spent half a day investigating all of the "5 Ways To Make Money Online!" articles out there a while back and not one of them is actually viable.  I was thinking there might be a few things around, like the incredibly boring job of 'data input' (transferring data from paper or electronic forms into a database program), but I couldn't even find that.  If anyone has any thoughts on the subject, I'd be interested.

Like a lot of people, I draw a fairly distinct line between Science Fiction and Science Fantasy when it comes to books and movies.  As long as it's somewhat scientifically possible, it's good in my book.  Or movie, as the case may be.  Throw in a magical cube that can harness the power of the universe (this movie, the two 'Transformer' movies, etc, etc) and you've pretty much lost me.  Put another way, some guys are Batman guys, other guys are Superman or Green Lantern guys.

That's just how it is.

As a Batman guy, I've been fairly luke-cool to the rash of superhero movies that have hit the big screen in recent years (read: Hollywood is so out of fresh ideas that it's now making movies of comic books), with the one big exception being 'Thor', which earned its own review.

Each of the superheroes in 'The Avengers' has already had a movie or two, and this is the gang getting together to fight the deadliest foe of all.  You know, the guy with the magical universe-harnessing cube.

MTV Movie Awards: "The Avengers" Wins Movie of the Year

Meh.  See above.  It was okay, but when you've got vicious armed aliens pouring through an interdimensional hole in the sky, I think it loses a bit of its charm.

Discount all that, however, and it's a pretty good flick.  I wouldn't put it on my Recommended List (see above), but it certainly gets a nod for some excellent special effects and some very witty banter at times, especially when the irrepressible Robert Downey Jr. is around.

The reason I'm doing a review on it is because of two scenes that I thought were really well done and I thought I'd share them with you.  Both involve the very pressable Scarlett Johansson.

In the first one, they're speaking a bunch of Russian that's accompanied by on-screen subtitles in the movie.  They're talking about a couple of key players and their status in the Russian mob.  The head bad guy is so sure of himself that's he blabbing away.

Then the phone rings, spoiling everything.

In the second scene, the Avengers know Loki is going to use one of them as part of his evil plan, but the trick is to find out which one.

Obviously, the answer is to send in the master interrogator.

Very pressable.

Again, while being a bit too fantasy-y for my tastes, it has some great bits and the special effects are outstanding.  Certainly worth the rental.

We'll continue with 'The Big Bang' below the fold.

A 'simulation', or sim, is a computer game that mimics every aspect of real life.  Silent Hunter 4 places you inside a U.S. attack submarine smack-dab in the middle of World War II.  Everything about the sub (and its enemies) is true to reality; the time it takes to dive, to surface, to get up to speed, to stop, the turning radius, torpedo speeds, reloading time; everything.

Luckily, there's a speed-up option so you don't actually have to sit there staring at the computer screen for eight days while you cross the Pacific Ocean.  You'll see the speed-up used in a few places in the following video.  It's to note that this video is mostly comprised of scenes taken directly from the game, most using the 'external camera' view.  Click on the little symbol on the player's tool bar and watch it in full-screen mode.

But first, John Milton's 'On Time'.

Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy plummet's pace;
And glut thyself with what thy womb devours,

Which is no more then what is false and vain,
And merely mortal dross;
So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.

For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd,
And, last of all, thy greedy self consum'd,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss,
With an individual kiss.

And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When everything that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine,
With Truth, and Peace, and Love
Shall ever shine
About the supreme throne.

Of Him, t'whose happy-making sight alone
When once our heavenly-guided soul shall climb,
Then all this earthy grossness quit,
Attired with stars, we shall forever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance,
And thee, O Time.

And now the intro.

Admittedly, that's not your average game intro.

But, then, it's not actually a 'game', is it?  It's a sim.

In a game, you win or lose.

In a sim, you win or die.

Full article is here.

Ugh.  I think I'm going to have to give up my Internet connection for a while until I get well.  At $120/mo, it's my biggest expense after rent.  The reason it's so high is because I moved about a year ago and ended up behind the local cellphone tower, which, as it turns out, is very directional.  My faithful Verizon Wireless wouldn't work, nor would a Sprint unit I tried.  I hunted around and finally found a company that specializes in rural areas and I ended up with an actual box with a 3' antenna sitting on top of it.  While slow and expensive, at least it works.

As I noted a month ago, I've kind of peaked-out at around 75% recovery after my tumor operation last summer and the doctors want to run a whole slew of expensive tests.  You know how doctors and dentists are.  Money's no object in their little worlds.

Between ditching the Internet and some other things, I can save about $250/mo, which should enable me to keep up with the hospital payments so the tests can continue until they figure out what's wrong.  Thankfully, there's a nearby library that has a bunch of computers I can use for my webmastering maintenance job.  I might also make the occasional post here, but I'd hate the idea of not being able to read and respond to the comments.  That interaction is often the best part of blogging.

The cut-off date is Wednesday next week, so I don't have to make the decision immediately.  If anyone would like to help out this poor wretched soul, my tumor operation link is here.  Anything would be appreciated.  Cutting off my Internet is going to be like cutting off an arm, but I've got to do something.  Health is more important than anything else at this point.

I will, however, be (temporarily) leaving the online community with a flourish.  I have a handful of pieces I've been working on for a while, including a review and manual for the greatest 'war sim' ever developed, an existential treatise on the meaninglessness of certain words ("smarter" and "truth" top the list), and the revelation of an amazing secret being kept from 38 million Americans.  The right-wing bloggers have been pounding and pounding a certain false truth into you for a decade and, to their shame and disgrace, 38 million people have been kept from this great revelation.  This article will help balance the scales.  Look for it Friday as the week's 'capper'.

Also, another installment of History's Mysteries, this time dealing with that horrific Nazi swastika.  Fun for the whole family.  And, like the way I refer to my AGW opus as "the last article on global warming you'll ever need to read", similarly, I've written the last article on marijuana you'll ever need to read.  Remember, legalized pot is considered a lefty issue by the right-wing bloggers, because pot was popularized by all of those smelly radical left-wing hippies back in the day, so it's perfectly understandable if they spin the argument against it.  Hot Air (and Theo) ran an anti-pot video a while back that was so filled with outright lies, disingenuous lies, and lies by omission that it rivaled the worst of the AGW spewage.

And that's saying a lot.

So, there's your update.  I'll just be posting a Computin' Tip later on today.  The good stuff starts tomorrow and will run through next Tuesday.  After that, I cannot say.