TheJoey.Net

What’s wrong with this picture? Well besides some poor design decisions I’m seeing, let’s take a look at the main, in your face story. “WiFi: Children at risk from ‘electronic smog’.” What now? First of all, why is it just kids? Adults aren’t? O wait- This UK magaize, The Independant on Sunday, needs to sell the story. Not to mention, in the story I read on Engadget, it says the UK’s education department is also attacking WiFi, shutting them down in schools because of the apparent danger.

If there is a threat, I’d say it’s probably good that it’s being investigated. My fear, however, is that this will turn into another “Cell phones cause brain tumors” pandemic. And what good came from that? If there was an eminent threat, isn’t it possible that we would start seeing the effects in some people? WiFi has been around for a while now, and other devices that use the same frequencies as WiFI have been around much longer. But this story of course comes along with others proclaiming the ‘evils’ of WiFi. Did you hear Utah wants to criminalize unsecured [or open] WiFi networks?

According to another story on Engadget,

Utah lawmakers are considering “penalizing those who leave their wireless networks open” as they trial “various methods of quelling free speech controlling questionable internet content.”

This brings us to an important ethics question: Do we punish the person who is doing the action or the means by which they do it? There is a movement out there where people are not securing their WiFi networks as a sign of openness/freedom. And it should be my right to keep my WiFi open if I choose. For example, my Xbox 360 (for some odd reason), doesn’t really like WPA encryption. So I keep mine free for that reason (and a few others). Should I be punished as a criminal for that?

Utah lawmakers want to control questionable internet content. Does that mean they are going to limit what Internet users in Utah can view? That seems very Communist China. While I feel this probably won’t pass, it’s bad that states are thinking of taking legislation of this type seriously. It will become a slippery slope for everyone involves, especially the user. Don’t you agree?

posted on April 23rd, 2007 in Computer Stuff, Manifesto| No Comments »

Don Imus

Everyone invariably knows about the ‘controversy’ surrounding Don Imus. He made a comment about The Lady Rutgers basketball team (on a side note, one most of the media shuns him for saying, but repeats it every chance they get). Now he’s been on Al Sharpton’s show and has been suspended for two weeks. Many are calling for him to be fired. And why? Because it was offensive? It was wrong? Maybe. Because they are too sensitive? More likely. In a politically correct world, everything is offensive to someone.

I’m not saying what he said wasn’t wrong. Sure, it was kind of racist and a little sexist. Should he be fired? NO. People make comments like that all the time. Sure he said it on the radio. But it’s nothing people haven’t heard before. And it’s his job to do the whole ’shock jock’ thing. Imus getting fired would say a whole hell of a lot about our freedom of speech.

And I can see it now. People will say I don’t understand. These girls were attacked. So is everyone. I get called out for my weight all the time. I’ve even been called a ‘greasy haired Italian.’ What do you want me to do? Get all upset? Round up all the fat Italians in America and protest? Those people aren’t worth my time. I fire some comment back at them and leave. And granted, this is a different situation. Imus is in the public eye. So is, for example, every rapper and pop artist. And they say things much more offensive than ‘nappy headed ho.’ I hate to break it to you, but Kelis’s ‘Mikeshake’ is not a dessert. Fergie isn’t singing about the architectural structure. Eminem isn’t sining about kill….O wait. He really is sining about killing his wife. So why crucify Imus?

Do Sharpton and Jackson really feel victimized by Imus’s comments? Probably not. They just play the race card…A LOT. That is indisputable. Should Imus apologize to the girls? Sure. That was kind of a shitty comment. I don’t think he should have been suspended. And if he gets fired, well then that’s something to protest about.

posted on April 11th, 2007 in Manifesto, News, Politics| No Comments »

This week at the University of Scranton (and perhaps others) is “Homelessness and Hunger Week.” It’s a week to raise awareness. I have serious gripes about these sort of things. What exactly is proactive about telling people the homeless exist? We know that. But what really bothers me is the “Solidarity Sleep Out” they are having tonight.

This is basically an event where people can go spend the night outside to “raise awareness about homelessness,” to quote the facebook event. Great. So you pick a day in late March to sleep outside and say “Hey, we understand what you’re going through.” Later the event is described as “a big sleepover.” Yeah, lots of people do this. It’s called camping, and I don’t think the homeless will benefit from it at all. You’re basically saying, “I can sleep outside on a safe campus on a nice day.” If you really want to help the homeless, why not invite them to sleep in a spare room? Or put money towards a new shelter. Raise money and help build a new shelter. Habitat for Humanity does stuff like that all the time. Further their cause. But don’t sleep outside in “solidarity” when you actually have no idea what they go through. I am not saying I do. I’m not pretending though.

This goes for all “awareness” weeks. I feel like they do nothing but shove one group’s agenda down your throat without actually doing something constructive to further the cause. Feel free to argue with me in the comments. Prove me wrong. Or support me. I don’t care. Just try to keep it clean.

posted on March 28th, 2007 in Manifesto| No Comments »

Recently (after I left school for Christmas, but before I got back on Jan. 2nd), all Adelphia customers were switched to Comcast’s service, as Adelphia was bought out by Comcast. From the time I got back, the internet was noticeably slower, but I thought at first it was my router, which has also been functioning incorrectly. However, I got the router situation resolved and my internet connection still blows. And it’s not just me.

My teachers have been complaining about service outages because they do not use the router issued by the company, and when Comcast says it’s fixed, it’s really not. My neighbors and friends have also been complaining about slower service, as well as all these people.

From the normal stuff I’ve been doing, I am downloading at ~30-50kbps, but have dipped as long as 10. Website loads take much longer than they should, and when I try remote access to my computer to stream music from it (post on that later), I have trouble. The image you see above took 15 seconds to upload. It’s an 8KB image. But don’t worry. I don’t have important things to do like develop websites, write reports, do projects, or 100 other things that require a decent internet connection. One that I happen to be paying for.

I am in Scranton, PA having these problems. If you are here too, I would recommend switching to Verizon if possible. I am not sure where Comcast covers, but is anyone else having trouble with the service?

posted on January 30th, 2007 in Business, Computer Stuff, Manifesto| | show comments » « hide comments

In the last couple of months I have picked up a bunch of new albums, went to a few shows, and heard some of the worst music in my life. While I would love to just rip into the bad/ugly, I guess we will start with the good.

The Good

Of all of the music I have been listening to over the last couple of months, there are two albums that really stick out. The first one is My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade. While I was not really a fan their last CD (though love a few choice songs), The Black Parade is one of my favorites. The songs “Mama” and “Teenagers” will get you pumped with their intense riffs and lyrics. The songs like “Cancer” and “Sleep” will immediately bring you down with their calmer, sadder lyrics. The whole CD is opened by “The End,” a precursor to what you are in for.

The Next CD is Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell III. This CD is absolutely amazing. Classic Meat Loaf with more electric guitar is a great combination. And his version of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” is just fantastic. The songs are of rock, hope, and of course, love [making]. If you love Meat Loaf (or great music), this is a cd you have to pick up. Other music of note includes: Straylight Run and Anbelin- 2 CD I think are also pretty great.

The Bad/The Ugly

I try not to buy CDs that aren’t good, but it happens. For instance, Hinder. I was fooled by “Lips of an Angel,” which admittedly, I like. However, the rest of the CD sounds exactly the same, and just like Nickleback. This of-course, was widely disappointing. And I didn’t buy it, but I was also pretty upset with New Found Glory’s new CD, Coming Home

That was the bad- here is the Ugly: Anything written by Fergie or Gwen Steffani. Their latest songs, “Fergilicious” and “Wind it up” respectively, are two of the worst songs I have ever heard. And these are songs that are doing pretty well on the charts. Fergie, it is expected from because she set her standards to “My Humps” and “Don’t Funk with my Heart.” But Gwen? She used to be good. No Doubt was amazing. Now she just sings shitty songs, and her voice is processed and she is like every other bad pop singer out there. It’s a damn shame. Later!

posted on November 18th, 2006 in Manifesto, Reviews| | show comment » « hide comment