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The first presidential election that I had the opportunity to vote in has come and gone, and in case you didn't hear, the guy I was going for didn't win. I spent the evening at the Alachua County Democrat headquarters, which was pretty cool, though as the night wore on the mood definitely got quieter. And while I can understand why people voted for Bush (just look at the statistics from the previous update) I would have hoped that enough people would have seen how bad he is for this country and for the world. The one bright spot however, is that the youth vote was overwhelmingly for Kerry, so perhaps this up and coming generation can try and turn the tide.
I was reading in US News and World Reports this morning while eating breakfast (half a candy bar, yay college!) about a survey was released, and 48% of people thought Bush was a uniter, and 48% thought he was a divider. Hmmmm
Gay marriage was on the ballot in eleven states as well, and it's morally outrageous to me that they all voted to ban it. And going even further, many of them banned any type of civil unions. Apparently the thought of two women being in love scares the ever living crap out of people. Oh noes, not love!!11 Forget the terrorists, your neighbors are who you should be truly afraid of. As I've said before, our children are going to look at this and wonder how we could have ever let this happen.
Also I'm tired of hearing liberal treated like a four letter word. Just look at the definition:
lib-er-al (adj)
1. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
2. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
And Bush tried to portray it as a "bad" word? Liberals are what drive change in the world to make it a better place. It was liberals that gave women and minorities their rights. It was liberals who fought for a cleaner environment and social security. It is liberals who believe in the pursuit of happiness for all people, even if they happen to like girls instead of guys or don't follow the same religious beliefs as the majority. I'm proud to be a liberal and refuse to stop fighting for what is fair and just in the world.
Finally, CNN has the results of the exit polls up to see how various groups voted. Interesting stuff.
Firefox 1.0 was released a few days ago, ready to stake it's claim on Microsoft's browser dominance. And with built in pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, and MUCH better security, I think it will give Internet Explorer a good run. It's amazing to see how far the Mozilla project (which Firefox is based off of) has gone. I've been using it since about Milestone 13 or so. So I haven't seen a pop-up window or had to worry about spyware from websites for over four years, at least on my own computer.
There's an interesting piece out on how journalists balance science and accuracy when reporting on new research and controversial subjects. It discusses that when scientists agree one on theory or idea, should newspapers feel obligated to mention dissenting opinions that have weak or no scientific proof. It's similar to the debate about teaching creationism in schools, which to me if that's allowed then why not throw in any random theory to make it extra fair?
Digitally Imported keeps getting better and better.
Yesterday I had my social dance class, learned some Salsa dances, went swing dancing, and played Dance Dance Revolution (which I broke one of my DDR pads a few weeks ago, so I'm down to just one). I think that explains why I was so tired when I went to bed last night.
Another update already? Can it be?!?!
Today was what may be my very last UF football game as a student. It depends on if I stay at Florida for grad school, or go to the University of Texas. Eitherway it's my last game as a Senior, and I've managed to not miss a single game in all four years, and stayed the entire time for each and every one of them. There's nothing like college football, and UF has one of the best crowds in the nation. And even though I still have at least another year and a half of school after this year, I'm already realizing how much I'm going to miss college. It's Great To Be A Florida Gator!
Yesterday I went down to Tampa to see my little brother as one of the lead actors in his high school's production of Grease. He's the one that looks like Marylin Manson with all the stage makeup on. It was really good for a high school production, and some of the singing was amazing, and the sets were very well done. I never did like the moral message it sends to the youth watching it though. They turn the nice awesome sweet girl into this hideous creature just to impress a guy who isn't worth it in the first place. I suppose it's truer to reality in that sense, but I can't stand the ending.
The Can Alligator. It was created to raise money and food for the homeless in New York.
The music page was updated for the first time in months with a new song: Josh Groban - Oceano.
Whoa, back to back updates.
Wondering why you keep getting more and more spam every day? It's because if you send enough of it, you can make $750,000 a month sending out 10 million emails a day. The good news is that the guy who did this might get up to 9 years of prison. Of course if people never bought anything they were sent as spam, then no one would send any. So you have your fellow internet users to blame.
This week is the annual Leonid Meteor Shower. So yet again I'll go outside in the freezing cold night and look up to the sky, and go "oooooooo ahhhhhh".
I finally have my room decorated like I wanted it, and also finally have blinds up in my window. It only took two and a half months to get me a set of blinds for my bedroom window. So I finally got to take down a big blue sheet I had up instead. So thanks to the wonderful invention known as a digital camera...
Desk
Bed and window
Bookshelf
Now this is more like it. A whole week between updates is the natural course of events.
I've become a huge fan of Hardee's over the summer when I tried one of their new hamburgers. They really are as good and big as they say they are in the commercials. And now they have the heart attack in a bun, the Monster Thickburger that has 2/3 lb beef, bacon, and 3 slices of cheese. For a grand total of 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. Now THAT is a burger. Meanwhile I swear Big Mac patties keep getting smaller and smaller.
On the subject of bloat, there's some interesting things discovered in the latest budget bill that Congress submitted over the weekend. Including the ability for two senators to read anyone's income tax returns. Of course no one has any idea how that got in there, and gives an example of how pork gets passed when no one really reads the thing.
ThinkGeek put up a bunch of new stuff for Christmas. So many cool toys, so little money. The MIT Hacks, Electronic Hacks, and Classic Computers calanders. What's not to like?
FSU lost to Florida, I finally got my computer architecture project to work right, and it's a 3 day week. Life is goooood.
A grilled cheese sandwhich sold for $28,000 to an online gambling site. Because it has a weird burn mark that looks anything from old movie actresses to the evil Lord Palpatine from Star Wars. Or perhaps the Virgin Mary, which is why it caused an internet sensation when it was sold via Ebay. I can't believe someone paid that much money for it, though I suppose it'd generate them $28,000 worth of publicity. I'd REALLY hope no actually thinks this is a miracle, but sadly I'm sure there are some who do.
America isn't red or blue. It's purple.
Or as said in The Spongebob Squarepants movie which I saw last night, "Spongebob: We're gonna party 'til we're purple! Patrick: Yay, I love being purple!"
Shifting gears from Spongebob, I saw 42nd Street tonight and Tosca last Thursday. Got a little more formal than usual as well since it's more fun that way. Both were really really good (and not because there are always tons of cute dressed up girls at these things), though I perfered 42nd Street just because of the dancing. Favorite song from Tosca is Vissi Darte Vissi Damore in Act II, and from 42nd Street is Lullaby of Broadway. Although Shadow Waltz had the coolest dance number with the way they used shadow effects. I'm a sucker for that.
It's almost time for Thanksgiving! Yet again it's my job to cook the turkey, and time to watch football and eat lots and lots of food.
Happy Thanksgiving!
BinaryFusion: On The Go! I'm currently typing this paragraph going 80 MPH down I-75 on my way back home for Thanksgiving, making this my first traveling update. Unsurprisingly there isn't any WiFi spots lining the road so no internet access, but with WiMax maybe one day that'll be possible. In the meantime I'm catching up on some email and trying to get my computer architecture project to compile. Nothing like coding C while flying down the road.
Pascal is a pretty groovy guy. And I'm a gigantic nerd.
Steps for a really really good turkey: Put a coat of butter mixed with garlic, parsley, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper all over the outside of the skin. Then stuff it with half an apple, a slice of orange, and rosemary herbs. Bake a little under 4 hours, and enjoy!
After eating way too much food and watching the Cowboys win, I decided to work on the website some. There's some minor stuff changed throughout, with the major updates being a new art page with some of the non-entirely-horrible pictures I've taken over the last year and a half. The March, April, May, June, and July 2003 pages are also updated with fixed links and all that jazz.
I woke up ridiculously early this morning to get good deals on cheap stuff, although I didn't even end up getting anything myself since none of the stuff I want was on sale. But I figured it'd be fun, and while I tried to warn my parents that there'd be really long lines they didn't listen. So we got to Circuit City when they open at 6 to see about 300 people in line already. My parents got what they wanted though, so it all worked out in the end. I did end up doing some shopping later on with my best friend, so I contributed to the economy. Yay!
I also saw National Treasure tonight which was pretty good. It was hard to get over the really really bad science and history, but I just kept reminding myself it was just a movie, and it definitely was a thriller.
I've never liked Starbucks because they don't sell any kind of coke. What the heck is wrong with them?
Been getting emails from Suntrust, Ebay, or Paypal asking you to click a link to verify your username and password? You've been phished. I'm suprised more people don't know about these scams, though they're sneakier than the "BUY VI@GRA NOW!!!1111" spam that people are used to. Basically these scams highlight how incredibly insecure email is (which most people don't realize) and that there is absolutly no way to actually know where that email you recieved really came from. You can make that "From" field say anything you want. If you ever get an official looking email asking for any sort of information, it's fake and if you still are concerned, type in the real web address yourself. Never click any kind of link in any unrequested email as they're all fake and misleading.
I'm waiting for my Out-of-Order microprocessor simulation to hurry up and finish, so I figured I'd update the website a little bit in the meantime. There's only 7 more days of class left in the semester, and then it's time for the finals. In the meantime I have homeworks and projects to do, and tests and finals to study for, but it shouldn't be too bad.
Yale pulled an awesome prank on Harvard over the weekend at their annual football game, giving the Harvard alums cards that would eventually spell out "We Suck" instead of "Go Harvard". Caltech came up with the idea first with the Rosebowl prank, but the sincerest form of flattery is imitation. Except for term papers. Then you get expelled.
I took this earlier this evening right at sunset looking toward the east. It'd be a good background to something I think, I'll need to figure out for what though.
Replacing a VERY full vacuum cleaner bag greatly improves the suckage of said vacuum. The things I learn in college.
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