Post Retraction
I retract the previous post... a few minutes ago...
I started delving into the masses of changes that would be necessary for this procedure, and I decided... eh, its fine the way it is.
I think I'm going to be giving the home page a face lift, but for now I think I will keep as it was.
Thanks,
Jason
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We’re on the move….
Hello Loyal Readers... We are soon to be on the move!
I have decided that my homepage, which was located at http://www.blarged.com really stunk... or at least I wanted my blog to have a domain of its own... so we're soon to be on the move.
I had already made all the updates and then thought... well what about you folks that use readers instead of visiting the site, you won't know to update your bookmarks! So this is how its going to happen. Before next Monday the change will be official, I will have the blog moved over to the root directory of http://www.blarged.com. I will have a redirect page located in the /blog/ subdirectory to save the Google searchers. But pleeeeease update you bookmarks, I don't want to lose any of you readers during the switch.
Until next Monday, I will be updating both http://www.blarged.com and http://www.blarged.com/blog with recent posts (which isn't much fun but eh... its all for you guys). Eventually I am hoping that this change will lead to more readers being able to find the site.
If you have any problems/questions/comments/concerns... just give me a holler, I myself am working on updating all links everywhere... quite the task.... Later!
Classic Kids TV
Think back to the movies and/or TV shows you watched when you were a kid; they were kind of strange weren't they....
One of my all-time favorite movies while growing up was Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird. Coming to us from the great year of 1985, Follow that Bird was labeled as "It's Big Adventure! It's Big Laughs! It's Big Bird on the Big Screen!" I tell you, I loved this movie.
Sitting here I am trying to remember all the little details of the movie (actually just trying to remember the general plot). Great, I just quickly reviewed the movie plot on imdb, I love that site.
So here's how it goes down:
Big Bird has always lived in Sesame Street, but the Feathered Friends Society is not too happy about it. They think Bird should be living with his own kind, not the eclectic backgrounds of those in Sesame Street (hmm... can you see a possible lesson to be taught through this movie... hah) Big Bird meets his new bird family but isn't happy. He sneaks away and so the real movie begins, with Bird flying the coupe back to Sesame Street.
What is it about Sesame Street that attracts young kids? I know I watched that show at least once a day. I loved Big Bird, Snuff... Snuffelu... yeah, Birds big brown friend with the nose, Bert and Ernie were pretty much awesome (and I never wondered while I was young why they lived together... you sickos), and everyone has a place in their heart for Oscar. I think we might have even gone to see Sesame Street Live once or twice when it was in Cincinnati.
Now you turn on kids shows and there are lights flashing everywhere, you have no idea what's going on, and there not speaking real words... what are those characters that have the strange wire things on their heads and make cooing noises for speech? Teletubbies!.... yuck... seriously, what's up with them? I was a big fan of Arthur as well, although that talking aardvark didn't show up until my later kids TV show years.
I also liked Ghostwriter, and thought it was the coolest thing to go everywhere with a backpack that had a pen and notebook in it... just in case 
Bill Nye was great...Wishbone was amazing (If it weren’t for that show, my knowledge in classics literature wouldn’t be nearly what it is today… hah)… Mister Rogers was pretty awesome (I have a book title "The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers" that is sitting ready to be read back at home, I'll let you know how that goes)... and remember Reading Rainbow? Great TV definitely.
So what sorts of kid shows did you watch when you were young?
Read-Only Moderation is Crucial
The internet can be an extremely educational playground when used appropriately. However, as in the second grade, there are bullies just waiting to steal your lunch money and walk all over you.
The latest example of this is from a site autoadmit.com which made NPR headlines in this article about the slandering of female law students at Yale. The site labels itself as "The most prestigious college discussion board in the world." which it proudly stamps at the top of its homepage. I had never heard of the site before listening to the story so I decided to check it out. My first reaction to the initial presentation of the site was positive. I liked the layout, it’s not the prettiest and definitely not the easiest to navigate, but that in itself can be a quality for a discussion board such as this.
I figured that since the site wasn't the most user-friendly, the comments might actually be viable and worth my time as a reader... a quick search proved me wrong. Of course being a student at The University of Cincinnati I immediately search Cincinnati to see what results are returned. I find a thread discussing why UC is such a rotten school that is only considered a backup school for local Ohio residents and that no one can understand how UC receives funding when average SAT scores are so low. It is true; UC was considered a backup school for many a few years ago, but not so much anymore, and only in certain fields (this is not going to turn into a post defending my university... but it was rather frustrating getting through that thread).
Back to the original story. Two females from Yale are suing > $200K for comments made about them on the AutoAdmit discussion boards which they fear has influenced possible employers to not pursue them for open positions. There is a board on this site where apparently local students talk about these girls in very derogatory terms, talking about what they wear and what they do before and after class. Comments make up facts about the girls having certain diseases or preferences... and when you search their name on Google, guess what shows up?
AutoAdmit refuses to moderate these comments with concern commenting, “deleting posts is a slippery slope that could lead to broad censorship”. According to present day, internet law, website owners are not liable for comments users make on their site. The poster themselves can be held liable, but herein lies the issue. The site has anonymous posting enabled, which is a serious mistake. With the internet being so open and possibly dangerous in this present day, I am a firm believer that identification is a necessity. I'm not saying Bush needs to be sent daily emails with your cookies and history (which I'm sure he would be very happy to sign a bill putting that into play) but I'm saying that when it comes to your comments, your discussion, only cowards hide their faces... and there are many cowards out there. If this discussion board had a mandatory log in feature, this issue could be dealt with in a professional fashion.
I know people can be more honest when from an anonymous face when dealing with the honest opinions about a university they might attend, but as long as you don't use a self-identifying alias you should have nothing to worry about. If you threaten someone, your information is then compromised through the terms and conditions of the board to the proper authority. No one would have to know who you are just from reading your posts.
I personally have never had a problem with my identification online... however, I see this as a very large issue in the very near future. Web admins need to start taking responsibility for their sites content and the safety of their users. I am against censorship, however, as made evident by AutoAdmit, a level of read-only moderation is crucial.
[edit: yes i am aware i have anonymous comments enabled on my blog... maybe if commenting ever takes off on this blog i'll rethink my security settings, but until then....]
Big Dogs
I can't wait until I can move into a house that has a yard where I can have dogs.
I miss my puppy, Maggie, so much while I'm at school. We have cats down here, but I've never been much of a cat fan. Yes it is nice to have animals around to keep us company, but a dog is so much more a friend than a cat ever will be.
I have always loved big dogs. I grew up with a golden retriever named Kelly. She was pretty much the same age as me (just a little younger) and we got her when we lived in Florida (ages 0.5 to 3 for me) With a big dog you can cuddle and hold onto. I'm always afraid with smaller dogs (as with cats) that I'm not going to see them and step on them (as I do quite often actually).
I know that I want a golden... I actually get Maggie after I move into a place that can be Maggie friendly... and so I'm thinking my second big dog will likely be some sort of Lab. I have always liked Black Labs. I went to animal planet and took a questionnaire thing and this is what types of dogs it told me are good for a person as me.
Yes, you do indeed see a song from Disney's Hercules playing on my laptop
That's about it for now. I'm extremely excited about Dan and Katie's wedding this upcoming weekend. It will be great to see all the family in one place! Later!