Stauf - A Cyberpunk Adventure

For nearly 21 years (wow, amazing it's been that long), I have been a big fan of the Trilobyte games The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour. I've seen a few interesting websites relating to those games over the years - including one page that used to be on GeoCities called "Stauf - a_Cyberpunk_adventure" by totalsystemtechnologies.

I found this page around 2002 to 2003, and I have found it interesting because of the additional, non-canon information written about the Stauf mansion and the town of Harley. It was somewhat like a fanfic - although that is not really the best way to describe it. Even now, I don't quite know how to explain the purpose of the web page, but since the index site seemed to have pages relating to Cyberpunk (which I know little about), it seems that the page was written to use the Stauf mansion and the town of Harley as a setting for a Cyberpunk RPG. Although it's not exactly a "story," I still have enjoyed reading this person's unique interpretation of the history of the Stauf mansion and the town of Harley. The page is especially interesting now - given that the current year of the setting described was 2020, which is the year that I am posting this blog entry. I have found somewhat fascinating abandoned buildings - as well as the concept of a town being abandoned as a result of the mysterious events at the Stauf mansion, which is why I've liked this page.

Anyway, this page was created back when GeoCities still existed, so it is now offline. Although there is an archived version on OoCities.org, it has been hard to find with search engines. Thankfully, I was able to find the original URL with the help of a saved version of the website and the Wayback Machine. Below is text from the page - modified slightly in places.

Brother IntelliFAX 950M and Fax Machine Collection

Since as far back as 2002, if not earlier, I have had a rather unusual fixation with fax machines. There exist plenty of people who are fixated with things like vacuum cleaners, escalators, elevators, but I have yet to find anyone else with a particular fascination for fax machines. In any event, my fascination with fax machines has recently led me to obtain a Brother IntelliFAX 950M - my family's first home fax machine.

For some background information, my father got a Brother IntelliFAX 950M in April 1994 and used it until around May 1997 when he changed careers. I might have been somewhat interested in the fax machine even back then (as well as my father's other work and office accessories - like his car phone and TeleVideo TS-1605 computer). Apparently, there was one time when my grandparents planned to surprise me by sending me a fax. Although it's possible that I had some interest in my father's fax machine in the mid '90s, I don't think that I developed a strong fixation with fax machines in general until late 2002 (although I could be mistaken).

It was between 2002 and 2003 that I got a lot of my own office accessories - including a desk and a filing cabinet, so it is not surprising that I would have an interest in fax machines around this time, too. Around this time, I even talked to my friend about getting a fax machine, and he said that I could find one on eBay for $30. He himself also apparently had a fax machine (at least at one time), but I don't think that he had a particular fixation with them as I did.

Despite my interest in fax machines almost certainly having been established in late 2002 (or early 2003), I would not get a fax machine of my own until December 2005: a Brother IntelliFAX 770 - purchased on eBay. Although this was a good-looking fax machine, it didn't work properly. In particular, I had trouble sending faxes or making copies. However, the IntelliFAX 770 did receive faxes and print documents properly. A few years later, two of my friends looked at the fax machine and found that a piece of plastic (meant for holding up a roller) had broken off inside. Although I can't say for sure, I don't think that I had a particular interest in collecting fax machines as of late 2005.

It wasn't until May 2011 that I purchased another fax machine at a thrift store. I don't recall the model, but the model that seems closest to what I remember is a Sharp CQ-130. This was a nice-looking machine, but it didn't appear to work. It also did not use plain paper like the IntelliFAX 770. I didn't have this fax machine for long because I got it while staying at my grandmother's house - then up for sale, and I left it behind upon returning home. Several months later, I returned to the house, and it was not present (the machine was probably among many other things that had been removed from the house in order to increase its marketability).

Interestingly enough, I had actually purchased a third fax machine in July 2011 at another thrift store. This was a Brother IntelliFAX 1270, and unlike the IntelliFAX 770, it appeared to work properly.

It was probably between 2011 and 2012 that I started paying particular attention to the IntelliFAX 950M that my father used to have. I found a few pictures of it online, but it seemed that model had become hard to find.

In September 2012, I found a Brother IntelliFAX 750, which was an interesting model because it looked just like the IntelliFAX 770 - but was black in color. I considered getting it but ultimately did not. I now wish that I had done so.

In March 2013, I took a number of old electronics to be recycled, and among them was the Brother IntelliFAX 770 - my first personal fax machine. I probably felt that I didn't need it since I had the IntelliFAX 1270, which was a similar-looking model that also worked properly. I think that I have sometimes regretted getting rid of the IntelliFAX 770.

Over the past few weeks, I have again become fixated on fax machines, and as a result, I learned that a Brother IntelliFAX 950M was actually for sale on eBay! That particular model seemed impossible to find anywhere else, so following in the spirit of 2012 and 2013 (recreating my childhood by getting a TeleVideo TS-803 and a TeleVideo TS-1605), I purchased the IntelliFAX 950M. Like with the TeleVideos, I figured that this could be my only chance at obtaining the same fax from my childhood. There also seem to be so few pictures of it online and so little documentation of it that I thought that it would be good to obtain.

After many years, there is again a Brother IntelliFAX 950M in my home. It is not necessarily in my favorite style of fax machine (like the IntelliFAX 1270), but it is still a fairly nice-looking machine, and I like its gray color. It also probably helped spark my interest in fax machines, so I figured that it would be nice to have just for that sake. Below are some pictures of the fax.

Something useful about getting documentation with the IntelliFAX 950M is that I learned of other models that likely were sold in the '90s - including the IntelliFAX 610, IntelliFAX 620, IntelliFAX 640, IntelliFAX 710M, IntelliFAX 720M, IntelliFAX 810MC, IntelliFAX 820MC, IntelliFAX 900, IntelliFAX 980M (I already knew of this one), and IntelliFAX 1500M.

Finally, here are some pictures of the IntelliFAX 950M with my IntelliFAX 1270 - as well as one of my HP laptops with a fake faxing program using Cool Retro Term in Ubuntu.

It is very nice to again have a Brother IntelliFAX 950M.

Vita-Stat 8000-C Blood Pressure Kiosk

For many years, as strange as it may sound, I have been somewhat fascinated with the automated blood pressure testing kiosks found in pharmacies – particularly the old Vita-Stat machines from the 1980s and 1990s. I guess part of it is nostalgia for my childhood when I would sometimes test my blood pressure on such machines, and part of it is an interest in the designs of such contraptions  – considering that the older Vita-Stat kiosks tended to be larger and had more buttons. Having said that, there has been one blood pressure kiosk with which I have been fascinated, and I think that it COULD possibly be a Vita-Stat 8000-C.

I saved the above picture of a blood pressure kiosk back in early 2007, which came from a pharmacy’s website. This kiosk is similar to the Vita-Stat 9000AT kiosks that I found in places like Wal-Mart and Eckerd as recently as the mid-2000s. Nowadays, they seem to be hard to find, but in any case, I have found them to be more fascinating than the newer Vita-Stat 90550 (even those are becoming less common – given that many pharmacies are now using newer healthcare kiosks that check weight, eyesight, and so on).

Anyway, I have found the 9000AT kiosks to be fairly interesting – given that they have more buttons and were larger than the 90550 kiosks. However, I have liked the pictured kiosk even more since it looks more retro and more complex. The 9000AT kiosks generally have three plastic red and white buttons, but it appears that the kiosk in the picture has metal green, white, and red buttons with silver rings around them. It also appears to have what could be a manual emergency cuff release switch, which is a feature that has been absent on newer blood pressure kiosks (including even the slightly newer 9000AT). That in particular is what has fascinated me since I thought that some blood pressure kiosks had those, but since I started paying closer attention to blood pressure kiosks in the mid-2000s, I have yet to come across such a kiosk – or find many pictures of such kiosks online.

This kiosk otherwise seems similar to the 9000AT except for the shinier buttons and the manual emergency cuff release switch. Regardless, I have wanted to find more pictures of similar kiosks but have been unable to do so.

At some point several years ago, in researching information about Vita-Stat kiosks online, I learned that there was apparently a model called the Vita-Stat 8000-C that apparently was released in the early 1980s. I have looked for information on the Vita-Stat 8000-C online multiple times but have not been able to find any pictures of it. However, the kiosk in the picture seems like it might have come from the early 1980s, and I have not been able to find a picture specifically identifying a kiosk as an 8000-C, so it is entirely possible that the picture that I found in 2007 could be one of the Vita-Stat 8000-C.

Why I Prefer Traditional Computers to Mobile Devices

Although mobile devices like tablets and smartphones are enjoyable to use, there are a number of reasons why I prefer to do most of my computing on traditional machines like desktops and laptops.  These include ease of use for heavier workloads, ease of repair, lifespan, and privacy.

Probably the most immediate reason why I still do most of my computing on desktops and laptops is simply because I’ve always used such devices and haven’t had any compelling reason to switch to another type of device.  However, as summarized, there are other reasons why I feel that using desktops and laptops – at least for heavier workloads – are preferable to mobile devices.

Tablets and smartphones are obviously great devices because they make life much more convenient than before their existence.  Multiple devices can be combined into one unit – without having lug around multiple different, individual devices.  Finding addresses, listening to music, watching videos, etc. can be done just about anywhere thanks to mobile devices.  I am in no way saying that desktops and laptops are preferable for all purposes.  Mobile devices are preferable for most quick, non-intensive daily tasks (such as looking up addresses, playing music, taking pictures, etc.).  However, they are not ideal for heavier workloads – such as typing essays, video editing, etc.

Desktops and laptops are preferable to mobile devices for heavier workloads for a few reasons.  One is that it is much easier and more comfortable to type quickly on a keyboard than to peck on tiny screens where there’s a heightened chance that the wrong key (or multiple wrong keys) might be pressed – particularly on tiny smartphone screens where the buttons are smaller than a person’s fingers.  It would be uncomfortable to do such an enormous amount of typing in such a small space – compared to the more ergonomic traditional keyboard.  In this day and age, one could say that nobody really needs a keyboard anymore because voice recognition has gotten better and better.  However, I would imagine that nobody would want to wear out one’s throat by dictating an entire novel, report, or any other lengthy, text-based material.  I personally would not like to do that – at least not all the time.  Even if some people didn’t mind doing that, the issue of privacy is raised because others could hear potentially confidential material that they otherwise wouldn’t have.  Again, some people might not mind sacrificing their privacy, but there are likely others, including myself, who would not want to sacrifice privacy.

Another reason why desktops and laptops are better for heavier workloads is that, with mice, more precision is possible.  With smartphone screens in particular, buttons are just big enough to be able to be pressed by fingers, but many buttons are still pretty small, so there is a greater risk of pressing wrong buttons.  Mobile interfaces are generally adequate and large enough for quick, non-intensive tasks, but fingers lack the precision of mouse pointers, which can be very important for doing detailed and/or intensive tasks like using image editors, video editors, etc.  While it may be possible to do things like zoom in on individual pixels, the smaller screens of tablets – and especially smartphones – make it harder to be both precise and efficient.  There are fewer things that can fit on a mobile screen that can also be clicked with the same precision of a mouse pointer.  Therefore, work would become slow and tedious compared to on desktops and laptops.

Overall, one of the biggest reasons why I prefer working on desktops and laptops is that they are physically more comfortable to use for heavier workloads.  Doing tasks like writing and drawing would be much less comfortable on mobile devices – having to cram fingers – sometimes in awkward positions – within the small, limited workspace of a mobile screen – and in some cases get further strained by needing to use one hand just to hold the mobile device – compared to the more ergonomic, relaxed position of having one’s hands evenly spaced – and having a mouse just to the left or right of one’s hand (depending on whether one is left or right handed) – not forcing all the hand and finger muscles to work – and letting the arm muscles do some of the work to relieve the tension in the smaller and more sensitive areas.  One can work longer and with less fatigue with the use of larger, less compact devices like keyboards and mice.

Going slightly off topic, even in the days before tablets and smartphones became widespread, I disliked (and still dislike) using laptop touchpads.  They’ve tended to be located in the middle of the laptop, which means bending my arm at a somewhat awkward angle to reach it – and then having to swipe my finger across multiple times just to get the cursor to move.  A mouse, however, is more in alignment with my arm, so there’s no stretching or straining involved, and I can move the cursor across the screen with one long, simple move.

Having said all that, desktops and laptops are generally more ergonomic in design and, due to larger screens and input devices, allow both precision and efficiency.  Therefore, they are better suited for lengthy, intensive workloads.

Although comfort and precision are the biggest reasons why I prefer using desktops and laptops – especially for more intensive tasks, I also appreciate the ease of repairing and upgrading such machines.  Desktops in particular are relatively easy to repair and upgrade because the parts are larger, so they are easier to handle without worrying as much about breaking them or stripping the screws holding them in place.  Mobile devices are much smaller, and thus, more delicate and at risk for damaging, and since everything is condensed compared to desktops, if one thing gets broken, there’s a chance that the whole device could stop working.  Also, upgrading is next to impossible since mobile devices aren’t really designed for that purpose.  They are relatively disposable – meant to be replaced maybe every year or two.  Desktops are good because they are more easily repaired – as well as more customizable.

Similarly, desktops are preferable to mobile devices because they are more likely to have longer lifespans.  Since the computing components are larger and more spread out, they are, at least seemingly, less likely to wear out as fast since heat is ventilated better, and the components are generally thicker and more durable – and less delicate and prone to breaking.  Also, as stated before, if one thing breaks, it is less likely to compromise the whole system than if something broke in a mobile device.  While it is true that mobile devices generally run cooler than desktops, as stated, their components are still smaller and seemingly more prone to breaking, but also, mobile devices tend to use SSDs for internal storage – as opposed to traditional hard drives.  SSDs tend to be limited to 100,000 read/write cycles, and internal memory is next to impossible to easily replace in mobile devices, so that is yet another advantage for desktops (which ties in with what I said before about being more easily repaired and upgraded).  It is true that mobile devices tend to rely more on cloud technology than internal storage, but I think that it is important to not rely so heavily on the cloud.  For privacy purposes, I believe in the right to control one’s own data, and therefore, while the cloud is very useful, people should still be able to have a decent amount of internal, local storage available on their devices.  Given the larger, less delicate parts of desktops and their ability to ventilate heat better, I feel those things also make desktops a preferable computing choice for heavier workloads.

Finally, as touched on before, privacy is another big reason why I prefer desktops and laptops to mobile devices.  Since 2018, I’ve realized how important privacy is for things like freedom of thought, freedom of speech, etc., and nowadays, with the rise of mobile devices, online services, and the sharing economy, it seems that privacy is diminishing.  Cloud computing is becoming more widely used, and people store lots of their personal data with private companies.  They are at risk for having their files lost, deleted, shared, etc.  They no longer have control of their own data as they should.  Mobile devices appear to be designed to heavily rely on cloud computing, whereas desktops and laptops are more designed to use local storage.  Also, a number of countries require the registration of SIM cards prior to buying prepaid cell phones – putting up more red tape and bureaucracy – making it potentially impossible for a disenfranchised person, having no government-issued ID, to be able to use a computing device.  This makes such a person’s situation worse – given that the world is relying more and more on computers for daily life.  Not only that, but with a phone being registered to someone, the phone company and/or government can now track what that person is doing on that phone.  There is no sense of privacy.  On the other hand, people have not been required to register desktops or laptops, so even someone lacking a government ID – but still having some money – would have the potential to use a computer without worrying about red tape or being tracked by corporations or governments.  The increased privacy in using desktops and laptops is yet another reason why I prefer them to mobile devices.

I definitely like the convenience provided by mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.  However, that’s primarily what they should be used for – convenience – things like getting driving directions, messaging someone while out in the middle of nowhere, quickly looking up an article on Wikipedia, and so on.  However, that doesn’t mean that they should be a complete replacement for desktops and laptops.  As stated, there are some tasks just better suited for traditional computing devices – and some reasons why they are preferable to use to mobile devices.  Having said that, I think that a computer in the future could very well incorporate some of the best of mobile and traditional computers – perhaps in the form of a mobile device (like a tablet or smartphone) that can also be docked at a station hooked up to a keyboard and mouse.  In any case, I do prefer doing much of my computing on desktops and laptops.

Computer Sound Latency

Lately, I've had an issue with the sound on my main desktop computer having latency.  Even in the past when I had temporarily high CPU usage, and even when my mouse would freeze during high CPU and/or I/O load (mainly within the first several hours of the computer being turned on), I didn't usually have sound latency issues.  Back in 2017, I did notice a sound latency issue when I adjusted a setting to allow Process Lasso to act on system processes, but the problem would go away after changing back to the original setting and restarting the computer.  Despite still having that setting, I have been having sound latency.  It is very strange.  I downloaded a program called LatencyMon, and it seems to have identified some files associated with the latency.

Process Lasso Is Garbage

This afternoon, I had an experience which showed very clearly that Process Lasso is ineffective at preventing computer freezing.

I had just started the computer and was starting to browse the internet, when suddenly, everything froze except the mouse pointer.  Everything was frozen for a long time - although after a minute or two, I did briefly hear some of the music that I had playing in the background.  However, it didn't seem that the computer was going to unfreeze - at least not anytime soon, so I abruptly cut off the power and restarted the computer.

At some point - either before or after restarting the computer, I found that, according to Process Lasso, the culprit was AVG...which had been using 99% of the RAM!  NINETY-NINE PERCENT!  Within a few minutes, AVG was using 99% of RAM yet again, and I had to abruptly shut off the computer and restart it.

I then decided that enough was enough.  Process Lasso wasn't stopping AVG, and AVG was going to keep suddenly using resources - rendering my computer useless - unless I could remove AVG - at least temporarily until I could figure out why AVG was acting so strange.  So after the computer restarted, I uninstalled AVG, but just as it was about to finish uninstalling (or so it seemed), the computer froze YET AGAIN!  I turned off the computer and restarted it again, and thankfully, AVG seemed to have been removed.

This whole incident was ridiculous.  Process Lasso let a BACKGROUND PROCESS use 99% of the RAM!  Nominally, it was using over 4 GB of RAM!  ONE PROGRAM was using 4 GB of RAM!  And yet, Process Lasso did NOTHING to prevent this from happening!  The point of Process Lasso should be to PREVENT bottlenecks from taking place instead of automatically adjusting priorities, but IT DOESN'T DO THAT!  A BACKGROUND PROCESS should not use anywhere EVEN CLOSE to 99% of RAM or CPU!

Most of the people that I've observed online seem to think positively of Process Lasso, but it seems odd as to why since the program clearly doesn't intervene effectively enough to prevent system freezing.  It let a BACKGROUND PROCESS use 99% of the RAM.  What does that say about the program's effectiveness?

Keep in mind that this is the only time that I've had issues with AVG before.  Even though it did tend to have high resource usage - especially when starting the computer, it never even came close to using 99% of my RAM.  None of my other programs have come so close, either - not even the foreground programs.  I was even using the computer early this morning and had no problems with freezing.  Something happened to cause AVG to start acting weird.

One might ask, "Well, if AVG is the problem, then why hate on Process Lasso?"  I'm not saying that Process Lasso caused the system to freeze.  I criticize Process Lasso because it is a program supposedly designed to stop system freezing, but it let ONE PROGRAM use all the memory and ultimately allowed the computer to freeze.  Such a program should not allow such things to happen.  They should PREVENT them from happening by not allowing programs - ESPECIALLY BACKGROUND PROCESSES - from using so many resources, but for some reason, it wasn't designed that way!  And yet, people somehow consider it a helpful program.  It's crazy.  Basically, even if AVG were the problem, it shouldn't matter.  Process Lasso should neutralize whatever problematic program exists, and if it doesn't, then that shows that it is ineffective at the task for which it was supposedly designed.

One might say, "Well, programs aren't infallible.  They're bound to screw up once in a while."  The point is that Process Lasso has virtually NEVER been effective.  For one, Process Lasso didn't screw up just once.  I had to restart my computer THREE TIMES IN A ROW because Process Lasso didn't stop AVG!  Also, the only reason why I haven't had constant freezing in the past is because none of my programs, including AVG, ever did use excessive memory, and no, it was not because Process Lasso was in some way effective.  In regards to CPU usage, programs have run at 100% for lengthy periods of time - even with multiple rules set - even with multiple requests to terminate the program (which are almost always unresponsive (another reason why Process Lasso is junk)).  The occasionally high CPU usage has slowed down computer performance - but has not caused it to come to a halt (the computer would have acted the same even if I didn't have Process Lasso installed).  Whatever the case, Process Lasso DID NOT STOP the high CPU usage of BACKGROUND PROCESSES.  I have had occasional system slowdowns because of this - despite having Process Lasso, so it has proven to be ineffective with CPU.  Despite having programs running with high CPU, I haven't had any issues where memory was maxed out - until today.  If I had programs constantly using all my memory, then that would be further proof that Process Lasso was ineffective.  But I didn't lack high memory usage because Process Lasso was doing its job.  I just lucked out in that regard since my problematic programs seem to be mainly CPU hungry.  I only have had to deal with CPU-related issues, and even those Process Lasso was NOT effectively handling.  It could be seen as an illusion of, "Hey, no freezing, so I guess that means that the program's working, right?"

To be clear, I have felt that Process Lasso was ineffective since at least a year ago, and I didn't hold much confidence in it afterwards.  I just felt like writing this as an even clearer example in which Process Lasso utterly failed to do its job.  It failed to stop ONE BACKGROUND PROCESS from using 99% of RAM...THREE TIMES!  This was not a one-time screw up.  This was the result of an inherent flaw in Process Lasso's design.  It should focus more on PREVENTING high resource usage - and not on adjusting program priorities.  Sometimes that may help, but other times, that's just not enough.  Process Lasso should focus on actually RESTRAINING processes - and capping resource usage - ESPECIALLY FOR BACKGROUND PROCESSES.

Anyway, I don't want to be bitter toward the developers of Process Lasso, so I hope that they can improve the program.

Automation: The End of the Fourth Amendment?

Earlier today, I was looking at a tab in Google Chrome in which I searched for information regarding anarcho-capitalism and basic income, and when I got to the bottom of the page, I happened to notice a link regarding automation and capitalism.  Upon some quick internet searches, I became aware of the possibility that capitalism could end as a result of automation.

Although I'm no particular fan of right-wing economics, the potential end of capitalism is somewhat concerning because of its potential effect on civil liberties and protections - such as rights granted to American citizens under the Constitution - like the Fourth Amendment.

Before elaborating on the issue of constitutional rights, one should think about what might take place of capitalism - if capitalism were to somehow end as a result of automation.  Quite possibly, socialism - or something similar to it - could take over.

The potential problem with socialism is that it is related to anarchism - an ideology that, from what I've observed from online discussions, generally scoffs at the right-libertarian concept of the NAP (non-aggression principle).

If socialism or anarchism were to replace capitalism as a result of automation, there is a concern that socialist states could water down or eliminate protections like the Fourth Amendment.  Anarcho-capitalists and right-libertarians generally support the idea of private property, but anarchists generally reject the idea of private property, and so the NAP (something that for the most part would protect private property and individual autonomy) is naturally also disregarded.  I think that the Fourth Amendment in a way is the protection of private property, so under an anarchist society, private property wouldn't exist, so people wouldn't have constitutional guarantees to reasonable privacy and non-interference in their own homes.

I feel that either capitalism must somehow survive automation - or if somehow socialism or some other system supersedes it, that system must guarantee the same protections that many modern countries now grant their citizens.

Upstate New York vs. Florida Beaches

As a result of recently visiting both Upstate New York and Jacksonville Beach in Florida, I've thought about which place I prefer.  Both are places that I vacationed at in my childhood fairly often, so I truthfully like both of them - just for different reasons.  I also might tend to prefer one of the two places based on my mood.  Back in February, I was all about Upstate New York, whereas now, having recently visited Florida, I like the Florida beaches more.  Also, interestingly enough, yesterday, I learned that apparently, introverted people tend to like the woods more, whereas extroverted people tend to like the beach more.

As stated, my preference depends on my mood.  There are times that I really fall in love with the desolate woods, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and rustic old houses.  I have a love for the supernatural, and I've thought that many old houses in the middle of the woods would make good haunted houses.  Similarly, the game The 11th Hour somehow reminds me of my grandmother's house in Upstate New York.  The spooky nature of The 11th Hour piques my interest in the deep, lonely woods and abandoned old houses.  Sometimes, I love the idea of being alone in the abandoned woods - living in a rickety old house.

On the other hand, I also really like the Florida beaches - interestingly enough for the exact opposite reason.  Compared to the dark, lonely woods of Upstate New York, the Jacksonville area seemed so much brighter and livelier - especially given its open, bright, blue, and sunny sky.  Also, in contrast to many dilapidated and/or abandoned buildings and fallen trees deep in the woods, many of the buildings in Jacksonville looked really upscale - or at the very least, the area just seemed like it was more decorated, luxurious, and well-maintained - especially given all the palm trees.  Also, despite being primarily an introvert, I liked Jacksonville because it was just so populated - compared to feeling practically abandoned in the hamlets and villages of Upstate New York.  It's weird that, as an introvert, I would like the feeling of being in a populated place like Jacksonville, but I think that being populated makes it somehow feel more happy and secure, whereas being alone in the woods could make one feel lonely and vulnerable.  Also, one plus to being in a highly-populated area is that one tends to blend in with the crowd, whereas in lesser-populated areas, one is more likely to get noticed - potentially triggering one's anxiety.

As stated, I like both Upstate New York and Jacksonville Beach for opposite reasons, and I might prefer one over the other given my mood at the time.  However, since I recently came back from Florida, I currently love Jacksonville.  Although Upstate New York is nice, for reasons stated above, Jacksonville just feels so much happier, and I somehow feel rich there, which is a bit strange - seeing as how the cost of living seems to be overall more expensive in Upstate New York than in Jacksonville - meaning that, in some measures, Jacksonville might be an overall better place to live.  One can feel "rich" in a city that actually costs less than one that has a dilapidated look.

Finally, yesterday, I found two articles of interest that actually support how I've felt about Upstate New York and Jacksonville: "A simple choice between two gorgeous photos reveals your personality" by Ana Swanson on August 6, 2015, on The Washington Post and "Beach or mountains? Study shows link between geography and personality" by Jordi Lippe-McGraw on August 14, 2015, on TODAY.com.  Apparently, introverted people do prefer to be in the woods, while extroverted people like flat, open areas like beaches.  Both of those correlate with how I've felt about the woods and the beach - including the idea (suggested in The Washington Post article) that extroverts tend to be happier than introverts (which might explain why Jacksonville felt "happier" to me).

These two articles were perhaps the main reason why I wrote earlier about being introverted or extroverted in this blog.  As I said earlier, I'm mainly an introvert, but I do have extroverted moments - but only when I feel like it.  That might explain why I like both Upstate New York and Jacksonville Beach - depending on how I feel.

Am I an Introvert or Extrovert?

For the most part, I am an introvert.  However, for some time, I have thought that I do have occasional times when I feel like an extrovert.

Most of the time, I usually prefer staying at home and working on personal projects like writing stories and drawing - and also think about many philosophical things.  I get so caught up in my hobbies - but also procrastinate and tend to lose track of the time, so minutes become hours, hours become days, days become weeks, weeks become months, and months become years.  Something that I plan to do "within the next day or two" often ends up being several weeks, months, or even years later.

I also hate talking on the phone - even with friends and family, so I could say, "Yeah, I'll call you back later" - but then lose track of the time and/or procrastinate - and never do get around to calling anyone back.  They're usually the ones that end up calling me.  It's a combination of both losing track of the time - and also just hating talking on the phone in general.

I hate talking on the phone, but I also tend to shy away from other forms of conversation.  I hate having to commit to a conversation - and like being able to do things that I want on my timetable, so it could also be a bit of laziness, too.  But yeah, although I hate talking on the phone worst of all, I also shy away from chatting on Facebook and even hanging out in person.  After a few minutes of talking on the phone or chatting on Facebook - or after a few hours of hanging out, I usually feel the strong urge to want to go back to my own, secluded life.  It's nothing personal against anyone that I talk to or hang out with, though.

Within the last few years, I found an article called "Don't Call Us, We’ll Call … Well, No, Actually We Won’t..." by Sophia Dembling on February 22, 2010, on Psychology Today.  I have a lot in common with what was described in that article, and its title sums up how I am.  I pretty much never call anyone voluntarily - they're always the ones to call me.  I also really hate how loud phones can be.  Also, when I first found the article, I was shocked to see that the article listed Tetris and FreeCell as games for introverts to play because both of those are my favorite computer games!  I guess many introverts think alike.

The strange thing, though, is that despite being largely an introvert, I do feel rather extroverted at times.  There are sometimes when I absolutely love socializing with people, but those times aren't particularly common, and they can't be forced on me.  Basically, although I can be extroverted at times, it has to be when I'm ready for it - and when I want to be extroverted.

Roseanne Conner Got Conned

Lately, the first episode of the Roseanne revival aired, and there's been a lot of talk about that - including that the character, Roseanne Conner, was a Trump supporter.  The odd thing is that even in real life, Roseanne Barr appears to be at least somewhat supportive of Donald Trump.

Even before the debut of the Roseanne revival, I was aware from Wikipedia that Roseanne supported Trump in the 2016 presidential election.  It seems that she supported him over Hillary Clinton because Trump talked about jobs leaving the country - and had other rhetoric appealing to white, working class voters, while Clinton didn't.

It certainly is understandable that many white, working class voters would be drawn to Trump - especially given how modern-day Democrats don't seem to do enough for them - and support trade deals like NAFTA and TPP.  However, as poor as today's Democrats are, working class voters should stop and think about what party is really more likely to do more for them.  Sure, Trump had a lot of populist, pro-working class rhetoric, but that's all it was: rhetoric.

Trump still ran as a Republican, and Republican ideology tends to support things that are non-beneficial for unions, the working class, etc.  As bad as the Democratic Party is today, it is still a better choice because its ideology supports giving more direct support for unions, the working class, poor, minorities, etc.  As Lyndon B. Johnson said, "The worst Democrat is better than the best Republican."

Even if Trump genuinely believed in supporting unions and the working class as progressives do (and to his credit, he did recently impose tariffs on steel), Republican Party influence would either prevent Trump from doing so - or they would influence him to enact more conservative policies.

Whatever the case, with some exceptions (e.g. pulling out of the TPP and imposing steel tariffs), Trump has proven himself to be a con artist.  He has largely governed as a conventional Republican - supporting many Republican ideas and passing a tax bill where most of the benefits went to corporations and the richest Americans.  Steve Bannon, once Trump's right-hand man, wanted a tax bill for only the middle class, but instead, Trump passed a standard GOP tax bill that favored the wealthy.  For the most part, Trump is just another Republican.

Trump doesn't care about the working class.  Sure, he's talked about bad trade deals, but I doubt that it's out of any sincere concern for the workers.  Trump just views America as a bad business model - perceiving it as being "ripped off," and that's all Trump cares about.  He cares about dominance - being superior in business - and being able to tout that to the rest of the world.  Trump likes to brag about everything, so it's not surprising.

Trump also likes being able to make money, so he cares only about supposedly being "ripped off" just because he wants to make more money himself.  From what I've observed, Trump just talks about being successful - and running a successful company - and enriching himself - not whether or not he treated his workers well or whatnot.

As stated, Trump only talks about America being "ripped off" just so he can supposedly do better business for himself.  Even though he might not have a particular concern for the working class, if he can use pro-working class rhetoric to get elected to enact policies to enrich himself, then why not?

Trump is no champion of the working class.  He has just used rhetoric appealing to the working class to get elected - and then enacts only a few policies that happen to benefit the working class - only to avoid being, or appearing to be, ripped off - and to make America a better business model so that he can enrich himself - not out of some genuine concern for the working class.  Aside from a few pro-working class policies, most of Trump's policies prove just that.  Aside from a few issues, Trump is just another Republican.

Having said all that, as much as I hate to say it, Roseanne Connor got conned.  I'm surprised that Roseanne even today still seems somewhat supportive of Trump - given all his conventional Republican policies.  Roseanne seemed to be a liberal in the past - as well as pretty intelligent, so why she would support Trump is surprising.  Yes, Trump had appealing rhetoric, but he was part of a party that would likely influence him to be more conservative.  Trump also has a proven track record of lying and deceiving people, so why would Roseanne be stupid enough to support someone like that?  I just don't get it.  I thought that Roseanne was smarter than that - especially after Trump has proven to be no better than most Republicans.

Yes, I get it - Clinton wasn't exactly a champion of the working class, but Clinton and the Democratic Party are still much better for the working class than Trump, who has nothing but rhetoric.  The Democratic Party, as bad as it is now, is still a better choice for the working class than someone that uses appealing rhetoric - but has no genuine concern for the working class - and aligns with a party that doesn't, either.

Also, yesterday, I watched the video "Pro-Trump 'Roseanne' Reboot Crushes In The Ratings" - uploaded by Secular Talk on YouTube, and I pretty much agree with everything that Kyle Kulinski said.  I'm glad that I wasn't the only one that felt that way about Roseanne's strange support for Trump.

Pretzel Fight at The Avenues in Jacksonville, Florida

I personally witnessed my very first mall fight on the evening of March 28, 2018.  This was historic for me because I had never personally seen anything like it by pure chance.  I've watched things like that in Itipar videos, which I saved largely because seeing such things in public was odd, and I had rarely or never seen anything like them myself.  Since a few days ago, that changed, as I witnessed my very first Itipar video-style fight personally.  It was amazing.  Best of all, I even recorded the fight with my SpyTec camera glasses, which I was planning to use only for mallgeeking!

The fight is available on my YouTube channel - and is actually a reupload since the original version had audio and video sync issues.

Anyway, I had gone to Jacksonville a few days ago because I hadn't been there since April 2011, and I wanted to see the beach again - as well as take some videos of writing foreign languages in the sand, my Russian car flags and my TeleVideo TS-803 in the car, and my HP 15-ay039wm laptop pretending to be a DOS computer in the car.  Although I took some videos when I went to Jacksonville in 2010, my videos were of less-than-ideal quality, and since I now had my Sony HDR-CX240 camcorder, I wanted to record some higher-quality videos - as well as take pictures of things that I hadn't done on my previous trips.

One thing that I hadn't done in Jacksonville in 2010 and 2011 was visit a mall.  I decided to do that this time, and since I had no particular interest in open-air malls, I narrowed my choices down to The Avenues and Regency Square Mall.  I settled on The Avenues since it looked very fancy and upscale - just like North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia.  Although I wanted to see Regency Square Mall, too, I chose to see only one mall in the interest of time, and I was more attracted to the flashy, modern two-story mall compared to the more dated, one-story Regency Square Mall (although it seemed cool in its own way).  Also, while there were a number of YouTube videos about Regency Square Mall, there didn't seem to be many about The Avenues - making it good "mallgeeking" territory.

Anyway, after spending a few hours at the beach, I finally got to The Avenues in the evening.  I didn't have time for a lengthy, in-depth tour of The Avenues, but I walked through part of Belk - and recorded the stores in the downstairs and upstairs of the mall corridor.

I was close to finishing recording upstairs when I heard some fighting downstairs.  A number of people had gathered around the railings to watch.  A lady in a light blue shirt was yelling at someone else, and I never did figure out what exactly started the whole thing, but it sounded like it had something to do with a pretzel.

The yelling was interesting enough, and I started to leave, but then, I heard something get knocked over, and I looked back down, and it seemed that a trash can had been knocked over.  Shortly after, things got real when another lady in a white shirt started shouting and thrashing around, and everyone around her tried to restrain her.

That wasn't the end of it, though - not by a long shot.  The icing on the cake was when another lady in a white shirt actually went into the nearby Auntie Anne's, snatched a pan of grease, went around the store, and splashed the grease on some random people!

The pretzel fight was really a big event in the mall.  A whole bunch of people had gathered around the upstairs railings - watching the downstairs fight as if it were some kind of zoo attraction (no offense intended).  I eventually left and sat down in a seat near the Belk, and a lady came up and asked me what was going on, and I told her.  Even fairly far away from Auntie Anne's, people seemed aware of the fight.  I later went back once or twice and not surprisingly saw security and police officers.

That was a truly historic day for me.  Never had I ever seen a random, public fight among strangers on that scale.  It was truly epic, and it was so awesome to get to see something like that in person - as opposed to seeing YouTube videos of others' experiences.  I even recorded the fight with my camera glasses, which was exactly what they're good for - capturing spontaneous moments.  On a side note, interestingly enough, the pretzel fight was actually the second spontaneous moment that I captured while at the mall.  The first was only a few seconds after I had gotten out of the car to start filming in the mall - and a guy parked next to me started talking to me about my car - saying that he had a model like mine when he was younger, asking me how many miles it had, and so on.  In any case, I was thrilled to have gotten to see my first mall fight, public freakout, and/or Itipar-video style fight in person.

Retailgeeking and Mallgeeking

Although I've observed that there are many people interested in retail establishments - evidenced by blogs like Sky City: Retail History, DeadMalls.com, Labelscar, Carolina Circle City, and Malls of America, but I generally haven't seen any concise terminology to describe the interest in retail establishments.

People that love trains are known as railfans, and people that love studying roads are roadgeeks, but I've observed no equivalent term for those that love retail establishments.

Several years ago, a friend and I actually did invent terms to be used to describe such people.  In early 2013, we both came up with the term "mallgeek," and later, on December 22, 2013, I came up with the term "retailgeek."  "Mallgeek" and "retailgeek" are nouns to describe people interested in such retail establishments, while "mallgeeking" and "retailgeeking" describe the interest in retail establishments in general.

"Retailgeeking" is a general, umbrella term - referring to a general interest in retail establishments.  For example, one could be fascinated by Walmart, Pizza Hut, Wolf Camera, or any other retail establishment.

"Mallgeeking," on the other hand, is a subset of "retailgeeking" - used to refer to a specific interest in enclosed shopping malls.

One can be a retailgeek without being a mallgeek, or in other words, one can have a fascination with retail establishments in general without having a particular fascination with enclosed shopping malls.  On the other hand, while one technically can't be a mallgeek without being a retailgeek, one can have more of a fascination with enclosed shopping malls than with other types of retail establishments.  I personally tend to be more of a mallgeek, but I am also very much a retailgeek as well.

God Bless Mother Russia and the Russian Pledge of Allegiance

Since thinking of the idea this evening, I was unsure of how the last line of the chorus should be for a song about the Russian Federation (based on Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA").  "God Bless USSR" was easy enough, but I was unsure what to say for Russia or the Russian Federation.  However, I thought that the line "God Bless Mother Russia" would work.

Also, last year, I started working on a story on FanFiction.Net called "Chucky Meets Full House" - in which Chucky becomes a member of the Tanner family.  The subplot of the story involves D.J. Tanner becoming a Russian nationalist, and at one point in the story, she recites the Russian Pledge of Allegiance, which I based off the American Pledge of Allegiance.  Below is what I came up with last year.

I pledge allegiance to our flag of our Motherland, Russian Federation, and to our great army, which keeps us safe, strong, and proud - with honor - indivisible - and showing our great might to this world.

Hopefully, I will get around to finishing the Full House story and the Russian-themed song parody.

God Bless USSR (Song Parody in Development)

Around the Fourth of July of 2008, I jokingly replaced the stanza "God Bless the USA" with "God Bless the USSR."  Years later, I decided to make a full-length parody of Lee Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA."

Below are some stanzas that my friend and I came up with that precede the song's chorus.  Keep in mind that they could be changed before I finish the song since it is still in development.

"From the wastelands of Chernobyl"

"To the gulags of Stalin"

"Gorby broke our country,"

"But he can't take it away..."

Below is the chorus itself, which I've spent more time refining but is still subject to revision.

'Cause I'm proud that I was born Soviet

Where at least my vodka's free,

And I won't forget Comrade Lenin,

Who took my rights from me,

So I must help Putin

Save Ukraine from those Western pigs afar

'Cause I'll always love my Motherland

God Bless USSR!

I don't really like the "So I must help Putin" stanza much since it feels rather awkward, but again, the song is still in development.  Also, I've made the point of not using articles in the song to reflect the lack of articles in the Russian language (as well as to make the last line of the chorus have the same number of syllables as "God Bless the USA").

This evening, I've thought about making two parodies of "God Bless the USA."  One would be a song for the USSR since that's the version that I originally started making (and because "USSR" is close to "USA").  The other would be a song for the Russian Federation since I have much more of a fascination for it compared to the Soviet Union - partly since I think it has a nicer-looking flag.

Bitsum's Website Says that Process Lasso Doesn't Restrain Processes

Oh, boy, here we go again - another post about Process Lasso.  The program proved long ago that it is largely ineffective for me, but I've recently found some excerpts from Bitsum's own website that say what I've observed all along - that Process Lasso doesn't actually restrain processes (even though it should).

Below are some notable quotes from one of Bitsum's pages (http://bitsum.com/how-probalance-works/).

It is designed to act conservatively and safely. It makes only marginal, temporary changes during it’s activities and has no deleterious effects. It is able to do this because it takes only a small fraction of CPU cycles to restore basic responsiveness, thus taking these from the overall pool has a negligible impact on performance, but a huge impact on responsiveness.

No wonder it hasn't worked - it makes only "marginal" changes.

The small and conservative adjustments ProBalance makes are truly efficacious at helping to retain PC responsiveness and CPU fairness to all processes.

They really haven't been for me.  Whenever processes like instup.exe, CompatTelRunner.exe, and svchost.exe run, they often max out the CPU and cause my audio to stutter.  No priority lowering has made any difference in performance.

Process Lasso is designed to be minimally obtrusive, lowering priorities only when appropriate, and making sure that the background processes still perform just fine.

As I said earlier, no wonder it hasn't been effective.  Sometimes, when these pesky background processes are hijacking the CPU, to effectively maintain responsiveness and allow foreground programs to run smoothly, programs like Process Lasso need to do more than be just "minimally obtrusive."  They need to do whatever it takes to keep the foreground processes running smoothly - and to prevent eating up resources unnecessarily.

So how does ProBalance make a difference? Well, it turns out that by *marginally*, dynamically, and temporarily decreasing the priority class of problematic background processes, that 1% or less of CPU cycles necessary to let you have fluid mouse and keyboard movement, or in worst case scenarios, control of your PC at all, is available.

As stated before, Process Lasso doesn't do anything.  It still lets background processes run wild.

Just try it if you have a CPU load issue causing responsiveness issues. If it’s I/O or something else, you are out of luck.

Oddly enough, quite the opposite has been true for me.  Process Lasso has been much more effective at controlling I/O Delta than CPU usage.  It seems completely useless at controlling CPU usage.

Anyway, now come the "big" quotes - the ones that really tell it all and caught my attention.  The underlined statements are the most important.  The first quote is from the same page as the ones that I posted above.

Does ProBalance slow down processes?  Why is it called 'restraint'?

I hate to use the term ‘restraint’, but haven’t found a better one. ProBalance doesn’t restrain anything. It’s default action is to simply temporarily lower offending process’s priority class to Below Normal, a marginal change. In real-world and synthetic tests, as shown in the CPUEater demo, this is all it takes to restore responsiveness to the rest of the PC. Makes sense, it doesn’t take many CPU cycles to be responsive. Why Windows lets a normal priority thread monopolize the CPU so badly is something nobody has a clear answer to, but it’s a problem that has always existed.

Bitsum's own website actually admits it - Process Lasso doesn't restrain anything after all!  No wonder it has proven largely ineffective for me!  No wonder I never saw the CPU usage go down - even after Process Lasso lowered the priorities of high-CPU using processes.

Finally, the second quote is from an FAQ page for Process Lasso (http://bitsum.com/docs/pl/faq.htm).

Does Process Lasso's ProBalance out-of-control restraint slow down processes?

No. Process Lasso 'restrains' processes by temporarily lowering their priority. This simply allows other processes more of a chance to use the CPU, IF there are any processes needing the CPU. If there aren't, and until there aren't, the restrained process is still able to consume as many CPU cycles as are available to it. Therefore, a restrained process doesn't really slow down, though it can now yield to another process like a nice citizen of your computer. That little yield will make a big difference in responsiveness, but not a big difference in the speed of the background process ;).

Again, no wonder Process Lasso didn't seem to make a difference for me - no wonder it didn't seem to be actually restraining resource usage...because it wasn't!  It never did the whole time!  If it wants to bill itself as a utility designed to maintain responsiveness and control resource usage, then it should do primarily that - not just be an automated prioritizer, which is really all it effectively does.

I know that Bitsum swear up and down, left and right, that Process Lasso isn't just another task manager, and it's true that, technically, it isn't.  However, despite its functionality, effectively, all it does is just automatically change the process priorities.  Even by its own admission, it doesn't actually restrain process usage, which it should!  Without capping resource usage, changing priorities is useless.  As I've observed personally, it doesn't matter how low I manually set the priorities for some of these high-CPU using processes - the CPU usage will still be as high as before.  If Process Lasso doesn't do anything to actually restrain resource usage, then it's not much better than programs like Process Explorer - except that it sometimes changes priorities automatically.

Anyway, I don't want to be so cynical on Process Lasso, but these are my honest observations - even reflected in statements on Bitsum's own website.  However, it does seem that Process Lasso has helped a lot of people, which is good.  For me, though, I think that Process Lasso or any other program should put an emphasis on actually controlling resource usage - since merely changing priorities often doesn't make any difference in taming resources.  Android devices have a limit on CPU usage, so PCs should have similar controls to ensure that foreground processes run smoothly.

Itipar Videos (Similar to Public Freakout Videos)

I love Itipar videos.  One might wonder what an "Itipar" video is.  "Itipar" is a word that I made up - derived from the phrase "Interesting Things in Public and Retail," which was basically the name of a playlist that I've had on YouTube.  Since I'm interested in creating concise terms, last year, I created the acronym "ITIPAR" (since I couldn't think of any better way to describe the videos) - but eventually started stylizing it as "Itipar" since I thought that it looked better.

Even the name "Interesting Things in Public and Retail" might seem a bit ambiguous, and I suppose that it is because the concept refers to different types of activities.  However, Itipar videos basically feature a lot of crazy, abnormal things in public - and private places open to the public - like retail establishments (e.g. supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants, malls, etc.).

Itipar videos often feature people getting into loud, shouting arguments in public places - or doing pranks like jumping from the second story of a mall - or making prank intercom announcements - or riding bicycles in stores.  Itipar videos are just so much fun because they can be so exciting and funny - and show people doing things that one doesn't normally see - but would often love to see.

I first started liking Itipar videos around 2008 - when I watched videos by TheBROMINSHIP - including "Stop At a Green Light...and More" - uploaded on May 29, 2008, "Sleeping in Department Store Beds" - uploaded on May 29, 2008, and "Reverse Drive-Thru" - uploaded on May 28, 2008.  However, my interest in Itipar videos kicked into high gear in early 2009 - and became interested in videos like "I Want My Chicken! FAT MAN Screams For Chicken Sandwich" - originally uploaded by ManOnTheStreetTV.

There are other examples of Itipar videos.  One is "Best Buy Scream" – uploaded by tox0tes on July 5, 2008 - where a guy just walks into a Best Buy, suddenly screams loudly, and then leaves.  Another is "I Want Real Chicken!!! (Full Video)" - uploaded by W0Went on October 22, 2009 - where a guy actually brings a live chicken, flapping its wings, into a McDonald's and shows it to a cashier.  Yet another example is "Mark Dice Bullhorns Barnes & Noble (Inside Store)[.]"

More examples of Itipar videos include but are not limited to "Funny As Hell!!! Wal-mart Prank!!!" - uploaded by Logan3574 on April 4, 2008, "Wal Mart Attack" - uploaded by ransum2256 on October 2, 2006, "Being stupid at Wal-Mart" - uploaded by prcruz15 on December 24, 2010, and "Walmart: Jousting" - uploaded by MoonStreetlightStar on July 15, 2008.

There are countless examples of Itipar videos that I could give, but hopefully, one gets the idea.  Related videos to Itipar videos are public freakout videos, viral videos, flash mob videos, and videos of fights uploaded on WorldStarHipHop.  However, Itipar videos have a more particular meaning - in that they do not necessarily feature people shouting or getting overly angry or emotional - nor are they necessarily viral videos or feature flash mobs.  Itipar videos just show unusual things happening in public places, which often include videos in the previously-mentioned categories.  Itipar videos can be public freakout videos, but they can also be prank videos, which I don't think are necessarily public freakout videos.  The term "Itipar" refers to a wide range of videos.

I think that I sought Itipar videos because I rarely saw anything crazy happening in public places - or at least, my curiosity just inspired me.  It is just interesting to see such outlandish things happening in public - where nobody expects to see them - and when many people can react to them.  I also strongly prefer videos by ordinary people - not obviously-staged ones by highly popular YouTubers (even though Mark Dice is highly popular, nothing in his bullhorn video suggested that the event was staged).  I should also note that although many Itipar videos are fun to watch, I have great respect for people working in retail, and I don't support destructive pranks.

I haven't watched many Itipar videos in a while, but they are fun to watch once in a while - at least for the sake of nostalgia.

Abolish Red Tape and Disenfranchisement

For some time, I've been greatly worried about the unemployed homeless.  It seems that they have the least ability to participate in society.  Sure, for those down on their luck, there are government programs (e.g. welfare) and offers by private companies (e.g. "your job is your credit"), but for some people, the extent of many current government and private offers just isn't enough.  There are still some people who can't benefit from such offers.

Such offers are aimed those in the middle and lower classes - who are merely down on their luck - but aren't completely helpless.  Unfortunately, in society, there isn't often enough help for those who have absolutely nothing, and that needs to change.

Over the last few months in particular, I've grown concerned over the seemingly increasing level of identity and financial verification.  Credit scores and checks have seemingly become more pervasive, and even for getting an e-mail address from Yahoo! - or signing up for a VK account, one needs a phone number.  On top of that, there's the possibility that even prepaid phones could start requiring personal information.  It's a potential catch-22 that hurts the poor and those that have nothing.

Also, I've been shocked to learn that many banks require credit checks even for opening mere savings accounts, which I think is ridiculous.  If it were for actual loans, then yeah, I wouldn't be opposed to credit checks, but savings accounts are much lower risk, so there is no reason why banks should require credit checks for savings accounts.  All that does is disenfranchise those who need help.

Conservatives and Republicans will often complain about those gosh darn "government regulations."  But what they don't say is that they have no problem with "private regulations" - and that government regulations often times stop those "private regulations," which would have denied help for the poor.

Take Obamacare for example.  Before Obamacare, health insurance companies could deny coverage for people due to preexisting conditions, but thanks to Obamacare, that is (hopefully) no longer the case.  Denial for a preexisting condition could be considered a privately-imposed "regulation," which is just as bad and harmful to the poor as some (I emphasize the word "some") government regulations.

To me, it doesn't matter whether the regulation is from the government or a private entity - anything that disenfranchises the poor and underprivileged is bad and should be done away with - or allow the use of waivers for some circumstances.

Also, in addition to being indifferent to private regulations, conservatives and Republicans do still love some types of government regulations.  Despite their professed love for "small government," they have had no problems implementing things like the REAL ID Act - and have favored restricting LGBT and abortion rights - and have favored requiring ID at polling stations.  It sounds like Republicans aren't all that against government regulations after all.  Completely the opposite - Republicans love regulations - just not on the big businesses who actually can afford to deal with them.  And they also have no problem with privately-imposed regulations on access to health insurance, e-mail addresses, and bank accounts.

The problem with society nowadays is that there is a poor mixture of government and private policies.  My preferred system is a proper blend of government and private entities, but the system that we have in the United States - and unfortunately in many other industrialized countries - doesn't properly help those in the most need.  For instance, a government could require that someone seeking government assistance had to get a job.  However, that system could potentially be detrimental since one might not be able to find a job since private companies have the discretion not to hire people.  Some ways to fix this sort of situation (which is unfortunately very common in many countries nowadays) would be to either waive the employment requirement - or to provide an employment guarantee - an employer of last resort.  If one couldn't find employment in the private sector, then one could be assigned a job in a government or private entity.

To be fair, although I have been critical of private entities, they have occasionally done some good things to prevent disenfranchisement.  For instance, for the unbanked, there are prepaid debit cards that don't require credit checks.  Also, one can get website domains, e-mail addresses, online accounts, and Wi-Fi for free - although as I said earlier, for such services, there seems to be a growing amount of red tape, which needs to be abolished since all it does is disenfranchise the helpless.  The helpless can't improve their lives if stuck in a catch-22.  Some things should be able to be provided with no strings attached.

In the case of requiring phone numbers for e-mail addresses, having stricter photo ID requirements, and required registration for cell phones, some will say that these security measures are done in the name of fighting terrorism.  But short of stripping everyone's civil liberties, terrorism could still happen.  Increasing verification requirements wouldn't stop anything.  A perfectly law-abiding citizen could suddenly decide to become a terrorist.  Verification doesn't need to be increased - but the actual causes of terrorism need to be prevented.

The types of assistance available now do generally help (at least to some extent) those in the middle and lower classes, but they are not enough to help those that have absolutely nothing.  The poor mixture of government and private policies keeps the helpless trapped, and both government and private policies must be properly coordinated to ensure that even those with absolutely nothing can participate in society and rebuild their lives.

I Have Trichotemnomania

I have trichotemnomania - not to be confused with the more commonly-known trichotillomania.  Trichotemnomania is distinguished from trichotillomania in that those with trichotemnomania are obsessed with cutting or shaving off hair - rather than pulling it out as those with trichotillomania are.

I felt the need to make this post since trichotemnomania seems much less known as trichotillomania, and I wanted it to be more well known.  An example of a character in popular culture with trichotemnomania is Fred from Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Trichotemnomania isn't a major part of my life, but I am still moderately obsessed with shaving hair.  I should note that I've liked mowing lawns, which could be a symptom of my trichotemnomania - even though mowing lawns deals with long grass instead of hair.

Also, lately, I've been somewhat obsessed with The Simpsons, and have wanted to shave the hair off three characters in particular: Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, and Ned Flanders.

First, Homer barely has any hair - aside from his wispy combover and hair above his ears.  Since he barely has any hair, that wispy amount that he has left looks bad.  He would look so much better if he shaved his whole head.  In fact, his head was completely shaved when he was the prison snitch in the episode "The Seven-Beer Snitch," and indeed, he looked so much more well-manicured.  If only he always kept his head shaved - and if only he also shaved off his five o'clock shadow, too.

Secondly, Marge also is a very obvious target.  Her hair looks so tall, thick, and hot - and disproportionate to her head.  If I could enter the Simpsons' world, I would take some hedge clippers and chop off the bulk of Marge's hair - and then neaten her hair up.  That way, she would still have hair - but it wouldn't be so disproportionately thick and tall.

Finally, Ned has rather thick hair and a rather thick moustache, too - both of which I would be ever-so eager to shave off.  I've tried to figure out why exactly I've felt that Ned's hair didn't look right to me, and I've lately figured that it's just too thick, rectangular, and straight.  It just looks too shaggy and somewhat aesthetically unpleasing - compared to Reverend Lovejoy's hair, who still has a nice, full head of hair - but without looking so hot and shaggy.

For some time, I've felt that my hair is too long if it sticks through my fingers.  Anything shorter than that is fine.  I like hair, but shaving it is fun, too.

Shannon Mall ASCII Logo

After waking up today, I realized that we had gotten snow, which was nice since my area hadn't had snow in probably almost four years.

Anyway, after spending some time in the snow (I wrote "트럼프" and "ПЛОХОЙ ТРАМП" and made some snowballs), I decided on the spur of the moment to remake an ASCII image of the Shannon Mall logo.

I made an ASCII image of the Shannon Mall logo on December 24, 2014, but a few months later, it was lost - along with other data that I hadn't backed up - when my original eMachines hard drive broke - after I banged on it in rage.  Since then, I never got around to remaking the ASCII image - until today.

I basically repeated the same steps that I did to make the image that I did back in 2014 (thankfully, after my hard drive broke, I still had my list of documents, which had some notes on how I made the image).  Like in 2014, I used Paint.NET and an ASCII art plugin - and loaded the same, 176x67 logo.  I inverted the colors - and reduced the size.  Unfortunately, in my list of documents, I didn't specify the size to which I shrank the logo, but since I've wanted ASCII art to be visible on a traditional 80x25 screen, I shrank the width to 76 pixels, and the height automatically adjusted (I've used numbers slightly below 80x25 to ensure that everything fits within the 80x25 resolution).  I then converted the image to an ASCII text file, and voilà, I again had an ASCII image of the Shannon Mall logo!

The above image is the Shannon Mall logo - after typing "TYPE SHANMALL.TXT" in DOSBox.  Thankfully, despite shrinking the image, it still resembles the original logo.  For anyone interested, here is the Shannon Mall ASCII text file.

I'm happy with how this turned out.  It's really cool to think that one can make images out of text characters - and that if Shannon Mall had a website in the '80s, it could have had an ASCII logo like this.  Also, I'm very happy that I have a Paint.NET plugin that allows ASCII art to be made automatically.