This needs a bit of set-up for people to understand. I am a liberal-leaning centrist; there are some times when I agree with conservative ideals but more often than not I will side with the democratic party's line. I abhor the idea of the "tea party" and think that the vast majority of them are being brainwashed into believing that the current administration is doing everything it can to remove all our personal freedoms and lock us into a totalitarian state. They've done some stupid things, but I beleive this takes the cake.
http://punditkitchen.com/2010/07/30/political-pictures-oregon-chan/
Now, to understand Anonymous, one has to understand that there is no real kind of system to them. They do not know each other, they rarely (if ever) meet in real life, and there is no kind of hierarchy; it's just random people who, from time to time, decide to wreak havoc on groups that piss them off (If anyone remembers all the "attacks" on the Church of Scientology in early 2008, that was them.) Normally their antics can be classified as pranks. Fake phone calls, black faxes, pizza deliveries, the worst thing they will usually do is launch a DDoS attack (Distributed Denial of Service) on a website, shutting it down by flooding it with information. Their antics are annoying, but not much more than that.
The Tea Party of Oregon apparently didn't think it would be that big of a deal. Big mistake.
It all started when a tea party supporter decided to put the last lines of the Anonymous Credo on a sign and hold it at a support rally.
"We Are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us."
Other party member, apparently not knowing that the poster held not an anonymous quote but a quote by Anonymous, decided to make it into a bumper sticker. It didn't take long before someone put a picture of it online. Someone, unconvinced at the legitmacy of the sticker, shot the tea party organizers and e-mail and got confirmation that the Oregon Tea Party had ripped off a slogan from the self-proclaimed "cesspool of the internet." Anonymous found this out in short order.
Anyone who has been following me so far can probably guess where this ended up going.
The Oregon tea Party's facebook page has been wiped, no doubt due to the vast amount of lolcats, spam, and images of people displaying horribly distended anuses (Don't ask. For the love of all that's holy, don't ask.) Franky if you ask me, they had it coming.
If there's any moral to be learned from the wrath of Anonymous and the ruins of the Tea Party, it's this:
Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, piss off the Internet. They will END you.
Seriously.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
The Beautiful Game: How to follow World Cup Soccer
While most of my posts are going to be about controversial topics and things I feel a need to rant about, this one is going to be something a bit different. Soccer as a whole is really seen as a kind of niche sport, but there are enough things going on that I feel it prudent to give people at least a primer so they can try to follow, despite not knowing anything about the game.
Regardless, here is a simple-to-follow breakdown.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is being held in South Africa, with ten stadiums across the country holding the events. Contrary to popular belief, the country is not necessarily infested with killer African bees, the constant buzzing sound in the background comes from "vuvuzelas", plastic horns given to all the fans; they were intended to only be used after a goal. Obviously the fans have had other ideas.
Thirty-two nation's teams qualified for the cup through various tournaments. (South Africa, being the host nation, was given an automatic bid) In March, the teams were randomly put into eight groups of four teams, imaginatively named Groups A thru H. These groups determined who would play who in the preliminary stage of the tournament, called the "group stage".
The group stage started June 11, with each group being played in a round-robin format; each team plays each other team in their group. America was in Group C, along with England, Slovenia, and Algeria, and would face them each in that order.
As for the game, it's fairly simple. Two halves are played, 45 minutes each. The clock doesn't stop for anything; including goals, injuries, substitutions, or penalties. To compensate; at the end of each half, the referee adds time to the game corresponding to the time "lost" by stoppages of play, known simply as "stoppage time". The scoring is fairly obvious, as is how you win the game: score more goals than the other side. Draws are possible in the group stage. (and relatively common, as soccer is a low-scoring affair)
After each match, points are awarded. Winning a game gives your side 3 points, a draw gives each side 1 point, and a loss gets you 0 points. Out of each group, the top two teams advance in the tournament, as determined by their results during the three group games. If there is a tie between two or more teams, the first tiebreaker is the "goal differential", or the difference between how many goals you scored and how many you allowed. The second tiebreaker is how many goals you scored, and if two teams are still tied, they draw lots to determine placement.
After the field is cut in half, the remaining sixteen teams advance to the "knockout stage", a single elimination bracket until one team stands alone. The groups are somewhat mixed for this bracket; the winner of Group A faces the runner-up of Group B, the winner of group B plays the runner-up of group A, and the kind of pairing continues down the line. Obviously draws are not allowed in a single-elimination format, so the rules are slightly modified. If the score is tied after 90 minutes, plus stoppage time, the teams play a 15-minute overtime period. However unlike hockey or American Football, the overtime isn't sudden death (or "golden goal" as it's referred to) and the full quarter-hour is played even if a goal is scored fifteen seconds in. If the match is tied after one overtime, a second is played using the same rules. After that overtime, amounting to 120 minutes of play, plus stoppage time, the game moves to a penalty-kick shootout, winner takes all.
In case anyone reading this has also been living under a rock the past two weeks, the United States has advanced to the knockout stage of the tournament with a fantastic late goal to not only advance, but win the group. They face Ghana, the runner-up of group D. The game is at 2 PM on Saturday; so I know where I'll be!
Regardless, here is a simple-to-follow breakdown.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is being held in South Africa, with ten stadiums across the country holding the events. Contrary to popular belief, the country is not necessarily infested with killer African bees, the constant buzzing sound in the background comes from "vuvuzelas", plastic horns given to all the fans; they were intended to only be used after a goal. Obviously the fans have had other ideas.
Thirty-two nation's teams qualified for the cup through various tournaments. (South Africa, being the host nation, was given an automatic bid) In March, the teams were randomly put into eight groups of four teams, imaginatively named Groups A thru H. These groups determined who would play who in the preliminary stage of the tournament, called the "group stage".
The group stage started June 11, with each group being played in a round-robin format; each team plays each other team in their group. America was in Group C, along with England, Slovenia, and Algeria, and would face them each in that order.
As for the game, it's fairly simple. Two halves are played, 45 minutes each. The clock doesn't stop for anything; including goals, injuries, substitutions, or penalties. To compensate; at the end of each half, the referee adds time to the game corresponding to the time "lost" by stoppages of play, known simply as "stoppage time". The scoring is fairly obvious, as is how you win the game: score more goals than the other side. Draws are possible in the group stage. (and relatively common, as soccer is a low-scoring affair)
After each match, points are awarded. Winning a game gives your side 3 points, a draw gives each side 1 point, and a loss gets you 0 points. Out of each group, the top two teams advance in the tournament, as determined by their results during the three group games. If there is a tie between two or more teams, the first tiebreaker is the "goal differential", or the difference between how many goals you scored and how many you allowed. The second tiebreaker is how many goals you scored, and if two teams are still tied, they draw lots to determine placement.
After the field is cut in half, the remaining sixteen teams advance to the "knockout stage", a single elimination bracket until one team stands alone. The groups are somewhat mixed for this bracket; the winner of Group A faces the runner-up of Group B, the winner of group B plays the runner-up of group A, and the kind of pairing continues down the line. Obviously draws are not allowed in a single-elimination format, so the rules are slightly modified. If the score is tied after 90 minutes, plus stoppage time, the teams play a 15-minute overtime period. However unlike hockey or American Football, the overtime isn't sudden death (or "golden goal" as it's referred to) and the full quarter-hour is played even if a goal is scored fifteen seconds in. If the match is tied after one overtime, a second is played using the same rules. After that overtime, amounting to 120 minutes of play, plus stoppage time, the game moves to a penalty-kick shootout, winner takes all.
In case anyone reading this has also been living under a rock the past two weeks, the United States has advanced to the knockout stage of the tournament with a fantastic late goal to not only advance, but win the group. They face Ghana, the runner-up of group D. The game is at 2 PM on Saturday; so I know where I'll be!
Monday, June 21, 2010
@socialnetworks -- The Rift of Reality
Today I figure it's time to talk about social networking, and how I feel it's making us as a whole a lot more antisocial. With all the technology available to us; YIM, IRC, MSN, MOUSE...
Admittedly I made the last one up. However, if this were Twitter, that is all I'd be able to post. 140 characters. There are many problems with things like twitter and facebook and myspace that seem to ensnare us in their grasp. Granted, I did myspace for a bit and I do have a facebook account, but more and more I see that people are seeming to use these media to replace face-to-face conversation. You don't ask someone what they're doing tonight, you check their twitter feed. Wanting to know who's going to homecoming? there's probably at least two Facebook groups talking about it. In this day and age of technology, if people want something, chances are you can find it without asking a single real person.
Now I am not saying that we should spurn all technology made after 1900 and go the way of the Amish; it makes no sense to have all this technology available and not use it. Email, for one, is a fantastic device that I feel has had very little downside for the advancement of society. You still have to use proper grammar, syntax, and formatting to make an impression to a potential employer or business partner.
All in all, these programs are tools. They need to be used as such, not as extensions of our own lives. There are plenty of ways to escape the reality in which we live in without having to subject everyone to every aspect of your life.
There are some things that are best left untold.
Admittedly I made the last one up. However, if this were Twitter, that is all I'd be able to post. 140 characters. There are many problems with things like twitter and facebook and myspace that seem to ensnare us in their grasp. Granted, I did myspace for a bit and I do have a facebook account, but more and more I see that people are seeming to use these media to replace face-to-face conversation. You don't ask someone what they're doing tonight, you check their twitter feed. Wanting to know who's going to homecoming? there's probably at least two Facebook groups talking about it. In this day and age of technology, if people want something, chances are you can find it without asking a single real person.
Now I am not saying that we should spurn all technology made after 1900 and go the way of the Amish; it makes no sense to have all this technology available and not use it. Email, for one, is a fantastic device that I feel has had very little downside for the advancement of society. You still have to use proper grammar, syntax, and formatting to make an impression to a potential employer or business partner.
All in all, these programs are tools. They need to be used as such, not as extensions of our own lives. There are plenty of ways to escape the reality in which we live in without having to subject everyone to every aspect of your life.
There are some things that are best left untold.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Tony's Rant: Double Double Oil and Trouble
At the time of this posting, it has been 38 days since the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the rupture of the oil pipeline it was working on. Everyone has presented ideas on fault and blame and the political, environmental, and practical fallout from the tragedy. However, there's one aspect that I feel needs to be put into plainer language: the numbers. People need to be able to see just how much and how little these are affecting us.
If people can understand the facts, then the impact of this may start to become that much clearer. Regardless, here are the facts:
The government estimates that anywhere from 12,000 to 25,000 barrels of oil have been spilled into the ocean each day. With a "barrel" containing 42 US gallons, this means that there is anywhere from 19.152 and 39.9 million gallons of oil in the Gulf.
That's a rough guess of THIRTY MILLION GALLONS of oil flooding into the gulf to wash ashore or kill wildlife at sea, right now. Based on those numbers, we can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 750,000 more gallons being pumped into the gulf each day until they can finally fix the problem with the relief well. That's slated to take about 90 days at the best case scenario. based on the current numbers, that makes it just shy of seventy million gallons of crude oil floating in the Atlantic or washed up on the eastern seaboard by the time the hole is plugged.
Seventy million gallons. That's what British Petroleum has loosed upon us with thier negligence.
Some people think that BP has suffered enough, that the losses from just the lack of oil will be punishment enough. It's true that they stand to lose a pretty penny from the loss; crude oil accounts for approximately 55% of the price of gasoline. With the average gas price in the Midwest at $2.69/gallon, the 70 million gallons of crude would account for $188,580,000 in "losses", money they would have coming in with the gas they could have sold using the now seabound crude oil. And while they certainly might miss the $188 million, it's not even a drop in the bucket of the $4.4 Billion (or $4400 million) in profit the company made in the fourth quarter of 2009 alone.
Assuming the numbers stay the same (which I know they wont but it makes calculations easier), this spill would accunt for 4.3% of the company's quarterly income. It's the equivalent of four days' worth of profits.
This disaster will consist of at least 90 days to fix the leak, 70,000,000 gallons of oil loosed onto a world that has no way to properly deal with it, and countless injuries and fatalities to humans, plants, and animals. Under the current law, BP is only responsible for covering up to $75 Million in damages, for a total "loss" of $263,000,000
BP can recoup that monetary loss in 131 hours worth of drilling. That's less than 6 days.
I don't know about you, but I personally feel that BP deserves a lot more punishment than just breaking even for 6 days.
If people can understand the facts, then the impact of this may start to become that much clearer. Regardless, here are the facts:
The government estimates that anywhere from 12,000 to 25,000 barrels of oil have been spilled into the ocean each day. With a "barrel" containing 42 US gallons, this means that there is anywhere from 19.152 and 39.9 million gallons of oil in the Gulf.
That's a rough guess of THIRTY MILLION GALLONS of oil flooding into the gulf to wash ashore or kill wildlife at sea, right now. Based on those numbers, we can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 750,000 more gallons being pumped into the gulf each day until they can finally fix the problem with the relief well. That's slated to take about 90 days at the best case scenario. based on the current numbers, that makes it just shy of seventy million gallons of crude oil floating in the Atlantic or washed up on the eastern seaboard by the time the hole is plugged.
Seventy million gallons. That's what British Petroleum has loosed upon us with thier negligence.
Some people think that BP has suffered enough, that the losses from just the lack of oil will be punishment enough. It's true that they stand to lose a pretty penny from the loss; crude oil accounts for approximately 55% of the price of gasoline. With the average gas price in the Midwest at $2.69/gallon, the 70 million gallons of crude would account for $188,580,000 in "losses", money they would have coming in with the gas they could have sold using the now seabound crude oil. And while they certainly might miss the $188 million, it's not even a drop in the bucket of the $4.4 Billion (or $4400 million) in profit the company made in the fourth quarter of 2009 alone.
Assuming the numbers stay the same (which I know they wont but it makes calculations easier), this spill would accunt for 4.3% of the company's quarterly income. It's the equivalent of four days' worth of profits.
This disaster will consist of at least 90 days to fix the leak, 70,000,000 gallons of oil loosed onto a world that has no way to properly deal with it, and countless injuries and fatalities to humans, plants, and animals. Under the current law, BP is only responsible for covering up to $75 Million in damages, for a total "loss" of $263,000,000
BP can recoup that monetary loss in 131 hours worth of drilling. That's less than 6 days.
I don't know about you, but I personally feel that BP deserves a lot more punishment than just breaking even for 6 days.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
1000 Pieces: Some Assembly Required
My name is Anthony Dennis. You can call me Tony. More and more I have found that there are things that I need to speak about, and there are times where people aren't willing to listen or don't understand what I'm talking about. In the old days people used to just sit down at a typewriter and vent, writing whatever comes to mind.
This isn't a typewriter but it'll work just as well. plus it's a lot easier to correct spelling mistakes.
I suppose now would be a good time to talk about myself. I'm 21 years old living in a suburb on the west side of Indianapolis with my family. Dad works at a hospital downtown, mom works with the special education dept. at the local high school, I have one sister who's gonna be a sophomore in college and one going into her senior year of high school. I'm looking to return to college and am also pursuing becoming an IHSAA official in the meantime.
Of course, if everything was as normal as it seems on the face this wouldn't be very interesting. And frankly, the interesting part is my head: I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in the summer of 1998. Asperger's is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by above-average cognitive function, bordering on savant-levels, but massively decreased social skills. Unlike true autistic savants ("Rain Man" did a fairly accurate protrayal) I understand what's going on in the world around me. The problem is dealing with it in a socailly acceptable way. Things like looking at someone when they're talking, not interrupting people, and not making odd sound effects at random times are near-instinctual to most, but it's taken years of repetitive behavior to grind those into my brain. Despite all that, it's hard to connect with people normally; they see that I'm weird and will usually have nothing more to do with me.
Of course, that is hardly all-inclusive. I've discovered that I'm a geek, and to a point that has helped me find people who, even if they don't know me personally, share enough common interests that we get along well enough. I'm an avid gamer and anyone who knows me also knows it. Whether it's board games, card games, video games, I always like playing something, trying to outsmart an opponent. (I'm so into gaming that I just interrupted posting this to play euchre with my family.) One thing that I've found out is that especially on the internet, people are a lot less likely to make snap judgements on someone, especially when you know what you have in common. And so I've made friends, met people who think the way I do, and even gotten into some new experiences because of it.
One thing this won't be is a masterpiece. Writing has never been an easy thing for me; in grade school I used to throw temper tantrums because I absolutely refused to do writing assignments. Over the past 15 years it's become much easier, but I do not claim to be that good. One thing it will be is an honest opinion of what I believe.
To quote Keith Olbermann:
"The purpose isn't to throw off heat; it's to throw off light."
This isn't a typewriter but it'll work just as well. plus it's a lot easier to correct spelling mistakes.
I suppose now would be a good time to talk about myself. I'm 21 years old living in a suburb on the west side of Indianapolis with my family. Dad works at a hospital downtown, mom works with the special education dept. at the local high school, I have one sister who's gonna be a sophomore in college and one going into her senior year of high school. I'm looking to return to college and am also pursuing becoming an IHSAA official in the meantime.
Of course, if everything was as normal as it seems on the face this wouldn't be very interesting. And frankly, the interesting part is my head: I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in the summer of 1998. Asperger's is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by above-average cognitive function, bordering on savant-levels, but massively decreased social skills. Unlike true autistic savants ("Rain Man" did a fairly accurate protrayal) I understand what's going on in the world around me. The problem is dealing with it in a socailly acceptable way. Things like looking at someone when they're talking, not interrupting people, and not making odd sound effects at random times are near-instinctual to most, but it's taken years of repetitive behavior to grind those into my brain. Despite all that, it's hard to connect with people normally; they see that I'm weird and will usually have nothing more to do with me.
Of course, that is hardly all-inclusive. I've discovered that I'm a geek, and to a point that has helped me find people who, even if they don't know me personally, share enough common interests that we get along well enough. I'm an avid gamer and anyone who knows me also knows it. Whether it's board games, card games, video games, I always like playing something, trying to outsmart an opponent. (I'm so into gaming that I just interrupted posting this to play euchre with my family.) One thing that I've found out is that especially on the internet, people are a lot less likely to make snap judgements on someone, especially when you know what you have in common. And so I've made friends, met people who think the way I do, and even gotten into some new experiences because of it.
One thing this won't be is a masterpiece. Writing has never been an easy thing for me; in grade school I used to throw temper tantrums because I absolutely refused to do writing assignments. Over the past 15 years it's become much easier, but I do not claim to be that good. One thing it will be is an honest opinion of what I believe.
To quote Keith Olbermann:
"The purpose isn't to throw off heat; it's to throw off light."
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