Have you ever noticed how people quite often will say the opposite of what they mean? I don't mean in a sarcastic way either. I'm talking about when people actually believe the they're speaking the truth about themselves when they clearly are not.
Let me give you a few examples:
"I don't mean to tell you how to do your job but..." and then they tell you how to do your job.
"Let me be the first to say that I am all about technology but... " and then they say how they don't understand why we should use digital xyz instead of paper print outs.
"I'm not racist or anything but..." and then the most racist thing you've ever heard pours out of their mouth.
I think people lie to themselves to help reinforce the lie. I've noticed this several times with people who come to learn Karate but have had almost all of their training from one other school. They'll often say something like "I'm just here to learn." Or "I'm not here to prove anything." Usually they quit after just a couple of classes. Why? I have no idea, but I have a theory.
They don't actually want to learn something new, but instead want to have what they've already learned reinforced because they already believe what they've learned is the "best".
Now, because I'm self-centered, I look at this "opposite speach" and wonder what I'm lying to myself about. I mean, I already know that I'm the most handsome, awesomest, greatest person on the planet. Those are just understood facts, but what if there's something I "know" about myself that isn't true?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Why we need to invent the Star Trek teleport. RIGHT NOW!
No, it's not because we could then quickly and easily transfer goods and people across vast distances. No, it's not so we could meet with friends and family on the other side of the globe for lunch at the north pole. No, it's not so we could move emergency materials and aid to a disaster zone in a heartbeat. Nope, it's so that I don't have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Think about it. Well, er, think about the possibility, don't think about me going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Either a small teleporting device could be place in the bladder and "beam" it's contents to a designated spot, or a remote teleporting device could be used to the same effect.
How awesome would that be? You'd never have to use a toilet ever again! Not to mention that diarrhea wouldn't be nearly such a big deal, except for that whole dehydration think, but hey, why not teleport saline solution right into the bloodstream?!
Somebody needs to get on this right freakin now!
Think about it. Well, er, think about the possibility, don't think about me going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Either a small teleporting device could be place in the bladder and "beam" it's contents to a designated spot, or a remote teleporting device could be used to the same effect.
How awesome would that be? You'd never have to use a toilet ever again! Not to mention that diarrhea wouldn't be nearly such a big deal, except for that whole dehydration think, but hey, why not teleport saline solution right into the bloodstream?!
Somebody needs to get on this right freakin now!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
There is no teaching...
Here's a lesson I've learned in my (admittedly short) time working with people.
You can't teach anyone anything.
This probably needs some clarification. Let's say that I'm a karate instructor (which I am) and let's say that hypothetical person A (let's call them Balthazar) is my student. I can't present a lesson to them, what you may think of as teaching, but there is zero assurance that they've learned the lesson I'm trying to impart. Balthazar will most likely learn a lesson, but it may be completely unrelated lesson. Likely, in that situation it's (hopefully) close to what I was trying to present, but it is rarely, if ever, 100% of what I'm hoping they will learn.
And that is with a willing student!
I often hear the phrase "I'm gonna teach them a lesson!" Usually it's spoken in the context of vengeance. For example, watch this video:
The guy that steps out of the car with the bat was undoubtedly thinking "I'm gonna teach these guys to harrass people." I sincerely doubt that's what was learned by the other guys. If anything they probably learned something along the lines of "Huh, a douchebag with a bat isn't nearly as tough as I thought."
One last scenario. Let's say you're really good at something. Let's say it's llama herding. You think you're just the bees elbows when it comes to llama herding and you see someone who is struggling to herd llamas nearly as well as you. So you think to yourself, "I'm gonna teach this guy a thing or two about herding llamas!" And you go and show off. You think he learned something how to herd llamas better? I doubt it. He probably just reinforced something he learned in elementary school: arrogant assholes will be arrogant assholes.
Summary: You can't teach anyone. Sure, they can learn things, but it's all beyond your control.
So, my suggestion on all this? First off, try to present only positive lessons as they're more likely to be receptive to that. And if someone is not going to be receptive, don't even waste your time, just smile, nod and move on.
Now the question is, what did you learn by reading this? That I'm an arrogant douchebag of course!
You can't teach anyone anything.
This probably needs some clarification. Let's say that I'm a karate instructor (which I am) and let's say that hypothetical person A (let's call them Balthazar) is my student. I can't present a lesson to them, what you may think of as teaching, but there is zero assurance that they've learned the lesson I'm trying to impart. Balthazar will most likely learn a lesson, but it may be completely unrelated lesson. Likely, in that situation it's (hopefully) close to what I was trying to present, but it is rarely, if ever, 100% of what I'm hoping they will learn.
And that is with a willing student!
I often hear the phrase "I'm gonna teach them a lesson!" Usually it's spoken in the context of vengeance. For example, watch this video:
The guy that steps out of the car with the bat was undoubtedly thinking "I'm gonna teach these guys to harrass people." I sincerely doubt that's what was learned by the other guys. If anything they probably learned something along the lines of "Huh, a douchebag with a bat isn't nearly as tough as I thought."
One last scenario. Let's say you're really good at something. Let's say it's llama herding. You think you're just the bees elbows when it comes to llama herding and you see someone who is struggling to herd llamas nearly as well as you. So you think to yourself, "I'm gonna teach this guy a thing or two about herding llamas!" And you go and show off. You think he learned something how to herd llamas better? I doubt it. He probably just reinforced something he learned in elementary school: arrogant assholes will be arrogant assholes.
Summary: You can't teach anyone. Sure, they can learn things, but it's all beyond your control.
So, my suggestion on all this? First off, try to present only positive lessons as they're more likely to be receptive to that. And if someone is not going to be receptive, don't even waste your time, just smile, nod and move on.
Now the question is, what did you learn by reading this? That I'm an arrogant douchebag of course!
I am SUPER clever. No Really.
I am most clever in my dreams. Well, not my dreams (which are indeed clever, but usually just plain strange) but at the times that I really should be dreaming but can't really sleep. Like last night. Maybe it was the full and fully eclipsed moon, the fact that I stayed up way to late to see it (and it was awesome) or that I'm psyched up for vacation tomorrow, but I didn't sleep very well last night.
Which meant I was clever as hell last night. Seriously, you should've been there. Well, maybe not there physically but mentally. Whatever, you know what I mean.
Of course, the problem is, I don't have any way to capture all my clever thoughts, so I can't really remember them, but I assure you, they were clever as hell. One of them had to do with zombies. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, zombies are a now tired genre, but still this was pretty sweet. It may have been an idea for lego zombies. Not the lame little minifigs with just a zombie paint job, no. I'm talking about a variety of zombie lego dudes complete with sucking chest wounds, detachable forearms and unhingable jaws.
The problem with most "zombies" is they're just people with stuff added to make them look like zombies. Lego has a real opportunity to be more accurate and start with people and then subtract stuff.
See? Awesome right? And that was just one of 3 or 4 really great ideas I had last night. I have to find a way to document these things.
Which meant I was clever as hell last night. Seriously, you should've been there. Well, maybe not there physically but mentally. Whatever, you know what I mean.
Of course, the problem is, I don't have any way to capture all my clever thoughts, so I can't really remember them, but I assure you, they were clever as hell. One of them had to do with zombies. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, zombies are a now tired genre, but still this was pretty sweet. It may have been an idea for lego zombies. Not the lame little minifigs with just a zombie paint job, no. I'm talking about a variety of zombie lego dudes complete with sucking chest wounds, detachable forearms and unhingable jaws.
The problem with most "zombies" is they're just people with stuff added to make them look like zombies. Lego has a real opportunity to be more accurate and start with people and then subtract stuff.
See? Awesome right? And that was just one of 3 or 4 really great ideas I had last night. I have to find a way to document these things.
Friday, December 17, 2010
I hate driving, wait, no I don't.
I used to feel conflicted about driving, sometimes I'd hate it, other times, I'd love it. Then I realized that what I actually hate is commuting. First of all, there's the fact that one half of this activity takes you away from your home when you want nothing more than stay in a cozy warm bed. The other half is just getting you back to where you should've been the whole time anyway. And then, every other dumbass like me is out doing the same damn thing at the same time!
I've narrowed down the causes of all my driving frustrations to two main factors:
1) People don't want to think while driving.
2) People have to be "special, unique butterflys" and drive their own speed regardless of what everyone else is doing.
Let's elaborate on point 1: Even the smartest and most thoughtful people seem to want to click their brain off when they drive. People hang out in the left hand lane because they don't want to worry (think) about when to make lane changes. There is more deadly kinetic force in one car doing 75 mph than there is in 1000 .45 caliber bullets, but somehow it's totally okay to space off while driving?
Let's elaborate on point 2: I'm going to institute a new rule when driving: "Keep up with the person in front of you." The caveat being (which shouldn't even have to be stated) "Within reason and don't tailgate." The second best way to keep from causing accidents (other than "paying attention" - see point 1) is to drive as predictably as possible. If you're going the same speed as everyone else (in your lane) then there's a whole less reason for people to make lane changes, get frustrated, try to pass, etc., etc..
I could go on, and on (and on and on) about driving and bad habits. I certainly understand that I'm not a perfect driver, but that's no excuse to not even try to be a better one.
In other news, I made up some words because my brain probably doesn't work like it should.
Jonky: A white junky.
Splazzy: Both splashy and jazzy. (i.e. gawd awful).
Slatchler: Like a baby snatcher, but a lot more slippery.
Gronklovian: Describes how somebody who fantasizes about droids might walk.
Fnrgnrg: The sounds a dying Splegnastle makes.
Christhulhu: Self explanatory.
Well, that's all for today folks, remember to be terrible little boys and girls so Santa will bring you coal which can be made into torches or used to fuel your furnace. (Minecraft does strange things to your priorities).
I've narrowed down the causes of all my driving frustrations to two main factors:
1) People don't want to think while driving.
2) People have to be "special, unique butterflys" and drive their own speed regardless of what everyone else is doing.
Let's elaborate on point 1: Even the smartest and most thoughtful people seem to want to click their brain off when they drive. People hang out in the left hand lane because they don't want to worry (think) about when to make lane changes. There is more deadly kinetic force in one car doing 75 mph than there is in 1000 .45 caliber bullets, but somehow it's totally okay to space off while driving?
Let's elaborate on point 2: I'm going to institute a new rule when driving: "Keep up with the person in front of you." The caveat being (which shouldn't even have to be stated) "Within reason and don't tailgate." The second best way to keep from causing accidents (other than "paying attention" - see point 1) is to drive as predictably as possible. If you're going the same speed as everyone else (in your lane) then there's a whole less reason for people to make lane changes, get frustrated, try to pass, etc., etc..
I could go on, and on (and on and on) about driving and bad habits. I certainly understand that I'm not a perfect driver, but that's no excuse to not even try to be a better one.
In other news, I made up some words because my brain probably doesn't work like it should.
Jonky: A white junky.
Splazzy: Both splashy and jazzy. (i.e. gawd awful).
Slatchler: Like a baby snatcher, but a lot more slippery.
Gronklovian: Describes how somebody who fantasizes about droids might walk.
Fnrgnrg: The sounds a dying Splegnastle makes.
Christhulhu: Self explanatory.
Well, that's all for today folks, remember to be terrible little boys and girls so Santa will bring you coal which can be made into torches or used to fuel your furnace. (Minecraft does strange things to your priorities).
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
"Back off motherfucker, I've got cheese." And tuna too. That's right, I'm one dangerous individual with those two things. I mean, I'm dangerous no matter what, but now I'm dangerous and delicious.
I mean, who doesn't like cheese anyway? I mean, besides those so-called "lactose intolerant" people. Normally, I'd go on and on about how intolerance isn't cool, but I think it's swinging back into fashion again. So props to those guys for standing up and saying "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Well, maybe they're not "mad", but if cheese made me sick, I'd be mad, that's for sure.
Because I can't help myself, I always try to relate some stupid saying on my mind to whatever "bigger picture" I'm working on. As noted below, the bigger picture-de-jour is Preparedness. That's right, The Boy Scouts of America strikes again. Are you prepared for a rainy day? How about 40 metaphorical days of rain? Yeah, I thought so. Me neither (yet).
This time, though. I can't do it. I can't relate preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse to having a tuna and cheese sandwich. I mean, short of the obvious relation, but who wants to hear about camels?
Hey check this out:
Yeah it's a gun, and you know what makes it awesome? It's my gun. There are many like it, but this one is mine!
I'd never thought I'd be a gun owner but all this prep talk got me thinking: why limit my self-defense options? I may have mentioned before how I've spent years training in martial arts and while the primary focus of said training may not have always been on self-defense, it's becoming the focus more and more.
So the next step: MORE TRAINING! That's right, you can never have too much. It doesn't make any sense to have a gun and not have any training, then you're just a liability to yourself and others. Hopefully I'll get in a CCW (that's "Concealed Carry Weapons" permit for you TLA (Three Letter Acronym)-challenged types) class sometime early next month. Then I can truthfully say, "Oh yeah, I'm packing heat!"
I mean, who doesn't like cheese anyway? I mean, besides those so-called "lactose intolerant" people. Normally, I'd go on and on about how intolerance isn't cool, but I think it's swinging back into fashion again. So props to those guys for standing up and saying "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Well, maybe they're not "mad", but if cheese made me sick, I'd be mad, that's for sure.
Because I can't help myself, I always try to relate some stupid saying on my mind to whatever "bigger picture" I'm working on. As noted below, the bigger picture-de-jour is Preparedness. That's right, The Boy Scouts of America strikes again. Are you prepared for a rainy day? How about 40 metaphorical days of rain? Yeah, I thought so. Me neither (yet).
This time, though. I can't do it. I can't relate preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse to having a tuna and cheese sandwich. I mean, short of the obvious relation, but who wants to hear about camels?
Hey check this out:
Yeah it's a gun, and you know what makes it awesome? It's my gun. There are many like it, but this one is mine!
I'd never thought I'd be a gun owner but all this prep talk got me thinking: why limit my self-defense options? I may have mentioned before how I've spent years training in martial arts and while the primary focus of said training may not have always been on self-defense, it's becoming the focus more and more.
So the next step: MORE TRAINING! That's right, you can never have too much. It doesn't make any sense to have a gun and not have any training, then you're just a liability to yourself and others. Hopefully I'll get in a CCW (that's "Concealed Carry Weapons" permit for you TLA (Three Letter Acronym)-challenged types) class sometime early next month. Then I can truthfully say, "Oh yeah, I'm packing heat!"
Friday, February 12, 2010
Rock Band Network
So, one of my current projects/intrests is Rock Band, I love playing Rock Band with friends (especially drums). Recently this interest was tied in with another I had a while ago, and that's the XNA Games Studio platform that Microsoft released. Harmonix recently realease the Rock Band Network (RBN) to open beta.
RBN is essentially a means for small/independent or local bands to create their own tracks for Rock Band, sell them online and make some money getting their name out there. A friend of mine, who is a member of an awesome little band called Junkbelly, recently recruited my help in authoring a song for the RBN.
This is no small task, but I've made a good amount of progress so far. The basics of it are that almost all elements of the track are controlled by midi events, not just the note tracks but the crowd, the lighting, the camera effects, even the character animations. What I've got done so far is beat-mapped the entire song, tweaked some engineering of the song (because there's a lot of game noise, the actual song tracks need to be a bit... crisper in order to stand out from the noise) and have about 1/2 the expert drum track authored. It's slow going now, but I've already learned a bunch of tricks to help speed things up.
Anyway, I'm off to Hawaii for a week tomorrow, so there probably won't be any progress made on this until after I get back. Hopefully I'll get a blog post done while I'm there, though.
Keep on rocking, people!
RBN is essentially a means for small/independent or local bands to create their own tracks for Rock Band, sell them online and make some money getting their name out there. A friend of mine, who is a member of an awesome little band called Junkbelly, recently recruited my help in authoring a song for the RBN.
This is no small task, but I've made a good amount of progress so far. The basics of it are that almost all elements of the track are controlled by midi events, not just the note tracks but the crowd, the lighting, the camera effects, even the character animations. What I've got done so far is beat-mapped the entire song, tweaked some engineering of the song (because there's a lot of game noise, the actual song tracks need to be a bit... crisper in order to stand out from the noise) and have about 1/2 the expert drum track authored. It's slow going now, but I've already learned a bunch of tricks to help speed things up.
Anyway, I'm off to Hawaii for a week tomorrow, so there probably won't be any progress made on this until after I get back. Hopefully I'll get a blog post done while I'm there, though.
Keep on rocking, people!
I am such a spaz.
No, no, it's true. I move from one interest to another more often that some people bathe. A few months ago, it was blogging (and we see how long that lasted). Now, it's... Well I'm gonna talk about that in a bit.
Anyway, I had a thought this morning (actually, I had many, but none others worth mentioning), why not use the blog detail my interest du jour so I can have a record of all the things I like, complete with links, insights and discussion all in one place? Clearly, this blog will exist purely for selfish reasons, but what blog doesn't?
In fact, I'm gonna set myself up a reminder to update my blog at least twice a week. Reminders always work for me, for a couple months anyway.
Anyway, I had a thought this morning (actually, I had many, but none others worth mentioning), why not use the blog detail my interest du jour so I can have a record of all the things I like, complete with links, insights and discussion all in one place? Clearly, this blog will exist purely for selfish reasons, but what blog doesn't?
In fact, I'm gonna set myself up a reminder to update my blog at least twice a week. Reminders always work for me, for a couple months anyway.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
