Pseudonymity

I find I work best in the early morning. It's strange but seems to work fairly well assuming I don't grossly underestimate the time and work required or my ink supply. Today's task is from my mass media ethics class and is about...ethics. The case study specifically concerns the creation of shill accounts and their effect on society and the marketplace. I wanted to find some mention of the wikiality that takes place on Wikipedia. I can't be sure how often it takes place, but I would suggest more often than Wikipedians will admit. Perhaps ironically, on the page dealing with criticisms of Wikipedia, including inaccurate and sometimes non-existent sourcing for controversial assertions in articles there are several dead external links. It seems that the North Adams Transcript doesn't keep an active archive. Whoops.

Despite it's many flaws, I still consider Wikipedia a nobel endeavor. I have both admiration and pity for those who spend their freetime editting a free encyclopedia. I'm not sure why they do it. I'm even less sure why toast shows up on the list of most vandalized pages.

In related news, I recently went to a little seminar featuring the creator of wiki technology, Ward Cunningham. It was very interesting.

Work at the Zoo!

I am moderately interested in applying for this job just because it requires working in the Zoo's dinosaur exhibit. I didn't even know they had a dinosaur exhibit! But I'd have to work at the zoo...

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Now playing: Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
via FoxyTunes

Bricks

"What are you going to college for, Derek? I was thinking about it the other day and couldn't figure it out," Drew asked as he slammed down another brick. Goddamn, I'm tired of bricks.
I stammered. What answer could I give? Did I want to confess the deep inadequacy I feel weekly in a suffocating religion that makes me questions the validity of my very existence? Tell them that I could no longer bear the pressure and fled to enroll in a community college rather than suffer it any longer though I fear it shall not offer the great respite I crave? These were men I would tolerate for only a week longer, with varying degrees of tolerance. Occasionally the discussions ventured away from the usual homosexual accusations and innuendo so far to reach into the realms of theology. I hate those. Curtis's mother is a Jehovah's Witness. He says it's a cult. I don't want to talk about mine. I tell them it only specifies hot drinks; it is old. They are befuddled. I try to let it blow over.
I told them what has become my standard answer: I don't know what I want to do with my life and see no point in spending more money than necessary until such time. They seem satisfied. They don't ask questions about missionary ambitions. I am thankful.
Sometimes I want to go. It would be a great experience. A new language, exotic culture. Stuff like that. But how can I serve a church whose tenets, if followed, would have prevented my existence? It's been wracking my brain for sometime now: how can both freewill and fate coexist? One must take precedence! It just doesn't make sense. I can't figure it out. Either my existence is folly, or fornication was preordained. It's late; I'm not sure what I'm saying. I'm conflicted. I seem to be a complicated individual.
I sent a text to a friend who is going somewhere in life. The text was simple: What do you want to be when you grow up?

The answer was simple: Happy.

Wallet

In a short time, I think I will stop carrying my cell phone, probably by the end of the month. It has lost utility - and the screen is cracked. Other things I carry are suffering a similar destine. Notably, my wallet, which now drops coins regularly. I was hesitant to make this next upgrade, as RFID is used at work on the locking doors, but given that I was threatened this last week with an untimely release upon another unpunctual arrival, it seems just as well.

ThinkGeek :: RFID Blocking Wallet

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Oh gosh!

I haven't written lately, because who cares? It's summer and I'd rather use my available time for recreation (House of DVD whoo!). I'm working at a job which gives me plenty of time to think and an idiot boss. Right now I'm listening to my sister and mother fight about themselves. It's a tired argument. I think they're making real progress. I'm killing time here, waiting to see if something interesting will come up in City of Heroes and their fighting is distracting. Maybe more later.

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piss

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Frequent nightmares, waking often, nothing you care about. I haven’t been comfortable at all lately, very cranky. I think both may be caused by my recent regression to wearing jeans. They don’t feel natural. Bulky, rigid strides; I hate them. I don’t have an eye for matching clothing, perhaps worsened by dressing in the dark all year, and jeans make it worse. Blue on the bottom? Where do you go from there? At least black and beige are fairly neutral, comparatively easy in my head. Aside from my cumbersome clothes, employment and education have been frequent challenges. It’s taken days to get my urine cleared as clean: faxing prescriptions, calling around, and much more effort for piss. I expect a call soon telling me when they want me to come in. School has been much more troublesome. It is very frustrating. The entire episode has me seething. I will let you know how it ends, but it is making my reflection on my past year much more bitter. It’s becoming a chore to write.
Yours in Hatred,
Wafflecone