A Great Presentation from DEFCON about the RIAA ...

I was just checking out the DEFCON webpage and they have all of the presentations available for download if they were made available, and there are a lot there.

This one caught my attention: Down with the RIAA, Musicians Against the Recording Industry

If you have ever had doubts about the Recording Industry, read this presentation!

You too can make music, just try!

tracyv

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Messin' Around after setting the new work laptop ...

While my Wife ran to my cousin's house I opened up Storm 3.0 and tried my hand at a rock song.

Fell free to give me some constructive criticism!

Storm is good, Reason too. There are so many good programs ... check out Computer Music magazine for a lot of good information and tutorials, etc.

Anyone else out there use any computer programs to create stuff?

Leave me some comments and let me know what you have made.

tracyv

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Yahoo! News - Dutch Magazine Includes Marijuana Seeds

Yahoo! News - Dutch Magazine Includes Marijuana Seeds:

"Dutch Magazine Includes Marijuana Seeds

Wed Jan 26, 5:52 PM ET Strange News - AP

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch magazine was including an unusual freebie with its latest issue - two marijuana seeds in a small plastic bag.

Nieuwe Revu Editor-in-Chief Mark Koster said the move was a publicity stunt accompanying the Jan. 26 issue, which advocates legalizing marijuana and other banned substances.

Although Holland is famous for tolerating the sale of small amounts of marijuana and hashish in coffee shops, both are technically illegal and the government prosecutes possession of more than several grams.

'We're saying, stop the war on drugs, which costs a fortune and there are no results,' Koster said. "

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Telegraph | News | Johnny Carson, king of late-night TV, dies aged 79

Telegraph News Johnny Carson, king of late-night TV, dies aged 79:

"Johnny Carson, king of late-night TV, dies aged 79
(Filed: 24/01/2005)
Johnny Carson, the king of late-night American television for 30 years, died yesterday aged 79.
The host of NBC's The Tonight Show served a nightcap of celebrity banter and droll comedy. 'Heeeeere's Johnny!' was the booming announcement from sidekick Ed McMahon that ushered Carson on stage."

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Ahhh ... Saturday!

Ahhh ... just a relaxing Saturday, trying to not watch anymore news coverage of the retarded Bush Inaguration/Coronation.

I have had enough of his Monkey-ass making americans look like idiots to the rest of the world.

Well enough of that ... for that take a look at Some Extreme Views ...

The weather here is damn cold, makes me want to do nothing.

Lazy.

Watched Forgotten today on DVD so we (my Wife and I!) watched it on the Extended version with alternate ending setting, and it was good.

Maybe tomorrow we will watch the theatrical version and see how bad that was.

Apparently a lot of people were dissappointed with the theatrical release according to the IMDB.com movie forums.

Well it is late and the Cats are staring at me to stop typing, and play with them, so more tomorrow.

Feel free to check out the songs I have made to the right as well as My Book Recommendations!!

Thanks for stopping by!

tracyv

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AP Wire 01/18/2005 Boxer, Rice spar at confirmation hearing

AP Wire 01/18/2005 Boxer, Rice spar at confirmation hearing:

"Boxer, Rice spar at confirmation hearing

ERICA WERNER

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - Sen. Barbara Boxer and secretary of state nominee Condoleezza Rice clashed at Rice's confirmation hearing Tuesday, with Boxer accusing Rice of lying and Rice hotly denying it.
'This is my personal view, that your loyalty to the mission you were given to sell this war overwhelmed your respect for the truth,' the fiery California Democrat told Rice."

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Another Interview Today ..

Had the last round of interviews for the Lab Systems Administrator position I am applying for.

I think the hardest thing they are trying to get past is why I would want to go from being a Software Test Engineer to a Systems Administrator.

Well, I was so happy being a Systems Administrator in the past, and had to change paths to Software Test Engineer after a political problem with a boss that wanted to give me negative marks on my review for getting a certification and holding training for other employees.

I covered my ass, and went to his boss who tried to do nothing about it, and Iwent to HR, and got my manager removed from being a manager and his manager was moved to another group!

So obviously I had enough proof that they were in the wrong, but it screwed me over so I haven't received a raise in over 4 years now!

Obviously I was getting certified and trining other employees in order to get promoited as those were things that if I had done there would be no reason to not promote me, but he tried to screw me over instead.

WRONG!

So my other managers have been no better, saying one thing to my face and doing another, especially having to do with reviews.

Software Test is ok, but I really like the challenges of Systems Administration! That is what makes me want to go to work.

So hopefully I will get hired into that group I have interviewed with.

If not I have had a quick interview for a Documentation position, which would be better then Software Testing!

Well, I hope everyone had a good MLK Jr. day!

Let's try to be tolerant, just like MLK would be!

Late ...

tracyv

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The Podcastig works ...

Here is my another song that I made in Storm 3.0 ... Tribal Solution II!!

If you have no idea what this is for ... check out PodCasting!

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Trying to Podcast ... a song I made ...

Let's see if this works ... Here is a song that I made in Storm 3.0 using a few samples from THX-1138.

Let me know what you think!

Illegal Sexual Activity

tracyv

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Today was nice ...

My wife and I were at our Nephew George's 3rd B-day party, which was just family so that was nice!

Here is the Birthday Boy!

Here is George and I!

What a little ham ... he he!

We had a great time hanging out and playin'

tracyv


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FridaY!!!

Well a crappy start, had to go to a lab to drop off a specimin, if you will, and they were packed!!

I had the interview today that was moved up from Tuesday (which would have given me at least the weekend to prepare!) so that could have gone better.

Hopefully they will keep that in mind.

The drive home sucked, but not as bad as a usal friday night, I was just by myself so no carpool.

DAMN!

Well, tomorrow it is up and out early for our nephew George's birthday party, and I anm sure we will be late and for some reason the people libving the farthest away are bringing the cake.

I don't get it.

Well hopefully everyone else's day was better then mine.

One good thing was on the way home Live 105 had their Sixx Mixx show and some of the Mixes were really good!!

One that stuck out in my mind was To the Taxmobile! by LenLow check it out, it is a mix of the Beatles "Taxman", Batman theme, Surfaris "Wipeout", and extra drums courtesy of Interpol.

Direct link to the song

Good Stuff!

Let me know!!

tracyv

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Something to bring a smile ... My Boys!

Jupis is the Orange and White cat and Cheese is the Black (with a tuft of white on his chest) cat!!

tracyv

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Another Day ...

Hey, actually a good Thursday!!

I had a quick interview for a new position at the company I work at, so it would be a nice change to go back to doing the type of job I actually liked and was excellent at ... a Systems Administrator in Development Labs at C*sco S*st*ms.

I used to that very same job for a different group, but I did it to well and my lazy boss and co-workers didn't want any accountability and resisted everything even when the rest of the company follows most of the stuff I was trying to bring into the group.

The position that I am applying for will be all the good stuff I used to do, with accountability, and guidelines!

Wow!

A group that I can excel in again, the good thing is that I had the interview with a person I had worked at in the past in the same company when we were both Systems Administrators for the Development Engineers, and we were both in the Navy!

So tomorrow I have a 2 hour interview with about 4-5 people, then another interview after that with a customer (Engineer) for input.

I am hoping for the best, as it would be nice to be happy at work again.

How is your career going?

Let me know.

tracyv

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PollingPoint Survey - A Media Bias Survey

PollingPoint Survey

: "PollingPoint, a nonpartisan polling organization, is studying attitudes toward the media, and would like you to evaluate a few prominent media personalities, such as Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Dan Rather, and Wolf Blitzer. "

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Some Friday Night Funnies and check out my MP3's!!

Follow this link to the Mark Fiore Archive

I was rolling during most of these, sometimes you just have to laugh!

Also if you are bored check out the MP3's (and Real Audio streaming as well!) I have made in the side-bar!!

Let me know what you think ...

tracyv

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Apple Hit by Lawsuit

Apple Hit by Lawsuit:

"The suit claims Apple broke the law when it altered the industry standard Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) file format and used it to restrict the music's usage outside the iPod. Songs sold to the public on iTunes use the AAC with Fairplay Digital Rights Management (DRM), called AAC Protected.

With the altered AAC files, the suit claims, users can't play the music on any other portable digital music player than iPod and they can't convert the music files to MP3 files. Also, the suit claims Apple has rigged the hardware and software on its iPod so that files downloaded from other online music stores can't be directly played on the device.

'At the same time, by engaging in this unlawful conduct, Apple has managed to unlawfully maintain its monopoly market power in the market for online music sales because owners of the monopolized iPod product who wish to purchase music tracks online have no choice, given Apple's conduct, but to purchase these tracks only from Apple's iTunes store,' the suit reads."

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Every Picture Tells A Story (washingtonpost.com)

Every Picture Tells A Story (washingtonpost.com):

"Every Picture Tells A Story
His Pen and Wit Sharper Than Ever, Graphic Novelist Will Eisner Takes On Religious Intolerance

By Paul E. Fitzgerald
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, June 3, 2004; Page C01

Since his Depression-era days in New York's boiler-room comic strip factories, Will Eisner has pushed the limits of art as storytelling device."

Unraveling a Hoax

Eisner's current work-in-progress is another assault on prejudice.

He says "The Plot," scheduled for publication by Norton next year, unravels "the twisted threads behind the Russian anti-Semitic forgery that has come to be known as 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.' " Recently released Russian documents provide additional validation of his basic premise, Eisner says. He feels a sense of urgency because "fanatic Islamic elements are reviving this long-discredited and fraudulent document today and are giving it wide circulation to fan anti-Jewish hatred."

The trail of "The Protocols" is so long and convoluted that Eisner felt obliged to do a good deal more research than usual, enlisting two scholars in his digging.

Eisner says his treatment of "The Plot" is a "dramatization, with some inventiveness based on probability." The characters tell a tale that begins in 1864 with a French political satire published by Maurice Joly and titled "Dialogue in Hell," describing a discussion between Niccolo Machiavelli, the coldblooded Italian political theorist, and the French philosopher Montesquieu about a plan for world domination by Napoleon III. Eisner says research establishes that in 1903 Mathieu Golovinski, a propagandist and operative for the Russian czar's secret police, copied, word for word, extensive segments of Joly's satire, changing it only slightly to reflect a Masonic-Jewish plot. "It was then given wide circulation in Russia in an effort to discredit a growing movement for social reforms in which many of the leaders were Jews," Eisner says.

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To gauge how old I really am ...

I found this webpage surfing blogs, try your birthday!

31 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America
30 years old on the first day of Y2K
27 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
25 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
24 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
23 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
21 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
20 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
16 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
14 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
13 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
11 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
10 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
6 years old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July
4 years old when President Nixon left office
2 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot

Ouch!

tracyv

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Sin City the movie teaser looks really good!!!

I am a big fan of Frank Miller's graphic novels since a friend recommended Hard Boiled, then on the the Sin City Series, and Ronin

Here are the links to some trailers I found:
From Apple
Another trailer

Here is the IMDB info on Sin City.

If you have no idea what I am writing about, here is a list of the Sin City graphic novels:

Sin City
Sin City : Family Values
Sin City : The Big Fat Kill
Sin City: Booze, Broads, & Bullets
Sin City : A Dame to Kill For
Sin City : That Yellow Bastard
Sin City: Hell and Back

Definately worth a read and the used prices at Amazon make it easy!

Some other favorite graphic novels are:

V for Vendetta
The Bush Junta
Watchmen

All great reads, and the art is fantastic!

Let me know what some of your favorites are.

tracyv

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