Nov's World
We all have our opinions on things. Lord knows, I sure have mine. So what I intended here is to share with the world what I think and why. Read on, and I hope you see eye to eye with me... even if you don't agree. This is not a rant session, since everything I thinks is bad/wrong I give a solution for. These are my views on:
Myself
I'm an artist from Tacoma (even if my "day job" isn't art). While I am particularly fond of sculpture, I do indulge myself in a little drawing or photography when the mood strikes me. Actually, as we speak, I'm planning to purchase a digital camera, but let me tell you that the choices are overwhelming! Not only do I need to find an affordable one I like, it also must use either a USB mass-storage driver or a PID driver to work on Linux. So I've got my homework cut out for me now.
Let's see here... I also write quite a bit of (probably not good) poetry. I'll gradually add it to the site, as I sift thru it and find the ones I'm less embarassed about. I also write full novels, two complete, two in the works! Well, actually I could argue that one of them is more like a Novella. Does 115 pages at size 12 font count as a novella anyway? I'd guess it's more like 50 pages double-sided. Now, I also have a few short stories, including one I wrote in my senior year of High School. It's actually the precursor to all of my novels, and features a character (not unlike myself) named... Nhizny Novgrod. Did you think I just pulled this domain name outta my ass? Well, I might post a short story or two sooner or later...
The nature of the 'net being the way that it is, I can't really put my sculpture work on novgrod (but that's OK. After all, an 80 pound hunka plaster would take forever to DL anyway). My day job is carpentry, more specifically building prehung doors. I'm a specials builder, so I get to do the complicated, cool stuff... like sidelites, transoms, triples, quads, etc. No crappy single doors for me (thank god). It may not be a glamor job, but it pays my bills (well).
I've had the idea for novgord for a while now, and I'm glad to make it happen. Sure, it may never be as popular as google or anything, but hey... I'm used to being on the outside looking in
Technology
I am a nerd. It's true! So naturally, you could infer that I know computers well. In this case, yeah you're right. I am a huge fan of the first amendment, and I firmly believe that the Freedom of Speech should apply to your computer as well. And as such, I'm proud to be free from the tyranny of Money$oft. This page was written in a Linux environment and is hosted on a Linux server. I'm not a hater who ranks on M$ and Apple for no real reason (although M$'s crappy products is reason enough). I am opposed to them for what they do and stand for. I firmly believe that knowledge should be free and shared, not locked away behind "intellectual property" laws. Intellectual Property is a completely backwards concept, giving ideas and knowledge the attributes of something physical. As far as I'm concerned, you can own something physical (like a wheel or a pair of jeans) but you cannot own the ability to know how to make that item. How is it possible to own an idea? You can't any more than you can own the English language or the planet Saturn. I'm sorry, but such laws are detrimental to the human race as a whole... imagine if you will that Ooog the caveman had intellectual property laws to protect his invention fire. Well, we'd all be very cold right about now. I feel the same way about software patents, and I applaud the EU's not passing of laws making software patentable. Open Source may not always be monetarily free, but you're not beholden to anyone's selfish views of keeping what they know secret from their customers. Free your OS, and your mind will follow
Linux
Well, you all know now why I dislike closed-source software. Because of that, I was turned on to Linux. I'm no zealot and go around plotting the demise of the tyranny in Redmomd. I just don't use their products anymore. For me, Linux filled the needs I have. I can't say that it is the solution for everyone but I'm willing to bet it'd be great for most people.
Linux is more than just an OS. It's a part of the Open Source movement... it's like a community; a brotherhood if you will. Anyone can use XP. Mac users (in general) are way too much like a cult... besides, they really are using Unix anyway. Being a Linux user is being on the outside, but we don't need those on the in. We're a self-supporting community of people who think alike in technology terms. I have a tight circle of very close friends, and Linux is like that. I like feeling a part of something as opposed to being just another consumer, Which brings up the distro issue. There is no Linux company, so anyone can make a distribution (aka "Distro"). I prefer Kubuntu because it isn't a company peddling a distro. No, they have a mission to make a truly free, truly open-source OS. Consider them in all regards the anti-Micosoft. Never judge a book by it's cover, and never disregard Open Source... you will be assimilated.
Music
I'm a huge audiophile, and I make it clear that I like what I like and I make no apologies for it. My musical taste is all over the spectrum, so at least driving in the car with me isn't too boring. I am particularly fond of a few genres under what I call the "collective electronica umbrella". Those being Trance (Like Tiesto), House (like Gigi D'Agostino) dance (like Iio and Plummet). I also love artists who transcend classification... especially Moby, Dido and Enigma (Enigma rocks!). Go on... check them out. I command it! Maybe it's because of how I am, but I seem to be obsessed with music that is esthetically beautiful. This may help explain my utter dislike for rap and modern pop music. I'm sorry, but some dude rapping to nothing but a beat (or sampled older song) about his bling and thug warfare may be a legit creative outlet, but it isn't true music. Not to mention that rap degrades women. It's true... just listen to the lyrics. Even women degrade themselves in their songs, overtly stating that all they're good for is sex. I don't know how people can let their children listen to that garbage. At least in the older days of rap (and I'm talking pre-gangsta, like 1990) there was innovation and expression of emotions other than hate and lust.
And let's not forget the utter horror that is the pop musc scene. Sure, once in a while something good will show up, but 99.99% of what the RIAA cartel gives us is pure crap. Everything sounds the same, artist are younger and younger, and the whole eye-candy thing is damaging socitey. Artist of yesteryear who made great music wouldn't even be considered for today's industry. I like Gordon Lightfoot, but the guy wouldn't even make it into the pop scene today because he isn't the "image of hotness" that swarms the market. So not only are we deprived of music because the creator isn't "pretty", but this unattainable image destroys young people who strive to attain what is not real to begin with. I can't in good conscience support that lunacy. Such crap isn't beautiful at all. Maybe because I am an artist it is that I'm obsessed with beauty (and not nessecarily physical beauty... that's too subjective), but music is meant to be beautiful.
Hollywierd
That's one freak show I hope doesn't come to town. Long ago the movie industry sold its soul for cash, and television was never about art to begin with. So, even if you can ignore the souless greed of hollywierd it's still a helluva freak show. I swear, most of the people in that industry couldn't function outside of that environment. And what is wrong with us (the collective public)? We goo and ga over these people, devouring rumors like candy and downing scandal like brandy. Are our own live so miserable that we feel the need to lavish our attention on these people? Let me say, that all the people in hollywood are worth no more than you or I, than a king or a homeless drunk. They're just people with severe issues. And quite frankly, they aren't worthy of our attention. They're like the boogie man. As long as you give them attention, they feed on it, becoming monsters. Maybe if we ignore them all, that joke in southern Claifornia will go away...
Big buisness
Ugh, don't get me started on those coldhearted, money-grubbing bastards. Buisness is a good thing, but as soon as you have OmniCorp running rampant, it's completely wrong. When the greed of mondo companies tramples over the rights of the consumer, things have gone too far. Some companies such as Micro$oft, Disney, Wal-mart, Costco, Hudson and so on, are out for world domination it seems. Say what you want about the big buisnesses, I beleive they hurt the little guy. In Fife, WA, farms are folding by the dozen because they can't compete with a national chain and it's inferior (yet cheaper) produce from some third-world country. These huge stores come in to your community and muscle out local people... more reason why I am opposed to Krispy Kreme and Macys. Protect you community and neighbors... buy local and shun the national big boys whenever possible! It's for this reason I'm proud to say there are no Wal-Marts in my city, altho one 12 miles away is too close. I remember a couple of years ago when Home Depot and Lowe's came to town. We'd had Earnst and Eagle for years, and they met our hardware needs. Not too long afterwards, Earnst closed after 100+ years in buisness and Eagle was bought out by Lowe's. Let's hear it for the homgeneous market. I'll occasionaly see commercials on cable for east coast stores (who names a store Chico's or Stein mart anyway?) and fast food (like Sonic). I just hope they stay put and away from my quiet, isolated chunk of the nation. But big buisness being what it is, being pushed by the ugliness of greed sees the Northwest as untapped revenue. Anything east of 116.202W longitude can stay there!