Sorry about that.

I honestly forgot this blog existed. I will work on typing out a few things. Mainly freeware reviews, basic life stuff, and whatnot.

Trying to recover old data...

Anyone else remember "Sims on a Stick"? It was this great site where you could download objects to kill your sims, like an electric shower, a lawn flamingo that would set you on fire, poison chips, chairs that you couldn't get out of... it was great fun.

However, two of my files are corrupted.

The electric shower file, iscelectricshower.zip, and another named iscmgoncomp.zip, which I think was a computer that would steal your soul. Does anyone happen to still have these archived somewhere? I still have most of the rest of the files, like the magic happiness espresso machine, and other goodies, like the gender bender painting and fountains of youth and aging for Candlelight Sims.

Chromium, aka Google Chrome, is a UI nightmare.

I like to consider myself a technically minded person. I grew up on old DOS PC's, taking apart motherboards and components in grade school. I can normally plunge right into new software and learn the tricks of working it as I go along. I've used Windows, Ubuntu, Haiku, Suse, and more.

Currently, I have as my mainstay web browsers Mozilla Firefox 4 beta 10, Pale Moon, and Opera. I uninstalled Internet Explorer ages ago. However, all my geek friends online at /g/ and various other places just couldn't seem to shut up about Google Chrome. It's so fast and sleek, they claimed.

Well, I never have been a big fan of Google, what with their data mining, censorship issues in China, their buy-out of Youtube which led to stricter content rules... I could go on for a long time. However, I finally broke down. What could the harm be in trying it out, I wondered?

I installed the latest Chromium build, because I did NOT want any of the tracking and privacy violating bullshit that gets added to it when it becomes Google's product.

It installed quickly, and soon I was testing it out. I noticed right away that it did, in fact, seem faster then my Firefox builds. However, this was not a surprise given that I have a few extensions on both of them. I could tell you if it was indeed faster then Opera, but they seemed to be at the very least matched speed-wise.

The first thing I wanted to do, however, was secure my browser. Whenever I use a browser, I set it to ask me what to do with every cookie, no exceptions. I don't like the idea of just allowing them all, or merely blocking third-party cookies.

But... wait a second... how do I change any of the settings? Normally I'd except to see my little friend, the file bar, up near the top of the screen. You know, the one that goes "file, edit, view, options, tools, etc."? Only it's not there. A brief search later turns up a wrench icon to the right of the address bar. Clicking that goes into the browser options.

"Ah, so I can just turn the file bar back on from here, then. Nice way to save space.", I think to myself. But first, let's fix the cookie settings.

There are three options here. Basics, personal stuff, and under the hood. Really? Under the hood? As in, don't fuck with anything here because you might break something? That's the impression I've always gotten from that phrase. Well, under the hood is where we need to go. From there, it's privacy, content settings. Here we can choose to prompt for cookies when they... wait, no we can't. We can only allow all cookies, deny all cookies, or deny all third-party cookies.

You'd think Google would have more of a power-user theme going with their browser, but no. In fact, the whole browser seems to be locked down. You can barely change anything about it like you can in Firefox or Opera. Even Internet Explorer had more customization support. Toolbars have been disabled as well, having been judged as unneeded bloat.

Oh, and remember that missing file bar? It's by design. There's no way to get it back. No easy click access for your bookmark menu, instead you're stuck with a terrible bookmark bar. Then again, you could always just load the bookmark manager every time you want to go somewhere. No print preview, no easy access drop-down menus... the whole thing is bollocks.

The best part is how rude some of the fans are in defending this choice. Just do a Google search for "site:google.com google chrome menu bar" and see how often people request this basic feature, and how often they are called idiots or accused of trying to hold back the evolution of technology. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

Chrome may be fast, but for power users, people concerned about privacy, or people who like to choose how their own software works, look elsewhere.

Random Freeware Review

Every week, or whenever I feel like it, I will review some piece of freeware I feel will make your life better.

Today we'll start with a nice little program called TeraCopy.

http://www.codesector.com/download.php

Teracopy is one of those tools that you never knew you needed but once you have it, you can't imagine being without it. It takes over the default Windows functions for copying and moving files. It's tightly connected, so you just copy and paste files in Explorer as normal. However, it has a lot more features.

Here are just a few.

1. Does the job faster. Move your crap faster then you would with the default controls.

2. CRC testing. As an option, you can have Teracopy test the checksum values of files after you move them. That means no more wondering if a file copied correctly, you'll know the data is perfectly transferred.

3. Full error display. Man, don't you hate it when Windows just throws it's hands up in the air when you're transferring 100 files and says "I don't know what's wrong so I'm stopping the whole dang operation."? Well, Teracopy not only just skips over such problems and keeps transferring, but it displays WHAT file had a problem, with detailed information as to what the issue was, to help you fix it.

4. PAUSE. Holy crap, I can pause my file transfer that would normally take up a large amount of resources to do something productive for a bit, like loading up Counter-Strike and pwning some guy who just taunted you via Steam PM.

5. Forget about things a lot? You can set it to play a little chime once your transfers are done.

6. Ease of use. My grandmother can use this program!

Overall, there is no reason not to get this program.

So what's new?

Hmm. I don't know if anyone really follows this or is interested in my ramblings.

What I want to do eventually is make this a political/civil rights blog, with a mix of personal musings thrown into it for the hell of it.

I think that I'll post a lot of Youtube videos and things I feel need to be shared. Hopefully, I can get... ten readers. Yes, I think that's an achievable goal.

However, I need to know there are people still out there that are interested. Please, leave comments and tell me you're out there.

Dancemania Speed woes

Seems the only decent torrent for the Dancemania Speed series was made by someone who didn't know what they were doing. It's mp3, and each file has a gap of silence at the start, totally ruining the continuous mix.

Anyone have a CD in the Dancemania series that is willing to rip it to FLAC or Ogg?

Not yet dead.

Really need to update this site, though.

Old magazines FTW.

Just got some more old LIFE magazines, mainly related to Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray. Some interesting material in them that I haven't seen anywhere else. I will try to upload some summaries and thoughts later.

One thing that's always fun is looking at the old ads in them, but since I don't have a scanner, I can't really share them. Some are funny, while some are better then modern day ads.

Also, does anyone actually still read this blog? If so, let me know and I'll put more effort into it.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

A lot has happened. I need to get around to updating this blog.

I will, promise. Things have just been complex lately.

Look forward to:

Civil rights discussion!
2010 Pa election debate!
Health care reform opinions!
Personal data and drama!

All this, and more!

I'm published!

Forgot to post this before, but one of my letters was printed in our local paper, "The Patriot News".

I'll post a link to the official archive, and then post the letter itself.

LInk to my letter.

Leave me some hope
Monday, July 28, 2008

How many people must say enough is enough in order to cause action to be taken? Nixon had the good taste to resign before he could be impeached. Clinton was taken to task for lying about sexual relations, something even Kennedy was known for.

Yet here we have a president who has knowingly lied and deceived the American public to sell a war of his creation, attempted to stifle investigations into Enron, pardoned Scooter Libby, defied the U.N., has the lowest approval rating of any president in history, approved illegal wiretaps and the torture of prisoners off of U.S. soil, and claims to show he supports the troops by giving up golf.

As an American, I hope there is still a small amount of the system I can be proud of that still works. It is time to prove that we as a nation still have values -- truth, justice and freedom. These are starting to sound more like a dream then a reality. People who break the law must be held accountable. That includes the president. Please, let me grow up with some hope left for our nation's future.

-- JOSEPH GRABKO, Lower Paxton Twp.

A backlog of updates/

I've been busy for a while, so let's just do some quick highlights of the "best" stories I've come across.

Massive police raids on suspected protesters in Minneapolis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ougH8G6UnkI

Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.

Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning -- one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided. Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of any kind in those houses, that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who are politically active but entirely nonthreatening and friendly.

In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant. They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs. The 10 or so individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them more emboldened than ever to do so.



At JFK Airport, Denying Basic Rights Is Just Another Day at the Office

The guards processed me then, ignoring the order of arrivals, if there ever had been one. They refused to distribute more complaint forms or call the supervisor back down at the request of Arab families. One officer threatened, "I'm talking politely to you now. If you don't sit down, I won't be talking politely to you anymore." One announced that because "the American girl" had gotten angry, the families would have to wait a few more hours. "The supervisor is not coming back."

Londoner videos his bullshit anti-terror stop-and-search

Beijing: Five US activists detained after lighting up "Free Tibet" LED Throwies banner near Olympics site

Writer who photographed HP Lovecraft's headstone ordered to delete her photo, heaped with abuse

As Spooky was getting into the car, I finally looked him in the eye and said the only thing I said during the entire encounter (which elapsed over the space of maybe three or four minutes, start to finish, at the most). I pointed a finger at the man and, very quietly, I said, "You will be reported." He screamed, "You do that, you piece of shit!"

The 'Mysterious' Scrubbing of Sarah Palin's Wikipedia Entry

Yet another example of police brutality.

Seems they REALLY hate it when you dare to film them.

Policewoman's suit alleges retaliation

Policewoman's suit alleges retaliation
Saturday, August 04, 2007
BY REGGIE SHEFFIELD
Of The Patriot-News

A Swatara Twp. police sergeant has sued the police department, claiming that she has been humiliated and retaliated against for reporting alleged misconduct by other officers.

In a nine-page lawsuit filed in U.S. Middle District Court this week, police Sgt. Carol Karchnak, a 21-year veteran of the force, claims she has been overlooked for promotion and brought up on disciplinary charges after she reported that she found a drawing of a naked woman on a fellow officer's desk and reported that another officer allegedly had made false entries in his log book.

"The issue here is that she suffered retaliation because she was doing her job in reporting misconduct," Karchnak's attorney, Don Bailey, said.

Named as defendants are the township, police Chief David Bogdanovic, Deputy Chief Jason D. Umberger and township Commissioner Gregory J. Ricci.

Contacted yesterday, township administrator Paul K. Cornell declined to comment, saying he had not yet been served with a copy of the lawsuit.

Bogdanovic referred questions to township solicitor Dave Wion.

Wion did not return a telephone call seeking comment yesterday.

The lawsuit claims violations of Karchnak's free speech and her right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment. It asks for an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.

In her complaint, Karchnak alleges that harassment began after the resolution of a lawsuit she and another female officer had against the township for the off-duty care of police dogs.

REGGIE SHEFFIELD: 255-8170 or rsheffield@patriot-news.com

More Police Insanity in Pennslyvania...

More of the same...

Brian D. Kelly didn't think he was doing anything illegal when he used his videocamera to record a Carlisle police officer during a traffic stop. Making movies is one of his hobbies, he said, and the stop was just another interesting event to film.

Now he's worried about going to prison or being burdened with a criminal record.

Kelly, 18, of Carlisle, was arrested on a felony wiretapping charge, with a penalty of up to 7 years in state prison.

His camera and film were seized by police during the May 24 stop, he said, and he spent 26 hours in Cumberland County Prison until his mother posted her house as security for his $2,500 bail.

Kelly is charged under a state law that bars the intentional interception or recording of anyone's oral conversation without their consent.

The criminal case relates to the sound, not the pictures, that his camera picked up.

"I didn't think I could get in trouble for that," Kelly said. "I screwed up, yeah. I know now that I can't do that. I just don't see how something like this should affect my entire life."

Whether that will happen could be determined during Kelly's preliminary hearing before District Judge Jessica Brewbaker in July.

No one seems intent on punishing him harshly.

"Obviously, ignorance of the law is no defense," District Attorney David Freed said. "But often these cases come down to questions of intent."

According to police, Kelly was riding in a pickup truck that had been stopped for alleged traffic violations.

Police said the officer saw Kelly had a camera in his lap, aimed at him and was concealing it with his hands. They said Kelly was arrested after he obeyed an order to turn the camera off and hand it over.

The wiretap charge was filed after consultation with a deputy district attorney, police said.

Kelly said his friend was cited for speeding and because his truck's bumper was too low. He said he held the camera in plain view and turned it on when the officer yelled at his pal.

After about 20 minutes, the officer cited the driver on the traffic charges and told the men they were being recorded by a camera in his cruiser, Kelly said.

"He said, 'Young man, turn off your ... camera,'¤" Kelly said. "I turned it off and handed it to him. ... Six or seven more cops pulled up, and they arrested me."

Police also took film from his pockets that wasn't related to the traffic stop, he said.

Freed said his office has handled other wiretapping cases, some involving ex-lovers or divorcing couples who are trying to record former partners doing something improper for leverage in court battles, he said.

Such charges have been dismissed or defendants have been allowed to plead to lesser counts or enter a program to avoid criminal records, he said.

The outcome hinges on whether the person had a malicious intent, Freed said.

Carlisle Police Chief Stephen Margeson said allowing Kelly to plead to a lesser charge might be proper.

"I don't think that would cause anyone any heartburn," he said. "I don't believe there was any underlying criminal intent here."

But Margeson said he doesn't regard the filing of the felony charge as unwarranted and said the officer followed procedures.

John Mancke, a Harrisburg defense attorney familiar with the wiretapping law, said the facts, as related by police, indicate Kelly might have violated the law.

"If he had the sound on, he has a problem," Mancke said.

Last year, Mancke defended a North Middleton Twp. man in a street racing case that involved a wiretapping charge. Police claimed the man ordered associates to tape police breaking up an illegal race after officers told him to turn off their cameras.

That wiretapping count was dismissed when the man pleaded guilty to charges of illegal racing, defiant trespass and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to probation.

An exception to the wiretapping law allows police to film people during traffic stops, Mancke said.

Margeson said his department's cruisers are equipped with cameras, and officers are told to inform people during incidents that they are being recorded.

First Assistant District Attorney Jaime Keating said case law is in flux as to whether police can expect not to be recorded while performing their duties.

"The law isn't solid," Keating said. "But people who do things like this do so at their own peril."

Kelly said he has called the American Civil Liberties Union for help in the case.

His father, Chris, said he's backing his son.

"We're hoping for a just resolution," he said.

I'm a terroristic threat.

PA-Aware.org is a site set up by the government of Pennsylvania. It's a guide on what to look for, and who might be terrorists. I qualify in a large number of ways. But it's scary, because it seems to target true Patriots.

Also, Take the quiz to see if you are a terrorist.

And don't forget to check out the Fully Informed Jury Association to learn your rights regarding jury nullification and various other matters you won't learn in Civics class.

Check out what I got flagged me for. The following is a list of views it lists as "terroristic".


“Make numerous references to the US Constitution.”

“Attempt to ‘police the police.’”

"Questioning the authority of a government agent (police, etc) to stop you and question you (for example, for random searches of vehicles)".

"Asked for reasons for identifying yourself, especially to police or government officials."

"Supporting Animal Rights".

"Defenders of the US Constitution against the federal government and the UN."

"Promoting gun rights."

"All judicial authority resides with the people. The jury, not the Judge, directs trials and can nullify laws they do not approve of."

"U.S. sovereignty is being surrendered to the U.N., World Court, and World Bank, with the U.S. becoming an economic region of this New World Order."

"Anti-Government activists often believe (they)... can renounce (U.S. citizenship)."

"...believe every organization or government will eventually be corrupted by power."

Anti-gay, racist emails from Army recruiter

Copies of the e-mails are included and summarized.

Here's the full back-and forth e-mails in PDF format.

News video

This is completely unacceptable, and stains the reputation of those wearing the uniform. This brazen filth was sent out under a military domain as official business communication.

I urge everyone to do what I've done. Contact the recruiting office in question, along with the head office of the Army Review Board. This person should NOT be representing those in uniform.


Relevant bits:

Corey Andrew had his profile and resume posted at Careerbuilder.com, and it caught the eye of Army recruiter Marcia Ramode, who contacted him. He wasn't interested in a position in the military, particularly because of the ban on gays and lesbians in the military.

When Andrew informed Ramode that he is gay, and believed that the DADT policy was wrong, the two engaged in a three-day email exchange that included statements by Ramode, in her official capacity as a recruiter, that boggle the mind.

"GO BACK TO AFRICA AND DO YOUR GAY VOODOO LIMBO TANGO AND WANGO DANCE AND JUMP AROUND AND PRANCE AND RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE HALF NAKED THERE."
-- U.S. Army recruiter Sgt. Marcia Ramode, using her military email address to respond to Jersey City resident Corey Andrew, after Ramode learned Andrew was gay.

Ramode tells Andrew to "migrate to another country" if he objects to paying taxes to support the military, which discriminates against gay and lesbian citizens, and "if you do not like me writing in caps then delete my email and do not respond I think it scared you to death.

Sergeant Ramode told Corey, who is African American, that he "should leave the United States," and that "You must be a total idiot and so stupid to presume that you do not know what gender you are." Ramode also told Corey to "go back to Africa and do your gay voodoo limbo tango and wango dance and jump around and prance and run all over the place half naked there."

Sgt. Ramode: My name is Marcia Ramode, and I am United States Army recruiter. I saw your resume on career builder and we have lots of vacant positions in Logistics, Administration...If interested please give me a call at my toll free number.

Andrew: Awesome! Sounds great! The US Military has so many vacant positions and opportunities. I had no idea. I'm seriously considering contacting you. One thing, I'm not up on current politics but since its 2007, I would imagine also that I am now able to serve in the US military as an openly gay man, right?

Ramode: WELL IF YOU ARE GAY WE DON'T TAKE YOU. YOU ARE CONSIDERED UNQUALIFIED.

Andrew: Wow! Unqualified to serve my country just because I'm gay? It's because they think I might all of a sudden desire one last kiss from my fellow male solider if ever facing death at the hands of the enemy in a fox hole, isn't?... Funny, the US Government doesn't mind taking my "gay" dollars every tax season or out of my paycheck every two weeks. I'm stunned that the US ARMY could afford to be so choosy when I see sergeants on my school campus and in the local shopping Mall...begging teenagers to enlist.

Ramode: YOU ARE DEFINITELY UNQUALIFIED, NOW TAKE YOU GAY SELF SOMEPLACE ELSE WE DO NOT TOLERATE GAY PEOPLE LIKE YOU IN ANY PART OF THE MILITARY. AND IF IT BOTHERS YOU PAYING TAXES THEN MIGRATE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY.... AND IF IT BOTHERS YOU ABOUT THE US MILITARY RECRUITING THEN YOU GO TELL THE BOARD OF EDUCATION .... AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE RECRUITERS RECRUITING IN FRONT YOU HIGH SCHOOL THEN COMPLAIN TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OR BETTER YET TRY COMPLAINING TO MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND SEE WHAT HE HAS TO SAY... YOU SHOULD SAY THANK YOU MILITARY PEOPLE FOR WHAT YOU DO SO THAT YOU CAN LIVE A FREE LIFE IN THIS COUNTRY. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.

Andrew: Before you go on waving your flag all over the place let me first inform you, that as an African American who's ancestry is most likely MORE deeply rooted in American history than yours ever will be...I respect the millions of soldiers fighting to protect my rights every day but just so you know, those rights include me being gay... I applaud servicemen and women everyday for their role in our country's protection. However, for you and the government to deem homosexuals "unqualified" to risk their own lives and defend their own freedom as well as their country's freedom, is moronic.

Ramode: OH I FORGOT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YES YOU MIGHT TO TRY TO KISS A SOLDIER IN THE FOXHOLE SO THAT IS A NO NO.

Andrew: You are living proof that "Don't Ask Don't tell" is a fallacy. You initially rejected me without any consideration whatsoever of my integrity, or abilities. This behavior is at the very core of the discrimination that has plagued the USA for decades. You should know that I never had any intention of joining the military; I simply wanted to have this discussion to prove a point. With over 2,500 cases of anti-gay harassment acts against gay soldiers, including bashings and murders, for you to say the US Military only takes "straights" is delusional.

Ramode: YOU HEAD OFF TO THE GAY LAND OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO MORALS AND GET RID OF YOURSELF. PERSONALLY I THINK BEING GAY IS DISGUSTING AND IMMORAL.... AS AN AFRICAN HAVE NO PLACE TO SAY YOUR ROOTS ARE DEEPLY ROOTED HERE. MY ROOTS ARE MUCH STRONGER THAN YOURS. YOU WERE BROUGHT HERE BEING YOUR WILL POWER WHEREAS MY ROOTS RUN FROM THE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN. I HAVE MORE RIGHTS HERE THAN YOU AND MY ROOTS HAVE BEEN HERE EVER SINCE BEFORE THE AMERICAS WERE DISCOVERED...YOU TAKE YOUR GAY A-- OFF SOMEPLACE AND GO TO SOME OTHER COUNTRY AND BADMOUTH THE MILITARY...TAKE YOUR A-- BACK WHERE YOU BELONG NOT HERE.

Andrew: Clearly with your limited vocabulary and poor spelling, the Army may have been the only option YOU had in life. Granted, there are highly intellectual people in the military. You're just not one of them. ...Native American history you are so proud of and research their position on homosexuality. They are very tolerant and accepting of homosexuals believing that the inner spirit is true to itself in its nature. They are less tolerant of fools than they are of homosexuals. So take that to your next rain dance.

Ramode: YOU GO BACK TO AFRICA AND DO YOUR GAY VOODOO LIMBO TANGO AND WANGO DANCE AND JUMP AROUND AND PRANCE AND RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE HALF NAKED THERE AND PRACTICE YOUR GAY MORALS OVER THERE THAT'S WHERE YOU BELONG....I AM REPORTING YOU AS SPAM AND ADDING YOU TO MY BLOCK SENDER LIST SO I DO NOT HAVE TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN....

Just a video game review.

A while ago, I got an e-mail from a group called M80 Teams. They wanted to send me a free video game as long as I posted a review on my blog, since I had mentioned Gradius V once before. Well, I was skeptical, but behold, for I actually received a game for free! Street Fighter Alpha Anthology.

First off, let's start with the package. Hmm... nice artwork, simple, yet effective. Okay, enough of that. Give me the game.

Or should I say, games. You see, it's actually a collection of previously released games all in one package. You get Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper (hidden), and Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix.

Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. There's a few problems though... we'll get to them later.

The controls seem to be identical to the arcade. In fact, if you know how, you can access a section to control the "hardware" of the game, turning on and off bug fixes or change between different release versions.

Adding Gem Fighters was a cute touch. However, if you are a diehard gamer, it will both delight and annoy you. Why? First, one of the playable characters is Tessa from Red Earth. Never heard of it? That's because Capcom really screwed over the American market with it. It was only released in arcades, and barely at that. There was never even a console port, a rarity for a game with a cult following and that made it big in Japan. There's some footage of the gameplay here.

Second, it also has Felicia, Hsien-Ko, and Morrigan Aensland, whom I have a mad crush on. What pisses me off here is that in 2005, a game was released in Japan called

Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection

. It was for the PlayStation2, and and EVERY Darkstalkers game ever made on it, except for the Dreamcast version. Read about it on Wikipedia. Now, this game has a LARGE following in the U.S... I've yet to be able to play one of these games. Why in the hell can't Capcom listen to its customers? An anime was even made based on it! Grr... moving on.

Graphics are the same as the arcade versions. If the game is dated, the graphics will be as well.

Gameplay... tons of characters. Plenty of games to pick from. What can go wrong? Well... here's where we go into the major flaw. You see, Capcom signed a deal with Brady Games to give them full rights to making their official game guides. So what? Well, the Japanese version of this Street Fighter Alpha collection came with something you won't find in the English version... an in-game movelist. That's right, Capcom decided to remove the info you'll need to actually play the game, hoping that will make you go and buy the guide. Apparently they forgot about something called the Internet.

So at this point, it's obvious Capcom doesn't care for customers... just their money.

Thanks for the great free game, Capcom. It's too bad it had to turn out this way.

Life and what I've learned.

People as a whole, for the most part, prefer not to think. Thinking tends to only cause problems and worries for the people involved. Thus, at some point distractions were invented. In simple times, wooden blocks and wheels would suffice. Not much existed to worry about. As time went on, things became more complicated. New weapons were made, new things were discovered to worry about like diseases and other concerns. The distractions became more advanced, more complex.

In modern times, worries are made simply to sell more distractions. Shiny one. Noise-making ones. Instead of thinking about terror, police corruption, starvation, racial issues, political corruption, and various other downers, people devote their life not to trying to change things to make them better, but instead to buy new distractions. Video games. Cars. Computers. Toys with electronics that you will play with for a few weeks and then never use again. Fancy gadgets made by children in sweatshops overseas who will never enjoy the results of their labor, and who could feed their family for a week with the money you spent on the toy alone. Celebrity breakups, marriages, scandals. Never mind what else the money used on makeup and surgery could have been used for.

People actively avoid thinking. If something comes up they don't want to hear, they either convince themselves it's not true, that nothing can be done about it, or that it is true and not a problem, since things happen.

We as a whole have become complacent to one another. We tend to only care about ourselves and the people we directly know in someway. Thus, prisoners tortured in Texas and Florida do not affect us or interfere with our lifes.

We trust the government and officials to take care of our safety. We seldom question orders from a police officer or many other people with signs of authority. Even if they are obviously doing something wrong, like beating a man, we are reluctant to step in and help, or try to put a stop to it, simply because we have a mind-set to obey officials.

A few decades ago, a woman was raped and then shabbed several times to death while unlocking her door. She lived in a highly populated area, yet no one called police because they didn't want to get involved and were certain that someone else must have already made the call. (Source at bottom.)

In the Stanford Prison Experiment, 24 students were divided into being prison guards and prisoners randomly. They did not know fully the details of the experiment. The prisoners were "arrested" without warning by the real police department by surprise. The experiment very quickly got out of hand. Prisoners suffered — and accepted — sadistic and humiliating treatment at the hands of the guards, and by the end many showed severe emotional disturbance.

In the Milgram experiment, 65 percent of those tested agreed to give what was implied to be fatal shocks to a man in another room, visible via a window. This was even after the man complained, started screaming, and even stopped moving.

What makes us like this? Is it normal human nature? Are we perverse in some way? If so, can it be fixed?

Something needs to be done about it, and soon. If anyone has their own thoughts and insights, please share them.

Sources, and highly recommended reading:


38 saw murder, failed to call police.

Stanford Prison Experiment- Official Site.

Stanford Prison Experiment on Wikipedia

Milgram Experiment on Wikipedia.

In a week or so, I will post a review on my free Street Fighter game that I received, details on my Youtube account and videos uploaded, projects I've been working on, and so forth.

And yes, maybe more details on my legal fight.

What Regiment of the Toy Soldiers do you belong to?

You are a Propagandist!
You've spend countless hours hacking news feeds, writing speeches, designing posters, drafting chant sheets all for the glory of the coming Utopia. Glad to see you have a numb butt from that computer chair for something.

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Rays of light...

Finally, some good news! First, and most exciting... a while back, a few months or so, I was contacted by someone calling themselves Lauren Kozak from the e-mail address lauren@m80im.com . It seemed like spam at first. The note said they noticed my review of Gradius V online, and that they'd like me to review a Street Fighter game for them.

Needless to say, I was skeptical. But while reviewing the company, I found that someone had asked if they would give him a copy of the game to review, and that they had agreed. No word on if he received his. I tried the same thing. I told the truth: With all the messes me and the family have been having, and given my lack of cash, the only way for me to review it was to be sent a copy. To make a long story short... I just got the game today in the mail. Street Fighter Alpha Anthology by Capcom, for PlayStation 2. Shrink-wrapped in all its glory. Whoever said you can't get anything for free? My thanks to the computer software that found my blog entry. Following are the actual e-mails in this tale of free goodness.

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Lauren"
Hi,
I just found your Gradius V blog entry:

http://coolgamerslair.blogspot.com/2005/02/mst-3000-and-other-goodies.html

and I think you may be of some help to me. I'm reaching out to you on
behalf
of M80 & Capcom regarding Street Fighter Alpha Anthology for PS2, which
includes
every Street Fighter Alpha game. Since you are a fan of Gradius V, I
thought
that you might be interested in posting the press release or a review of
the
game on your blog? You seem like a reputable influencer, so I think
you'd be a big help to us.
Please let me know if you're interested!
Thanks!
Lauren, M80
Lauren@m80im.com
www.m80im.com / www.m80teams.com

-----Original Message-----
From: joe.HAPPYFUNBALL@comcast.net [mailto:joe.HAPPYFUNBALL@comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 8:00 PM
To: Lauren
Subject: Re: Street Fighter Alpha Anthology

A quick follow-up to my last reply... I can certainly give you a very
detailed review if you wish, but to be bluntly honest with you, I am
strapped for cash. My older brother was recently involved in an
auto-accident that broke his coccyx, if that's how you spell it... the
tailbone, anyway... and minor whiplash.

Also, my older sister has down syndrome and requires medical funds.

If it's possible for you to send me a copy of the game to review, that
would
really help, and I'll be sure to mention the kindness in my posting.

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Lauren Kozak"
Hi Joe!

Sorry for my delayed reply! I'm so glad to hear back from you.

I'll gladly send you a game to review, I just need your address and I'll
get
a copy in the mail for you right away. Once you've reviewed the game
please send me links to where I can read it.

In the meantime, you can find the press release (along with other Street
Fighter Alpha Anthology stuff like videos, screenshots, and banners) at
http://assets.m80im.com/webmasters/sfaa/sfaa.html

Please let me know if I can be of help in any way.

Thanks!
Lauren

From: joe.PORKCHOPSANDWICH@comcast.net [ Save Address ]
To: "Lauren Kozak"
Subject: RE: Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2006 02:02:58 +0000

That would be most appriciated. It's been hectic around here latey,
thankfully,
it looks likes that's already changing.

I will be fully honest with you when I say that I had to think a long time
before giving my address... given the current run of bad luck, the last
thing I
needed was junk mail (which I can deal with) and no game (Which would mainly
annoy me), but after checking this out a bit, it seems to be legit. (Can't
be too careful, people will do anything for private info these days.) Mainly
the review at http://on-screen.blogspot.com/2006/01/x-box-spartan-total-warrior.html
convinced me to give it a go.

the address is:
J. blargh
xxxx zombo lane
anytown v8 xxxxx-xxxx

Oh, and just so you know, you might want to check the context of posts. I
did mention gradius V, but i never did get around to giving it a proper review.
Of course, just being found out of the mass of the web is enough of an ego
boost for me. :P

------------------------------------

I am leaving out some messages I sent due to not receiving the game during that time. It turned out to have gotten lost in the mail. I said some things... not nasty, but bitter toned. I was dealing with a hell of a lot, such as the arrest and whatnot. They did offer to give me another game as well to make up for it, I turned them down. I felt bad enough having lost it briefly.

Second... I was accepted into the Director group of Youtube! That means more time for the clips I uploads, better credits, and more exciting stuff! I'm giddy as a... well, something that's giddy, I guess.