Google is your friend

You know what I’m really tired of? People always assuming that I’ll help them out with computer problems. As soon as they find out I plan on studying computer science or they see my computer, it’s always assumed that I can just be their on-call tech support. I use to be ok with this, but nowadays I find it rather insulting. Most problems people experience with their computer are so simple it blows my mind how anyone could not figure it out on their own. You want to know the secret to solving pretty much every computer problem the average user will encounter? A simple google search. That’s it! I don’t claim to be all knowing when it comes to computers. In fact, I’m pretty inept compared to most serious computer users. Sure, I built my own computer and it runs extremely smoothly, but that’s because I have a fucking BASIC understanding of computer maintenance that comes from using this little known search engine called GOOGLE. Odds are if they come to me with a computer problem that I can’t solve off the top of my head, I’ll go straight to google, type in a few key words, search and odds are that the answer to their problem will be on the first page. The first fucking page. Seriously, did you even try to figure out the problem? Or are you just too stupid to figure out what someone posted about the exact same problem you’re having? I’ve had people ask me to install their printer. A goddamn PRINTER! Is that really so hard to do? Also, to all of you with computers loaded up with viruses. Do you know why that happens? You’re being an idiot when browsing the internet and not thinking before you click. It seems like the average person has absolutely no common sense on the internet. They think everything is fine and dandy. Oh, my friend who I haven’t talked to on aim in months randomly sent me a link completely out of context and isn’t responding to me. I’ll just click the link and find out what’s up. Congratulations, you’re a dumbass. Then there’s the other obvious cause for viruses, porn. Yeah, I get it… you’re horny and want some pleasant imagery while having your little happy time, but browse with some fucking common sense. So to wrap it up, google is your friend and think about what you’re clicking on. If you ask me for help the most I will do is send you here: www.justfuckinggoogleit.com

Things that piss me off

1. Fat people – Seriously… just put the damn fork down and don’t complain about your weight while you’re munching down on 3 Big Macs with large fries… just because you’re drinking a diet coke with all that shit doesn’t make it ok . I understand that it is hard work to lose that weight and nothing happens over night, but control yourself, and stop complaining about these “thyroid problems.”

2. Religious people – Come on now… really? It’s the 21^st century and you still believe in a little story written by some random dudes that would be considered crazy if introduced in modern times. If you disagree with this, just think about Scientology. Yeah, thought so.

3. Social smokers – No, I will not give you one of MY cigarettes so you can stand there and puff on it like a dumbass and not even finish it. These things cost money. If you like to smoke when you’re drinking, why don’t you buy your own damn pack before going out? Also, don’t you dare fucking ask for a hit. It’s my cigarette and I don’t want your germs.

4. AT&T – Seriously, fuck them. I’m sick and tired of missing calls because they have such a shitty network then having to go outside to make calls. It’s been way too cold for that shit.

5. Fox News – Fair and balanced… yeah… no political bias associated with this “news” organization at all. They constantly misrepresent facts to further the republican agenda and infuse false facts in the minds of their viewers. There is nothing more frightening than a misinformed collective with such ideals... and guns.

6. Cops – Your job is to protect and serve. This does NOT mean you’re allowed to be a trigger happy bully on a powertrip. Don’t get me wrong, I know some nice cops, but most cops I’ve met have been total assholes. No matter what the situation was.

7. Reality TV shows – Worst thing to happen to TV other than Fox News.

8. Dirty people – Is it really that hard to shower everyday? It takes five minutes, feels amazing and makes you not smell like shit. I think it’s worth it…

9. Texting – This is one thing I don’t understand to save my life. I do it, but only because it’s become an essential part of communication. It's so much easier to just call someone, but people only text nowadays. Even when they're driving... really? You're going to fucking look down at a screen and type on tiny keys WHILE DRIVING a multi-ton chunk of metal traveling at the speed of death. Yeah, that's smart.

10. Mind games – You try it with me, I won’t even bother with you. Simple as that.

Story and a Mini-rant

For this week’s blog, I will be using the story I wrote in class.
Audience : everyone
Setting : A kids bedroom with the window open
Character : A kid practicing a magic trick
Detail : An iPad

It was a sunny day. The bright light streamed through the open window of Matt’s bedroom. Matt was a strange child. He spends most of his time sitting quietly in his room alone practicing magic. His parents were strongly against this practice as they were extremely religious. One might go as far as to say his parents were fanatics. With this in mind, Matt needed to practice his magic tricks in secret to avoid the scorn of his psychotic parents. His latest trick involved the use of a rabbit, chainsaw and an iPad. Not many people would understand how this could possibly be a magic trick, but sure enough Matt made it into one. The trick had no real end goal to the untrained observer.

This goes to show the potential Matt held in the practice of magic. Matt turned the chainsaw on with a yank of the cord. As the chainsaw came to life, the rabbit wet itself and the iPad vibrated in fear of what was going to happen. There was an explosion. Apparently Apple is a horrible company owned by terrorists who had planted bombs in every iPad in order to remove all the retarded people from Earth’s population.

Now I will include a mini rant directed towards Apple. Simple question: why do people buy from such a horrible company? Are you really all sheeple with no room for independent thought and no skill to use an actual computer? Do you need something obviously designed for people with a below average IQ? I’ve never liked Apple. To me, their products are all flash with no real benefits. The mac fanboys will claim how they’re superior to PC based products, but they can never provide an actual argument as to why. Ok, here’s a little background. Back when Apple used Motorola chips, there were some benchmarking results that showed a SLIGHT, and I really mean slight, advantage to the Motorola chip over intel based computers in the area of audio/video performance. This was then used to push their disgusting products even though in 2005 they switched to intel chips and the only difference between a Mac and a PC is the operating system and the overly flashly design of mac.

I cannot stand using a mac. Maybe it’s me and I like to actually use my computer, but there are no benefits to mac. They’re expensive, flashy, limited upgrade possibilities and the setups offered are never the latest and greatest. They may be marketed as such, but the fact remains that if you buy a mac, you will be stuck with lesser technology.

Coffee

To put it simply, I love coffee. I have a small collection with me at college. For everyday drinking, I have a lesser quality French Roast from Starbucks. Then for an enjoyable midday coffee I have a nice Vienna Roast. For special occasions I have my favorite, a smooth, medium roast Austrian coffee from Café Sperl. I only drink my coffee black. Now that I’ve established my love of coffee, I can get to my rant.
I cannot stand the people who claim to love coffee, but then add so much sugar and milk that it’s impossible to actually taste the coffee. You don’t like coffee. You just like sugar, milk and caffeine. If you like that, fine, but don’t go around saying you love coffee and then head over to Starbucks for a triple mocha chocolate or some shit like that. That’s not coffee. That’s a sugar overload with a hint of coffee for the caffeine. If you find the taste so unbearable that you have to dump all that crap in just to drink it, just take a fucking caffeine pill or drink a coke. When did this obsession with crap coffee come about? It’s unacceptable how this pathetic excuse for coffee has become the norm.

WoW

World of Warcraft. Why the hell would anyone play this game? It is by far one of the worst games I have ever played. There is absolutely no feeling of accomplishment with it and no skill required. The only things it does require are a disturbing amount of time and money. I sadly have played this game. One of my friends got me to play the free trial and the whole time I was thinking “why the hell would anyone play this!?” There is nothing to World of Warcraft. You run around collecting pointless ingame items. Seriously, this is the typical mission. Collect 400 of this random thing that only drops every once in a while and then take those items in for a prize. Yeah, that sounds entertaining. I can’t even see how people find it addicting. You pay $15 a month for a subscription and that’s after you spend god knows how much on all the actual games. How many expansions are they up to now? Well apparently they are working on the third expansion. I can’t even begin to imagine trying to keep up with that. How is this game still around? Why haven’t people caught on to how horrible it is yet? The fact that people are still paying into this and wasting their lives blows my mind. What they’re doing is paying 15 dollars a month to keep their virginity. That’s it. I know a few people who won’t stop playing this said excuse for a game. They constantly complain about retaining their virgin status yet they continue to play. This makes no sense to me. If you spend that many hours a day playing a stupid game, you have no right whatsoever to complain about having a bad life. They also complain about doing poorly in school. Yeah, that doesn’t make sense at all. You only spend 12 hours a day playing that pathetic game while slamming energy drinks and putting no effort into school. Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with that… sounds like you should be doing very well… Just in case you didn’t catch that, I was employing a very subtle form of sarcasm… Another thing that really gets me is how ingrained this game has become in popular culture. World of Warcraft does not deserve this. It is literally the herpes of gaming.

Anti-Smokers

People need to stop trying to pressure others into quitting smoking. It doesn’t work. I’m sick and tired of people telling me to quit. The simple fact of the matter is that no matter what you say, it won’t help me quit permanently. The choice needs to be mine and mine alone. Sure people can support you if and when you do decide to kick the habit, but the constant pressure is only going to annoy and create distance in any kind of relationship. I will quit when I’m ready to and nothing others say is going to affect my decision. I know it’s unhealthy. I know it can cause cancer and all kinds of other problems. I know it’s expensive as hell. You’d have to be the most ignorant person in the world to not know all of this stuff nowadays. Constantly looking down on smokers and telling them that they should quit is only going to make them hang out with other people who smoke and won’t constantly bother them and complain about the smell. Also, all these groups on facebook about “IF 1,000,000 PEOPLE JOIN (some random person no one cares about) WILL STOP SMOKING” are retarded and need to stop. It’s peer pressure that won’t work in the long term. Sure, they might stop for a little while (if they actually reach the goal…), but it’s definitely not going to last unless they do it themselves. I enjoy smoking. I find it very pleasant and relaxing. I don’t care if the smell bothers you. I don’t care that you had a family member who died from lung cancer and I won’t stop for anyone other than myself. Everyone I have known who tried to quit through this idiotic family/friends peer pressure has failed. So stop trying to convince smokers to quit. If they ask you to help them quit, be there for them, but other than that stay the fuck out of it.

First Post - Photography

Alright, I guess I’ll talk about myself for the first blog entry. My name is Sebastian and I’m a 20 year old freshmen. I plan on majoring in Computer Science, but my true passion is photography. I haven’t done much professionally, but I really enjoy it. I worked as a photographer for the National Park Service in Washington D.C. Other than that, I have done one wedding. If you’re interested in photography at all, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT do a wedding. It was an absolutely miserable experience. I shoot with a Nikon D300 for the most part, but my favorite camera is a thirty year old Nikomat and my favorite lens is a thirty year old 50mm 1.4. Out of all the shots I’ve taken, my favorite so far is from the 4th of July in Washington D.C. With my position at the National Park Service, I was able to get the best spot available at the top of the Netherlands Carillon.

http://rocker504.deviantart.com/art/4th-of-July-in-DC-137732276

I plan on having it printed, but unfortunately I shot it at a lower resolution than preferable for a poster sized print. If you like the shot, feel free to purchase a print. I’m very proud of that shot.
The real turning point in my photography was a little over a year ago. I decided to take a darkroom class and discovered my passion for it. This probably makes me sound like a hipster, but I find simple black and white photography to be generally more interesting. The most amazing part of this class was towards the end of the course. We went to a DC United game and were given full access as photographers. This gave us the opportunity to experience the job of a professional photographer and meet experienced sports photographers. It seemed like a very intense and competitive job, but was more fun than I could ever have as a computer scientist. Unfortunately all the photographers I’ve talked to have told me explicitly to stay with computer science since making a living as a photographer is extremely difficult. So for now I’m staying on the path to get a degree in Computer Science while dreaming of doing what I enjoy. Photography.