Nothing

I wonder, how much can you blog about nothing? I mean, you can be saying nothing.  You can be looking at nothing.  But generally when you are looking at nothing, you are actually looking at something.  Like the insides of your eyelids.  Or a blank piece of paper.  When you are saying nothing, you are actually saying something.  You are saying something in a quiet way.  You are making a statement of silence.  Silence can be stronger than noise.

Blogging about nothing, however, is a totally and completely different concept.  If you blog about nothing, that generally means you have a blank page.  Or maybe you can take it literally, meaning you are blogging about "nothing." But, this doesn't occur very often.  And when it does occur, nothing much ever comes out of it. Unless, more nothingness comes out of it.  That can happen very often: nothing comes from nothing.  For example, if you say nothing, then nothing will be said to you.  That is why quiet people are lonely. Because they say nothing, nothing is said back to them.

Nothing, by itself, is a totally different idea. In fact, it shouldn't even be grouped with the other nothings. Nothing can't be anything.  Nothing can't be achieved, because there is never nothing.  There is always something. Imagine nothing.  You can't. Its impossible.  You can imagine the word nothing, or you can imagine someone saying "nothing."  Heck, you can even imagine a blog post about nothing.  But no way, in any shape, can you imagine nothing by itself.

If there was nothing, there would be nothing.  And nothing would exist.

"You look tired"

When did saying this^ become okay?  I hear this almost everyday.  "You look tired."  I think people should stop saying that.  

What if the person isn't tired? What if that is how they want to look? You basically just insulted them.  It is one of the few sneaky insults that society has allowed over time.

You wouldn't say, "Hey, you look bad today!" Instead, people say, "You look tired."  It has nearly the same meaning. 

Now, I understand that this phrase might be used in some situations, especially if you know the person well.  Lets say they have bags under their eyes, are laying down on the table, and are basically asleep.  Then it would be okay to bring up tiredness.  

You can read this if you want, but I sure won't.

I would read this if I were you, it is a lot better.  But I still probably won't read it.


I would, however, read this for sure.  This is a good article, I will probably blog about it more later.

This brings me to another subject: sharing gum.

Are you always expected to share gum? Every time I bring out a pack of gum, I have 5 people pestering me for a piece.  Comon man, I saved up some good money for that gum.  You expect me to have to give away a pack every time I want one piece? No way.  Now, if it is just you and one or two other people, you could offer them a piece, but I don't think its required.  If their breath stinks, its not your fault.

To counter this, I have started bringing out gum in secret. I will open the pack in my backpack, and slowly sneak the piece above my desk.  There, I will try to unwrap it in my hands, so nobody else will see.  I then sneak it into my mouth, usually by "coughing."

Lets say you're super rich and have tons of gum.  There is a fun game you can play with the people that want a piece.  The game's called...

See What You Can Make People Do For a Piece Of Gum

It can be anything.  Make someone sing a Disney song.  Make someone do 10 push ups on the class room floor.  Make them give you a high five.  Make them ask out the girl sitting next to you.

You can also try operant conditioning on them.  Have them give you a high five, and then give them a piece of gum.  Every time they give you a high five, give them gum.  Eventually they will associate a "high five" with "receiving gum."  Every time you high five, they will expect gum.  This could lead to fun thing...

My Bookmarks

After reading Goody's post about his bookmarks, I felt inspired to do the same thing.  We both share similar interests in browsers, and both like Google Chrome the best.

Wait a second... forget it.  I'm going to convince you to switch to Google Chrome, if you are not already using it.  If you are currently using Google Chrome, you would be better off learning a new instrument.  If you are using Apple's Safari, Mozilla's Firefox, or ... God forbid, microsoft internet explorer (doesn't deserve capitalization), you should definitely read this post.

OR

If you are running low on time, have a busy schedule, or honestly don't care, just go here and download Google Chrome without being convinced.

---

So.  Let me start off by insulting internet explorer (IE for short.  Internet explorer for long).

I found this strange blog that is devoted to hating on internet explorer.  The blog has been going on for about 4 years or so, and will keep you updated when ever internet explorer does something extremely stupid.

A probably less bias view on internet browsers can be found here.  But anyway, forget about those sites.  Lets start the roast.

Side Note: In this post, I will be comparing 3 browsers: Internet explorer, Firefox, and Chrome (some Safari will be mixed in).  I understand there are many more different browsers, but I do not have the time or experience to review them.

Side Side Note: If your computer is really really slow, you should probably just switch to Opera, which is a super fast browser.  It won't have all the cool features of the others, and some websites might not work the best, but you will find yourself smashing the keyboard a lot less.

The Comparison

Fact: IE was rated dead last in speed tests between the 4 browsers (FF, IE, GC, and S).

IE is the yellow and red colors, which are the lowest.  Now this chart is based off JavaScript runtime tests (don't worry about what that means).  I will throw out the fact that these tests were done by Google...

Speed is definitely the number one reason to switch to Chrome.  Even if you think your computer runs fast on IE, it will be much better on Chrome.  Just try it, Google "chrome," and improve your browsing experience!

Anyway, Internet explorer also has many useless toolbars that spam up your menu.

From top to bottom: Chrome, IE, Firefox

The picture above is a quick comparison of the menu bars. As you can see, Chrome is by far the simplest, with fewer buttons and a smaller area of the menu bar.  This allows for more monitor space to be used by webpage, as opposed to menu bar.  Everything on the Chrome menu bar is extremely user friendly, only two "Menu" buttons.

Both IE and Firefox have 5 "Lines" of menu bar, while Chrome only has 3 "Lines."  Chrome also features a simple drag and drop scheme, where you can move tabs around easily.  Another good thing about Chrome that the other two browsers don't have is individual running tabs.  Each tab runs by itself.  So if one tab goes down, the others will not crash.

Another small bonus of Chrome is the "Incognito" mode.  When running a window in "Incognito" mode, your history is not saved.  In addition, all cookies are cleared when you close the browser.  This basically erases your footprints.  In case you are shopping for your brother, and don't want him to find out what you bought him.

Now I will admit, Firefox has some pretty cool add-ons.  If you have a super fast computer, and love all the cool add-ons, Firefox might be the way to go.  However, these add-ons severely slow down the browser, and can cause Firefox to experience terrible turtle syndrome.

I could go on more, but I think this is enough.  In summary: switch to Chrome, unless you like wasting your computer's power.

Don't agree with me? Comment about it.  Let me know what you think.

Chart above provided by CNET News

Firfox toolbar from here.  Google toolbar from here.

Fear and Laziness

The only two things stopping us from leading the life we want to live are fear and laziness.

Laziness is simple.  If we don't want to do anything, we won't get anything done.  If we simply do not work hard and try our best, we won't accomplish what we want to do.  For some, this is the easy one to get over.  They can simply get up and start doing stuff.

Fear, on the other hand, is a little bit tougher to destroy.  If you are scared of something, you will avoid it.  A big part of this is taking risks. If you are afraid of taking risks, you won't be able to do what you want to do.  This may seem very vague, so here are some examples to set you straight.

-Lets say there is this hot girl you want to go out with.  You have never spoken to her in your life, but really like her.  You just can't summon up the nerve to talk to her, let alone hang out with her on a Friday night. The primary blocker in this case would be fear.  You are afraid of what will happen if your "talk" attempt is rejected (Sims reference).

You are afraid of the above.  Poor guy, he tried to pull off the romantic hug when he should have gone with the friendly...

So go for it.  Take the risk.  What is the worst thing that could happen.  I guess if you accidentally comment on her body in a demeaning way she might not like it.  Or if you accidentally grab her, that wouldn't be good either. 

On the other hand, good things can happen. Lets say you have a short conversation, and things go well.  You will feel good inside.  Good feelings are good.

---

Lets say you want to do good on a test, and need to study.  You are too lazy to study, and would rather watch XBOX (yes you can watch XBOX, its just very boring).  The impeding factor would be laziness.  You are too lazy to study.

Lets say you want to become an Olympic athlete.  You are a sprinter, and want to become the worlds fastest man.  If you are too lazy to run a lot, and too lazy to work hard, you have no chance of achieving your dreams.  Fear can also be a factor, if you are afraid that running too much will take over your life.

---

So in summation: don't let fear and laziness take over your life.  By controlling those two things, you can control your life.  Do something risky, and work hard for a while.

Sims picture from this place right here. Girl Game Zone.  Sexist.

Too Much Trust

We rely ALOT on computers.

By the way, "alot" should be a world.  Why in the world do we need to separate it out into two? "A lot" sounds like "a lot for sale," not "alot of homework." I'm thinking about petitioning to the dictionary to get this fixed.  I am still looking for a phone number to call, but I can't find one anywhere.  Maybe I'll just mail a letter to Santa, and he'll take care of it.

Anyway, back to our overuse of computers.  One day, not too long ago, I had just finished up a story.  I wanted to share it on Google Docs, no big deal. I tried to upload it, but it said the servers were down.  Thats too bad.

Then, just today, I was gonna go to Wikipedia for some blog ideas, but it was down.  Thats too bad.

How many more bad things will happen? Many.

Here are some bad things that could happen to our world within the next few years:

-A virus could infect Wikipedia, automatically correcting all the incorrect information.  Teachers wouldn't know what to do.

-Google could crash.  Where would we go to get ALL our information? Actually, on the other hand, it would be interesting to see Google crash.  The monopoly would be gone, and competition would increase, hopefully allowing for more advances in technology. Google, please crash.

-Oh, okay. I see how it is. Now Wikipedia decides to work....Wait, I take that back, it crashed again. How am I gonna finish this research paper?

-It seems as if Wikipedia is running out of money. At the top of every page is a banner begging for cash. Maybe they will have to rely on volunteers to write the articles now...oh wait, they already do that.

-I just found a banner that uses peer pressure to get your money.

I wonder if Peter Chang drank as a teen?

Continuing on with my list of bad things that can happen to the world:

-Pandora radio could crash. Then I wouldn't be supplied with good free music.

-Yahoo could crash. Then I wouldn't be able to check my email, or play pool online.

-Blogger could crash. Then I wouldn't be able to blog.


I am going to simulate blogger crashing.  This is what all my posts would look like:

#$(JARGIOA@#$*AWTIHGF($)#IERJF()$A#OPWJE($#WTE(Rj4a3w8toihjfs34potiawerlgf3wap4u90tj34pwa98juthap398wuaq2984pytpa3gtps80reugj;osdiprjg09jt4gp8se8ohrjg;soeirjg;lkrewjt9243jt9034jt;seoijge90tu34w8jut5[3a8w4jut0[a9tju40pjref;eriojg0934jt3094jut5o9j858gjoi54josiredjf9403ujt89243oitjr3940wjof29340utopjg35[er9ygijoherhseirthju[a0wu93423-riwe=tg-ps[dfo[spdf'sk;d/fkpeorjt903w4ut23094ur3q09ujweiojroisrjg;oiasjgr[s0er9iht[88ihyjldksfnjv,vmcnboiesjrg9-awjg4sidfojglxdkgjp;ae9tju90432autj[a'wrrgpojudfsl;kgja3w[4'ut9saergtijrwe[itusdfpogjuaw[094ti90w34ti9ojer

I would get tired of reading that after a while.

Peculiar Products: A Walk to Remember

I was reading Reader's Digest one day, and saw this:

If you have eyes, you will understand there is no need for words.


Just look at how comfortable this guy must be:

Nuff said.



First picture from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.medgadget.com/archives/img/honda_walker.jpg&imgrefurl=http://medgadget.com/archives/2008/11/honda_makes_public_new_robotic_walking_assist_device.html&usg=__Sg2fGPySL_TkcSs5DYIwBuozVDI=&h=493&w=468&sz=51&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=OOjH81PEwf5sIM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhonda%2Bwalker%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLG_enUS314%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1.


Second picture from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://nimg.sulekha.com/Others/original700/japan-honda-walker-2008-11-7-2-35-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://newshopper.sulekha.com/japan-honda-walker_photo_522535.htm&usg=__AMW_LbzrYtEAZQUOt4Ogw24Whsc=&h=480&w=350&sz=21&hl=en&start=9&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=p47H1I9oAsvs-M:&tbnh=129&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhonda%2Bwalker%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLG_enUS314%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1.


More beautiful pictures from THIS GOOGLE SEARCH

Peculiar Products: Hell's Bells

I was going to write a blog post about how people are changing their blog.  To start off my post, I was going to put an "Attention Getter" picture near the beginning, to get your attention. 

So, being the resourceful blogger that I am, I went to Google.  I searched for "attention getter," and browsed the pictures.  There were some general attention getters; such as large guns, people holding megaphones, bikini-clad women using leaf blowers, sexist jokes, and...

The No Yell Bell

I thought to myself, "This is probably the best attention in the world."

A No Yell Bell^®?!?! Imagine the possibilities!!!

Imagine...A bell you can use, without yelling!

Whenever I use bells, I yell.  They just don't work if I don't yell.

The No Yell Bell^® solves all of my problems.

---

Listen to what our customers said about the No Yell Bell^®:

"Whenever I have extra batteries laying around the house, I get really annoyed.  I honestly can't stand to have fresh batteries in the house. My traditional bell just wasn't doing the job for me.  It didn't take batteries, and that really annoyed me.  After putting up with my traditional bell for a few years, I had to switch.   After hearing about the No Yell Bell^®, I was a little suspicious at first.  After trying it out, I was amazed! It took battery after battery, completely solving my problem. I found my self ringing the No Yell Bell^® without need, just to use batteries! Thank you No Yell^®!"

-Jim Winston, stay at home dad.

"Being a teacher, it was always a trouble to get the class to pay attention.  I would yell, scream, and shout, but nothing seemed to work. I searched Google for "attention getter," and stumbled upon the amazing No Yell Bell^®.  I tried it out in class one day, and it worked like a charm!  Whenever I used the bell, the kids would stop talking, and start laughing!  They now pay attention to me whenever I ring the bell! Thank you, No Yell^®!"

Samantha Talitic, teacher.

---

I don't know about you, but next time I want to earn the respect of an audience, I'm going to bring a battery powered bell.

That way, when I'm done talking, I can use the "cheering crowd" feature of the bell to make my own applause.  Because I sure as hell won't be getting any.

Don't Be Hatin

"I hate school."


                 -Everyone, at some point in their life


The general attitude towards school appears to be negative (among students, at least).  You hear people complain about school all the time.  They say it sucks, its terrible, and they don't like it at all.

Well people, if you really hate it so much, why don't you just drop out?

If school is really that bad, there must be a better place you can go.

"Well...Ummm...School Just Sucks...Idk..."


Yes, we already made that clear.  But where else can you go? I don't think you have much of a choice. Unless you want to work at a fast food place, you almost need to stay in school.

"Yeah I know, but it still sucks."


People, you pretty much have to stay in school if you want to have a good future.  Unless, of course, you are a secret genius who can invent something and become rich. So, we might as well make the best of it, right? Like I said a few months ago, you're perspective on things has a huge impact. If you adjust your perceptual set to think of school as a good thing, it will seem better.  And really, school isn't that bad.

Sure, you can't do whatever you want, but that's what the weekends are for.  The weekends wouldn't be so special if there was no school.

---

Here are some benefits of school:

-You get smart. Or at least, less dumb.

-You meet new people.  We can assume that you meet a lot of people during class, at lunch, during passing time, after school, etc.  Think about it this way: every time you eat lunch at school it is just like you are going out to eat with some of your friends.  The food just isn't as great, and you don't have to spend so much.  If there was no school, you wouldn't know as many people.  Period.

-You get inspired.  Through school, you can learn about what you really like. You can pick your own classes, and decide what you want to do in the future.  If there was no school, the fast food business would pick what you like.

-It kills time.  If we had all the time to ourselves, eventually we would get pretty bored.  You can only mess around at Walmart for so long.  School gives us something to do for most of the day.

-It gets us sick.  At school, we are exposed to many, many germs.  When these germs enter our bodies, our immune system responds, creating an immunity.  Because of school, our bodies have tons of antibodies.  This gives us a better chance of surviving bio-warfare, or an epidemic, or a pandemic, or a cold, or an STD.

"Okay, Okay, so long term, school isn't so bad.  But what about on a day-to-day basis? Getting up early sucks!"

True, getting up early does suck.  You know what else sucks? A leech. A vacuum. A suction cup. Your mother.

But anyway, here are some other points.

-Getting up early for school gives us something to complain about.  And it helps us maximize daylight.  Instead of sleeping in till noon, we are up and can fully use the sun.

-I'm having trouble thinking of other points.

Anyway, you should relax and enjoy school a little bit. It's not that bad. Fo realz.


Base pic from http://www.aolcdn.com/ch_kids/high-school-musical-300a101106.jpg

Small City Fun: Remix BABY

Oh my...I saw the last cover of our school newspaper, and was unpleasantly surprised.  Lots to do in our city?? Sure, but how about we put more than 3 pictures on the front page...

I honestly would not go to Brucemore or the Art Museum for fun on a Friday night.  I honestly do not know any teenager that would go to Brucemore or the Art Museum for fun on a Friday night.  There are other things to do, however.  The following is my own personal list: 101 Ways to Make Fun without Offending someone (actually, you will probably offend quite a few people if you do these things).

Section One: Go to Wal-Mart

There is so much to do at Walmart, I can't believe it!  If I had to describe Walmart in three words they would be Games, Ghost, and Greatness.

1) Simply walk around. Walking is good exercise.

2) Go shopping.  Walmart has great items for sale at great prices. I would recommend buying lots of candy and eating it.

3) Follow someone.  Pick someone from the crowd and just stalk them during their entire trip.  Whenever they look around and see you, pretend to be looking at something else.  Follow them all the way from when they enter the store to when they leave in their car.  For added fun, try to get in the car when they open the door.

4) Reorganize.  Do Walmart a favor, and rearrange some items on their shelves.  For example, move the stuffed animals over to the clothing section.

5) Instead of going to Walmart, read about a guy who hates Walmart.  This will give you a nice perspective of a Walmart employee. I've always wondered what they think...

6) Enough with Walmart. Now on to Target.

7) Joking, Joking. Everyone knows Target isn't as much fun as Walmart.

8) Back to Walmart

9) Nope, I take that back.  Done with Walmart.

10) Okay, this completes the first part of the list.  Look to future posts to find more fun things to do!


Also, If you are into Miley Cyrus, I know Walmart is selling Miley Cyrus clothes right now.  There are also pictures of her in the aisles by the clothing.

Controversy is Ysrevortnoc Spelled Backwards

Well people, it's second term.  Winter term, if you will.  Winter is a time of controversy.  In accordance, I will blog about controversial topics.

A simple google search of "controversy" yeilds wonderous results (7,810,000 in .09 seconds).  Not surprisingly, wikipedia is the first result.  Wikipedia in itself is a controversial topic.

I found this website. It has a list of every single controversial topic known to man (and woman). I decided to pick on of these topics. The topic I pick is...Animal Experimentation.

I don't like that topic. The new topic is...

"WAIT A SECOND! You cheater! You can't pick a topic and not even write about it! You flip-flopper! I will never vote for you!"

See folks? I just created controversy without even having a topic. Well, I guess the topic was controversy itself.  Controversy can be controversial, or sometimes it can't.  Sometimes controversy (think gay rights) makes friends, other times it makes enemies (think gun rights).  Sometimes controversy can be democratic (think democracy), other times it is dictatorial (think Hitler).  In fact, I didn't even know dictatorial was a word! How controversial!

Controversy is everywhere, and yet is nowhere. But controversy, always, is where.

"Enough of this nonsense Mikey! Get to the Controversial topic!"

Well screw you, pretend audience! I ain't gettin to any controversial topics today!

In fact, the word "ain't" is a controversial topic in itself.

"Ain't Ain't a word and I Ain't gonna say it!"

Damn you audience! You hypocritical people! How can you say "ain't" isn't a word, and then say it three times in one sentence?!

Webster's dictionary defines "ain't" as: "A word".  Since I trust Webster (he won the Webster Hayne debates) I will believe him.

"Ain't is a word, and therefore I feel comfortable saying it when necessary"

So take that, you condescending audience.  I just discussed a controversial topic. Happy now?

"NO! I don't like that topic! Pick a new topic!"

Again, you hypocritical audience...Didn't you reprimand me a few words ago for doing the exact same thing? That's it, guards, please.

The sound of machine guns fills the stage (Or blog, in this case.  Just imagine there are machine gun sound effects) (No wait, I take that back, I will add machine gun sound effects. Play the sound below for ultimate experience) (Make sure to turn up your volume really loud) (If this were a math problem, it would be a toughie. Imagine distributing all these words through 4 sets of parenthesis.) (Make that 5 sets of parenthesis) (Make that six...anyway, listen to the sounds).





Good, no more audience.  Without an audience, there is no need to write.  Unless of course, I am writing for myself.

And who rights for themselves these days? Not me.







pic made at
http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php




websta's dictionary from
http://www.writehisanswer.com/Merriam%20Webster%20Dictionary.jpg