Mid term

*Maybe is not an option

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Topic of the day: Underage Voting
Subtopic of the day: You’re helping me with my paper

So I’ve got two papers due next week. My paper for Monday is going to be on “one of the 4 proposed amendments to the new 1970 constitution.” One of those was to lower the voting age to 18. This motion actually failed here in Illinois after a heated debate, but was all for nothing because in ’71 the change was made nationally. I want to hear from those of you who remember anything about this, or if you don’t remember and want to look stuff up for me, I’m not going to complain. It’ll be 10 pages, so anything relative to the topic can help. Reasons for, reasons against, etc.

Also, there’s a small movement currently to get the voting age dropped to 16. Reasoning being that 16 year olds are working and paying taxes (taxation without representation) and its in conjunction with increasing civic education in Highschool. Blah blah blah, that’s not important and not what my paper is about. I’m talking about the move to 18 year olds in the 70’s. Geeze I don’t want to have to go to the library and look at microfilm.

(I had an image for this, but the upload wasn't working...)

Super-Geekage

So there was a book sale at UIS the other day… get this, it was on the HONOR SYSTEM! There was a jar on a chair and it said: $1 Tapes, $2 CDs, $3 Software and $3 Books. Craziness! I picked up a few books for myself and grabbed enough money for lunch the next day as well.

But speaking of books, I’m currently on “The Science of Superheroes.” Tim, you need to pick this one up. It’s a science book but uses superhero scenarios to bring up the different topics. They figure out the mass of Krypton based on how high Superman could initially leap in the comics (1/8 mile). They show a nearly scientifically plausible way to create a 8 foot tall, muscle-bound, roid-raging, scientist who when he loses control actually glows green. And they show how most of Spidey’s superpowers aren’t related to spiders at all, but how he would have still been an awesome character if they had held more true to the arachnids. Excellent book… if you’re a nerd… and I am.

I wasn’t going to talk anymore about F.E.A.R. but by my boys at Penny Arcade made a comic strip and it’s SO true. At one point I had a failed attempt to sneak in through my bedroom window to scare Scott when I knew he was playing the game. Sadly I made too much noise and he caught me before I had set foot inside the room. But its not his fault, the game's creepy as hell. Another time I came home and this dialogue transpired between Scott and I, apparently he didn't want to play it alone anymore (which I wouldn't want to do either):

Scott: “Good, Thank God you’re home.”
Me: “FEAR?”
Scott: “Terrifying.”

Bringing everyone up to speed.

Here’s a picture I like:

Its Ro playing F.E.A.R. She’s a gamer and I’m very proud of her. Know why Ro’s awesome? ‘cause when most girls would say “I hate that game,” it would probably be because they thought it was stupid, or too gory, or a waste of time. But do you know why Ro said “I hate that game”? Because she was mad that clone soldier got up after taking metal spike in the head and started shooting at her again. She was not pleased with that guy. For future reference, when Ro shoots you in the head with a spike, she expects you to stay dead. The truth of the matter is that she really did like the game, even if she could do without a lot of the really scary parts. (Seriously, when did children become so frightening?)

I got the midterm done and turned it in on time. 13 freakin’ pages. Ridiculous. I have another 2 papers due next week… starting on those tomorrow night. As for today I’m going to be catching up on some sleep and possibly checking out an apartment today. I have to go to work at The Buy at 4:00, so yeah… it never ends.

I get to have a meeting with my supervisor today at Best Buy, we’ll see about getting a full time position there so I can have a set schedule and stop working two jobs. This fluctuating between 25-60 hours a week sucks… a lot.

Guh...

I hate Midterms.

On page 6.... and have only finished 1 of 3 sections so far. I'm expecting 12-15 pages total it looks like. Due at 6. Crap.

What to buy at The Buy

Alright, so Christmas season is coming and I thought I'd start letting you know what Rob's found at Best Buy this week worth mentioning. For example: BATMAN BEGINS just came out on Tuesday. Great Movie. Everyone buy it. Its like $15 and you get two free cokes with it. Also, if you have a gamer in the family (and a nice computer.... really nice computer) F.E.A.R. came out Tuesday as well. Greatest First Person Shooter I've ever played. And its as gory and scarry as they come. NOT for small children, or older computers (the game would easily destroy either.)

Rob's made up Word of the Day:
W.W.B.D. = What Would Batman Do?
Jesus was a great man, and if everyone followed WWJD the world would be a better place. Problem is everyone doesn't follow that paradigm, so we must adapt. At times we must overcompensate because of others, and its these times I think we should really ask ourselves, What would Batman do?

Anyways, still really busy... trying to work things out here at work. They gave me some extra projects that don't make any sense, so I'm going to have to make something up.

My Midterm

Do I expect anyone to read all of this? Not really. But I do think I'll start assembling a crack team of researchers to get started on this while I'm at work. Seriously, this is ridiculous:

Question #1

Excluding Governor Blagojevich, answer the following with respect to each of the other five constitutional officers in Illinois:

a. Who are they, and what are their political backgrounds?

b. Given their career in the public sector to date, is each one representative of an individualistic, moralistic or traditionalistic political culture? Explain fully.

c. To what extent do the functions of each office allow the office holder to initiate public policy of any importance?

d. With respect to (c), identify one important public policy measure that each has initiated, or at least proposed, during his/her current term.

e. Analyze the political futures of each, offering your own assessment as to the likelihood of success in each instance.

Question #2

With respect to our 1970 Illinois Constitution, answer the following:

a. In your opinion, what are the three most important changes/improvements contained in the document when compared to the 1870 Constitution? Explain fully.

b. In 2008, the voters of Illinois will be asked whether a new constitutional convention should be convened. At this point, what would be your response? Explain fully.

Question #3

Professor Bill Savage from Northwestern University said the following:

“The Chicago way is corruption which favors political insiders, keeps money flowing into bank accounts, and maintains the status quo.”

On the other hand, former Mayor Jane Byrne said that with respect to politics, there really isn’t a Chicago way. There is just a big city way, and Chicago politics is no different from any other big city. Byrne said,

“The real problem with the idea of a Chicago way is you can’t always tell if it’s real or an illusion.”

After reading Mike Royko’s book, what would Royko say? Would he agree with Savage or Byrne? Support your answer with specific references from BOSS.

Dad's Speech

The nice thing about doing political studies in Springfield is that you're "right where the action is." Two internships are required, and I get placed somewhere here in the capital. And when we need a speaker, they're all right here. Last week we had Governor Edgar come and talk to us in his first public appearance since announcing he would not run against Blagojevich this term. We're having this lady come in from some Ethical Reform of Campaign Finance Thingy in a few weeks. But what was MOST important was our speaker last night. We had none other than the esteemed, Tom Ryder speak to our class about the state legislature. Tom Ryder served in the State House of Representatives for a bazillion years, and is now a lobbyist here in Springfield. He also is my surrogate father.

That's right. Josh and Tim's dad came and spoke with our class. I wish I had enough time to review Dad like I should, but I'm a very busy person today/this week. But here's the quick run down:

• Our state is divided up into several different districts, split up in a number of different yet individually important ways: Representative Districts, County Lines, Senatorial Districts and most importantly Cardinals/Cubs/White Sox Lines.
• My teacher only does 75% of his actual job because he has speakers come in to do it for him.
• Everything in life and politics can be referenced to Television Shows. We discussed NUMB3RS and CSI. If he was able to work in Smallville or The Daily Show that would have been some serious bonus points.
• Speaking of bonus points, in his list of new mediums for communication these days, he referenced blogs. So I think that more than makes up for the TV show slip.

Anyways, that's all I have time for today. I've got a incredibly hectic week. Scheduled for 30+ hours at best buy, 20+ at BUNN, I just received a Take-Home Essay Midterm last night, and I know I'm getting a new paper assignment tomorrow in class that will be due next week. Did I ever mention that I'm a busy person? Oh, and I got my grade back on my paper on the "Illinois Education Association" and Special Interest Groups: A- (which I am very happy with).

Generic Title Here

Sooo... I've got some ideas in the works for fun things to share, but none developed yet. Also I feel like this next week may be... "bad." I'm scheduled everyday at the Buy (except for Mon/Wed when I have class). And I have a sinking feeling that I'm getting at least one take-home midterm in my classes this week. I had some gripes about work, and some issues with Apple concerning their new iPod video. But I don't feel like getting into them. Instead I'm just going to share a few tidbits with you.

Word of the Day: Sophomore

A sophomore is a second-year student. Etymologically, the word means 'wise fool'; consequently sophomoric means "pretentious, bombastic, inflated in style or manner; immature, crude, superficial" (according to the Oxford English Dictionary). Coming from the Greek sophos, meaning "wise", and moros meaning "foolish".

And some links:

For those of you who shop on eBay, there's a new trend to rip people off you should be aware of. People are selling, just the boxes now on eBay, to popular, expensive devices. For example check out this Playstation 2 box that sold for $200. The ad clearly states it's simply the box, but when people are in a hurry and looking through a lot of items, they don't alway read the print.

Secondly, in time for the Holiday Season. Creepy Halloween related Medical Diseases! (both links courtsey of Collegehumor.com)

Blockbuster's Terror Chart

I had a Blockbuster experience, but there’s really no reason to go into it. It would mainly be me complaining about how they have this new policy that if they don’t mention Blockbuster Online to you, you get a free movie rental. The actual effect was that he tried to force Blockbuster Online down every customer’s throat one at a time in line. I felt like I was at Best Buy. Anyways, during my LONG wait in line I noticed this:

It’s the ruler on the exit door and appears to double as Blockbuster’s own terror level indicator. If someone is trying to steal something and they’re in the green (or in Ro’s case, below) they’re safe to stop/tackle. If their height puts them in the midrange, its employee discretion. And if someone is in the Red zone, that means “You don’t get paid enough for that. Its just a movie for heaven’s sake.” Is it sad that my Fabricated Blockbuster’s Terror Level Indicator makes far more sense to me than America’s?

Where else do you think we should have terror indicators? Or if you don’t have anything to say on that, you can relate how awesome I am. Either or.

P.S. Your word of the day is:

• Iraqnophobia: paralyzing fear of Iraq or the people of middle-eastern decent (or any non-whites); Overwhelming fear of Terrorism

I didn't make these...

So yeah, like I said... I didn't make this one, but wish I had. Its so very true. And it's about best buy. Just click on it to enlarge it.

Now this next one is most funny to Best Buy Employees, but I'll explain it real quick. Best Buy has names for the different kinds of people. A "Ray" is a guy who's a family man. More than likely has 2.4 children and a wife who holds the check book. He'll be the one who wants to buy the technology, say it's for the kids, but will need approval from his wife. So we're supposed to identify this person and talk to him about it, but make sure we focus on and sell it to the wife. A "Barry" is the high roller. He's got the best of everything and very possibly won't want any service plan. He pays top dollar so expects a product that will last him. Nail that guy with all the expensive accessories. "Buzz" is a 18-25 year old who likes his toys, I think I'm a Buzz.

So yeah, that's that. Did I mention that I worked 6pm - 2am at Best Buy on Sunday? It was our annual inventory night or some crap like that. We had to follow these guys around the store and watch them as they zapped every item, every CD, every computer accessory, every bag of M&Ms in the store. Very exciting. And I had to work the next morning at BUNN... lame.

Comics from:
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Cheap Ass Gamer

I love my iPod.

Alright, so I hope everyone here is ready to be technologically enlightened. Don’t be scared, this isn’t going to be painful or difficult. Today class, we’re going to discuss briefly about Podcasts. I’m pretty certain that there’s a podcast out there for everyone. But first off, for those of you who don’t know or don’t know much about them, we should clarify. A podcast is an audio program that can be freely downloaded off the internet and its content can be just about anything you can imagine (we’ll cover that next).

Its probably the easiest if you have an iPod, or MP3 player of some sort and the iTunes program on your computer. If you have a podcast you like you can subscribe to it through iTunes and it will automatically download them to your computer when new episodes are available. You can then listen to them anytime on your MP3 player, or if you don’t have an MP3 player, burn them to CD and listen to them in your car, or at work.

They really make long drives or mindless jobs (ahem… American Water People) much easier to deal with. Your first step is to download iTunes, then I would recommend downloading the Podfinder Podcast. That is just a program that comes out once a week and showcases about 15 podcasts in a half hour. It also explains how to easily subscribe to the shows it features while listening. Seriously, if you’re bored, try this at home and just see if anything you hear on the Podfinder Podcast peaks your interest. And here's a massive directory of podcasts.

Just for some examples:

• Religious Podcasts: Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims… you’ve got them all. From sermons to just the world from that point of view.
• Harry Potter Podcasts: debates over possible plot twists, new movies, or obscure references. You can also replace Harry Potter, with about anything (Gilmore Girls, Star Wars, NYPD Blue.)
• CopCast: Speaking of NYPD Blue, how about hearing from a cops perspective, recorded at a police station, get funny cop stories or horror stories, or the latest buzz in the law enforcement scene.
• Blind Podcasts: there’s several, an audio blog from a person with a vision-impairment, or what the latest developments in the science and study of all things vision related, surgery to accessibility.
• TechyCasts: I live off these: Diggnation and This Week in Tech
• Cancer Cast: If you, or someone you know is suffering from cancer this show put the facts to you in plain English. Gives you advice, tells you the proper questions to ask, and offers support.
• Anything from NPR: They’ve got all their shows available. I listen to their archive of science and health reports.
• Learning Foreign Languages: Get a weekly or sometimes daily Russian/Spanish/English lesson and make that trip to Italy you’ve always wanted a little easier for you (I’m looking at you Kim)

I know that a few of us listen to them already, how about sharing anything I missed. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

P.S. Grade (A)my Woman, I’m really glad you spoke up. I’m always super excited to hear that people actually read this besides my Mom and my Roommate.

Book Shopping

Hooray for all the comments. See, that's all I need every now and again; sometimes my ego drops below that supernatural level and I just need a little reinforcement to keep it up in the stratisphere. I also added some new blogs on the side. Best friend Josh (who I went to Europe with) now has his own blog. Hey Phil, looks like you're the only one left... we demand you get a blog... now. Also I linked to Anne, Ro's sister (who unlike Ro, doesn't leave her blog unupdated for 3 months). And Finally we have Nida, a fellow RA from ISU and my favoritest Paki. Oh yeah, I listed Jake too... but I hate him, so I don't care if you go there or not. The only reason he gets a spot is because he is the one that broke the infamous Jerseyville Porn Star Story.

This weekend I went to Barnes and Noble. I found a few books that caught my eye enough to take pictures. What is the world coming too?


Ok this just may be my own mis-understanding.... but aren't Freemasons one of those elitist, secret societies? Like the Skulls? Or the Mouseketeers? Chapter 18, Our secret handshake and meeting places. Chapter 23, Who's who in the freemasons guild, and what governments they control.

Here's an idea, instead of 1001 movies you must watch before you die, how about you get off your butt and get some exercise before your heart collapses under the weight of the mounting chlorestrol that has accumulated while you've been a worthless couch potatoe for the last 4 years trying to hit all 1001 movies.

That's it, its official; she's got her own religion. I propose a public burning in the town square.

"PIRATTITUDE! So you wanna be a Pirate? Here's How!" Probably the greatest book I'd ever seen in my entire life. Unless someone releases NINJAITUDE, in which case... well you get the idea.

Comic Space 2.0

I sure hope you're not expecting a whole new post today after all my work last night. I expect a bagillion comments after all my hard work. I expect praises and gifts. I mean, this took me hours... and I have another paper due on Monday. Do you see what I sacrifice for you?!!??

click to enlarge

A Three Post Day!

• Alright, below is an open letter to one of my loving fans who recently left some feedback reguarding Tuesday's Post.
• This Post here is simply a heads up. No big deal.
• And coming later tonight is a REALLY special treat. I don't know what drove me to do what I'm about to, but its got a lot of potential. So start getting excited.

I feel like I should give you some content. I only slept 2 hours yesterday (10 am - 12 pm) and it was quite rough. But the paper's done and turned in. I had to go to class last night, which was a bit rough (6-9pm) on as little sleep as I had. But then to top it off, my genius roommate talked me into going to the movies last night to see Serenity. I hate him sometimes. Don't get me wrong it was a great movie, but I was going on VERY little sleep. I'm glad I went, but I still hate him. Seriously, just try playing Burnout with that kid. Its a racing game, and no matter the outcome, no matter how badly he lost, he'll talk about how he "kicked your ass in drift." Even in Burnout 4, when they no longer give your Drifted Distance at the end of the race, he makes it up. For those who may be missing the point, Drift is when you lose traction on your turns and has no real impact on the game or the winning of the game. But he yells about it everytime reguardless.

Oh and speaking of beating Scott at games. Current chess score: 6-0

An Open Letter

Dear Mr McJake,

You should count yourself lucky that the powers that be over here at Rob's Space 2.0 have decided to take time out of their busy schedule to address your concerns. at 10:06 am on October 4, 2005 the following comment was received :

Jakey McJake said...

Thanks for your list of websites that EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT. I'm so lucky to have your internet commentary to teach me things I never could have possibly figured out...unless I actually used the internet.

But it's the thought that counts, I suppose. Pervert.

First, I need to start with your name. Frankly, and as I believe we here at Rob's Space 2.0 have indicated previously, it Sucky McSucks. We try our best here to provide actual content for our readers, unlike some people who create and devote an entire podcast to let his peers know that a 13 year old boy had been banned from the forums.

Mr McJake, there are other people who read Rob's Space who are less computer/internet savvy than others (pronounce savvy: "ob-sess'-ed"). And I like to sometimes share things that might help them, just as I sometimes discuss inside jokes that only Scott, Tim and Ro might be a part of. So now, instead of your insults affecting me, it is probably more likely that they were poorly received by my readers. I hope you feel like a big man now.

I can just assume that you missed the point that I was trying to share web fundamentals and not trying to bring groundbreaking new material forward. You also seemed to miss the open invitation where I wanted to have others bring their own basic, frequently visited sites to the group. So, even when you had your own grievances about the content, as well as an open invitation to add your own, you did nothing to actually improve your misperceived state of things. Wait a minute. Complaining about misunderstood situations... Elitist attitude... taking no actual action yourself... You're a libertarian, aren't you? This conversation is over.

Commies Burn in Hell,

Rob's Space 2.0

No post for today.

Today is a Paper Due Day. No time to post. No time to sleep. No time to work, crap.... no it's 7:30 in the morning, guess I'll just go to work early today and bail out WAY early. Maybe I can finish my paper and sleep before class. Would you care for an excerpt from my paper? My brain hurts, I couldn't keep it up throughout the whole paper. I know that those first two paragraphs are exactly what he wanted, but my writting style quickly degrades as my graduate-student-writing-mode endurance fails me. eh, I got to say... I'm impressed I was able to spit out as much of that as I did. You really don't have to read what I'm attaching here, it's incredibly scholarly (aka impossible to read). Just thought you should see what grad school is like. Stupid sleep.

Institutions are a ubiquitous, often overlooked presence in the world. Their influence is felt at all strata of society, from world leaders at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to a local Junior High Yearbook Staff, we require hierarchy and a system that provides allowances and restrictions. Left to his or her own devices, and resisting an established structure, humans will almost inevitably descend into a state of chaos and inefficiency. Rare is the case that a leader will not emerge from a group and become the focal point of organization and action. Thus, once such a structure is set, a pattern followed, and a social hierarchy understood, an institution is born.

Institutions are a social framework, often created and maintained by the very same people who must adhere to it. In his article “Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance,” Douglass North defines institutions as “humanly devised constraints that structure human interaction,” which have either been formed purposefully or have gradually developed over time. It is the institution that allows or restricts certain actions by the various members of the group. Each person must work within the constraints he is given and failure to abide by the rules results in a penalty, not only to himself, but in effect, the team as a whole. The institution often values some rules more than others, resulting in varied repercussions for different violations. It can then be assumed that some rule breaking is expected, and therefore considered a legitimate strategy for obtaining one’s goals, provided that severity of the punishment does not outweigh the potential for benefit.

I’m a Peeping Tom

But I don’t mean to be. Sometimes I just can’t help it. Seriously, when you’re just walking around at night and there’s these windows just glaring at you, it peaks my curiosity. I don’t stare, I don’t even break stride, but my eyes always drift up to those bright, open windows.

I took note of this last night when I was taking out the garbage. You have to walk to the dumpster which has apartments all around, I don’t even remember there being a street light out there…. Just shiny beacons of window light in the pitch blackness, what else are you supposed to look at?!? I'm not looking or hoping for anything in particular, windows are just there!

I just know that one of these times, some girl is going to be changing clothes and it’s going to totally catch me off guard. And in my second of shock, before what’s happening can even register, THAT’s when she’s going to turn around and see me standing out there. “I was GOING to avert my eyes!” is what I’ll tell the cops. “We don’t take kindly to perverts in these here parts” is what they’ll reply to me… and then comes the pistol whip. There goes my career, my dignity, my life… It doesn’t help that I have so much black in my wardrobe as is.

Anyways, my second part of my being nosey post is I want to know what sites you frequent. And I’m not talking to Tim or Scott here, I pretty much know what sites they frequent, but they’ll tell us anyways I’m sure. So I’d like to see in your window… your browsing window that is. (Woah. That was painful. I apologize for that statement/pun. It wasn’t even intentional, it just came out.)

Here are my top 5 sites that every person should know about:

1. www.google.com (Google Search, Google News and Google Images) utilize and worship. Click the button at the top right and personalize it if you’d like.
2. www.wikipedia.org Online encyclopedia covering everything from Governor Blagojevich to where the metal in Wolverine’s claws came from.
3. www.imdb.com Internet Movie DataBase. Anything you ever want to know about a movie, or actor, start here.
4. www.fark.com Ridiculous news. Updated about every hour.
5. www.digg.com Like Fark, but better, and about technology. For the tech-savvy or those who would like to be.

Decisions

Sometimes close contests have a “judge’s decision” like boxing for example. Others sometimes have a “majority decision” like our legislature. There are still other kinds of rulings, such as the ever popular “monetary decision” (who has gold makes the rules sort of deal). Well, the contest that I posed on Friday has been decided, and not by any of the previously mentioned methodologies either. What started off as a close race has turned into a landslide victory. At the end, pulling ahead by somewhere around 1000 points, Tim Ryder is our winner!! That’s right folks, by an official “Phil’s Decision,” Tim has bested Google without question. Congratulations Tim!! (It should also be noted that Rob’s Space has always and will continue to support “Phil’s Decision” in any matters of… well, anything.)

The picture I posted is of my favorite person. I know that most of the face is hidden, but I still think you can figure out who it is. (And the textbook should be a dead giveaway)

That was during our study session last night. I was reading horrifically painful articles about institutionalism and legislatures and balance and power and how corrupt Illinois is… all in all, a good time. Almost as good of a time as when we were playing poker at the Ryder Household. I had the pleasure of knocking Scott out of the tournament and then Tim and Josh more or less took themselves out (I don’t remember). The final three was Allyn, Ro and I. I, of course, won. One day they’ll all learn they’re being hustled. One day… So that puts me winning 2 of 3 poker tournaments and 5 out of 5 chess matches against Scott.

I am STILL awesome.