What Kind Of Crap Is This?

So, you know those ads about missing children you get in the mail? The ones that come with coupons on the back for, like, free oil changes and great deals on pizza? Yeah, my family got one of those a few weeks ago [pictured above], up in Hudson Falls, New York. They brought it down when they came to visit. Apparently there was something on this one that I needed to see.

Look closely at the guy on the right. What’s that name? David Garrett?

You’ve gotta be kidding me. Now everyone thinks I’m a wanted man. Last seen with: David Garrett.

The funny part is, the people who live next to my parents (people who never talk to them) asked how I was doing the day after that thing hit everyone’s mailboxes. Like what is that supposed to mean? Did I get arrested yet? Everyone in town got that same ad in their mailbox.

I haven’t lived there in like 3 years. So now everyone probably thinks I’m some kind of kidnapper or something. Not like I can defend myself. Ridiculous.

I should be allowed to put my picture on there. “Not ever seen with: This David Garrett. Reputation/pride/good name preserved. This David Garrett is definitely not a kidnapper. Please, thank you, you’re welcome, excuse me, and certainly.”

So yeah, if you see me, don’t call the cops on me. I didn’t kidnap anyone.

Why did this guy have to have my name? I feel like that guy on Office Space… Michael Bolton. “Why should I change my name? He’s the one who sucks.”

Read a book.

P.S.

I’ve decided to modify my New Year’s Resolution. Instead of reading 2 (two) books per month, I’m going to read 1 (one) book per month – twice. Or, maybe several, depending on what time permits. I figure that instead of quantity of consumption, I will focus on quality of understanding. I mean, you can’t really read a book once and gain the full understanding you could otherwise obtain.

So yeah, read a book… over and over.

How To Find Torrent Files (Following The Shutdown of IsoHunt.com)

In case you don’t keep up with Tech/Internet news, the Torrent search engine IsoHunt was shut down on Tuesday (1/16/2007). This is just the latest attempt by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association Of America) and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) to crack down on “illegal” downloading of content on the internet.

As was stated on SlashDot, playing whack-a-mole with Torrent search engines isn’t going to solve anything.

Yes, there may be illegal content found on these aggregators, but there is also plenty of LEGAL content on them. Just because something can be used to do illegal things, that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Remember all the fuss that was made over the VCR waaay back when politicians and the MPAA were saying that it could be used to record movies without people having to pay for them? Then it came when the CD-R drive came into being.

Now it’s Torrent files. (Click the link if you’re unfamiliar with what Torrent files are.)

Anyway, enough with my rant. Here’s what I intended on writing this for. You don’t need those Torrent aggregators/search engines to find whatever you’re looking for. All you need is Google. Uh-oh. Are they going to shut down Google now? Because you can find Torrent files with it?

Here’s the way it’s done. Open up Google. In the search box type the following: filetype:torrent “whatever you’re looking for.” That’s it.

Here’s an example.

Well, I hope you enjoy!

Oh yeah, and read a book!

Halfway There

Well, as the title says, I’m halfway through. Halfway through with what, you ask? My New Year’s resolution. I finished reading “Endless Night” by Richard Laymon today.

I’m not usually the type of person to read fiction. At least, not contemporary fiction. And especially not like the murder/horror type of fiction. But, I got it for Christmas from Joanna’s mom. I figured I’d give it a shot. I was actually pretty impressed with it.

It wasn’t what I thought it would be like. You know, like the stereotypical, mass-market book you’d find on a grocery store shelf. It’s about this girl Jody and her soon-to-be friend Andy. Jody spends the night at her friend Evelyn’s house, and in the middle of the night, a group of maniacs break in and kill everyone in the family, including Evelyn. The action starts up right at the beginning.

Evelyn is killed right in front of Jody by a man with a spear. He hauls her away on the end of it, apparently not even seeing Jody in the room. So she sneaks out, finding Andy (Evelyn’s brother) still in his room alive – the maniacs down the hallway in the parents’ room.

This book is about their story of attempting to escape from these guys. Real sick-o’s. They’re all completely naked and hairless, except for a couple of them who’ve made clothes out of the skins of previous kills.

I don’t want to tell too much about the story, but each section of the book is about the story from both points of view. Jody and Andy’s point of view, then Simon’s – the main “bad guy,” who documents everything on a voice recorder.

The paperback is only $8 (or on the ad on the right, you can get it for like $0.40 on Amazon.com), so it’s definitely worth the money. It actually only took me a couple days to read. I was surprised at how quickly it went.

So next on my list is “Mathematics For The Million” by Lancelot Hogben. I’m only about 1/4 of the way through that one. It’s going to take a little longer to read, just because it’s non-fiction, and more importantly, it’s about the history of mathematics, it’s uses and applications. Everything from Arithmetic, all the way up to Calculus and Statistics. I want to try to comprehend everything.

So yeah, that’s about it.

Read a book!