Ripper^^

Writer's Block: Goblin for a day, or: Improvised Parenting!!?!

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:58:54 GMT

Let's say you're a hobgoblin for 24 hours. What sort of havoc would you wreak?

Or:

If a baby of unknown origins suddenly fell into your care, would you keep it? What would you name it?

View other answers

if a baby of unknown origins fell into my care... I would eat it!

Take this test.

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:59:50 GMT

So I was Stubmling around the other night when I came to this site.

I've always wanted to take an IQ test so I took the TA³ version, you know 'cause I'm ridiculous smart. It was fun, try it.

I do not vouch for the accuracy of these tests though they are being administered by the second largest high IQ society in the world.

When you're done taking your test brag about your score in the poll.
post/read comments

Wish me luck!

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:54:08 GMT

So I interviewed for an internship today, with prospects toward a job after school if all goes well. I think I interviewed well. I'll know one way or another tomorrow evening.

Off to study for the marketing exam I have tomorrow.

*UPDATE*

They suck.
post/read comments

Boring, but not bored.

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:10:01 GMT

Just thought I should drop by and say a word or two about what I'm up to at the moment.

Classes are going well so far, although that's not saying much a week and a half into the semester. My first quiz is this week in marketing, it's an online thing. I'm working on the Morpheus project again this semester, I a say again loosely as I really only worked on it for like a month or so last semester before I withdrew from school.

I get to write code to automatically utilize web services (forms, java, wsdl files) with little or no user interaction and give back the results. I think. More on that in the future(here).

As I write this I'm listening to music on my brand new Sony wireless headphones, they rock. Now if only the company didn't make so many terrific blunders, read rootkit disaster, drm'd music, suing it's customers into oblivion, I wouldn't feel so guilty using their fabulous hardware.

As an aside does anybody know why on earth I can access a webserver from inside my network, but not outside my network. The domain points to the router properly. The router port forwards properly, or at least it's set up to forward the proper port to the proper computer inside the network. The server is serving pages properly. I just don't get it. How annoying!

Anyhow off to read marketing chapter 4. Yay!
post/read comments

Merry Christmas!

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:46:57 GMT

Only a few days after I wrote this short piece I received the following email from my aunt:

Subject: For the holidays

To All My Democrat Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To My Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

post/read comments

Fun email petitions

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:37:23 GMT

So I received the email below the other day and I just had to reply to it, hopefully this will cut down on a little bit of the crap floating around in my inbox.

Regardless of your religious belief, this is just wrong. See the message below and keep it going.

Dr. Dobson & CBS Response

Apparently we are to be allowed to watch TV programs that use every foul word in the English language, but not the word "God." It will only take a minute to read this and see if you think you should send it out

DR. DOBSON'S PLEA FOR ACTION

CBS discontinued "Touched by an Angel" for using the word God in every program. Madeline Murray O'Hare, an atheist, successfully managed to eliminate the use of Bible reading from public schools a few years ago.

Now her organization has been granted a federal hearing on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Washington , DC .

Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel, our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America .

They got 287,000 signatures to back their stand! If this attempt is successful, all Sunday worship services being broadcast on the radio or by television will be stopped. This group is also campaigning to remove all Christmas programs and Christmas carols from public schools!

You as a Christian can help!

We are praying for at least 1 million signatures. This would defeat their effort and show that there are many Christians alive, well and concerned about our country. As Christians we must unite on this. Please don't take this lightly.

We ignored this lady once and lost prayer in our school and in offices across the nation

Please stand up for your religious freedom and let your voice be heard. Together we can make a difference in our country while creating a way for the lost to know the Lord.

Please press "forward", and forward this to everyone that you think should read this. Now, please sign your name at the bottom ( you
can only add your name after you have pressed the "Forward").

Don't delete any other names, just go to the next number and type your name and state. Please defeat this organization and keep the right of our freedom of religion.

REMEMBER: Our country was founded on freedom of religion and our Constitution is based on the 10 Commandments.

Agree or Delete: Instructions to sign are at the bottom.

PETITION FOR PRESIDENT BUSH

PETITION TO REINSTATE PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

To read my rebuttal click the link belowJust to let you know email petitions are crap. This particular one is complete crap here's why:

>> CBS discontinued "Touched by an Angel" for using the word God in every program.

Sending an email petition to the president would have no effect on CBS canceling any shows it wants to for any reason it wants to.

>> Madeline Murray O'Hare, an atheist, successfully managed to eliminate the use of Bible reading from public schools a few years ago.

Bible reading is not banned from public schools, students can read as much of the bible as they want, so can teachers. Teachers just can't spread the gospel to students as anything other than a piece of literature because that would violate the separation of church and state idea. And really that's a good thing, do you want the government who can't get anything right teaching your kids about faith???

>> Now her organization has been granted a federal hearing on the same subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Washington , DC .

>> Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel, our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America .

Whether or not some atheist group has a petition number 151515 or a hearing in front of the FCC there is nothing going to pave the way for removing religious programming from our countries airwaves again thanks to the separation of church and state idea. If the government got involved in dictating to the licensed broadcasters whether they can or can't broadcast something because it had religious content they would be lynched, the whole of them. Do you really think that Sunday church shows and the 700 club are going anywhere? They make broadcasters tons of money, and they make the evangelists even more, they'll be around forever, or at least until religions die out.

>> They got 287,000 signatures to back their stand!

You notice how they say that the "opposition" got almost 300000 signatures on their petition? Why then are we instructed to send this one on after 3000 signatures? Why not send it back to a central collection site so that they can make one big petition with all of the small 3000 name petitions and send one really big one to the white house? This instruction doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

>> We ignored this lady once and lost prayer in our school and in offices across the nation.

First of all this lady didn't bring about the lose of prayer in public school with a petition she and several others did this through lawsuits. Secondly these lawsuits didn't happen a few years ago, they happened 47 years ago, in 1960. Thirdly they stopped mandatory daily prayer, not all prayer in public school, kids can still pray together all they want.

>> Please stand up for your religious freedom and let your voice be heard. Together we can make a difference in our country while creating a way for the lost to know the Lord.

People can make a much bigger difference in our country by sending letters, actual written letters, and calling their individual congressmen and senators than they can by typing their names to the end of an email petition, or any petition for that matter, do a Google search for "email petitions" and read some of the first few responses. As for creating a way for the lost to know the lord, how exactly does this petition do that?

>> REMEMBER: Our country was founded on freedom of religion and our Constitution is based on the 10 Commandments.

One of the founding principles of our country was that of freedom of religion, which includes no religion if that's your choice, but the Constitution was in no way built off of the ten commandments. The Magna Carta and English common law, maybe but not the ten commandments, that's just ridiculous.

>> PETITION FOR PRESIDENT BUSH

>> PETITION TO REINSTATE PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

I thought the whole premise of this petition was to stop another petition that would "pave the way to stop the reading of the gospel, our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America," but the petition is actually titled "PETITION TO REINSTATE PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS." Which is it? As a side note, I thought that Jesus was supposed to be our lord and savior not the gospel.

And if you want some proof that this thing is a hoax, visit this website
and read the fifth paragraph which starts off "O'Hair achieved some posthumous notoriety through an urban legend"

The moral of the story is: Think before you hit the send button.
post/read comments

test1235151

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 03:29:29 GMT

test
test

test

test

test

test
post/read comments

Simple Calculator

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:16:18 GMT

In an attempt to practice coding even when I don't have anything due I decided to write some stuff in C# in an attempt to learn a new language. Here's my first program, a simple calculator.

Not that this kind of thing really needs it but this program is released under the BSD license.

.zip file of the source code

.zip file with the executable

*tested only on windows xp pro.
post/read comments

I'm Baaack!

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 07:25:16 GMT

Okay so it's been like a billion years since I last posted anything here. I'd like to say that it's because I've been too busy to post, but that wouldn't be the truth. I've been busy, but mostly I just lost interest in posting stuff.

Now I'm interested again. Expect to see some more stuff.

Ripper^^
post/read comments

UF Rules!

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:04:35 GMT

This was sent to me by my dear Aunt Alice. If you need title work done, call her.

Florida President unsure of what to do with Ohio State

By VERN JACKSON

Gainesville Sun Staff Writer

April 4, 2007

GAINESVILLE - In the wake of Florida's unprecedented dual championship victories over Ohio State, the University finds itself with a unique and somewhat perplexing problem.

What to do with Ohio State now that Florida owns it.

According to little known and never before used "Clause 121" of the NCAA charter, when a University defeats another member University for two consecutive national championship games by "convincing margins", the defeated University becomes the sole property of the victor.

University of Florida President J. Bernard "Bernie" Machen readily admits that he was unaware of "Clause 121", and is unsure of what to do with Ohio State. "They have, what is it, over 54,000 students? Plus, it's in Columbus, Ohio. It is very inconvenient."

The University of Florida Board of Trustees is holding an emergency meeting this Friday to deal with the unprecedented situation. According to sources on the Board, initial ideas include -

Sell It - The easiest move the Board might make is simply to sell Ohio State. However, due to the University's size, and its location in the

relatively depressed real estate market of central Ohio, it may be difficult to find a willing buyer. "We are looking into this option," Machen says. "We have contacted the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio to see if they need more land."

Keep It - This option has several difficulties, but may be the only one if Florida is unable to get a buyer for fair market value. Primary among the difficulties is the large student body population of Ohio State. However, sources on the Board did say since OSU's student population is near Florida's 50,000, there may be a situation where Ohio State students could be lent to Florida students on a semester by semester basis as personal valets.

Florida junior Kevin Young thinks the valet idea is just swell. "Everyone should have their own pet Buckeye," said Young. "It would be

like having your own personal fraternity pledge. I think the idea rocks!"

Were Florida to keep Ohio State, issues of whether to allow OSU to keep their current team name and mascot, as well as whether to allow them to continue to play in the Big Ten, would have to be resolved. Says Machen, "I think we could reach some sort agreement that would allow them to keep Brutus Buckeye and play in the Big 10. After all, what would we do - move them to the SEC? They would only get hurt. Since they are our wards now, we could never allow that."

The prospect also exists that Florida would have dissolve Ohio State athletics. In that case, the issue of what to do with the student athletes is uncertain. Florida football coach Urban Meyer, when approached with the prospect of having to absorb Ohio State's football

team, paused for a moment and said, "I suppose they could be a scout team for our scout team. They really aren't fast enough for anything else."

Finally, there is one other idea University officials have floated, and that is simply to donate Ohio State to charity. "As I understand it,

thousands of Hurricane Katrina refuges are still displaced. We could give OSU to the Katrina Relief Fund, and allow people to relocate

there," Machen said. "That could be the win-win situation everyone is looking for."post/read comments

GO GATORS!

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:49:59 GMT

One school, two sports, three national championship games in a row, three national championship trophies.

It's Great To Be a Florida Gator!post/read comments

Beer for breakfast.

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 20:53:05 GMT

Usually if one has beer for breakfast one either has the guilt of being an alcoholic, or the guilt of being a party boy who's been up all night drinking to thank for it. However thanks to the 11th Annual Greater Gator Beer Festival and a wake up time of noon, I have seen the wonderfulness of guilt free breakfast beer and I am here to tell you it was GOOD!

NOTE: The linked article is not about this years beer fest, but it should summarize the goings on nicely.post/read comments

I'm Married!!

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 08:19:10 GMT

Go read about it at the best website in the world.

Ripper^^

It's gone!

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 20:20:24 GMT

Thanks for those who expressed interest in the townhouse we had to rent, but it rented yesterday, so stop pestering me dammit!

Ripper^^post/read comments

SW Gainesville Apartment for Rent!

Wed, 24 May 2006 21:07:12 GMT

Two Bedroom townhouse apartment for rent in Southwest Gainesville really close to the Archer rd. 34th st intersection.
1000 sq. ft., 1.5 bathrooms, private fenced off backyard $690 per month. Pets welcome.
Available 6/1/06.
Please send any inquiries to Ripper^^post/read comments

All Hail the Vice-Chief

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 05:33:33 GMT

Dear Mr. Cheney,

You don't know me but I am one of your constituents. As such I thought that I should let my thoughts be known. Since a picture is worth a thousand words I thought that I would let this picture speak for me.

Sincerely yours,

Ripper^^post/read comments

A man from Home.

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 04:34:35 GMT

Browsing Yahoo!'s most emailed pictures section the other day (okay week), I came across this guy:

The little blurb for the pic read:

In this photo provided by the Berlin Police Department, Don Valliere, maintenance man for the Berlin Police, balances himself as he uses bolt cutters to free a moose that got tangled up in swingset in Milan, N.H., Thursday, March 9, 2006. (AP Photo/Berlin Police Department, Lt. Jean LeBlanc)

My father's family lived in Milan forever, they still own property there on Cedar Pond. And my mother still has family in Berlin. To top it all off, my last name just happens to be Valliere.

Fucking freaky.post/read comments

Get Your Free Credit Report Here

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 05:44:44 GMT

If you click on only one link today let it be the following one:

Click here to get your free annual credit report.

Every american is entitled to three credit reports per year, for free, one from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. Don't let your credit be hosed because you don't know what's going on with it. Click that link dammit!

For those that are paranoid type www.annualcreditreport.com into your browser of choice's address bar.post/read comments

I Love it!

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 08:07:01 GMT

For those of you who Love the United States of America as much as I do, and as such have strong feelings of cough cough affection for the current incarnation of its government, please do as I do and declare your site to be a:

As a respectable citizen I've already used this form for some of my more questionable neighbors. Don't worry, nothing on the Internet is actually anonymous and you will be rewarded for your patriotism.

post/read comments

Nifty Internet Streaming Radio.

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 07:10:43 GMT

Go check out Pandora. This fantastic website creates customized streaming radio stations based off of your preferences, I love it already.

Ripper^^post/read comments

I so WANT one.

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:14:25 GMT

This is just WAY too cool, I want one dammit!

Due to the fact that livejournal sucks and you can't even embed a freaking flash movie in a freaking post you'll have to click on the above link to see what exactly is so cool.

argh

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:47:26 GMT

Two weeks into the semester, and I'm already so burnt out I want to cry, pull out fists full of hair (was going to write fist fulls, neither seem right), burn down small villages with the residents still inside, and call my mommy.

God I hate being a grown up.

Ripper^^post/read comments

The Ugliest Dog, Ever.

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 08:34:54 GMT

There are two pictures which I would like to share with you, my avid readers. The first one being a cat. A cyclops cat.

Unfortunatley, this cat died within days after it birth. This would have been the coolest pet cat in the world. One eye, no nose and a mouth. I wish I had a cat like this, but in black, with a red eye.

This brings us to the other picture, also of a dead pet. This one is of a dog, a dog named Sam.

This thing I would not have wanted for a pet, god it's hideous.

Ripper^^

post/read comments

Hi Honey!

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:52:49 GMT

Hi Honey, ran out of time to get things done, so i figured i'd leave you a note where you're sure to see it, on your livejournal.

Dishes are done, if you could just turn the knob to on to start the dishwasher that would be great. (didn't want to run it when i was in the shower)

Could you take care of the clean dry dishes in the rack/ on the stove for me

didn't get a chance to clean the counters, sorry

Didn't get a chance to take care of my clothes, will do tomorrow pinky swear

bathrooms are done/vacuumed

bath mats are in the dryer drying, they may need to be turned back on, a sheet is in there so possible twisting issues

smooches/hugs/inappropriate pinches

papa bear (Ripper^^)post/read comments

Back to the Grind, updated.

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 21:51:41 GMT

Okay, Okay, so I won't have quite as hard a time as I thought this semester. Went to my Biology and Human Values class today, and promptly decided to drop it like a hot potato. While the course itself was appealing, and the professor seemed to be one of the fun and interesting ones, the workload for this course was just going to be too much. She (the professor) wanted 8-10 pages of "reading notes" per week and if you didn't have those notes you get no credit for the quizzes. She also required a long paper and said that nobody ever passed her exams without the extra credit given from the quizzes. All that added up to WAY too much work for me, so I dropped it. Now I'm off to Calc III and Diff equations, fun.

Ripper^^post/read comments