RKNet Blog... Thing

In case you missed the announcement:

The Location: Adelle’s Coffeehouse, 3 Hale St., Dover NH 03820
The Time: Sunday, October 5th 11am to 1pm
The Goal: To provide an open, informal, and comfortable learning environment for anyone who is interested in “new media”, specifically internet-based forms of media, and the systems and tools which make the newest forms of media run, Macs, Windows PCs, and *nix-based systems. If you don’t know the first thing about Macs, Windows PCs or what *nix even is, it’s ok. If using the formatting tools on your email program are intimidating, or if the term “formtatting tools” leaves you at a loss for words, that’s ok too.

Meeting #1 - “Intro to Blogging“. Which will encompass a very broad range of topics, all relating to publishing on the internet and what it takes to get started and how to learn more about the aspects that interest you most.

Learn to format your writing for the internet by learning the basics of HTML.
Resources:

• http://www.webmonkey.com/
• http://www.w3schools.com/ (Refer to the XHTML 1.0 link to the right.)

Jump in and produce content.

• http://wordpress.comGet a wordpress hosted blog, with all the tools and controls of a personal wordpress installation.
• https://www.blogger.com With a simple but flexible interface, this hosted blogging platform from Google is a popular choice.
• http://www.livejournal.com/ One of the most popular places on the net to maintain a personal journal, with a massive community to tap into for inspiration, this is a good place to sharpen your skills.

Explore different CMS options and figure out what’s right for you.

• http://www.blogperfume.com/ - more info about blogging and using CMS-driven websites.
• http://www.cushycms.com/
• http://wordpress.org/ - What RKNet runs on, a popular and powerful CMS option that’s fairly easy to learn.
• http://textpattern.com/What Adelle’s site runs on, a lean CMS that’s designed to be flexible for different needs.
• http://drupal.org/Another modular CMS option for building websites.
• http://www.movabletype.org/

Get into the thick of it, take charge of your site design! Also, plugins, plugins, plugins!

• http://www.yaml.de/en/home.htmlInformation on creating flexible, valid multi-column layouts.
• http://www.alistapart.com/A valuable resource for all things website creation.
• http://www.noupe.com/
• http://nettuts.com spoonfed web skills
• http://wordpress.org/extend/
• http://wpcandy.com/

In the spirit of anarcho-capitalist-warm-fuzzy-anti-establishment (alright so that’s pushing it) consciousness expansion and technological empowerment, I am proud to announce the foundation of a series of meeting guaranteed to satiate your curiosity, tittilate your senses, and delight your sense of accomplishment. It’s an offshoot of NH Media Makers geared towards creating a fun learning environment for new technlogies.

The Location: Adelle’s Coffeehouse, 3 Hale St., Dover NH 03820

The Time: Sunday, October 5th 11am to 1pm - Date and Time unconfirmed! Watch this post for changes!
Meeting will officially start at 11:30 to give everyone time to mingle and get settled. Meeting may end earlier or run later than 1pm. Let me know if there are any conflicts here!

The Goal: To provide an open, informal, and comfortable learning environment for anyone who is interested in “new media”, specifically internet-based forms of media, and the systems and tools which make the newest forms of media run, Macs, Windows PCs, and *nix-based systems. If you don’t know the first thing about Macs, Windows PCs or what *nix even is, it’s ok. If using the formatting tools on your email program are intimidating, or if the term “formtatting tools” leaves you at a loss for words, that’s ok too.

Meeting #1: Intro to Blogging

This is for the person who says to themselves “I want to get my writing published on the internet, and I want it to look professional and attractive.” Or “How do I write things to put up on the internet?” Or “What the heck is a blog?”

For this meeting, I can and will personally commit to going over the basics of Wordpress, since I am most familiar with that. I will also go over some HTML 101 topics, which is critical for writers who wish to publish on the internet. I am looking for help for people who want to talk about other platforms, TypePad, Drupal, etc etc.

The only requirement for attending is a desire to learn more about computers and the internet. The requirement for presenting is to have something you want to share with others. That’s absolutely it.

Of course we’ll do our best to stick to one topic per meeting, to give all attendees the best introduction and help on each of the billion topics as possible.

I am also looking for is people who want to learn! Tell everybody and their brother who has ever wanted to publish something to the internet. Come find out how to run your very own blog, and help us decide what the most enticing topic of conversation is for the next meetup!

Future ideas include:

• HTML and CSS 101 - Don’t even know what CSS stands for? That’s ok! Learn the basics of HTML, XHTML and CSS, and get reference resources and practice ideas.
• Video meeting - From the basics of using your webcam to slap a video up on YouTube, to putting together or participating in a web series.
• Photography meeting - Photophiles share their favorite techniques, tips, and equipment recommendations. Figure out how to share your work, get noticed, and enjoy photography more.
• Podcast/audio meeting - Wonder what a podcast is? Want to know how to listen to them, even if you don’t have an iPod? Want to learn how to make audio to distribute via “podcast” or the internet? We’ll go over all that good stuff!
• Image editing - Ever wonder how the captions get on all those lolcats? Want to crop a photo so you can email it? There are all kinds of easy ways to edit images, and lots of folks to share their favorite techniques.
• M$ Alternatives - Don’t want to pay for licenses for the Inext generation of Microsoft Office or Outlook? That new version of AIM really making your computer choke? There are alternatives, and best of all… they’re 100% FREE.
• TV Alternatives - Don’t throw away your television, but do figure out how to make your home network, internet-based content and your TV circumvent your pricey cable bill.
• Windows 101 - Learn more about the system you might have been working with for years. What to turn off, what to keep on, how to maintain and support one of the most popular OSes in the world for the best possible experience.
• Mac 101 - Learn what it takes to make the most out of a system known for it’s sleek, artful presentation. It’s not just for artists and college students! Come see the real thing and learn how enjoyable and approachable the Mac OS can be.
• Linux 101 - No neckbeard required. It’s an open-source (community supported), lean, mean operating system. Linux may run some your favorite sites, but it can run your home computer in ways you might not have expected.

And that’s really just the list of topics I came up with in a short amount of time. There are probably a few dozen that could take up several meetings to cover the basics! Of course no one has to attend ALL meetings, and I’d encourage everyone to follow their passion and speak their mind. These meetings are meant for you, for me, and for anyone else who wants to attend. As I learned from the GI Joe cartoon: Knowing is half the battle. If you’re fighting with your concerns that you just “don’t get” computers, or code, or a specific kind of tech, it’s OK! Bring your questions, bring your lack of experience. We’re here to share!

So please, comment, email, tell a friend. We’ll be here, and we’d love to see you, too.

Note: I’d love to be able to webcast or record the instruction part of the session for future reference, anybody interested in helping with that, email me.

In an endless void of silence, one voice was bold enough to even suggest an answer to the challenge put forth by me and my cavalier crew! It was none-other than the good Doctor. The email from Dr. Hypercube was like manna from the heaven that exists in a twisted alternate reality in which anatomy was meant to be treated just like modeling clay.

Despite his highly understandable trepidation in regards to meddling with the forms of nature, he slipped through enemy lines in broad daylight to pass on a concept so daring, so bold, so positively fantastic that I nearly fainted on the spot.

It was a simple visual combination, he suggested, trying not to catch the attention of the vicious guards of Biology and Feminism.

It’s…
and
That’s right. Sally Impossible, of the Venture Brothers, and a Sea Anemone, of… the sea.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the picture of Mrs. Impossible that I wanted, but I feel as though this one fits surprisingly well. You see, Sally Impossible was bombarded with radiation in an accident (ala The Fantastic Four), and now turns “invisible”. I use the term invisible in quotes because the only part of her that turns invisible is her epidermis, skin, outermost human shell. This reveals something that looks like one of those human anatomy models. It’s unfortunate, and since it happens that she reverts to this “invisible” state without a great deal of concentration, it really puts a damper on her dating life.

Our other inspirational component is the sea anemone - a fascinating creature. Though they appear to be delicate, colorful flowers, the tendrils which gentle waver in the tidal pull are in fact the seeking tentacles of a meat-eating animal. An animal which lives all over the world and has many different species in shape, color, and behavior. Although they lack the teeth to make this combination a true “vagina dentata”, the anemone’s anatomy (say that a couple times fast!) is highly limited, and beyond the tentacles lies the mouth, and beyond the mouth lies what can best be described as a G-spot capable of digestion. Anemones which are divided into two sexes release eggs or sperm through the same orifice through which food is gathered. So essentially they eat sea life and periodically vomit reproductive splooge.

All in all, the most glorious combination ever the grace the minds of RKNet’s fine fellowship in general. A stunning combination of science and awesome cartoons. Roll that into our contest concept of redesigning the human female reproductive area and, well, it’s a work of art.

So, here’s to you, Doctor Hypercube! Even though you weren’t able to diagram your thoughts, you have truly inspired us all in ways we may never be able to scrub from our imaginations whether we’d like to or not.

The man was busily filling out forms. he had to complete two of them and fax them back to headquarters or he wouldn’t get a lick of benefits. The first one done he slammed the number into the keypad and fed the forms, all at once (beige, pink and blue, as each had to be in triplicate, naturally) through the vertical fax slot next to the pad.

Frowning his way through the second set of forms he looked up through the clear door to his left to see someone behind a desk saying something about preparing for landing. Indeed, gravity felt a little bit off and there was that sickening feeling of his internal organs shifting, like going downhill on a bike really fast.

Not much time then. Some other vague announcement, and as he was feeding the second set of forms, it was announced that landing was nearly completed, and only a select few were going to be let off. The rest were to be left behind on the ship.

NO! was the first and only frantic thought that ran through his mind as the door to his empty holding area whooshed open. Apparently there was to be free run of the ship, even if they weren’t going to be let off. Surely there was a solution here, a way out. Either way, there would be limited resources and securing a position without… hurting someone would be challenging unless it was done soon. No time to consider the inevitable, really.

Scurrying about proved useless. The place was as vague his forms and featureless as his containment area.

A panel opened up to the right. What is this?! A face appeared and disappeared from this opening quickly enough to cause some serious consternation regarding an early departure of sanity. Not a good sign, the only thing to be done was investigate, obviously.

The underbelly had ostensibly more to offer, although that really wasn’t saying much. Pipes and grey corridors, some blinking lights. Not much of a shift from the clean powder blue, spotless glass, and white ceilings. It was a start, nevertheless.

…….
and that’s the last I remember.
There were other dreams about plane rides, some things involving cephalopods that it’s apparently better not to share, uhm, and some other stuff I don’t really remember.

I couldn’t tell you why but I take such a perverse amount of pleasure in the Xs that keep cropping up in place of where my actual “friends” used to be. It’s almost enough to let this account sit here until this site officially implodes in on itself. Unfortunately it’s become such a haven for melodramatic teenagers (Gaia without the cute avatars?), that it is highly unlikely it will ever go away. While it is true some people do seem to use this for what could be claimed is its “original purpose”, based on my experience I think the vast majority are composed of about five types.

1 - Whores - This is a very broad category. This includes spam accounts to generate pay-per-click revenue for any number of ridiculous products, as well as people whose extreme attention seeking behavior earn them the more generic label of Ho. Just to clarify, this category includes:
~ jailbait who put up pictures of themselves in their underwear
~ “scene kids” nee “emo kids”
~ businesses who put up some manner of profile front (I’m looking at you Carlo Rossi),
~ And of course, actual whores and/or sluts (one expects cash and advertises as such, the other just makes you pay for everything then dumps you), etc.

2 - Drama Students - While I applaud the philosophy of “never stop learning”, this does not apply to the kind of overly melodramatic and destructive behavior that one is likely to pick up during the Junior High and High School years of one’s life. Quite frankly I never wanted to use the internet to find out who hates who and why, and it’s largely because I usually don’t give a flying fuck. I disrespect drama in all forms, but internet drama… Stupid to the nth degree. Whatever happened to the good old fist fight? The screaming match in public? People are getting awfully passive aggressive. I blame all that “self-esteem” crap they taught us when we were all little.

3 - Angst (omigod awesome link lol)- It comes from all sides. I’m guilty of a bit myself. It’s that bizzare ritual of self-deprication in public, seeking sympathy, understanding, and/or open communication from any source even if it includes a bunch of people you don’t really like all that much. Angst, drama, and whoring are usually daisy chained together 4lyfe, but this gets its own category because there are career angst-and-woe types out there who absolutely must insist that they are miserable (or perhaps really are miserable) at all times, in the most public ways possible. How many people really give half a thought to you? Probably not as many as you would hope. Learn to bottle and die early of heart disease, if it was good enough for your grandparents and great-grandparents, it’s good enough for you. (Then give me all your meds, maybe there will be something good in that pile of rubbish doctors prescribe for behavioral modification.)

4 - Fledgling Media Breakouts - Before the recent rash of whores through my approval box, the only time I would bother to check this thing is when some manner of small or local band wanted me to rally to their flag. Sure thing guys, more power to you I guess. Someday I might even stop being such a workaholic and find the time to go catch a show. Who knows?

5 - /B/tards and Related - These people of indeterminiate race, religion, quanitity, and quality want you to be a retard who will fill in your password at the drop of a hat, without paying attention as to whether or not you really are still on the myspace servers. Then they’re going to take your brilliantly crafted profile and probably replace it with something involving memes, cuss words, and/or penises. Anonymous is legion, and they really don’t give a shit about you or your friends, so if defiling your profile is going to be funny to anybody, it will be done if you’re stupid enough to give up your information blindly. Quite frankly if you can’t be bothered to monitor your login information, you deserve it. (Besides, I think it’s kind of funny, too. …desu)

I hope I have made both my disgust and my amusement with this Borg-like hive of ridiculousness that is myspace. Please do let me know if I’ve forgotten any key points.

I was poking around in my google mail, when the news crawl, ticker, whatever you want to call it, came across with the blurb mentioned here. It sounded relatively interesting, so I clicked. Go ahead, check it out. I’ll wait.
http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/forbesonfilm/ve_fof111706?partner=rss

As those of you who followed that link can see, I sat through no less than a minute and a half of advertising and financial news data that had absolutely nothing to do with the article I was supposed to be seeing. For those of you who didn’t visit that link, allow me to provide a breakdown.

First 10 seconds: Summary of upcoming content. No mention of the article shown in the above link.
Next 30 seconds: Samsung commercial.
Next 100 seconds: Various financial news, again, no mention of the linked article.
Next 30 seconds: The EXACT SAME Samsung ad.
Next 20 seconds: Another ad.

Then and only they did get they get to the “point” i.e. the piece about Jack Black. It was apparently about the upcoming Tenacious D movie, but by the time I got to that point, I was so irritated by the barrage of un-asked for information I no longer had any interest in the information that actually related to the link that brought me there.

Color me stupid, but I was under the impression that have the attraction to internet media had to do with the lack of bullshit and filler one typically associates with the more “traditional” forms of media. Television, for example, is stuck with static streaming, and basically have to bend the way their revenue source wants them to bend. Internet content is a bit more fluid in nature. They could rip that down, promote it, or move it however they see fit at any time. I could understand running an ad before the main content, and even another one after, but this was ridiculous.

To get people to read this article here, for example, I wouldn’t draw people in using links for Viagra or casinos, feed them this article, then say “oh by the way, Viagra is great if you’re at a casino”. That would be a shitty thing to do. There’s a lot of internet, and not all that much time. Incidentally, based off of this ill behavior on the part of Forbes, I’m half-tempted to go marketing this article with Viagra and casinos, since I’ve now mentioned them. Or maybe a slightly less competative term, like maybe “emo” or “pony midget porn”.

Hey, why not? If the big dogs can use deceptive content presentation and linking tactics to get people to watch their advertising, why can’t I? Afterall, the promise of relevant content is what makes MySpace so popular, isn’t it? “Hey look my friend from high school, hey look, cursors and diplomas and lots of people to date through x service… wait, where’s that friend of mine again?”
Time to sign me up for some contextual advertising… post haste. Jerks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Synopsis of totals available behind the cut:
Radio Rock: 1
Country: 2
Psychobilly: 1 (I would like to see Unknown Hinson in either country or Psychobilly. He’s great, you should google him and check it out!)
Pop: NA
Emo: NA
Original Emo: NA
Ambient: 0
Chillout: 5
Indie: 5
Metal: 0
Metalcore: 0
Hardcore: 0
Post Hardcore: 2
Grindcore: 0
Doom / Sludge / Experimental: 0
Powerpop: 2
Punk: 1
Pop Punk: 1
Street Punk: 0
Crust Punk: 1
Rap: 0
Hip-hop: 4
Ska: 0
Classic Rock: 12
90’s Alternative: 6
Industrial: 2
Electroclash: 2
Electronica: 2

My heritage wins out overall. If any bands are missing from my listening loop, please, fill me in! I really only checked off artists I either have albums for, or have a strong familiarity with. Which means there are several in these categories that I “sort of” know, but not enough to stand behind them for the purposes of this survey. Read the rest of this entry »

I will be the first to admit that I have been off the deep end lately. So I was not actually thinking when, earlier today, I pulled any and all notes of interest or personal information off of my profile page. However, upon further consideration I have come to a solid reason as to why it’s a good idea to leave it blank.

That reason is, I prefer not to be yet another willing whore to statistical marketing. Every bit of information that is input here in terms of what one is interested in, what category of things one clings to, the type of profiles one is linked to, is all juicy advertising feedback that you just willingly forked over. I never had a particular issue with standardized testing when I was in grade school (remember that stuff?) with the strong exception of one part: the personal data part. That being all the requested statistical data one was “strongly encouraged” to fill out prior to taking the test. I always had a problem with this procedure. “Why,” I thought to myself in my youth, “do they need to know if i’m white or asian, male or female, if this is a standardized test? It should be based on standards of education, not standards of human types, right?” Well, of course not, how can we continue to compartmentalize people by gender, race and religion in this country unless we do so via proper education and of course proper marketing? There are disadvantages to be had within a free, democratic, capitalist environment.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of this new wave of contextual advertising sites and blogs and the like. Hell, it’s very likely that it will make me some money as well, in which case I suppose that will make me some kind of statistical whore master, but I’d much rather be the master of this situation than the slave.

I am aware that every single day that goes by, I need things. Things to get my job done, things to stay alive, things because I want things. That isn’t slated to change any time in the near future. This site network is so bloated with advertising that I think it’s safe to say I’ve seen over-fed ticks that were more attractive. A very large percentage of this advertising is absolutely nothing that I want, need, or could be persuaded to buy. The beauty of the internet should be finding what you want, and need, faster than just having a bundle of Madison Avenue folks decide after months of grueling testing what you might want based on the reactions of a handful of people who are presumably just like you. How many times do you not give a shit what commercials are playing on TV? Unless you like making fun of them, my money is on a lot of the time.

And poor The Internet. It was once a paragon of searchable, on-demand information. Now with the advent of dummy sites, multiple sites with marginal differences, splogs, spam, and onmouseOver advertising media (fucking smilies can fuck off), how is it any different from from any of the other boxes that talk at us all day? Radio, papers, magazines, tv, you know, “traditional” media.
Anybody remember the old cartoons where the protagonist was trying to avoid something? Eating, or sleeping or killing some canary? All they would see everywhere would be signs for food, or rest, or roast chicken or something. And it would become a blur of neon signs until they could think of absolutely NOTHING besides that which they wanted to avoid. Traditional media (including billboards and shopfronts) pretty much innundates us with this kind of constant exposure conditioning towards consumption of goods and services. (When they aren’t taking a cue from our lovely government and using the fear tactic.)

This is the part where I get back to the idea at hand. Remember the concept of a searchable, on-demand, useful source of information…what was it called again? The Internet, right. Except for the part where we’re going to have to wait for Internet 2: Because We Fucked it Up Royal in Part One! Just like government, and any actual market for any goods or services, the end product is controlled by those allowed to be in control. In the case of the internet, control of the most visible sites is being left to the same type of people who convince you that Budweiser isn’t canned old people urine every year during the Super Bowl. This, I believe, falls under the category of “Just Fucking Lame”.

Myspace is a really convenient way for all types of marketers to mine for interest-related data on a very large group of people without having to pay for it or talk to anybody. I hate to pay for things, and I hate talking to people a little more every day, so I understand the allure here. How is anyone going to know that you have goods and services available unless you actually get the word out? The short answer is they won’t. In walks advertising to remedy the situation of woeful product anonymity. Yet there are more respectful ways to advertise on the internet without relying on a series of “personalized” pages that look like some kind of crayon box full of reconstituted dog shit and leet. (Note from the author: My current profile set up is hopefully minimized of these characteristics, however I have never been the most color-savvy web developer.)

I do have faith in search engine marketing, if the power-houses of search keep putting their foot down as much as they can about what sites are and are not authorities on keywords. I have faith in contextual advertising to an extent, although I fear the potential for rampant abuse is going to lead to issues with that as well. I would just like to move away from the constant bump-and-grind of the public media, and I was pretty sure that the internet should be able to provide that for me. Two types of sites seriously bother me: those with little control or direction in their actual visible marketing, those too much control over how interests are categorized and turned against the users, and those that fall under both catagories. As long as those type of sites exist, and are wildly popular, I find it hard to believe that the broadcasting medium of the internet will continue to hold much validity. All forms of media have had their novelty period, heyday, public trial, and ultimately have ended up as mistrustful sources of information. Yes, even the Almighty Internet. The cynicism isn’t too deeply ingrained in regards to the internet yet so I do reserve some hope for virtue over profit margin.

Not MySpace though, MySpace was created for the marketers, by the marketers, and unless you know a way to overthrow a dot-com, that’s what it’s here for and how it will stay.

Recommended Reading for those unimpressed by MySpace: http://www.trentl.com/?name=News&file=article&sid=50