TOOL-Pink Floyd, and Stranger in a Strange Land

Two quick topics on my mind atm that I want to quickly go into:
1. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, by Pink Floyd reminds me an awful lot of Wings for Marie part 1 and 2 by TOOL. I can;t imagine TOOL not taking a lot of influence for their later music from Pink Floyd's older music. I would also LOVE to see TOOL do a direct cover of Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.


Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun (Live at Pompeii) - Pink Floyd


Wings for Marie (part 1) - TOOL


10,000 Days (wings part 2) - TOOL (1/2)


10,000 Days (wings part 2) - TOOL (2/2)



Second topic for this post - Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein. I am about to finish reading it, and it is a book expressing numerous ideas which I am very at one with - I grok them (feel very corny saying that). Actually, I don't feel like writing about this now. I feel like watching all of the video clips I just posted above. Maybe I will talk more about this book later.

Bye.

TDMSKP and E-Thumb idea (42ity.net)

I did Better Offer canyon yesterday. I should go through the photos and upload them to TDMSKP, and write a guide article for the canyon in the wiki sometime today while it is all still fresh in my head. Klaus is actively developing the new version of TDMSKP at the moment - I hope to get a beta version of the new site live by November, but the final version of the site probably won't be ready for a few months more. It is looking very sexy so far though...

I am still really excited by the idea of this website. I think there is a reasonable chance that it will be successful. Even if it isn't world domination successful, it will be a reasonably well received site with decent traffic almost guaranteed.

Meanwhile, after more than a month of consideration, I finally found a name for my E-thumb idea that I really like - 42ity (four-two-ity). The .com domain was taken though, and I emailed the owner, but he wasn't interested in selling. After some discussion with Brian last night though, I am convinced that the .net is acceptable in this instance. 42ity.net rolls off the tongue pretty well, and 42ity is really just a network of people anyway - so .net is appropriate.

I love this name so much now. Of course, having not explained in this blog what my 'E-Thumb idea' is means that anyone reading this has no idea what I am talking about, but chances are no one will read this anyway. So let me explain why 42ity.net is the perfect name regardless.
1. 42ity.net implies fortuity, and the idea of having a complete stranger driving past your locations, heading past your destination, and offering you a (safe) lift, is a 'fortuitous' event.
2. 42ity.net includes the number 42, an obvious reference to "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy", a book which not only has a lot in it about hitch hiking, but also has it's own e-thumb in it - Ford Prefect's 'Sub-etha sensomatic'.
3. 42ity.net is easily branded, easily converted to a logo (thanks for that insight klaus), and easily remembered. (unlike my second option - 4tuitous.com)

It is perfect. Now that I have a domain, I guess I should host it, and have a good long talk with Andrew and Wanna about what to do next (they are the two software engineers who have agreed to do the software development on the project).

I need to design layout and process for how I see the website working from user-interface level.

I also need to keep doing that with Klaus and TDMSKP.

I need to keep driving SAG and SBB to ensure I continue to have any money at all to be able to drive these two projects.

Session has almost ended at Uni now. This is good because I really need to time - but it is also bad because it means my main 'living' income is about to stop again. I don't feel poor yet, but give it 3 months, and we'll see.

Regularity

I have recently gone through another series of changes, and I am in a space where writing regularly about my life my thoughts and my activities is something which will once again entertain me. I used to keep a public online diary, but I haven't updated it properly for about 4 years now. Until I once again get bored of doing this (and I will, without doubt, because that is how I work), I plan on making this blog my public online diary.

SO, if you are one of my subscribers, and you don't feel like getting emailed everytime I want to write about my favourite song of the moment, or 'what I did today' etc, then please, just unsubscribe to this feed.

I hope at least half of my posts will be more meaningful than that - the main reason I want to start doing this again is because I have a lot of complicated and interesting thoughts streaming through my head atm and I need to get them out, rationalise them a bit and hopefully sort them out more thoroughly by writing them.

Anyway, I'll write the few ideas that I wast to get out to start this all off with over a few separate posts after this one...

Everyone Hates Ads

And everyone hates giant corporations manipulating them into buying things they don't want - but surely everyone likes finding things that make their life easier, more pleasurable, or more entertaining?

This topic crossed my mind recently and I have been mulling it over for a while now - the difference between 'Marketing', 'Advertising' and the modern version of 'internet marketing' vs the future of internet marketing.

In general people think of marketing and advertising as the same thing, and I doubt anyone (not in the industry or studying it in any meaningful way) before now has bothered to seek out a difference between them and internet marketing, and so in general when people talk about their hatred of ads, they apply the hatred very generally, without any remorse for one particular version over the other...

And if there is any doubt that people hate marketing and advertising, take a quick moment to watch this classic bit of 'comedy' by Bill Hicks:


I don't want to get too caught up on strict definitions, so humour me here for a moment while I distinguish between marketing and traditional advertising. I think advertising is a blanket attempt to show your product or service to as many people as possible in the hopes that at least some of them are in the market place for your product or service, or they know someone else who is. While I think Marketing is a blanket attempt to create mental and emotional associations in the public mind about the brand being marketed - marketing has no regard for need, it is all about creating a desire.

So for instance, John Smith's Compensation Lawyers will run a billboard advertisement in the hopes that someone who needs a compensation lawyer will see the ad, and decide to go with them, while Coca Cola runs a TV ad showing how much fun people have while drinking coke. The first AD informs the public about a service being offered, while the second 'Ad' (marketing) doesn't care whether the people are thirsty or not, it simply attempts to create desires in the publics mindset, so that when the conditions are met, the decision process is decided by the mental associations, not by any rational thought process (like hydration capabilities...)

Maybe that distinction isn't as real as I imagine, but that really isn't what I am interested in. IN fact, it probably has no relevance at all to what I am interested in, so I will end this post here, and start again, and hopefully get a better post next time!

Best Ron Paul Q&A

I have been following Ron Paul in the US elections for a while now and watching quite a lot of videos from his channel and through searches on youtube. This video was only added a few days ago and it is by far the best example of real people asking real questions and getting real answers.

Watching Ron Paul and how the american elections run, I am really impressed. What is most disappointing is that it is still unlikely that he will win. In other words, it seems like the US has this great 'showboat' system, where their process looks really really good....but the results are still incredibly mediocre.

Anyway, if you know nothing about Ron Paul, then please watch this. Inspirational politics. It is making me want to get into politics.

Claustral Canyon

I recently posted the trip report and video from our trip through Claustral Canyon on TDMSKP. I'm really happy with the video, and I would be really happy if everyone could rate and favourite it for me! It has already got two honours for being most favourited and rated (but only second page) this week, so if there are a few more, then hopefully we can drive it onto the front page (of most favourited and rated this week)!

Oh an of course, digg, stumble and delicious etc would really help too! :)

Claustral Canyon Trip Report and Video

Scam Compensation!

I'm so happy! After all this time, all of those emails requesting my name and bank details so that I could be 'benefacted' several million dollars, or because I had won the Euro-Online-Special-Puppies and Kittens-Lottery, or because I helped someone all those years ago (whos name I just can't quite place...) - But they were all Scams! Did you know that? Bunch of scammers! All that money....gone...*sob*

But it's OK now! I just got an email which will rectify all past scams! It is from the "Nigerian Security Department" More importantly than that, the opening to the email reads:
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA/
NIGERIAN SECURITY DEPARTMENT
FEDERAL HIGH COURT OF NIGERIA.

Can you get any more official than that? No way can that be faked.

It goes on to say:
"Attention Beneficiary,

This to acknowledge you that your contact information was found among the list of foreigner that have been scammed by Nigerian Fraudster. It might interest you to know that we have signed an agreement with your COUNTRY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT during our first meeting last month with our PRESIDENT Commander In-Chief Federal Republic of Nigeria,ALHAJI UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA and the AUTHORITIES to fight against this and to return all contract funds that has been stolen and people who has been scammed too."

Finally, someone in Nigeria is doing something to combat these evil scammers. It must be legit, otherwise how could they know that I was scammed? Well, they have convinced me.

now where are my bank details?....