Ninjas, Not Pirates

Tagged as: Internet, Life, Music, Rant, Software Apr 23

Alright so I don’t actually know any ninjas. Pirates, though? Perhaps.

Not the pirates that say, “Arggh me matey” or have a peg leg or even have a parrot on their shoulder. That would be cool, but I actually only know pirates in the modern day sense. You know the ones that illegally consume things like music, videos, software, pictures, or any of a whole range of things. Haha I can hear the groans already.

The digital age has made it infinitely more easy to exactly duplicate other content (which is related to why digital things are superior in quality to analog). With this, people have degenerated to outright stealing while not even understanding what they’re doing. Well I hate to break it to you, but wrongs committed unintentionally are still wrong.

While I have written that I think that Music Piracy Makes People Stupid, this issue is far larger than just music. Music is the best known, probably because it’s the area that’s most often violated. It is so much more widespread, though. So let’s get down to the real issue.

Breaking Down Piracy

1. Someone creates something for a purpose
2. Somehow it’s made available to other people (whether stolen, hacked, copied, or what) outside of the realm of the original purpose
3. You (or a “friend” of yours) gets a copy of said good and utilize it

Is that pretty much how it breaks down? Seems to me like the real issue is that the creator/writer/actor/musician/whatever did not intend for those in step 3 to make use of their creation. If I were a computer programmer and wrote a program to sell. And then if someone had illegally hacked my program that I worked to create to sell and gave it away for free, I’d be piping mad. If you were a photographer and had taken a picture for someone, but someone else had taken it and used it for a totally different purpose, you’d be up in arms. If you provided services (law, medicine, therapy, teaching, what have you) and someone took your service without providing payment, you’d see that something was immediately wrong.

So basically, since the creator didn’t want it (and who hopefully created a bulletproof license or end user agreement), you’re undermining what they’re doing. It doesn’t matter that you could create a digital copy of their song without paying for it and they’ll be none the wiser. Because in actuality, it does affect them. You should have paid them for that song. And you are now a pirate. But you don’t have to be!

Dealing With This New Ninja World

Is all lost? Far from it. Once you understand what it’s like to be the one being defrauded, you’ll see that something needs to change. And there is a solution! There are all kinds of answers! Maybe watch things that are actually released by the studios (try out Hulu), actually buy music (if you’re listening to music you can probably afford to pay for it) or try Amie Street for the whole indie scene, and possibly even catch up on some of my Favorite Open Source Apps.

Or you could just become a real ninja and then you’d care about arrows, ninja stars, and ninjato rather than swiping versions of old TV shows, Adobe Photoshop, and/or the remix version of Justin Timberlake’s latest single.

Age - It’s Just A Number

Tagged as: Rant, Relationships, Seen-Around Mar 26

We, as people, have a love/hate relationship with one of the things that is constantly changing: our age. Sometimes we want to get older, and sometimes we will do everything that we can to reduce it. But we really have no control over it, do we?

It seems as if all of this starts early in life. As we are going through the different grades in school, there is a marked distinction between students who are in different grades. Granted, this is all rather necessary because children generally mature and progress according to how old they are. So it makes sense in that situation. But the lasting influence seems to be that we feel comfortable with just people our own age.

Relationships

This effect can often be seen in the arena of relationships. Why is it that many of my friends who are girls will not even think about dating a younger guy? Is it because younger guys is not be great and worthy of her? Is it because they (the girls) are somehow more mature because they are a couple of years (sometimes a couple of months) older? I doubt it. Why do my guy friends only look for girls that are younger than them? And why is there a floor limit such that they won’t even consider girls younger than their specified age? There are a lot of questions, and there aren’t that many answers. All I know is that it all doesn’t make much sense. People limit themselves by not looking for the things that really matter, the essence and characteristics of a person. Then they complain that they can’t find anyone. And that’s just not right, is it?

Social Aspects

People age. That’s the truth. And it seems like as that happens the reality of death is more apparent. The chances become greater (on any particular day since the actual chances that you will die are 100%), and that seems to have lend itself to the general notion that young is better. Even more than that unspoken tendency is that socially we have come to praise the young as vibrant and beautiful.

On the other hand, people who are getting older can always attest that they are getting wiser. It’s true, they should be getting wiser anyways. They just have more experience, and those with experience know that it counts. Of course, those who lack it do not think that it counts for very much. I know, I’ve been/am still there.

Conclusion

But I say that it’s so much more important to be young at heart. Of people that I’ve met, young and old, I find myself consistently being convinced that being young at heart is truly the way that I want to go. I don’t want to lose the awe of a child looking at the huge expanse of the night sky or discovering something for the first time. No amount of time or social constructs can take that away. Whatever you do, don’t be proud of your age sheerly because of your age. That would make you Proud Of Nothing, wouldn’t it?

So really there are 2 ways that you can deal with age:

1. Wine - get tastier and more valuable with age
2. Cheese - get moldy!

Haha I know, I’m just good at making up strikingly accurate analogies. You don’t need to tell me twice. No really, you don’t.

Package Waste

Tagged as: Food, Rant, Seen-Around Feb 07

I don’t like how it’s impossible to get every last bit of semi-liquid type substances out of their container. Even more than that, though, it disappoints me that this slight irritation happens so often!

So as you probably know (or at least can guess from my blog’s name) that I’m Chinese. The stereotype is that Chinese people specifically (and Asian people in general) are a little bit stingy. Now, there are quite a lot of times that I can heartily agree that this stereotype has roots in reality. Maybe it’s because in China everyone has to fight for their own rights and properties since there are so many people vying for the limited resources. Ah communism at its best.

But another thing that you should know is that I’m, in general, not very Chinese. Now what does that mean? Well I don’t even speak the language, let alone act out the whole stereotype. I am, for all intents and purposes, completely American. Nevertheless, I do have a frugal side to me. (I mean, I did share 3 Little Tips To Save before.) And that frugal Chinese side of me doesn’t like that products are placed into packages that don’t allow me to utilize all that I’ve paid for!

There are just so many of these items that we use! Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well what about:

• yogurt
• mayonnaise
• toothpaste
• shampoo
• lotion

And that’s just to name a few! There are obviously many other things that could fall into this category. One would think that after so many years of production and perfecting the whole process, a better solution would have been reached. But no. All we get are cheap gadgets like the toothpaste clip that will ensure that as much paste as possible is pushed towards the opening. Ah!

What’s a society to do? It’s time for a change. It’s time for a revolution.

Get My Name Right

Tagged as: Life, Rant, Relationships Jan 30

I know what it feels like to be unknown, and I don’t like it. I’m talking about people getting my name wrong.

Generally I actually do think that I’m a bit forgettable. That might sound sad, but it’s the truth. I don’t make terribly flattering first impressions. That’s just how it has been. It’s gotten better, I think, as I’ve grown into my skin, but it’s probably fairly true still.

Names are our unique key to life. It has a bit of our heritage in our surname, and it is the first gift that we are given. It’s a marking that we will have for our lifetime (that is unless we legally change it at some point). And it’s how we are known. Life would be different if we had a different name.

Considering all of this, it’s not exactly pleasant when someone forgets your name. It makes you feel (and probably accurately so) that you’re not important enough to be remembered by the one who forgot. Nobody likes to be reminded of how unimportant they are. Everyone wants to be special and being known is just the first step.

There have been a few instances where I’ve noticed this occurring to me. Thankfully it’s not exactly stuff that’s affected me, but it’s still noteworthy because I’m sure that there are many out there who wouldn’t take kindly to this happening to them.

1. At work we had a going away brunch for someone, and people from all different departments were there. As I was standing there, someone was loudly saying someone else’s name and looking at me. Now usually, it is a very bad idea to respond to these greetings in your direction that might not necessarily be for you. You know the wave from strangers who are actually waving to the guy right behind you. That kind of thing. In any case, I was not responding to this girl because I figured she must have been trying to get someone else’s attention. She eventually turns to her friend and says, “He’s not responding to me, I guess.” Then she gets even closer to me and says this other guy’s name.

   Granted I was sideways so she only had a profile view. I turned to her, and I said that I was not who she thought I was. She realized her mistake and fell silent. That’s right, lady. You’re wrong.

2. The same day as the first example, I was walking by someone’s desk, and he said, “What’s up, —–?” This other name was another Asian guy in our department. I knew that he was talking to me because nobody else was around, and I said, “It’s Derek, not ——.”

   The bad thing is that he does know the difference between us. We traveled for quite a few days together! And we work in the same department! This one was probably a more honest slip of the tongue, but I still thought it pretty amusing considering that it was the same day. To exacerbate the matter, the same guy cc’d me on an e-mail and spelled my name Derrick. And we’ve been working together for about 15 months. Lovely, just lovely.

3. So another instance where forgetting a name can be bad is if you remember the other person’s name, and they do not remember your name. Bad beans. If you both forget, it’s acceptable. But if you both do not, all is not right.

   So I recently went to a fellowship group again after not going for a couple of months. I remembered a few of the people’s name because of talking to them or because I secretly actually knew stuff about them. Haha creepy as that might sound, it was more like an “I know that they asked my friend out, but they don’t me” kind of deal. In any case, it was no good for me to remember their names since they forgot mine. Boo hoo.

So basically we all need to learn these things:

• We need better memories
• All Asians do not look alike
• Get more confidence so you don’t care if people forget your name because you’re above that
• Don’t respond to women who are yelling, no good can ever come of it

Proud Of Nothing

Tagged as: Christianity, Life, Political, Rant, Relationships Jan 13

People will get proud over anything. Even those that have nothing to be proud of will somehow find themselves becoming proud of something. It’s rather amazing really. When you stop to think about it, none of us really has anything to be proud of.

There are a wide variety of things that pride is claimed. I think that the most ridiculous ones are those things over which we have no control. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Nationalism/Patriotism/Geographic devotion

   This is rampant around the world and throughout all of time. However, it’s rather silly to be proud of where you come from simply because that’s where you came from, don’t you think? Sure it’s a great way to connect to people when you first meet them, but how much do you really have to be proud of if you grew up somewhere? Usually it’s not too much.

   I think that perhaps the only thing that I could understand about this is if one had to grow up in a difficult environment. It shapes a person to be able to grow up in that type of surrounding. But for all of those people who are proud of where they grew up, what country they were born in, what their heritage is, and so on, you better rethink it. Because you had no hand in that.

   And to think that people get into wars over this issue all of the time is mind boggling. You mean to tell me that you hate that guy because of where he was born? But he had no control over that, he didn’t choose to be born there!

2. Height

   Have you met people who were proud of their height? I think that might be one of the most ridiculous things ever because you absolutely have no control over your height. You can lose or gain weight, have plastic surgery to fix your looks, and any number of things to modify your physical appearance.

   But what can you do about your height? Diddly squat, I do believe. Unless you have that limb lengthening surgery. Anyways, once again you have no control over how tall you are/will be. You can hope for good genes, but it’s much more impressive to just be able to deal with those that you’ve been given. And better yet, it’s impressive to be able to overlook (no pun intended) it in others.

3. Discovering Music Artists/Clothing Brands

   I mean really? You’re going to be proud of the fact that you found out about a band before anyone else did? You had no hand in their success. You’re not playing bass or pounding those drums for them. All you did was take a little listen.

   Okay sure, it’s very nice that you spend the time and try out different artists than the popular fare served up to the masses. Maybe you even spent a little bit of money to try them out. But when the band becomes popular, if you find yourself bringing up the fact that you listened to them for years, I’ll have you know that I think that you’re a lame-o.

   Same thing goes for clothing brands (and probably a slew of other things). You’re not making the clothes, you’re just buying a sweater. $20 bucks. You daredevil you.

4. Age

   Whether you’re young or old, what can you really say about your age? It won’t change a lick no matter what you do. You can lie about it, you can deceive others by changing your appearance, but this is an absolute in this world that you have no control over.

   I think it’s so interesting when people see their age as something to be proud of. In the past I’ve seen it because people think that they’re immediately wiser for the simple fact that they’ve lived more days. I grant them that it’s generally true that wisdom comes with age. But isn’t that usually more like decades of experience?

   Growing up in school, I was meeting people with years or less worth more days who thought that they were somehow wiser than I. I thought (and still do) think that is just ludicrous. It’s like they can’t find anything to be proud of so they just grasp for something that nobody can change. How about instead of doing that we go out and actually gain some of that useful wisdom by getting a life, huh?

5. Salvation

   Well I’m a Christian. Maybe you knew that, maybe you didn’t. Now you do. Anyways, I’ve got a bone to pick with those people that speak of their salvation with an air of superiority, as if they did anything at all except believe. This might stir up the pot a little bit, but there isn’t much that separates you from that unsaved guy next to you. I boast in Jesus Christ, too, but He did the work, not I. I just said, “Yes, I’ll believe.”