No no no no no! Don’t like this guy. Don’t go into stupid dopey mode. This is very, very, bad. This is very “mayday.” I need a dose of sanity, please? Someone? Anyone?
In some online group I’m signed up for, someone crashed in and started trying to argue against the premise of the group. Eventually, he said this (among other posts, of which I’m not going to talk about here).
“If we all just agreed to disagree constantly there would be no progress, debate is an essential part of development - both personal and in the larger sense. If i do not challenge your ideas, it is unlikely you will examine them in great detail, if you do not do this how are you to know what you really believe? Debate is good, for the mind and soul.”
What’s wrong with people who feel this way? Who harmed you as a child?
Seriously, what happened to you that you feel you have to argue every moment of your life and that if you’re not arguing, you should seek out arguments?
And why do these people (I’ve met multiples) feel that if that one person doesn’t bring up the debate, the philosophical thought, that I or others will be incapable of meditating alone on my own (or in my little journal)?
I worry for these people. Can a psychologist do anything for them? I mean, we’re social creatures. They need friends as much as anyone else. This probably is just their way of trying to reach out for contact and is, ironically, pushing people away. But then how do you tell them to get help when they’re constantly acting in this argumentative manner?
I just walk away most of the time.
I made a post in jest on HeavyInk about Opera, and no one got it. People flipped out that I had insulted their precious Firefox. Oh well, I’ll answer you and explain why Opera is better if I really have to explain it.
We can go about this two ways. First, why you shouldn’t use Firefox. Second, why you should use Opera (as opposed to the gobs of other browsers out there).
Why should you not use Firefox? Firefox has memory leaks. It’s notorious for this. Firefox 3 did not fix this. New upcoming versions will not fix this. Why? Because Mozilla considers this a feature. Wait… what? Apparently, this makes Firefox faster to begin with and when you’re using a small number of tabs. When you start opening up many tabs (I have 8 open right now by chance), and even after you open a lot and close them, that’s when the memory problems start.
Why should you use Opera?
First and foremost, FF and Opera are browsers so the job they should do the best is browsing the internet. Opera gets an 83 on Acid3, while Firefox gets a 71. If you want a browser, get a browser that does the job right. Okay, so the highest score was from Safari, but Safari did everything but browsing wrong (it’s from Apple), and you’ve gotta find a balance somewhere. 
Next, are the extras that make browsing more enjoyable and easier.
- Opera Link This is a sycronization function that keeps all my bookmarks, notes, speed dial (more on that later), and some other settings saved and in sync from computer to computer. I don’t even notice it happens. I have the three computers that I own all in sync. Also, I’ve installed Opera at work and instead of auto syncing there (I don’t want to), I log onto my Opera Link account, the settings appear, and then I log off. Also, if I want to pull up my bookmarks on another computer I can go to my.opera.com and either see the ones I’ve made public (I haven’t made any) or log on and explore all of them. Opera has rid any desire I have for del.icio.us.
- Speed Dial. When you turn on Opera, there is a screen of 9 squares, like the buttons on your phone, that you can set to your top 9 favorite favorites. You can either press Ctrl+T (new tab) and then click on the squares with your mouse, or press Ctrl+1 to open your first speed dial. You’ll quickly memorize where they are, trust me.
- Visual Preview When you mouse over a tab, it shows you a preview of the screen. Hey, I like it.
- Content Blocking. Obviously, you can block pop up ads. But you can also block ads that are embedded into the page. It’s not worth it for a page you’re going to see once, but it’s definately worth it for Facebook. I control what I see.
- Wand. Opera will remember all of your passwords for you. It’s not like in FF or IE where it remembers half the log in and you have to type the rest. Opera remembers everything. What you have to do is remember one keystroke. The default is Ctrl+Enter. Depending on your keyboard, you may want to change that (particularly on an eee). And Opera will ask you “Remember,” “Not this time” or “Never” so you can always tell Opera to stfu. But I love the wand.
These are just my top favs. There’s no way I could write a whole paragraph about everything Opera does (and that’s probably why Opera’s website doesn’t even do that)! Some more include a bittorrent client, an email client, rss aggregator, skins, keystroke control, something with voice (Windows only, that’s why I don’t know), IRC client… and I know I’m forgetting stuff.
Firefox users have been jealous of Opera (notably of it’s Speed Dial and syncing functions… and that it’s a better browser) and have made extentions to try to recreate it. Why would they work so hard to keep their Altzheimer’s browser? I’ve not the faintest clue. But here’s the thing… extentions will never be as well integrated as something that’s actually part of the browser. So no matter how hard Firefox users try to turn Firefox into Opera, Opera will still do the job better.
Oh, and Opera has widgets and Dragonfly for developers.
So why DO people keep Firefox? Okay, I’ll say it, though the newest version of Opera (9.5) is faster, the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark found it slightly slower than Firefox 3 Release Candidate 3. This is always going to be the case before Firefox goes into its memory leak cycle, during which it brings the whole computer down with it.
Some Open Source people don’t like the fact that, though Opera is free as in beer, it isn’t free as in source. Thing is, Open Source is wonderful until too many people start working on the project. Then, it’s too many random crazies in the kitchen. Firefox, being so popular, is a fabulous example of this. It just started crapping out when it turned into a mosh pit. Similarly, I hear worries that the “big corporate Opera people” aren’t going to listen. Opera people aren’t corporate people. As opposed to Firefox, the mosh pit that couldn’t care less if it’s stepping on your toes or if you have a memory leak, Opera makes sincere efforts to see the Opera Community as a voting group. What features do you want next? And they’ll throw in some creative surprises, too!
Also, changing to a different browser can be hectic. Let’s face it, you get on the computer to get on the internet. Changing browsers can be as stressful as changing Operating Systems. You have everything about that browser exactly how you want it. You have all the buttons just how you want it, you know what all the keystrokes are (most of them are the same by the way). And, if you don’t have browsing habits that give your Firefox memory loss, the old “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” saying may be in your ear.
But, my friends, there is something better on the other side. The grass is greener! Go… eat some grass! Go download Opera!
* This is all Opera 9.5 and Firefox 3. <3
I feel very lonely this weekend and I haven’t the faintest idea why.
My hamster, Zeus, died yesterday. 
Apparently the vet doesn’t get many cancelations due to death. The receptionist was pretty shocked.
It happened really quickly, so that makes me think it was wet tail. But there weren’t any other symptoms that matched. All the symptoms of diabetes that I found online match, but like I said, it was so quick (just overnight). Was it a blood sugar crash or spike?
For fear of wet tail (that can kill within 24 hours), I fed him a solution of 50% pedialyte, and later finding out that that is also what you give hamsters to raise their blood sugar, so if it was diabetes, it could have made him worse.
But what syrian gets diabetes, really?
I should really stop beating myself up. I’ve had so many hamsters and this was my first sick one. I called the vet, and I tried to make him better until the appointment.
Okay, so everyone is giving a more indepth review. Now that I have my wits about me I thought I would, too.
Guests: Tony and John were sweethearts, as everyone has talked about. But so were our “other” guests, especially Dr. Kevin Grazier, Louis Robinson, and David Harmer. I got to personally chat with those three very casually and I felt that was nice. This is something I feel you don’t get at big cons (like DCOUGHCOUGH) and I really think this experience made Timegate special.
ConSuite: The switch from a one-day con to a four-day causes growing pains in many areas but the biggest is probably in the ConSuite. How do you go from a few munchies to three square meals a day for a whole weekend? As I’ll demonstrate here, with basic math, I have no friggin’ idea.
Fact: ConSuite’s Budget was $500 dollars
Breakfast @ 33 cents per serving for 3 days (Sat, Sun, Mon) = 163.35 (Breakfast Burrito with Salsa, found aprox recipe and pricing on USDA site)
Lunch @ 51 cents per serving for 3 days (Fri, Sat, Sun) = 252.45 (Hot dog and bun, looked up prices)
Dinner @ 50 cents per seriving for 3 days (Fri, Sat, Sun) = 247.50 (No idea, but 50 cents is darn cheap)
The grand total… $663.30. Let’s back up… she has a $500 budget. I don’t know how she fit in that extra $163 in.
And if you think that you could find $163 dollars of coupons, don’t forget that I left out…
Sides
Drinks (name brand sodas)
Plates and Plasticware
Dessert Night
Tea party with import foods
I have thus proven the amazingness of the ConSuite mathematically.
I had tons of fun at Timegate. The best part about it was all of the great friends that came. I really appreciated their company and we had gobs of fun together… so much fun I didn’t take ANY pictures! Ek! Oh, well, it was worth it!
Blah! I say this to everyone. Absolutely everyone. And that means that sometimes I slip up and say it to inappropriate people like a boss or someone who might think I’m serious.
In Rainbow, there are three important stations that are not apart of the Rainbow. These are Faith, Hope and Charity. You may notice that these are the three virtures from 1 Corinthians 13:13… ” And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
You often hear the same verse with a different translation, the one of “faith, hope and love.” This is because the original greek was “agape,” which is describing a type of love that we do not have. To the Greeks, agape was love of family. That sort of unconditional love that was just magically there by their existance. The early Christians took the word and made it their own (remember, languages change!).
“The term ‘agape’ is rarely used in ancient manuscripts, but was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another.” (Wikipedia, “Agape”)
This is why it is sometimes translated as “love” and sometimes as “charity.” Agape is really somewhere in between. It shouldn’t have the sexual or conditional connotations of the word “love,” and it also shouldn’t have the monetarial connotations of “charity.”
But that’s besides the point. I’m Grand Faith, not Charity. As 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, Faith is not as awesome as Charity. Some people say its a predecessor, but there are many faithless people who are very self-sacrificing and loving towards the world. We just must accept that the Bible itself says that, although faith is important, what is more important is to love one another in an unconditional matter and to the point where we give our effort and time to the world. Since Charity is the most important, it must come first. And then, after one gives his love to to mankind in charity, faith in mankind will surely follow.
In Rainbow, Faith is a very important and long part. I will be walking a lot so I need to get some more comfortable heels. I’m very excited!
