May 1 Reboot - TADA!!

This is the results of my May 1st Reboot.

As you can see, as per usual, I did nothing special to adhere to whatever standards the design snobs have come up with this year... Just a pretty new page to look at. Hopefully things are organised in a bit more readable fashion now.

That snot green design just had to go.

I've got a lot of work to do today to get ready for start of business tomorrow... servers to move, bills to collect... I'll probably talk to you all again on Tuesday.

/rizzn

I see bot-people.

I have been sleeping a lot these last few days and waking up at odd hours. It's 3AM, and I just got a friend request on MySpace from Ashley, a buxom brunette from CALIFORNIA, Maryland. Her profile had her AIM address on it, so I decided to hit her up in chat and see what what was up.

Rizzn: hey you, ashley!
BEZZYBABEE : hey whats up, whos this?:)
Rizzn: This is Rizzn. you friended me a few minutes ago
BEZZYBABEE : OH u got my friend thing on myspace lol..
Rizzn: Pretty much. Have we met before? I mean you're a hot chick and all, and I usually like to give time to the ladees, but I don't recognize you.
BEZZYBABEE : listen hun..I'm just about to start my webcam show with sasha...its easier for me to chat ya in my chat room if u wanna log in? can u cum watch and chat me there?
Rizzn: The complexities of AIM too much for you?
BEZZYBABEE : you can be one of my VIP guests if you promise not to tell anyone u have VIP status? do u promise?...:-$
Rizzn: Sure.
Rizzn: If by promise not to tell you mean post this chat log on my blog.
Rizzn: I've got a thing.. I can only watch lesbians and chat with them if I can brag about it to all my friends.
BEZZYBABEE : well since its the law that u gotta be 18 (nudity involved), u gotta login with a credit card to prove u are 18! Once you login, just tell me your username and I'll make it a VIP memberhsip (like I do for my friends). ONLY if you promise not to mention in the chatroom that you have VIP.. I can get in trouble *******.com/homepages/nadiapink
Rizzn: I don't have a credit card. They are part of the Illuminati's plan to bring about Armageddon.
Rizzn: The mark of the beast and all.
BEZZYBABEE : please don't mention i am upgrading you once you are in my chatroom ok?:-$
Rizzn: Well, I don't want to help the anti-Christ by using a credit card, but I do want to watch you get it on with Sasha.
Rizzn: I don't see pictures of Sasha on this page - if you could show me pictures of her it would help me decide.
BEZZYBABEE : OH SHIT.. k I'm late to start my show, I gotta get off aim..Ill see ya inside my chatroom babe.. You can use your aim name to sign in so i know it's you.. remember SHHHH about u being one of my VIP's..
Rizzn: Sure thang bot babe. I'll keep it on the DL

I'm weird. I think chatting with bots is fun.

/rizzn

DMCA Update

I usually am at odds with John Dvorak, because instead of writing about how Intel Sucks and Macs Rule, the bloggers at his site see fit to make political commentary that is usually against my own.

Today, though he calls our attention to something interesting:

Wiretapping, impounding records, asset forfeiture? Arresting grandmothers and people without computers for downloading a couple of songs ain’t nothing compared to what’s coming.

Congress readies broad new digital copyright bill

For the last few years, a coalition of technology companies, academics and computer programmers has been trying to persuade Congress to scale back the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Now Congress is preparing to do precisely the opposite. A proposed copyright law seen by CNET News.com would expand the DMCA’s restrictions on software that can bypass copy protections and grant federal police more wiretapping and enforcement powers.

The draft legislation, created by the Bush administration and backed by Rep. Lamar Smith, already enjoys the support of large copyright holders such as the Recording Industry Association of America. Smith, a Texas Republican, is the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees intellectual-property law.

But one of the more controversial sections may be the changes to the DMCA. Under current law, Section 1201 of the law generally prohibits distributing or trafficking in any software or hardware that can be used to bypass copy-protection devices. (That section already has been used against a Princeton computer science professor, Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov and a toner cartridge remanufacturer.)

Smith’s measure would expand those civil and criminal restrictions. Instead of merely targeting distribution, the new language says nobody may “make, import, export, obtain control of, or possess” such anticircumvention tools if they may be redistributed to someone else.

Criminal asset forfeiture will be done following the rules established by federal drug laws.

[via Dvorak Uncensored]

Fantastico! I can't wait!

Truly Bizarre Day, so far...

I woke up to my neighbor in my bedroom asking me for help with a car she borrowed from her neighbor (I've got to remember to lock my door at night). Somehow she had driven it all the way over to the complex, but it died three feet before it got into the parking spot - it was a standard, and the battery had died preventing it from restarting.

She was drunk from the night before (this around 10AM), so when I jumpstarted her car, I moved it around to her side of the building and stood there chatting with her for a bit. The last thing I remember was saying something like, "Well, I'm going to head up to my place to get a start on the day. Come on over when you wake up."

I remember starting to feel a bit woozy, and then the next thing I remember is coming to in the parking lot - apparently I had passed out there talking to her, and by her measure, out for a minute or two. Clearly, I'm not quite done with the bug as I had thought I was yesterday.

Given all this, take the following little updates with a grain of salt... I've got an enormous headache, my hand is all cut up, and it's the best I can do.

May 1st Reboot
Apparently, every May 1st now, it is customary for everyone with a website to redesign their pages and design to celebrate and bring attention to HTML standards. I completed a web design last night, and it will go up May 1st, but mostly I'm just happy about the fact that this means I'll be getting residual income from my clients every year in May.

I don't have any links on this, Darrell is my source on this. Ask him about it.

An Amusing Chat Conversation from this morning:
A buddy of mine (who shall remain nameless) has gone through a particularly bad breakup. This is a conversation I had with him on MySpace this morning.

XjX said:
What does this mean????

Wednesday Horoscope
You and your heart are going to sit down for a little heart-to-heart. Well, okay, maybe it's more accurate to call it a mind-to-heart. Or mind-and-body-to-heart. Whatever. You're going to ask your heart a few hard questions and then, if your heart wants to ask you some hard questions, it gets to. Then you have to answer (fair is fair!), and, ideally, by the end of the conversation you two will come to a whole new understanding.

Saint Rizzn said:
I think, without all the newage-speak, it means you are going to determine what it is you want with regards to your love life as well as what your mental goals are.

XjX said:
Well that is utter gay sauce because I have no love life and my heart has fallen out of my chest onto the stove caught on fire, then rolled down the hallway where the dog has chewed on it excessively and buried it in the backyard under a pile of it's dog shit where it will lay for 100 years which later grows into a retarded looking blood bush that hisses at you when you walk by.

Saint Rizzn said:
Well there's your answer; go into the backyard - the secrets to life await you!

XjX said:
You are so confusing.

Well, it was amusing to me. But then I hit my head this morning - what's your excuse?

Boycott Citgo?
The following was forwarded to me by James today, and verified by Smokehouse. Those of you on the list have already seen it, but for the rest of my Rizznites, here it is.

Venezuela Dictator Vows To Bring Down U.S. Government
Venezuela government is sole owner of Citgo gasoline company

Venezuela Dictator Hugo Chavez has vowed to bring down the U.S.
government.

Chavez, president of Venezuela, told a TV audience (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10704025/): "Enough of imperialist aggression; we must tell the world: down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury imperialism this century."

The guest on his television program, beamed across Venezuela, was Cindy Sheehan, the antiwar activist. Chavez recently had as his guest Harry Belafonte, who called President Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world."

Chavez is pushing a socialist revolution and has a close alliance with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Regardless of your feelings about the war in Iraq or other highly publicized issues with our government, the REAL issue here is that we have a socialist dictator vowing to bring down the government of the U.S. And he is using OUR money to achieve his goal!

The Venezuela government, run by dictator Chavez, is sole owner of Citgo (http://www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO.jsp) gas co.

Sales of products at Citgo stations send money back to Chavez to help him in his vow to bring down our government.

Take Action.

Please decide that you will not be shopping at a Citgo station. Why should U.S. citizens who love freedom be financing a dictator who has vowed to take down our government?

Very important. Please forward this to your friends and family. Most aren't aware that Citgo is owned by the Venezuelan government.

Symmetry
Also, as a side note, rizzn.com has 1,111 posts on it now. Yay for symmetry.

/rizzn

Better - I think...

My head hurts a bit, and my equilibrium is a tad bit off. Other than that, I think I'm better. My fever's gone and my throat no longer hurts.

I slept all night and all day, getting up every 6 hours to drink some orange juice. I have no idea what this was, but it was miserable while I had it.

I've got a fever ... and the only prescription ... is more ibprofin

I'm coming down with something right now. Not sure what, but I've got what feels like sinus drainage and a fever.

This blows. I'm so tired, but I can't fall asleep. Talk to ya folks later.

/rizzn

Large Set of Small Updates

Quite an interesting day it's been. I've been saving these blog posts to put into a long newspost for about a week or so. Good stuff in here. As for me, I'm keeping busy, and business is finally picking up again after a weeklong slump. Expect a project progress report later this week.

f o u r [ ] 2 n i t e
For those of you in the East Texas area thie evening, FourSquare behind IHOP. It's the secret way to meet cool Tyler people. Starts at 9PM.


Suge Knight declares bankruptcy
Death Row Records label head Suge Knight has filed for bankruptcy, after he refused to pay US$107 million in an ownership dispute of his record company. Knight had lost a lawsuit filed by Lydia Harris last year. Harris had claimed that Knight had swindled her out of her 50 percent stake in Death Row Records.

Harris had alleged that Knight concocted a scheme to "destroy her ability to lay claim to her rightful share of the ownership and profits" of the label. The presiding judge had awarded the massive sum to Harris after discovering that Knight and his attorneys had not provided certain financial data.

Nanowires to Power Your Implants
Researchers at Georgia Tech have come up with a new way to power medical implants, using the motion of the body to generate electricity. By implanting fibers called nanowires, which are just 20-40 billionths of a meter in diameter, the researchers believe they can produce enough energy to drive implantable devices or even smart apparel. The zinc-oxide nanowires are piezoelectric, like the quartz crystals in a wristwatch, so the more you bend 'em, the more energy they produce.

Adnan Khashoggi Sued by SEC
Our good buddy Adnan is in the news again. Boy we love those Krazy Khashoggi's over here at Rizzn.Com. For those of you who don't know, Adnan's brother Essam was involved in the FlyDLUX ordeal back in 2003. Khashoggi is best known as an arms broker in the Iran- Contra scandal of the mid-1980s, when he served as middleman for illegal sales of weapons to Iran. He was often described then as one of the world's richest men.

In 1993, El-Batrawi founded GenesisIntermedia as a telemarketing and infomercial company. In 1999, the company's 100 sales agents made more than 1 million calls a month selling courses such as ``Secrets of Stock Investing'' and ``Ted Thomas' Personal Fortune Real Estate Investment Program'' with price tags of as much as $5,000.

Saudi financier Adnan Khashoggi and former GenesisIntermedia Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ramy El- Batrawi were sued by U.S. regulators over claims they orchestrated a $130 million stock loan and manipulation scheme. Khashoggi, 70, and El-Batrawi, 44, loaned 15 million GenesisIntermedia shares to Deutsche Bank Securities Ltd. while artificially inflating the stock price by engaging in large numbers of buys and sells, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles. They failed to repay the loans to intermediary brokers when the scheme collapsed, the SEC said.

Attorneys for El-Batrawi and Khashoggi couldn't be immediately located to comment. SEC attorney Kara Brockmeyer said the agency hadn't determined yet who their attorneys are. El-Batrawi has no listed telephone number in Los Angeles, and Khashoggi's place of residence isn't known, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit is the third the SEC has brought related to the GenesisIntermedia fraud. In 2004, Kenneth D'Angelo, who helped facilitate the stock loans settled with the SEC after pleading guilty to securities and wire fraud. A lawsuit against Smith in Los Angeles is still pending.

The case is SEC v. Ramy El-Batrawi et al, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, 06-2247.

peace or something like that
My good buddy Rob is still out in Africa bringing good will to all mankind. He writes the following on his blog (of interest to those of you following his series on the Lords Resistance Army).

I just found out that the lord’s resistance army that was causing so much trouble in the place I was working last year has recently met with representatives of the Government of Southern sudan and that they have come to some sort of agreement to cease hostilities and work towards a peaceful solution. The details are a bit sketchy at the moment.

i am a little jealous. apparantly the peace talks took place very close to maridi and the officials that came, stayed in the compound that I was living in while i was there. Would have been interesting to get a chance to sit and talk with a few of those guys that came through.

so hopefully the official news will come out very soon and we will get to find out what the agreements were.

That's the word for the moment, folks. Be good.

/rizzn