"My own opinion is that belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence. The more certitude one assumes, the less there is left to think about, and a person sure of everything would never have any need to think about anything and might be considered clinically dead under current medical standards, where absence of brain activity is taken to mean that life has ended." -Robert Anton Wilson

WoW! That's powerful. I definatly like it and in some way agree.

I saw this picture on a website about Circut 8 Model by Robert Anton Wilson and I thought it was neat.

Those of you who played Mind Controldid you figure it out? The first four steps, the number will always come out to 4 which equals the letter D. Then it goes by the most likely things people will pick, such as Denmark, elephant, gray, kangaroo, orange. I had my one friend do it and instead of elephant, she picked elk. Needless to say, she wasn't too impressed when it came out wrong. Well, I hope whoever played it enjoyed it until now. haha

play this Mind Control game. At first I thought it was amazing. Let me know what u think.

***VERY WEIRD!!! Though, I didn't have anything to do with Djibouti in my list of stuff. I gotta say I always liked the way that country's name sounded. -RoBoCoP***

Wow, it has been a while since I've posted! There is just not enough hours in a day.

Anyway, I agree with the few people who said they are confused by Ubik. I kind of think I know what is going on but I'm not really sure. This SciFi stuff isn't my thing. So, I assume that it's suppose to take place in the future. I hope our future isn't like that because it's just way too weird. Also, what is Ubik? I noticed at the beginning of each chapter it is referred to as things such as salad dressing, alcohol, and i think even shaving cream. Can it be anything?

Off the topic: I was just reading for my Media Law class and I came across something interesting. There has always been a lot of talk about how music, video games, and movies influence people. As in killing. Honestly, I think that's BS! The latest movie I watched was "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The beginning" So I'm not going to go hack up people with a chainsaw now just because I saw it in a movie. Anyway, cases such as these have been thrown out of court so many times because there wasn't enough evidence that this "entertainment" was the influence of peoples' rage. For example, In 2001 a Louisiana trial court dismissed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers and others brought by plaintiffs who claimed that a robbery and shooting at a convenience store was the result of the thieves attempting to mimic characters from "Natural Born Killers." There were many other cases thrown from appellate courts and if they made it through there, more than likely they would not have been granted a writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court.

So, is it fair to say that a primitive culture is lazy? Okay, Clastres mention how these people only worked 2 months a year or something but don't you think the advance in technology has made us lazy? I look at it like this: For example, the remote control or tv guide...we don't even have to move off the couch to find something to watch. We watch the tv guide channel, find something that interests us then hit buttons and we're done. Also, "Lazy like an Indian"? I don't understand how an Indian was lazy. Yes, they went out and hunted for food. They had to use a bow and arrow or whatnot to find an animal to kill then probably had to de-fur and skin it. (I don't know really what they had to do but I'm sure it was a long process). Now, when we want food, our "hunting" consists of driving to a nearby store and trying to find the aisle where what we want is located. Another option, find a phone and have food delivered right to our door.

Therefore, I believe our society/culture is LAZY! Which is one of a few reasons for obesity (a now rising problem). Kids don't even want to go outside and "play" anymore or ride a bycicle. They sit on a couch and play video games or ride on a motorized scooter.

Well Courtney… I lost my remote – which you would know if you had been reading my entries. So now I have to get up out of my couch every time I have to change a channel. Lazy? I don’t think so. --GoNZo

P.S. Gonzo--I do read your blog along with everyone elses.

I have to say that the only thing these RFID chips are good for is how Walmart is using them to make smart shelves. The idea that the tags are Big Brothers in small packages is not right. It says that we'll be eating and wearing objects that can track us. Very intrusive!

However, I really like Bookworm's idea about putting the tags in jewelry. Also, being female a wedding/engagement ring is a prized possession, and to loose it or have it stolen would be horrible!

But my idea is to only put them in like criminals/sex offenders when they get out of jail. That way they stay out of trouble. To share a little story: At home, I worked in an independent pharmacy and basically you know everyone that comes in (they are regulars). Anyway, there is this one guy that always comes in and I can't even look at him. Even though it was a long time ago, he molested his young granddaughter. The weird thing is, he will only talk to me and the two other young girls that work there. He won't talk to the ladies in their mid 40's. Yuck! he makes me sick!!

Yea, that story is a little disturbing --GoNZo

RFID Frenzy:

First off, this whole chip thing is a little scary. I would never want someone knowing where I am at all times. That makes people paranoid and did you ever notice that when people know they are being watched, they act different. Also, I saw on the link that it is sometimes used on corpses! That's sick!

On the contrary, the link says it is used to prevent theft in art galleries in France and to control government spending. So, I guess in a way that is good. But, I think the whole thing is just too weird.

National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace:

The First thing that comes to my mind is, is this really possible? Given the reasons for wanting to do this, I agree. I think it would be better for our economy, hopefully preventing such attacks. However, I'm not really sure it can happen. Hopefully my opinion is proved otherwise.

TIP: As you're writing in this blog, save periodically. Computers can suck!!

In class yesterday, John Cage and his silent music was mentioned. I wanted to share something interesting: I had a Music and Theater class last year at Marywood University and we were learing about this composer (I can't remember his name) and he was doing a show. He came on stage, sat at a piano, and didn't do anything. The music was all the sounds the audience was making. For example, the whispering, the zippering of a jacket, or someone blowing their nose. It was weird but then again it was very interesting.

Also, we were talking about external distractions. While even if it is quiet, you still hear creeks and so forth, I believe your mind can also be a distraction. I know that when i sit down to read or something, I distract myself thinking about other things I have to or want to do. Or, just simply daydreaming.

Well, once I got a little instruction, I guess getting connected wasn't as difficult as I made it out to be!

I agree with the majority of people who commented that the wiki is a good way for us to express our opinions, thoughts, etc. and build writing skills. I am always game for building writing skills, being a journalism major.

In the digital proposal, it is stated that one advantage of the wiki is eliminating plagiarism. I have to say plagiarism scares me. If you turn a paper into turnitin.com it tells you that you plagiarized things that are your own words. Also, to share a little story . . . A friend of mine was accused of plagiarism and has to meet with a bunch of people to discuss it. Her teacher submitted her paper to turnitin.com and it came out that she plagiarized from sources she never even heard of. Therefore, my point is, I like this the most because there is no chance of being even accused of plagiarism.