New place.

New phone?

This may be my new phone. My old phone battery lasts for about 5 minutes and it's cheaper to get a brand new phone than a new battery. I'm only worried about the camera. Quite a few courts don't allow "recording devices" and cameras in the courthouse. Considering, however, that pretty much anything these days is a "recording device" - any computer, a PDA, most non-camera phones, etc., I think they're pretty lax about it as long as you don't, you know, start taking pictures. Lawyers would be up in arms if they couldn't bring their phones into court - and considering that most phones sold these days have cameras, I think a change in the rules might be imminent.

Stacks of pennies.

More hair than before.

Bad winner.

Interested in cards.

News Flash: Traffic in LA Sucks

Maybe it was the pre-Thanksgiving traffic, but traffic yesterday was as horrible as I have ever seen. It took me 3 hours to drive across town to West LA and back - that's only about 10 miles each way. Good thing is - this town now turns into zombie-land until January 2.

josh passed the bar

josh passed the bar which means that he will never be stressed out again! but now it's my turn to be stresed out because i have big exams this year that determine whether i get to be phd or masters student.
bye

We passed out!

We got outrageously drunk!

We passed the freaking bar!

MPAA lawsuits

The MPAA announced today that it has begun to sue file traders RIAA-style. This sounds like it's going to be about as successful as their campaign of disinformation that they have been pressing in movie theaters and online (through a crappy Flash site).

But my beef with the MPAA is not over their lame "Respect Copyrights" initiative. Here's the problem: the MPAA is lying to people. If you have seen a theatrical trailer recently, you know what I'm talking about. You know - the one featuring some kid jacking a car with a crowbar, a guy stealing an old lady's purse, and someone downloading a movie over a p2p network. "Downloading is a crime," explains the trailer. Except - here's the thing. Downloading copyrighted work may be illegal, but it is not a crime. It's civil copyright infringement (unless you download more than $1,000 worth of material during a 180-day span). Which is why copyright holders can sue file sharers for gabs of money. What would happen to you if, you know, you did actually steal a CD from a record store? You'd get something like a $500 fine and you'd have to return the CD. But if you download a single track from the internet, all of a sudden you're liable for $150,000 in statutory penalties for "willful" infringement. That's because you are infringing a copyright, not stealing. And let's not even get into the fact that each track on the CD is probably a separate work for purposes of copyright law, so you're liable in the end for $150,000 multiplied by, say, 12. Ouch.

The MPAA wants to have it both ways. They want to label file sharers as criminals, but they want to sue them for civil infringement. This just isn't right.

Rachel and her mizzle.

Rachel's hizzle in Pittsburgh.

well, i've just been reprimanded for not posting enough so i will now. recently i decided a professor was an asshole. It was one of those experiences where you know everyone in the class is cringing, but the professor somehow doesn't notice. the prof was basically picking on a student because of his problems with speaking english as a second language. Everyone could tell the student understood what he was talking about too. the professor was obviously enjoying persecuting the student; the funny thing is, when native english speakers had said things in the past that were much less intelligent, he never blinked an eye.
It amazes me how much racism exists in this city, even though it is so diverse. I always though that racism would be worse in places like pittsburgh where i grew up, but i have seen much more in the 3 years i have lived in Los Angeles than I ever did growing up in the burgh.

fabulous

I am trying Konfabulator, which was recently released for Windows. The verdict is still out. Is it useful enough to take up precious RAM on my pokey 192mb laptop? It is pretty, though, and even...useful?

Check the mess.

New apartment at night. Yeah, I haven't been here in daylight yet.

move

The move is over. As I look at my personal effects piled in a heap in the middle of my living room, I have to wonder: what the hell is all this crap?

Pictures soon.

Just in case anyone was entertaining the notion that Tuesday's election result wasn't determined by a bunch of Jesus-loving zealots. Welcome to the Republic of Jesusistan.

Shaded county map. Looks less oppressive than the all-red two-color county breakdown.

I've had a no good very bad day and i want to move to australia. seriously. this week is crazy, moving, elections, planting seeds, exams, awesome concert festivals.
these past few weeks in grad school have made me really excited about evolutionary biology. I always said i would probably end up outside of academia working for the park service or something, but now i'm not so sure i could give up what the academic life offers- the chance to be at the forefront of your field.
we'll see how i feel after 5-7 years.

Now that we've lost and been decapitated, I just hope that people think twice next time about nominating someone based solely on electability. Remember "He can beat Bush!"? Also, Congressmen are a no-go from here on out, I think, for President. No matter who they are, they are *always* compromised by their voting records.