Ah, college, where young minds grow and mature. They grow, anyway.
I guess I’m not managing my time very well. I have loads of time to do nothing on the Internet, but when I want to blog, I have to study. The solution: post really fast. The long-term solution: manage time better.
I went to a new chiropractor for the first time today. My sister and I both did, actually. Our chiropractor recommended him after having a former intern do some research. They got our X-rays in the mail, so they were expecting the twin college freshmen who apparently can’t find the front door of the office and go in through the back. (That building was laid out weirdly, okay?) But I have to say that the chiropractor is a nice guy. He’s easy to get along with. His methods are a little different than what I’m used to, but it seems to be just different rather than better or worse. I haven’t been to a chiropractor in over 3 weeks, and I can’t remember ever going without an adjustment for that long. I sure needed the adjustment, and was it a thorough one. Here’s hoping it’ll last me a few more weeks.
I remember high school football games fondly. Small-time teams playing for small-time crowds, and lots of space on the bleachers. With college football, this is not so. It’s a big thing. I could get a ticket to a high school football game by showing up ten minutes early and paying five dollars. Not so with college football. No, in fact, it’s unheard of at the University of Florida for a game not to be entirely sold out. Getting tickets isn’t exactly easy because absolutely everyone else is trying to get them. There’s no room for passive fans like me in college football; to get tickets, you really have to want them.
There’s a number or something that you have to call, supposedly on the Thursday before the game. I’m not sure what the number is, and I’ve also read that all of the upcoming home rivalry games are already sold out? That leaves the game with the (probably) unranked FAU Owls, which, against all odds, is the only game I’ve really been looking forward to seeing. FAU is near my home, and a lot of my friends are going there, so I’d like to find out the outcome of this unlikely matchup. (Sorry, FAU, but I didn’t even know you had a football team. In any case, you’re probably being used by UF to make them look good before the UF-FSU game.)
I haven’t taken a lot of pictures of the campus yet, but I intend to do so once I can get a whole day and some pleasant weather. In the meantime, check out these pretty schweet photos of the UF campus.
The LibriVox project aims to make public domain recordings of public domain books.
Logomotto mixes up logos and mottos. Refresh the page for a new and exciting combination.
Let’s see. This weekend, my sister and I went to our grandparents’ house, and we met our parents and our cousins there. Grocery shopping was done today. It’s easy to get carried away when you need food and you haven’t been in a proper grocery store in weeks.
Backtracking to last week, I had an astounding three tests. On Tuesday, I had a Social Geography test, on which I scored 32 out of 33 (which is pretty good because that’s a third of my grade). On Thursday, I had a calculus test, and though the results have yet to come in, I’m feeling good about it. On Friday night (yes, Friday night), I had a chemistry test. I don’t have chemistry (or any class) on Friday night, but there are so many people in the class (it’s a basic chemistry course) that I guess that’s the only time they could have it. Nevertheless, the test delayed my aforementioned weekend plans. But right after the test, I found out that the answer key was posted online. Since I hadn’t yet thrown away my scratch work, I was able to determine that I aced the test. That’s a quarter of my grade in the bag.
Apparently all these tests aren’t so bad. You just have to take them one at a time.
It’s time for another exciting edition of Ask Jordon!
Olivia: What’re you on about?
Er… dunno. I’m a right raving nutter, I s’pose.
Ivan Karamazov: Why do some believe Ron Paul will follow up on his promises of the One True reading of the Constitution? Do they realize it will mean cuts? Who IS he?
Well, brother, they say that if you Google Ron Paul, you’ll find out about him. Me, I don’t believe a word of it. As for his kind, I think they’re a dying breed. Nobody wants cuts. Well, people do, but the dudes and the ladies that run the two-party system haven’t really invited them to participate in our democracy. Oops! (Okay, I’m a hypocrite. I’ve joined the Democratic Party, much to the chagrin of the growing number of people who think that if you’re not an independent, you’re a narrow-minded hypocrite. Wait…)
Ever wonder how valuable coins change hands? Here’s the story about a $1.9 million dime.
For some it’s become a punchline, for others, a battle cry.
The incident occurred here at the University of Florida on Monday when Senator John Kerry came to speak in a question-and-answer session. Briefly, here’s what happened: when the period for asking questions had just ended, a student named Andrew Meyer got up to the audience’s microphone and started asking questions. Kerry tried to answer them while Meyer kept asking more. Officials asked him to stop, but he insisted on having a chance to ask his questions. His microphone was cut off because he used the word “blowjob” (in refrence to Bill Clinton’s impeachment; Meyer was asking why Kerry hadn’t moved to impeach President Bush). Meyer was upset by his microphone being turned off. He was grabbed by UFPD officers, while Kerry told them that he wanted to answer Meyer’s questions. Meyer tried to escape the officers’ grip, but more of them (about six in all) seized him and pinned him to the ground as he cried for help. Kerry tried to calm the audience. The cops threatened to use a Taser on Meyer, and even though he asked to leave peacefully, they shot him with 50,000 volts of electricity and arrested him for inciting a riot. Kerry then answered some of Meyer’s questions for the audience.
The firestorm of controversy has become very divisive. Some believe that Meyer shouldn’t have disrupted the event by speaking out of turn and should have complied with officers’ orders to stop in the first place. Others believe that the amount of force used to subdue one unarmed person asking questions did not fit the offense, if there even was an offense at all. I side with the latter camp. I saw the video from one angle a few hours after the incident occurred, and it actually made me sick. I had a hard time sleeping that night, and I didn’t feel safe. I knew something had to be done. That’s when I found out about the protests.
It turns out I wasn’t the only one who felt that someone asking questions out of turn should be so violently punished. Yesterday, I joined about 200 other people on UF’s Plaza of the Americas in a march to UFPD headquarters. There we were told that two of the officers involved in the arrest were on paid leave pending an investigation. We asked for complaint forms to voice our concerns as students and members of the public. The police handed out five complaint forms, sparking an outcry from the crowd. They passed out some more, but there weren’t enough for everyone. From there, we decided to regroup at the Plaza of the Americas and then go to the Emerson Alumni Hall, where the president of the university would be giving a press conference. After protesting outside for several minutes, we apparently forced our way in through a side door and staged a sit-in. We were allowed to stay. The leader of the protest was allowed to address the media at the press conference. Meanwhile, the rest of us decided to work out our goals and long-term plans. When members of the press were leaving the press conference, we invited them to talk to us. Nobody asked me anything, though, because I was getting ready to leave. I had to take an exam, and I had already missed one class to be at this event. (Later, I saw video from the sit-in on CNN… well, YouTube, actually, but it was from CNN.)
Yes, I skipped class. It was a hard decision to make. It was a real moral dilemma. Should I be a good student or a good citizen? I e-mailed the professor whose class I missed asking what I missed, but it’s really only to see what he would say. I found out what I missed from two classmates. Meanwhile, the professor hasn’t e-mailed me back. Now I’m under the impression that he really hates me for missing his class. I plan on visiting him during his office hours and clearing the whole thing up. I hope he’ll understand.
At the sit-in, it was agreed that the group would meet in the Plaza of the Americas at noon the next day — today. It was raining, but there were still people there. After some discussion inside a “Free Speech Zone” marked with yellow police tape, we decided to go back to UFPD headquarters and ask for more complaint forms. The cops were very calm about it, and so were we. They gave us all the forms we needed (plus extras to give out to other people), and we filled them out. Apparently, if you’re making a complaint about an arrest, it helps to list some witnesses and their phone numbers. Someone suggested writing John Kerry as a witness, and someone else with an Internet connection on their phone found his phone number.
A reporter from the Gainesville Sun asked me what we aimed to achieve with these forms. I told her that we wanted, among other things, to ensure the reprimanding of more than two of the officers involved in the incident. The off-the-cuff remark about John Kerry being a witness made me realize that as a high-profile senator, he really could throw his weight behind this issue and give it the attention it deserves, so I told the reporter that that, to me, was another goal for the day. It’s not entirely far-fetched of an idea. Kerry had, in fact, issued a statement expressing his disappointment at UFPD for interrupting what he saw was “a healthy discussion.”
After that, the group decided to talk to Accent, the campus organization that hosted the John Kerry forum, about why they turned off Meyer’s microphone. A passerby noted that Accent really wasn’t all that bad and it wasn’t something worth getting too angry about. I forget exactly what he said, but I agreed overall; Accent was just as surprised as anyone by the police violence that occurred. So instead of going to Accent, we went to Turlington Plaza, which has actually in serious contexts been called a “free speech zone,” so we could inform others of the current situation and make plans to meet again. By now, the group had dwindled from 60 or so to about 20. As the rain picked up and the group broke up into several small groups talking about the incident with passersby, I figured that it was okay to leave. I was pretty tired.
A student asked John Kerry some questions when the senator spoke at UF today. Watch what happened next.
Thank UFPD for keeping our public forums safe from people who ask questions.
Tell everyone you know.
Update Mon Sep 17, 2007 22:52 EST (UTC -5): Thanks to Luke for reminding me that today is Constitution Day. Tomorrow I’m going to a protest at noon at UF’s Plaza of the Americas. At 12:30, the protesters will march to UFPD headquarters and demand the student’s charges be dropped.
I’ve never used Skype much. Although I’ve long believed it’s a cool idea for a program, I rarely need to use it. After switching to Linux, I had some qualms about using the Linux version of Skype because it’s not free software (free as in freedom, not necessarily as in price). Nonetheless, I downloaded it anyway, only to confirm that it sucks. Skype has spent almost all of its resources developing the Windows version of its software, leaving the Mac and (especially) the Linux versions in the proverbial dust. However, I continued to use Skype as often as before (that is, hardly ever).
Then, recently, I found out that Skype for Linux reads your password and Firefox profile. It apparently took a while to be noticed because Skype is not free software as per the definition linked to above. Only the Skype developers have access to the source code, so only they can know what the program is programmed to do. If Skype were free software, this breach of privacy would have been uncovered very quickly and fixed by members of the community. And with that, I got rid of Skype and searched for a free (as in freedom) alternative.
I came across WengoPhone, which, unlike Skype, uses the open protocol known as SIP. A WengoPhone user can talk to people using other SIP clients. (Skype users, on the other hand, can only talk to other Skype users due to Skype’s use of its own proprietary protocol.) What I like about WengoPhone as opposed to Ekiga (which I already had on my computer) is that the interface is similar to Skype’s. The program is a little rough around the edges in the way of bugs (I can’t hear the sound that’s supposed to play when you get a call), but overall, it seems like a pretty good alternative to Skype. The sound quality, from what I’ve been able to tell, is worse than Skype’s but a little better than your phone’s. As for calling real phones, Wengo’s rates for the US and Canada are less than half of Skype’s (€0.008/minute vs. €0.017/minute).
One problem I had with Skype is that I really didn’t have anyone to talk to. Let’s make this less of a problem for SIP. WengoPhone is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux (and it should be in the repositories for your Linux distribution). And here’s a list of moreSIP clients. Once you have it set up, give me a call at sip:jordonk27@voip.wengo.fr. I think you should be able to leave me a message if I’m not available.
I’m think my friend Luke is right. Proprietary software really is a crime.
Clairecrowww: Well, I have to do my assignment today. Its a talky-type thing, so I don’t think you could help much… Unless you came to Australia?
Maybe next time we can use SIP!
Clairecrowww: And also: My friend would like to know if the West Coast Eagles will win the grand final. (Its AFL, if you didn’t know)
Reply hazy, try again later.
Also on the privacy front: I’ve reported about the phenomenon of color printers printing Seeing Yellow is a site that has more information about the phenomenon.
All right, I’ll admit it: I wear clothes. Inevitably, those clothes get dirty. Ordinarily, it’s simple to wash them, dry them, and go on your way. But things aren’t very ordinary right now. I’ve been in college for a few weeks, and after taking my laundry back home to be washed, I came to the realization that I’d eventually have to do it myself. The realization came on Saturday when a simple squeeze of a ketchup packet went awry. It went awry on my pants.
After leaving detergent to soak on the stain for a few days, I finally had some time to do some laundry today. I wouldn’t have even known where my dorm’s laundry room was if I hadn’t passed it while exiting the building when the fire alarm went off. When I got there with my laundry, some detergent, and my homework, I realized that I needed quarters. So I had to go all the way back to the dorm for quarters. I left my keys in there, so when I got back to the laundry room, I couldn’t open the door. So I had to go back to my room with all my stuff again. The third time was the charm.
The washers and dryers were pretty simple to use, so that was good. The atmosphere was pretty conducive to doing homework (even though I’m apparently one of the slowest homework-doers in the world). And the ketchup stain on my shorts went away completely. I couldn’t even identify the pair of shorts that had been stained. (I wear jean shorts all the time. I have hundreds or thousands of pairs.) Holy stain-fighting action, Batman! This laundry detergent stuff really works. And that’s why I think doing laundry will be a (mostly) pleasant experience in the future.
Apparently, someone recently noted how nice it is that I never seem to be lonely. I’m an introvert by nature. I like people, but in smaller doses. I like being alone sometimes. I’m not always lonely when I’m alone, and I’m not always alone when I’m lonely. I’ve been feeling somewhat lonely in spite of having people to hang out with. I can be with someone, but it’s not the same as being with someone. I’m in need of a special kind of company, the kind that… oh, I know what you’re thinking. Jordon tried to talk to a girl — again — and she didn’t give him the time of day — again! If that was your guess, you’re correct.
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a good looking guy. The face is “eh” at best. No muscles or anything. Lousy sideburns too. (Do the ladies even dig those?) But what do I give off besides being terribly physically unattractive? Or is it just my luck that every girl I want to get to know better is preoccupied with some other guy? What the hell?
I think of her
But she thinks only of him
And though it’s only a whim
She thinks of him
Darn it, the Beatles, you’ve said it for me again. And with that, I’d like to turn our attention to Thoughts of a crazy RedHead, a blog that consists of the thoughts of a 20-something woman in New York City. I’ve been reading it for a while because it’s interesting to climb into the mind of an average (?) woman, and that’s exactly what blogs allow for. What’s also interesting about this blog is that I’m on “Red”‘s blogroll. That’s how I found out about her blog, in fact. I wonder why she finds my blog interesting when her blogroll is otherwise populated with names like “Charming but Single,” “Persona of a Princess,” “New York Moments,” “Tired of Men,” and “Bridget Jones Has Nothing On Me.” If I had to guess, I’d say that she probably feels the same way about me: that it’s interesting to see the way a high-schooler-turned-college-student-type-guy thinks. I’ve tried e-mailing her, but I’ve gotten no response. Maybe, if she reads this, she can leave a comment here.
Just before midnight last night, as I was going to sleep, the fire alarm went off. Unsure of whether it was a drill, and remembering that you shouldn’t take your stuff with you in the event of a fire, I got out of bed, put on some shoes, and went outside. It was strange standing across the street from my dorm watching the blinking lights inside along with a bunch of other people. I forgot my keys and my cell phone, both of which would probably have been handy to bring. Luckily, I was able to borrow my roommate’s keys so I wouldn’t be locked out when (or if) I went back.
So there I was. The night was cold (in the sense that it wasn’t as warm as it should have been), I was wearing socks with sandals, and I had no phone to tell anyone that my dorm was — possibly — on fire. A police car came, and then a fire truck. Some firefighters walked into the building. For a while I stood nervously, but I didn’t want to do anything else. Mark, who lives in the dorm next door, came around. He mentioned that it would be a good opportunity to go out for a midnight breakfast, but I declined. I wanted to make sure everything would be okay.
Another fire truck came. After about 20 minutes, they exited the building, and we were allowed to go back inside. The door to my room had been unlocked, so I didn’t need my roommate’s keys. I’m not sure whether there was a fire at all; if there was, it must have been minor. A few minutes later, my roommate, Adam, came back into the room. He must have left again, because he said he came back at 4:30 in the morning, and he says that I said to him, “It’s 4:30 in the morning.” I don’t remember that at all.
Since Adam stays up later, he sleeps in later, so when I woke up this morning, I ate breakfast quietly and didn’t do much. I went out for lunch to find that, instead of the usual oppressive heat, it was wet and overcast. Also, there were people picnicking with their cars on the lawn next to the dorm. It took me a moment to realize that oh yes, it was game day — football, of course. Since the game was only on pay-per-view, I listened to it on the radio (thanks to the cable company broadcasting the university’s sports radio station on TV). Florida beat Troy 59-31, so now they’re 2-0 for the season. Next week’s game, against Tennessee, will be at 3:30 on CBS.
This Ask Jordon is brought to you by The World of Stuff.
Peter: What’s the sound of one hand clapping? Bonus points if you know why I asked this question. It’s important.
One hand can’t clap. Take that, Zen dudes with meaningless questions. I really don’t know what would be so important about you asking this question. Maybe you could enlighten me? Ha ha.
Clairecrowww: Could you change the name of your blog to “Bliggity-Blog”? Please? Just for a while.
You mean change the word “Blog” that I put on the home page to replace “The World of Stuff,” which I had considered redundant since the World of Stuff banner is already there? If I did that, then I’d have to change it to “Blob” and “Blag,” and before you know it, I’d be obliged to refer to the Internet as the Intarwubbernettersphereoblogoblagotubes. You don’t want that to happen, do you?
Clairecrowww: Could you do my religeon assignment for me?
What’s it about? Can I create my own religion and then write about it? I would totally do that.
Mark Malkoff bought (and consumed) food or a drink from all 171 Starbucks outlets in Manhattan in less than 24 hours, and he has the video to prove it.
I’ve got a lot of stuff to do: people to see, money to make, y’know what I’m sayin’?
Wed Sep 05, 2007 22:19 (UTC -5)
As I’ve mentioned, adapting to college life has been pretty easy. In fact, almost too easy. I thought it was going to be really angsty and blogworthy like high school, and here I am, disappointed by not being disappointed. I mean, there are tests and things, but that’s pretty much just like high school. If you’re able to keep yourself afloat on your own two feet (two clichés that mix like oil and water), you’ll do fine with your classes (it seems). You just have to make it your priority; that’s why you’re in college, after all. And if you can do that, then you can shift your focus to extracurricular activities. But if you don’t stick your schoolwork, The Beatles can tell you what happens:
Out of college, money spent
See no future, pay no rent
All the money’s gone, nowhere to go
Any jobber got the sack
Monday morning, turning back
Yellow lorry slow, nowhere to go
But then again:
But oh, that magic feeling, nowhere to go
Oh, that magic feeling
Nowhere to go
I have somewhere to go. In fact, I can go wherever I want (within reason or walking distance). That means that college is a lot better than high school when it comes to extracurricular activities. I could never join clubs in high school because I don’t drive, and staying after school would cause me to miss my ride. In college, I call the shots, and I can walk (or take a bus) not only to but also fro. So I’m taking advantage of that opportunity by checking out a few of the hundreds of student organizations on campus. Yesterday, Mark, whose blog I found before I started college here, invited me to check out the hacking club, where they’re apparently going to teach people how to identify vulnerabilities in web servers. It’s not as interesting as I thought it would be, so I don’t think I’ll follow up on that.
Last night, I went to the first meeting of Gator Freethought. It apparently originated as the Atheist, Agnostic, and Freethinking Student Association, and has adopted a new term to match its new ideals. While freethought is usually associated with atheism and agnosticism, Gator Freethought is not necessarily an atheist or agnostic group. Freethought is about rationally analyzing your worldview rather than sticking to dogma that you might not entirely have a feel for. Among the 50 or so people at the meeting, there were not only atheists and agnostics, but also Christians and Jews who wanted to analyze their own beliefs with a rational eye. Some of them will probably keep their current beliefs, and others will change theirs entirely. There were also people at the meeting who didn’t want to identify with any labels. The point of the group is to allow people to think for themselves, discussing and examining their own beliefs and those of others. I enjoyed being in the presence of other atheists and freethinking persons, so I’ll be going to the next meeting.
Today, my friend Amanda told my sister and me about some sort of organ donor club. As an afterthought, I went. The group, as it turns out, is called Get Carded, and the idea is to get people to become card-carrying organ donors. I learned quite a few things at the meeting. Donating organs is a good thing. Well, I knew that. But what I didn’t know is that people buy into myths that make them hesitant to become organ donors, and that’s why there are so few people who aren’t selfish with their organs. I ended up volunteering to man the booth that they’re going to set up outside the stadium at next week’s football game. It’s good to know that I’ll be helping to save lives. Now that I’m 18, I should probably become an organ donor myself.
I’ve been busy going to club meetings, but what else? I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m not exactly the most social guy in the world. I sometimes find it awkward to talk to, say, the opposite sex? I know, it’s really surprising, since you always see bloggers getting chased by ladies. But anyway, going on dates always would have been a problem in high school, because some girls are really shallow and they probably wouldn’t like it if you didn’t have a “whip” (car) of your own. Being driven to a date by your parents is also pretty lame. But now that everyone’s living close together, transportation isn’t really an issue, and I can develop my relationship skills… once I find someone worth developing them with.
Have you heard about Glazastik, Russia’s new Internet hero? Neither had I.
Here’s an 85-minute documentary called Revolution OS. It’s a few years old now, but it’s still an interesting look at Linux and the free software movement from some of the people who brought it about.
For the Labor Day weekend, my sister and I have come home. It sure is different from my dorm at UF’s Hume Hall, but I’m getting used to college life pretty nicely. In fact, I’m surprised at how used I am to it already. Maybe college really will be the time of my life.
Even then, it’s nice to be back home, if only for a few days. Here I have no worries or cares, and my mom can cook for me and do my laundry. What’s not to love? Plus, my friend Nick had a barbecue at his house this afternoon. It was pretty much an indoor barbecue, but we did swim in his pool, which was nice. Later, we went to the beach… at night. It seems that I’ve been to the beach at night more often than during the day. It’s probably true, in fact.
I got here yesterday afternoon, and after a short day (today), I have to leave tomorrow morning. I’m pretty mad about that. I’m also mad because I’m tired, but I don’t want to believe that myself.
Overall, yes. I’m glad that college isn’t so bad, and I’m seeing it as an exciting time to make new friendships and learn valuable life lessons. Next.
ARianna: you have made a “minor scale chart thing” and I was hopeing you had a “major scale chart thing somwhere as well. DO you?
No. Maybe I’ll make one sometime, but I only made the minor one because I couldn’t find a very good one on the web. Finding a major scale chart was easier.
Ashley McGee: Gilligan’s Island was cancelled right before the 4th season was to start. Would the castways have made it off if they knew it was the final show?
I don’t think so. They had all that time to make radios out of coconuts and everything, and there were always exciting visitors who would come for a day or two and then get picked up from the island or something. I think our favorite castaways just wanted to stay on the island to protect their staid, secure selves from the sociopolitical upheaval that was occurring in the United States from 1964-1967. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.