Chrome OS and Bylaws

Today I had a pretty exciting day. As most of you should know, Google Chrome OS's source has been released today. Surprise! I am actually going to go and build the code momentarily. I'll post some pics of the sweetness asap.
In other news, the crew (Crew 226 Group) has been seriously adding amendments to the crew bylaws. I am planning on fixing them up, and having an online version to work on while at Venturing. The current version will be available for download. I can't wait to actively participate in law. This is going to be fun.

The Hacker Manifesto

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The following was written shortly after my arrest...

                       \/\The Conscience of a Hacker/\/

                                      by

                               +++The Mentor+++

                          Written on January 8, 1986
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        Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers.  "Teenager
Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...
        Damn kids.  They're all alike.

        But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain,
ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker?  Did you ever wonder what
made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
        I am a hacker, enter my world...
        Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of
the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...
        Damn underachiever.  They're all alike.

        I'm in junior high or high school.  I've listened to teachers explain
for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction.  I understand it.  "No, Ms.
Smith, I didn't show my work.  I did it in my head..."
        Damn kid.  Probably copied it.  They're all alike.

        I made a discovery today.  I found a computer.  Wait a second, this is
cool.  It does what I want it to.  If it makes a mistake, it's because I
screwed it up.  Not because it doesn't like me...
                Or feels threatened by me...
                Or thinks I'm a smart ass...
                Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...
        Damn kid.  All he does is play games.  They're all alike.

        And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through
the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is
sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is
found.
        "This is it... this is where I belong..."
        I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to
them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...
        Damn kid.  Tying up the phone line again.  They're all alike...

        You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at
school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless.  We've been dominated by sadists, or
ignored by the apathetic.  The few that had something to teach found us will-
ing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

        This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the
beauty of the baud.  We make use of a service already existing without paying
for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and
you call us criminals.  We explore... and you call us criminals.  We seek
after knowledge... and you call us criminals.  We exist without skin color,
without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals.
You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us
and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.

        Yes, I am a criminal.  My crime is that of curiosity.  My crime is
that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like.
My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me
for.

        I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto.  You may stop this individual,
but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.

                               +++The Mentor+++
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Stereotyping in School

Today we had a spirit day for the games that go on on Fridays. It happened to be "nerd" day. So, everyone dressed in their taped-up HUGE glasses, suspenders, wore their really long socks and whatnot. Now, if you know me at all, then you know that I am a hacker, and proud of it. Hackers are the cool nerds that help people and look really flipping good doing it. Our culture evolved from the so-called "nerds" that everyone brought back from the dead (I mean the 80's). We invented your Internet, your Facebook, your MySpace and your addiction to texting. We are innovating the future. I am tired of it and we deserve the respect due to us.
Questions? Am I wrong? Comment!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blog Action Day '09-Climate Change

In honor of Blog Action Day, I will finally stay true to my description of the blog and post some hackerly ways of saving energy and the planet.

• Google Desktop and Energy Saver

This great little app shuts down your computer when it's not in use. It also tells you in how many gallons of gas the power you saved.

I would love to see more than 1000 users of this app!

• A Power Strip

Ahhh, the great power strip. Commander of energy usage, and conquerer of those who do not obey. That's right. a power strip gives you even more control over your computer and the energy it uses. 

• Solar-Wind Cell phone charger http://www.gizmag.com/hymini-portable-charger-solar-wind-power/9122/

Now this is just cool. This uses the sun and or the wind to charge your cell phone. The best part is, you don't pay a cent for that power.

That should get anyone started on being green for life.

My 25 Things...redux

Here are 25 things that most people probably didn't know about me.

1. I sometimes get strange premonitions about what people are going to say or do. They also have the odd ability to be correct about 40 to 60 percent of the time.
2. I was the Most Philosophical Kid in America 2004 when in fourth grade.
3. For a while, I used to see my best friends and family dying in terrible ways depending on what was going on in the environment at that time.
4. I am extraordinarily fast and strong for my weight.
5. I am also good at street fighting.
6. Having anything sticky on me makes me extraordinarily uncomfortable.
7. When I am staring out into space, (as some of you may have noticed,) I am either thinking about what to do next, fantasizing about something, or actually thinking about nothing at all.
8. I find it very hard to not comment about what is being said or done.
9. Having to do something where there is no progress being made makes me furious.
10. I sometimes have urges to polish things.
11. I have beaten quite a few adults at Battleship.
12. I am quite skilled at thinking in objects, not in words.
13. I am neither a right brained nor left brained thinker. I have the skill of both.
14. My strongest arm is actually my left arm.
15. I am an excellent artist, but I cannot draw a person for the life of me.
16. I have an extremely large collection of Nerf guns.
17. I am very insecure about having a girlfriend. I cannot force myself to ask someone out.
18. I am surprised about what people think of me. I really am modest.
19. I come from a family where each person over-excretes something. I over-excrete bodily fluids. This is why I have uncontrollable acne.
20. I am good at many sports, but don't play them because nobody lets me play.
21. I calm down and get more focused when I ingest caffeine.
22. Contrary to popular belief, I am from Brunswick. I do not come from a Latino country.
23. I am bad at remembering names.
24. My worst fear is fear itself- I am afraid of being afraid. This equates to fear of things that are designed to scare you.
25. I sometimes walk somewhere, and forget what I was doing because I was thinking about something so much.

Vortex. How Browsers could be.

Today I finished version one of my hobby browser, Vortex.
Big, fat hairy deal, right?

Wrong.
I designed Vortex to be simple to use, and really customizable. Okay, maybe not Firefox customizable, but you can move the toolbars to wherever you wish. It also has an integrated bookmarking system and tabbed browsing. I haven't gotten any aesthetics done yet, but they will be done, don't you worry.

If it becomes too much of a problem for me to handle by myself, I have made it open source. this means that you can look at the code in it- I have nothing to hide.

Go get it at Vortex Home. And don't forget to give me feedback!