Tag Archives: attitude

Buy yourself a Personality: MacBook

September 4, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

Associative Qualities of the Mac Culture

Buy Yourself a Personality: MacBook

In my little opinion, Macbooks are not much superior to Windows and/or Linux based computing systems. The price of a Macbook can range anywhere from the $1300-$2500 and they are only optimized for their performance in memory intensive usages such as audio recording/editing and video rendering. If you are even doing Photoshop image manipulations, and you are not working with RAW files, then you do not necessarily need a MacBook. If you are reading this, and don’t even know what Final Cut, Compressor, Avid, Motion 4, Pro Tools, then you are one of those people that I like to call ‘Buying a personality’.

Cool & Trendy Factor
There is some statistic that states that out of the Personal Computing market, Apple has like less than 5% of the market share; so having a MacBook will automatically make you stand out from the pack; combine with Apple’s sleek and stylish design, people will gravitate and ask you asinine questions about your MacBook. Which essentially forces the individual to become a ‘Mac Ambassador’; someone that can give advice and their opinion about their Mac experience – and resoundingly enough it will bend toward the positive. Thus, when people become the Mac Ambassador they are embracing and becoming one with the ‘Mac Culture’; which can be defined as a free-spirited, creative, liberal, defying convention, eager individual – whom values his/her individuality from conformity (conformity being Windows culture). Those qualities will then be expressed in their clothing and swag; which is perfectly captured in the popular ‘”I’m a Mac, he’s a PC” ads.

Now, this isn’t ‘Mac resentment’ or ‘hate’; the Apple OS is a unique user experience that in my opinion is slightly better than Windows, but the cost differential is not worth it if you plan on using iMovie or iLife, or watching video on YouTube. You have to give Apple some props though, they have done a creative maeouver in giving the perception that when you buy a MacBook – which is essentially a plethora of computer parts made by other manufacturers (just like Windows machines) – you are not only being a computer, but you are buying a lifestyle. And that ‘lifestyle’ is priceless.

.:: LiBM ::.

Logic, Social, Work

tan(011) – My Intuition parks bad on the streets, sickly

July 31, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

tan(011) – Against your Intuition, Street Parking, Sick from Work

NOT to go off on a Tangent, but …

Preamble: Without the venting of frustrations, one is destined to be a very hot pressure cooker, so let the steam go!

Against Intuition
This is a rant against myself. Against my fault for having too much faith in other people and their abilities to fulfill an order. The ordeal happened when I was renting some audio equipment for a friend’s going away party, and to make a long story short, I rented speakers and speaker cables from a local audio rental store that will go unnamed; but the customer service rep gave me incorrect speaker cables – rendering the speakers useless. Now when placing the order, I suspected that the customer service guy was a bit new and somewhat inexperienced; and at this store, it is a requirement that you know your stuff, very well. Preamble, I have rented from this store numerous of times in the past though; with no bad experiences, they have always given me the right pieces of equipment and necessary cords (I never had to check before I left the store). However this time, because of the inexperienced and uncertainty vibe that I was picking from the CSR, I wanted to do a physical check of the equipment, but I was reluctant to do so. I think my rationale for NOT checking was that if I persisted to check, that action may have been insulting to the CSR; so I was kind of being sensitive to his feelings. But, after having to drive across town and back to pick up PROPER speaker cable from my house, I will be LESS sensitive in the future

Street Parking
Pretty simple concept: if you are going to park on the street, and clearly there is enough room for two cars to park, park APPROPRIATELY. That means, consider other cars that may want to park; so that means, don’t park in the middle of the space so that only your car can fit – instead move up a bit and park so that another car can park behind you. Simple concept, yet some people have no consideration for others and will park selfishly so that no others can use the parking space. Let’s be aware people, you mofo’s aren’t the only ones out there; let’s have some thought for others. And not to digress, but this is also a gross act of laziness – especially when your girlfriend is to friggin lazy to move the car up a bit so that you can park behind her. Instead, you have to go park across the street in a private lot that is subject to parking tickets and towing … and she has the nerve to call me ‘selfish’, hopefully she isn’t living in a glass house, lol.

Sick for a Day
I hate it when you are sick for a day, and one of your fellow employees goes to your workstation to ‘see what work needs to be done’, and they completely reorganize your stuff. It’s a simple concept dumb mofo’s; leave things the way you found it. Don’t change the position of the phone, don’t move papers around to different locations, put it back the way you found it. You are not doing anyone a favor by moving stuff around dummy. Lame dummy.

Logic, Love, Social, Work

tan(010) – Importance to women is a hard route to MapQuest

July 17, 2009 d dot b 2 Comments

Super Tangent(010)

Night out with friends, prep your route, importance, workplace exit cues

Preamble: Ahhhhhh, feels good to get writing these tangents again – its not that nothing hasn’t been pissing me off (there is never a dry spell of that), just been busy focusing on more topic related posts. There is a correlation I think between tangents/rants (pent up anger and frustration) to producing great content; whether it is art, writing, sports, or singing – frustration seems to affect performance (for some), well for me, looks like it is positvely correlated. So, haters, busters, chumps, pricks, hacks, and lames – keep doing your thing!

Night Out with Friends

Maybe it’s the anti-social nature in me, or maybe it is the years of experience waiting for people, picking up people, people not being ready when they said they will be – but I do not really enjoy the process that preceds going out to the club/lounge with friends. I know there are some folks that bask and really like this stage of going out; but I repel it, try to avoid it as much as possible. My usual experiences usually goes like this: friends get the ‘cheap-bug’ and want me to drive, they are reluctant to pitch in on gas & parking, and then there is the waiting part (see my various posts on ‘time’ to understand that). Recently I have tried to bypass all of the elements that annoy me of the club process by telling my friends that I will meet them at the venue – but somehow that never pans out as expected. Maybe, just maybe, in the future I will pronounce that I will not attend, and then magically appear – thus saving my time, money, and sanity.

Preparing Your Route

Maybe its one of those weird logical things that only make logical sense, but if I were going to an address that I don’t know – I will not ask directions from other people; as usually these directions go somewhat like “turn left after 2 lights, the 4th street turn right, after you see the school go for 2 more blocks then turn left”, and so on. More times than not in those situations, a key count of a light or street is overlooked, which leads to one getting lost. So to avoid those situations, one should search out the directions on Google Maps or MapQuest so that they can print out or write the directions – especially if you have days/weeks advance notice in knowing that you have to be at this specific location. It baffles me that some people who use web communications daily, do not rely on the web to solve a simple problem such as directions. People need to be self-reliant in solving life’s simplest problems, don’t rely on others solving your issues that you could’ve easily solved yourself with a little effort and time management. Step your game up!

Measuring Importance

Women have a hard time in understanding. Period. Wait, that was too ‘black & white’, maybe not ‘period’, because women have no problemo in understanding what is important to them – but lord help you for women trying to UNDERSTAND anything that DOES NOT relate or affect them (ooh, isn’t that ‘selfish’, lol). That is like trying to explain color to a man that was born blind, teaching a dog to speak several human languages, understanding the meaning of life – it is damn near impossible and will take years to accomplish. I don’t think there is more need to elaborate other than that women usually have a tendency (yes, strong stereotypes are being used) to only have concern for themselves, and to f— everything else, everyone, and there desires. So fellas, as I have said many times in tweets, posts, in relationships it seems that you got to sit on your knees, cup your genitals, give up your independence, brain, and pride to your woman – if you truly want to make her happy … (that was sarcasm). Stand up fellas, don’t let these birds peck at you; if you had fear before, get some courage you cowardly Lion – stand up.

Workplace Body Language Cues

This is for all those in the work environment, I am sure you have experienced a million times already. I can’t stand when people don’t pick up on body language cues that I drop, that indicate that: a) I don’t care to sit and ‘chit chat’, b) I have lost interest in the conversation, or c) I really don’t give a f— in engaging in this mindless dialogue. I usually drop cues such as backing away from them, turning my body away from them, begin typing on my workstation again – but it usually doesn’t work as they still talk; talking about what they did last weekend, what they will do this weekend, about the boss, blah blah blah blah. I have to blame myself for this, I have to rant on my behavior because I am a very good attentive listener. I give good attention cues such as nodding head, saying stuff like “oh really?”, “wow”, “ok”, “that’s good”, and so on. Essentially, I may be motivating them to talk more as they are picking up on my verbal responsive cues, and may be ignoring or not even noticing my body language cues … and they say that “Body Language speaks louder than Verbal Language”, well, not in the workplace environment, at least not for me.

.:: LiBM ::.

Health

Lucid Dreaming

July 16, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

Lucid Dreams

Influencing your dreams

Ever had that feeling that you were dreaming but still aware of what was going on? Almost as if you were cognitively aware that you were in a dream? You may have experienced a lucid dream; which is a dream that the sleeper is aware that he or she is dreaming. When the dreamer is lucid, he or she can actively participate in and often manipulate the imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can seem extremely real and vivid depending on a person’s level of self-awareness during the lucid dream. Recently, there have been an interest to deliberate lucid dream; so that people can get an insight into their own unconscious forces at work. However, for one to truly be a ‘pro’ at lucid dreaming, it is said that people should practice picking up ‘dream signs’, such as:

Action — The dreamer, another dream character, or a thing does something unusual or impossible in waking life, such as flying, jumping or running great distances, walking through walls, teleporting/changing the dream setting, or noticing photographs in a magazine or newspaper becoming three-dimensional with full movement.
Powerlessness — There is a sensational loss of bodily strength. This can mean being unable to move entirely, simply that you are unable to run away from something you otherwise would. This can also include a loss of senses, such as severely limited vision or hearing.
Context — The place or situation in the dream is strange and includes fictional characters or places.
Form — The dreamer, another character, or an object changes shape, is oddly formed, or transforms. This may include the presence of unusual clothing or hair, or a third person view of the dreamer.
Awareness — There is a peculiar thought, a strong emotion, an unusual sensation, a loss of normal logic, or an altered perception. In some cases when moving one’s head from side to side, one may notice a strange stuttering or ‘strobing’ of the image.
Clocks — The dreamer looks at a clock or watch, looks away, then looks back, and the time could have changed, unintelligible symbols appear on the watch face or even the watch can be gone all together.
Fingers — The dreamer seems to have an abnormal number of fingers (e.g. more than 5 on a hand).

One can build up a habit of periodically asking oneself throughout the day if you are dreaming, and performing some of the tasks above. This habit will eventually cause checks to be performed during a dream, leading to lucidity when dream signs are remembered and recognized. And then hopefully you will be able to answer some of those questions that bug you throughout the day

.:: LiBM ::.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream

Family, Health, Logic, Love

Satisfaction vs Fun

July 3, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

Satisfaction vs. Fun

A physiological difference of sorts

When talking about motivation and the rewards of motivation, I think it falls in one of two categories: satisfaction and fun. They sound similar, but are not the same. Satisfaction can be defined as contentment; which is a state of being at ease in one’s situation – physiologically, there are not major changes in the immune system when one is exeriencing a ‘satisfying’ moment. However ‘fun’ produces an adrenaline rush that causes blood to flow all throughout the body and excites our senses. With ‘fun’ there is a stage of intense stimulation followed by an exhaustion period. To highlight the difference, I have created the following examples:

Satisfaction

Gardening

– dealing with the allergies, weeds, animals eating your flowers and vegetables is not a pleasurable experience, but I can see that the end result of the hard work of gardening can be rewarding

Home Renovations

– besides the fact that you may suffer some injuries or may staple some part of your appendages to a wall, the reward of doing your own home renovations is the increased value of your property and the feelings of accomplishment and success

Cooking

– there is a fine art to cooking; the boiling, the seasoning, steaming of a dish can be very theraupetic after a stressful day – and the reception of compliments and accolades of a meal well prepared can be very fulfilling (pun intended)

Kids

– the thousands of dollars they cost, the stress and anxiety, the endless cleaning up after their mess isn’t that much ‘fun’, but kids do bring out a rewarding factor to parents; as parents can witness the growth and evolution of their offspring right in front of their eyes.

Working Out

– the changing of your clothes, dealing with people who think its cool to walk around nude in changerooms, and the sweat and intensity involved doesn’t make working out at the gym fun, but the improved immune system functioning (cardiovascular, lower blood pressure/cholesteorel), weight loss, and muscle growth make it all rewarding.

Fun

Sports

– the rush of hitting the jump shot, tackling the running back, or beating a defender provides an adrenaline rush that not much other experiences can provide.

Gentleman’s clubs

– self-explanatory, I guess if one can’t understand this, then the ‘hands-on’ approach is necessary (pun intended – in some states and provinces only)

Romance

– See last explanation
Shopping (for women)

– beats me!!! I have no rational explanation

.:: LiBM ::.

Family, Logic, Love, Popular Culture, Social

Mr. Nice Guy S.E.T.

June 16, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

Favor for a Favor

The Social Exchange Theory of Humanity

It is refreshing to see Bill and Melinda Gates giving millions of dollars to education and anti-poverty programs across the world, of course, Bill Gates is a billionaire after founding the Microsoft corporation in the 80’s, and is now focusing much of his attention to philanthropy causes. In a sense, one can say that Bill is being very altruistic as he is helping others without any concern for himself; or how he may profit off of his good deeds and actions. Not many people are altruistic – as many people may help, but they want something in return; whether it is recognition, accolades, or a future reward. With this definition, corporations that give back to communities/charities do so with motivations that focus on future rewards from government and businesses. Instinctively, humans operate on a Social Exchange Theory, which is to say that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives, it is a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. What motivates one to do something for others is really what they expect to benefit from the process.

Some take pleasure in simply helping others

Some help others to appease others and to avoid a future threat

Some help others to increase their status to others

Some help others to elicit a similar/greater favor from such individual in the future

So based on these premises, I can’t understand how women time and time again will say “Oh, he is just a nice guy”, “he does that for me all the time”, “oh no, he doesn’t want anything in return”. I laugh at these women; as they are either really stupid, really clever, or lie somewhere in the abyss (in the middle). Don’t get me wrong, in any relationship (friendship, love, familial) there has to exist some cost/benefit exchange for the relationship to flourish; and both parties must feel that the exchanges and rewards are mutual/similar in intensity – or one party will feel ‘slighted’, and will develop the thought that they are being ‘used’. That’s why (regrettingly) we men must go to the girly type activities with our girlfriends; just as they must put up with our sports watching, athletic building, video game playing habits.

So just remember that the Social Exchange Theory really governs and regulates our behaviors and actions towards others. Since I don’t think that much of the people in the 15-34 demographic have much altruistic attitudes …

.:: LiBM ::.

Cre8ive Abstract, Entertainment, Hip-Hop, politics, Popular Culture, Social, Technology

Great CD Artwork

June 10, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

CD’s tangibility

Great CD artwork

The Audio CD will soon be replaced by digital downloads (iTunes, Napster) or by credit card sized items that act as a prepaid phone card; go online, scratch the back of the card, and download the album to your digital music player of choice. These steps are inevitable as the Internet age has made the physical CD obsolete as the medium’s message has changed, digitally speaking – the audio digital music device is the message (iPod, Zune), no longer the CD. One thing that will be missed from the tangible feeling of CD’s is the album artwork – which in the past few years have made a resurgence as record labels look frantically for ways to hold onto the traditional model. I am sure we all can recall a time when one of the best part of buying a CD was ripping the plastic, and opening the album artwork to see the credit, the pictures, lyrics, etc. That was a personal feeling and connection between the purchaser and the artist; which gave the CD far more relevance than the audio on the optical disk could ever have. Enough about that, here are some classic album artwork, all the way from the vinyl to the plastic:

Michael Jackson – Dangerous

Smashing Pumpkins: Zeitgeist

Kool & the Gang – Still Cool

Radiohead – Hail to the Thief

Van Halen – 1984

Kanye West – Graduation

I will miss this aspect of the music experience – as the last CD I recall buying was Kanye’s Graduation … even thought the iPod’s Cover Flow is cool, it just can’t ‘touch’ the affect of a physical CD.

.:: LiBM ::.

Logic, Media, politics, Social

Abstracted Fear

June 9, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

Priming Fear

How we interpret ‘fear’

Fear is an emotional response to threats and danger. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of pain. Fear can be described with different terms in relation to the degree of fear that is experienced. It varies from mild caution to extreme phobia and paranoia. Fear is related to a number of additional cognitive and emotional states including worry, anxiety, terror, horror, panic, and dread. As an individual emotional state, fear can affect the unconscious mind, where it can become manifested in the form of nightmares. Fear may also be experienced within a larger group or social network. In this way, personal fears are compounded by social influence to become mass hysteria – exactly what the media does. So I thought it would be fitting to show some several emotions and feelings that produce fear and how the media uses these tactics to deliver news:

Loneliness

by lonelypierot

Life seems to be about connections and relationships with family, friends, co-workers, lovers. The media does a good job of promoting this basic human ‘need’ of ‘not being lonely’ – with relationship studies, tips, and tricks.

Aggression

by Uribaani

Always makes for a good news stories; news channels love showing protestors clashing with police, protestors getting arrested, throwing rocks – makes the protestors seem like the only way they can vent their frustration is through angry methods.

Uncertainty

by Silvair

Lou Dobbs is classic for this, he will say something like “China just increase their defense budget by X amount of dollars”, and then questions their motive for doing such – creating uncertainty in the mind of the viewer of what China may be planning to do. When news channels report stories that seem to be very vague, they are almost doing it so the viewer can piece together the ‘implied correlation’, they create casual dots that force the viewer to draw the connections.

Conspiracy

by b0nkers
News channels always love a good conspiracy story because it allows the viewers imagination to run wild. Imagine, just saying “talks were held between government officials from Iran and North Korea”, the automatic response thought turns to negative thoughts of weapons of mass destruction – when it could be trade.

Only through education, enlightenment, and empowerment can we see through the ‘fear’ and face reality.

.:: LiBM ::.

Cre8ive Abstract, Logic, Social

Hypervigilant creative people

May 12, 2009 d dot b Leave a comment

Hypervigilance

a hinderance or an accelerant?

To all blend DJ’s, abstract artists, digital designers, application program developers, fiction writers, and like-minded individuals; hypervigilance, which you may interpret as paranoia, needs to be realized, channeled, and understood appropriately for your forward momentum. Growing up, I am sure we can all recall those kids that were weird, dressed funny, socially were out of place, but they excelled in the arts; paintings, drawings, molding, et cetera. A possible reason for this is having hypervigilance, which can be described as “an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Hypervigilance is also accompanied by a state of increased anxiety which can cause exhaustion. Other symptoms include: abnormally increased arousal, a high responsiveness to stimuli and a constant scanning of the environment for threats”. So in the structural definition, a hypervigilant person can be likened to one who is very paranoid about themselves, their surroundings, and exaggerate subtle environment cues as threats to their own safety.

Causality to the Creative

So if this sounds like you, don’t worry, its even better if you are somewhat creative as researchers have correlated links between hypervigilant people and creativity, a study in the September 2003 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that the brains of creative people appear to be more open to incoming stimuli from the surrounding environment. A University of Toronto press release noted, “Other people’s brains might shut out this same information through a process called ‘latent inhibition’ – defined as an animal’s unconscious capacity to ignore stimuli that experience has shown are irrelevant to its needs. “Through psychological testing, the researchers showed that creative individuals are much more likely to have low levels of latent inhibition. “This means that creative individuals remain in contact with the extra information constantly streaming in from the environment,” says co-author and University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson.

Benefit for you

It appears that reduced latent inhibition can be beneficial for creativity as decreased latent inhibition may make an individual more likely to see connections that others may not notice. This may explain why so many creative individuals partake in solitary acts; it fosters inspiration and creativity by absorbing environmental stimuli. Or how you may have some friends that will comment and be able to talk about the strangest and peculiar details of life. However, with all this sensory stimulation, one can be overwhelmed – which in some cases, can lead one to madness. But interestingly enough, Einstein, Newton, and other creative individuals that have enhanced mankind were labeled as ‘genius’, but many said that they bordered on the line of madness and insanity. Many times, I always thought I was a genius or maybe I was just crazy … I am sure many of the hypervigilant folk can relate.

And now, onto the creative art

Sources:
http://highlysensitive.org/highly-sensitive-people-latent-inhibition-and-creativity/
http://your-austin-dwi.com

Life in B Major

Tag Archives: attitude

Lucid Dreaming

Lucid Dreams

Satisfaction vs Fun

Satisfaction vs. Fun

Satisfaction

Fun

Producer of Things

Associative Qualities of the Mac Culture

tan(011) – Against your Intuition, Street Parking, Sick from Work

NOT to go off on a Tangent, but …

Super Tangent(010)

Night Out with Friends

Preparing Your Route

Measuring Importance

Workplace Body Language Cues

Lucid Dreams

Satisfaction vs. Fun

Satisfaction

Fun

Buy Yourself a Personality

Favor for a Favor

Some take pleasure in simply helping others

Some help others to appease others and to avoid a future threat

Some help others to increase their status to others

Some help others to elicit a similar/greater favor from such individual in the future

CD’s tangibility

Priming Fear

Loneliness

Aggression

Uncertainty

Conspiracy

Sports Role Models

A model is to an example as …

Jerry Rice is to Michael Vick

Michael Jordan is to Charles Barkley

Emmitt Smith is to Terrell Owens Designed by: dzmond

Designed by: kelmo

Muhammad Ali is to Mike Tyson

Hypervigilance

Causality to the Creative

Benefit for you

Producer of Things

Emmitt Smith is to Terrell Owens
Designed by: dzmond