Category: Outside the Box

Non-mainstream thoughts and musings

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I’m A Lousy Supervillain

I’m a really lousy supervillain.

No really, I am. I haven’t taken over a single country. Not even a city. I haven’t robbed any banks, and I haven’t defeated any self-righteous heroes with orphan complexes. My minions are more interested in Korean soap operas and Barbies than doing my dark bidding. I still don’t have any orbiting laser satellites or nuclear bombs.

So what’s a supervillain to do? My grandiose plans for World Domination just aren’t coming to fruition. Every day that I don’t achieve some new feat, I feel like a failure.

But I’ve come to realize, these are lies I tell myself.

The truth is, I’ve accomplished quite a bit, according to anybody’s standards. Nothing that would make the ten-o’clock news, but still, I’d like to think I’m more than just a regular guy with no ambition. I’ve actually got some things to show for my work. But the danger comes when I tie my self-worth into what I’ve done, and not who I am.

What makes me valuable as a person? Continue reading “I’m A Lousy Supervillain”

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Trust In the Lord

This post is probably one of the hardest I’ve ever had to write. I’ve been thinking about it, off and on, for 9 months.

I’ve got plenty of family and friends who care about me, but wholeheartedly reject my religion. I’m going on record saying that I can care about somebody and disagree with their lifestyle, opinions and choices. I think there’s much more to a person than who they want to sleep with, what substances they use, or what religion they follow. But people are selfish and narcissistic, and sometimes it’s easier for them to just shout “Prejudice! Bigotry!” than actually dealing with the issue. If you really believe in accepting the person as a whole, then you need to read this entire post. I just pray that if you disagree, you can disagree without hate, because I wrote this without any malice or hate. It’s just a simple observation, nothing more. Continue reading “Trust In the Lord”

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Adrenalinn III Review: Part 1

This will cover the Adrenalinn III effects pedal, by Roger Linn designs. Since there’s so much to this thing, I’m going to break it up into sections. The first thing we’re going to look at is the built-in amp models.

Not only does this pedal have 40 different amp sounds (including bass amps), each one has (3) tone controls, plus drive and a drive “boost” control, so you can actually get a lot more than 40 sounds out of it. When you add in different pickup configurations, you can get almost unlimited tones out of it.

Here’s the list of amps (the RLD ones are from Roger Linn Design, not modeled off of a specific amp): Continue reading “Adrenalinn III Review: Part 1”

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7 Reasons Why I Think Supervillains Are Cool

Why do I think supervillains are cool? It’s not because they’re evil. It’s not because they’re rich (although that doesn’t hurt). It’s not even because they’re people I necessarily want to emulate. I’m not a psychopath, and I don’t really like hurting people.

The hero never really comes into their stride until they have a worthy nemesis. I always enjoy watching a good supervillain, because I know the battle they bring is going to be epic. After a while, I started to notice that the really good villains have a lot in common, and I got to thinking about why they’re so cool, even if they’re bad. Why then am I so obsessed with supervillains? Because you can learn a few things from them, even if you don’t subscribe to their philosophy of World Domination©.

So without further ado, here’s my list of 7 things I think are cool about Supervillains that most heroes don’t have. Continue reading “7 Reasons Why I Think Supervillains Are Cool”

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A Modern Psalm

I was sitting at work, building time standards. And I just felt the need to worship. I’m sitting there, cutting and pasting stuff, and I’m listening to P&W and I’m worshipping… just waves of grief and remorse and joy and longing and thankfulness washing over me.

I’m so unworthy. My heart is restless.

“Your grace is enough…. Your grace is enough for me….” If only I could get that to sink into my head. Continue reading “A Modern Psalm”

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Good Guys May Not Always Finish Last

One of my loyal readers (thanks, Neil! I owe you one!) pointed out my article on Installing Adobe Air for Linux was pulled from Google’s search results due to a bulk-written DMCA complaint from Adobe, Inc.

Well. Isn’t that interesting.

As it turns out, I did a little Googling (ironic, isn’t it??) and stumbled across instructions for filing a counter-notice, and disputing the claim. Of course, anyone who reads the blog knows I only host open-source or self-published content, and I would never think of hosting files owned by Adobe without their permission.

If they had actually taken the time to read the post, they’d have known this, but as so often happens in large companies, stuff gets shuffled into a stack of bulk requests, never to see the light of day again.

I’m still working on some posts, but it will take some time for me to finish them. Hopefully, you’ll think they’re worth the wait!

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The “Evils” Of Advertising

If you’ve followed my blog or known me for any length of time, you probably know that I’m not a huge fan of advertising in general. And sadly, in our day and age, there is more advertising than we can reasonably cope with on a daily basis. But is advertising itself evil?

Advertising, in all its forms, is a tool… it’s not a person with evil motives. You can’t punch advertising in the face (as much as I wish I could!) In the end, it’s a product of the companies that spend money on it. And companies, as much as I despise their operating methods, aren’t people either (in spite of the government’s attempts to make them so). And neither is the government, for that matter.

For all intents and purposes, non-people entities usually have a singular focus: survival. Much like a panther that kills a Bald Eagle for food, they don’t necessarily care what rules they break to keep money coming in. Companies and governments are creatures that are sustained by money, and if the money dries up, they die.

If you were in a place where you had to break the law or do something unethical to survive, I have no doubts you’d do it. The instinct for survival is very deeply rooted in life itself, and the mechanism has been carried over into companies, lock stock and barrel. They will do whatever they think they can get away with to survive, because money is the lifeblood of the modern world.

The question we should be asking ourselves is “what can we do to put ourselves in a place where advertising works for us instead of against us?” Continue reading “The “Evils” Of Advertising”