Private School Censorship

This week really isn't working out for me. Not only did NI shaft me but I've had to take cold showers for the past two days since I haven't had hot water. And you thought your life sucked. I think I did pretty well on my CC 303 test this morning though, at least. How far should a school be allowed to go to protect its students? One New Jersey private school has gone so far as to forbid its students from having personal blogs or MySpace accounts, or else face suspension. If I was at that school I'd organize a mass protest and have everyone create blogs so that the whole school could be suspended all at once. That's like if your professor went home with you for the weekend and said, "No, you're not going to party because you may not be safe." You'd probably smack him and keep chugging booze, I hope. I almost feel outraged for them (or maybe it's because the Astros lost) because this is a clear-cut violation of the 1st amendments and though some rights are waived in a school environment this is outside the classroom. What kind of country do we live in where students can't share their thoughts and ideas? I fear for the future if this continues, because while most people do write stupid b.s. in their blogs the fact that you're limiting their creative outlet is a big deal. You can't uninvent technology, so don't try to shun it.

It turns out that the NES is exactly one year older than me, and to celebrate 1up.com is hosting articles all week long to honor the console that started it all. My personal favorite is the top 15 games, and I've actually played (or own) about half of them. It's a little long, but if you want to read a great lecture about the harm of using Visual Studio to program then you should definitely read this. He brings up a lot of great points and really makes Microsoft look like it doesn't know what it's doing at all (I think they're just misguided). They certainly weren't stupid enough to pass up a chance to take on Google by allying with Yahoo for their book digitizing project. Oh, how the plot thickens. Lastly, if Linux installations sounds too complicated to you then you should look into Slackware, which sounds like it makes the whole process really easy.



Why am I posting a picture with Kristin Kreuk? Because I can. This clip makes Thursday's episode sound kind of interesting. If that has whetted your appetite for horror, then check out the trailer for Hostel that even has me wanting to see it. If you're still more excited about Saw II though, there are plenty of clips out there to get you pumped for this weekend. Lastly, if you're wondering how James Bond became the stud that we know and love today then you'll be happy to know that Casino Royale plans to touch on this through an intimate relationship with a special lady. Let's hope they don't fumble around with it.

Don't deny it, you know you want the Wednesday Mind Hump:

1. Got any plans for this year's Halloween? Dressing up? Going to a spooky party? Taking the kids out trick or treating? Tell us your plans!
I'm going to be Death (I got a black mask to cover my face and a sickle and everything) and I'm just going to crash some parties. I've only been invited to one so far, but hopefully I'll indirectly get into a few others. I'll also help out at Longhorn Halloween on Sunday and Trick-or-Treat for Unicef on Monday.

2. What's the funniest or craziest costume you've ever worn for Halloween? If you can't remember what you wore, you can tell us about a costume you saw someone else wear.
My costumes have sucked until know. I just put on a black mask (kind of like a gas mask) and wielded a toy machine gun. Costumes just weren't as important to me when I was younger.

3. What's your favorite scary movie?
I don't know, I guess The Shining.

4. What's your favorite kind of candy?
Now that's tough, but I guess I'll go with Snickers.