Monthly Archives: February 2003

Autolevels

Saturday, February 22, 2003

If you use PhotoShop or similar software, you can adjust the levels on photos. Because modern digital cameras have a great deal of sensitivity, even when a picture appears extremely dark, it may still have excellent detail embedded in it.

Please consider correcting the levels on photos you send BME before submitting them — the below example was done using the “auto levels” feature in PhotoShop, so I didn't even have to think to make it happen (just a single menu click):

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Morning

Saturday, February 22, 2003

I'm off do do another image update this morning; until then here's a quick news blurb…

Rumsfield's about to blow while the economy continues to crash. Bush announces that Iraq will be a “model of democracy” (model, as in a small copy that doesn't actually work and eventually gets thrown out — I mean, can one seriously expect the guy who helped destroy democracy in America to institute it in a nation that doesn't even understand its basic concepts?) under full US control… and that it will of course be run by a US citizen.

The experts on the other hand predict chaos and violence, and the Saudis have proposed an Islamic occupation which could convert Iraq into a terrorist nation that actually does pose a threat to US citizens.

The US has just surrendered to North Korea's demands, illustrating to the world that WMDs are the way to go, and Turkey has been given it's bribe in exchange for its support of the war. I expect that other nations will flip as well in exchange for US dollars… And the end result will be clear: extreme suffering for both the American and Iraqi people.

In the propaganda department, the Justice Department misclassified about half of its cases as “international terrorism” when they were not, and CBS has said that it will censor any musician that makes anti-war statements during the Grammys this year. One of the biggest scams the media plays is the “no one is anti-war: if you're anti-war, you're in it alone” game… When in fact the citizens of gaia are opposed to war — only the Reptilians are for this war, and they've been consuming our kind for eons.

And while money is getting poured into war, don't forget about the heroes that are getting screwed over.

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Ooooops!

Friday, February 21, 2003

Well, I just double checked the logs and the credit-due bot looks like it may well actually have been sending the messages. I saw so few entries that I thought it wasn't working, but as it turns out, far far far far far far far far more people than expected have extended their accounts.

So you got a two-week freebie :)

Oh, and I've also fixed the checker that makes sure you're not using an expired account to access the system. Currently it's active on the main viewer and index module, IAM alive, and the forums. So if you're a clever cookie, you can still update your page, but nothing else really.

Thought I should mention that the ACLU has got their analysis of the “coming Bush dictatorship” up. Here's a quick summary of some of the points they raise about the new laws the fascists that seized control of America are trying to force on the citizens (or should I say, prisoners of war):

  • No questions asked surveillance of all kinds: credit reports, medical records, searches, wiretaps, visa and travel info, email copies, etc., all without a warrant, disclosure, or consent. Even if the searches are fully illegal, agents are protected from prosecution. Note that these searches do not even have to meet the definition of terrorism.
  • Removal of bans on investigation based solely on political or religious affiliation.
  • The above searches can be done on the behalf of foreign governments, including dictatorships and governments engaging in major human rights violations. In addition, foreign governments can extradite citizens without treaty approval or consideration of their legal system.
  • Any person who stalls on helping the feds in providing the above records is also up for significant prosecution.
  • Creation of a national DNA database without court order or consent, and unrelated to any criminal activity. That is, they want a DNA database of every single American (not just criminals).
  • Broadened definition of “terrorism” to include many forms of legal protest and minor civil disobedience, as well as unknowingly supporting groups involved in “terrorism”. People “found guilty”, even if they were unaware of it can be exiled without trial, imprisoned without trial, and so on.
  • Anyone involved the above can be executed on the spot if agents deem fit.
  • “Guilt by association” crimes, even if you were unaware of the other person or organization's activities. That is, if you donate money to your church, and then your church supports a protest group that's deemed “terrorist”, you are legally a terrorist yourself.
  • Using encryption technology is effectively made illegal. Any computer “crime” that has encryption involved has five years of jailtime added to it.
  • Arrests do not have to be made public (that is, if you're arrested, no public record needs to be kept, so you just disappear).
  • Gives the government the right to use “secret evidence” in trial without the option for the defense to challenge it. That is, they can say “we know this about you (make up something), but we can't tell you how we know” and it's treated as legitimate evidence.
  • Massively increased ability for the government to institute gag orders and hide trial records. That is, not only blocking accountability, but also blocking the ability of the public to challenge it.
  • Corporations that are “patriotic” (ie. support the coup) are shielded from prosecution, even if they commit blatant crimes and human rights violations.
  • Immigrants can be deported without notice or evidence of crime, even if they are here fully legally. These cases are exempt from habeus corpus review. These immigrants can be deported to any country, even if the person faces execution in that country, and even if that country has no government at all.

Yay for the land of the free!

I really wonder — are the citizens of the former United States of America willing to see it turn into a Bush military/corporate dictatorship? What does it take to push America to the brink of revolution and civil war? Because if this bill really goes through, every trace of what made America the shining beacon of liberty will be gone…

Oh, and remember how America finally agreed to share it's “intelligence” with the UN weapons inspectors? According to the inspectors, the information they've been given is total “garbage” that hasn't panned out into anything but false leads and lies.

In other news, Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel is set to be extradited to Germany to face charges (Germany has a very strict policy on that type of speech/hate-speech), and Canada has said that even though he's a Canadian (permanent resident status) and hosts his site in America, they will not honor his application for refugee status.

Now, Zundel is a hateful fuck and in some ways I really don't give a damn if he burns… but… I'm a German citizen and I'm also wanted on freedom-of-speech related crimes in Germany and could face real prison time there if I was forced to return. If Zundel is successfully extradited, while I highly doubt the same would happen to me, it opens that door.

It makes me very uncomfortable when nations conspire to punish people for freedom-of-speech issues that are fully legal in the country they were uttered. That is, to give an analogy, it's legal for me to smoke pot in Amsterdam. Let's say that's where I live, and I hold a dual Dutch/American citizenship. It would be fundamentally wrong for America to be allowed to extradite me and prosecute me for “crimes” that I committed that weren't even crimes in the locale where they were committed.

Think it can't happen? Think again.

My years working with Internet casinos very clearly illustrated that point — quite a few entrepreneurs who moved to the Caribbean and ran businesses out of Antigua, etc. where they were fully legal found themselves arrested and imprisoned when they flew to America to visit friends and family.

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Updated

Friday, February 21, 2003


OK, the image update (part one of three I'm guessing) has been posted. I might do another one today, but realistically I have to tackle some IAM tasks instead, including:

  • Fix the IM bot.
  • Add about two weeks to all IAM accounts.
  • Build “coupon” system for BMEshop so BMEshop purchases give IAM access.
  • Allow images to be posted to forums.
  • Build tool to move forums from one user to another.

There's a lot more I have to do as well, but that's the core of it, and if I get those done I'll be content. Here's a quick sample of my morning mail:

From: RED2160@aol.com
Message-ID: <161.1c2f1c8d.2b86ecfc@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 21:46:20 EST
Subject: Watch Your Back!

You people are so messed up, you don't even know what the hell is happening, you will soon find out what hell is all about!!!!

Here's a sort of funny reply from someone who got their experience turned down. From their email I think it's obvious why their experience was turned down, so I'll save digging up the link:

hmm well itz dave and im kinda screwed for tha reason that i have WEBTV i cant go back to correct tha errors and i sed itz not safe u must not have read tha whole thong it was in the bottom of that expierence derrrr well im not using ur site ne more so dont expect ne more entries from me ill jus go to perforations or pierceit or tribalectic im pissed cuz i cant type worth shit and that took me 2 hours to do wen i wrote tha expierence about my tongue it wad tha same way so i think u DO have sum glitches in ur routine im outtie

You've got to love the “if you won't post my experience, I'll send it to a site with lower standards!” threat…. It just goes to show that there's a total lack of comprehension as to why there are requirements for spelling, grammar, length, layout, and so on.

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I feel like a broken record

Thursday, February 20, 2003

I know I keep saying this over and over, but I really really want to emphasize that people should strongly consider being more discrete about the source of their heavy mods (tongue splitting, implants, subincision, hood splitting, and so on). Every update I get photos that could in theory get people tossed in prison. I know everyone wants their credit and their name, but please realize: in most areas these activities are illegal.

Time has shown that if a practitioner maintains a low profile, the authorities tend to leave them alone, but they will be forced to prosecute you if you show up too much in the media (including BME) by name, or have someone walk into a hospital (and that happens to even the best eventually).

In the olden days, practitioners tended to be word-of-mouth and did no advertising and made very sure that their name never hit the public. If someone wanted to get in touch with them, former clients would act as stage one “screeners”, keeping away both fools and feds. That is, the practitioner is unknown, but the client is not. If someone wants a subincision, they track down a client, and get a referral. This protects the practitioner without making the work inaccessible.

The fact is that if you do good work you'll become well known in the subculture even without ever speaking your name in public. When you speak your name publicly, you face becoming well known in the mainstream, and that's when the whims of the mainstream start to put you at risk. All it takes is the wrong doctor or politician seeing it, and suddenly two hundred practitioners are arrested with a rock-solid case against them.

I'm not removing names if people insist on them being included, but I really would strongly urge people to consider the needless risk they may be putting themselves at when their name is emblazoned in public. We may well be criminals in the eyes of the law — in that case, best not to advertise our crimes!

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