New Wallpapers

Here's some new wallpapers that I've made, also posted to my deviantart account...
(click image for full size)



Northern Lights - 1024x768







Peaceful Aura - 1680x1050 (Widescreen)







Soul Fractal - 1680x1050 (Widescreen)

Using profit to reduce tax burden amongst the common folk

So I've been doing a little bit of brainstorming about ways to cut tax burden without services, and this is one idea that came to mind: have the govt. launch a few buisnesses of its own in relatively stable markets. These would be run just like normal buisnesses, the only difference being that the profits would go to the government.

The income from the buisness profit could then be used not only reduce the tax burden on americans, but could also be used to bolster under-funded programs that benefit the public - without raising taxes. Theoretically, if enough govt-owned buisness prospered we could eliminate tax burden completely without reducing services. (Something that I think both capitalists and socialists could go for)

Along with that - if there were enough govt-owned buisness - I would require that any new regulations on any industry be first enforced on the govt-owned buisnesses for 6 months to one year, so that the effect of such regulations could be examined - and if negative, reconsidered.

Just a thought...
that's all for now...

I've already upgraded, lol

I've already upgraded to an Intel Core2 Duo E6300 processor, lol.
I'll probably get another gig of ram on friday.

...and I'm absolutely addicted to NWN2! :)

Govt waste takes 20+ years to fix?

From Ron Paul's weekly column (emphasis mine):

You see, while waste, fraud and abuse are very easy to attack, it seems they are much more difficult to actually address within the current federal behemoth. For example, the General Accounting Office puts out a “high risk list” and describes this list as programs with “vulnerabilities to fraud, waste and abuse and mismanagement.”

There are currently 27 programs and operations on this list, up from 26 last year. But here are the more surprising facts, the list was originated with 14 programs in 1990. Of those original 14 programs, from 17 years ago, only 8 have been removed. How can it be that 6 programs remain on such a list nearly two decades later? While government is supposed to move slowly, this is ridiculous.

What GAO is saying is that a problem exists, we have been aware of it for 17 years, and it is still not corrected

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst081307.htm

Another reason to elect Ron Paul.

New Computer!

So I've just finished ordering parts for my new computer. When the stuff I've ordered arrives (in "3-7 buisness days") I'll have everything I need except a hard drive... maybe. I have an external hard drive, and I may be able to get it booting off of that, or dismantle it and take the drive from inside it. *maybe*

So, anyways, here's what the starting stats will be.
It's not the greatest system in the world, but it'll be better than what I have

Processor (now): Intel Pentium D 805 (Dual-Core)
Processor (later): Intel Quad-Core
RAM (now): 1gb
RAM (later): 2-4gb
Video Card: BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS *Overclocked* 256MB (PCIe)
Hard Drive (now): ~90gb if I get this external one going.
Hard Drive (later): 300-500gb

Awesome Christian/Hippie Van!

Check out these pics!

Cool! Blogger hosts images now too!
Source: *here*

Ack. Forgot I had a blog. Women. Etc.

EDIT: all that got nixed out.
Problem solved.

One Jerry-Rigged Laptop...

I think I officially have the most jerry-rigged laptop in existence.



The monitor is only connected by the wires, and I plan to disconnect those wires from the motherboard and replace it with a 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor/TV, which I'll purchase online next friday. Right now I have to prop up the monitor with something or it won't stand up. Right now it's being propped up by a suit case.

My laptop's keyboard no longer works, so I bought a wireless USB keyboard to replace it. I removed and disconnected the old keyboard... because my computer tends to overheat after an hour or so of gaming (or any other CPU-intense process, for example converting music files). Getting rid of the keyboard increased the air circulation, reducing the amount of heat in the system.

My computer's DVD drive stopped working a long, long time ago for all practical purposes. It reads DVDs at 0.8x, and CDs at a higher, but equally dismal speed. Burning CDs takes about 20 minutes - and fails about 25% of the time. Burning DVDs doesn't work at all anymore.

So today, I bought an external USB DVD drive, with up to 18x writing speeds. Now I can finally finish watching my South Park DVDs!

On the bright side, this complete and total break-down of my computer has forced me to get a new computer instead of a car. The wireless keyboard and external dvd-drive will be used for the new computer, they're the start of it anyways. Next week I'll purchase the monitor. Hopefully, I'll have the computer finished - one piece at a time - by the end of May.