It’s been a while, I know. But now I’m back and hopefully secure (thanks Aaron.)
Anyway, it’s been over a month since my last post, which I am very sorry for. But, life took over and I just didn’t have the time to put the site back up. But now it’s back up, and I’m running the newest, shiniest version of Wordpress which is, by the way, great.
What else is great?
The GrApple theme for Firefox, which makes it look 99% like Safari.
Firefox 3 Beta 4
Matchbox 20, specifically their album “Exile on Mainstream”
My grade in History (once the extra credit gets counted, that is)
Well, okay, technically I didn’t vote. I’m not exactly 18 yet. But then again, technically I did. I turned the switch and pulled the lever so I did vote. Only, well - it was in my mom’s name.
But, hear me out! I still voted! You see, my mom couldn’t choose between Obama and Clinton (for the democratic primary of course) so she let me decide for her. After careful consideration (of course) I chose my candidate and went inside the booth with my mom and voted. Yay.
So, sure, maybe officially I didn’t vote. *wink* *wink* My mom did, but it was my decision, and I pulled the lever and everything so technically I voted for her. Yay. I feel smart. Now that vote had better of made a difference. OBAMA!
In the first counterterrorism strategy of its kind in the nation, roving teams of New York City police officers armed with automatic rifles and accompanied by bomb-sniffing dogs will patrol the city’s subway system daily, beginning next month, officials said on Friday.
Mr. Kelly’s plan to heighten security and monitor a subway system that carries nearly five million people a day along 656 miles of tracks reflects the city’s continuing concerns about a possible attack.
Each team in the operation will comprise a bomb-sniffing dog and six officers: a dog handler and a sergeant and four officers from the Emergency Service Unit who will be outfitted in heavy, bullet-resistant vests and Kevlar helmets and will carry automatic weapons, either an M-4 rifle or an MP5 submachine gun.
I struggled to find a word to describe these 5-person teams, and all I can think of is “bomb squad.” Technically, it means a team that’s there to defuse bombs, but it’s really the same difference here. So… to wrap this up:
These 6-person teams are going to stand around on the subways with these guns:
…and a bomb-sniffing dog. And of course, this is all in order to protect us - too bad it took them over 6 years to implement a realistic long-term plan like this! It’s hardly realistic anyway. All it’s gonna do is scare the crap out of people and make them afraid to take the subway. And if something does happen, how many armed men does it take to shoot a terrorist? 1? 2? 3? 4? 5? 6? And a dog?
They need to rethink the security plan that took them 6 years to think up.
It’s actually more than that. You see, last week was PBA week at my school (Performance Based Assessments) and I was able to schedule all of my PBAs on last last Friday, the next Wednesday, and the next Thursday. I got my History and English out of the way on Friday so I could enjoy my extended weekend study for my other PBAs.
Anywho, I was all done Thursday afternoon and I don’t have to go back to school until Wednesday! 5-day weekend! So, what else to do with 5 free days but make a lego movie! I’m doing a sequel to one that I did over the summer, Bounty Hunter. I’m also psychologically avoiding the painful fact that once the new semester starts on Wednesday I’m going to have to start off on a good foot, then take my next step with an even better foot. Then, I’ll have to find a new, even better foot to take my next step with, and so on and so forth. That is, with my schoolwork.
Speaking of Wednesday, why in the world is it spelled “Wednesday” when it’s pronounced “Wensday”? Maybe whoever invented the english language had some sort of lisp…?
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Austen who posted a lot on his website. Then he entered high school. Then, after that, he started writing for MacApper. Then he barely posted every week. Then he made up a silly story. The end.
Yes, I know, I know, I know! I haven’t been posting lately, but I’m gonna post some more now. Mostly some old movies I did but never really got around to posting. They’re all coming this week. Yay!
Oh, in case you happen to be a mac user who hasn’t heard of the Mac Heist bundle, go get it now before it’s too late! Macheist.com. It’s very much worth it!
I’m keeping Santa and the reindeer, I don’t care if Christmas is over!!! Just wanna say I’m still here, and this coming week is PBA week so very little posting, but hopefully after that I can pick up again. (I probably just jinxed it…)
It’s sequel time! This time it’s the exact opposite: the death of our christmas tree. (As opposed to last time.) The song is a shortened version of “Funeral Dirge” by Terrence Blanchard.
iMovie’s being annoying and not saving my movies correctly, so it’s only the YouTube version this time. Sorry. Anyway, it’s us decorating the christmas tree. Taken from my computer’s webcam. The song is “Landed” by Ben Folds.
Just for the record, I don’t do these just because I’m ego-centric. Sure, that’s about 25% of it, but the other 75% is because people ask me to. And what better place to say what I want for Christmas than my blog? I’m too lazy this time around for all the pictures, sorry. I might add some more things as I think of them. The DVDs and games are suggestions, while the other stuff is a little bit more specific. Here goes…
It really scares me how my Macbook Pro goes over 80 degrees (celcius) when I only have one or two programs open. The heat could warp the frame out of shape, fry the battery, or who knows what else. Which is why this PodiumPad elevates it a few inches off the ground so there’s ventilation and a better air flow. That way I won’t accidentally fry an egg on my computer…
Yesterday when I arrived at Beacon there was a large crowd outside of the school. One of the teachers was warning kids that the Department of Education had “randomly” chosen Beacon to set up metal detectors at. We had to put all of the electronics that we had in our backpacks and wait on line for about 15 minutes outside in the below-freezing weather.
One of the policemen outside (there were 5 police vans outside the school!) told us to put all of our “Cell phones, iPods, Xboxes, PS1s, PS2s, PS3s, PS4s, if they’ve even come out yet” in our backpacks. Yeah, because people really bring entire video game consoles to school.
Once we got in we had to put our backpacks through the security conveyor belt thingy. My backpack just barely fit. Kudos to Mr. Moscow for the dozens of history packets. Then we had to walk through the metal detector walk-through thingy, just like in airports. You know, in case someone willingly took a weapon to high school when there were metal detectors set up at the entrance. Anyone who had one would have just run away. Besides, metal detectors don’t detect drugs…
They actually didn’t take cell phones or iPods. If they had, well - that would have been a bigger deal. I just happen to be writing an essay on this for community service, and it’s a very good move on their part not to take them. It caused enough of an uproar at the middle schools when they did it - but if they took them at high schools they would officially be dead stupid.
So, instead of being 2 minutes late to Spanish I was 15 minutes late, and I wasn’t screamed at. It didn’t disrupt the day that much, except that people were between 5 and 30 minutes late to class. But still, I doubt they caught anything. Anyone with anything would have just turned around when they saw the line outside the school and gone home. Kids just don’t care enough to risk it. So, in the end it was pretty pointless.
The Department of Education has to change their policy on cell phones. Maybe this is the first step in their realization of their stupidity. I’ll post my full essay here once I finish it.
Just a little over three years ago, on November 21st, 2004 I made my first blog post! And it was almost a year before that that I originally created the site “Netsua” (although I’ll admit it was very different back then.)
Since orginally creating the blog on blogspot, I’ve switched to Wordpress, gone through a couple different themes, eventually ending up at TripleK2 (for now.) On the other hand, Netsua in general. Well, first it was on Freeserves, then FreeWebs then FreeWebs using HTML, then here. Yeah, long story.
I realized while writing this post that I’ve actually been blogging longer than a lot of the semi-famous people in the tech world. Lorelle on Wordpress: August 2005. JohnTP: November 2005. It’s pretty cool. Although I admit my first posts were not of the most serious nature.
That’s all for now. Thanksgiving was lots of fun, post later!
I think that Michelle at Best Week Ever sums it up pretty well at the end of her Office post…
ONLY ONE MORE EPISODE LEFT! Good sweet lord, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? And yes, I HAVE EVERY REASON TO USE CAPS! THE SITUATION IS DIRE! DIIIIREEE! Ima go skip around the room for a few hours and think about how empty my life is about to become.
Just for the record, yes, this is a big deal! Damon Lindelof, the head writer of Lost says in a NY Times editorial:
If this strike lasts longer than three months, an entire season of television will end this December. No dramas. No comedies. No “Daily Show.” The strike will also prevent any pilots from being shot in the spring, so even if the strike is settled by then, you won’t see any new shows until the following January. As in 2009. Both the guild and the studios we are negotiating with do agree on one thing: this situation would be brutal.
I wasn’t planning to CAPS for this post, but I think I will now. NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t get it. How can they do this? It’s a lose-lose-lose situation! The TV network loses ad revenue and viewers because of the upcoming long hiatus, the writers lose their jobs and become poor, and I DON’T GET MY WEEKLY OFFICE FIX!!!
I’m gonna have to start watch the Season 3 deleted scenes from the DVD every Thursday now. Yes, ‘m that desperate. And it’s not just The Office. All other shows: Heroes, Journeyman, Chuck, 24, it’s all ending!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not blaming the writers, I’m sure they deserve the money. Or maybe they don’t. But the still do deserve the internet revenue. But whatever, I don’t care. Just get the shows back on air! It’s with great sadness that I will close this computer lid in a few seconds and watch the last new episode of The Office for who knows how long. It’s a sad day.
On the bright side, maybe this will imprpove my grades. No! Wait… That’s what they want me to think. They’re manipulating me, trying to make me get better grades! It’s a conspiracy!!!
One gem of a website that I found was MacApper. MacApper is a collaborative blog about applications for the Mac. They have reviews of apps, news on new releases, interviews with developers in addition to regular Mac-related news. The website is a great way to find out about shiny new apps you can download to your computer, as long as it’s a Mac.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let me get to the good stuff: The other day they made a post asking for some “talented Mac writers” to write for their blog. I figured I’d give it a try, so I shot them an email with some example writing. They replied and said that it was terrible and that I should go look someplace else, somewhere like Dumboland, because my writing looked like it was done by a 5-year-old.
Austen Squarepants is a 15-year-old high school student and geek. He lives in New York City with his parents and is interested in technology, filmmaking, and anything funny.
Netsua is his personal blog and website, where he writes about a variety of topics that interest him. The word "Netsua" is in fact Austen's name spelled backwards. It literally translates from gibberish to "Greatness on the level of Austen."
In addition to Netsua, Austen also writes for the mac application blog MacApper.
I think that Michelle at Best Week Ever sums it up pretty well at the end of her 
