i don't have much of a social life back in the states. i don't play video games. i don't watch very much television. when i do watch television, i'm either eating or hanging 10 on the internet, which is pretty much the only thing i do when i finally get home until my dog insists it's time to play again. since i spent quite a lot of my time on there, i've found a few things to simplify the whole affair.
google reader is definitely a good resource, and i'm stuck relying on it at work. it allows me to skim through the high-volume sites during the day so i'm not speed-reading every night just to get to bed on time.
the real money maker, though, is netvibes. with netvibes i can collect up all my feeds, including podcasts and even email, organize them according to their content/type/flavour into different tabs, and then either view the rss content (text, lite pics/vids) or pop open the article into a whole new window or tab.
after realizing that i had some content that i never read, and some that i did but didn't seem worth it, i decided to clean things up a bit. the only problem seems to be with my impending career change, i decided to go exploring on the internet, and now my netvibes page has swollen in size. i'm worse off now than when i started. i now have 9 tabs of content, whereas i had 7 before, one of which i didn't even check over here. my crossfit tab is ridonkulous, and it's bleeding out onto other tabs. i scope out 21 crossfit feeds, not including the two on the physical therapy tab (one of my new tabs) and 4 on the "solopsist" tab.
not only that, i've got 23 news feeds spread out across 3 tabs along with 2 podcasts. on the humor page, i've slid in fail blog, lolcats and some nerd comics, along with the ubiquitous onion. i read 75-90% of this content, every day. thank god videos are blocked, as that keeps me from watching two hulu streams, one of the podcasts and a good chunk of content from reason.
i am going to need a droid when i get home, because there is no way i can afford to spend 3 hours every night sitting in front of a computer. i've pretty much given up on trying to learn much more dari or pashtu, let alone reading the majority of the 20 or so books i have up on my shelf.
anyhoo, i'm not complaining that much, because i get to read good stuff every day.
first up, from the ever-excellent blog free range international comes more spot-on analysis. it's amazing what a man can do with intelligence, common sense and a moral calling to do seriously hard work the right way. it's depressing reading his thoughts as he watches us spoil it all over here, but i'm a born cynic so i enjoy that sort of thing. the world needs more men like him. reading his article reminded me that i need to keep researching kiva.
kiva is a different kind of charity, in that it's not charity at all. kiva connects lenders (i.e.: you and me) with entrepreneurs all around the world who are looking for a small loan to improve their business and their lives. it's not an intergovernmental 'aid package' that will merely be disbursed among the country's political elite and it's not some elaborate and expensive project that, at best, will marginally increase the quality of life for a small portion of an impoverished nation that won't be able to build on those gains anyway.
you are loaning your money to a name, to a face. you read their story and decide whether or not you feel like investing in that person. loans are as small as $25, and so far it appears repayment rates hover just above 98%. i'm going to keep looking into it, but i've heard that these micro-finance institutions have done a lot to spread development into the lower-class areas in india. the best part is you get your money back, so you can keep on lending while reserving your charity for strippers named charity. win-win!
but sometimes i read stuff that really grinds my gears. usually, it's radley balko that makes me want to yell at my computer, but today it's the folks at popehat: leash your policeman, it's the least you can do. this is, if you haven't figured it out already, a story about a cop shooting a dog. this happens a lot, which you would know if you recognized 'radley balko.' perhaps i'm a bit sensitive because the first dog that was really 'my dog' was put down by my father after a combination of my brother's puzzling incompetence around animals, despite having grown up on a farm, and my step-family's hypochondria in all things. plus, i've got a scary-looking dog back in the states, if you haven't interacted with him for more than a second. i guess an exception would be if you're an asian tourist. it will take me carrying my dog past you, lest he sniff you and beg to be petted, and mocking your terrified screams at the horrifying sight of a domesticated animal on a wilderness trail in ALASKA.
here are my thoughts on dogs: humans have evolved to become the apex predator of all of Earth. if you are scared of a dog, a breed we domesticated from wolves millenia ago (how badass did we used to be?), you've come a long way back down the totem pole and could use the healthy motivation that a mauling would provide.
most dogs are harmless EVEN IF THEY ARE ACTING AGGRESSIVELY. there are numerous breeds of dogs, a substantial amount of which were useful, and still are, as guard dogs. they vocalize and posture when an unknown entity is on or near their turf. they will almost always back down when approached directly. being scared and running away is inviting further aggression, as it triggers a predator instinct in dogs.
some dogs, like the australian sheppard i used to have, are herding dogs. they have been bred to herd large animals. part of their resume is nipping at the heels of these animals to direct them where they ought to be running. even if they bite you, they are not attacking you. there is a huge difference between a nip and a bite.
there is a huge difference between a happy/inquisitive dog and an angry dog when they are running towards you. if you've spent a marginal amount of time around dogs, then you know the difference. if you haven't, go to a dog park. take your kids.
oh, and that reminds me, kids need to learn this stuff early. dogs telegraph their attitudes in ways children should be able to pick up. take your kids to the dog park, keep them close, but let them interact. then take them to somebody's house who has an aggressive dog and show them the difference.
finally, most importantly, if you actually are getting attacked: remain calm and keep your forearm horizontally in front of you between your neck and the dog. it's not a particularly vital part of you, you can club the dog with it if it goes low, and you can absorb an impact if the dog goes high for it, then turn and drive the dog down to the ground, pinning it beneath you. most human weigh more than a dog, so it's a fairly simple matter to take a bite or two before subduing the thing. then you can get another human to help you remind the dog that humans are the apex predator.
when approaching aggressive dogs, i offer my forearm as i close the distance and talk to them soothingly but confidently. as i get close, if they act as if they're cornered, i'll stop. if not, i'll look slightly away (eye contact intimidates dogs), crouch slightly, and slide my hand out, palm down, for them to get a better smell and get acquainted a bit. if they let me make contact, i'll briefly scratch near their chest or along their flank. they prefer their chest but that leaves me more vulnerable than i care to be.
now, if you are an armed policeman and you think it's acceptable to shoot a dog that is approaching you just because you think it's a threat, you are a giant pussy. you do not exhibit the kind of judgement that would make it permissible for you to own firearms, let alone employ them professionally. and if you shoot my dog, i'm likely to make sure your heartbeat stops before my dog's does.
i may be a nerd, but i'm also an old school man with a loyal dog. and unlike the army, our loyalty runs both ways.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment