Category: Old Blog Entries (archives)

Dreamhost Promo Code: COSMIC

UPDATE 12/2007: DREAMHOST HAS CHANGED THEIR PROMOTION SYSTEM. THE MAX YOU CAN GET DISCOUNTED NOW IS $50. SEE COMMENTS BELOW FOR DETAILS.
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I set up a Dreamhost promotion code today for a friend and I’d like to share it here because the code I used to sign up is apparently no longer active, and I know what a leap of faith it requires to use codes that are old or from a commercial website. Basically, the way Dreamhost referrals work is that you can get one-time payments of $97 or recurring payments of 10% for every person you refer… And you can pass as little or as much of that as you want as a discount to people you refer.
In my case, I choose not to make money off of this blog through advertising, as I have stated many times before. Although this isn’t really advertising, I choose not to make money this way, either, and I only provide this code so people who read this blog can save money. Therefore, I have set up a promotion code that passes on ALL the money I could earn on a referral as savings to whoever is signing up. The proof:
dreamhostpromo.jpg
L1 through L4 on the table correspond to Levels 1 (AKA “crazy domain insane”) though Level 4 on this page. As you can see, if you pay for 2 years of Level 1, the discount basically cuts the price of that package in half.
Anyway, I’m not here to sell Dreamhost’s service – it speaks for itself.
And once again, I’d like to make it clear that I’m not making money off of referrals – I’m doing it to save my readers money, period.
The Dreamhost promo code is: COSMIC
Enter it at time of sign up for your discount.
Disclaimer: Dreamhost is currently facing ongoing network problems. I trust they will be worked out just like they say.

Just a quick note

I usually don’t post on this date, because it means enough to me to want to post on 9/11 related topics. The thing is, my voice is one of many who feel the same way – sadness, anger, regret, patriotism, etc. – and I feel many others express that a whole lot better than I could.
However. Somebody is pissing me off, and today is the day to let it all go.
To the wannabe domain squatter who is trying to sell me the cosmicbuddha.net domain:
Spamming me ten times over the course of two weeks for any reason is lame enough, but asking if I want to buy the cosmicbuddha.net domain is the equivalent of pulling up next to my Lamborghini Murcielago on a donkey and asking if I want to race for pink slips – GET A CLUE, ASSHOLE! (dot com reprazent!)
That is all.

Underground

What compels people to shun the world above ground, the sunlight, the weather, the outside? The unnatural lighting of the underground makes faces look sallow and haggard. Everybody’s eyes are just… dead. I began to think it would really be best for everyone if the city burned down once every 50 years, just so things could be started anew. Because the underground is undeniable proof that something is wrong, and wrong in a way that can never be fixed.
…………..
It’s like a magnet for insanity, as well. The jittery guy on the subway who everybody avoids because he’s nuzzling a grimy teddy bear and gets visibly spooked when approached – make no mistake, he was drawn here. The uncomfortable sheen of fluorescent lights, the raw and sudden clamor of disembarcation, and the sweet, lingering stench of beer vomit are familiar and comforting, companions in despair.
………….

Osaka’s Depressing Underground

I used to ride the Osaka subways to and from work every day and after a while you either get really good at blocking things out – crazy subway people, inane station announcements repeated twice in the key of nasal, irritating advertisements, the sharp tang of body odor, a full spectrum of distractions that bombard your already dulled senses – or you slowly become insane.
This is especially clear to me now, living out on Awajishima, which I like to describe as “a floating retirement community off the coast of Kobe.” Moving out to the country after living in Osaka for a couple years was a real relief, and I am reminded of this when I ride the subway a few times every year on business trips.
Yesterday I walked to my hotel through the underground area between the Osaka Hilton and Izumi-no-hiroba (directly under the Sonezaki East intersection up top) a couple times, once after my daytime meeting finished and once after dinner with clients. For those who have never been, it is an underground labyrinth of rundown shops, bank machines, and restaurants, all but a few of which are at varying levels of bankruptcy and disrepair. During rush hour, the passages are choked with rivers of people flowing in opposing directions and branching off into various pools and creeks, eventually seeping above ground or into the subway stations. It is a claustrophobic and unpleasant experience for most people, even for those who experience it every day, and everyone copes with it in different ways.
On the trains, some people use visual distractions like books or keitais, others escape to their own little worlds via headphone, and many simply adopt the “thousand yard stare” and can remain in a numbed stasis for their duration underground. On the early morning trains, most people usually try to sleep, especially if they are lucky enough to get a seat. Experienced riders learn to sleep while standing up, and subconciously monitor the station announcements for their stop.
But the grind of rush hour in the vast underground stations is an ultimate lesson in chaos and human endurance. Last night I found myself wondering, for the five thousandth time, why people choose to live like this – what compels people to shun the world above ground, the sunlight, the weather, the outside? The fluorescent lighting of the underground made everbody’s face look sallow and greasy, diseased even. Everybody’s eyes were just… dead. I began to think it would really be best for everyone if the city burned down once every 50 years, just so things could be started anew. Because the underground is undeniable proof that something is wrong, and wrong in a way that can never be fixed. Wouldn’t it be great if the city, as a whole, could simply cut its losses and start over.
Come to think of it, it’s happened before, hasn’t it?

Apple IIc

I recall the scrolling text adventures from my childhood with much fondness. My dad bought an Apple IIc for us when I was ten or so (without the standard 8-inch monitor luckily) and I basically wore out the keys typing in-game commands like “go west”, “kill goblin”, and “get dagger of fire”. The key action, by the way, was used as a selling point by the egghead at the store, but more on this later.
That IIc was way ahead of its time – I consider it the first truly portable Apple because of its relatively compact size for the time and the fact that it came with a padded carrying case. It had an optional LCD, but I carried that box all over because it had a video