Occupy Wall Street: Too Big to Ignore
Started in Egypt, and has spread across the globe. It's a contagious behavior. It gets to the point that people that otherwise have very little reason to protest or riot have this urge to. I'm not saying the Occupy Wall Street in the US isn't needed. However, and this is probably short-sighted, the riots in London or earlier in Canada were not warranted. With this global uprising spreading all the way to the US, China must be really concerned about it spreading to them.
My take on Occupy Wall Street? Wait and watch. It's unlikely there will be a significant showing in Idaho. The state is too red politically and the protesters are seen as new-age hippies without a cause. That's my main issue with the movement, too. They are pointing out a fundamental problem with capitalism we all already knew exists. However, there's no central solution or call to action. Everyone involved has different ideas. They need a legendary public speaker to unify their movement akin to Martin Luther King Jr. Until they get their act together I'm going to remain an outside observer.
Then there's the possibility of an event that will spark violence. Be it an overzealous protester or an aggressive police display, this is a volatile situation. Protests around the country could turn to riots around the country.
Monday, October 10, 2011
«OWS: It's Growing»
Sunday, July 25, 2010
«Doomsday Bet»
Hooray for Doomsday!
I'll be taking the same bet, on the same conditions (sans-cookie, no cookie for you). I will consider the prophecy fulfilled if the Earth is destroyed or unable to support human life on December 21st, 2012. Should the Doomsday come to pass, you will be paid on December 22nd, 2012. Void where prohibited.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
«Master Marf is a Business»
So I just learned something shocking. I had enough income in 2009 on my taxes from the ads here that Master Marf has become a business in the eyes of the IRS. For last year's taxes it was just a hobby. Somehow since then I've become a self-employed business owner. I'm such a ninja at getting a job even I didn't know I had one!
I started doing my taxes with the TurboTax program. When I entered the information from my ad income, it said I had a business; it wanted to upgrade to the business edition (for a fee), and started asking questions about my "business". So I got confused and decided to see a tax consultant, I went to Liberty Tax Service here in Ketchikan.
It was explained to me that when you start getting 1099 forms listing "nonemployee compensation" in box 7, you are in fact self-employed. And that I do in fact, have a business as far as the IRS is concerned (even though I don't have a business license).
The downside is business tax forms are much more expensive to have done, either by a tax firm or program like TurboTax. Also I have to pay Social Security and Medicare costs out of my "business" income. However, because it was my first time using Liberty Tax Service, and my taxes were so simple, they were nice enough to give me a voucher that made my tax preparation free this year. Otherwise I'd of had to pay a $224 charge for being a small business. Ouch!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
«Billy Mays Bill»
Not until after death do great men appear on money.
Remember it's free, just pay...It's just $19.95! But wait, if you call within the next 30 minutes, we'll double your offer absolutely free! Just pay separate shipping & handling!
See the rest of “Billy Mays Bill”»
Friday, February 19, 2010
«Stat: Discipline»
That ultimate chart post sent me off on a thought tangent about the discipline metric.
I see how inefficient it is to pay for health insurance. I would rather instead put that money into a personal savings account, not only would I have enough money for health care, but I'd be earning interest1 on it. I'd have the discipline to only use that account for health care, too. That's why it wouldn't work for most people. Most people do not have the discipline to have a chunk of money and not use it on frivolous crap they can't afford.
Health insurance sucks anyway. You have to pay the deductible first before they cover anything, then they only cover a percentage after that.
I'm a lot like Scrooge when it comes to money. I could have millions in the bank and still be a penny-pinching bastard. I'm the type that will die with millions in the bank, never having enjoyed life, and no one to name as an heir to my fortune2.
"Waiter, more bread."
"That'll cost you extra, sir."
"… No more bread."
1: Although in current times interest rates are nearly 0%, so the amount I'd earn is negligible.
2: Seeing as I'm unemployed and living with my parents, this is a theoretical fortune.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
«Space Shuttle For Sale»
The space shuttles are being retired this year. NASA has announced plans to sell 2 of the 3 shuttles, starting at $42 million each (shipping included). It will cost them $6 million to deliver the shuttle. No one is serious about buying them yet. Although NASA has only made the offer to museums.
Here's radical idea. NASA should contract out the job of cutting the 2 shuttles to bits. Sell the bits as pendants, collectibles, and novelty items. How cool would it be to own a piece of a space shuttle that has traveled over 100 million miles in space, and orbited the Earth thousands of times? I'm sure NASA could make more than $42 million per shuttle by doing this.
The shuttle they keep can be preserved in a museum. But I think selling affordable bits of the other shuttles to anyone who wants one is a great way to help fund the construction of the new generation of spacecraft.
Am I crazy in thinking that while yes, these shuttles have a great history, we only need to preserve one1 intact? I mean seriously, all they are going to do is take up space and cost money to be kept in a climate-controlled environment.
1: My vote is to preserve Discovery, the oldest and most traveled one.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
«Holiday Bell Ringers»
You know what I'm talking about. This time of year you'll find them standing at the doors of establishments like shopping malls and grocery stores ringing their little bells for donations.
I've always wanted to walk up to one of those people and ask, "If I give you money, will you stop ringing that GOD DAMNED BELL?!"
I've just always been too kind, soft-spoken, and shy to actually say it to their face. I've mumbled it under my breath, though. I tell you, there's some things about the holidays I really hate...
Bah, humbug.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
«The Stick You Could Be Saving With... Google?»
So I ran across this Google Ad during my ventures in the interwebs yesterday (pictured to the right, but not an actual live ad unit). The ad linked to Google's campaign: Pet Stick: A 'Worst-Case' Case Study
The ad says "Trust us, this is going somewhere." I'm pretty sure it already has. It seems to me, adding googly eyes to a random object is clearly NOT a Google innovation. In fact, I'm pretty sure Geico already did it. I'm speaking of course about "The Money You Could be Saving With Geico."
Geico | "Kash Kitchen"
Oddly enough, during my vacation 5 months back, I saw "The Money You Could be Saving With Geico" everywhere... On giant billboards, on TV, even in the trash (they had sent out postcards with the money picture to people). It got to the point that my dad and I started seeing it in other things, even...
This image was taken in Mount Vernon, Washington on May 24th, 2009.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
«Robie Bank»
Blast from the past... I had one of these growing up.
Robie noms a coin.
Monday, August 3, 2009
«Motivational Monday: 17 Dollars»
I really can't stand people that try to act "gansta".
Sunday, March 29, 2009
«Hopelessly Bidding on Cards»
A few days ago I was bored and decided to bid on a bunch of Magic The Gathering cards on eBay. At one point I had 21 items I was bidding on.
I knew I wouldn't win many of them, however. I was bidding on things like dual lands and fetch lands (MTG players will know what those are). The minimum bids started at $0.99, and I put in a maximum bid of $1.07; no higher. Of course, dual lands go for at least $20-$30 each, and some of the auctions were for 4 cards.
Most of the auctions I was bidding on have already ended or are about to. Most of them ended upwards of $70+, well above my maximum of $1.07. I never intended to win the items, it was just something to do. I wasn't too worried, and in the off-chance that I actually won the bid I'd be happy to pay $1.07 +shipping to get the cards. There was only a couple of bids that I actually planned on winning. I've already received 2 out of 4 of them. Actually, the first one I revived wasn't even cards. I'll reveal on Tuesday what that item was.
I also bought 27 cards from KardKastle. Those cards were cheap enough that it wasn't worth the shipping to buy them separately on eBay. Once I get all my cards I ordered, I'll finally be able to build a deck I've wanted to build for years. It'll be quite a unique deck; perhaps not real competitive, but should be fun.
Once I build the deck and playtest it a little, I may post a decklist here like I have with 2 of my other decks so far: Draconic Shadows and Pitiful Elves. Unless a certain someone gives it away (you know who you are), the deck will remain a secret until then.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
«Still Better Than Stagecoaches»
Well, my Flying Spaghetti Monster design was denied, but my second submission was accepted. While such a card would be, to say the least, a thing of beauty, it's kind of good it was rejected, if it was rejected for the reason you suppose. In that case, this is just more public acceptance of pastafarianism as a religion.
Presenting the Sea-Monkey Wells Fargo card1:
You may recognize the picture from my recent post about my Sea-Monkey food order. I would of course have preferred the FSM, but at least this way I have something unique. I get to carry around a picture of my sea-monkeys. And like the title says, it's better than the default stagecoaches.
I like what one of the comments said on the FSM card post:
If something as crazy as Scientology gets to be an official religion, then Pastafarianism should have no trouble. Seriously, I think I'd convert if Pastafarianism were an official religion (at least for the purpose of census polls.)
1: Sample version only. Not an actual card; not a valid card number or name.
Friday, February 27, 2009
«Would Have Been Better Than Stagecoaches»
Wells Fargo has a relatively new feature they call Card Design Studio. It allows you to choose and upload an image for your credit or debit card. So naturally, I uploaded an image of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Here is a sample version of the card1:
I couldn't sneak it past them. It was not accepted. Too bad, that would have been a sweet card. Clearly, they have not been touched by His Noodly Appendages...
They have a these rules pertaining to what is and isn't acceptable:
I've bolded the one that I think it killed it. I don't see what the harm of religions images on a personal card would be, but whatever. Anyone have any new ideas for what should be on the card instead?
1: Sample version only. Not an actual card; not a valid card number or name.
Friday, February 13, 2009
«Finally Linked AdSense and Analytics»
I finally got the option available to me to link Google AdSense and Google Analytics. I've only been waiting since they announced it in October of last year. I know Google rolls out updates slowly to their users, but come on... That took 5 months!
It probably would have been longer if I didn't run across their AdSense / Analytics interest form. The link to this form can also be found at the top of the Official AdSense blog.
So I have them linked. I should be able to get more detailed information about the performance of my ads now. Although at the time of writing this, no data is showing up in my Analytics account about AdSense yet.
One little thing that threw me for a bit during the linking process: They ask you to chose a primary domain to link to. All other domains other than the primary must have an additional bit of code inserted in. I was thinking that since I use a few subdomains (extras, www, and pictures) that I'd need this little code snippet. However, I couldn't find it anywhere.
Turns out that by "different domains", they really meant different profiles in Analytics. I track all my subdomains under the same profile in analytics, so I should be good. I shouldn't need to add any extra code anywhere.
You might be wondering why I even have ads. Well, they're primarily to pay for my domain name and monthly hosting costs. "But wait!" you say to yourself, "Blogger is a free service! There's no hosting costs involved!" Well, you're right... Sorta.
I pay (through GoDaddy) for my mastermarf.com domain name. I also have a hosting account through GoDaddy that hosts the Games section, as well as all the images you see here on the blog. I did not like the limitations of the built-in image hosting that blogger provides. And yes, I do make enough from the ads to cover my costs.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
«Blatant Fuel Price Gouging»
At a time when the major oil companies are cutting production in an attempt to raise the fuel prices, local prices are still up around where they were before the prices fell elsewhere.
Basically, what I can tell is the attitude of the local fuel companies has changed since last month. Before they were trying to make excuses about old "more expensive" fuel stored in their reserves still. Now, they're saying there's no price gouging law in Alaska, so they can charge whatever they want, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it! Seriously.
I heard there's a protest scheduled Saturday (December 20th) down by Safeway.
Friday, December 12, 2008
«Auto Bailout»
You wouldn't buy our shitty cars.
Some of the text is quite small, so I'll write it out:
So we'll be taking your money anyway.
The bailout. Coming this January.
You probably thought it was smart to buy a foreign import of superior quality, with better mileage and resale value. Maybe you even thought that years of market share loss might prod us into rethinking our process and redesigning our products with better quality in mind. But you forgot one thing: We spend a shitload of money on lobbyists. So now you're out $25 billion, plus the cost of your Subaru. Maybe next time you'll buy American like a real man. Either way, we're cool.
GM / Chrysler / Ford
We're The Big Three. We Don't Need to Compete.TM
Friday, November 28, 2008
«UDWotD: Black Friday»
Urban Dictionary Word of the Day: Black Friday
- Black Friday
- The day after Thanksgiving, when stores decide to open at the asscrack of dawn to start Christmas sales. Most people fall for this ploy and wake up at 4am to fight other mothers for cheap presents.
See the rest of “UDWotD: Black Friday”»
Thursday, November 20, 2008
«Fuel Prices Still High Here»
One of the many drawbacks of living on an island is the lack of competition. While fuel prices are dropping below $2.00 and even down close to $1.50 elsewhere, the people of this town still have to pay out the ass for fuel. It's still $3.759 for regular unleaded and $4.259 for diesel here.
Sure, it was always a bit more here than down in the lower 48 states: by maybe 10 cents/gallon. There's a public outcry in town about it. The gas stations are saying that they have to charge this much for it because they bought it at the higher prices and still have the "more expensive fuel" stored. However, as you might have guessed, it doesn't work that way when the prices are going up. It was changing daily to match the raising prices. Also, their reserves of the higher priced fuel seems to be lasting a long time...
That always happens around here. Any excuse to get the prices up, then when the markets change the prices still stay high here; and it's not just with the fuel.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
«AdSense and Analytics Sitting in a Tree...»
K-I-S-S-I-N-G... Yeah, ok. I'll stop with the nursery rhyme.
So the biggest news for me lately is Google is finally integrating Google AdSense (their ad network) with Google Analytics (their tracking software). It appears to be part of a big upgrade they've did with Google Analytics. You don't even know how much I've wanted this to happen.
Tracking clicks and revenue on the ads using their current system in AdSense is a real pain. Using all the different channels and such has always given somewhat confusing and overlapping results. Once it's tied into Google Analytics, that shouldn't be an issue any longer.
I've been really happy with Google Analytics. About my only complaint with it is I wish it were more real-time; the stats only update a few times a day. It took me a bit to set it up properly after I switched to the new domain. There was about a 10 day period I had it set wrong and didn't notice: all the visits site-wide registered as being on index.html instead of their corresponding pages. It was entirely my fault though. I had set a custom filter so I could tell what sub-domain the page visits were on, and I had left out some parentheses. So, like anything involving code, that little error totally borked the entire thing.
It's going to be great to be able to pull up the traffic stats on a page and also be able to see how much money the page has made me. However, as the usual Google updates go, they roll it out slowly. The option (or invite as they call it) hasn't been offered to me yet. Probably won't be for a while, but I'll keep checking.
My theory is they roll things out slowly so if there's a bug or glitch it will be reported and they can fix it before the majority of people are even using the newer version. Good idea I suppose. I was one of the last to get the new iGoogle homepage. I wish they would have just skipped me entirely on that one. I like the old iGoogle much better. I've even been tossing around the idea of writing my own homepage or just using "about:blank". It'd defiantly load faster.
As a side note, sometimes when I have Google Analytics open in my browser, I have a few other tabs open as well. Then when I look at the tab names I'll see "Google Anal..." as one of the tabs. I had a few laughs when I first noticed it.
Friday, October 17, 2008
«History Paper»
Sometimes it's best just not to turn in your paper.
Here's the text in the picture:
It's obvious that the Halocaust [sic] was a lie created by US corporations owned by Jews so they can get some more money for their Jewish habits. They still think we should give them stuff because some guy with a bowl cut had their ancestors killed 700 years ago.
Ok to be honest, I really didn't pay attention in your class, and I'm really high right now... Paper's over, I just lost the game, didn't I?
See the rest of “History Paper”»
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