Roots

Well, its been a while since I posted anything but I got into a Pokemon craze with the help of some family members and decided to draw my favorite starter Pokemon from Pokemon Red, Bulbasaur.

Long gone are my days of Pokemon bliss. I could spend the better part of a few days trying to get the perfect Eevee, raise Pokemon champions in an hour at tournaments, and I am still convinced that in the summer of 1998 my friends and I were the first to exploit and understand the "box trick." That's right, my Mewtwo (long live Generation I!!!) is faster than yours and I didn't cheat.... technically.

I drew a small sketch and inked it but with no scanner available I opted to take a picture of it with our camera and edit it in Photoshop. It didn't take very long to draw. The inking is harder and I can never seem to get the smooth, flowing line I want, I'll have to work on that.

I love Bulbasaur partly because of his mild manner-ness. His Clark Kent qualities were apparent as he made short work of everyone early in the game while retaining his cute and quiet nature; a silent guardian type. It was always hard for me to watch him evolve at level 16... like he was losing his innocence.

There is no doubt that the Internet is full of cute big-eyed Bulbasaurs and I wanted to bring out more of his defensive and hostile (when aggravated) attitude. So I bring you this "Unleashed" version.

Picture yourself, an inexperienced, weak, over excited, little trainer, cowering behind him as you begin your journey in Kanto... damn Zubats!

On the Subject of Net Neutrality

I came upon a fun article at Gizmodo:
http://gizmodo.com/5605310/google-just-killed-net-neutrality

The basic gist is that providers like Verizon want to charge us for what we have access to on the internet. They want to limit access or offer faster access to specific content based on how much you are willing to pay.

This is kind of a scary thought. You know the driving force of the printing press was to get information (the bible) out to the people. To provide wide spread knowledge to those who could not afford it. Books became readily available and cheaper improving the quality of life of many people. Information sharing was also the driving force behind the creation of the internet. Researchers wanted to share their studies and libraries of info. All of that evolved into the information age we enjoy today.

We already pay for access to that resource! We all have internet “providers” and their prices are always going up as they offer us less. We pay for internet, cable and phone through Comcast. They offer a “triple play” which locks you into those specific services. You can’t have one without the other two or else you pay… a lot. At about $125 a month we just tried to lower our cost by dropping the cable and phone line. Standard DSL Internet alone would cost us $82.99 plus surcharges and fees. It is the same with most other internet providers.

Wireless Internet gouging
Since the article already mentions Google and Verizon’s team up and because the new trend is to promote constant, mobile, internet access (the only access Verizon provides), let me reference my personal experience with wireless internet. In 2007 I purchased a wireless adapter for my laptop. It cost me $120 and I paid $60 a month for unlimited access to the internet knowing that I would only get access in wireless hot spots or where my phone would get a signal. Today $60 a month will get you 5 GB of access. There is no advertised unlimited plan. According to Verizon 10 minutes of Youtube (streaming video) is 1.2 GB and 1 hour of online gaming is 5.4 GB. If you listen to music using Pandora you use 2.25 GB per hour. So where does that put someone who is on the 5GB plan? Lets see:
1.2 GB streaming video
5.4 GB gaming
2.25 GB Music
8.85 GB total
At $0.05/MB for overages that is a total bill of $257.12. $197.12 in overages!

Case in Point
We are going backwards instead of forward. Lost in greed, short sighted decisions are made restricting our access to the resources the internet provides. We are already paying a lot for our internets! But they will always try to squeeze more out of us.

Would it be crazy to foresee a future where digital information is so restricted that we actually revert, creating a rift in society where only those with the resources are allowed access to news, information and higher learning, exercise dominion over a less sophisticated blue collar-type workforce? Could we already be there?

Final Countdown!

I had a hard time sleeping last night. Time is ticking down. Tomorrow we have "reflection" time and a class party, Tuesday is the test and graduation and.... Wednesday I go HOME!!!

So I will be spending most of my time today studying and getting ready to go home. I roped out yesterday and am spending this morning in the Student Ministry Center... talkin to you!

I realized while packing, that I don't have as much junk as I thought. It will all fit into a duffle bag and my suit bag. Thats not so bad. I was all worried I would have to spend all this money to shift stuff home.

Well I'm off!

Don't call me I'll call you....

....when I'm ready
.....after I'm rested.

Last week of fun

We are now entering the last full week of tech school. There will only be 3 days of school this week; Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. During this last week I will be making my final preparations for departure and studying for my final test.

I already began my out processing this past week and should know by Monday when my flight is.

Now I need to figure out what is going home and how I am going to get it there. I haven't picked up much in my time here. Maybe a shirt or two so I just need to use my finely tuned packing skills to get all my clothes and study materials home.

The final Block test is 20 questions and if I miss even one my 98% GPA will drop a point. It seems the race is tight for Distinguished Graduate. There can only be 4 or 5 of us and Top Graduate will probably be taken by a Staff Sergeant who has a 100% GPA. Whatever happens happens. Saying that I graduated with a 98% in my career field is really good on my resume.

I rope out on Saturday the 14th. The White program has been pretty good to me. I have given a lot to the program and have gotten quite a bit back. To tell the truth I am feeling pretty trunky though. All the new faces in the program feel like strangers to me and there are a lot who I feel are wreck less within the program. For better or for worse I will leave the program as it changes and evolves. My last contributions are to finish the new Continuity binders and train my probe.

When I get home Meg and I will take some time to plan what big things are going to happen next and we have a few options available to us.

A friend dropped off a gift set of World of Warcraft with a free months trial. I read some of the game manual. Many people in my career field, including my instructors play it. I'll pack it away and perhaps play it later. One of the major issues with the game is its tendency to be addictive and consume a lot of time.

Another Airman is leaving on the 12th, Thursday, and wants to sell me his WACOM tablet for $100. That would be freakin Awesome! The deal Megan and I came up with is that if I can make $100 dollars then I can spend $100. Sounds pretty good to me. So I have a few quick art projects to get done.

So everything is getting pretty close, running down to the wire, DONE! OVER! FIN!

17 Days running down

The end is comming and things are busier than ever!

Volunteering at the Haunted house was not very rewarding. I was planning on volunteering two more days this week but was told not to because I would not be able to work Halloween night. I beleive the Sergeants exact phrase was," If you can't devote your whole weekend, walk away now."

So I did. There are plenty of other things for me to do.

Last night was the Fall Festival Party at the Fishbowl. I participated and enjoyd most of it. My probe was there. "Probe" is the word we use for those Airmen who are on a probationary status waiting to become a White rope. I only got to teach him a little because of all the craziness going on.

I open the fishbowl this morning and plan on using a lot of that time to finish the Continuity project I started. Hopefully this will help streamline the training system there and increase the quality of our Ropes. Right now everyone has questions or doubts on what their responsibilities are.

I would also like to get some art done today but Idon't know if that will happen.

My roomate left this week so I just might finish off my time here alone. I would be glad to do it. Always worrying about the room while I am gone isn't fun. So now it all rests on my shoulders. I'll clean it and he wont be around to dirty it. He was a good guy though.

I learned this week that I am much closer to getting my associates than I once thought. This training course gives me 26 credits in computer science. I should be able to come home, take a few tests and by spring have my CCAF (Community College of the Air Force) Associates degree! Then I will be that much closer to a bachelors degree in Visual Communications / Graphic Design!!! Sweet!

I will be back to work on the 23rd of November and will be steadily moving up the ladder until this time next year when I will probably get a new job at a higher pay grade. Also I hope to see promotion to Seinor Airman this year.

So a lot is going on and should be pretty good come 2010!

Shirts online

OK!!! Only 3 shirts there right now but it is up. A temporary site for my shirts! I will let you know when I post something new.

www.cafepress.com/paperwindows

Check it out.

Block 4

Halloween is coming fast and I am trying to stay busy. I volunteered for a Haunted house and it has not been very fun. Yesterday we started with 40 people and after about an hour there were 7 of us. There isn't much direction but it will come together enough to scare some people.

I was White Rope of the week this week. That is cool. It puts me in the running for White Rope of the month. Then I would get a chaplain coin and a letter from the chaplains. Sweet!

We are doing a project to decorate our door for Halloween. So there is a competition going on there. There are two projects for the Squadrons I work with and a poster for the fishbowl to get done.

I got a 95 on my last test o my GPA is currently at 97.3. I really need to find some time to study for this next test on Wednesday. It will be a long weekend....

I just met a guy with a WACOM tablet... I am so jealous. I draw everything out on paper, ink it and then walk all the way to the library to scan it and then work it in the computer. This guy just does it all with one interface! grrr.... he spent $280 on it cuts is work time in half. Not to mention how many leaps forward he can take in his design and art now that he has more time!

sigh... he is selling it ;)