istartedi.org Blog

I’ve been working on some code that isn’t particularly blogworthy yet. Also, a lot of other things. This site is still here in case the urge to write comes back. The fees are paid, might as well let it roll.

This was originally posted on Slashdot. Some of the responses were interesting too.

I feel priveleged to have been born in ‘68, because I got to experience arcades at the height of their glory. Best arcade I ever went to: Spaceway Raceway in Springfield Mall. Actually, there were *two* arcades in Springfield mall during the 80s–IIRC, they were both called “Timeout” at one point. The Spaceway Raceway was the one that was remodeled to include a circular electric bumper-car track.

The important thing is that the arcades were DARK. This cannot be stressed too much. Also, games were new, we were young, and this was “cutting edge technology that nobodoy knew where it would take us”. It was soooo… easy to get “lost” in this fantasy world… perhaps too easy. I honestly believe I was addicted to games at one point.

Timeout is still there, but SWRW was turned into something else… not sure what. The beginning of the end came for me when games started getting “cartoony” and I learned to drive. Then they started turning on lights in Time Out. They started turning on lights in all the arcades, reason given was that drug deals and pick-pocketing were going down. Lousy people always have to spoil it… but perhaps this was part of the “Star Wars Cantina” low-grade danger that made the places so appealing… that, and the fact that I had to ride my bike pretty far to get there.

It all fell apart when I went to college. Even before that, they were losing their luster. And, when you can drive a car, there are much more interesting places to go…

Of course kids these days have better tech, but I can’t help but think they are deprived. There[sic] tech is too good. No epic bike rides for gaming… they sit on their butts too long… the effect of the tech and the direction it will take seems more predictable.

Games now? I fire up Quake once in a while when I’m frustrated with something, but that’s it. The addiction left, as mysteriously as it came.

With real estate having dropped so far, you’d think that agents would be doing everything they can to serve potential buyers. Alas, this does not appear to be the case as evidenced by the abysmal nature of most real estate ads I’ve read. Here’s a list (a work in progress) of some of the most frustrating things about ads. Mostly it centers around a lack of information; but it’s also the way the information is presented–often in a way that seems to condescend towards the customer.

1. Put up 3 lines of information, the last of which is “serious inquiries only”. Yeah, you want the perfect buyer to be the very first person who calls, and you want them to buy at your asking price. You want to eliminate all the tire kickers. How realistic is that? You sir/mam, need a serious reality check. How many times have you walked into a store without buying something? I suppose you bought the first house you looked at? You never pick up a package of meat in the grocer’s cooler to see if it looks fresh? Just put it right on the basket, do we? Get a clue. Provide us with enough information, and don’t peg yourself as difficult to work with right out of the gate by posting this “serious inquiries” garbage. Honestly. Buyers are not there to waste your time. Real estate is a major purchase that requires significant research and review of many properties before a purchase is made. You cannot change that fact by putting two words at the end of your 3-line blurb.

2. (bare land only). Don’t put the APN (Asessor’s Parcel Number) in the ad or tell us what the zoning is. Make us guess. Make us go to the planning office’s web site and try to look up the APN based on the address (if that’s possible) and then find out about the zoning.

3. (trailers/mobile homes). Only tell us the price of the trailer, and don’t tell us the space rent.

4. (condo or HOA community). Similar to (3), don’t tell us the HOA fees.

5. (arguably, this is a generalization of many other rules) Provide as little information as possible. Ideally, you should only tell us that you have property for sale and just put your telephone number in the ad.

6. Provide a picture of your smiling face, but don’t provide a picture of the property.

7. (bare land only). Don’t mention that it has no water rights.

8. (bare land only). Don’t mention that it’s unbuildable. Just put “buyer to determine buildability”. Best combined with (2) and hope that the buyer won’t be smart enough to search the planning office web site and will thus become the “next sucker”.

9. Put “needs TLC”, “fixer upper”, or “contractor’s special” in your ad. Pretend that we’re still in the era where most ads were 3-liners in the newspaper classifieds so there wasn’t space. Nevermind that sellers of cars were able to describe what needed fixing with a stock set of abbreviations such as “nds brks, ac”. You have the ability to post 100 times as much text now without even stalling a dial-up connection, but be sure to totally ignore that and not tell us what actually needs fixing. Just convey what is, literally, 1 bit of information. Real bonus points for “TLC”, which means “Tender Loving Care” and has become, quite possibly, the most annoying way to convey just one bit of information that has ever been devised.

10. Refer to your property as a “great investment” or say “why rent”. Numbers determine whether or not we should rent, and whether or not something is a good investment. Be sure not to include any numbers such as the PITI based on market interest rates and the prior tax year. It would probably contradict what you just said.

11. Don’t tell us there was a meth lab on the property. I’m not kidding. This really happened. I found out via Google, not the ad for the property. My understanding of the law is that you are required to disclose the presence of a meth lab on property before you rent or sell it. However, the disclosure may not be required until… closing? I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer. I think these disclosures should be required in the ad, in simple checkbox language for various categories (ie, flood zone? no. Meth lab? yes). In case you’re wondering what a former meth lab does to property, the answer could vary. Cleanup may be as simple as removing all carpets, and painting. It may be as complicated as demolishing the house, carting topsoil to a hazardous disposal site, and re-doing the septic system. Costs could range from a few thousand dollars to God only knows what. Don’t you think we ought to know before we call you up and say “I’d like to have a look”?

12. Inform us that your trailer is in a “five star park”. Ohhhh…. Reeeally. But of course. Who confers this rating? Michelin ratest trailer parks? That’s news to me. Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon? Oh, and the blackwater hose in space 8 sprung a leak again. You need to look into that.

(work in progress)

Gold is sometimes described as an insurance policy against financial disaster. This got me thinking, if it were sold like most insurance policies it would come with terms, conditions, and disclaimers. So, I decided to write such a policy.

1. This policy insures you against inflation and/or the need to transport wealth across borders, subject to terms and condtions as specified.

2. Insured may choose to cover any portion of their wealth as measured in a local currency. Premium is all the local currency that insured wishes to protect. Upon payment of premium, insured will receive an ammount of gold at the current exchange rate between the local currency and gold.

2a. In addition to the premium, Insured will pay an additional premium (commission) for a physical policy. The additional premium is currently 10% above quoted exchange rates. The policy may currrently be redeemed at close to face value or with small refunds; but historicly has been redeemed at less than face value.

3. Currency exchange rates are subject to frequent and unpredictable changes. This may, radically impact the ammount of coverage to the insured. Be advised that it has been known to take decades for the rate of coverage to return to where it was when the policy was originally purchased.

4. THEFT — Policy does not insure against theft. If insured choses to receive gold in physical form, theft may reduce coverage to zero, resulting in a total loss to the insured. Insured is advised to purchase theft insurance if chosing a physical policy. Note that because policy may insure a large ammount of wealth in a form that is easily transported, there may also be large losses due to theft. Customers wishing to mitigate against such circumstances may wish to consider our silver policy. Please also note that the purchase of theft insurance will result in gradually reducing your coverage against inflation as time passes.

5. FRAUD — Policy does not insure against fraud. Verification of valid coin is the responsibility of the insured. Insured is advised to read the prospectus of a paper gold instrument carefully.

6. GOVERNMENT ACTION — Policy does not insure against government actions specificly directed at policy holders. These include but are not limited to property tax or confiscation resulting in the holding of such policies becoming illegal. Policy holder is advised to carefully weigh the implications of chosing to disobey the government under such circumstances.

7. SOCIAL VALUE — Policy holder is advised that the policy is based on a long standing tradition of gold holding value within most societies. There is no guarantee that society will continue to hold gold in such high esteem.

8. Actual means of transport across borders may be difficult. It is the responsibility of the insured to see that this can occur safely, should such a need arise.

9. “GOLD FEVER” — Insured is advised of the human condtion known as “gold fever”, in which certain individuals who know that gold is present will abandon their usual decorum and sense of morality. This may result in physical harm and/or total loss of your policy if it is known that you are holding. Insured is advised to stay tight lipped about the whole affair.

It occured to me a few days ago that “Obammer Slammer” would be a great name for a drink, in honor (or mockery, depending on how you look at it) of the President Elect. I have no idea what should go in it. Kahlua (for the Hawaiin connection) seemed like an obvious choice; but Wiki reveals that stuff is actually Mexican. I have no idea how I got the impression it comes from the islands. Connections for Kenya, Illinois, or Kansas seem a bit more diffficult.

Anyway, this kind of stuff is really not my bag. I virtually never go to bars unless “the group” is going, and that hasn’t been the case for a long time. So, somebody out there please come up with some ingredients that fit the name. Just make sure it doesn’t make you sick.

John McCain doesn’t want you to read this blog, or any other blog that’s political. OK, that’s maybe a bit hyperbolic; but it’s not too far from the truth. McCain shared top billing on the campaign finance reform law, portions of which were struck down by the Supreme Court. Some portions of this law, IIRC, would have required bloggers to comply with regulations that would have made it impractical to simply log in to a site like this and type whatever you want. That struck at the very heart of free speech.

Then, there is the whole flag burning ammendment. A bigger waste of time, and a greater attack against speech has not been seen in years. Guess who has his name on it?

At some point, early in this election, I thought perhaps the phrase, “It’s the Constitutions, stupid” might work its way into the general fray. Alas, no. There have been other issues on people’s minds. Long before he was even nominated, however, these issues were foremost in my mind. The Constitution is the foundation of the United States. The president takes an oath to defend it! How anyone can take seriously a candidate who would attack it is beyond me. It could be argued that McCain is just falling in line with his party’s general lack of respect for the values that made America great.

So, this Tuesday, vote Obama. There. I said that. That’s free speech, Mr. McCain. Read it and weep.

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