Coopernundrums » Serious

Giving Voice to the Villain

JayCooper — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:33:48 +0000

Villains are often overlooked in movies. Truly great stories need memorable villains. Sometimes the villain is so compelling that he or she even overshadows the hero. Some actors make better villains than others. I decided to make a list of actors that make great villains. Some have tried their hands at serious and even sometimes heroic roles. Where these actors really shine is when they are portraying truly immoral characters. Here is a list of my all time favorite actors, notable for their portrayal of villains.

Sunday Halloween

JayCooper — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:46:13 +0000

Religious zealots complain about the increasing tendency of the popular mind to make the association between Halloween and secular or pagan imagery. What is really amusing is the utter seriousness with which they disregard the fact that Halloween predates Christianity by thousands of years. The Halloween we celebrate today is drawn mostly from the pagan parts, the Jack-o’-lanterns, the dressing up as ghosts, witches, etc. These days it’s pretty secular.

Of course, the reason ostensibly given for Saturday night Halloweening is that it will keep the holiday from interfering with Sunday night church activities. If we follow this strange logic when Christmas or some other holiday falls on a Sunday, shouldn’t we also designate it for another day for the same reason, to eliminate any possible distraction for church-goers? That would be crazy, right?

I cannot resist thinking that every day must feel like Halloween for Christians. After all, they imagine angels and demons at war for their “souls,” and worship assorted spirits with which they claim to be able to communicate.

Typically, when Halloween falls on a Sunday it simply means double the fun, and people can usually expect trick-or-treaters two nights in a row. When TN residents were asked how they felt about the age-old debate on the News Channel 5 website, answers were mixed but the majority who commented preferred keeping the Halloween hoopla on Halloween.

The city of Mt. Juliet Tennessee where I live has officially decided to keep the holiday on its proper day and observe the fun on October the 31^st 2010. This is a rather progressive move considering I live where the majority of the folks are religious by diffusion.

Happy haunting all!

Emotional Frame of Mind

JayCooper — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:00:21 +0000

I struggle every day, in a world that surrounds me with xstians not to become that “angry atheist” that causes their friends to leave the room or scares the children spouting off the facts they have never heard from their parents. It is such a seriously hard line to walk. I love all my friends and I don’t want to loose any of them. I just hope every time I wade into the realm of debate with them that I don’t wind up alienating them. On the other hand, I am not one that will back down from said debate. I have very strong beliefs based on fact and reason.

It’s tough when you live in a world with folks that are obviously intelligent and yet they pursue causes out of ritual or habit. People that no longer question the why of the world or want to know the truths all around them. People that you might see as incredible conversationalists or thinkers yet they choose to overlook obvious inconsistencies in logic and reason. Tough, living with the realization that these otherwise brilliant people will never change their minds, no matter how much science or proof you draw to their attention. Its super easy to become that angry, profane individual when you feel like you are screaming at the top of your lungs that the world is round not flat, and no one will listen to you.

…oh wait, that’s another story, isn’t it?

Life is all just a matter of perceptions. Some people think the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, when in fact, the sun never moves at all.

I Think..Therefore I don’t Need Tech Support

JayCooper — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:35:43 +0000

Oh, how I hate my fellow man. Well, sometimes anyway. Doing phone support all day can sure make a man jaded when it comes to having any kind of confidence that there is actually intelligent life on this planet. I have a wall poster in my office that has several clever saying regarding technical support truths, but one in particular kind of sums up all the others.

“Can you help me with this” usually means “Please do it for me”. In honor of this depressing thought I would like to draw your attention to my fine philosophical idol Ayn Randand her introduction to objectivism. Please read this and for the love of family, PLEASE try to think for yourselves people.

A Philosophy For Living

“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” –Ayn Rand

Objectivism means :

- Believing in yourself, not in any church, not in society, and not in fellow man.

- Not take things on faith, for reason is man’s greatest attribute.

- Helping yourself to not rely on others; and not letting others rely on you.

- Realizing that Man is an end in and of himself- not a means to ANY other purpose.

- Understanding that your personal happiness is your PRIMARY moral obligation.

- Always trying to achieve you greatest goals and productivity.

..and in doing sowe becomes a heroic beings.

The Computer Geeks Most Valuable Tools

JayCooper — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:18:31 +0000

Ah the doldrums of late winter. I sit writing this while my mind pines away for the sunshine and warmth of spring. I am sure many of you reading this feel the same way. Thinking of what to write has been tough lately, but today I had a fun thought and in a flash knew what this post would be about.

Being a technophile means I will never be without work, thankfully. That being said here is a list of the invaluable tools that I believe every card carrying computer geek needs to do their primary job and of course al the side work we have as well.

The trusty USB Thumb Drive

Unless you just enjoy hauling a 9 pound brick of a laptop with you everywhere you go, having a small key chain, compact USB flash drive is a lifesaver. I have one that is 32 GB large. No “mine’s bigger than your’s” jokes, please. I have mine set as a bootable device with a whole cavalcade of recovery and “fixer” programs. I never leave home without it and I have everything I need to get any PC up and running with me at all times.

Dedicated Web Space

You might think this is more of a luxury than a tool, but I assure you in times of need having a virtual medium out there on the World Wide Web that you can send files to and retrieve files from ANYWHERE in the world is an INVALUABLE tool. When the old thumb drive is full or cant be used, say on a PC with no USB ports free, this tool is my “go to GUY”.

FTP Program

Well, if you have web space out there in the virtual world you have to have a way to get to it right? A good QUALITY File Transfer Protocol program is a true necessity. I won’t go into my likes and dislikes about FTP app cause I have some quirky needs. What I will say however is make sure you try out several programs before you settle on one you will stick with for a while. Lots of great freeware programs for this but beware many of the free ones are garbage.

Mini Flashlight

When peeking into the black bowels of a PC case that has not seen the light of day in years a bright, maneuverable light source is always a boon. I have a key chain LED that like my thumb drive is always at my side.

Multi Tool

When in doubt break out the screwdrivers. I Love my multi tool. Its got all the tools a growing nerd needs.

PATIENCE

When you deal with as many people as I do on a daily basis that have serious trouble understanding and using computers you begin to wonder how the world continues to spin since its based so heavily on computers now. With that in mind Tech Support specialists such as myself should all try as well as we can to have patience when encountering such situations. Its like my Wife always says, “Not everyone is as goo at everything as others”. Stop and think about that one. Think we geeks would stand a chance at the Olympics? Maybe Curling? HA!

Basically they should Outlaw Basically

JayCooper — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:14:38 +0000

Today I would like to rant a bit about the overused term BASICALLY. Seems like everyone from late night talk show hosts to politicians uses the term basically as a crutch or a filler word. They need to STOP NOW!

We have a beautiful language. The English language has thousands of words that roll off ones tongue with grace and fluidity. I basically want everyone to stop murdering the language. Basically this is our heritage we are talking about. A gift that has been basically handed down from one generation to another that should basically be preserved. Instead, we basically abuse it. It is basically torture to the ears.

There are so many descriptive words that people can use to speak in a beautiful, meaningful way. You might be surprised if you stop and explore the extent of your own vocabulary, and the fact that you don’t use it for your own benefit. We all probably know the meanings of many words, but we don’t employ them in our speech or writing.

My theory is that basically is just one of those words that we use to “sum things up” or to say “well you should get it, its so simple I just explained the whole thing to you in English!”

So please, for the LOVE OF PETE, try to find some sprightly alternatives to the term BASICALLY. User your mind and come up with better more meaningful adjectives. Basically, I am saying NO MORE BASICALLY!