VnutZ on OmniNerd

RE: Just Because It's Unexplainable Doesn't Mean Divine :) - Comment

VnutZ — Sun Mar 14 09:36:42 -0500 2010

In the article "Catholic Exorcist Points Finger at Vatican," VnutZ wrote:

I think most of those anonymous comments are from one time passer-bys as the article has been linked around odd “occult” sites and indexes. I was aiming more at the notion that I, as an atheist, look at the supernatural you alluded to with scientific skepticism and experimentation. Even without a conclusive answer though I don’t fall back on “well god works in mysterious ways”. I figure I can wait for an answer later if it’s discovered.

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Just Because It's Unexplainable Doesn't Mean Divine :) - Comment

VnutZ — Sat Mar 13 22:05:36 -0600 2010

In the article "Catholic Exorcist Points Finger at Vatican," VnutZ wrote:

There’s weird stuff in the world … but just because we can’t explain it doesn’t mean it’s the result of a god or a demon.

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RE: Hurt Locker Blows Hard - Comment

VnutZ — Sat Mar 13 07:47:47 -0600 2010

In the article "Hurt Locker vs Reality," VnutZ wrote:

Sure, I get that.

But there’s a difference when the movie is purported and touted to be the most definitive representation of the soldier experience. Let’s take two Clooney movies for example – Three Kings and The Men Who Stare At Goats. The first is very clearly just a fictional storytelling for entertainment purposes. Suspension of disbelief is a given and you can watch it knowing you’re seeing something for entertainment’s sake only. Something like The Men Who Stare At Goats alludes to a truthful secret plan but is intentionally put forward as a farce.

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RE: Hurt Locker Blows Hard - Comment

VnutZ — Sat Mar 13 04:53:39 -0600 2010

In the article "Hurt Locker vs Reality," VnutZ wrote:

Hurt Locker equates to nothing more than entertainment … but its not entertaining to anybody that has worked with EOD folks or been on any patrols through Baghdad. It was so unrealistic that it was practically a mockery of the experience, and for that insult to the troops serving over there, should not have received any awards. It would be like giving one of Michael Moore’s mockumentaries the Oscar for Best Picture.

Hurt Locker wasn’t even good as a standalone movie – it lacked a tying score, droned on in places, lacked visually drawing cinematography (no eye drawing scenes, uncreative angles, very little scene following or character sweeping envelopment), featured typecast acting at best, insulted the people it was about by demonstrating a clear lack of research and even seemed to include things like the slow motion .50 cal cartridge hitting sand without an integrating purpose. Like she was trying to be Jerry Bruckheimer or Michael Bay but bad.

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Hurt Locker Blows Hard - Comment

VnutZ — Fri Mar 12 21:39:42 -0600 2010

In the article "Hurt Locker vs Reality," VnutZ wrote:

I couldn’t even finish it … I stopped watching less than halfway in. That makes three movies in my life that I couldn’t bear to watch to completion:

and now Hurt Locker. It was so unrealistic that it pained me to even watch. How the hell did that woman win Oscars for that shit? James Cameron should beat her senseless with that little statue.

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Catholic Exorcist Points Finger at Vatican - Article

VnutZ — Fri Mar 12 15:45:01 -0600 2010

You don’t often hear about the Exorcists of the Vatican, but recently Father Gabriel Amorth began pointing his finger. He’s been the chief Exorcist of the church for the past 25 years with more than 70,000 cases of possession under his belt. He insinuates the Devil having infiltrated into the Vatican with evidence being internal violence, pedophilia and other cover-ups. Amorth further goes on to describe the film The Exorcist as exaggerated, but an otherwise exact representation of the possessions he has encountered where he says all sorts of things spew forth from the victims, “Anything can come out of their mouths – finger-length pieces of iron, but also rose petals.” Naturally, his comments have not sat well with the Vatican.

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RE: Omninerd, who are you? - Comment

VnutZ — Fri Mar 12 04:22:01 -0600 2010

In the article "Hurt Locker vs Reality," VnutZ wrote:

It wasn’t made for military people … it just happened that a good percentage of the original OmniNerd population knew each other from the army and West Point. The site was started on the premise that “after college, when you’re not required to do smart things in fields that don’t necessarily interest you … you get dumber.” Thus writing articles for OmniNerd that were placed into public scrutiny forced you to do solid research on whatever topic you wished to talk about in order to avoid being torn apart by your readers. This in turn kept the brain sharp and up to speed on different areas of things worth being smart on (by reading the articles of others) just as if you were still in an academic environment learning from others. The new OmniNerd population is massively diverse, however, as it has attracted all sorts of smart (and opposing view) folks in the last … six? … years.

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Rich People Olympics and Snowboarding Under Arms - Comment

VnutZ — Thu Mar 11 14:04:25 -0600 2010

In the poll "Winter Olympic sports?," VnutZ wrote:

I’ve had an suspicious inkling towards what you’ve said as well. You don’t really encounter struggling inner city kids who snowboarded their way out of the ghetto. A lot of the Winter Olympic sports really are in the domain of the “haves” … who else can afford to go skiing often enough to 1) realize they’re really good and 2) get to Olympic caliber?

If only boardercross was done with paintball guns – that would be badass. You score based on time across the finish line, perhaps a trick or two, and the number of splotches on your uniform.

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Will User Irritation Overcome Laziness? - Comment

VnutZ — Thu Mar 11 14:00:53 -0600 2010

In the article "Ad-Blocking: Dueling Views," VnutZ wrote:

Well – without ad revenue, OmniNerd would’ve likely mothballed itself years ago. Or it would still be on older hardware struggling to keep up if not even still residing on a shared environment.

There needs to be a balance between a site’s operation overwhelming the users with pop-up video ads, screen transition ads or what have you and an acceptable level of unobtrusive ads for self sustainment. I’m sure a major site with millions of viewers (like us cough) can handle the small percentage of them savvy enough to put a blocker in place. But that’s the same argument a poor guy makes about a rich guy – well, he has money to lose – which is all well and dandy to say until somebody says it about you! I guess a person’s opinion on this depends on the stake that revenue holds for their livelihood.

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Ratios Sounding Good! - Comment

VnutZ — Thu Mar 11 12:42:22 -0600 2010

In the link "Effects of the College Gender Gap," VnutZ wrote:

Why is male attendance at college falling behind female attendance?

Maybe it’s time to consider grad school after all … bow-chicka-bow-wow

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RE: Curling and Ice Dancing - Comment

VnutZ — Tue Mar 09 10:46:09 -0600 2010

In the poll "Winter Olympic sports?," VnutZ wrote:

Now, I can appreciate the respect for curling from a physics point of view. But its inclusion as an Olympic Sport has me scratching my head. The team basically consists of one person with an ability to judge momentum and angles … the other two … cleaning the house could be considered Olympic training for them.

“Mom … you sweep a mean kitchen. Have you considered the Olympics?”

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Hurt Locker vs Reality - Article

VnutZ — Mon Mar 08 09:27:32 -0600 2010

The 2010 Oscars have come and gone and the outcomes were interesting. Many people were surprised when The Hurt Locker destroyed Avatar. It was viewed as a breakthrough for women as director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director as her film went on to more awards like Best Picture. Therein lies the question.

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Winter Olympic sports? - Poll

VnutZ — Mon Mar 08 06:02:41 -0600 2010

Cast Your Vote - Winter Olympic sports?

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A Short Look into a Phishing Email - Article

VnutZ — Sun Mar 07 13:03:11 -0600 2010

So the other day, I came out of the movie theater and checked my iPhone to see what I missed while being entertained by Alice in Wonderland. In my AKO mail was a curious looking message about North Korea having tested a missile with a nuclear detonation in Okinawa, Japan. The message indicated alerts being made for pending mobilization of military units. WTF?


Office of the Director of National Intelligence

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Cyber Security Challenges - Article

VnutZ — Sun Mar 07 06:58:13 -0600 2010

The intent to defend America’s IT infrastructure is quite old, but often even new initiatives are so mired in secrecy that nothing ends up happening. Recently, the Obama administration declassified pieces of the Bush era Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative which was an effort to make sweeping changes to America’s security posture. A subsequent congressional review of the declassified portion concluded that while the plan had areas of significant merit, the declassified pieces presented various characteristics that were at odds with itself and along with hindrances to the development of solutions. For instance, the findings state the program was too secret for its own good (essentially nobody could work on it since nobody knew about it) and that R&D should be centrally managed by a specialized agency such as DARPA rather than parceled out piecemeal to competing academic environments.

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Has the Notion of Academic Cheating Changed? - Article

VnutZ — Mon Mar 01 07:53:07 -0600 2010

I remember when cheating was easy to identify. Hidden answers for a test? Cheating. Copying another’s work (without citing)? Cheating. Working beyond time constraints? Cheating. So what is it these days that seems to make so many people justify the act? Perhaps its just the “I’m Special” generation not wanting to have anything negative associated with their persona. Maybe the Internet has made the concept of share and share alike just part of culture. Or it could be status quo and this is simply the modern evolution of yesterday’s cheater.

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