MY GOD – IT’S FULL OF WIN!!!

I just have to repost this:

The Complicated Nature of NT Rationals Explained to Normal People.

In the day and age where everyone wants to be classified in some personality type, there exists an especially obscure type sitting in the oddest most abstract of corners, the NT Rational. Attempting to understand these rare abstract thinkers – the computer programmer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher – is like trying to study the mating rituals of three-toed sloths at your local zoo. The following is a linear analysis to give ourselves the deepest possible understanding of these eccentric characters.

Generally, determining if you have this temperament type is easily shown by answering this question:

You walk into a room and see a picture hanging crooked. You…

A. Straighten it.
B. Ignore it.
C. Ponder the situation’s metaphoric symbolism on the humanitarian situation in Syria, then write a poem about it.
D. Buy a CAD system and spend the next six months designing a solar-powered, self-adjusting picture frame while often stating aloud your belief that the inventor of the nail was a total moron.

The correct answer is “D” but partial credit can be given to anybody who writes “it depends” in the margin of the test or who simply blames the whole stupid thing on “marketing”.

A = Guardian
B = Artisan
C = Idealist
D = Rational

SOCIAL SKILLS

NTs have different objectives when it comes to social interaction. “Normal” people expect to accomplish several unrealistic things from social interaction:

* Stimulating and thought provoking conversation;
* Important social contacts;
* A feeling of connectedness with other humans.

In contrast to “normal” people, NTs have rational objectives for social interactions:

* Get it over with as soon as possible;
* Avoid getting invited to something unpleasant;
* Demonstrate mental superiority and mastery of all subjects.

FASCINATION WITH GADGETS

To the NT, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories:
(1) things that need to be fixed, and
(2) things that will need to be fixed after you’ve had a few minutes to play with them.
NTs like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own. “Normal” people don’t understand this concept, they believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. NTs believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.
No NT looks at a TV remote control without wondering what it would take to turn it into a stun gun. No NT can take a shower without wondering if some sort of Teflon coating would make showering unnecessary. To the NT, the world is a toy box full of sub-optimized and feature-poor toys.

FASHION AND APPEARANCE

Clothes are the lowest priority for an NT, assuming the basic thresholds for temperature and decency have been satisfied. If no appendages are freezing or sticking together, and no genitalia or mammary glands are swinging around in plain view, then the objective of clothing has been met.

DATING

Dating is never easy for NTs. A “normal” person will employ various indirect and duplicitous methods to create a false impression of attractiveness. NTs are incapable of placing appearance above function.
Fortunately, NTs have an ace in the hole. They are widely recognised as superior marriage material: intelligent, dependable, honest, handy around the house and not the least bit overbearing. While it’s true that most “normal” people would prefer not to date an NT, most normal people harbour an intense desire to mate with them, thus producing Bill Gates-like children who will have high-paying jobs long before losing their virginity.
Male NTs reach their peak of sexual attractiveness later than most “normal” men, becoming irresistible erotic dynamos in their mid-thirties to late forties. Just look at these examples of sexually irresistible NT males:

* Bill Gates
* MacGyver
Female NTs become irresistible at the age of consent and remain that way until about thirty minutes after their clinical death. Longer if it’s a warm day.

HONESTY

NTs are always honest in matters of technology and human relationships. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep NTs away from customers, romantic interests and other people who can’t handle the truth. NTs sometimes bend the truth to avoid work. They say things that sound like lies but technically are not because nobody could be expected to believe them. The complete list of NT lies is stated below:
“I won’t change anything without asking you first.”
“I’ll return your hard-to-find object/device tomorrow.”
“I have to have new equipment to do my job/research.”
“I’m not jealous of your new computer.”
“I know exactly what I am doing/talking about.”

FRUGALITY

NTs are notoriously frugal. This is not because of cheapness or mean spirit; it is simply because every spending situation is simply a problem in efficiency, that is, “How can I escape this situation while retaining the greatest amount of cash?” and also, “How can I achieve maximal results from minimal work?”

POWERS OF CONCENTRATION

If there is one trait that best defines an NT, it is the ability to concentrate on one subject to the complete exclusion of everything else in the environment.
This sometimes causes NTs to be pronounced dead prematurely. Some funeral homes in high tech areas have started checking resumes before processing the bodies. Anybody with a B.Sc. or experience in computer programming is propped up in a lounge for a few days just to see if he or she snaps out of it.

RISKS AND JOBS

NTs are most strongly drawn to the scientist, mathematician, philosopher, inventor, thinking-researcher type jobs. Therefore, NTs hate risk. They try to eliminate it whenever they can. This is understandable, given that when an NT researcher/scientist makes a mistake, the media will treat it like it’s a big deal or something.
Examples of Bad Press for NT Scientist/Researchers:

* Hindenburg
* Challenger
* SPANet™
* Hubble Space Telescope
* Apollo 13
* Titanic
* Ford Pinto
The risk/reward calculation for NT scientists looks something like this:
RISK: Public humiliation and the death of thousands of innocent people.
REWARD: A certificate of appreciation in a handsome plastic frame.
Being pragmatic people, NTs mathematically evaluate this balance of risks and rewards and decide that risk is not a good thing. The best way to avoid risk is by advising that any activity is technically impossible for reasons that are far too complicated to explain. If that approach is not sufficient to halt a project, then the NT will fall back to a second line of defense: “It’s technically possible but it will cost too much.”

EGO

Ego-wise, two things are important to NTs:

* How smart they are;
* How many cool devices they own.
The fastest way to get an NT to solve a problem is to declare that the problem is unsolvable. No NT can walk away from an unsolvable problem until it’s solved. No illness or distraction is sufficient to get the NT off the case. These types of challenges quickly become personal – a battle between the NT and the laws of nature.
NTs will go without food and hygiene for days to solve a problem (other times just because they forgot). And when they succeed in solving the problem they will experience an ego rush that is better than sex – and we’re including the kind of sex where other people are involved. Nothing is more threatening to the NT than the suggestion that somebody else has more technical skill. “Normal” people sometimes use that knowledge as a lever to extract more work from the NT. When an NT says that something can’t be done (a code phrase that means it’s not fun to do), some clever “normal” people have learned to glance at the NT with a look of compassion and pity, and say something along these lines: “I’ll ask Bob
to figure it out. He knows how to solve difficult problems.”
At that point it is a good idea for the “normal” person to not stand between the NT and the problem. The NT will set upon the problem like a starved chihuahua on a pork chop.

- B.J.H., INTP Architect Rational, originally from The Nature of Scientists.

Do you ever use an air mattress?

I do. I use one in my guest room, and I use one when I go camping.

Recently, on a camping trip, the plug went missing.

Naturally, I went online to see what could be done to replace it.

There are a lot of interesting options out there. One of the most common answers to the questions seems to be “replace the air mattress”. Of course, this answer is probably brought to us by Coleman.

After getting a rough measurement of the plug opening, we went searching about the house for something solid, round and roughly the size of an air mattress plug.

And the winner is:

Craigslist is a great way to buy and sell locally, online. It is also a breeding ground for every conceivable type of scam and dishonesty.

Being a long time user of the service, I was quite surprised to get hit by a new – and rather complex – type of scam.

I was selling an item of merchandise in Durham NC.

Shortly after posting the item, a person wrote asking if I was “still offering” the item. I responded positively.

Quickly, the sender followed up with this mail:

from arlene07908@aol.com
to XXXXXXX@gmail.com
date Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 10:26 AM
subject Re: Re: Kramer Imperial (Explorer)
mailed-by aol.com

Thank you for getting back with me

I’m very interested in this but before I buy it I need to know if its
the same one I’m looking for because I can’t afford another mistake
Please check out this video here I uploaded, which i am looking to buy

PLAY VIDEO (weblink)

If its the same one I will be there today to buy it

Thanks

Yes, things started to smell fishy. The “PLAY VIDEO” link in the mail had a “shortened” URL , rather than a complete link. That’s suspicious! Why would someone go through the hassle of shortening a link just to show me a video?

I pasted the shortened URL into the unscrambler at: http://longurl.org/

The complete link that appeared in the “results” window was: http://flvdirect.us/my_stuff.php

So, what is FLVDIRECCT.us?

It is the new scam on Craigslist.

If one were to click on the link that was sent to me via Craigslist, one would wind up on a page where a video would be. According to Computer Scientist Darren McCall:

“If you click the play button it says, “To watch this video please install FLVDirect”. At the top of the screen it says, “You need FLV DIRECT VIDEO VIEWER installed in order to download and watch this video. Please go here and install a free one now”.

The “Video Viewer” is malware.

Why would anyone do this, you might ask?

Money is the answer. Over at Freelancer.com, in the “Bulk Marketing” section, Darren points to this job listing:

http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Marketing-Bulk-Marketing/Pay-per-sign-download-per.html

“I need for an individual or individuals to provide at least 50 sign ups/downloads a day from flvdirect.com. Traffic must be from USA ONLY. Sign Ups are required to download and install FLV Player and you will be paid $1 each time a valid download is made.

I will pay $1 for each Real Qualified Conversion, and an extra $7.50 per 50 leads generated in a day, so for every 50 downloads you get $7.50 on top of the $1 per download for each day.”

Some scammer somewhere is trying to get people to download and install the FLV VIEWER malware so that they can get a few dollars.
Don’t become a victim of this swindle. Don’t click on shortened URLs. Ever. Don’t install any software without first doing a google search on the name of the software plus the word “scam” – as in: “FLV DIRECT VIDEO VIEWER SCAM”.

Enjoy Craigslist, but be safe.

One Sentence Summary: Like a combo of Stevie Nicks and Dolly Parton channeling Janis Joplin in front of your favorite local punk band.

One Sentence: If you liked The Jesus and Mary Chain – this record is for you!

Radical. That is the most appropriate word to describe Joyce Kennedy’s band. In the 1970’s, in the city of Atlanta Georgia, a great band was formed. The band was not only great because of the mix of styles, and the plurality of it’s members – it was great because of Joyce’s vocals – as well as for the structure and composition of the band’s music.

MF was one of the first “interracial” bands in the rock-n-roll world and most especially, in the South. Let me tell you – it was a big deal. As a 13 year old child, I really wanted an MF tee shirt – and I knew where to buy one – but I was afraid to wear it home.

But that is not the point. 

The point is this: Joyce Kennedy’s vocals are PEERLESS. Hear me? PEERLESS. Not in all the history of the world (at least what is recorded) is there a single rock singer with this level of talent.

Don’t believe me?

Take a listen to the track “Baby Love”:

 

Why is it, that with the track’s relentless beat and irresistible hook, that over  a period of more than thirty years, not a single cover of this song has come forth?

Well, it’s simple. Joyce is a member of a REAL rock and roll band. These people are not just paying “lip service” to the history of R&B, they ARE R&B. So what? That means the songs are REAL compositions – with breaks, middle fours, bridges, key changes, and so on, and therefore – they do not lend themselves to the simplistic programming of the “Auto Tune” music mastering plug-in that makes or breaks fake singers like Britney et al. 

To be sure – there is only one way to cover Joyce Kennedy  - and that is to have the vocal ability of Joyce Kennedy.

1974. 1984. 1994. 2004. 2014…?

To date, among the 6.6 BILLION people alive on Earth, there is not one single human vocalist who can do what Joyce Kennedy does. And there you have it. The definition of “Unparalelled”. 

Superstar? I dunno…to me -yeah. Legend? I Dunno – to most of us “Southerners” – yeah. To you – well…listen.

And, with much respect to her band, also enjoy the funk masterpiece “Mickey’s Monkey”:

 

Mother’s Finest – My God!!! It’s Full of WIN!!!!

Seems So Bright is the brainchild of Michael Lovesky Simone. He moved from NC to NY a few years back.

Here in NC, he was the consummate singer/songwriter type. Watching him was like seeing an early Jeff Buckley. Then off he goes to the big city, grabs a band, and makes a record.

And, it’s amazing…

These songs were published in anticipation of the Blinds Down LP, as free downloads from the band’s website, which seems to be down, so we present them here…enjoy!
Bitter from the Start

Bombs and Waves (Acoustic)

Once Moved (Broken Mix)

Send and Return

Want the MP3’s? CLICK HERE

You can buy the “Blinds Down” record at Amazon – Click through HERE to support this site

Seems So Bright – My God!! It’s Full of WIN!!