needsalt
a well lived bland life
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Who's Coming With Me?
So I've decided to ride RAGBRAI this year. Jordan Cook (one of my roommates), Darren Johnson, George Stagg, Mark Stephenson, possibly my uncles and cousins, and propably a few others I'm missing have dedicated ourselves to riding 444 miles across Iowa this summer in the blistering heat and humidity. We will start with dipping our tires in the Missouri River and end with dipping our tires in the Mississippi River. The route this year goes through Polk city and Newton, so we'll be close to home.
To prepare for this adventure I put my tax refund to a good use and purchased a new bike. I decided upon a Cannondale Synapse 4 from Skunk River Cycles here in Ames. Check it out:
To prepare for this embarkment I've dedicated myself to training as often as possible and hopefully get my body back into an optimum operating condition, as have a few others.
Side Note: Spammers
At work I often work on someone's computer that has become infested with spyware and/or viruses or who's e-mail is full of spam. Some would argue that this is job security, on the contrary, this problems affects the client more than the IT guy, by affecting their productivity. There will always something for an IT guy to do; dealing with spam, viruses, and spyware is just something else to put on our plate.
My web server has also become a target for spammers. I had three forms on my website for users to be able to either enter a comment about a blog, send me an email, or subscribe to my blog and receive updates when I create a new blog. All three have come under the gun of a spammer within the past week. I received a large amount of junk through these programs consisting of nothing but random words, phrases, or internet links. consequently, I've temporarily taken these items offline until I have a chance to re-design the processes (once again - creating more work for me).
The beauty of a blog is it's your own person soap box which gives you the freedom to speak your mind. So here goes, I'm going to empty my mind of what I think about these people.
First of all, obviously these people have too much time on their hands. To have the time to either post crap on someone's site, or create a program to do so, or send out fake phishingemails, or send out spam, or create viruses first shows a lack of purpose and productivity. When you create something like a virus or spam message you're actually not accomplishing anything. Yes, you may create something that causes someone else to have to fix something or have to do something, but ultimately you're not accomplishing anything. What you're doing isn't bettering anyone or anything, it's actually hindering society as apposed to benefitting society. In times of past such a person would be cut off from the rest of society or in some cultures killed. Having purpose in life should be what fuels us all. One day you will die. It's a fact of human existence (except for a few elite biblical characters, but I believe most of us lack the rightousness to be included or even spoke of in the same sentence as these people). When you die what ever virus or spyware you created will be forgotten. Maybe not at first, if your virus affects a large population, but over time you're existence will become nothing but a whisper in the span of time.
Next, someone who create such a worthless thing is also obviously selfish. To not think of others and only yourself is the definition of selfishness. When you create a virus that causes others harm, except yourself (unless you're stupid enough to infect yourself with your own virus) you're not thinking or having concerning for other people. To purposely cause someone else harm for your own enjoyment is sick and twisted. People comment everyday that the world is going down the toilet, well its the complete lack of respect for someone else or someone else's property that is flushing the world down the toilet. Do unto others as you would like done unto yourself.
Lastly, these same people probably have a low self esteem. Creating a virus or spyware that will affect a large group of people gives you a false sense of power. Power is having an affect on people that will change their lives. Power is having authority over people that they will listen to you and follow you and what you say. Power is having an affect on the world and your children after you're gone.
In conclusion, spammers and such do nothing for society beyond destruction and hindernce. Do something with your life. If you want a better world do something to help it. If you want to make a name for yourself, do it so that you won't be a thorn in the side of society, instead be remembered for removing the thorn. Personally I believe that only God can give us purposefulness and permanence to the work of our hands. Only His purposes and power have been true throughout time, and to humble oneself in servitude to God is the ultimate sacrifice that we can experience resulting in the greatest reward that we cannot even begin to fathom.
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Blando's Blog
Disciple of Christ, Husband, Father, and IT-guy.
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