Archangel

Well there's arachnophobia and then there's just being afraid of spiders. I fear spiders, I think it has to do with how they move their legs when the move. Just creepy. But scorpions and other arachnids? They don't scare me at all. Not a bit, well, unless they can kill me, but c'mon who wouldn't be scared in that case? Plus, a lot of spiders are dangerous, silent, and they are friggin' everywhere!

Luna 13 (Apollo 13) The Secret of Everfree (The Secret of Kells) EDIT: Oops, I forgot you can only have one movie title per post. Oh well, too late now.

So, I'm going to have the Ghostbusters theme at my funeral? Oh man! The irony is hilarious. Who ya gonna call?

As a teen I've seen many stereotypes in my school. But what bothers me most about them, is that all the time they come up to me and badger me with the same question over and over. For some reason, the just can't get it through their heads that I just don't WANT to be like them. No, my parents aren't forcing me, no, I don't want to do it just because it's illegal. I just don't WANT to. EDIT: Bronium has a point I forgot to mention, mostly only the meanest/stupidest of the bunch ever stand out. Because they are making the most noise/waves. I may see many stereotypes in my school, but I see many people who break the mold too. Myself included.

Dunno, Maybe, It's a chance I'd rather not take y'know? Especially when the majority isn't exactly right all the time either. I would like to use all the hate on Bronies when they first revealed themselves as an example. Not all kids do no, I'm not trying to say they emulate everything. That's... Not what I meant, (I really shouldn't be typing these types of posts at one in the morning should I? ) And yes, of course, there are other factors such as violence in homes. Now, while TV and news and such probably aren't the sole factor, they might not be helping either. Part of the "emulation" kids do is subconscious. I highly doubt any kid who isn't mentally disturbed would kill someone solely because it was okay in Grand Theft Auto, that's just ridiculous, but what it can do is help with the justification of said murder. (I really should use the word murder, there is actually a difference between killing and murdering, but that's for another time.) Now, let me clarify something here, I'm not saying media is going to make a child instantly go on a killing spree, but I think we all agree that what you experience and see as a child affects your personality and how you'll act when you're older. Say, maybe someone stole just useless meaningless items from other players in an MMO, (Not the best of examples right here, but I can't think of a better, more realistic one that still gets my point across at the moment.) and then later he decides, well they won't mind if I just take a few of their LEGO pieces they don't use, (LEGO's? THE HORROR! THE HORROR!) and then when he gets older, he starts taking money, or using that silver tongue of his to lie about why he REALLY needs the money from his parents. Or that, long as his girlfriend doesn't know, he can cheat on her, because he really loves the other person instead so it's fine right? (That's his line of thinking, not my belief, just in case you didn't notice. The domino effect. Why didn't I say that in the first place? Because I'm an idiot sometimes that why. Sorry, I'll clarify that yeah. Anyone can emulate anyone, but at a certain stage it becomes a conscious choice instead of subconscious programming. So I meant when they discover, find out, whatever, that they no longer have to emulate anyone. And are able to choose beliefs on their own. If that doesn't clarify it, then the latter of what you said is closest. I don't know why I'm using SAW either, I've never even seen it. It's not my kind of movie. Letting your kid learn what the world is like is important. Letting them know that things like rape and robbery happen is a good thing to do. And you should do that at the earliest opportunity. But save the nitty gritty details for later. Like with my stork example, tell 'em that parents make kids by going to a room for while on their own to form a child, which is then delivered by a stork. Or whatever variation you wish. If they stumble upon say, their older brother having sex with his girlfriend, then tell the kid what happens, nitty gritty details included this time... Hmm, okay, not the best example ever, but you get what I mean by saving the nitty gritty bits for later right? Right. Good. You're good at following along, I'll stop patronizing you now. Thing is, at that age the don't really have as much of a choice as they seem to. Let them learn the truth at a young age fine, maybe not the whole complete truth. Maybe tell them about sex, I never heard the Stork Story growing up, I was just told parents have sex and that it's a very special thing between two people that they do alone. I never knew what actually went on, but I found out on the internet a little bit later. Thing is, while you might tell them about sex, if you tell them about all the bad stuff attached to it, how cheating and casual sex and such can ruin relationships, if not taught to the kid correctly, making sure they know what is and isn't right, can lead to some misjudgments in their future. Please note I said "can" not "will." Wait what? I don't think that. I'm not sure what gave you that idea. Grr, there I go being vague and confusing again! Shame on me! It's perfectly possible to have a fantasy world. I don't recall saying it wasn't... and maybe I'm missing a post of mine, but I can't seem to find where you would've gotten that idea from me. Actually, I think having a fantasy world is fine. Can I go off-tangent here? Thanks, I dislike your use of the word "truth" I'm not saying keep the "truth" or knowledge away from kids. I'm trying to say... actually, hold up, I'm saving that bit for the end. Almost done I promise! Yeaaaah no, my behavior, while not the best, wasn't what I meant by being a bad influence. I mean watching and playing what I watched and played influenced what he watched and played, since I was kinda his big brother figure, he wanted to do what I did. Like all little brothers do. I acted no where near as violent as he did back then. Except when I was being sarcastic, I wonder is he just didn't pick up on my sarcasm? I try to make it pretty obvious... Phew, okay, final thoughts, here we go. See, what bothers me about your use of the word "truth," is that there is not telling it, and then there is telling it correctly. I guess my main complaint with kids seeing all these things, and "growing up too quickly" is ultimately stemming from my dislike of how kids have been raised now a days. When I first went to public school it was crazy in there, drugs, lies, horrible relationship drama, and bunch of stuff that could've been prevented had the parent taught their kid how to properly react to such things. Instead of making kids ignorant of the "truth" as you say, parents should teach their children how to cope and react to the "truth." And sometimes, reactions and coping need to be taught when they can understand it. Which may not be the same age at which they can be exposed to it. Ugh, this was all wrapped up better in my head a second ago why didn't I write it then! Teach kids to learn, to always seek answers, to never take things at face value, that one of the best things you can do is doubt, because then you feel the need to seek out the truth. Teach your kids to think through problems and situations, logically, reasonably, rationally, and scientifically. I guess, that's mainly what I'm saying. Or, It's too late and I shouldn't be writing this and watching Doctor Who. One or the other. Now let's see what those other two notifications I have now are. EDIT: I forgot to mention! Make sure the news stations and such the look at are reliable and tell the stories straight. Unlike a certain foxy station. (See what I did there?) EDIT 2: Dear sweet Celestia am I long winded! Am I always like this? EDIT 3: Last edit I promise. Since I haven't gotten a response yet I assume I'll have to wait a while. I'd love to keep going, tomorrow night, since in the morning I have to go to church and then I have a long drive to go pick up my new kitty (yay!) So I'll see you all tomorrow! Bye!

Well, I haven't gotten to use it extensively yet, as I'm still building my second computer. However, several things come to mind, first off, it's a very lightweight and stable OS. I can boot it off of my USB and carry my hard drive in my pocket. There are issues with plugging it into a different PC of course, but it's far easier to do with Linux than Windows or Mac. Second off, in my time playing around with it, it's never stopped me. Not once, I wanted to run a program or file there was no security warning. Nothing I had to disable or enable. I had instant easy access to the console and critical system files, and I can fool around with it as much I please. It's open source too, which not only means it's free, and that I can create any customization I want to it, but other people can create their own version of Linux and put it on the internet for others. That's why, unlike Linux or Mac, you hear about many more types of that operating system. Plus, I just like how it feels when I do things in it. It just FEELS right and while it's hard to put that into words but that is very critical to any consumer device or software. (Ever not really liked a shooter game because somehow the guns just didn't FEEL right? Exactly.) Linux is geared towards people who are called "power-users" and know their way around computers really well. Not towards people who just want to check their e-mail for their jobs and type up a progress report. So I suppose your average person should probably use Windows or Mac instead. In short, I like Linux the most for the same reasons I like Windows better than Mac, just, tenfold in Linux's case.

Okay, I wanna throw my two cents into this conversation. There have been scientific studies done (I'm too lazy to find the sources, Google it.) that the brain, until it reaches a certain point in maturity, emulates behavior it senses rather than coming up with it's own behavior. That's why teens go through the "rebellious" stage. It seems like they do it to spite their parents, but I think most cases are similar to mine, where, from our experiences and what we see around ourselves, we have chosen to believe things different from each other. Because I am no longer in that "emulating" phase. My dad and I disagree sometimes on our religious views, and we don't always agree, sometimes we believe the other is wrong, but we rarely get mad at each other, since we both can back up our beliefs with our own evidence and support. AND THAT ladies and gents, is growing up, when you no longer emulate and can think for your self. That's why I believe letting kids watch things like SAW too early is bad, because they are in that "emulating" stage still. Now, what you, Mister Bronium, seem to bring up, (Or at least, how I look at it,) is you say that kids exit that emulating stage at different times. To which I completely agree, I also agree that finding when that stage ends is extremely difficult, which is why it's simply easier to pick a young, but not too young of an age to completely expose them to these things. Say 12, now, like I said earlier, if they are exposed too early, (I'm going to use your case as an example, do you mind?) like how you and your family were abused by your father when you were young, (My condolences by the way.) it's best to tell them everything right then, and not try to keep it hidden any more. I think that's what helped with you. I also agree people should find happiness in this world, but there's nothing wrong with giving them a fantasy world either. I remember one kid who I knew very well, he's a lot younger than me so I could watch it happen. He would always watch and do the same things my friends and I did, he was a very violent little brat really. His mother rarely scolded him. I admit, I may have been a bad influence on him, one that I did try, and I hope I did help, to correct. Although, with time, (and some reprimanding from me pleasedon'ttellhismother ) he has grown into one of my best friends, and he no longer has his violent urges either.

Chances are you didn't download anything, or actually bother doing EVERY SINGLE STEP, because you can get through most of it unharmed, (Speaking from experience there). And it's a lot harder to contract a virus than a lot of people think, something to worry about, but not be scared of. Similar to how you worry about crashing in your car but you're not scared enough to never drive your car. So I'm not all that surprised you didn't catch one, while it's more susceptible to Mac programed viruses, (You can check me on Google if you like, search for, oh I dunno, "how easy is it to get a virus on a Mac" you should get results that'll back me up. Never just take someone's word for it, even mine. And mine's usually pretty good, after all, I only gamble when I can never lose.) viruses in the first place are hard to get if you have any form of common sense, (You ever get those windows that pop up and say they are scanning your hard drive for viruses? And you know they are just a simply flash video for several reasons that are easy to spot? Exactly.) Plus, I'm not sure on the numbers, but while Macs are increasing in their popularity and use, Windows still corners the market. Guess which I'd develop a virus for? Last little bit here, there were a couple of massive viruses that hit Macs a few years back, exploiting the easy-to-breach security. So it's also possible Apple may have really stepped up in their security department. I must admit, OSx being my least favorite operating system for many reasons, I hardly keep up with it. And more games too! Though more importantly, Linux has been on the rise as well! AND STEAM IS COMING TO LINUX WITH L4D2! YAYZ! Wasteland 2 is also coming to Linux, presumably on Steam as well I hope. Lots of games are beginning to be made for Linux now that I think about it.

Too damn early I agree, I lost mine when I was about 12-13. Once I fully knew how to search on Google there wasn't a force on Earth that could stop me from learning everything. On Spaceships. Anyway, I think somewhere in your teens or right before is where you should be introduced to real-world concepts. And I don't mean introduced like, "Okay, let's tell them the stork story now." No, that should've been for before, now is when you hear about what really happens. EDIT: Forgot to mention, once they are exposed a little bit, even a little, even a smidge, even if it's too early, it's too late. Time to explain the rest, otherwise you skew their perspective and deductive abilities. I've seen it happen, those who try damage control, it gets worse. Either the kids fall in love with war, and greed, and power and sex, or the opposite happens, and such things hardly exist to them, because no one would be like that right? Wrong.

Going to beat a dead horse here... huh, just occurred to me that this is the wrong site to say that on. But Macs are actually more susceptible to viruses, thing is, back in the old days, few people had Macs, so it wasn't really worth coding a virus for. Now a days but Macs and viruses for them are on the rise. Windows machines are also very virus resistant if you take the right precautions. I've had a Windows machine for nearly ten years and have never caught a virus. Simply don't download something on every single site that has a download button. Also don't go to every single site, stay away from scams and "watch movies for free" sites. A virus scanner never hurts of course but mine never finds anything. Of course I'm also a wee bit biased against Macs. Windows may be a pain in the arse but at least it does what I tell it to do. With a Mac I feel like I have to bait it into doing what I want. I wish everything just worked on Linux.

Banned for reading other people's status updates. THOSE THINGS ARE PRIVATE! THAT'S WHY THEY ARE ON THE INTERNET!