Biasutti

Clean Up Your Computer!

2010-12-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

This is a tutorial to help you organize your computer. I have Windows Vista as my operating system so this explains how to do it for Vista but the basic principles can be applied to most operating systems. This tutorial will clear your desktop of icons and files then re-tool the taskbar as your new place to launch applications. I will also give tips on how to tidy up your files and folders so you can find what you need faster. My hope is by the end you will have a less stressful place to do your computing.

Desktop

Clear your desktop. You don't need files and links to programmes on your desktop. It's just depressing to have a confusing bunch of icons and files all mixed together as the first thing you see when logging on to your computer.

Put the files in their place, like in the Documents folder. For your launch/shortcut icons (the ones used to open iTunes, your web browser, ect.) drag the important ones to the Quick Launch part on your taskbar (Quick Launch is your new desktop) and delete the rest.

Pick a nice desktop background picture. Now that your desktop is all clean put up a nice picture, it will help you feel at home. Pick a picture that is beautiful, relaxing, and inspiring. You will now want to keep your desktop clear (to show off your picture), plus when you get flustered you can just minimize your windows and chill for a minute.

This is my desktop

Taskbar

Now that you will be using the task bar more often we have to optimize it. In your taskbar's properties check off all options.

Quick Lauch

We need to focus in on the Quick Launch part of your taskbar. The Quick Launch is located on the left next to the Windows Start button. Follow these steps to make your taskbar your “computer hub”:

Unlock your taskbar
There are now dotted bars separating the different parts of your taskbar
Grab the right side of the Quick Launch boundary and move it to the right as far as it will go
Right click in the Quick Launch section and go to view, select large icons
Lock your taskbar

Now your taskbar is ready to replace what your desktop did, with less clutter. You'll have noticed that your windows are all smushed over to the left side. I don't mind this because I usually only have two or three windows open at a time. Furthermore I use alt-tab to pick what window I want to focus on.

Star Menu

Go to the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties for this. Same idea here get rid of what you don't use, organize what you do. Customize your start menu by clicking the customize button under the Start Menu tab.

Go down the list and choose “don't display this item” or un-check anything you don't use often. If you choose to display recent programs (which I do) display less that 9 (I do 5).

There is one more thing you can do here if you have decent eyesight. You can un-check “Use large icons” it makes you Star Menu smaller. That option gives more space if you don't have a large display.

Big Icons

Small Icons

Files and Folders

Best practise is to know where all your things are. Lets say you need a photo of your dog when it was just a puppy, how long would it take you to find it? Even looking for your resume should be a simple task, but you need to know where to look.

Cascading Folders

Make folders in folders so you can take a logical path through folders to your file. Your file path should look something like this:

Pictures/2010/hike_to_falls/img_102.jpg

So, when I want a picture of a waterfall I would: click on Pictures folder, then 2010 folder (because I know I have been to a waterfall in 2010), click folder named hike_to_falls and finally find the picture I like.

You can use a program like Picasa 3 to help you tag your photos. Picasa also has a face recognition feature and search. If you spend some time tagging and labelling faces of people in Picasa you can do a quick search to find what you are looking for.

For your Documents folder you might want to separate by category like this:

Documents/Ryerson/FND/FND_101/final_paper.rtf

Here instead of just throwing all text documents into one folder, I use cascading folder structure as a logical path to the information I want.

When Finished, Back Up

Now that you know where everything is, back it up. Use an external hard drive, an online solution or both.

Now you will have no worries when working on your computer, you'll have a nice place to go to when its time to think, work or play.

A Mini Photography Studio

2010-11-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

I dabbled in stock photography a few weeks ago and made a little studio. I ended up not really liking the idea of stock photos but having a mini studio is great practice. If you haven't learnt about three point lighting look it up and then practise it with a small studio, when you get good bring it full scale.

Practise Making your subject standout from the background. Along with three point lighting use different light temperatures for the foreground and background. Do some manual focusing as well, set your frame how you like it, zoom in and focus then zoom back out (don't move the camera body), the camera will keep its sharp focus.

My Setup

Old chair
Camera
Flash
Tripod
2 lamps
Ceiling lights
2 black t-shirts
Wood boards
Extension cord

Cartman Pic

It literally cost me no money to make this studio, because I had everything. Use your imagination and be creative. When you know the basic rules of photography you don't need the best equipment. Because I was taking pictures of still objects I could use a low ISO (100), a high aperture (around 13), long shutter speeds and mirror lockup. The settings gave me, low noise, sharp images and minimal camera-shake. If you didn't understand that then learn basic photography theory so you can get the most out of your equipment.

Buddhism Explained to Christians

2010-05-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

I grew up Catholic and now find a great joy in practising Buddhism. So, I think this puts me in a fairly good position to compare the two (at least in my own way). Now, I 'm not a scalar in either of the religions but I have a laymen understanding of both. Since this is directed to laypersons I think it will at least make an interesting read.

Do you Believe in Buddha?

Christianity has core beliefs that would be true for every branch of Christianity so does Buddhism. I think most people think that worshiping Buddha as some kind of god or demigod is a part of that. This simply is not true. There are small branches of Buddhist that do treat him like a god but that is the exception.

Buddhism at its core is about The Four Noble Truths and The Noble Eightfold Path. They are lists of what Buddha found to be true and how to live a good life and end suffering. There are also the 3 Jewels: Buddha, The Dharma, The Sangha.

Statues of Buddha are not for worship like one would worship a god [1]. They are symbols meant for practice, inspiration and artistic expression and some times decoration. It's just like a crucifix. Even when Jesus is on the cross it is not that you are worshiping the wood or metal. When you bow your head you are bowing to Jesus not the cross.

If you want to ask a person if they are Buddhist ask them “Do you practice Buddhism?” This is the most accurate way to ask because it is not entirely about believing in Buddha. You can believe in God and sill practice Buddhism. “Do you believe in Buddha?” is like asking “Do you believe in the Pope” It's not quite a matter of belief.

Will God get angry at me for finding an interest In Buddhism?

Obviously I don't think so. Buddha teaches that anger is an emotion of the ignorant. It is very unlikely that God gets angry at anything at all. It's just not the nature of an all knowing being. God wants you to know him and be with his glory. That does not mean he wants you to be uneducated about the world. It doesn't mean you can't find beauty in a religion that is not Christian.

I believe it was C.S. Lewis who made the argument that the similarities other religions have to Christianity was because God had influenced all religions. That being the case It would be understandable to find things of interest in other religions.

Isn't Buddha just like a knock off Jesus?

Well there are some similarities between the two:

Their good kind nature
They were both teachers
Had followings
Head figures of religions

Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism is just one of many Buddhas. Were Jesus will come to earth only one more time a Buddha can show up at any time (because people become a Buddha). Furthermore Zen teaches that we all have Buddha nature and we just have to realize it. My point being that Buddha is a very important person but he was a person who realized his full potential, he is not a god. Jesus was God from day-one and died for our sins.

Okay, but Buddhism is sill evil right?

That is for you to decide. Many Buddhists are atheist and Buddhism in a whole does not worry about God. Then again gymnasiums do not worry about God either. It's up to an individual person to to make their mind up about what they believe and how they will live. A gym is not about God it's about having a healthy body. Both an atheist and a theist can go there and benefit from it. Some people will over do it some will not do it enough

What about the afterlife?

The Bible and Buddhist text state some strange unbelievable things that make it hard to be a rational person and religious simultaneously. I don't take things like miracles and heavenly mythology literally. I don't see the point in believing Buddha walk right after he was born and flowers were left where he stepped [2] or that Jesus physically assented to heaven on a cloud [3]. It is silly to believe these things literally, they are metaphors. It helps you remember the stories and communicates to you on an emotional level. If you take out the miracles in both the morals still remain. Witch suggests that belief in the supernatural is not essential to the teachings.

Great stories teach us using emotion and symbolism. I love the movie Finding Nemo but I don't have to believe fish and other animals can talk English for it to effect how I live my life. If a story makes you laugh or cry or whatever, then that is real. Nemo is real, just not the kind of real we expect. Thought is the only reality.

My point being I don't no about the afterlife. Buddhism and Christianity have different afterlives but I don't care because it's something I can't know until I know. I just want to be a good person and Buddhism helps me do that. If I have to suspend my disbelief then I will. If that works for me then I don't see a problem with it.

I will end this post with a quote from The Dali Lama [4] that I find to perfectly describe Buddhism and Christianity very well.

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”[5]

References
Note: I'm not sure if it was the 13th or 14th Dali Lama because no Dali Lama was born on 1935 [4,5]
[1] http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd35.htm
[2] http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/lifebuddha/2lbud.htm
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_of_Jesus#Biblical_accounts
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama#List_of_Dalai_Lamas
[5] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/dalai_lama.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

Reason I Love Reading Things in List Form

2010-05-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

10. The Count Down
The count down is an exciting and promises that things will get better as I read.

9. They're Easy to Read
All good instructions are in list form. The best instructions have pictures so I don't have to read at all but still understand what's going on.

8. Skippable
I don't have time to read, even if I have gone to a website to read an article. With a list I can just read the title of the list item, if it sounds interesting I will read more. I wish my computer and my head had a “The Matrix” plug.

7. Food
Cereal always puts things in list form. What does that mean? It means you can eat at the same time as reading and still keep track of what you have read.

6. God Approved
Every important thing is in list form:

The 10 Commandments
Grocery list
CPR instructions
Frozen Dinner instructions
People's Top 100
How to get rid of a dead body

Mainly every thing you need to live. And yes, that is a list in a list.

5. You Can Sing Them
What's the best song you have ever heard? I'll take a guess and say either Brian McKnight - Your Like A Dream Come True or The Fray - How To Save A Life. What do these two songs have in common? That's right they both have a list.

4. Solid Feeling Numbers
A good list is an even number and a multiple of 5. Wait, 5 is not an even number. And you believed me, you're so stupid. Oh, this is not a reason why I like lists; I needed to fill in some space.

3. Shamwow
I don't have time to read, even if I have gone to a website to read an article. With a list I can just read the title, if it sounds interesting I will read more. I wish my computer and my head had a “The Matrix” plug

2. Assimilation
Know your place. Everything has a spot on The List. If you change; We'll just make a new The List and in it list the ways you have changed. And yes, that was a list in a list. And yes, the new The List will be a list in a list.

1. 1
Congratulations you made it all the way to 10. Now get out there and make some sexy quick readin' lists for the world to ignore. As you sit there, alone on your computer; Desperately try to think of something interesting to write on twitter, but I depress, I mean digress. No... I mean depress.

Movies That You Need to See to better Understand Me

2010-04-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Stepbrothers
Trailer

Review
This movie inspires me to live life happily, even from viewing the trailer. IMO Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's best movie to date. Always makes me laugh and has a great fun-loving spirit.

Further Viewing: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Magnolia
The powerful opening scene from the movie:

Review
Mind-blowingly beautiful. If there is one movie you should see from this list I would have to choose this one. It's not my favourite movie but it has a relatively wide appeal and this movie speaks to the harts of its' viewers.

300
Trailer:

Review
Definition of “Bad Ass”. The movie does not have much to offer in character or story but the action and visuals are satisfying. Good ol' eye candy. For a deeper dramatic version of the film see The Last Samurai.

Further Viewing: The Last Samurai

Akira
Trailer: I have looked there are none that do this movie justice. Rent this movie and play it on the best screen you have. Wiki

Review
Don't go into this expecting a Hollywood blockbuster. This is anime at its finest. The movie is creepy, beautiful and intriguing. Expect something truly original.

There Will Be Blood
Trailer:

Review
If you are interested in politics, corporations, religion or humanity you should watch this film. It's hard to find a better shot or acted film.

Requiem for a Dream
Trailer:

Review: A look at medicated America. This is a classic film. It's tragically realistic, while being in the minds of people uprooted from reality.

The International
Trailer:

Review
I was surprised by how much I like this film. I have only seen it one time but it has stuck with me. It's a thriller at its' core but it has an amazing action sequence near the end that “put the icing on the cake” as they say.

Further Viewing: Heaven

Koyaanisqatsi
Trailer:

Review
There is no narrator there is no lead actor. The power of film making is present in every moment of this documentary. It shows how our lives are moving faster and faster. You see how much we miss, how we have become cattle-like in the movements of our modern lives. It made me just want to stop and be in every breath.

2001: A Space Odyssey
Video Review:

Review
2001 is a slow burn. It was made at the beginnings of space exploration, so you'll have to forgive it on some parts - although it is vary accurate when you take that into consideration. - The movie is shot perfectly and says some deep things about the human experience. There is a kind of Zen you get while watching it. I know it will be hard for most, but I hope some people will give it a chance, it is truly a movie worth watching.

Further Viewing: Anything Kubrick. He was a master film maker

Wedding

2010-04-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

I am getting married in the summer and I thought we should share our journey with everyone. So, check out the flickr set to see all the photo updates as we go.

Maria just bought her shoes today for $29.99 at Crystal's Shoe Store in Hamilton. We also bought a pair of earrings from She's So Beautiful for $27. Oh, and we checked out cakes at Sweet Paradise today with a quote of $190. I think we might go with them but I still have some shopping around to do.

Introspection Diptych 3

2010-03-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

Introspection Diptych 3, originally uploaded by markbiasutti.

I'm trying to explore view of my self through photography. In these photos I use the camera to represent a being. I wanted a contrast of what we see and seeing our selfs at the same time. How we perceive what is in front of us as reality and how when we look at ourselves our view of reality changes. Are view of self changes.

Meditation

2010-03-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

I was asked about meditation and I thought I would explain how I meditate. I'm not an authority on meditation or on anything really. I would like to show that you don't have to be a monk to receive the benefits of meditation.

You can really choose any reason to meditate. I see it as a tool to help us accomplish whatever it is we want to accomplish. It's like prayer or exercise; as long as you do it properly you can benefit from it.

My reasons for meditation
I meditate to practise concentration and to calm me so I can revert to my natural state of being. meditation is a good time to deal with thoughts you avoid in daily life. It's like you are an unfinished puzzle and mediation lets the pieces fall into place. The pieces of the puzzle can be disturbed through the way we live life so, living a good life is just as important as practising meditation. Meditation helps me live the way I aspire to live.

How: A (Very) Basic Meditation Guide

Sit down. Have a strait back. I like to sit on a pillow in the half lotus posture. Beginner meditation should be from 5-30 minutes, I like 15 minutes.

Give a set amount of time for meditation. Make sure you have the time and don't convince yourself to stop early if you have started mediating.

This is your time to heal and learn. If you feel this is selfish you can dedicate the other 1425 minutes of your day to helping others.

Pick something to focus on: breath, a small statue, your hart beating, a glass of water. I use breath. Try to pick something that moves or is bright with lost of detail. I do not recommend fire/light because it may contribute to cataracts.

While focusing on the object you will loose concentration.

Realize you have lost concentration. Look at what took your concentration. What does that thing tell you about yourself?

Let go of that thought no matter how important it seems at the moment.

Return to the object of concentration. This is your home, you can always comeback to this when you need to (even when you're not meditating).

That is it.

There are many different types of meditation. If this interests you study it. There are hundreds of sites online.

Here is one of the first videos I watched that help me start meditating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4gTXjg1g1s

Be Nice

2010-02-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

I was having a discussion with co-workers about how it seems that mean people always get the upper hand. This may be true in a basic sense but mean people don't have to hurt us. It depends on your understanding of the situation.
Some general traits of a “Mean Person”:

Attacks you in some form physical or emotional
Takes something or blocks you from something
Disregards your point of view
Disregards your feelings
Selfish

How To Survive a Mean Person

What is being attacked?
I bet that your ego is being attacked. Think about it. Does he call you fat, lazy stupid, ugly? Are you being put in a group or removed from one? Usually a mean person attacks your ego because thats what they have built up in them selfs. We all know bullying builds ego. Ego is an exaggerated idea of self.

Why does it hurt?
It hurts because you don't let go and/or because you have an exaggerated view of self (don't worry %99 of people do). If you treasure the same meaningless things as him then they can be hurt. Bring yourself to reality. Your worth does not come from how cool you are, how much money you have or what you look like.

What can you do to change this?
Attachment is the root cause of all suffering, find what you cling to and learn to let go. First thing to do is let the past be the past. That situation happened do not dwell in it; use the present to start a path to happiness.

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” --Buddha

Try to understand that the mean person cannot hurt you without your help. This will take a big change on your part. The hurt is inside you, you have to change if you want to defeat it.
Understand the real path to happiness. The path to happiness is with kindness, love and understanding. Good actions bring good life.

"As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.” --Leonardo da Vinci

We might what to get back at the person who hurt us. This idea is false and stems from wrong view. If you get back at them, it's just ego building not mind building. A ego has no real value and can be built up only to fall down once again. Instead find peace, build your self control, concentration and compassion. I always say to myself :

“what is your peace worth” Not world peace. Just the calmness of your mind. Its a precious thing, why give it up for a fool?

“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.” --Buddha

Know the signs of abuse and get professional help.

Self

2010-02-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

I have been contemplating the nature of self, my self, for a while now. I just finished listening to a pod cast from The Meeting House about living in the now. Although I understand how that message can be helpful to people, I did disagree with some parts. The main part I disagree with is with the Christian view of self.

My view of self started out as, I exist in and of my self. I was born grew and keep growing.- I almost forget how I saw my self as I write this. - I just saw my self as a singular independent creation. Then I discovered mediation.

Meditation clocked me into truths I never noticed before. Truths that can be seen in every moment of life. The more I meditate the more I came to understand my self and how I really am.

The First Truth

I found great interest in world-religions and would regularly read articles and such of different religions. I found a video, this one actually. In the video a man asked me to do a quick meditation. He said to still my mind and think of nothing for three minutes.

I did it, you can try now if you like. The lesson in doing this is that you learn you have little control of your thoughts. This was a very strange thing to think of but it's true; my brain is a though machine. It's in a sense out of my control, I am out of my control.

The Second Truth

I wanted to learn more, so I went on learning about how Buddhism could teach me about myself. I picked up a book called “How to See Yourself as You Really Are .” The book teaches many things on how to live and love.

The most powerful thing I got out of the book is that I don't exist in and of myself. This is because everything is made up of parts and relies on its parts to be its self. This concept is called interdependency, witch I have talk about before.

Look at it like this. A latte: steamed milk, espresso, foam. Pick what part of a latte is the latte without its' parts. One thing that can prove that this creation exits in and of its self. You can't, it relies on its parts to be its self. It's humbling to see yourself as a part, your ego shrinks, it is actually freeing.

Where I am Now

I'm learning about the illusion of ego and its destructive nature. Also emptiness and how I fit into it.

The rabbit whole goes deeper but the post is getting long. Please ask questions so I can fill in the spots left by my brief explanations.

Anger

2010-02-17T21:44:00.000-08:00

It seems every so often I hear someone say, when they get angry, that they just can't help what they do or say. That there actions are justified because anger is a real and powerful emotion. Not that they physically attack people; it's mostly with words or passive aggressive actions. I think we have a wrong view on anger and how to deal with it.

First our mind tells us it's okay and we identify with the emotion. Then society or some sub-society normalizes our actions/thoughts. Then a sense of separation directs the anger. I find that there is a general idea in our society that there is such a thing as justified anger. I'm sure you can think of an example, father avenging daughters death is a big one in Hollywood right now.

According to my understanding of Buddha's' teachings, anger is harmful to the practitioner:

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” --Buddha

“I am angry because I think that I am angry.” When we allow anger to make decisions we become it. You stop making the choices and anger takes control.

"The origin of suffering is attachment" –Buddha

We become attached to anger and the idea that anger must be acted on. This brings suffering in the form of regret, grief, punishment and many other ways.

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." - Buddha

Acting in anger never leaves you untouched. The evidence of the self destruction is clear after the fact.

How I Stop Anger

Step 1: You don't stop anger. It's a natural process, your brain is doing what it's built to do.

Real Step 1: See your anger. Notice how it affects you, body and mind.

Step 2: Become compassionate and calm by concentrating on breathing. Compassion toward your anger helps you deal with it properly. Say something like “I see you anger, I will care for you.” This bypasses a build up of anger; you deal with it this way instead of acting on it.

Step 3: Do not attach yourself to the anger. You don't have to act on a though, it will pass in time.

Step 4: You have watched your anger come and go, move on with life.

That is what I do anyways. It might not be right for all but I hope it helps some.

Non-Duality

2010-01-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I got some comments on my blog. The commenter(s) called me a retard and told me I should learn how to spell. I thought that this could be a good time to talk about my struggle with reading and writing. Hopefully I can inspire some people to face there challenges in life as well.

I've been a poor speller and reader for as long as I can remember. I have gone to special classes and schools to help me learn. I have no problems in any other subject. But, not being able to spell brought down my marks in all my classes. So, for whatever reason I can't spell well.

As you can imagine it can be very embarrassing to have troubles reading. Remember in class when the teacher asked you to read out loud? That would cause me anxiety to the point that I couldn't listen to what was being read. Don't ask me to spell ether. This blog would literally not exist if it weren't for spell check.

Why then, do I write when I know I can't? Well, it's for the same reason we all choose to accomplish seemingly impossible feats. As J.F.K said,

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

I choose to write not because it is easy but because it is hard. Making fun of me is easy, but I am stronger from it. By making fun of me and other people like me, you just show your weakness.

I know I am a poor writer but I also know that my ideas can still get across and touch people. I know that there are people who have been told, in some way, that they are inadequate. To those people, I promise you with every particle of my being, you are not inadequate. It is an illusion. Do what you love. You have the ability to make things grow, to change them. At some point in your life some one convinced you that you were bad at something or that you're ugly, unworthy or stupid... The fact is, that you are a part of a system that needs you.

Think about it. You do not make fun of a flower for not being able to walk? You are not a flower but you are the planter of the flower. Because a flower can not move on it's own, we move them. In return The flower gives us its' beauty, nourishment, herbs. This is called Interdependence.

“Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being. Without interrelation with society he cannot realize his oneness with the universe or suppress his egotism. His social interdependence enables him to test his faith and to prove himself on the touchstone of reality."
--Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, March 21, 1929, p. 93

To the people who hate:

Some have this idea that we are separate. That some how we exists in and of our selves and if the universe collapsed we would still be here. Until we realize that everything is interdependent, we can never achieve the greatness we are capable of. Every religion, every culture, every person and every being has a place. A right to live and grow with the world. Things should not die because we kill them. Things should die because they have fulfilled a purpose. When you use hate you hurt yourself because all things affect you. By hating you fill our system with it and it will eventual come back to you.

When you notice that I can't spell, realize that I know that you notice this. Then notice I continue to write.

Just made up a Moral Dilemma

2010-01-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

Imagen the night before your birthday you have an interesting dream. In the dream you hear a voice. The voice tells you that you are about to see your last day alive. In this vision you are in a hospital on a bed. 6 of your closest loved ones are not there and you have a feeling that they died in a car crash. A person you have never seen before is sitting right beside you. You have a feeling that you know this person very well. You feel a great love for this person. The person speaks;

“I have some thing to tell you. I don't know why I never said anything before, but now I want you to know; I had a dream about the day we met, before it happened. In the dream I saw you for the first time. Then, right after I looked at you I was hit by a speeding car and died.
I can't help but think that your family would still be alive if I got hit instead. But thats how I met you and we have had wonderful moments together. I just need to know before you die. If you could go back in time and choose between saving me or the people in the car witch would you choose?”

After that speech you wake up. Later that day you find yourself outside by a busy street, you are reminded of the dream. From the side walk you see a vehicle full of your loved ones making a left turn to a building behind you. Just then you see the person from your dream walking down the street. The person drops a paper that flies toward the road. You are in arms reach to and able to grab this person as he/she runs to grab the paper. What do you do?

Spring Sushi Japanese Restaurant and My Car prt4

2009-12-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Because of rude, angry and negative comments, that I have to assume came from some one at Spring Sushi, I will be stopping pots on this subject. Thank you to Spring Sushi for paying for the damages you caused. All comments for this blog post will be rejected regardless of subject matter.

Spring Sushi Japanese Restaurant and My Car prt3

2009-12-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Spring Sushi. I met with Day in person for the first time. We basically discussed how he should pay me. He needed an invoice and I didn't have one because I can't afford to pay for this special wash. Eventually after some arguing he gave me the money. I think he understands my situation.

I have to say I never gave Spring Sushi one inch to work with here. If I was weak, I feel I would of been taken advantage of. I also understand that Spring Sushi does not want to be taken advantage of. I guess thats what makes these things hard. The most important thing is to have respect for each other.

Day did get angry yesterday and he apologized for that. Although at points he was disrespectful to me (even toady) we have to remember that he is human. Neither Day or I are perfect or absolutely right or wrong. Day is a leader so, I assume he often tells people what to do. One easy way to get on my bad side is to tell me what to do. That alone can cause problems. Then add painting my car and you have a tough problem to solve. But, we found a solution and I will be getting my car washed on the weekend. Oh and the cleaning should take around 5 hours.

Spring Sushi Japanese Restaurant and My Car prt2

2009-12-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

Just got off the phone with Day (one of the owners of Spring Sushi) he told me to take off the blog post because I was being rude. He was angry and forceful. He would not let me speak at many points in the conversation. He made it seem that he would not pay me if I kept the blog post up. Then he repeatedly insisted that I have to take it down if he pays me the money. He told me that I don't know how to park and that's why my car got paint on it. He said I should of washed my car when the paint got on it and that, basically, it's my fault. Near the end of the conversation he told me Canadians are perfect and good and thats why I should be good. I told him that I don't label people and say “this person is good this one is bad.” Eventually he said that he would pay me all the $430 it will take to wash the car off. The whole conversation/argument felt degrading.

I told him that he has a choice; This story can have a good ending or a bad one it's up to Spring Sushi. But I am not taking the posts down. I hope Spring Sushi turns out to be a good restaurant. Sushi is one of my favourite foods and I would love to try it there. I also hope that more people try sushi so they can see how awesome it is. Unfortunately, after that conversation, I feel I have to much pride to eat at Spring Sushi.

World of Warcraft wants me Back

2009-11-27T17:00:00.000-08:00

look at this. Blizzard wants me to come back to World of Warcraft in this email.

"Mark,

World of Warcraft is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and we’re inviting you back to Azeroth to take part in the festivities. Your account has been selected to receive 7 days of FREE game time - simply click below to claim your time and rejoin the adventure."

HAhaha. Who is addicted to Who now Blizzard.

Spring Sushi Japanese Restaurant and My Car

2009-11-26T17:05:00.001-08:00

Spring Sushi Japanese Restaurant info

Owner: Annie Chen (annie@smartvisiondirect.com , http://www.smartvisiondirect.com/)
Location: 1508 Upper James Street, Hamilton, ON L9B 1K3 http://is.gd/54kUY
Phonenumber: (905) 383-6866‎
Landlords: Crombie http://www.crombiereit.ca/en/lease_main.aspx?PID=91
Upper James Square: http://www.crombiereit.ca/en/lease_floorplan.aspx?PID=91

What Happened

On November 10th 09 Spring Sushi Japanese Restaurant was being painted in the afternoon, while I was working. From my position in Starbucks I could see my car and the men painting. Since there was no blocked off area and the painters seemed to be professional I don't see a reason to move my car. Well it turns out I was wrong, about the painters being professional. I left work at night and the next day I saw that my car was covered in specs of pink paint.

I fond the phone number of Spring Sushi's landlord's. It took me several weeks, to actually talk to someone about this and get the ball rolling. Toady (11.26.09) was the first time I spoke to some about this situation in person.

First I talked to the people at Crombie REIT. From my dealing with them, they seem to be nice people who understand customer relations. The only hard part is trying to get a hold of them, while they are in the office. They did leave a message every time I called though.

Then yesterday I got a call from Day (his name). From what I understand he is one of the leaders at Spring Sushi. The conversation in a whole felt less professional. At one point in the conversation Day said something along the lines of “Bring the car in so I can see it. This paint comes off easy”
I said “Don't tell me that. Its been on my car for two weeks and why would you put paint that comes off easy on the outside of your building?”
Any ways, he seemed to be trying to make it seem like less of a problem than it is, although he did apologize. We agreed to meet today at 11am.

At 11am I arrived at Spring Sushi. Looking for Day I walked around the building. Day was not there but Jan (or something like that) was there. I didn't have to explain anything to him. Jan asked to see the car. He held the same belief that the paint easily comes off things that you don't want it on. He said “All be right back”
Jan came back outside with a dripping wet, visibly dirty, sponge
“Is that just water?” I asked.
“Yes, yes just water”
Jan went on showing me how the paint could just wash off. He did this be rubbing so hard that it took of the pink paint and left visitable scratch marks (witch did look like they could be buffed away) on the bumper of my car. None the less, he can't wash my whole car like that, it would ruin the original paint.

He did offer to wash my car. I told him only a professional will wash my car. So, he offered to pay for a car wash. I went to Suds Express Inc. On Limeridge Rd. E.. The car wash did not work, showing (IMO) that Jan used excessive force to remove the paint.

That is where I am today, look for part 2 later on. See all the photos here . I hope Spring Sushi does the right thing. I'm not posting this to say that they are bad or something. I just want people to know what is happening.

Beauty of the Beast

2009-09-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

What is humanity without beauty?
What is beauty without humanity?

Humanity is capable of a great spectrum of things.
Thus, there will be people who exploit it.
And there will be people who protect it.

Beauty is precious and delicate.
Thus, there will be people who exploit it.
And there will be people who protect it.

Only when humanity gently holds beauty will it be priceless.
Only when beauty is found with humanity will it be safe.

Yet every chance they have to come together, we separate them.
Beauty becomes something you can buy.
Humanity becomes a beast.

Our hunt for beauty torments humanity so much, that we destroy ourselves trying to grasp it.

What is humanity with beauty?
What is beauty with humanity?

By: Mark Biasutti

Lets Play a Game

2009-02-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

You start off in a hallway. There are 5 doors (doors A,B,C,D and E), a speaker on the wall, fireplace and a comfy chair.. A voice comes over the speaker and explains that you are playing an important game. Then the voice tells you the rules, they are as follows:

Each of the 5 doors lead to offices. These doors are all unlocked. Each office has a different layout, cleanliness, organization and items.

Each office has 2 more doors, that each lead to a place. Door 1 can open to a place of happiness and good feelings. Door 2 opens to a place of suffering and pain. Door 1s are locked and Door 2s are unlocked. Every individual door has a individual lock. To be clear, Office A has Door 1A and Door 2A. Office B has Door 1B and Door 2B and so on, following the same pattern. Only one Door 1 actually has a key that works with the lock. All Door 2s open to some place. Therefore, there is only one true office and the rest are wrong but look, possibly, right.

Each office has a hidden key for its Door 1. Only one hidden key will open Door 1 of the correct office. The other keys are fakes. If you use the right key in the right office you can enter Door 1. If you use the fake key in the wrong office you will permanently lock the correct Door 1 instead.

Also, in every room there is a book, titled “How to Overcome Pain and Suffering” which does just that. If read and interpreted properly the book will give you the power to overcome pain and suffering nullifying (at the least) the problem of Door 2.

You have a time limit but it is undefined. When your time runs out the offices lock. Once your time is out, you can open Door 1 with a key or by ramming it. If your are in the right room the key will open the door to the happy place. You can also open Door 1 by ramming the door. In doing this there is a random chance it will open to the place of Door 2 instead. In any other case all doors turn into doors that open to the suffering place.

Statistically:

If you stick to one room, you will have a 50% chance of finding a key in that room in time.

You have 10% chance of finding one key in time if you choose multiple rooms.

You have a random chance of being locked into the right office.
A 100% chance of the correct Door 1 opening when rammed and a random chance of it opening to either place.
A 0% chance of the wrong Door 1s opening when rammed.
You have a 24% chance of finding a book, in each room, and 26% chance of reading it in time. Furthermore you will only have a 0.1% chance of finding a key, in time, after reading the book.

The message ends and your time starts, what do you do?

Slide to Water

2009-02-17T13:35:00.001-08:00

Slide to Water, originally uploaded by markbiasutti.

It's all about point of view. This water looks big and deep but it is the opposite. Come see more of my pictures at flickr. I hope to use blog spot and flickr together more often.

Point of View

2009-01-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

The sun sees the moon and thinks, I wish I could shine like that.

Change?

2009-01-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

The older people become the more enjoyment they get from giving exact change.

Idealism in Religion

2008-12-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

The word of God is not in the bible. It is not in the Qur’an , canonical Sutra's or any other scriptures. No one speaks the word of God. What they do is offer a path to the word. You can choose any path you like to find God. Some easy some hard, none are ideal.

Like going home after work, there is no proper way to God. The goal is to ask if this is the road you want to take. You can change the way you go home. Try a new path every day, none are wrong, just different. Your home will not hide or move on you because you took a different way. It does not care how you get there.

You would not make a person take your way home. You would not tell a person that they are living in the wrong house, because it's not your house. So, why do that with religion?

Half Empty? prt2

2008-11-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

half empty? prt1

2008-11-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

Why? part 1

2008-11-17T17:27:00.000-08:00

Why do some disabled people want to be called differently able? I get that they want equality but think about it; Different means, not the same or not the norm. So, they are like abnormally able. Which sounds like they have powers.
“Superman is abnormally able to leap a tall building.”
“Jeff in, customer service is abnormally able to help customers without the use of his eyes.”
Actually that does sound better. Achieving things while disabled, in some way, is all the more impressive. Whether you want it or not, it deserves notice. Be able to be disabled.

How to Solve a Problem

2008-11-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

Its one thing to know how to fix specific things. Like a DVD player, desktop computer, etc. But, you can't possibly learn and know how to fix everything. The human brain cannot hold that much information. You most likely will find yourself in a problem you didn't learn how to fix.

What now? Use you problem solving skills.

1) First and foremost identify the problem. (Well, first be emotionally ready to confront the problem. In other words, don't freak out, don't be scared.) Find the true source. What ignites the situation into a problem? Look as reasonably deep into the situation as you can. Remember, there could be multiple problems to fix in order for you to get to your goal.

2) List problem(s) and goal(s). Decide how the problem blocks you from your goal. If your going to fixate on something, fixate on the goal. The problem you chose my not be the source. You'll end up going down a rabbit hole, solving a problem that doesn't achieve your goal or that involves more than needed. Keep the goal in view, it will highlight the real problem.

3) Come up with as many solutions as you can. A good list can make your job easy: Try to keep each idea different, write them down if that helps. Use what's around you, try not to add more complexity to the situation. Take your time, be patient, do it right the first time.

4) Involve the people around you. Without losing organization, involve everyone. Make teams, assign jobs if you want. Communication is a big part of a relationship, don't let a problem ruin that.

5) Pick your best idea, imagine how it will play out. Imaging all the little details. Physics and math knowledge is important. You'll need an understanding of psychology for personal and relationship problems. Use self-education to understand how things work, not how to fix them. Don't learn, 1+1=2. Know that taking two or more values, consolidating them and giving them a new summed value is the process of addition. That way you can add any values, while remembering less algorithms. You'll be able to apply more knowledge to more situations.

6) Implement the best idea and see what happens. You want to try the least damaging idea first. Try things that can be put back to normal or reset. Then move on to the more risky stuff.

7)Did it work?

No? Why not? Something is not working. Look at the problem from a different angle. Make sure you have involved every aspect. Now start back at 1.

Yes? You're done, problem solved. Repeat if/when necessary

Guy Fawkes Night

2008-11-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

Have a good Guy Fawkes Night all.

Check out these links to learn more:

Guy Fawkes
V for Vendetta
Keeping Fawkes and Anonymous alive

Follow the Leader

2008-11-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

In this life you can say there's two kinds of people, leaders and followers. Generally they both have there ups and downs. Leaders can be seen as manipulating and inspiring. Followers can be mindless and devoted. I think there is more problems with a leader/follower society than not.

Most intelligent animals, mammals, have a pack style hierarchy. Here we have the alpha (the pack leader) to the omega (the lowest rank) in a pack, or group. This can be seen in wolves, primates, and elephants. So, some of the most intelligent animals on earth have the same pack system we have. Our system is just on a bigger scale.

Pack hunting and living tactics obviously work for survival and domination over other animals. This is an instinctual tactic though. We didn't invent politics, it comes to us naturally. We are more intelligent and civilized than all other animals. I don't think we can remove our biological need for a pack. What we can do though is change the way we use it.

We have our main pack, we call it a family. Biological or not we have a group of people that make our pack. We have an alpha leader –like a father figure- and the omega that person no one really take orders from, like a baby. As a side note I would like to make it clear that pack hierarchy does not correlate with love. Also the pack leader can change. Now... I would suggest that this system not go any further than that. Our family is our pack.

A pack with no leader will fall apart. If there is no one to make choices then the pack dies. Our society is destroying this system, by training us from birth to be followers. We are conditioned to follow. If every person in a family is mentally a follower, then you could have external leader. This separate leader might not care about or understand you and your family. An external leader is not really part of the pack. Religions, governments, employers, and other establishments exploit your pack mentality. We have multiple pure follower packs that follow an external leader (somebody you might have not have met before). How can you expect a person that doesn't even know you - your face, your name- to make decisions for you? Can you expect him/her to even care about you?

The solution: Every one of us must, at all times, be prepared to be a leader.

Being a follower gives feelings of security. Not to mention avoidance of blame. When you let others have the responsibility then your life becomes easy. The problem is, you lose control. Being a leader you can be proud. You'll have to make challenging decisions but your reward is self worth. You can only be in control of your life if you are a leader.

We could also go as far to have a society with only leaders. As long as there is followers, people will try to take advantage of them. Be a self leader. With effort we can all do this. We can all be responsible for ourselves and still live together. Live for your self. Lead you to were you want to go.

Werewolf 2

2008-10-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Okay this is my last werewolf post. I think. Here is the file

Werewolf

2008-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

So, I played this awesome game called Werewolf (aka Mafia) and it was a lot of fun. Although, I find it hard being the moderator. I made a log sheet so the moderator can keep organized if he/she has a laptop. There are probably more sheets out there but I felt like making one. My goal is to make it small and so you can be the Mod even if you are new to the game. Feel free to use and modify this sheet. Right now its made in html and css. You can use it off line, just download the zip file, unzip it and open modsheet.html in your web browser. Its just a beta now so there is no rules and other problems. You can find rules and more here. Expect more later.

Get the file at my pownce.

Attribution

2008-10-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Why are we so quick to judge people? I've noticed that the more removed from a person we are the worse punishment we are prepared to give. Why is it so hard for us to empathize with others? We all do or think bad things. Then when someone gets caught doing a bad thing, we instantly put up a punishment for them: “throw him in jail”, “cut his head off”, or “banish him”. We mostly refuse to remember the complexity of life and choice. I think it's because we all need a bad guy. We need a bad guy to make us feel good. Maybe more subconsciously we need a bad guy so, in our lives we stop being the bad guy for a moment.
Like Tony Montana (Scarface) explains, you're not the bad guy because you're a better liar. So, let's start being truthful to ourselves. Let's not pass judgment on anyone; whether someone does drugs, lies, steals or murders. Let's take precautions to protect each other, but let's not judge a person's worth unless we know them as well as we know ourselves.
Lots of crimes or sins happen from circumstance, not to mention, mental disabilities. You don't use crack cocaine because you were never introduced to it. You never desperately needed an easy way out of every day life. My point being there are reasons for your sins and what you believe are sins. You can't possibly expect people in different situations than you to have the same morals as you. Further more, you can't assume your morals are the right ones for every situation because you have not been in every situation.
Some movies I can think of as having this theme are The Conversation and Scarface. A video game would be Braid. I know there is more but I can't think of any. Please check out these movies and game or at least do something you wouldn't normally do. Rent a movie you would pass, listen to different music, try a new sport, listen to a variety of stand up comedy, etc. This way, the more experiences you have, the more refined your morals and empathy will become.

Thinkin' About A.I.

2008-09-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of movies with artificially intelligent machines. Most of them have a human based anatomy. Whether it's in their head or chest they all have brains in their bodies. I was thinking, a robot, even an android does not necessarily need its' main computing unit (brain) in its' body. It must be the human look that makes us default to that the brain should be in the body.
I don't know of any theory like the following but, I think it would be better if the brain was separate from the body. I don't mean like super computer that is the leader of lesser computers. More like a hive mined.
My theory is that the robots would be programed to do basic functions that do not require intelligence. So, they would have instincts. The robots would also need superior networking capabilities. The idea is to have multiple robots constantly communicating with a artificially intelligent super computer (their brain). Having one brain for multiple machines would be cheaper, have easy maintenance, and have more information. The fall back would be the massive amounts of choices it would have to make at any given time. Coupled with the brain having to remember mass amounts of info. Over all I think it's better because, it seems this would be a cheaper choice. Building one mega-super computer would be cheaper then building thousands of super computers.
It's the same idea as random access memory(RAM) in your computer now. The CPU has caches of memory that is high quality. If all RAM was as fast as the CPUs' RAM it would be unfordable. So, cheaper but still efficient ram is made to do the bulk of the work, still keeping enough of the costly ram for fast processing.
If any one knows of a theory like this one, scientific or sci-fi, please let me know in the comments. I Robot, Terminator, and The Matrix are close to this idea. I don't think they count because, they still are missing the one brain aspect of this idea. I haven't seen Ghost In The Shell but from what I've heard it might be close.

Why you Missed the Point

2008-09-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Why you Missed the Point if you Dismissed Speed Racer as Childish.

Note: This is an observation not a review of the movie. There are some parts that some may consider spoilers.

Admittedly I was sceptical about watching Speed Racer. Would it be like so many cliche kids' films? Irrelevant to my interests, gapping plot holes, uninspiring dialogue and corny action. The Wachowski brothers seem to have taken these cliches that are set in our heads and they play with them.
It's too easy to just say the Wachowski's are poor filmmakers, that they didn't realize that they were making a corny film. Maybe you might say they were lax because of Speed Racer, being a kids film. I have another idea.
I think that they wanted to tell a story about how past effects the present. More specifically how you shouldn't dismiss childhood beliefs and fantasies as irrelevant, because they matter and they make who you are today. After all, they're making a remake of an old intellectual property.
The first race, Speed (Emile Hirsch) is racing to beat the track record his deceased brother Rex (Scott Porter) set. Speed chooses to not beat Rex's best time, when he clearly could of. Speed is effected by the past, his childhood. As he battles to not become corrupt from a racing world controlled by greed, the movie unfolds and we realize all Speeds' choices are related to his childhood. For example, when young Speed is in class near the beginning of the movie. Speed imagines he is racing a cartoon car. This image is very childish and most see it as a kid with a big imagination. Later near the films climax we realize that what looked like a kid in dreamland has become a realization of a life goal, he is doing the same thing, on a bigger scale. Throughout the film Speed is asking himself, why does he race. His family helps guide him to the realization that he races because, thats what he has always loved as a kid. Its kind of like a fate thing.
It's actually very meta how I came to notice the films moral. One of my friends stopped paying attention near the beginning of the movie because it was ,in less words, childish. I think the film turned out to be good. So, ironically he failed to see the moral, Don't dismiss something because it looks or seems childish, because your childhood is very important to who you are or at least, who you could be.