A Call To Arms

This is not a subscription request, nor a demand for violence, but rather a shout out to all caring people who want to do something but don't know how. Around the world, Earth's citizens are fighting tyranny, fighting natural disaster, fighting cold and starvation. Local governments are either causing the problem, or helpless to resolve it. The United Nations is spread thin as it is and typically powerless to stop unjust military regimes anyway. The international Red Cross is only able to help if they have the money and resources and protection to do their job.

There is a new world order that has been quietly building in the networks and connected devices around the planet. This new power is not driven by any one government, or corporation, It has no borders and it has no leader, only a hive collective mind share of followers. Us.

You and I are the new world order. In the world of interconnected devices that constitutes the Internet, we are free to transcend borders and politics, we can voice our opinions and watch true democracy flourish. Highly popular things rise to the top and things less important fall in popularity based on your opinions, clicks, views, shares, tweets, hits, posts, and likes. We are the new People of Earth. We are the new power that all old style governments need to come to terms with. We have the power. We ARE the power.

Now you have an opportunity to turn those clicks into a real world effect. We can rise up as an army of people and share our voice and our dollars and our efforts to help our other fellow humans through their struggles regardless of the government walls you are trapped behind.

The recent series of earthquakes in Japan, New Zealand, Haiti, Chile, Pakistan and Argentina have left a wake of destruction. Most recently (still) Japan is weathering a storm of violent earth quakes, dealing with Tsunami aftermath and the threat of a nuclear melt down. You can help the relief effort there by donating to the Red Cross simply by texting ASIA to 30333. This will bill your phone account $5 and donate it to the International Red Cross for efforts to help in Japan [ http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=38380&tid=001 ]. If you cant do it by text, click on the link and do it on-line. These are the people on the ground with their hands in the mud helping people survive. You can help with a single text or click, or just share this blog post with someone you think can help.

If you are one of the 10.8 Million people who like Zynga's Frontierville, for every Kobe Cow you purchase in the game, Zynga will donate the full value, approximately $5USD, to support relief efforts in Japan. If everyone who "liked" Frontierville bought a Kobe Cow for the game, Zynga could donate nearly $56 Million! You can read more on Zynga's efforts here http://tinyurl.com/6zgprpn but Zynga is not the only internet property helping the world cause. RockYou, Facebook, and PopCap are only a small sample of responsible Netizens who understand the power behind this army of good we have created. If you read blogs, play games, or communicate on the Web, look for placed that will help you donate or help in some other way.

The political upheaval in the middle east is also something you can be involved in. You don't have to be any particular religion or political view to know that what is happening in the middle east / North Africa is just wrong. From a human rights point of view, the oppressive tyranny of the old world must end, and it is happening rapidly at the hands of desperate people fighting for what they know is right. In the end, the truth will win out, in large part due to the fact that this medium, the Internet / SMS / global network will no longer allow the truth to be hidden or clouded. In the process, many of these freedom fighters will be killed or severely injured. The UN and western governments are virtually powerless to help because of politics, but we can. We have no borders, we have no limits and we have friends on the ground. Again, the International Red Cross is able to take donations for their efforts to heal, and protect the innocent. Click through here to help [ http://tinyurl.com/6j23rg3 ].

The bottom line is that you do not have to sit there and wonder "what can I do?" Now you can just do it and the interconnected global systems of communication devices we have make it possible for you to help people "on the ground" get the job done regardless of the political borders we have built around ourselves.

If you really want to be one of those people in the heart of the action, on the ground, helping with your own two hands, then you can get connected to those efforts on the we too. Check these out:
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=021912&tid=001
http://worldrelief.org/Page.aspx?pid=1725
http://ochaonline.un.org/
http://www.comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/fs-fr/dart-eicc-eng.asp

We are the new world order. We are the power. We are the people of Earth and we need to help, protect and serve each other regardless of the political boundaries and physical walls that separate us.

Be awesome. Change the world.

My My Myan Stones

Every year I enter the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. This is a writing competition where you are pitted against other writers around the globe in 2 rounds. Round 1 gives you 8 days to write, edit, and submit a short story where the genre and subject are picked randomly. The winners of each genre category are then put into a final round were you again write on a genre and subject that are randomly picked for you... but this time it needs to be completed in 24 hours.

The following is my round 1 entry for 2011. Genre was "Fantasy", Subject was "A Bank Robbery". The reality was that I thought about it for 7 days, and actually wrote it in the last 24 hours - I'm a rebel that way. I hope you enjoy it, comments are welcome.

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TITLE: My My Myan Stones

SYNOPSYS: There are ancient things we do not understand, and fools who fool with them are destined to pay the price. This is the story about one ancient legend finding a modern home.
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41… 16… 78…

Ryan finally took a breath before whispering, "I love that sound". He stood up and backed away from the TI-9000 Secure-Safe so the rest of his crew could step in and empty it's contents.

"Nice work, squirrel". Sarge had come up behind Ryan and was supervising the crew extract cash and jewels from the safe. "I think you beat your best time". He looked at the stop watch in his left hand, then back toward the safe. "30 seconds… 20… 10… Done - Lets go!"

Less than a minute later, all four men were stepping onto the street heading for the van they had parked around the corner. As Ryan closed the van door, he heard the store alarm sound in the building they had just left.

Sarge did not look impressed. "That should have been a 10 minute delay, Booby. My watch says that was only 8."

The 19-year-old blonde surfer and tech specialist who had rigged a time delay on the store alarm gave Sarge an apologetic shrug. "Sorry boss, I'll make sure it is longer next time."

Back at the warehouse where they planned their jobs and divided the take, Ryan headed for the bar fridge to get a soda. He liked to just sit back out of the way and let the others count the split.

And that's the way life was for Ryan Schel. Sarge had been the only parent Ryan had ever really known. His parents had both died in a car accident when Ryan was only 2 years old. They did not have a will or any close family but Sarge was closer than a brother to Ryan’s father and agreed to take him in. Sarge always had a tendency to save lost puppies and rescue orphans - God only knows how a guy like that ends up robbing jewelry stores and banks for a living.

Bobby joined the crew after installing a satellite dish service for Sarge. Somehow the conversation had turned to alarms, and cameras and how Bobby could hot-wire, hack or fix anything electronic and the rest is history.

Ryan did not really know anything about Driver except that he drove the getaway car every time - and he could drive anything. One time he had to improvise and ended up hot-wiring an ambulance, another time, the job required a city dump truck, which again was no problem for Driver. He was talented, but the guy never said a word, and he disappeared completely between jobs. Ryan was not even sure if even Sarge actually knew Driver's real name.

A few weeks passed before Sarge called the crew together again. This time is was a bank job. Ryan liked the bank jobs because the vaults always posed some unique challenge. Even though many of the vaults were similar, they were usually installed with different options and trips. In this case, it was a fairly standard time lock, spin tumbler with two-inch bar-bolts. These had ten-inch thick doors, which Ryan always thought was foolish since all he really needed to do was move a 1/16th inch pin in the lock and it all just opened up real nice. It would still take a few minutes and he would need extreme quiet to hear the tumbler, but it was definitely doable.

Cracking the vault door was a lot harder than getting into the safety deposit boxes inside. While Bobby and Driver were packing up cash, Ryan was picking the locks on each of the boxes. "Left, right up, and…" - each one was basically the same with a bit of jiggle and a dash of personal magic, each opened as easily as if he had the key. "... and twenty... last one".

Bobby and Driver had already started emptying the boxes starting at the other end of the vault, where Ryan had unlocked the first one, so he started to work on emptying the boxes from his end. Sarge was standing at the vault door, somehow watching his crew work, keeping an eye on the bank door, and counting down the time from his stop watch. "That’s 10 minutes now. Lets move, people."

Ryan was at the 3rd box when he noticed it. The glow was faint, but it was there, painting the edges of the box opening a dull orange. He only realized he had stopped moving and was just staring at the box when Sarge's voice startled him. "What's goin' on Squirrel?"

"Ah… nothing." Ryan reached out and pulled the box open, made a twisting motion to dump its contents into the duffle bag, but nothing came out. Turning it back over he saw 2 small black stones inside. He trued the dumping motion again, but nothing came out. Thinking they had stuck to the bottom of the box, Ryan reached in and picked them up with his hand, but they lifted surprisingly well - they were not stuck to anything.

"Time" Sarge snapped, " Lets go!"

Driver and Bobby had managed to clean out all the other boxes while Ryan was working on the one box with the stones. He quickly tossed the stones into the duffle bag, zipped it and headed out the vault door with it. A minute later the team was in the van pulling away and before they hit the first corner Ryan could hear the bank alarm sound. Bobby threw a big grin at the sound of the alarm as he looked at his watch. "Perfect timing".

Ryan smiled back at Bobby "Nice work, kid".

Bobby just said "Thanks", but a second later followed it with "looser".

Ryan was startled by this unexpected comment. "What did you say?"

Bobby looked confused. "Thanks, man, I just said Thanks".

Ryan let it go, thinking he may have just heard wrong, but it sounded very clear. Later, back in the warehouse dividing the take, Ryan stood back against the wall watching the others make the split. He shoved his hands in his pocks and leaned back into the wall, but then felt something in his hand. He wrapped his hand around the small warm object in his pocket and pulled it out. There in his palm were the two small stoned from the vault. The same stones that he had tossed into the duffle bag. - the bag that Driver and Bobby were pulling cash out of 30 feet away. Ryan was now completely freaked out. "Hey Sarge, I'm gonna get some air" he quickly said as he headed for the door. Passing the big garbage can by the front door, he tossed the stones in, double-checked that they were really in there and headed out into the parking lot.

Ryan took a look around, checked his pockets for the stones (not there) and drew in a deep breath. It must have just been a mistake; he must have slipped them into his pocket by accident. That’s what it was. No weirdness here.

“You ok squirrel?” Sarge had come up behind him.

“Yeah, I just needed some air”, Ryan lied.

Sarge put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder, “Come back in, we’re just about done and Driver wants to leave.” He smiled, and turned, the Ryan heard him say “High maintenance brat.”

“Excuse me? What did you say?” Ryan had stopped, completely in shock at Sarge’s comment.

Sarge had turned back to Ryan. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting strange since the bank. I just asked you to come in ‘cause Driver wants to get out of here. Now get your ass back in there so we can get this done.”

Ryan waited for a few seconds, then heard Sarge’s voice say “This kid is gonna make me nuts”… but his lips never moved. It was like Ryan was reading his mind. Hearing what Sarge would not say out loud. Sarge was just staring at him, waiting for Ryan to move. “Well?” That time his lips actually moved.

“Yeah, right…” Ryan was not sure what was going on, but did not want to sound like a lunatic explaining it to Sarge. He headed back into the warehouse, but as he moved his leg, he felt something in his pocket. Something small. Actually, two small stone somethings. Ryan was sure that you could actually see the hair sticking up one the back of his neck, as he turned completely white. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the 2 small black stones.

It only took a few minutes to split the take, so Driver and Bobby could leave. Sarge offered Ryan a ride, but Ryan turned him down and headed down to the library instead.

On the way there, he passed a number of people, each one said something to Ryan as he passed. Each one was derogatory or rude and in each case the people did not actually speak.

When he reached the library, he located one of the empty study desks and put the stones out on it. He carefully examined them and found them to be completely smooth, perfectly black with the exception of a small dot in the top center of each stone. There seemed to be detail to the dots. Ryan located a powerful magnifying glass in the resource section and placed the stones under it. “X” was on one and “H” was on the other. They appeared to be carved into the top of the stones with mechanical precision.

Ryan’s curiosity was stronger then his fear of weirdness, so he started searching for references to the stones, the initials, pairs, and anything else that might have led to some answers. Several hours later he found it.

The computer screen showed

Ref: “The Mayan Book of Life.”

… recounts the adventures of the Twins, Hanahpu and Xbalague. These twins’ constant pranks angered the gods of the underworld. To punish the twins, the gods captured them and imprisoned them in two small stones for eternity.

There was also a news article from June 1968, describing how an American explorer, James Tilley, had discovered the fabled stones in a Mayan temple, but was never able to produce them to the Museum for cataloging. He apparently lived right here in town. Ryan was willing to bet that this explorer banked locally too.

Another quick search produced an address for the intrepid explorer and it was definitely local. Ryan quickly hailed a cab and gave the driver the explorer’s address. Ten minutes later he was paying the cabbie and looking up at the old brownstone with the address that matched his search.

After 2 presses of the door buzzer, an old male voice answered. Ryan explained that they needed to speak. “Mr. Tilley, I think I have something that belongs to you, please let me in”.

James opened the door to the extent that the door safety latch would allow and spoke through it. “What do you want?”

Ryan knew he would sound crazy if he tried to explain, but if this were really the guy, he would recognize them. He pulled the stones out of his pocket and opened his hand in front of James.

“oh my God… Where did you find those?” James’s eyes had grown quite large and he was suddenly quite eager to open the door for Ryan.

“I found them in a garbage can”, Ryan lied. I did some research and I think they belong to you.

As James Tilley opened the door for Ryan to come in, the stones disappeared from Ryan’s hand. James smiled a bit as he felt the stones materialize in his pocket.

An hour later James was still recounting his story of how he found the stones and how the legend was really true. How the twins in the stones were still playing tricks on whoever possessed them. How they were stolen from him by a collector and that he had not seen them since.

Ryan left the stones with James and never spoke of them again to anyone, ever.

GetClams!

Do you use ClamAV in a Linux environment? I do, and if you do then you know every once in a while you get the following alert:

ClamAV update process started at Fri Mar 4 08:52:27 2011
WARNING: Your ClamAV installation is OUTDATED!
WARNING: Local version: 0.96.5 Recommended version: 0.97
DON'T PANIC! Read http://www.clamav.net/support/faq
main.cld is up to date (version: 53, sigs: 846214, f-level: 53, builder: sven)
daily.cld is up to date (version: 12804, sigs: 64546, f-level: 60, builder: ccordes)
bytecode.cld is up to date (version: 140, sigs: 40, f-level: 58, builder: edwin)


It used to be a hassle to update ClamAV, so I wrote a bash script to do this automatically. Now when I get this warning, I just run a bash script I wrote called "getclams" , enter the recommended version number from the alert message (0.97 in this case) and all the rest is automatic. Feel free to use the script below in your environment if you choose.

"getclams"

echo
echo -e "What version to get? IE '0.94.2' : \c"
read clamver
echo "You are about to upgrade to CLAMAV version $clamver"
cd /tmp
wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/clamav/clamav/$clamver/clamav-$clamver.tar.gz?use_mirror=cdnetworks-us-1
tar -zxf clamav-$clamver.tar.gz
cd clamav-$clamver
./configure
make;make install;make clean
freshclam
echo
echo "done"