Blogging as a personal tool for expression has waned in the shadow of Facebook, Twitter, and any number of new digital tools of personal mass-communication. Unless someone can blog full-time as a profession or committed hobby it is difficult to maintain steady and meaningful content… making the maintenance of such a beast more trouble than it’s worth.

I have had this conversation with several blogging friends within the last few months. As more and more of our friends and family get on Facebook, for example, it’s much easier to maintain interactive and up-to-date communication with them within Facebook, rather than a blog. And since most folks I know started a blog to (mostly) broadcast happenings to family and friends… well, you can see the conundrum.

Infrequent posting can be minimized by emphasizing RSS feeds. Today, it’s impractical to keep up with more than a few blogs without subscribing to their feeds (for example: here’s mine). Once you have a site’s feed you can effectively “combine” them using tools such as Google Reader into a one-stop shop of all your favorite blogs’ latest posts.

Now, I’m not saying that blogging is gonna fade out very soon. Indeed, the number of blogs on the internet is still increasing. What I’m saying is that – with every medium – there is a natural cycle… and the “personal” blog is waning. The “topical” blog is still a strong format, and won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

As such, I may be turning Negative99 into a topical blog in the near future. I will first – probably – set up my personal website, SteveMooradian.com, to be more of a personal “portal” that will contain a aggregated blog feed, Twitter feed, Facebook feed, Flickr feed, and other details. Whereas my blog, Negative99, will host content directly related to what I’m most passionate about… being a Christ-follower who’s conservative, unashamed, and too discerning for his own patience. I’m not sure exactly when this change will occur… but if you SUBSCRIBE then you’ll be the first to know!

UPDATE: Yes, yes… I figure I’ll keep the flash games up…

And speaking of… did anybody besides me notice that Stark Industries was a completely un-subtle spoof of Lockheed Martin Corporation, the United States’ biggest defense contractor? Not only does the Stark Industries logo (complete with bold-italic capitals and elongated angle-point) look strikingly like Lockheed Martin’s, but they even make the same F-22 Raptor fighter jets!?

I checked Google and my blog was the first to make the direct connection between the two (albeit obvious). Since then, it has popped up on a few other blogs and the Stark Industries entry on Wikipedia has been updated to reflect the company logo’s peculiar likeness to Lockheed Martin’s.

I would say “you be the judge”, but is there any doubt?

hacked// asite NEGATIVE99 infidel

negative99 infidel hav hack pages ha ha

w. bush = 666 and satan _must disembark away the holy peoples oh to glorious allah

And when you go to Negative99 you see a page that has most certainly been hacked! Oh no! But all is well… it’s April 1, and this blog – which sat out the last few April 1′s – decided to celebrate this one.

April 1 is a day of fun on the internet… when websites will post fake stories and feature special surprises. For example, Google started taking volunteers today for its Mars colonization program in partnership with Virgin Airways.

So after I posted yesterday on my blog about the recent Fitna movie controversy (which was critical of radical Islamism) I decided that a GREAT April Fool’s Day joke would be to hack my own site! I opened up Photoshop and went to town putting together what I would do if I were to hack someone’s page (a weird feeling indeed). One of the hardest things about pretending to be a Muslim extremist – incredulously enough – was finding extremist material on the web to use on the site!? Indeed… what I thought would take 30 seconds actually took 30 minutes of pouring through google search results to try and find SOME terrorist website. I had to settle for grabbing images off of the terrorist groups’ MySpace pages (you can’t make this stuff up). I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like the next time I try and fly in an airplane after all the colorful search strings I sent through Google.

So, I took the hacked-site-image I created and made a special site theme (called “Infidel”) which would ONLY show a “hacked” webpage of my creation, but that would allow my RSS feed to continue to work. This morning before work I initiated the hack.

I was very heartened by the outpouring of concern today via cellphone and email. Many friends and colleagues picked up on the “hack” quickly and started calling me. I was also very flattered that most (about 80%) thought the hack was legit! Cool! And really… in the hustle and bustle of the daily grind who has time to pay attention to the fact it’s April 1? I don’t always… and in fact one year a local radio station’s morning show (Wakin’ Up With the Wolf on PYX106) had me convinced they were bought out and replaced with a Spanish-only show. Oops.

So rejoice, for what it’s worth Negative99.com has survived the clutches of fake Islamist ‘l33t h4x0rs.

So the Dutch politician Geert Wilders demonstrates some sac – and a little thing called free speech – by releasing a short-film titled Fitna, which means “division among peoples”. The film is a montage. It includes verses from the Qur’an (Koran, Currahn, Cor-anne, Quho’ron, Koh-ron’n???) that could be taken out of context to incite violence against non-Muslims. Interspersed with these verses are scenes from the media that you’d have to be a cave troll to have missed… cowardly acts of Islamist terrorism (September 11 attacks, Madrid train bombings, etc.)… Muslim children calling Jews “pigs”… Muslim clerics calling for death to Jews and Westerners… you get the idea – just the usual. [please don't confuse the clerics with Barack Obama's pastor... although they're close]

So I watched the film. The premise – that the Qur’an is being used (to some extent) in fueling hatred and violence in the name of Islam – seemed to be well demonstrated (proven?). Indeed, the point seems grossly obvious to anyone with a television. Sadly the point is in dispute. Violently in dispute. Violently in dispute?! Isn’t that a double-negative or a oxy-contradiction? Fortunately I didn’t need the film to see that Islam isn’t always very… umm… “peaceful”? And where would I get that idea?

Remember the cartoons? Remember the Pope’s remarks? This recent brouhaha over Fitna has firmly established a grave pattern… that the very right to free speech can be removed – under threat from an extremist mob – when you have pansies in leadership.

From a Reuters article:

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned as “offensively anti-Islamic” a Dutch lawmaker’s film that accuses the Koran of inciting violence.

Ban acknowledged efforts by the government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of the film, which was launched by Islam critic Geert Wilders over the Internet, and appealed for calm to those “understandably offended by it.”

“There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence,” Ban said in a statement. “The right of free expression is not at stake here.”

Did you read that? The UN Figurehead says that “The right of free expression is not at stake here”!? That there is no justification for this? How about no justification for answering an insult with violence? How about no justification for responding to a cartoon with killings? You see… the UN Figurehead knows that there are a small number of Muslims who are wild extremist animals – unfortunately a small percentage of a billion people is still A LOT OF PEOPLE! So instead of acknowledging the problem he jumps down the throat of the guy revealing the problem. Isn’t that just like today’s world leadership?

From a Breitbart article:

An Internet site said Saturday it had removed anti-Islam film “Fitna” by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders after receiving threats to its staff amid protests by Muslim nations and the UN chief.

The Britain-based Liveleak.com said it pulled down the video, which can still be seen on other websites, including youtube.com. The film was posted to the Internet on Thursday.

“Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove ‘Fitna’ from our servers,” the site said in a statement.

“This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else,” the online statement said.

Wilders said it was “terrible that these threats deal a serious blow to freedom of expression,” but he told Dutch news agency ANP that he understood the decision to withdraw the short film.

So here’s the ploy… threaten the providers of the medium, and scare them into silence. Fortunately, in this case, LiveLeak.com ended up putting the video back up – I give them points for that. And really, this is what it takes. It takes standing up to the threats and the violence. It takes standing strong and saying that being offended is okay… you’ll survive.

I would be remiss here not to mention that although there are a small percentage of Muslims who are Satan incarnate, there are also a small percentage who are disgusted by the sickening and irrational animal displays of the former group. These are the Free Muslims, and you should read more about them.

And actually, another Muslim group that watches extremists – Islam Watch – recently uncovered some extremism that was just covered here in this FoxNews article:

A report posted on Islam Watch, a site run by Muslims who oppose intolerant teachings and hatred for unbelievers, exposes a prominent Islamic cleric and lawyer who support extreme punishment for non-Muslims — including killing and rape.

A question-and-answer session with Imam Abdul Makin in an East London mosque asks why Allah would tell Muslims to kill and rape innocent non-Muslims, including their wives and daughters, according to Islam Watch.

“Because non-Muslims are never innocent, they are guilty of denying Allah and his prophet,” the Imam says, according to the report. “If you don’t believe me, here is the legal authority, the top Muslim lawyer of Britain.”

The lawyer, Anjem Choudary, backs up the Imam’s position, saying that all Muslims are innocent.

Click here to watch the interview with Islamic lawyer Anjem Choudary.

“You are innocent if you are a Muslim,” Choudary tells the BBC. “Then you are innocent in the eyes of God. If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God.”

Choudary said he would not condemn a Muslim for any action.

Anyways… without further prattle… here’s the Fitna short-film (courtesy of LiveLink courtesy of Google Video):

This day is not “just another day”. Many will tritely dismiss this as an unnecessary formality. Many will claim that they can “honor the fallen” any day they wish and choosing a particular day doesn’t make it more real. I respect that remembering the sacrifices of our servicemen and women can be an “everyday” affair… but in the hustle and bustle of our personal rat races it helps to have a special day set aside.

This sounds cliché, but most folks don’t know how lucky they are to live in a free country like the United States. Indeed, being born here is akin to winning the cosmic lottery. This country, filled with wealth and opportunity, was forged by courage and washed in the blood of the brave. We should never take for granted what was paid for at so dear a price, lest we lose it.

So today, I’ll remember why I’m free to type whatever I want here on my blog without fear of state-sponsored beatings and reprisals. I will probably pause when my eye catches the waving of one of the many American flags flying today. Perhaps I’ll even have the privilege of hearing the Star-Spangled Banner. I say “privilege” because that’s what it is… it’s a rare jewel to have a national anthem sincerely representing one’s hard-fought freedom.

And, yes, I question the patriotism of all the cynical fools who would besmirch the flag of this nation, or what it stands for. I have family and friends who have given their lives to defend the flag, and I will gladly hit Google Maps to help someone navigate from the US to a place that flies a flag they like better.

Not only is today Memorial Day, but May is National Military Appreciation month. May 19 was Armed Forces Day. May 23 was National Military Spouse Day. I suggest honoring the fallen by also honoring those serving right now, and their families… and here’s a few easy online ways how:
Sponsor care packages // Send some coffee // Send a letter // Support the USO

Well, much to my amusement the Community Christian Church has made a collection of videos to illustrate this point in the genre of the lovable Mac vs. PC commercials.

Now, as much as I’d like to think that people can take a joke and have a little fun, a cursory Google search revealed that dissension surrounds these videos within the “Christian” community. While many, like myself, get a big kick out of the clever and humorous way the actors make their point using a current, relevant spoof… others of the more “traditional” folk who fervently embrace their Christian label think that these videos send a dangerous message and are deceptive. What?!? Are you friggin’ serious?

Enjoy!

www.stevemooradian.com :: 2006 :: First hit! It better have been. My business card site. I am at the top of my name.

Post on alt.bbs.doors :: 1994 :: Where the heck did this come from? This was an ad I did for an expansion program to an old computer BBS game (called a door game) titled Trade Wars. Myself and Wendell did the ad for a friend (Tazor Software) who had written the expansion called Trade World. Holy Smokes! I just googled for it and found it available for download here! Craziness!

LCC Soccer :: 2005 :: Here I’m listed as co-leading soccer at Loudonville Community Church with Rick Marsan (who’s a better soccer player than three of me put together)… but unfortunately I haven’t been able to play, let alone lead, for several months so this is more of a misnomer than anything. Rick’s always been the real leader.

RPI Class of ’96 :: 2001 :: This is our class homepage but hasn’t been updated since our five year reunion!? I’m listed as “attending”. Supposedly I’m re-doing this site for our ten year which is (let me check the calendar) THIS YEAR! Joey… get me that info!

Pocket Grandmaster :: 2004 :: The top of the portable computing chess program food chain is Pocket Grandmaster… voted best PocketPC chess program (again). I helped with graphics by making an additional piece set, coloring some existing sets, and making some wood and marble board designs.

Psycho Doom 2 Level :: 1995 :: Ha! The text file for my Doom 2 level I created way back when… the same one that eventually got published on some deathmatch compilation CD (which I actually own a copy of). I am probably more knowledgeable on the nuances of playing this level than on most of my courses I took back then. Some of the language in this text file is poignant, by the way.

Siena College Army ROTC Alumni :: 1996 :: Wow! I remember all of these guys! My email address is wrong in here, but it’s a great page for memories. Who keeps this stuff up here?

Okay, that’s enough for now… I don’t want to bore you to death. I’d be interested in hearing anyone’s more peculiar vanity Google results.

I have to just say that February was a very good month for Negative99. For whatever reason my web traffic shot up… I had thousands of visitors… and even my piddly excuse for a few Google ads have almost made my site self-sustaining (i.e. paying for the hosting costs). So whoever you are… thanks! In the coming months I’ll be putting up more wallpapers and Flash games. And more WordPress themes are on the way. And I’ll ensure reading my blog makes you look healthy and more vibrant… and thinner… and younger…

As promised above, and in the wake of my post yesterday – Islam is a blast!, I have gathered some political cartoon goodies from Daryl Cagle’s website of professional political cartoonists. These are some good reflections of my own thoughts on this matter (especially the third one). Enjoy!

Click to view my whole political cartoon gallery.

Google is giving $5 to some little girl suffering from cancer for every time you forward this email to 10 unwilling participants. Applebee’s is giving a $25 gift card to anyone who sends this to 20 soon-to-be-former friends. Microsoft is tracking this email (how, I have no idea) and will sacrifice a virgin every time you don’t send this to all of your address book. Ack!

When in doubt, please do the following:

• Copy a distinct line of the email (usually containing a name or a place)
• Paste the line into a good search engine and search on it
• If you get a bunch of hits from hoax websites, copy them into a Reply All email back to the sender and all their recipients… to prevent any of them from forwarding this on (this step will cause necessary shame to the careless sender… this is a good thing)
• If you didn’t get a bunch of hits then you may have a legitimate email

One of the earliest and most well-known email hoaxes was the Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe Hoax. One side benefit to this otherwise-abomination was the quick world-wide-web dissemination of these small tasty confections. I made them once, and if I remember they were great!

Here’s a link to the official recipe lovingly provided by Neiman Marcus themselves. And it is also lovingly quoted below, directly from their website, by yours truly.

An urban myth is a modern folk tale, its origins unknown, its believability enhanced simply by the frequency with which it is repeated. Our signature chocolate chip cookie is the subject of one such myth. If you haven’t heard the story, we won’t perpetuate it here. If you have, the recipe below should serve to refute it. Copy it, print it out, pass it along to friends and family. It’s a terrific recipe. And it’s absolutely free.

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds)
2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.
3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.
4. Using a 1 ounce scoop or a 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

If you make 2 dozen of these cookies in the next week your true love will email you. If you send this recipe to 30 people within two hours of reading it you will get a $500 gift certificate from Neiman Marcus (using Microsoft email tracking technology). If you send at least one dozen of these cookies to the Negative99 webmaster your computer will double in speed and you’ll look more youthful. If you ignore this recipe your entire family will have nightmares for a year. After that year… if you still haven’t made me cookies your hard drive will crash, any plane you get on to travel will crash, all tour buses in your nearest city will crash, and you’ll never sleep ever again. Try this, it really works… I was skeptical at first but now I really can’t get any sleep.

Okay… let’s talk shop a moment, shall we? I know that not everything about this new creation is nice and perfect. I am sure that there are some utterly obnoxious colors on colors that I have not discovered, and that I’ll need to fix. Please don’t scream at me… I would appreciate a polite email detailing which color offense caused your epileptic fit, and I will make a sincere effort to apply your thoughtful advice. Also, if you find any real template flaws (like overlapping div’s, margins that seem wrong, borders and content that looks cut-off), again, please let me know by email. I have checked this against Firefox 1.0.7 so I’m sure it will work in v1.5, and I have checked it in IE 6.0, but not Opera or Safari (yet).

I will be modifying my navigation bar to correctly highlight Gallery when people are viewing the photo gallery. And as Alissa recently pointed out on her own site, the default template for the Flickr album viewer needs tweaking to get it to have the same look and feel as the rest of the site.

Now, I can feel the collective groans surrounding the Google ads at the very top and very bottom of the site(didn’t notice that one on the bottom, did you?). Well, mostly I like how ads give the site a more relevant and happening feel. Now you may think that sounds like subjective psycho-babble (and you’re partially right) but nobody is forcing anybody to click them (I’m sure not going to), and I like them (for now) so they’ll stay (I think) and that’s final (until tomorrow).

You’ll also not be able to help but notice that on my main blog page all the ads are Christian themed. While I do not mind this per se… I really didn’t want this site being strictly topical… but that just happens to be what the Google content agent is reading as my page’s currently predominant content (and I’m certainly not ashamed of that fact) so who am I to argue?

UPDATE: I just tested this in Opera 8 and the entire middle sections of the site don’t center… they push off to the left. Also, several boxes of content that should be centered do not… and they say IE is bad!?

ANOTHER UPDATE: I just fixed the Opera bug.

FINAL UPDATE:

• Opera bugs are fixed, including some sizing and centering bugs
• Firefox list spacing bugs are fixed
• IE div spacing bug fixed (by using padding:1px if you can believe that one)
• Gallery, Home and Archive all are highlighted in the navigation bar when appropriate
• The Gallery has been made seamless to the site design and theme