I now have a Flickr account.
Join up at Flickr and check out all the pictures I'm putting up there, also be notified whenever there are new ones:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnstephi

Found a very very cool Internet site:
johnny.ihackstuff.com - this site has a huge list of so-called "Google Hacks" - basically, Google search strings that show up a load of stuff that show people have files set as public which should not be public, like password files, etc.
The guy (BTW a professing Christian, check out his "About" page!) works as a security advisor, warning sites about their huge security problems. :)
Just a quick example to show what this means:
Click here for Google to search for configuration files of web server accounts that people have left public.
See the ones with the long passwords(PWD=VDFG345...)? Those are very weakly encrypted password keys which you can decipher here. With that data, you could easily hack into someone's web server account, and completely take it over. BTW, only then would it become illegal - a Google search is not illegal. ;)

I for one welcome our new ultimate Google overlords.

Yeah, I'm a geek, so what?

Saw this quote today and thought it mighty cool:

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
- Aristotle

So true - so quickly we tune out as soon as someone has a thought contrary to ours, rather than being able to entertain it, weigh it, and think over it.

My thought for the day. ;)

The new Rock Berlin web page is up and running.
Check it out and tell us what you think!!!

-> http://www.rockberlin.de

Hi everyone!!



:)
Here are some new pics of the baby, to download them, right click and select "Save as...":

Joshua with Grandma Klement
Nice close-up (see above)
Joshua mesmerized by his first bath
Joshua with Grandpa and Grandma Goering

It's so weird to be calling our parents "Grandma" and "Grandpa", makes them sound so old, which they're not. Really! :)
That's it for today, folks, I wish I had more time to blog. I'll be trying to stay on top of this though, I promise, so keep checking in!

OK, so, yes, it's been FOREVER since we've written last. Sorry. :/
Anyways, BIG NEWS!!! Joshua Daniel Goering was born yesterday (May 8th) at 9:34 pm! Weighing in at about 2920 gram, but 51 cm tall, he's long and skinny. :) Here are three nice shots of baby as well as baby + Mom:
Just Joshua
Joshua + Proud Mom
Kind of artsy (cause overexposed ;) pic of Joshua.
It's laaate (zzzz), so a tired but very very happy and proud Dad is going to bed right about 20 seconds from now. :) More information to follow soon!!!

Here's, like, a really hilarious link, that, like, totally translates the web pages into, like, "Valley Girl" English - you know, like, with totally a bunch of, like, "likes" and "totally"s. Check this out for a, like, totally bodacious version of CNN:

Like, click!

:)

A bunch of other funny tools can be found here. Have fun!

Hi everyone...
This is kind of a follow-up to the article on violence in computer games (see below for that): This is a really thought-provoking collection of answers from game developers on the question "Do game creators have any moral responsibilities in teaching values to their audience?"

Both sides give very deep, logical answers, here's my favorite answer on the "Yes" side:

Of course they do. Like most responsibilities, however, there's no external motivation to take it upon oneself to fulfill them. The only way we will begin to accept responsibilities like that as an industry is when we can grow up enough to accept that all games, including violent ones, affect people. They don't turn kids into stark raving serial killers, but it's not all safe exploration of fantasy either. I dare you to play Grand Theft Auto for four hours and get into your car and NOT think about side-swiping or stealing other cars on the roadway. The issue, as always, is more complex than the two extreme viewpoints would suggest.

Of course games affect people. We're betting our livelihood on it, aren't we? We can only be taken seriously when we take ourselves seriously.
- Borut Pfeifer, Radical Entertainment

And here's my favorite on the "No" side:

No - parents do. There's a rating system for a reason. Parents - know something about your kid's lives for a change. I can't count how many times an adult will mention their kid's playing video games and say something like, "I can't do those things... my kid can do them all." Yeah, you don't say. Those same parents can barely use a computer for anything more than an occasional email, or a favorite website. It actually excites me that when I have kids I'll at least be able to understand and participate in their computer/video game/technology-esque lifestyles, know what they're talking about, doing and have fun with them all while protecting them and doing my job as a parent.
- Bryan Erck, Shiny

I also found it very interesting that the majority of game developers asked back "Whose values?" Let the battle for truth in a post-modern world begin - hey, sounds like a cool, violent computer game! :-)

THE HARD, COLD TRUTH
Something has come to my attention I must make known to the public - we've all heard the story about how German almost became the official language of the U.S. - and lost out to English by only one vote, right? I've told it myself to many people many times. Well, today I was shocked to find out that the story is an urban legend, a myth...NOT true at all! There never was such a vote, in fact, the U.S. never voted in any "official language" at all. Also, the percentage of Germans in the U.S. was never more than around 10%, so even if there HAD been a vote, it never would have been close for any language other than English!!
Read the shocking, disturbing disillusionment here, if you are strong enough to take it.

OK, real quick cool link to an article about Janet Jackson and her effect on violence in computer games...right here. Cool thoughts - the gist of it is that parents, not the government need to be the ones deciding what their kids are allowed to play and what not.
Here's a great quote from it:

It's the parent's job to decide what's appropriate for their children – not the government's. If your kid buys and plays something that seems inappropriate, pop the eject button on the console, put it back in the box, and march your son or daughter back to the store and demand a refund. Should the store absolutely refuse, destroy the game and teach your child an expensive lesson: You don't buy games of this nature without my approval.

Sure, this will result in all sorts of shouting and pouting, but it's not like kids won't act much the same way about many other decisions they feel are unfair.

There's no arguing that any of these bills has its heart in the right place. Young players should not play certain video games. But the ultimate responsibility for ensuring kids aren't exposed to something they shouldn't be starts and ends at home.

So true!!!! I wish this column would make its way to some German papers - I feel that more often than not, the "ultimate responsibility" for deciding what German kids are allowed to play and watch starts with the German government and ends at home, sometimes...