Welcome to thoughtyard: the Wiki with a dictator.

Pleased to make your acquaintance. This is our little playground, and we're the bullies. We're opinionated, but not completely incapable of listening to others. You can come, read, edit, or create stuff about pretty much anything we're interested in... so long as your thoughts are at least somewhat in line with what we believe. If you think we're nuts, you're probably right. Deposit all complaints here.

The People of Salt Pond are those In The Know

Getting Started

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• Not sure what's expected of you? Try the ThoughtyardFAQ.

All Keeper's Topics

AUDIO

• * A look at the Windows Drivers for the MOTU Ultralite*

CIRCUMCISION

• * (a work in progress.) We hate circumcision.*

COMPUTERS

• Here's why Vista is in trouble... A look at why Microsoft can't seem to get it right.
• Think twice before letting ChkDsk do its thing.
• Of leechers and the banning of good users.

COPYRIGHT

• A look at how messed up our Coyright Law is.

FINANCES

• A guide to stretching your food budget.

GLOBAL WARMING

• A proposal for chemical engineering research into a possible new anti-global warming method.

POLITICS:

• You cannot win in Iraq merely by battling insurgents.
• Why the disappearance of our rights is partially our own fault.
• Stomp out atheists?!.

All Visitor Submitted Topics

• Physicians and Patients: An American Divide. Why ArroganceIsBliss and what you can do about it.
• Want to write about a new topic? Add it here. See QuickStart for instructions on adding new articles.

Keeper's Blog

16 MAY 2007 - Kicking out illegal immigrants racist?! Hell no!

Read another article about letting in more immigrants at http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3181573&page=1 today, and in the comments once I again I keep seeing the word "racist" being thrown around at those of us who want to keep the illegals out. What utter nonsense.

23 MAR 2007 - The Gay Rights/Gay Marriage Debate: A Mutually Acceptable Solution

There's no introduction needed for this topic. This country is divided over the issue of Gay Rights. But I have a solution. =)

22 MAR 2007 - Tournament Poker Is Fine Like It Is

If you play much poker, you might be familiar with Mike Caro. If your familiar with Make Caro, you probably know he hates tournament payout structures. You can read his opinions at http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/archives/caro30.htm.

Mike Caro is wrong. Well, rather, (just in case Mike ever reads this), I respectfully disagree.

22 FEB 2007 - A Mathematical Analysis of Why Ratios Are Bad, and a Better Solution to the Problem of Unwanted Leechers

In the file-sharing community, balance is everything. If everyone contributes, the system works, and everyone is happy. Community generosity leads to high-speed transfers and high availability.

But not everyone is generous. Some people are downright grinchy when it comes to sharing. And that really pisses people off. So people make private communities to keep out the grinches. But how do you decide who to let in?

19 FEB 2007 - 'Atheists, Go Home!'

Check out this letter to the editor from a woman who wants you to stomp out atheists.

13 FEB 2007 - MOTU (Mark Of The Unicorn) UltraLite Windows Driver Review

You've read all the glowing reviews about Mark of the Unicorn's Ultralite and now you want ask a critical question: how does it behave in Windows?

9 FEB 2007 - Evil, Thy Name Is CheckDisk

I love NTFS. Back in the bad old days of FAT32, every time the computer was suddenly powered off there was a serious possibility you could screw up your hard drive. NTFS is much better able to cope with such no-nos, and it is rare for the hard drive to ever become out of sync with reality.

Every once in a very blue moon, however, even NTFS has a bad day.

8 FEB 2007 - How Microsoft is Killing Itself

There has been no lack of Vista bashing lately. Nearly everyone knows by now that Vista is not the operating system people hoped it would be. I think one big reason for this is pretty simple: Microsoft has been trying to make windows 'easier to use' for years when it should have been making windows simpler, even as it added more functionality.

These two things are not the same; if Microsoft continues to head down the road it is currently on, I fully expect Microsoft to commit seppuku by being broken up and sold off to various other companies in a decade or two. Microsoft is not alone in this confusion about what is best for personal computers: Linux has exhibited this fatal flaw for years. To suggest that aspects of Microsoft's user interface are becoming more like Linux may seem counter intuitive, but stick with me and I think you will see what I mean.

5 FEB 2007 - A Plea for Americans to Embrace Terror

Every month we Americans lose more rights, and it's because we're asking for them to be taken away. Fear of death has caused many in our society to turn to the government for protection.

Being an American isn't about being able to exercise your rights in absolute safety; rather, a true American understands that certain rights are so important that they are worth dying for.

If the consequence of not permitting my government to scour my library records is that a terrorist learns to build a bomb and kill two thousand of my fellow citizens, I say so be it. I would rather die, my wife die -- my entire family die -- in a nuclear fireball, than give up my right to privacy in exchange for a safer life.

1 FEB 2007 - An Idea for an Ocean Based Solar Reflector to Combat Global Warming

Evaluation of this idea requires a knowledge of Chemical Engineering, a subject which is outside my primary field of expertise. I am hoping that by putting this idea in the publics' eye, someone with the right skill set might be able make use of it, or or at least evaluate the concept for feasibility. Full implementation of the idea would require considerable research from multiple fields, especially oceanography.

I believe that with the right chemical engineering, the world's ocean is the ideal solar reflectance distribution device The basic concept is to combine the the properties of an oil slick with reflectance. This would not be a simple task -- the substance would need to have exactly the right properties for the job to be done properly.

24 JAN 2007 - A Simple Solution for Iraq

The enemy of militant Islam is not foreign military force; rather, it is the youth of Iraq who, when educated and given a taste of freedom and a life without violence, refuse to continue the cycle of violence.