the hazards of hackerspaces...

the problem with belonging to a hackerspace is that it's such a rich fountain of projects to get involved in, and you wonder how you're going to have time to do them all.

case in point...i'm already working on the twitter bot. my theremin has been on the back burner for a while, but i really need to carry it over to the space, troubleshoot it, and get it working before geek prom on june 13 so i can show it off. the power wheels racing series is right around the corner, and my team needs to start stripping and modifying our vehicle so we can race it on june 20.

and now, thanks to a very generous fellow hackerspace member, i have a shiny new computer. a shiny new old computer: a commodore 128. i've spent my time while waiting for the laundry to get done reading through the programming manual, refreshing my memories of BASIC and trying to soak in the commands that they didn't teach us in eighth grade programming. and, as soon as i bring my tv to the hackerspace (tomorrow?), i want to start screwing around with the music commands, and start composing old-school music on it.

i know i need to get a job again at some point, but working on my personal projects is so much more engaging.

crack smokers, overheard

one of today's overheard in new york posts was too pertinent not to share:

Annoyed commuter: Shut up, you jobless crackhead piece of shit!
Crackhead: Fuck you, man, I got a job! I sell crack.
--A Train

the contributor didn't provide any information of what became of the crackhead. no matter what happened, though, this vignette provides the groundwork for an important lesson for all crack vendors.

i can totally understand why a crack smoker would want to sell crack...there's a lot to be said for doing what you love. if you love to smoke crack, you can understand why your customers love crack so much and you can take great joy in providing it for them. it's also a job that doesn't wane too badly when the economy is as bad as it is: no matter how the dow, the vix, or any other economic indicator looks, crack smokers are clamoring to smoke more crack.

however, i suggest that you not scream at the top of your lungs in a public place that you are a crack dealer. one of those nice people sitting on the subway train reading a newspaper may be a member of your local constabulary. even if he's not supercop, he probably knows that dealing crack is extremely illegal, and will relish the opportunity to brag to his fellow law enforcement officials that he took one more crack dealer off the streets...or off the subway, as the case may be. it's better to let the people needle you a little bit, keep your big mouth shut, and sell your crack on the down-low.