BlogDogIt

"And whosoever should be snaring one of these little ones who are believing in Me, ideal is it for him rather if a millstone requiring an ass to turn it were lying about his neck and he were cast into the sea." (Jesus according to Mark 9:42 Concordant Literal Version)

As a Cyber Explorer of the Web Less Traveled™ I will often come across aspects of the internet that have me scratching my head with concern for my fellow humans. Things that "once seen, cannot be unseen" are one of the hazards of this job. I find that after these awful encounters it is best to just move along; spurred-on to ever more diligently seek-out the goodness that also awaits discovery out on the ragged-edge of the World Wide Web.

Oftentimes though, evil lurks in the shadows of even the more mainstream of internet destinations. It was in the course of a purely innocent search for a particular user account on Vimeo that I found myself witness to some most appalling human behavior. I immediately "flagged" the video and - to Vimeo's credit - it was removed from the system within the hour. I will certainly spare any details but suffice it to say the mere removal of that atrocity does little (to nothing) in reversing the evil perpetrated upon the innocent creature featured in that untitled film. Something however, MUST be done...

Later on in the day I decided to "bleach my eyes" by viewing the latest from SkyWatch TV. It can be no coincidence that the guest that day was Opal Singleton, president and CEO of MillionKids.org and the topic was "Predators, Social Media, and Your Children."

I urge everyone to explore the good works spearheaded by Opal Singleton and visit ExploitedCrimes.com - something CAN be done...

http://www.exploitedcrimes.com/

http://www.millionkids.org/
https://www.facebook.com/MillionKids
https://twitter.com/iemillionkids

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
- Edmund Burke

Koester de kleine dingen
Cherish the little things

Sometimes it's the little things that have the greatest impact (especially when you least expect that they even could.)

The featured video was found as a result of The Dig. [See:Cyberspace-Archeology - "The Dig"] It was not an obvious discovery but one I had to work at...

---

The thumbnail image here shows the "Homepage" of Joris Dergez; you can click it to visit it but trust me, this is all there is to it. By all appearances this is a non-functioning website - but is it? The simple design is actually telling us quite a bit: Joris Dergez has a home on the internet, his navigation menu suggests studying, acting and directing and invites us to contact him. The inclusion of a black and white head-shot further suggests a working entertainer with an eye toward self promotion. His labeling of the footer of his page as "Footer" at first glance might give the impression of an unfinished template (I have seen scads of those on telenet.be) and the word "Socialmedia" might also appear to be a placeholder for all those social media badges that seem to be the rage these days. But this is what it tells me: "Hi I am Joris Dergez. I am a student of acting and directing. You know how this works. Look me up!" So that is exactly what I did. Based on what I am finding it is safe to say, this will require a little more digging.

I sincerely hope you too will enjoy the following bit of "Pay-Dirt"...

The Video: https://youtu.be/WaY1UyovtFE

While checking-in on How To Become A Hacker  by Eric Steven Raymond  (via the glider link in the footer of this site,) I was pleased to see a new addition to the file as noted in its Revision History:

One visit to "Let's Go Larval" and I could see why ESR found it necessary to update his page on How To Become A Hacker and so - likewise - we shine the BlogDogIt spotlight on this diamond-in-the-rough, upstart hacker. Geeks of every stripe will appreciate the skillz on display by Rebekah Yoder in her blog project which she bills as: "Adventures in programming from a Linux/Mac perspective. Half how-to, half me talking to myself."

Jim the Penguin is an original creation by Rebekah and CC BY-SA licensed - in keeping with the hacker/open-source spirit. Click on that fellow below to enter the larval-stage  as this particular programmer publicly passes through her pupal stage in pursuit of her goal of becoming a developer extraordinaire.

BlogDogIt will be "going larval" and joins Rebekah in inviting you to do the same...

Enjoy!

Jim the Linux Penguin by Rebekah Yoder is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

While researching a musical score - specifically from the movie, "The Birds" - for an upcoming video project, I happened upon a YouTube video titled "Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) his absolute BEST" I took the  "click-bait" and found myself at a virtual concert featuring nearly two hours of thrilling music, orchestrated for some of classic Hollywood's most iconic projects. I knew in an instant that if I did not share this discovery I would not be doing my BlogDogIt job....

"No composer contributed more to film than Bernard Herrmann,
who in over fifty scores enriched the work of such directors as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, and Martin Scorsese."
-  Steven C. Smith from BernardHerrmann.com

Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) his absolute BEST

from: gettyO89  channel

"Forget the track list, just embark on the journey. And this could be one of the most exquisite and satisfying musical experiences of your life."

The Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uIEIelz_SM

[ Track List Below ]

In order to embed video in a Simple Machines Forum (SMF) installation I added the Embed BBCode v.2.0 plugin to my site and was happy enough until the time came where I wanted to embed a PDF hosted by Archive.org.

These PDFs are delivered via "<iframe>" and are not compatible with the plugin. I was able to hack my install to allow safe and effective inclusion of Archive.org hosted PDFs to my site.

Here is how I did it...

First, save a back-up of /Sources/Subs.php

Then Modify ==>  /Sources/Subs.php  

after line 1226,  before:

1227                     else
1228                              $tag['content'] = '$1';

insert the following code (watch the word-wrap - this is two lines between the comments):

// begin masodos MOD to embed Archive.org iFrames
elseif (preg_match('~iframe.+src=(?:&quot;|[\'"])(?:https?:)?//archive.org/stream/(.*?)(?:&quot;|[\'"])~i'.($context['utf8'] ? 'u' : ''), $data[0], $matches))
$tag['content'] = '<iframe src=https://archive.org/stream/' . $matches[1] . ' width=$2 height=$3 frameborder=0 allowfullscreen></iframe>';
// end masodos MOD to embed Archive.org iFrames

Of course you will make this modification at your own peril and will not hold me responsible for any ills that may befall you as a result of utilizing this hack but I wish this was available sooner, I would have tried it.

I'm using it with much success - See it in action here:
http://www.mtzionindy.org/vestibule/index.php?topic=93.0
Read the popular "Earth's Earliest Ages" by George H. Pember  free online

Persistence pays (but sometimes only the minimum.) Be that as it may... today I captured on film - (well, actually that's not right) we need to come up with another term to replace "Caught On Film" because it will soon be a phrase that will make no sense to folks... - anyway, I finally took some pictures of this car I have been seeing occasionally on my daily commute for the last year or so.

Click the picture for a larger version.

As a side note (or foot note) to this: I made an interesting discovery in my dissemination of this little presentation... Since the pictures I took were basically crap I did what any red-blooded photographer would do; Use Them Anyway. The creation of an animated GIF pretty much precluded me from sharing this on facebook so I resigned myself to sharing on Twitter and BlogDogIt. But, lo and behold, I found when I went to save the image from twitter (to use to illustrate this article) it offered for me to save as an MP4 video file. (Free GIF to MP4 converter, people!) Facebook readily accepted this video file and so this goofy little project has infiltrated that corner of cyberspace.

So once again I found myself down the virtual rabbit hole when I came across a very interesting artist community known as Newgrounds.

To quote Newgrounds' founder TomFulp,
from the sites wiki:

"I grew up making home movies and text adventures that no one ever saw or played, so it was really exciting when I got web access in 1995 and started Newgrounds. My first games were point and click adventures, followed by some more interactive javascript concoctions. In 1998, I picked up Flash and my life changed forever. By 1999, Newgrounds was so popular that other Flash artists wanted to showcase their movies and games here too. There were so many submissions that we automated the process in 2000, being the first website to offer real-time publishing for games and movies. It was like a big party."

And so the party continues...

While on Newground.com I saw a link to a video titled "4 Ways YOU'VE been Clickbaited?!" I pride myself in not falling for the "Clickbait" since that generally leads to the busier (if not seedier) side of the internet and - as I am sure you are aware - I prefer to travel the "roads less traveled" as they typically lead to fantastic discoveries like Newgrounds and ApexxWolf. ApexxWolf is a self-proclaimed "amature animator that makes short gaming cartoons from time to time." This entire post has been created mainly to present his video discussing clickbait on the internet.

In the words posted by ApexxWolf on YouTube:

Clickbait......Clickbait for Everyone!

Thought I'd try a new style of social commentary video talking about the use of clickbait on the internet. In the video I go over 4 popular methods used (including a bonus method) and try to answer whether or not clickbait is bad.

Inspired to create this after being clickbaited myself by a fake girl gamer live streaming on twitch :P

Enjoy!

The Video: https://youtu.be/gln3idQH9WU

 This video had 8400 hits at time of posting

Follow ApexxWolf

http://apexxwolf.newgrounds.com/
https://twitter.com/ApexxWolf
http://www.youtube.com/apexxwolf
http://apexxwolf.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Apexxwolf-328464070603688/ 

  Happy Thanksgiving!  
  from BlogDogIt.com  

I'm sure we all have memories of when the "black sheep" of the family took our Holiday celebration off-course, giving us one more reason to continue to look upon them in a less than ideal light. Now imagine a family where every single member is eminently qualified for the "black sheep of the family" designation. If you can do that, then you can begin to imagine Christmas with the Earlys.

Bethlehem (the title derived from the fact that this "dramedy" takes place in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) brings together several elements - any one of which would point to a dysfunctional family - in what you might think would seem like piling-on for comedic effect but in practice paints the situation as sad and reminds us that behind every house decked-out with Christmas decorations is a story of a family struggling to keep it together in a world more conducive to its falling apart. A cautionary tale of the evils of addiction and poor choices and the enduring patience and strength of the matriarch who - to spite the many shortcomings of this brood of bad-eggs - is hell-bent on hosting this family get together regardless of the inevitable consequences.

There is only one thing that could possibly bring this dysfunctional family together this year and that has to be love. Not the "heart on your sleeve", "god bless us every one", sappy, happy love but that deep, deep, down in your gut, unconditional "family" love that you can never escape no matter how hard you try.

Michael Malone weaves a grungy tapestry of hurt and hormones in the story of this family gone very very wrong. Those of us familiar with the wit and wisdom and the irreverent comedic stylings of Michael Malone have been eagerly anticipating the release of Bethlehem. This is certainly one of the more talked about independent films of the year and with this cast of characters is it any wonder? In addition to writing (along with Joshua Hull) and directing, Michael Malone plays eldest son Michael Early who earns the crown of "most level headed," an honor which is often debatable chiefly due to his penchant for getting stoned.

"Homemaker" and Mother, Carolyn Early is portrayed marvelously by Cindy Maples in a role that stretches from doting, motherly heart-to-hearts to sternly shouted expletives as her character overtly struggles with how little control she actually has over her family beyond extending the invitations to this hopeful event.

The baby of the family is in his late 20s, still living at home and - by all indications, most likely - not still breastfeeding. Bobby Early is played by Mike Dobrzelecki who tries his very best to steal the show by delivering carefully measured aspects of Elvis, Meatloaf, Baby Huey and just enough Karate Kid to win favor with his overtly absent, mistress toting, father Jack (played admirably by Raymond Kester.)

Melissa Revels delivers a delightful portrayal of middle-child Bridgett who could almost qualify as normal, but rest assured this is only what passes for normal in a family where "smoke-screen" seems to be the order of the day.

Uncle Raymond (endearingly characterized by Rich Ragains) lets his flaming love light shine and shows that he takes seriously his obligation to the family that dearly loves him in spite of his taste in sweaters.

JoAnn King White brings the character of Grandma to life as one who happily exists in her own little world and playfully invites all around her to join in the simpler pleasures reserved for those teetering on the verge of dementia. Grandma may well be the only guest in attendance truly happy to be there.

Of course this Christmas gathering would not be complete without their recently released, teardrop-tattooed, ex-con cousin Bryan (a role nailed by actor Derik Zooashkiyani) and his female companion.

The film does a masterful job of introducing the viewer to each member of this gathering, making us feel welcome among the madness. Once we begin to realize the volatile nature of this mixture of personalities the true magic of Christmas rears its ugly head. Just as you can mend a fraying rope by singeing its ends, so too can a family bond together at Christmas time.

This film is humorous without resorting to high-voltage lighting displays or ridiculously lubricated snow sleds. It delivers a profound message of love and family togetherness without resorting to angels getting wings or miracles 4 blocks north of 30th Street. Perhaps the most notable quality of Bethlehem is how relatable this messed up family is likely to be to everyone fortunate enough to watch this film. Destined to become a Christmas classic; one you should only watch with your children after they leave home or reach the age of 18 (whichever comes first.) [Officailly Rated R13 Offensive Language and Sexual Content]

Expertly lensed by David M. Brewer this feature packs amazing, big-time production value; a credit to all involved. Check out the complete list of cast and crew on IMDB and help spread the word about what is surely the unlikeliest connection ever between Bethlehem and Christmas.

Enjoy this Official Trailer with the knowledge it is not safe for work.

Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/P4ky4gNbO0M