Draginol

Reply to Do you have blood on your clothes? in Economics Elemental Forums

You do know that slavery is involuntary servitude right? Someone voluntarily working somewhere in exchange for money is called getting a job.

Yes, there are monsters in the world in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

Recently I was involved in a discussion regarding the two Boston Marathon bombers. It started off with someone expressing concern about the amount of anger and hatred being directed towards the bombers. I am dismayed and afraid about the amount of hate and vengeance for the two who planted the bombs. It is spreading the attitude of vengeance in our country. I saw a quote from Ghandi this morning which I have not verified, but it struck me as true. "An eye for

My job at Stardock in Business JoeUser Forums

Is to connect super talented people together and get the hell out of their way. I am continually amazed at how much these guys/gals are able to do with so little. 2012 was a pretty awesome year but 2013 is looking to be insane.

The Wealth Inequality thread in Economics JoeUser Forums

Found this video here: [video]http://youtu.be/QPKKQnijnsM[/video] Even being familiar with the stats, it was a really fascinating and well put together illustration of the massive level of inequality in wealth we have in the United States. I have two fundamental criticisms with it. First, knowledge isn’t understanding. That is, the author gives me the impression that he thinks wealth is “distributed” by some..entity. That somehow wealth is bei

Your Political Compass in Everything Else JoeUser Forums

I’ve taken tests like this before. Very interesting to see where people end up. Here’s the test: http://www.politicalcompass.org/test <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:96c7d05b-2b39-42fb-ae2c-51a149cfdaee" class="wlWriterEditable

Brad Wardell on YouTube in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

I occasionally upload “stuff” to YouTube before I share it on the forums (and sometimes I don’t). So if you want to get a sneak peek of things going on, check out my YouTube channel. -> <a href="http://www.y

What to do about Internet trolls? in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

As we get more connected online, the haters of the world become more empowered. I am often astonished at some of the brazen behavior I see in comments and on forums by people who, one assumes, are functioning people in real life. I think a key ingredient is narcisism. i cant think of any other explanation for someone who puts effort into trying to upset other people while their own identities are just a bit of Google-Fu away. If you’ve ever read an article on someone befor

Bailey the Entlebucher turns 2 in Pets & Nature JoeUser Forums

Today our family dog, Bailey, turned two years old. Thanks to the power of the Internet and Facebook we have been able to keep in touch with Bailey’s siblings. Here’s Bailey with my daughter: <img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title

Excited about the PS4 in Console Games JoeUser Forums

Two takeaways from the PS4: 1. GDDR-5 memory. This means a lot of bandwidth to communicate between assets and

Hybrid grid solar arrays are tougher than they seem in Science & Tech JoeUser Forums

So I have a 20KW solar array. Love it. But it has one big problem for me that is surprisingly hard/expensive to solve: If the grid power goes off, so does the solar array. That’s because the solar array feeds into the grid with me taking what I need first. But if the grid isn’t up, the solar array has to shut down because it is no longer connected to the “circuit”. Besides that, you wouldn’t want to run your house where the power could go on and off randomly based on

Post your Pet! in Pets & Nature JoeUser Forums

My dog Bailey turns 2 years old this week! <img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Bailey-FirstDay" border="0" alt="Bailey-FirstDay" src="http://www.draginol.com/images2010/Post-your-Pet_1218B/Bailey-FirstDay_thumb.jpg" width="364" height

The politics of looting in Politics JoeUser Forums

I was reading a forum discussion regarding a car shop owner who lost his temper with a customer and berated them (hurled a bunch of profanity at them). The customer filed a suit against them for emotional distress. I couldn’t find a link to verify if this is even a real lawsuit but the discussion itself was illuminating. One of the participants said that they hope that the car shop owner “gets taken to the cleaners”. Really? This is the society these people want to see? Someo

English International and humor in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

I sometimes wonder how many misunderstandings occur online due to people who don’t speak English as their native language interpreting dry humor as literal statements. I recently saw on a forum a discussion that quoted banter back and forth between myself and our PR rep. It goes something like this: PR Rep: Got a 4.5 out of 5 on Game X! Me: Oh no! That’ll wreck the Metacritic score – we want it to end up at 79. High enough for sales but low enou

Bailey falls through the ice in Pets & Nature JoeUser Forums

This morning I brought my dog Bailey

Hollywood: The real culture of violence in Politics JoeUser Forums

[video]http://youtu.be/hxRlpRcorEU[/video] I don’t want to shift blame away from the despicable losers who commit mass murders. But I find it sickening that people who make a living saturating our culture with the glorification of violence have the gall to tell us we need to do something. As soon as celebrities agree to stop acting in movies that depict graphic violence, especially where it’s gratuitous and perpetrated by the hero as well as give up

Misogyny in gaming in PC Gaming JoeUser Forums

GameSpy’s Katie Williams has a terrific blog on the real misogyny that exists in the game industry. You can read it here: http://alivetinyworld.com/2012/11/27/too-many-reasons-why/ In the article she writes: I’ve been watching the #1reasonwh

The amazing Entlebucher mountain dog in Pets & Nature JoeUser Forums

As a si

Steam is like crack in PC Gaming JoeUser Forums

Stupid Thanksgiving sale. It’s too late for me. Save yourselves!

Comfy puppy in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

We’re babysitting Paul (Mormegil) and Kristin’s (Kristin was my partner on PowerUser.TV ) dog. She seems to be surviving: <img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_2179" border="0" alt="IMG_2179" src="http://www.dra

Christmas Lights up in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

My wife is addicted to Christmas. And so this year we

CEO pay in Politics JoeUser Forums

I’ve been watching the fall-out from the destruction of Hostess. I’m not going to get into the “blame” game other than to say it’s kind of dumb for people who go on strike to be shocked that they lose their jobs. What I will get into is the never-ending stupidity of complaining about CEO pay. Americans have no problem with paying athletes and entertainers tens of millions of dollars annually. But they rage about people getting paid a couple million for running a multi-bi

The Oatmeal: Making things and a response to haters on the net in Business JoeUser Forums

The Genius at Oatmeal does it again. Here is a tiny snippet: <a title="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/making_things"

Microsoft Surface: I really want to love you but why won’t you love me back? in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

I’m getting a lot of feedback regarding the series of articles (and tweets) on Microsoft Surface. I want to clear up a few things before I start here. First, I’m not a Microsoft Hater. I was a Microsoft MVP for something like 7 consecutive years. My business lives or dies based on the success of Microsoft and its platforms. We are a Microsoft shop through and through. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give them a pass when they do stupid stuff. And lately, they have.

2012 Presidential Exit Poll Results in Politics JoeUser Forums

You can see the full results here: http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/race/president#exit-polls Here is what I found interesting: <img title="image" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; pa

How good is Fallen Enchantress? Consider this: in PC Gaming JoeUser Forums

Despite only a handful of reviews (average review score 4/5), it is in the top list of games being played by Steam even though the people most likely to buy this type of game got it for free as a non-Steam game (so it won’t count). I think it’s safe to say that Fallen Enchantress is the start of a beautiful new fantasy game world.