Carriage Return/Compiled
Posted on December 23rd, 2008
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 12:20 pm
In as much as my horseless carriage and I have returned to Kirkland. Amazingly, even though the Seattle-area had been long done with snowfall after I had arrived there, driving here seemed (still seems actually) sketchier than the driving I did in Spokane and Castlegar. Maybe it’s the fact that the temperatures hover around melting point, creating exceedingly treacherous and nasty conditions, though I’m inclined to say the people trying to push 40 on sideroad in their SUVs with California license plates may be a contributing factor as well.
Additionally, I have a new song on RhymeTorrents v.8, disc 3. It is available here. Lyrics after the break.
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Short Extended Vacation.
Posted on December 20th, 2008
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 11:56 pm
So, I very sadly had to cut my time with Danielle short so that I could make it over the boarder before the RCMP felt compelled to put me in cuffs. Pity, as it was really nice hanging out with Danielle, working on music with her, eating her delicious homecooked meals and watching copious amounts of satellite TV with her. It was lovely.
However, this does not mean I am home. I ground down from Castlegar to Spokane, where upon I called home and found out Snoqualmie Pass is closed. So, I am at my aunt and uncle’s, watching Fred Claus on in-demand with them, using the internets.
Will Karl be home for X-mas? Find out, next time on KARLBALL Z!
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“I am not a criminal, but I get treated like one
Posted on December 11th, 2008
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 10:39 pm
Every time I’m at the border, they hate Ultraklystron.” – Me, some future track.
You know, if I fit a profile that made any sense, I might not be so bothered by this, but I don’t. My horrendous car combined with otakudom, musician-status and unemployment shouldn’t be read as “drug dealer and/or internet pedophile” more just as nerdy loser and media pirate, at worst (and since I’m not a pirate, all they are left with is nerdy loser.) But no, they go through my car, try to bate me into giving them some kind of incriminating evidence by asking me “what is the definition of obscenity?,” “have you viewed any obscene content recently?,” “is there any obscene content on your laptop?,” amongst other anyone-with-half-a-brain-knows-right-and-wrong-answers questions, and they go through my laptop and thumbdrives, something that really leaves me irritated because who is to say they didn’t any one if not all of the following:
1. Steal personal data. I don’t have laptop save cookies from many sites, but I do have it save some because I don’t want to be on open wi-fi at an internet cafe or public hotspot, transmitting passwords in plain-text. However, this also means they could have copied my cookies for insertion into another browser, looked through my email and via my email pulled passwords for any other site I visited by using password recovery. I’d like to think that border cops aren’t that crooked, but it cannot be ruled out.
2. Plant spyware/viruses on my computer. Normally, the virus and anti-spyware software on my computer is pretty much a joke. It has nothing to with me doing something stupid to compromise my security and everything to do with the fact that you never know when some new exploit will hit that can’t even be stopped with safe browsing (like browser, image and plug-in exploits.) However, before I did anything else, I ran scans with all the software I had installed, downloaded more software to run scans with, and am now, for the first time in years, browsing with a 3rd-party firewall, so that in case the scan miss anything, hopefully I can catch it anyway.
3. Plant evidence to find on a future visit. This would be, of course, the most immoral, illegal, unjust thing that could be done to me, but the fact is, there is no way you can rule out at the least possibility of it occurring. They had access to my computer, they could have done whatever they wanted to it. They could have done anything from copying some pirated movies to adding a true-crypt partition to my hard drive with all manner of super-illegal banned-in-Canada content. I’ve done what I can to search the computer, but the fact is, short of reformatting the laptop and doing a reinstall, there is no way to be totally sure. Some seemingly everyday file could now have something prosecuted appended to it.
Anyways, this results in the following new rules for me when traveling abroad.
1. Stop taking the 1988 Ford Escort. It seems to be a magnet for getting me flagged, where as 1993 Ford Escort isn’t. Additionally, when I drove my mom’s 2008 Honda Civic up to both pick up and drop off Danielle a few month back, I was given no trouble, in spite of the fact that my passport should have been flagged from the last time I was up in the 88.
2. Clear the laptop of any cookies, even the ones I’d rather keep. Odds are, I’ll be able to hit some kind of secure internet once I’m up there, and if I can’t, well, I doubt I have any emails that important for me to check.
3. Bring a recovery disc or flash drive. This way, no matter anyone does to the computer, I can simply reset everything.
…assuming they aren’t so talent as to some how flash in a diseased and evil BIOS. Oh, and since I’m not a citizen of Canada, I’m sure my recourse is exceedingly limited should any of my concerns ever be legit.
PS: I did have an awesome day with Danielle in Nelson, BC. We had fun shopping and walking about the town. Danielle found a very cute hat, and we both got some very cool sunglasses for a good price. I hope the rest of my stay (which thanks to the stop can be no longer than 23rd, lest a warrant be put out for my arrest – hope I don’t get snowed in,) is just as wonderful. Border dramas aside, I do always have a good time with Danielle when I’m up here.
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Sale’s over, sort of.
Posted on December 5th, 2008
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 7:39 pm
I’m boosting the cost on the thumb drives to 30 bucks. Why you ask? So I neither have to runaround all over town looking for the most insane deal on a 4GB thumb drive, nor do I have to buy them in bulk, resulting in money tied up in stuff that might not move for MONTHS at a time. As I shall be soon returning to college, I’d like to keep my finances liquid.
Flipside is, I’m keeping the CD prices lower, and adding some other cool options.
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Bonus sale days.
Posted on December 2nd, 2008
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 7:09 pm
I’ve decided to extend the sale til this coming Friday. 😀
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Less than 36 hours of sale left / PURIKURA MASSACRE
Posted on November 30th, 2008
Filed under: General,Pictures — Karl Olson @ 4:34 pm
Meanwhile, Derek, Misu and I belatedly celebrated my 25th birthday with some Gameworks and Wann, and miracle upon miracle, the oft-broken PURIKURA machine was running! Wicked cool photos hide after the break.
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DEAL/STEAL (Welcome To Wack Thursday)
Posted on November 27th, 2008
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 3:30 am
STEAL: http://www.zshare.net/download/51911673f47c4a06/
-Ultraklystron – Doujinshi
-A new electronic music album featuring 13 new songs.
-Genres include Drum n’ Bass, Minimal Techno, Big Beat, House and Trip Hop.
DEALS: http://karlrolson.com/store.html
-5 Bucks off of the Complete Karl Olson
-4 Bucks off of Opensource Lyricist
-2 Bucks off of Romance Language
-Deals good through the end of this coming Monday!
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Contest!
Posted on November 26th, 2008
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 6:43 am
Guesses should be made there too (hence no comment on the blog or LJ.) Friends of mine who already know what I might or might not be doing have already lost the game.
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In case you don’t like Happy Hardcore
Posted on November 24th, 2008
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 10:30 pm
I also did a Drum n’ Bass remix of Random’s “Grow Up”. It’s raw, synthy and dance floor ready. Junglists, start your 1200s.
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11-27-2008
Posted on November 24th, 2008
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:16 am
Three things:
1. Wack Thursday: Savings of an unknown amount on stuff in the store. You want to know how much (if anything) you may save? Check on Thursday*.
2. My birthday: you should wish me a happy birthday that day maybe.
3. Music: There might be some. Again, this necessitates a visit to the website on the 27th. What kind of music if there is music? You’ll have to find out. Maybe I’ve taken up polka. Maybe the Korg nanoPad I got for my birthday has resulted in some brilliant new material on the Minimal Techno tip. Maybe I’ve become a Hyphy artist, and I have a bunch of songs about getting dumb and ghost riding the whip. You don’t know. Maybe it’s only one song from The Fourth Estate.
These are mysteries. Solve them with the help of Robert Stack** on Thursday.
*=These deals will inevitably get leaked on some website, just like Target’s and Best Buy’s. ;D
**=Robert Stack will not in any fashion be aiding you in regards to solving these mysteries, nor will Chris Hansen.