A Tax on My Dragon Shield?

Taxation of virtual goods has been making the news again now that there are reports of people making massive amounts of money off of land inside the virtual world of Second Life. The idea of taxing virtual goods without physical realization sounds crazy to me.


Original Post 1/23/2006:

As some of my friends know, I enjoy playing online role-playing games every now and then (Runescape is my current favorite). A recent article on ZDNET has me concerned. Would the government actually consider a tax on virtual goods? What do you think?

I Love the Fall!

Fall is the greatest season, by far. I love the way the trees change color. Fall is great for hiking and camping. My favorite holidays are in the Fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving). And, of course, there is the renewal of football season. I look forward to watching the Philadelphia Eagles without TO and with a healthy McNabb. And Penn State plays Notre Dame again for the first time since 1992 . I was still ATTENDING Penn State the last time they played. Aahhhh.

You're So Great!

One of the things I miss the most about being young is all the positive support you receive. When you are six, nobody comes into your office and says "you screwed up big time, dipshit". We always give children positive feedback and encouragement all the time. What is even more remarkable is that we always believed it too. When we came in last place in the race we still got a medal. Our parents looked at us with such pride and showered us with praise for how well we did. You always felt like a winner. Ah, to be so young and naive, it was great.

(To those of you who had lots of negative feedback as a child, I'm truly sorry. Drop me a comment and I will shower you with praise!)

MySpace Envy

I am suffering a severe case of MySpace envy. I decided to create a MySpace account a few months ago after hearing all the buzz about what a fun site it was. I was expecting to be showered with new friends and shout outs of love from old friends. When I browse other peoples' profiles it is clear that everybody is just overwhelmed with friends and good times.

However, my profile has remained painfully quiet. The only messages I get are from "members" spamming me about their other, I can only assume, porn websites. Only about 25% of my real life friends that I have invited to share in the joy of MySpace have decided to join.

The sad truth is that I must be tragically unhip, despite my best efforts. I'd like to blame that on being too old for myspace (I am not in high school or college), but I see plenty of folks in my demographic whooping it up on MySpace.

Random Thought on Press Photos

Did you ever notice that you only see serious expressions in press photos of nefarious people? Is this because the press select the most stern photos for their articles, or is this all that they can find? Do you think Osama bin Laden realized at a young age that he should never goof-off or make funny faces in front of a camera just in case he should become a terrorist some day?

Review: How the Mind Works

Part of me wants to say how fascinating and informative this book was. The other part wants to say how irritating and poorly written the book was.

How The Mind Works contains a lot of insight into the inner workings of the human mind without getting too technical for a lay person to understand. The author is good at explaining ideas with anecdotes and intelligent observations. My biggest problem with the book, though, is that it seems to be written with no thought to structure. I felt like the author was just pouring out ideas as they popped out of his mind. Desipite having an index, I doubt I could easily relocate a fact that I found interesting when I read it the first time. The author also intermixes his own opinions with such poise and confidence that the reader must be careful to not confuse them with the facts.

Still, overall, I'd recommend this book. Just make sure to keep an ample supply of post-it's ready if you want to be able to refer to you favorite parts later.

Happy Home Ownership - Year 1

It is the one year anniversary of my moving from Maryland to NOVA (that's Northern Virginia) and into my townhouse. I was originally hesitant about moving to Virginia and I expected that I was not going to like it that much. There are just too many people around. Now that I am settled in, I must say that I like my local town (Sterling) very much. It is very close to where I work and there are plenty of restaurants and convenient shopping around. I only get frustrated when trying to head towards DC or Maryland. The "too many people" factor gets worse as you head closer in.

I have managed to furnish the house a little more to my liking. Branching out from my apartment I needed more furniture. I also needed to trade in my "college-style" furniture for less embarrassing stuff. Thanks to Craig's List and Freecycle for helping me get rid of old stuff and pick up some new stuff while keeping costs down. As everybody who owns a house knows, there were also many home improvement projects to be done. Upgrading my office closet has been my biggest achievement.

I am still a bit embarrassed about some of the things I have not done. Most of my windows remain blind-less. I tried to purchase some blinds only to realize that they wouldn't fit in the thin recess of the window. I am going to have to settle for something that doesn't fit my desires, or I will continue to go blind-less. And my third bedroom remains filled with assorted crap. I've managed to find a home for about a third of the stuff, but I am still far away from being able to fit a guest bed in there. Now I need to set up some space in the attic for storage to put away more of the crap.

Overall my townhouse is starting to feel like home. There will always be some improvement project to work on, but I like it that way.

Review: Why Men Earn More

This book should be read by any woman or man who wants to understand the relevant factors that effect how much money one makes. The author takes a critical look at the statistical fact that the average women makes less money the the average man by analyzing equivalent conditions. You'll be surprised (perhaps) by the results. The author presents 25 factors that can influence pay. This book was well worth reading.

Random Amusements

One cannot refuse to eat just because there is a chance of being choked.
- Chinese proverb

The big difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money costs less.
- Brendan Francis

Sign in the front yard of a funeral home:
Drive carefully. We'll wait.

States I've Been In

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Losing My Religion

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