Why Would I Write

Category: Technology

  • Video games don’t make murderers

    I think video games get way too much flak for being negative influences on people. When there’s someone who shoots up a school? “I bet he plays Doom/Quake/Call Of Duty.” Kid runs over someone? “I bet he plays GTA.” Kid lands a plane? “I bet he plays flight simulator.”

    It’s like saying, “this guy used Facebook and killed people. Facebook must be a negative influence on him!” It’s stupid. Playing video games isn’t some top-secret, super-underground pastime for social recluses. Everybody plays video games these days. Even athletes like Jeremy Lin have professed their love for gaming. It’s become part of mainstream culture for some time now.

    Non-criminals play video games too. I play ultra-violent video games and I enjoy them. But I haven’t shot up a school, and neither have I any intentions to.

    If a video game can convince someone to shoot up a school, they’ve probably had a few screws in their head loose to begin with and would’ve been convinced to do it by anything or anyone. Voices in their head, something they saw on TV, a passage from a book they read or just dares from their peers – it doesn’t matter what gave them the ‘instructions’ – they would have done it regardless.

    However, I do believe that video games, like any other pastime or hobby can be detrimental to a person’s life if they become addicted to it and let it overtake them. This can be said about other activities like smoking, bingeing, doing drugs and so on. The only difference is that, it’s easier to obtain video games than the former. And video games usually aren’t illegal. Maybe that’s why we hear so much about them.

    Why don’t we ever read news about successful town planners were driven to become one because of their love for Sim City, or successful doctors who were inspired by Surgeon Simulator or Theme Hospital? I’m sure there are some of those people who exist somewhere.

  • Adblock is a good idea

    This is gonna be a shitty post, feel free to ignore it. You have been warned.

    I’ve written about adblocking before, so this isn’t a completely new topic. But I came across this thread on Reddit today and after reading it, I noticed there were some interesting points being raised in the comments. Most of the comments were in support for adblockers, with uBlock Origin being the most recommended one (I use it too).

    Anyway, there were arguments about how advertisements shouldn’t be a thing at all, and if sites want money to continue running, they can charge their readers. After all, if a reader thinks something is worth reading, he/she would fork out money for it.

    I thought that was a valid viewpoint – however, it will only work for sites that have content of similar quality unavailable elsewhere. I mean, we all know how cheap human beings usually are – if there’s a free alternative, they’ll usually take it unless its quality is sub-par.

    But I was just thinking to myself – internet access isn’t free. At least not for me. I pay almost RM200 a month for my internet connection. Shouldn’t I deserve access to content online? Of course, I do. I think?

    Then I thought harder, and realized it was a stupid idea.

    Conclusion? Sites can remain the same in terms of displaying adverts. They’ll still make money off the people who don’t use adblock, which is supposedly the majority of people on the internet. People like me can choose to use adblock if I want an ad-free experience. Everybody wins. I think.

    Until using adblock becomes illegal like vaping in some countries because the government needs to make money off cigarette sales. Wait, what am I saying?

    Anyway, while we’ve eliminated a lot of ads via adblock, some ads can’t be blocked (at least for now). These include: sponsored posts on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram – ads which appear as ‘normal’ posts to adblockers, so you can’t really filter them. We still can’t block ads on radio or TV, good thing I don’t bother wasting time with those mediums. kek.

  • Living with Linux: one month report

    Living with Linux: one month report

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    It’s been over a month since I first installed Linux on my sister’s old laptop and I haven’t regretted it yet. In fact, I think it’s probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I always had an interest in the operating system. Back in highschool, I even bought ‘The complete idiot’s guide to Linux’ (which I’m sure is completely outdated today) which came with a free Linux installation CD.

    However, back then I wasn’t brave enough to completely wipe out my family’s computer operating system just to give it a shot (I didn’t have a spare computer lying around back then and I wasn’t extremely well versed in formatting computers). Fortunately this also meant I saved myself the trouble of teaching my family how to relearn using the computer.
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