There’s Nothing Like The First

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie that had a truly deep effect on you? I’m sure everyone has, and I’m also sure that everyone says the same thing to themselves after reading or viewing it: “I wish I could be experiencing this for the first time again.”

We, as people, feel attached to feelings and experiences over anything else. You watch your favorite movie, and the one thing you’d want more than anything is to watch it again for the first time. It’s clearly logical that you can only watch something once for the first time. It’s a sad truth.

My favorite movie is Fight Club, and every single time I watch it, I wish I could be watching it for the first time. If you’ve ever repeated something that you’ve enjoyed, you desperately wish that you were experiencing it from the very beginning. And although there is no possible way to make it like the primaries and remembering it, there are some actions to take so that what you’ve done lasts a lifetime.

Remembrance. Don’t forget what it felt like by making some form of personal goals, beliefs, or life lessons that you’ve set or gained from your specific encounter. With Fight Club, for example, there are many quotes and dogmas that I take into account when I go about my daily routines, my normal life. Let what you have gained from your experience change you for better or for worse, because you might regret it if you don’t.

Let’s not forget about basic life experiences, though. Often times, we observe something that is nature at its most random, and will most likely never occur again before your eyes or ears. It can be anything from a god coming down from the heavens and talking to you, or something as simple as an eagle diving down and snatching a squirrel in your presence.

Although I highly doubt anyone has seen a god, that is of minimal importance. What is relevant is whether the observer truly believes that he was lying in his god’s presence and what sort of impact it had on him. From this, he may gain certain principles and opinions that will most likely shape the rest of his life according to what had happened to him; same goes for the smaller stuff. Just as well with the eagle snatching the squirrel, one may expand this minimal observation and press certain ideologies to his life. He might say, “The world might be more vicious than I thought;” In correlation, it might confirm certain speculations involving previous encounters: “The world is vicious, just like I guessed before.”

Every little thing that one does can have the biggest impact on him. It’s all about perception—the way one sees things. Each thing can simply be defined by how it appears or what it obviously means, or that same thing can have a deep philosophical meaning to which one can learn a life lesson from. It’s a big world, even in its tiniest specs.

November 24th – Update on the Underground Book

Hey guys, just wanted to give you a quick update on the underground book as I have some time to work on it this week due to Thanksgiving break.

The book is making good progress. I spent at least 3 hours today on chapter 3, and it will require some more effort before I am finally done with it.  To wet your tastebuds, here are the five tentative chapters of the book so far:

Chapter 1 – The Foundation

Chapter 2 – Scratching the Surface

Chapter 3 – The Underground Scene

Chapter 4 – The Unspoken Learning Curve

Chapter 5 – The Modding Scene

These chapters are not set in stone, and there is time still to change titles and all that.

I do not have a good title for the book yet, or any cover art. If you want to help in this process, let me know NOW.  The goal is to have the book done by January 2010, and it will be released as a free e-book here on the Underground.

Also, if you have any comments or stories related to the underground, please let me know and I can incorporate you into the book somehow.  I believe these personal stories from myself and others really add a new dimension to the book, and makes it that more enjoyable to read and write.

If you have any suggestions or ideas I should look into please let me know.  Voltaire has agreed to help out with some of his own chapters, so it will be a tight squeeze this year to get this book done.

Why the rush?  I want the book done so I can focus on other items.  Whether you believe it or not, I have started this before summer and now I am getting close to having it done.  The book will be great and it is the best way for me to thank everyone here who is a reader of the blog.

What is the book about?  In short, it is insight into the underground, what it consists of, who the main players are, and the risks associated with the underground.  This is a far stretch, but if your mom read it,  then she will be more aware of your computer activities and might be bold enough to ask you where your music is coming from, or in surprising cases, ask you how to get her some free music?

Please note that this is not a political book or a piece of literature that praises piracy. It is simply an educational time piece, no more and no less. This is a community that has been living in the shadows for a long time, and its time to bring it to light for the mass market to acknowledge its existence. You are foolish to think that there are no pirates living in your area, because I can assure you they are there whether you know it or not.

Update on the Underground Book

Revisions:

8-7-09:  Initial release

8-8-09:  Added a subsection on the pricing of the book…oh wait, what price?

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All right so before I finally sign off and enjoy a few days of not posting on the blog, I wanted to give you guys a quick update on the book I have been working on the side.

What book?

Well, it is more of an e-book.  I don’t want to steal the thunder away from the book, but it is a work in progress.  In it I really want to touch upon some personal stuff that I have encountered in my life, as well as what I have witnessed in other people’s lives.  We are in the 21st century, and there is a lot of great content to be learned.

With that said, the first chapter lays down the groundwork of the book, as well as hint to the journey the book will take the reader.  The second chapter is devoted the mind of a pirate, and I want to show some insight that pirates are as regular people. In fact, you may encounter many of them on the street without knowing it!

For the rest of the book, it is up in the air.  Do I focus specific articles on console modding?  Heck, I could devote a whole PDF book to just PS2 modding itself.  Or should I put in a few articles on PC maintenance?  A chapter on how to defend yourself against viruses and spyware?  A chapter on underground material so sick it makes baby Jesus cry?

I have no idea yet!  But I assure you, once I get there, it will be worth it.  Anyway, below is a teaser of the table of contents so far!  I need a graphics artist to help develop a picture for the cover, so if you know Photoshop, let me know!

Wait, don’t leave us hanging?  How you going to distribute/price it?

I knew this was coming, and I talk about the decision in the e-book alot.  The e-book will be free.  It will be distributed via pdf here on the blog, as well as all my popular forums that I visit.  If it makes sense, I could distribute via torrents also.  I can’t believe why I am doing what I am doing, and probably a lot of you out there won’t believe why I am doing what I am doing.

Lots of hours invested into a book…no financial gain.  You would think I am very stupid.  >_>  Well, once you read the book, we’ll see who is stupid then.  Trust me, I covered this topic in the book as well. LOL!