There is a question that is tearing the Internet apart, and no it is not about a dress and is it Black/Blue or White/Gold.

It is:-

Everyone on earth takes a private vote by pressing a red or blue button. If more than 50% of people press the blue button, everyone survives. If less than 50% of people press the blue button, only people who pressed the red button survive. Which button would you press? BE HONEST.

There is a strange fury in the air again. Not the dress debate this time, but something far more ridiculous. People are shouting, people are threatening, people are declaring that they refuse to live in a world ruled by Red button pushers. All this rage over a question so simple that even a sleepy druid could answer it before breakfast.

The answer is Red. It has always been Red. Any other choice is an act of heroic foolishness.

Red means nothing happens. Blue means there is a chance you die. This is not philosophy. This is not ethics. This is not a riddle from an ancient temple. It is basic survival.

Someone explained it perfectly. Imagine you are standing beside a railway track as a train thunders toward you. Red is simply standing still and letting the train pass. Blue is leaping in front of the train in the hope that enough other people also leap in front of it that the train eventually slows down. Would you leap in front of that train. Would you trust your life to the hope that strangers will hurl themselves under the wheels beside you.

Or imagine you are handed a bottle of poison. Red is to put the bottle down and walk away. Blue is to drink the poison and hope that enough other people also drink it that someone somewhere decides to invent an antidote. Would you drink the poison.

The problem is not the question. The problem is the age we live in. An age where some people are so desperate to appear virtuous that they will choose Blue simply to show how caring they are. They declare that they must press Blue to save anyone foolish enough to press Blue, without noticing that they have just placed themselves in the very category they claim to be rescuing.

This is what happens when the world becomes so padded with safety warnings that even the profoundly unwise are protected from the consequences of their own decisions. They begin to believe that danger is optional, that risk is a story told to frighten children, and that pressing Blue is noble because surely someone else will step in to save them.

The truth is simpler. Many people do not understand the question. They want to feel like heroes. They want to be seen as compassionate. They want applause for choosing the path that looks selfless, even if it endangers millions. Give them a button that says nothing bad will happen if you press this and they will refuse to press it because it does not make them feel special.

And so they choose Blue. And they call it kindness. And they call it courage. And they call it moral superiority.

But it is none of those things. It is vanity dressed as virtue.

Humanity is not doomed, not yet, but it is certainly wobbling on its stool while trying to reach the biscuit tin on the top shelf.

I’ve been haunting the digital wilds since about ’94, back when the web crackled, hummed, and occasionally threatened to set your modem on fire just for looking at it funny. A personal website here, a blog there, sometimes both held together with duct tape, HTML guesswork, and sheer optimism. Realising that I’ve been online for more than three decades is… equal parts impressive and mildly horrifying. At this point I’m basically qualified for a seat on the Internet Druids’ Council.

So yes, by the ancient laws of cyberspace, I am fully authorised to shake my metaphorical walking stick at the TikTok generation. All you hyper‑edited, dance‑looping, algorithm‑summoned sprites may kindly vacate my virtual lawn with your chaotic jingles masquerading as music. I was here when “You’ve Got Mail” was a cultural event, when websites proudly displayed hit counters, when we all wanted to FREE KEVIN, and when animated GIFs were considered the height of sophistication. (That last bit is, of course, a filthy lie. Animated GIFs have never been acceptable. And it’s Gif, not Jif. Do not make me fetch my stick.)

And yet here I remain, still typing, still tinkering, still refusing to log off, and now deeply amused to discover that the Internet Archive has been quietly preserving my online ramblings since the late ’90s. Which means there are, quite literally, thousands upon thousands of historical documents chronicling the last thirty‑ish years of my life, preserved for all eternity. Or at least until World War Three wipes out all technology.

I always assumed I was hysterical. I never expected to be historical.

Many people have asked me:

“My dear Mr. Owens, might I be so bold as to inquire, what circumstance or contemplation hath occasioned your retreat from those esteemed endeavours which you have so diligently pursued within the Province of North Wales? Your absence is most keenly felt amongst the brethren.“.

Well maybe not as fancy as that, but the gist of the question is the same. They are curious why I am stepping back in everything after spending a lot of my free time over the last 9 years doing Masonic “stuff”.  And the answer is, after it was announced our Provincial Grand Master was retiring, and then who his replacement was to be (Someone who has issues with me), Several incidents happened that could be mere random coincidences, but could also be classed as knives in my back. 

And so, as the Americans are wont to say in their peculiar sporting vernacular, ‘Strike three, and you are out’. I must confess, I am indeed out.

The tally now stands at three affronts, and I find myself compelled to withdraw. My Masonic career, once pursued with fervour and devotion, now lies in quiet ruin. For five years I have laboured with diligence and honour in service to the Craft, yet I have received less recognition than those who have contributed but the barest minimum. This inequity, I regret to say, stems from the disposition of the newly appointed Provincial Grand Master, under whose tenure “potentially a decade in length” I will most likely receive naught. I have not been doing all that I have to get high honours, I was the Provincial Webmaster for five years because I wanted to help spread the work on the good we did, I helped the ladies in the office manage PECS and mailchimp because I had the time and skill and it freed them up, I took on the assistant mentors role to help teach and explain to the curious amongst us. At no point was any of my efforts partaken with the view of receiving rewards. 

If my earnest efforts, my time, and my unwavering commitment are to be valued less than idleness, if I am to be used and discarded, then I see no merit in continued exertion. The path before me is now forked: either I undertake the considerable burden of relocating to another Province, with all the travel that entails, or I relinquish my active participation in both Craft and Royal Arch Masonry, maintaining only nominal membership to preserve my standing in other Orders.

It is a bitter reflection, yet one I make with clarity and resolve!

A strange thing happened to me today. I was doing a beer run to the Supermarket, and as I was wandering up one of the isles I had to pass a woman with a trolley who was blocking a big part of the isle, while the man with her knelt on the floor going through potatoes.

After passing and heading along the isle I hear “Hello.” followed by “Hello!…. HELLO!!!“. It then occurs to me that other than the woman and man, I am the only other person there, so I turn to face them. The woman smiles and says “Hi!“.

Now I am the first to admit I am crap with faces, or people. So I try to never use anyone’s names, because I often have no idea who the person is. A lot of the time the person may seem familiar, I just don’t know why, or where from. In this instance I was pretty Shure I had no idea who this person is. But I have to be careful, this really old person came up to me in a kabab shop once after a night out during my Uni days, and it turned out we were in school together.

So I play it cool, and cover myself with a simple “Sorry. I was in a world of my own, I didn’t see you there. Hi! how are you?”. Brilliant right? so it goes on a bit, she says I’ve never met her husband (Which is true became I am sure I have never met her!). And the conversation goes on until she asks…

“How are the Kids?“

Now, to the best of my knowledge I have no kids, but in case she means something else I play safe with a “OK”. She then asks where am I working now, before turning to her husband and goes “I’ve not seen him since we worked in ICI“.

OK. I may be crap at peopling, But. 1) I do not have kinds, 2)I have never worked at ICI. So I think in this case I am correct, I do not recognise this mad woman because I have never seen her before, she has mistaken me for someone else.

The only problem is…  I have been pretending to recognise her, just in case she was someone I should know, and now I am in too deep to point out she has me mistaken for some other bloke. I can not tell her I am not him, because how do I explain pretending to know who she is.

Do these things happen to other people?

Also, I wonder who the other me is. I met the other me from London many years ago, but have yet to meet the local other me. It would explain stories I have heard over the years of stuff I have done, that I have not. Hell my sister saw me in town many years ago when I was not.

Storm Darragh has hit the UK in full forth!

The road I live on is blocked in both directions by fallen trees, the road is a river, and around the corner a powerline is sparking dangerously. It is chaos out there, I hope everyone is safe.

Personally I am trapped by blocked roads, so I am unable to get to the Provincial AGM, but I am making the most of it by watching Wales get battered.

 

The storm got worse, and then the power went out around 11am Saturday morning!

I was not worried about the power cut, they are understandable in bad weather. I did start getting worried when I heard about the live powerline down across the road on my road, and even more so when I saw the burnt out junction box on a nearby pole, with burnt through power lines. This was not going to be a short cut!

I then remembered it was winter, and all my heating and lights are electric, and COFFEE! I may have lost it for a short while, in a panic until I remembered I had access to a camping stove, so coffee was sorted. So I busted out the stove, some torches, and a kindle, and sat down to wait.

Sunday came, and there was no sign of the power returning, so I borrowed a generator that I could run occasionally to power the internet and to recharge torches, phones, etc.

At 9pm Sunday I got excited as 4 vehicles full of engineers turned up to work on the blown joint after fixing the downed line. They were there for ages and managed to get power to most the houses in the area. ALAS not mine, but it was a start right?

Right?

Monday came, and I was cold, bored, and longing for power. At 6pm word came over the local gossip system that engineers were working to replace the downed line, and the houses by there were getting power back! Hope returned. At 7pm the four vehicle team turned up to work on the joint affecting me, and I got really excited.

Until! An engineer came into my place to disconnect the house from the meter. It turns out the blown joint also allowed the live power to back-feed via the neutral wire into a few houses. This was spotted all weekend (until they semi fixed the joint Sunday evening) by lights being on in the house, even though there was no electricity, the trips were all off, and the light switch was off.

This back feeding of power could have done serious damage, so the affected houses had to be disconnected as the power supply was repaired, and then a 3rd part engineer would need to come and test the building to make sure it was safe to be reattached to the national grid.

I can tell you that there was a moment of worry while waiting on permission to get power again. Luckily all was well (I guess we wired the place good) and vert late Monday evening permission was give, and power was returned!

I may have randomly turned lights on all over the place just to celebrate winning over darkness!

Last weekend I found a Questionnaire Meme thing. Basically it was 50 Random Questions which I answered over the two days of the weekend, and I thought I would share it here.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

UG!… Need coffee. Also I should Shave.

2. How much cash do you have on you?

On my person?

Zero. I emptied my pockets when I got back from the Supermarket, and I have no cash on me, since it is all over there *POINTS*…

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?

Whore!

Don’t judge me!!!!

4. Favorite planet?

I am going to say Pluto. Because Pluto will always be a planet to me, and you other Hipster planets who won’t let Pluto into your group can kiss Pluto’s rocky arse!

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?

My Office Phone. I believe I was testing some forwarding rules.

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?

Well My ring tone is currently “Nerds are King by SFO” But I fancy changing it to Dance Macabre. 

7. What shirt are you wearing?

2600, HOPE t-shirt

8. Do you label yourself?

I tried to label myself once, but the labels kept falling off and then my boss shouted I was wasting all the labels from the label maker. ;-(

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing?

I have no idea. 

10. Bright or Dark Room?

Depends on what I am doing. But I would go more for the Dark room, I am a Goth you know.

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?

What? You mean I am not the first?

12. What does your watch look like?

Which one? I have a silver pocket watch for formal wear, 3 fancy wrist watches, and even an Android watch that controls my phone (Geeky!!)

13. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Watching Criminal Minds. And wanting the computer set-up the analyst has.

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?

“She lending Georgia money lol. I can pick it up later if u got it? I need her jar money too!! chocking on nut! Dad told g she was drunk x”

15. Where is your nearest 7-11?

No idea, Do not think we have 7-11′s in Wales. Nearest convenience store is in Rhosllanerchrugog, which is about a mile that way *POINTS*.

16. What’s a word that you say a lot?

the

17. Who told you he/she loved you last?

I have no idea. I honestly can not remember.

And now I haz all the feels.

18. Last furry thing you touched?

My Dog Max.

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days?

Caffeine (LOTS) Alcohol (Moderate)

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed?

One that I recently found in a draw that must be 11+ years old. I tend to use digital cameras.

21. Favorite age you have been so far?

25. Well mid 20′s really. 

22. Your worst enemy?

All those people who are stopping me from fulfilling my primary goal in life. The total domination of the world. They are my enemies and they will all fail, once my orbiting space laser is complete they shall all bow down before me!!!!!

23. What is your current desktop picture?

Well Since I am typing this on my laptop, I guess we will go with that its a yellow cross and bones hackers wall paper.

24. What was the last thing you said to someone?

“wooo, hold up, you phoned the wrong Wayne again.”

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?

A million pounds please. Flying would grow old, and how far could you travel really? and carry stuff? A million pound would make me much happier!

26. Do you like someone?

I do not like anyone.

I am a grump old man, and you people can get off my Internet now!!!

27. The last song you listened to?

“your friend Wil” By MC Frontalot

28. What time of day were you born?

LOL. Are you taking the piss or what? Narrow the time of my birth to an actual time? or part of the day?

I know I was born sometime between the start of October 31st and the end of November 2nd. I am not sure of the actual day I was born on, let alone time of day. ;-(

29. What’s your favorite number?

42

30. Where did you live in 1987?

Maes Teg, Pen-Y-Cae, Rhosllanerchrugog

31. Are you jealous of anyone?

Yes. Wil Wheaton whose job is to play games with cool people. That is his job people, HIS JOB!!! 

32. Is anyone jealous of you?

I do not know. Maybe people are Jealous of my extremely high IQ, or my total awesomeness, or maybe my fantastic Modesty? I do not know, Some have claimed Jealousy over my flirting with celebrities on Twitter, but..

I doubt anyone is jealous of me.

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened?

I was on a training course, I got a text saying “GET NEWS ON NOW” and I was able to get online and watch what was happening.

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money?

Cry Havok and let loose the hounds of war!

Or, calmly look at the machine, and use secret Ninja-Hacker ways of getting my money back, or the item I was trying to purchase.

35. Do you consider yourself kind?

Yes, but at the same time No!

36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be?

A cool dragon on my shoulder. Since I’ve been using Dragons as online Avatars since the very early 90′s.

37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be?

Japanese.

38. Would you move for the person you loved?

Yes.

39. Are you touchy feely?

Not normally, but when in love, Yes.

40. What’s your life motto?

I have many. In fact there used to be a Website of “Pen’s Laws”

• • • It aint easy being an egomaniac with an inferiority complex
    • If you are not living life on the edge, you are taking up to much space.
    • Do unto others as they would do unto you. But do it first!
    • Rules are made to be broken.
    • If they are under 16 they are protected by law, Over 60 by Nature, anything in between is fair game.
    • The rat race is mainly for rats, so make sure you are the person in the white coat. Its a lot less stressful.
    • Try anything at least once..
    • Don’t get Mad. Get Even!!
    • When Threatened do the opposite of what they want.

41. Name three things that you have on you at all times?

Phone, Swiss-army Key, Glasses

42. What’s your favourite town/city?

Birmingham?

43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?

Cornish Pasty & a coffee (Just got back from the Ponderosa)

44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?

Write? Paper & Pen? Sheesh? That would be, 1997/98 Ish and it was a letter to a friend in Staff’s Uni.

We are in the email era now!

45. Can you change the oil on a car?

Yes. I have a Degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, I am a highly Qualified Electrician, I once stripped and rebuilt a Motorbike, after a fire based incident!

I can do the Engineering things when I have to. But normally get a mechanic to do the work for me.

46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?

She got married.

47. How far back do you know about your ancestry?

A long way back. My ancestors come from a small part of Wales that was thrice cursed by Monks, and is described in a papal decree as the most unholiest place on earth.

48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy?

Err, Last Monday I was in full suit & waistcoat, etc at the Installation meeting of the Holy Royal Arch Chapter I am a member of.

49. Does anything hurt on your body right now?

Nope. Not a thing.

50. Have you been burned by love?

Yes, Both emotionally, and Physically (there was a candle based incident!)

We here at the Ninja Temple would like to take a minute to give our respect and thanks to the real life heroes who stepped up when they were needed yesterday at the Boston Marathon.

The Videos of the first explosion show the first-responders running towards the explosions before the smoke even clears, No concern for their own safety or that more could go off, they ran towards danger because people needed help.

There were medical people taking part in the marathon, and even after running for 26 miles they went right to helping the injured, or helped at the medical tents.

Other runners who had just ran the 26 Miles continued running to the nearest Hospital so they could donate much needed blood.

Then there were the people who lived local who brought out drinks and blankets for the runners who were stranded waiting for the area to be declared safe.

And the Coffee shops opening up their wifi to let people contact each other, recharge their phones, and have drinks even if they did not have money on them.

Basically you only really see the inerrant good in the human race when they step up under such evil situations and show the true meaning of “human spirit”

To all the people affected by the incident we send out thought, wishes, and prayers.

And to those who showed the good in mankind we Salute you, and send our thanks.

The Three Ninjas Staff

So the press is reporting on “Frankenburger” The worlds first test-tube burger. And how it could revolutionise the food industry, bring an end to world famines (Although how many third world citizens can afford the $200,000 per burger cost I don’t know) and even be eatable by animal lovers. Others are saying that no one would want to eat a bit of flesh created in a lab, Personally my views are “If it looks like Bacon, and tastes like Bacon.. I’m eating it!“.  But in all fairness I am a meat eater, and happily admit that I would be the first to eat the dead in an emergency (You have to eat them fast before they go off, so eat the dead first, then emergency rations which last longer)

Hang on, I went off topic there. Oh Animal Lovers.

Its the fact they are claiming Animal lovers will eat it, and that “so called” Animal Lovers interviewed on the news stated it would be better for animals. “Err really?” I think these “Animal lovers” must love animals as much as Vegetarians (Especially the preachy ones). Lets look at the facts.

Fact. Meat for food would be grown in a lab. So Farmers would not make money selling animals for food, so they would not pay for feeding them, or vets bills. Also since the farmer is now not making money they will need to use their land to grow crops or something. So what will happen to all those animals? killed? made extinct?

What use is a pig if you cant eat it? None dairy cattle? and so on. If we stop eating them, then they loose all value. Yes its not nice eating a poor animal, but we eat it after its had a nice lazy life. SO if the preachy Vegetarians had their way and we all stopped eating meat, think of the mass slaughter of animals that would take place. I’m telling you, vegetarians are anti-animals. They are pure evil!!!

+10 Geek Points for getting the Title reference.

I had an interesting dream last night, one that may give an interesting peak into my subconscious, or possibly suggest I should be kept under observation for safety reasons. Personally I think it simply backs up that age old quote for the Bible “The Geek shall inherent the Earth“.

I should point out, the start of the dream could have been inspired by the fact I recently watched the whole 1st Season of  “Game of Thrones“, And am working my way through the “Wheel of Time” series of Books.

So the dream started with me in a typical fantasy world, of Swords, Knights, horses, normal Medieval technology level. I was in a small land that was being attacked by a bigger neighbor, I have no idea why, the politics of the conflict did not interest me, as much as offering my services as an “adviser”, which helped turn the tide and allow the smaller land to win.

On a side note, its amazing the weapons and traps you can make with just basic technology and modern knowledge. Also charging cavalry get really confused when they come across my medieval version of landmines. Hey it was some fantasy world, there probably wasn’t even a Geneva let alone a Geneva Convention.

Well on the high from our small victory, we went on the offensive to claim damages from the aggressors and increase the size of the country. Alas that’s when bad fortune hit our plucky country, our beloved King died while examining my rudimentary gunpowder grenades. Luckily I had just left the room moments before the accident which also had the misfortune to take out the direct line of airs to the throne. Since we were at war, and needed strong leadership to keep us safe I volunteered my own services as military leader while the lords of the land worked out who should become the new king.

Now I think on it, they never did come up with who should rule the country. I guess they were too busy on the front lines as part of the forced military conscription that we needed to help fight the wars on all fronts. By the time I woke up I had unified three quarters of the land, and given an extra half hour of sleep I’m sure my steam cannons would have made short work of the mountain fortresses of the free people.

I think this dream shows two points.

1. Knowledge is Power
2. I should not be allowed to rule any country, no matter how small.