133t5p33k 5x1llz: A Parents Guide

While it's important to respect your children's privacy, understanding what your teenager's online slang means and how to decipher it could be important in certain situations and as you help guide their online experience. While it has many nicknames, information-age slang is commonly referred to as leetspeek, or leet for short. Leet (a vernacular form of "elite") is a specific type of computer slang where a user replaces regular letters with other keyboard characters to form words phonetically - creating the digital equivalent of Pig Latin with a twist of hieroglyphics.

Leet words can be expressed in hundreds of ways using different substitutions and combinations, but once one understands that nearly all characters are formed as phonemes and symbols, leetspeek isn't difficult to translate. Also, because leet is not a formal or regional dialect, any given word can be interpreted differently, so it's important to use discretion when evaluating terms. The following serves as a brief (and by no means definitive) introduction to leet through examples.

Key points -

- Numbers are often used as letters. The term "leet" could be written as "1337," with "1" replacing the letter L, "3" posing as a backwards letter E, and "7" resembling the letter T. Others include "8" replacing the letter B, "9" used as a G, "0" (zero) in lieu of O, and so on.

- Non-alphabet characters can be used to replace the letters they resemble. For example, "5" or even "$" can replace the letter S. Applying this style, the word "leetspeek" can be written as "133t5p33k" or even "!337$p34k," with "4" replacing the letter A.

- Letters can be substituted for other letters that may sound alike. Using "Z" for a final letter S, and "X" for words ending in the letters C or K is common. For example, leetspeekers might refer to their computer "5x1llz" (skills).

- Rules of grammar are rarely obeyed. Some leetspeekers will capitalize every letter except for vowels (LiKe THiS) and otherwise reject conventional English style and grammar, or drop vowels from words (such as converting very to "vry").

- Mistakes are often left uncorrected. Common typing misspellings (typos) such as "teh" instead of the are left uncorrected or sometimes adopted to replace the correct spelling.

- Non-alphanumeric characters may be combined to form letters. For example, using slashes to create "/\/\" can substitute for the letter M, and two pipes combined with a hyphen to form "|-|" is often used in place of the letter H. Thus, the word ham could be written as "|-|4/\/\."

- The suffix "0rz" is often appended to words for emphasis or to make them plural. For example, "h4xx0rz," "sk1llz0rz," and "pwnz0rz," are plural or emphasized versions (or both) of hacks, skills, and owns.

It's important to remember that the leetspeek community encourages new forms and awards individual creativity, resulting in a dynamic written language that eludes conformity or consistency. However, there are a few standard terms. The following is a sample of key words that haven't changed fundamentally (although variations occur) since the invention of leetspeek. The first series is of particular concern, as their use could be an indicator that your teenager is involved in the theft of intellectual property, particularly licensed software.

Leet words of concern or indicating possible illegal activity:

- "warez" or "w4r3z": Illegally copied software available for download.
- "h4x": Read as "hacks," or what a malicious computer hacker does.
- "pr0n": An anagram of "porn," possibly indicating the use of pornography.
- "sploitz" (short for exploits): Vulnerabilities in computer software used by hackers.
- "pwn": A typo-deliberate version of own, a slang term often used to express superiority over others that can be used maliciously, depending on the situation. This could also be spelled "0\/\/n3d" or "pwn3d," among other variations. Online video game bullies or "griefers" often use this term.

Other common leet words:

- "kewl": A common derivation of "cool."
- "m4d sk1llz" or "mad skills": Refers to one's own talent. "m4d" itself is often used for emphasis.
- "n00b," "noob," "newbie," or "newb": Combinations synonymous with new user. Some leetspeekers view "n00b" as an insult and "newbie" as an affectionate term for new users.
- "w00t" or the smiley character \o/: An acronym that usually means "We Own the Other Team," used to celebrate victory in a video game.
- "roxx0rs": Used in place of "rocks," typically to describe something impressive.
- "d00d": Replaces the greeting or addressing someone as a "dude."
- "joo" and "u": Used instead of "you." This is also commonly written as "j00" or "_|00."
- "ph": often replaces "f," as in "phear" for "fear" (as in "ph34r my l33t skillz") and vice versa, such as spelling "phonetic" as "f0|\|371(."

Original Microsoft article where I got this unententional piece of comedy is located here.

My First Baby

I just got back from a full day of attempting to take photos. I took a total of two, both of them being the same subject but from different angles. That sucks!

I just can't see them anymore! When you as a photographer are able to actually SEE a photograph in your head, actually SEE it with all your imagination, seconds or even weeks before you actually snap the picuture and then have that in a hard copy, shit it's amazing and the only reason why I pick up a camera. That imagination come to life and free to share it with others. It's wonderful.

Iv'e lost that somehow. It's like I am seeing the same things I have already taken everywhere.

I gotta start looking into pointing my camrea in other directions I guess. Alleyways and dirty brick shots have been done, and done well. Move on.

Offical Silent Hill Trailer is Up

I have been excited about this movie ever since it was announced. I saw the teaser a month or so back and it looked amazing. The photos looked even better. Finally the offical first trailer is out and I must say, it better be as good as it looks or I am going to murder some random living thing in some kind of heinous way.

Catch the trailer here (this is a weblink to Yahoo!)

Hot Or Not

"Hot or Not" is a sad, pitiful mockery of it's former sad, pitiful self; only a lot worse and more sad and pitiful.

Robert Tries to Cross the Road

The night was moist… Bob sat upon the curb like a dead pigeon, his mind in another world as he became hypnotized by the rolling spinners of the macked out Mustangs and Civics rolling by. “What rich lives they must live, those mack daddy’s.” he thought to himself. His eyes looked off to nowhere as he waited for the light to change.

“I wish there were a place I could go in the world where people could understand me.” he thinks to himself as he starts moving across the road as the light finally changed. His time was short on this part of 77^th Street and he knew it. He would never win a race without the lower half of his body, but if he could just get across a damn road without the light turning red on him two thirds of the way there he would be a happy partal-man.

Bob lost the lower half of his body in a heinous farm accident during a school field trip to a farm. It was a brand new industrial roto tiller that took his lower body, so it was. After it took half of Bob away, the owner of the tiller, one Reginald Mawfrey, never used the tiller again for fear of evil spirits inhabiting said tiller.

Half way across the street, Bob dragged his legless partial-self as best he could with the short, tiny stumps where his arms used to be through the slime and dirt of 77^th street. Then the light turned red. “Get off the damn road, ya friggin stump!” a motorist in a Mazda RX8 said through the din of his three thousand dollar car stereo system.

“Give me a minute, please sir…” Bob said as he did his best to get away from the Mazda and it’s loud and angry master. He continued to struggle along the road, now beginning to worry about the very real possibility of being unnoticed and being run over. A partial-man lying on the road was not as easy to notice as a full man, for reasons that of course should be obvious.

Throughout his 10 years of being a partial-man, Bob had tried many devices to replace his missing bits, most importantly is his legs. Bob missed his legs so very much. When he was younger, Bob used to win every race because Bob used to be a fast runner and loved to run everywhere. “That boy is a runnin’ fool!” the elderly used to remark to each other as Bob would speed past the barber shop on Sunday mornings on his way to some innocent childish adventure. But then Bob met that roto tiller, he knew that he would never win another race again. Because he had no legs and people without legs can’t run.

Then came the invention of the motorized cart. Usually only old people and fat people and lazy people on workers compensation were allowed to use them, but Bob was able to get one. That motorized cart was very influential in the life of Bob, for two very specific reasons; 1: not only was he able to finally go fast again across sidewalks and wilderness trails with the wind in his hair again, finally bringing joy and happiness to his life again, but 2: it was also it was responsible for the loss of Bob’s arms in another tragic and heinous accident involving a telephone pole, an elderly woman, a telephone, and a really steep hill. After the accident and the loss of Bob’s arms, Bob would never use a motorized cart again. He hated even the sight of them in fact. Plus he would not have been able to steer the thing anyway, what with having no arms or legs and all.

Wheelchairs? Fuck that. The Steven Hawking 2000? No, Bob couldn’t afford such a sweet ride as that. Fate had dealt out wriggling on the ground for Bob and so that was how Bob moved from place to place. By wriggling on the ground back and forth, like a worm. Or, more accurately, like a man with no arms or legs.

Death came slowly for Bob when the car struck his pathetic, limbless stump of a body. The agony in his chest was sublime and rending throughout his entire remainder of his body.

Then, Bob died.

Taiwan Breeds Pigs That Glow Green (finally!)

They claim that while other researchers have bred partly fluorescent pigs, theirs are the only pigs in the world which are green through and through.

The pigs are transgenic, created by adding genetic material from jellyfish into a normal pig embryo. The researchers hope the pigs will boost the island's stem cell research, as well as helping with the study of human disease.



The researchers, from National Taiwan University's Department of Animal Science and Technology, say that although the pigs glow, they are otherwise no different from any others.

Taiwan is not claiming a world first. Others have bred partially fluorescent pigs before. But the researchers insist the three pigs they have produced are better. They are the only ones that are green from the inside out. Even their heart and internal organs are green, they say.

To create them, DNA from jellyfish was added to about 265 pig embryos which were implanted in eight different pigs. Four of the pigs became pregnant and three male piglets were born three months ago.

In daylight the researchers say the pigs' eyes, teeth and trotters look green. Their skin has a greenish tinge. In the dark, shine a blue light on them and they glow torch-light bright. The scientists will use the transgenic pigs to study human disease. Because the pig's genetic material is green, it is easy to spot. So if, for instance, some of its stem cells are injected into another animal, scientists can track how they develop without the need for a biopsy or invasive test.

But creating them has not been easy. Many of the altered embryos failed to develop.

The researchers say they hope the new, green pigs will mate with ordinary female pigs to create a new generation - much greater numbers of transgenic pigs for use in research.

(Original news link is here. Thanks BBC News)




After reading this, I have just one question; What the fuck!!??

Cat called 911 to help ill owner, police say

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police aren't sure how else to explain it.

But when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a 911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.

Rosheisen said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons to call 911.

"I know it sounds kind of weird," Officer Patrick Daugherty said, unsuccessfully searching for some other explanation.

Rosheisen said he couldn't get up because of pain from osteoporosis and ministrokes that disrupt his balance. He also wasn't wearing his medical-alert necklace and couldn't reach a cord above his pillow that alerts paramedics that he needs help.

Daugherty said police received a 911 call from Rosheisen's apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police called back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out.

That's when Daugherty found Tommy next to the phone.

Rosheisen got the cat three years ago to help lower his blood pressure. He tried to train him to call 911, unsure if the training ever stuck.

The phone in the living room is always on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons — including a speed dial for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone.

"He's my hero," Rosheisen said.

Link to story (USA Today, which always publishes the important news)

What kind of person do you have to be to spend the huge amount of time it would take to train a cat to make a friggin' phonecall?! One that is alive and at every whim of his feline master from now on, that's who. I guess we know who is in charge of that household from now on.