In reverse, the internet itself is a prolific source of drug information. Users (double meaning unintended) are essentially anonymous, there is a large amount of information available. Knowledge of new “research chemicals” can quickly be disseminated. Books that have been made difficult to obtain due to their possibly controversial nature (e.g. Pihkal) can be shared P2P. Suppliers of various substances can actually sell and ship research chemicals to people despite local drug laws, partly by luck of the substances getting through local customs (some suppliers will even try multiple times if the first attempt is intercepted), but often these research chemicals are too obscure for authorities to be aware of their usage in a recreational setting. This, however getting difficult to carry out, as the authorities are also becoming more aware of the internet as a source of knowledge on recreational substances.

Ironically, once I ordered some Piracetam, a nootropic that is supposedly able to increase and restore memory ability (particularly in older people) as well as generally improve cognition. This was intercepted by New Zealand customs. However, despite Piracetam being a prescription substance here, customs let it through. For some reason, a nootropic (or cognition enhancer) is allowed, but a substance that is used recreationally is not. In other words, you’re allowed to work harder and smarter, but heaven forbid if you should try to have fun as well!

Due to illegality of many recreational substances (based on reactionary beliefs rather than harm minimisation and actual harm), it is difficult to obtain relatively objective information about safety. Anything that is produced by drug enforcement groups is liable to be distorted to instil fear in readers. The internet allows users to discover best practices and safety based on backs and the wisdom of crowds. This isn’t to say that you can be sure that someone’s glowing experience didn’t harm them physiologically in one way or another, but if hundreds of people report minor or no side-effects, then one can be relatively sure the drug is somewhat safe, at least in the short term. Particularly since humans have a bias towards reporting negative experiences over positive ones (any one remember the name for this one?), as the impetus to warn others about something bad is higher than to confer knowledge about something that is just so.

There are two drugs in particular that have the background of their dissemination reliant on the internet. Namely DXM and GHB.

DXM is a relatively easily obtained substance from cough syrups. An online essay first published in 1995 by William E. White, entitled “The DXM FAQ” explained it’s use, required dosages and expected effects. Several waves of information passed through this community. At one stage there was a discussion about a scientific article that indicated the potential of the drug for causing lesions in the brain. Obviously this was a great concern to users of DXM and the communities were abuzz with many users avoiding any further trips. However, this was later shown to be a flawed conclusion – although there was still risk of harm (as there is with any subtance). The risk of harm is one of the major flaws of making drugs illegal, this risk is maintained rather than actually evaluated. Often it completely halts scientific research on the substance, instead leaving the effects, for good or ill, to be discovered through community and word-of-mouth. The internet, being fundamentally a way of communicating with others, and building communities of like-minded people, assists with the dissemination of this knowledge.

GHB (also known, for some obscure reason, as Grievous Bodily Harm) became more frequent in use around the 90s and early 2000s, due to more information being available online. Additionally, suppliers of research chemicals popped up in various countries. The ability to easily fit a sachet in an envelope allowed for orders to, for the most part, skip past authorities. However, more current scanning technology might be able to detect such powders contained in envelopes, so I don’t recommend testing this. Particular since you can be thrown in jail with all the theives, rapist and murderers, because obviously drug users are as equally dangerous as these elements to the well being of society… </sarcasm>

As much as some people might not like it, Paris Hilton is actually pretty intelligent with an IQ in the upper quartile from the last I read – although I’m missing references for it – she’s fostered the ditzy blond image because it caters to a greater section of society, and thus the better to sell her brand. People in general don’t like to feel inferior or dumb (see the above paragraph about picking apart celebrity lives) so why would Paris try to convince people otherwise? I wouldn’t be surprised if the billboard company was paying her to put her image on the billboard (otherwise that Wellington company is potentially in for a world of hurt). I’m not saying I’d personally sell my identity as stupid so that I could make money, but you’ve got to give it to the girl for convincing most the world of her visage of stupidity… so much so that she’s associated with the word “vacant” on billboards half way around the world.

“Is someone you work with taking Provigil to give them an extra competitive edge? I’ve spoken with one executive who says he uses it regularly to work twenty hour days, and the buzz lately is that it’s the “entrepreneur’s drug of choice” around Silicon Valley. Over the last week two separate entrepreneurs have mentioned it casually in conversation, and one said he tried it once and loved it.”

An interesting conversation was had at a friend’s bday dinner about drug prohibition, and I meant to mention this kind of thing while dining. Another reason I think the whole recreational drug thing needs to change or be approached without a maxim of “drugs are bad” is because performance enhancement is going to become more common.

What’s so funny is that entrepreneurs apparently aren’t interested in typical drugs – instead they find the one that gives them a mental and stamina advantage.

“What’s so funny” about this statement is that I’m sure this is a completely false claim. It’s merely more socially accepted to take drugs to be a more productive member of society. Thus it’s easier to admit this to colleagues. Possibly it conveys “I’m a hard worker”, not that it really does (since you can still be unproductive even if you’re awake), but the dissonance between the reason behind taking drugs and the public’s perception of it is annoying.

I’ve personally talked to several entrepreneurs who’ve had the seeds of their business inspiration arrive while under the influence.

Note however I’m not saying innovation and new ideas can’t be arrived at without drugs, since that’s patently untrue.

Government’s seem to have a fascination with criminalising substances that change mental awareness, however there are so many things that do this, it’s strange that they intervene in some cases but not in others. Consistency and reliability are key components of trust, how does one trust a government with an erratic value system for experiencing our consciousness?

It’s been exclaimed in poetry and songs, love is a drug, a quintessential part of human experience. The euphoric highs when you meet someone special, planning how you might met with them again for a coffee in order to get another dose of those powerful attractants. Let alone all the other emotions which they themselves are based on a concoction of organic compounds. Being human, love is a strong attractor for the complex system of the human mind. If you get torn asunder from this attractor, it can feel like physical pain: severe withdrawal symptoms that can lead to anger, regret, and depression. In extreme cases murder (if other people are involved), and/or suicide. And yet the government allows it. This seemingly random experience that we cannot control – unlike substances that change our awareness, which we are free to control through our own will and determination in the universe (if you believe in free will of course, I chose to, even if I don’t really, because it’s leads to a much more effective life).

I certainly don’t mean to imply that love isn’t worth it, or it isn’t special or part of what makes being human worthwhile, but it, or sometimes the person you are in love with, can have all the psychological effects of a drug.

You are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug…
Nine Inch Nails – The Perfect Drug

A different slant: certain foods have short term addictive properties. I’m sure you know the ones I mean. The junk food that you have a small handful of, but it tastes so good you need more. If you don’t have the will power to resist, you end up eating a whole bag of crisps, a whole block of chocolate or whatever. You feel the worse for it afterwards, and the overload in high carbs and saturated fats is anything but good for you. Still, governments allow THAT too*.

One more example: exercise and sports. These give you an endorphin kick and can be addictive, although possibly to different personality types from those that get addicted to junk food (I’m not so sure though, since I’ve experienced both… long hours at the gym followed by binging on junk food, and what was I trying to hide from? See the first example). Gym aficionados – those that love the feeling after a decent workout and have been doing it for some time – will tell you how the feeling can lessen as you continue. So you lift more weights, you run further, you push your body to it’s limits again and again. Sure, this is how you can develop a stunning physique, but the fact is that you are constantly stressing your body. And the addictiveness can lead to you ignoring the feedback from your tired joints and muscles, overtraining and damaging them along with other connective tissue.

Despite all this, we ban things like MDMA/Ecstasy and LSD/Acid. Both have the potential to result in great good if used in therapeutic settings. In fact, they can result in great good in non-therapeutic settings too. SWIM** once felt deadened to life, depressed about a failed relationship, and generally wasn’t having that great a time, but a certain experience involving the previous substances led to SWIM developing a new outlook on life, become enthused about music and people, and excited about the future.

Why do people turn to these substances for recreational purposes? My guess is that the human psyche hasn’t evolved with the rapid expansion of culture and society. Our minds are still tribe based, some people more than others, and when we’re out in club, on a dance floor, or outdoors sharing pulsating rhythms with a throng of thousands we need something to let our guard down. Alcohol does this, but can also sway nastily into aggression. MDMA, by it’s very nature, causes connectedness and a loved up feeling – I’ve never heard of a fight instigated by someone on it (of course, feel free to point out if I’m wrong, but I suspect any counter-examples would be of less than pure substance which is a direct result of the lack of regulation that comes with criminalisation). Sure, you could say this loved-up togetherness is a negative thing and other people could take advantage of the implicit trust that someone rolling grants to others, but it depends on your outlook on the world. Do you choose to view the world as a positive or negative place? Different substances can draw you to these polar views, and one world view leads to a more easily controlled populace. Can you guess which it is?

* Many campaigns are being launched of late however to educate the public about healthy vs. unhealthy food and stem the tide of obesity and diabetes.
** Someone who isn’t me

What gets me, is that the opposition in political debates and in the media almost ALWAYS is complaining or reacting to something the incumbent does. This, in my opinion, lowers their value. Instead, I’d be immensely more impressed if they worked with the incumbent, subtley trying to mould policies to be more inline with their values. Or by offering alternatives, but not by blaming the incumbent for a problem. Just state “this is the way things are now” – don’t go down the path of blame, it’s pointless. Work together for change and improvement, demonstrate WHY you think something will be an improvement over current circumstances. Do all this, and you as a politician, and as a political party, will look like you have value, like you should be in power if you are not already, instead of a whiny little bitch.

It just arrived. But one of the zippers is broken off, and my Travel Security Agency/Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs registered lock was removed. Now these locks are MEANT to be opened without damage by custom’s people. But it seems New Zealand Customs doesn’t do this, they just break the fuckers off. I rang them and they just laughed at the suggestion that they’d have a master key for them (which other countries do).

My advice: next time you go travelling don’t bother buying the expensive $30 TSA locks, just buy a few shitty $2 shop jobs. So much for buying something to last, instead it’s a disposable throwaway culture in New Zealand official-dom. Green and clean New Zealand? Whatever.

(I might be particularly pissed off since it was annoying enough to have my bag left behind, and this is just the thing that’s put me over the edge).

I use different media players for different purposes, and also different media players across platforms. It’s annoying as hell to have to refresh the database for each whenever there is a change, especially when your music collection is pushing 280 gigs. Lets just say it takes more than a couple of hours.

It’s be really nice if someone came up with a database design that suited the needs of the different applications, and if the developers making the media players would support it. That’s assuming there isn’t already one…

My ideal set-up would be my server running a Postgres database which could be connected to from my laptop/workstation/PDA with concurrent users. It’d also support play-lists, fields for BPM and harmonic analysis, and album covers, all saved in the database. Also, personalised tagging systems and last.fm integrated tagging.

Anybody heard of any initiatives like that? I know there are client/server based media software, but DBMSs are already designed with that purpose in mind and most hi-end media players use some kind of SQL database to store results, even if it’s SQLite.

You’d think system->preference->”preferred applications” would be the place to go. Or failing that, you’d go “right-click on a file”->”open with…” and then when you select an application it’d have a check box saying “always use this application for this type of file”. Maybe something similar to what Windows has. But no… instead, it’s under “right click”->properties for a file. Which makes no sense because it’s a global settings, not a setting for JUST that file, which is the only kind of thing that should be in a file’s properties window. I thought that lately, Gnome was all about usability?

And after wasting time on that, it turns out selecting from the list of applications doesn’t work. Just marvelous.

I actually stuck with the default Gnome setup for Ubuntu because I thought it’d be less bug prone then if I started using obscure software like I usually do. Turns out it doesn’t make any difference. I think I’ll go back to screwing around with Enlightenment, at least then I’m wasting my time doing something interesting.

I used to be very patient with linux. But as I have much less time to waste getting things working, I’m about ready to just stick with windows.

(I also spent 2 hours trying to get audio multiplexing working through alsa with dmix. It works alright, but 1. Multimedia Systems Selector has somehow disappeared from my Preferences menu, and 2. if I run gstreamer-properties manually, it doesn’t actually save any of the changes I make, and I can’t find the config file to edit it manually. Frankly I don’t know why dmix isn’t the default alsa device in a fresh install unless you’re one of the rare people that have a hw pcm-mixing audio device.)

I think people are still doing great work with linux, but it doesn’t seem any more usable then when I started using it in 1996. However, at least then I had the time to waste days playing with it.

Debian seemed to work much better, but perhaps I just expected it to require some setup? Whereas Ubuntu is touted as being ready for desktop users…