For those who don’t know me incredibly well, I have a bit of a fascination with all the tiny little side-plots and unimportant details of fiction. This post stems not only from that, but from the way that I almost feel as if this particular point is actually becoming prevalent in today’s society, though not intentionally.

“The Way of the Leaf” is a fictional philosophy from Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. The first noteworthy quote about it is this:

“The leaf lives its appointed time, and does not struggle against the wind that carries it away. The leaf does no harm, and finally falls to nourish new leaves. So it should be with all men. And women.”
- Aram of the Tuatha’an

Essentially, the purpose of the Way of the Leaf is to take everything that comes and take no active role in shaping your own destiny, your own life, your own virtues, and so on.

So what does this have to do with today’s culture?

Mostly, people who say “I can’t”. People who simply accept their lives, their circumstances, their shortcomings just as they are, never fighting to change the way that their life is panning out. After all, it’s not their fault, right? It was all outside circumstances, which ultimately shaped their life, like a leaf blowing away in the wind.

It’s amazing just how much you hear people talk like this, even literally saying that they are like a leaf blowing in the wind. They take no responsibility for their lifestyle choices, because it was someone else’s fault. “I didn’t mean to kill that hooker, officer, I was abused as a child”, etc. Overall, it’s just amazing as hell that these people expect to get anywhere in life by expecting things to just happen for them. There’s a reason why these people are always complaining, while the people with success and happiness never seemed to complain, no matter how much life got them down, or how much outside factors hit them. It’s probably due to the fact that they didn’t sit around bitching about how they were a leaf blowing in a wind that they managed to get shit done.

People seem to inadvertantly be taking Robert Jordan’s philosophy into effect in real life, simply letting their life running their course, not taking any extra means to improve upon themselves, then wondering why the fuck they never got anywhere. Probably because you actually have to do something to get places. Life isn’t just about everyone running around giving things to you, you have to get off your ass and do something to get it. This is in a modern society, though.

Needless to say, I’m pissed as fuck because I have these people bitching to me about how their life is so hard because their Mum said a mean thing about their dog, or they fucked up their own life repeatedly and can’t figure out where they went wrong, or whatever the fuck else it is that’s someone else’s fault that they’re unemployed, worthless, or whatever the fuck else. There’s nothing I’ll probably end up doing more at this stage of my life than telling that person that their problems are their own damn faults, and I’ll advise them but I won’t be an emotional sounding board for their self-inflicted woes.

I think over the last week I’ve counselled about three people in regards to this shit and how they fucked up their own life and expect me to pat their hand and lie to them about how unfortunate they are. Fat chance.

Of course, in Robert Jordan’s implementation of the Way of the Leaf, the people (the Tuatha’an, or Tinkers) just sort of walk around in the woods all days playing music and having fun. Then they get slaughtered by Trollocs, because they won’t defend themselves. It’s pretty awesome, actually.

As an aside, in The Wheel of Time, there’s also the Water Way. Similar to the Way of the Leaf, they just accept things as they are without any desire to change things.

Then they all kill themselves via mass suicide.

…

I guess they did want a change or something. I don’t know.

Civil rights in Australia are a joke. Without a Bill of Rights in sight, and with only a handful of protected rights in general, basically our citizens are totally fucked. We come from a country where we don’t even have freedom of speech. In 2010.

The amazing thing is that nobody gives a shit. At all. The last attempt to pass a Bill of Rights (we’re the only western nation without one. ‘sup?) was pushed aside by John Howard, who said this on the matter:

“… in the Australian context, the adoption of a charter or Bill of Rights would represent the final triumph of elitism in Australian politics — the notion that typical citizens, elected by ordinary Australians, cannot be trusted to resolve great issues of public policy and that the really important decisions should be taken out of their hands and given to judges.”

Get off your high-horse, buddy. With his response, the government will continue to be allowed to fuck over citizens. Then again, I feel that some of our current Constitutional Rights aren’t even enforced properly:

“protection against acquisition of property on unjust terms”

I’d call Julia Gillard trying to take everything from the mining boom to hand to other states “acquisition of property on unjust terms”. Of course, due to how flimsy that wording is, I guess anything could be considered “just terms”, especially when the government is steali- I mean, taxing.

Then of course we have the wonderful responsibility, I mean, right to vote. I love the threat of being fined should I not feel that any candidates are worth voting for, for three elections in a row.

There’s also the lack of centralization on discrimination laws:

I guess wages based on age isn’t discrimination against someone based on age. I assume this is because the government is doing it.

For reference: Minimum wage in Australia is $15 an hour, when you’re over 21, but prior to that it’s much less.

At 16, your minimum wage is 50% of the adult minimum wage, and this increases at 10% per year of age until you reach 21, at which point you’re finally entitled to earning the full adult wage.

So really, where is the line with rights? What actually makes these rights valid, and what qualifies as discrimination? It’s ridiculous that people here never even raise a question about these issues. We’re not meant to seize people’s property on “unjust terms” (the fuck defines that, anyway?), and yet we do. We’re not meant to discriminate, and yet we do. What the fuck are people protesting about internet censorship (which only got like a 10% approval rating, so as if Gillard would go through with it, because she’s a bitch) for when we’re being walked all over every God damn day?

I think people should be more concerned about the basics like freedom of speech and enforcement of our current rights before they start panicking over things that aren’t even going to happen.

Fuck Australia.

It’s come to my attention in recent months and years that a great number of people are still choosing to use Windows XP, despite Microsoft having released two new operating systems in that time. XP was released in 2001, and is currently the most popular operating system.

As you can see on the chart above, as of October 2010, it dominated the market with 45.57% of users. Windows 7 was the next most popular, with 20.77% of users. Vista trailed behind its older and newer counterpart, at a mere 16.90%. A major question for this, is why?

More to the point, why is XP still spectacularly popular, and although 7 is rapidly becoming popular, why did Vista never really hit it off as 7 has so quickly?

The answers are mainly about people’s misunderstandings about operating systems. Incoming anecdote. Feel free to skip over it (but then you’ll miss most of the post).

I started using Windows XP shortly after it came out. As I wasn’t as interested in computing then as I am now, the only difference that struck me about the operating system was the appearance. Obviously over time more differences became apparent, but at a first glance, the only differences were aesthetic.

Did that mean that upgrading to XP was a waste? No, not at all. I was merely using XP as I would use Windows ’98, and as a result, all I really noticed was the pretty taskbar (after using grey for so long, it was really damn pretty, mind you).

Fast-forward to Vista. At this time I was a much more competent computer user. I started using Vista within a month of its release. The first time I used it, the differences were immediately apparent, including the networking interface, Control Panel display and Start Menu display (which will be outlined later). A lot of people have still tried to claim that Vista is no different to XP. However, the differences were abundant. The fact of the matter was that they fell into the same trap as I had. If you use Windows Vista, and 7 for that matter as you use XP, of course you won’t notice the differences. It should go without saying.

An analogy for this is if you get a high-performance car, then drive it at 60 km/h, then complain about how slow it is. It’s simply PEBCAK, or in this case, PEBCASW.

When I picked up Windows 7 while it was still in beta, I knew I’d picked up something special. I love Windows 7, and if you keep up with these articles you’ll see why, exactly. The disappointing thing is that people genuinely do not see the difference between Windows 7 and XP. In fact, many are so jaded by Vista’s “problems” (I’ll get back to that later) that they would rather not risk upgrading their operating system in the first place. The issue with this is that, as I’ve stated before, people are just using 7 in the exact same way as they would use XP. All they see is what I saw when I was 11 years old: a pretty taskbar.

Ideally, I’ll be updating this series of articles reasonably quickly. My approach will be to use a Virtual PC, and take an XP, Vista and 7 machine each through the motions of installation, general configuration, etc. to show all the functional differences that so many people have missed out on because they simply know nothing of how to actually use their computers to the best of their ability.

Over the last weekend I reinstalled the operating system on my laptop. I backed up the files to my external hard-drive, which is actually of pretty terrible quality.

As a result of this, I believe it was, I found numerous files and folders missing (I thought my “My Documents” folder looked a bit TOO clean…”) when I was looking for something later on (i.e. earlier today).

 The problem here was simple: I’d copied and pasted the files over from my backup to my newly set-up laptop, then permanently deleted the backup, as I had just taken it for granted that the back-up had proceeded perfectly. I didn’t consider that the return of the files may fail, as I’d checked on the external hard-drive and found all the items in place.

Needless to say I was in a bit of a panic at this. I lost a lot of valuable documents that I would have a difficult time replacing, recreating, etc.

As I was in a position where I had no internet connection when I realised this, and not wanting to wait, I installed a utility on my laptop which we had been using in one of my classes: WinUtilites.

While I don’t know how reputable this program is, I found that even if I had been a complete retard at this time (which I suppose I was, for deleting my backup folders without first checking that everything had been restored appropriately) it would’ve been quite a breeze to restore my lost documents.

The utility itself is made to simplify a few Windows functions (clearing browsing history, etc. (though I don’t know how you could make some of these things any simpler…)) while giving a few more functions, such as restoring files and “permanently deleting” files by writing over their location in the hard drive numerous times with jibberish.

Overall I’d say it’s a worthwhile download if you can’t figure out simpler functions, have something to hide or are completely incompetent when it comes to backing up your files.

Remind me to never be a sysadmin…

First official writing post because I needed to get some momentum going.

This never went anywhere and ultimately amounts to nothing. It’s about 3,000 words (2,978 to be exact) so I can’t fault people for getting bored… Here goes.

Prologue

Decades of research had gone into this one moment. A single mistake now, and all of that would vanish in that instant.

The men worked quickly, sorting out wires and switching on machinery in a precise order. One shuddered slightly as he flicked a switch, causing sharp glances from other people. Don’t even think about making a mistake. The thought consumed the entire room as people worked. In the center of the room, what appeared to be a long bath tub filled with black slime shuddered violently.

Workers sweated slightly but firmly kept themselves calm. They had done this before, but they all knew that this occasion would be different. A high-pitched wailing sounded as the machinery began to work in unison, all focused on a central goal. The slime. Creation.

Loud cracks punctuated the wailing and at last the men could stand back to examine the fruits of their labour. The slime in the tub began to convulse, then solidify. The men watched on in anticipation. The slime began to compress and take on a definite form. There was another loud crack, then the room fell silent.

Murmuring began. The lesser men stood back as the head of the research team stepped up to the edge of the tub. He leaned over it, hands gripping the sides. He turned to the men behind him.

“We’ve done it,” he whispered.

*

Weeks later, their leader, Edalis, called all the men responsible for their latest Creation into a meeting.

“He was a failure,” Edalis growled once they had settled. This was met by shouts and accusations in every direction. Edalis sighed. “Silence!” he said.

A few of the men turned their accusing glances to Edalis, but he ignored them. “None of us could be blamed for what happened. He is being sent to Rathyna for destruction.”

One of the team, a young woman, scowled at him. “Why?” she asked.

Dyre had a way of questioning things that were none of her business. “He was a failure, Dyre.”

“Who gives you the right to judge that?”

Edalis slammed his fist on the table before him, but continued in a reasonable tone. “I do, and so does the king.”

Dyre glared back determinedly but remained silent. At least she learned her place quickly after every one of these indiscretions.  After a few more pleasantries, he let the workers leave in peace. After all, the only purpose of this meeting had been to inform them in a formal setting.

Edalis left the room last, just after Dyre, who gave him another glare before she left. It seemed as if she could think of no better way to communicate than with facial expressions or curt questions.

A man would confront me more rationally, he mused, but then pushed that thought aside. He’d been drilled on treating women equally a lot lately, much to his frustration. There were volumes to be written upon aspects of these lectures which were just wrong but he had no choice but to go along with it. Some sort of formality rubbish that he would have to put up with for a very long time.

Edalis walked outside of the building and across the sand outside to the holding cells. The one he had come to examine stood in shadows, massive compared to most other cells and carefully reinforced. He heard a rumbling snoring from inside the cage, and carefully stepped up to the bars.

“Akroya,” he murmured with a faint hint of feigned affection, then casually leapt back as an enormous claw reached through the gap in the bars. “You’re not good at faking sleep.”

Akroya snarled and strained his foreleg, attempting to reach Edalis, unrestrained fury on every inch of his hideous face. “Come closer and say that, human,” he snarled in a voice that was unnervingly human. At least, unnervingly so to all but Edalis.

“Why don’t you reach out further and make that threat, beast? Or can’t you? Do our pathetic human traps still hold you?” Edalis couldn’t resist taunting Akroya. The Creation had been nothing but trouble since he had congealed in that tub all those weeks ago.

“You would not speak to me like this if I were not behind bars,” Akroya growled, setting back on his haunches. He began grooming himself, feigning a lack of concern. Edalis knew that Akroya was perfectly aware of his inevitable fate.

“Well, we’ll never find that out, will we?” Edalis asked sweetly, then turned to walk away.

“Wait.” Edalis turned back, trying to keep a straight face. Akroya had never made such a request before. What could he want? “I wish to see Dyre.”

“No,” Edalis replied, then continued to walk away. Akroya snarled and slammed against the bars of his cage behind him, but Edalis ignored him. Why would he want to see her? He wondered.

He rolled his eyes at himself. He’s just trying to bother you, he told himself. Ignore it.

“You’ll regret the day that you Created me, Edalis,” Akroya shouted. Edalis just laughed.

*

The grounds of the Institution were nearly pitch-black, making a shadow darting towards the holding cells nearly imperceptible to any sentries within the complex. The shadow made his way towards the largest cage at the back of the rows of cells and reached into his pocket.

“I’m getting you out of here,” he whispered. He grabbed out various keys and tools and set to work. The construction of this door had been designed specifically for the purpose of holding such creatures as Akroya, who had remained silent and unmoving this whole time.

The person, whoever he was, suddenly attempted to tug at the door. It gave slightly, but he found it far too heavy to move himself.

Suddenly Akroya burst through the door, knocking his helper back. Madness filled his vision, and all he could think of was that that this stranger must have some will to harm him. He batted the person flying with one of his forelegs then sprinted off into the night. His helper slammed into a nearby wall and fell, completely unconscious.

Fortunately for Akroya, no alarm would be raised until the morning.

Chapter 1

The town of Sakin was easily the most obscured settlement in the entire nation of Mayun. Surrounded by mountains to the north, south and east, and dense forest to the west, the town easily managed to sustain itself, but communication from the outside rarely came, if at all. Roughly two dozen homes were strewn around the small valley where the town sat, mainly gravitating towards the forest, and a reasonably-large lake.

On this day, few of the townspeople remained indoors. Work always needed to be done, and on this day a handful of hunters had entered the forest to forage and hunt. They were well into the forest at this stage, well-away from the sight of the sentries who were posted at the edges of town. While they never expected to be attacked by invaders, occasionally a predator would attempt to attack their livestock, though rarely during the day.

At the rear of the group of hunters, Faolan had stopped to examine some mushrooms. The others moved on, as usual, eyes particularly alert for prey. He examined the mushrooms at length, then, certain that they were edible, retrieved them. He was stopped by a tap on his shoulder. He lhHeHeHe looked up, frustrated at being interrupted.

There are deer up ahead, Raghnall, the leader of their group, signaled to him. Faolan nodded slightly in response. He rose carefully, and followed the others.

The deer were drinking from a stream in a small clearing up ahead. The hunters kept their distance and spread out amongst the trees, intent on surrounding the deer, before…

A crash from the other side of the clearing frightened the deer into a sprint. Suddenly an enormous beast leapt out of the trees, knocking a couple down on its way. It immediately set upon the nearest deer, snatching it in its talons quickly. It snapped the deer’s neck then leapt for another.

A signaling whistle from the nearby trees sounded. Retreat! it meant.

Faolan, needing no further urging, turned and sprinted away. He ran without thinking, unable to get the image of that gruesome thing from his mind, as it tore about those dee-

A root snagged Faolan’s ankle. He cried out as he fell and heard a sickening crack. Pain shot up his leg, causing him to cry out further. Panic shot through him as he thought of the beast behind him again, and he attempted to stand back up.

Faolan’s leg fell beneath him, useless. At last he looked at the damage. His foot dangled at an odd angle. He’d broken his ankle. He looked around desperately, trying to see one of his companions. None were around. Swearing, he grabbed a nearby branch from the ground and pushed himself up to his feet. He hobbled on from there on, knowing that if the beast wanted to chase him down, he would never escape it now.

He heard crashing behind him. Oh no.

He hobbled faster, then an enormous force smashed into his side, cleaving him through the air until he crashed into the dirt. Wind knocked out of him and in agonizing pain, Faolan could do nothing but lie there as the creature approached him. It stepped over to him, lowering its enormous, beaked face to meet Faolan’s eyes. The eyes were jet black, as was the rest of the creature. Faolan squeezed his eyes shut, knowing this was the end.

“Who am I?” the creature suddenly asked. It spoke in an oddly human voice, which took Faolan aback greatly. He couldn’t even stammer out a response though. He knew that it must be intent on killing him.

The creature tapped its claw on the ground in an oddly human gesture of impatience. Faolan let out a slight sob. “Just kill me already,” he said.

The creature raised its head back. “Kill you? Why would I do that?”

Faolan shook his head, unable to respond. He barely had his breath back, and still lay incapacitated by pain and various injuries.

Suddenly the creature screamed, sending a chill down Faolan’s spine, then it turned and cleaved a tree in half.

“ANSWER ME!” it roared, lowering its head to Faolan’s face again. Faolan tried to make himself as small as possible, once again preparing for death. “YOU HAVE A VOICE HUMAN, ANSWER ME!”­

“I don’t know,” Faolan sobbed. “Please just let me go.”

At last the beast relented and stood back. Faolan immediately began to try to crawl away, scrabbling for anything to get a grip on. The creature leapt forward and pinned him again.

“I haven’t eaten in days,” it said, leaning in to examine Faolan.

“Y-you slaughtered those deer back there,” he replied.

“Yes, and while I feed I’d rather if you didn’t flee. I’m not finished with you.”

The creature stood back to let Faolan up again. Faolan pushed himself up to a seating position, his broken ankle now completely numb.

“Can you not stand?” the beast asked.

“No,” Faolan replied. “I broke my ankle trying to flee from you.”

“Flee from me,” the creature muttered. “Flee from me?” It turned and violently assaulted another tree. Faolan shrank back. “That’s all you humans do! Flee from me! What reason do I give you to be afraid!? What have I done?” It turned to glare at Faolan. “WELL?”

“Y-your appearance is frightening,” Faolan replied, unsure of how to respond to the creature’s mood swings.

“I didn’t choose my appearance,” the creature snarled. “Did you choose your appearance? Perhaps I find your appearance to be frightening! Does this justify fleeing from you when you just wish to ask a question?”

“You killed those deer,” Faolan replied, trying to remain confident. “We’d never seen anything like you before; we weren’t sure how to react. We thought you’d kill us.”

“I see,” the creature replied, apparently satisfied by the response. It reached forward with a clawed foot and helped Faolan to his feet. “They called me Akroya, by the way.”

Faolan stared. “Who were “they”?”

“Those who made me.”

Faolan gasped. He knew exactly what Akroya was now. A Creation. A laugh in the face of any Gods out there. “You’re a Creation?” he asked, unable to believe it.

“That’s what they called me.”

Faolan lifted a stick from the ground to support himself on. “Then why are you here?”

“I fled.”

“Why?”

“There were going to destroy me.”

Faolan sighed. A common practice of the people at the Research Facility. They would Create, and if a Creation displeased them, they would destroy it.

“Why were they going to destroy you?” he asked. He hoped to stave off any future mood swings of the creature – Akroya – by maintaining conversation. Akroya sighed.

“Walk with me,” he replied. Faolan stumbled along beside the beast as they walked back to where Akroya had slaughtered the deer. They walked in silence for a while, before Akroya continued to speak: “To put it simply, I was defiant. I attempted to kill any of them who came near me. My growth was also difficult to control. I was a failure.”

Faolan nodded sympathetically, despite the fact that the creature was not looking in his general direction. They reached the clearing and Akroya sat down on a boulder by the stream, watching Akroya devour his kills.

In the light, Faolan took a good opportunity to examine Akroya at length. Akroya stood nearly twice as high as Faolan at his head and was nearly entirely covered in feathers. A broad beak dominated his face, and his eyes bore an oddly human-ish appearance, though the irises were an incredibly dark grey. Faolan could not figure out why they had appeared pitch black before.

Akroya also had four thick, powerful legs, ending in clawed feet, and his tail was long and lizard-ish. He had a rippling mass on his back which had been chained down by several thick chains, set entirely around his body. Beneath these chains, feathers appeared to be worn away, and the skin had cracked in several places.

“Are those wings?” Faolan asked. Akroya looked up from a kill, then examined the mass on his back with a sigh.

“Yes. Obviously they couldn’t afford to let me fly.”

Faolan sat in awkward silence, taking the opportunity to at last examine his ankle. It wasn’t broken, simply agonizingly sprained. Faolan applied pressure to it to attempt to alleviate some of the pain, not sure what else to do. He most likely wouldn’t be able to make it back to town like this… Akroya noticed his pain and turned to face him, blood coating his beak and chin.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I told you before that I hurt my ankle,” Faolan replied, massaging his ankle pointedly.

“I thought you broke it. That does not look broken.”

“I made a mistake,” Faolan grumbled. “I don’t know how I’ll walk back to town on it though.” Then Faolan had another thought. What is there for me back there anyway?

“Where are you going?” he asked Akroya. Akroya’s eyes narrowed.

“Away,” he replied. “Why do you care?”

Faolan hesitated. This is foolish, he scolded himself. Yet… “Take me with you.”

Akroya blinked, clearly surprised. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?” he asked, anger flaring in his voice again.

“No, no,” Faolan said to quickly calm him. Akroya made a hacking sound that Faolan could only assume was meant to be a snort.

“You’re rushing into this,” Akroya replied.

“I have nothing here.”

“Why not? You must have a family, friends, something?”

“That’s none of your business. Take me with you.”

Akroya returned to feasting, ignoring Faolan. Faolan ripped part of the leg of his trousers to apply a pressure bandage to his ankle. Rude bastard, he thought, as Akroya ripped apart the carcass of the final deer that he had slaughtered. Akroya finished feasting then walked over to the river to drink. He washed the blood from his face in a slightly human way, using his forepaws to wipe the blood off with water from the stream. At last he turned to face Faolan.

“So, after I terrify you, you flee from me, and for no apparent reason you wish to journey with me,” he said.

“Yes.”

“That doesn’t strike you as odd at all.”

“It’s none of your business.”

Faolan sighed pointedly. He could feel tears stinging at his eyes. “Please just take me with you,” he muttered.

Akroya stared. “If you wish to join me then I cannot stop you. Your food and shelter will be your own responsibility though.”

Faolan nodded. “It’s all I ask for.”

*

In a nearby cluster of trees, a figure looked on, smiling with pride. He had always underestimated his powers of Compulsion, but now he had performed a deed that would make his father incredibly proud.

I’ll get you back, Akroya, the person vowed to himself. He turned and fled east, toward the town that the stranger had come from. He ran swiftly, dodging and weaving gracefully between any obstacles that stood in his path. As the trees began to thin he slowed, barely needing to pause to regain his breath. Edalis was right, he thought. I am stronger than I should be.­

The shadowed person stared out over the town. Things were relatively calm now; townspeople were rushing about their business. Some were armed, standing in a line facing towards the forest. No doubt, they were expecting Akroya to attack. They bore only the crudest of weapons, due to their isolated location. Spears, swords and a crossbow or two.

A crashing behind the stranger alerted him to Akroya’s approach. He threw himself to the ground beneath a bush as Akroya threw himself into the town’s defenders.