This is Nuts and Kind of Awesome. Revenge in the Virtual World: Woman Kills Ex-Husband's Online Avatar

I don't play in the virtual world and to be honest, I don't really understand it.

But this I can understand: You get pissed off because you're getting a divorce, what feels like out of the blue, so you break into your now ex-husband's online account and kill off his online avatar on Second Life.

Although, the Japanese woman who comitted virtual murder went to jail for illegal access to a computer and manipulating electronic data, this is still kind of awesome.

It sounds like she wouldn't dare plan or execute a murder in real life but hey why not get your anger out in some way shape/form and stick it to his online avatar. I think it is kind of awesome.

Not that I could ever break into someone's computer or would ever manipulate electronic data (computers and I have a friendly loving relationship but not too deep; this is kind of bad ass and awesome.

For the people I know it would be like deleting their MySpace or Facebook account but not really as good as a story or entering. I like it being his whole avatar, a representation of him.

Read the full article here.

Obama vs. McCain

I may not be the most educated voter because I tend to base my decision on the following items:

-Whether or not the candidate is a democrat
-Pro-Choice and supports abortion rights
-Supports gay marriage rights
-Health care

I decided a long time ago that I would be voting for Obama and after reading the following comparisions on the issues, I feel ever more strongly about that choice.


Abortion
McCain: Opposes abortion rights. Has voted for abortion restrictions permissible under Roe v. Wade, and now says he would seek to overturn that guarantee of abortion rights while being open to a running mate who supports abortion rights. Would not seek constitutional amendment to ban abortion.

Obama: Favors abortion rights.

Death penalty
McCain: Has supported expansion of the federal death penalty and limits on appeals.

Obama: Supports death penalty for crimes for which the "community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage." As Illinois lawmaker, wrote bill mandating videotaping of interrogations and confessions in capital cases and sought other changes in system that had produced wrongful convictions

Education
McCain: Favors parental choice of schools, including vouchers for private schools when approved by local officials, and right of parents to choose home schooling. More money for community college education.

Obama: Encourage but not require universal pre-kindergarten programs, expand teacher-mentoring programs and reward teachers with higher pay not tied to standardized test scores, in $18 billion plan to be paid for in part by delaying elements of moon and Mars missions. Change No Child Left Behind law "so that we're not just teaching to a test and Crowding out programs like art and music." Tax credit to pay up to $4,000 of college expenses for students who perform 100 hours of community service a year. (Yay for more for teachers!! NOT based on test scores).

Gay marriage
McCain: Opposes constitutional amendment to ban it. Says same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into legal agreements for insurance and similar benefits, and states should decide about marriage.

Obama: Opposes constitutional amendment to ban it. Supports civil unions, says states should decide about marriage.

Health care
McCain: $2,500 refundable tax credit for individuals, $5,000 for families, to make health insurance more affordable. No mandate for universal coverage. In gaining the tax credit, workers could not deduct the portion of their workplace health insurance paid by their employers.

Obama: Mandatory coverage for children, no mandate for adults. Aim for universal coverage by requiring employers to share costs of insuring workers and by offering coverage similar to that in plan for federal employees. Says package would cost up to $65 billion a year after unspecified savings from making system more efficient. Raise taxes on wealthier families to pay the cost.

Iraq
McCain: Opposes scheduling a troop withdrawal, saying latest strategy is succeeding. Supported decision to go to war, but was early critic of the manner in which administration prosecuted it. Was key backer of the troop increase. Willing to have permanent U.S. peacekeeping forces in Iraq.

Obama: Spoke against war at start, opposed troop increase. Voted against one major military spending bill in May 2007; otherwise voted in favor of money to support the war. Says his plan would complete withdrawal of combat troops in 16 months. Initially had said a timetable for completing withdrawal would be irresponsible without knowing what facts he'd face in office.

Writing Abound

Like most bloggers, I have a desire to one day get published. In some form or another.

Whether it's winning a writing contest, getting a short in a compliation book, or a novel, I would love to have something I, Lauren in Seattle, has written. Since, I have such a curiosity about writing, how to get published, what sells, etc. I thought I would share a few interesting articles I read today while I was supposed to be, ahem, working.

This opinoin article states that although it's the 21st century, You Still Can't Write About Muhammad .

I found this article interesting because it's about censorship and the fact that even this day and age, books are sometimes viewed as weapons of evil and mass destruction instead of tools that inspire and educate. I was particularly interested because the book in question was written by a Washington resident, Sherry Jones.

Here's an excerpt from the article, "Starting in 2002, Spokane, Wash., journalist Sherry Jones toiled weekends on a racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Ms. Jones learned Arabic, studied scholarly works about Aisha's life, and came to admire her protagonist as a woman of courage. When Random House bought her novel last year in a $100,000, two-book deal, she was ecstatic. This past spring, she began plans for an eight-city book tour after the Aug. 12 publication date of "The Jewel of Medina" -- a tale of lust, love and intrigue in the prophet's harem."

The article appears on The Wall Street Journal. For more articles, you can google Jewel of Medina.

The other article I read today while I've been working is about the Ten Dirty Words that an agent will use to take note during the reading a submitted manuscript.

It was an enlighting article on how NOT to describe your writing work. I found the adjectives interesting as well as the explanation.

My favorite?

1. PRETENTIOUS.