Welcome to LuminousNerd: The epic tale of a Nerd/Hippie/Designer! First things first; here’s what you can expect to see in this blog:

New Technology/Gadgets: Posts with reviews on electronics of any sort.
Marijuana Legalization: Posts containing news or information regarding the legalization of Cannabis.
Peace/War: My thoughts on political issues related to peace and war.
Music: Occasional reviews of music, especially reggae and rock.
Graphic Design/Animation: Posts containing information related to graphic design; especially animations or pictures of my own.
Funny/Amusing: Should I find something that I am compelled to share that does not relate to any of the other categories, but I believe you will enjoy, it will be under Funny/Amusing.

Now a little information about myself. At the time of writing, I am 16 years of age, but hopefully you will find me (or at least my writing style) a trifle more interesting than many of a similar age.

I consider myself a nerd. I enjoy nearly everything about computers. I have built a few of my own, messed with the insides of many more, and installed pretty much every operating system that exists (Windows XP, Mac OS X, Many Distributions of Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris). I love PCs and Macs equally, sort of. My stance is and always will be that Mac OS X is a superior operating system to Windows XP. However, I recognize that PCs are capable of many things that Macs are not, even if that is mainly due to the fact that the general public prefers Windows XP (be it because they haven’t tried anything else or because they, too, are stuck in the trap of software compatibility). I also love gaming, but I believe that would fall more under a Geek than a Nerd. (Nerd: A talented and/or well-learned individual who is proficient with computers and electronics in general. Geek: An individual who derives enjoyment from video gaming; especially as related to computers.)

I consider myself a hippie. I am a proponent of legalization of Marijuana for reasons stated in many blogs you will find with the tag Marijuana Legalization. A very good summary of my beliefs on this issue can be found in this blog. I love peace, I want it to happen, but my views as far as that goes differ from the average hippie. It is my belief that, at least in our current state, war is absolutely necessary in order to obtain true peace. I say true peace, because a temporary pact is possible (though not probable), but it would be just that: temporary. And it wouldn’t do well for our economy either. Two beings can certainly settle their disputes without violence, but an entire society that is violent by nature cannot. This is very unfortunate indeed, but the fact remains: Peace cannot be attained but through war.
I am also fanatical about stereotypical hippie music, namely 60’s and 70’s psychedelic rock and reggae. Specifically, I am a fan of Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, UB40, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Green Day, The Rolling Stones, and Barenaked Ladies. Aside from the normal selection, I also enjoy The Aquabats, Weird Al, Enya, Yanni, Nickelback, Death Cab for Cutie, Pet Shop Boys, Linkin Park, and good rap that does not contain incessant, ludicrously unintelligible amounts of profanity.

I consider myself a designer. I try, at any rate. I enjoy designing things such as websites, brochures and other paper media, business cards, logos, GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces), art pieces, and even products. I am proficient with Adobe Flash, Adobe Dreamweaver, and can hold my own with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. I’ve dabbled in working with Moho (now called Anime Studio Pro, to my chagrin), a 2D animation tool (which I find to be less powerful than Flash, but with a few capabilities that Flash does not have), as well as Lightwave, a 3D modeling and animation tool. Once, a long time ago, I was decent with Digital Fusion and Sony Vegas (compositor and editor, respectively). It remains to be seen whether I will be able to pick up where I left off the next time I use either of them.

I feel I have given you a decent idea of who I am, what I am interested in, and what you can expect from the blog. As far as how frequently I update, well, I will almost always update at least three or four times per week, but I’ll try to blog once or twice a day. Work and school have priority, but free time generally remains for me to spend designing, gaming, listening to music, and/or blogging.