Getting AHCI to work with an IDE installation of windows

If anybody has tried to install windows XP (with SP3 or the 64-bit version) with SATA drives, they'll quickly find out the challenge of installing with AHCI enabled in BIOS. I was one of many who gave up trying, and simply set IDE compatibility mode in the BIOS, which ensures that your new SATA drive will work with older operating systems. For the longest time I had simply assumed that I was stuck with the slower IDE drivers, and would forgo the double data transfer rate of SATAII, as well as the lower wear-and-tear on my hard drive from the use of NCQ. Or I would have to spring the cash for a brand new install of Windows Vista or Windows 7. However, I came across a somewhat painless method for enabling AHCI in BIOS, using the following tutorial. (Since this link appears down at the moment, I will reproduce the text below)

Posted by Giulio in Computers

This is a topic I often googled for to have the definitive solution, but I never found a complete one.

Sometimes you install Windows on your PC while the disk controller is in IDE (compatible) mode, and you later realize you would like to switch to the newer AHCI mode.

Doing this after the install procedure is tricky, because Windows needs the disk driver to boot, and if it doesn’t have it, well, it will blue screen forever because it’s not able to mount the system volume.

I found a lot of articles regarding this topic, but often they were specific to some SATA controller, incomplete, and didn’t explain *why* this happens and how to define a generic solution.

So, here is my best effort to explain this.

In Windows, drivers are installed as services. You can find a pretty list of them in the registry, using the well known regedit.

Fire regedit up, and browse to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services key.

Every key here represents a service, which could be a driver or a service as you see them in the Services console.

CurrentControlSet is the current system configuration. Actually, this a link to one of those ControlSetXXXX keys you can see at the same level of CurrentControlSet.

Windows does this to keep track of different system configurations, so you can have a “last good configuration”, and so on.

You can tell which control set is the current one by having a look at the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Select key. Here you can see four values : Current, Default, Failed, LastKnownGood. The value of each of these indicates which ControlSetXXXX is the corresponding one. Value names are pretty self explanatory, so I won’t detail them. Since you need to modify the current one, anyway, let’s stick to CurrentControlSet.

Now, before switching to AHCI (which can be done in the BIOS of your computer, and if you’re reading this you probably know how to do that), the proper driver must be manually installed.

Since the most common vendor for AHCI controllers is Intel, I will cover how to install the iaStor driver, which is the generic driver for all recent Intel SATA controllers.

First, download the drivers. A quick google search will point where to get them. The installer won’t work, because the controller now is in IDE mode, and has a different hardware ID. So, they must be manually installed.

The quickest way to have the actual driver files is to download the plain ZIP package from Intel’s website. The only file needed from the archive is iaStor.sys.

Throw this file in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers. Of course, if “Windows” is not where Windows is installed, replace with the correct folder name.

Now, a registry key for the driver must be created.

To speed things up, a .reg file can be created to quickly import new keys and values in the registry. Copy and paste the following in a text file and save it as ‘iastor.reg’, or whatever .reg name. Double click on the .reg file to import it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor] "Type"=dword:00000001 "Start"=dword:00000000 "Group"="SCSI miniport" "ErrorControl"=dword:00000001 "ImagePath"="system32\\drivers\\iaStor.sys" "tag"=dword:00000019 "DisplayName"="Intel AHCI Controller" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStor\Parameters] "queuePriorityEnable"=dword:00000000 "BusType"=dword:00000003

Now, Windows knows of the iaStor driver. Windows also needs to know that your AHCI controller is a critical device, and the driver must be loaded early, before painfully crash with a bluescreen.

Another key in the registry must be created, in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase. Here a key exists for each device which is critical for boot time. A new key with the hardware PCI ID of your specific AHCI controller. This PCI ID can be retrieved by having a look at the ‘iaStor.inf’ (for SATA RAID) or ‘iaAhci.inf’ (for plain AHCI) files which come with the drivers. Doing some text search (and of course knowing the name of your controller, like ICH8, ICH9, etc) will uncover some lines which match the controller name with its PCI ID. Here is an extract of iaAhci.inf.

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2653&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 82801FBM SATA AHCI Controller" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C1&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 82801GR/GH SATA AHCI Controller" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2681&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 631xESB/632xESB SATA AHCI Controller" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2821&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 82801HR/HH/HO SATA AHCI Controller" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller" PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel(R) ICH9 SATA AHCI Controller"

As for the iaStor key, the following text can be copied and pasted in a .reg text file for quick import, but be careful to substitute my PCI ID (the red string) with yours. You should change only the DEV_ value, since VEN and CC are the same for all controllers. Double click the file, just as for the previous one, to import it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase\pci#ven_8086&dev_2829&cc_0106] "Service"="iaStor" "ClassGUID"="{4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}" "Security"=hex:01,00,04,90,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,02,\ 00,4c,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,ff,01,1f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,\ 00,00,00,00,18,00,ff,01,1f,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,20,02,00,\ 00,00,00,18,00,9f,01,12,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,21,02,00,00

OK. Now, you can reboot, change the controller from IDE to AHCI in the BIOS, and hopefully everything will work. At least, it worked for me

If something went wrong, just switch back to IDE mode and verify that all steps have been done correctly.

These steps should be quite similar for other vendors/drivers, so feel free to improvise

Have fun!

I tried this method, and wasn't successful at enabling AHCI, but I *was* successful in enabling RAID in my BIOS. Don't worry, you don't need to mount a RAID volume, it will use your existing volumes without you needing to do anything, but if you want to use RAID in the future. Also, the RAID option encapsulates the ACHI option, so you'll benefit from the same features such as SATAII and NCQ. You can then install Intel's Matrix Storage Manager if you'd like. I recommend using a utility such as HD Tune to confirm that you're getting the faster transfer rates and features present with your SATA drive--the free version is sufficient in reporting this information.

Public Entrepreneurship

Just recently the Champaign County Libertarian Party had the opportunity to have a discussion with Joseph T. Mahoney on his collaborative paper (written with Peter Klein, Anita McGahan, Christos Pitelis) about “The Economic Organization of Public Entreprenership”.

I created a podcast of the discussion in AAC format that is available here (6.2 megs, one and a half hours), as well as a google video version which is viewable below:

Among topics discussed were Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, Coase's Theorem, and how the government's role can be to enhance the wealth of nations as opposed to destroying it through the harnessing of entrepreneurship in the public sphere. Some specific examples are thrown in, as well as how the topic related to local politics in Champaign-Urbana.

Some of the arguments were new to me, some of them being more from a utilitarian-libertarian point of view than a deontological-libertarian view. Also, the paper is based upon a minarchist view of the world--that is to say, it assumes that a government will exist. It is a pragmatist idea of how to improve government that could appeal to both conservatives and liberals I think.

For instance, the typical small-government view is that government inaction is better than government action. However, imagine the following hypothetical. A community is under imminent danger from an objectively demonstrable threat (a natural disaster, the collapse of a bridge, etc.). The private parties that make up this community cannot all agree on a plan to remedy the situation. In this case, the government stepping in doing something would be preferable to doing nothing, as a haphazard solution would be better than total disaster. If the government solution is unpleasant enough, or would take too long to implement, this would stimulate entrepreneurs to come together with a plan for the public good. More often then not this plan is more effective, faster, and more efficient than the government plan, and more appreciated by the public as it doesn't involve increased taxes or regulation.

There are surprisingly many instances of this happening, in light of the bungling done with the bridge collapse in Minnesota and Hurricane Katrina at the hands of the government. Just recently I was forwarded an email on how citizens and businesses built a bridge in Hawaii because the government was unable or unwilling to do it. Not only did it get done faster, but much cheaper than the projected cost. Not only that, the cost did not result in increased taxes or government debt--it was absorbed by the businesses who would benefit from the repaired bridge. The "free rider problem" in this case was averted. There are other examples of course, such as citizens volunteering to sandbag an overflowing river. Their efforts not only save their own property, but help save the property of their neighbors as well.

The only downside I can think of, is that while public entrepreneurship is better than a government solution due to government's use of force, is that it sometimes requires the threat of force. In other words, action is only taken because the government bureaucracy's solution is more feared. This of course is tied into legitimacy of the government's force (see: Arrow's Impossibility Theorem), which may be called into question if the democratic process is absent or easy to manipulate--the paper discusses this issue in some detail.

Overall it was a fascinating topic that I think will gain more traction as people realize that the government isn't very good at creating value or solving things--and we may have to rely on ourselves and our neighbors.

Recharge any battery: save the environment by saving money

People are skeptical when I say economic efficiency means environmental efficiency. They often point out externalities as a counter argument, though if you defend property and individual rights, this problem can be mediated: pollute my land, and I sue you. Outside of the tort system, here's a way you, as an individual and as a consumer, can both save a lot of money and save the environment.

Don't throw away your batteries when they're dead! Any student of chemistry knows that a battery is a reversible chemical reaction. The truth is, many alkaline batteries can be recharged. Now the reason why I use the qualifier most is that some batteries are purposely designed to malfunction when you recharge them, to get you to buy more of course.

What I use is a discontinued Rayovak Recharger, which is a scaled down version of this one. I don't know why they stopped making these, but perhaps they did when people found out they could recharge any alkaline battery, as opposed to just rayovak brand rechargeables. Recently, Rayovak launched a new line of rechargeables, but I have not tested these out to see if these still work.

Ideally, any automatic recharger works (the kind that shut themselves off when they detect a full charge), but be careful testing. You can even do it yourself if you're adventurous. One thing I must point out though is that the chemicals inside the battery can irritate your skin, so if you see any sign of leakage, remove the battery with a thick paper towel and wash your hands. You'll notice a distinctive sour odor when batteries burst, which is another way of telling if they've malfunctioned. If the leakage got onto the charger or electronics, you can either wipe it down immediately or wait until it dries and dust it off. Also, if the battery stays warm a while after you've charged it, that means that the battery shorted and can no longer be used. Also, most batteries have some kind of expiration date on them, and this is a good rule of thumb as to your success in recharging the battery.

Ideally you should be able to recharge the batteries as often as you want until the battery can no longer be recharged. If you want, you can use a permanent marker and add a tally mark each time you recharge your batteries.

Good luck, have fun, and remember, safety first!

Wayne Allyn Root Speech in Chicago

Here is my video of Wayne Allen Root speaking last week, April 3rd 2008. For those that don't know, he's currently the front runner Libertarian Party presidential candidate.

You can download a high-res version of the film from bittorrent, or watch the lower-res youtube segments below:

You can also view Mr. Root debate the other candidates at the Heartland Libertarian Conference on April 5th.

Getting Windows Vista NOT to screw up networking

I recently bought a low-end laptop, and much to my surprise, it came Windows Vista instead of Windows XP. It sure looks pretty, and, in fact, I'm using to write this blog write now. However, Windows Vista has an infuriating flaw.

It won't network with Windows.

First a little background on my network topography. I run Windows 2003 Server as a router, file server, and print server. I've gotten everything, and I mean everything to read file shares on this network. I've gotten almost every Windows OS (save Vista) to work: Windows 95, Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Professional 64-bit. I've even gotten openSUSE (a flavor of Linux) to read network shares using Samba, with the small exception of folders on NTFS drives.

And Windows Vista? Absolutely nothing. Yes, I can connect to the internet, but I see nothing on the network. Microsoft Help pointed me in the direction of installing the LLTD (Link-Layer Topology Discovery) protocol. Of course, it can only install in Windows XP. I forced it to install using compatibility mode on Windows 2003, and added the protocol to my network card, and rebooted the server.

Four hours of a wasted evening later, I can now not only finally see the shared files on the network, but I can also see the position of my 2003 server in my network. If it had taken one hour longer, I would have torched my laptop. Let's just say I don't expect the average home user to figure out this problem on their own, and may cause a small amount of chaos in IT departments across the country. Thanks, Microsoft.

Shuttering the Chicago Ron Paul Office

Since Mitt Romney's "suspension" of his campaign, the chance of a brokered Republican Convention this year is close to zero. Because of this, the need for a national campaign through November is over, though Ron Paul will still compete in remaining states. Since Illinois' primary was this past week, the campaign has decided to shutter all the offices here and transfer remaining campaign materiel elsewhere. So, I went over to the Chicago office to pick up some stuff and help with "striking the set". It was a somber affair mostly, akin to packing up all your things for a permanent move, where you know you'll leave behind friends and memories. Overall the office suited its purpose, sharing the ideas of liberty, and I met all kinds of interesting free-minded folks. It's good to know that independent yet generous people (all the equipment in the office was donated) are still around, and will be around for along time to come. I took some final photographs of the Chicago Ron Paul office, before it passed into history:

The Ron Paul Portrait Is Unveiled in Chicago

Yesterday, I was at an event at the Chicago Ron Paul Office, where they unveiled a new portrait of Ron Paul by the artist Caleb O'Connor. I got a chance to interview him, and ask him about his work and what inspired him.
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Breaching the Great Firewall of China

China, though it has gone through an extended period of modernization and economic liberalization, is still nonetheless tightly controlled by the Communist Party. The the plan is that their educated classes will too busy to think about politics when they are playing with cars, digital gadgets, and voting for the next Chinese Pop Idol. There is, however, the problem of the Internet. It is the ultimate beacon of freedom: a decentralized, hard-to-control, morass of ideas and commerce. Thus was born the Golden Shield Project, though it's more commonly known as the "Great Firewall of China".

It's aim is straightforward: to control the information passing through and circulating within the Chinese Internet. Filtering technologies allow the blocking of websites (imagine a Chinese version of Prison Planet), and search terms such as "Democracy". Personal emails can be opened and email traffic can be disrupted. But more importantly, the internet is used as a surveillance tool - if there are repeated attempts to subvert authority, IP addresses can be traced to real-world addresses. The fear of being sent to prison is usually enough for most common folk to avoid discussion of politics online.

Of course, there are ways of circumventing the Chinese Firewall. The biggest weaknesses are encrypted traffic and anonymous traffic. Two technologies that I know can exploit these weaknesses with ease, and allow the Chinese people to exercise freedoms in ways they never even thought possible.

Tor - an anonymity network

What Tor does is somewhat complicated, but the end results are fairly easily explained. The user's IP address is hidden - making the user invisible. However, the internet traffic itself can still be examined, so by looking at patterns in the data coming out of Tor's "exit nodes", a person's identity can be ascertained through the information itself. All cloaking devices have their weaknesses, just like that episode of Star Trek. The user must still take certain other precautions, such as using data encryption.

Freenet - a censorship-resistant distributed data store

Achieving complete anonymity and encryption of data might require abandonment of the traditional way internet works, such as using Freenet. Very simply put, Freenet piggybacks on the regular internet, allowing content to be distributed all over the world anonymously. Moreover, if one node is knocked out, the content remains as all the pieces are distributed everywhere. While this prevents dynamic content such as interactive websites using databases, "static" content such as text, music, movies can be stored. This would allow Chinese citizens to read books, watch movies, and listen to music otherwise banned on the mainland. It more resembles a filesharing network that way, though it is completely anonymous, distributed, and allows complete freedom of speech.

One question remains: if the Chinese Government blocks access to certain websites (including the ones that supply the above-mentioned software), how do the Chinese get their hands on these technologies? Unfortunately, the only way is to do it the "old-fashioned way" - distributing copies by CD. In that sense, you must also breach the old Great Wall of China.

Ron Paul's showing in Iowa decent, but there is a silver lining

Though Ron Paul's fifth place showing in Iowa was lower than some had hoped, there is actually some good news to be gleaned from his vote total for his future performance in New Hampshire and elsewhere.

Average polling data indicated that Ron Paul had risen to 7.6% in polls by January 2nd. With his 10% showing at the Iowa caucus, he showed that he could bring out at least a third more voters to the booths than polls indicated. Common sense says that polling will never be perfect, but on the other hand it may be true that polling really does exclude Ron Paul support because they're young, never voted before, or do not use land lines. If this pattern holds, Ron Paul will always do better than what's reported by traditional polling methods.

There are also certain elements of the Iowa population where Ron Paul trounced the competition. According to MSNBC's exit polling, Dr. Paul dominated among independents who voted Republican with 29% of the vote, and with voters who described themselves as angry with the Bush administration he scored a whopping 54%. Since New Hampshire expresses both of those demographics strongly, and plays host to the libertarian-oriented Free State Project, he stands a good chance of placing highly and even winning that state.

Another interesting fact is that Ron Paul was one of only three candidates to place first in an Iowa County (the other two being Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney of course). This happened to be Jefferson County, Iowa. If anybody knows what makes Jefferson County special, please let me know. This is definitely good news that the campaign is able to target locations where he's popular and draw out the voters. You can view how Republicans placed by county, here.

Update: here are some more predictions on Ron Paul and other Republican candidates, as well as the number of delegates assigned per candidate.

Ron Paul on Mad Money

The cognitive dissonance on this video is amazing. I saw Jim Cramer's explosion on the air about the Federal Reserve a while ago, and while I appreciate the fact that both of them oppose the Fed, they probably oppose it for differing reasons. Cramer was upset that Ben Bernanke didn't act quickly enough to save the markets (and therefore bail out Cramer and his stock market, banking, and hedge fund buddies). Ron Paul hates central banking in general, because inflation created by central banking tends to hurt the lower and middle classes, and central banks are an enabler of government deficit spending. Jim Cramer seems to be in it for extracting revenge, as Ben Bernanke isn't "Easy Al" with the "Greenspan Put" on hand (though my prediction was wrong--Ben Bernanke has relented and dropped rates recently). Also amusing is their disparity in arguing their points. Cramer is his typical insane self, hopping in fury, while Ron Paul, the elder statesman, speaks about the matter calmly and rationally.

To be fair to Cramer, he is an entertainer, and people should view him as such: take his antics and advice with a grain of salt. I must give him mad props on having Dr. Paul on his show, and advocating Federal Reserve transparency.

Collation of Ron Paul's answers all the All-American Presidential Forum

This is somewhat old news, but here is a video consisting of all of Ron Paul's answers at the All-American Presidential Forum. In the latter link, You can watch the show in its entirety, as well as see full transcripts. The show was hosted by Tavis Smiley at Morgan State University, a prominent Black college. The debate dealt primarily with minority issues. What was shocking was that the four Republican "front runners" (Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Thompson) decided to snub potential minority voters to squeeze more money out of the 3rd quarter. Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee seemed to have come out the winners in that debate. Tom Tancredo looked absolutely terrified (of the audience perhaps?), and Alan Keyes' theatrics were thoroughly entertaining.

The Longest Ferry Ride Rudy Giuliani Ever Took

The World Student Press Agency reports that Rudy Giuliani took the "longest ferry ride in his life". Apparently he was forced to share the ride back from Mackinac Island (Michigan) with 100 boisterous Ron Paul supporters. From the article:

It was the last ferry back from the island to Mackinac city. Nearly 100 Ron Paul supporters were waiting on the dock when they were surprised to see Mayor Giuliani appear with his bodyguards walking toward the ferryboat. The crowd started cheering Ron Paul’s name and Mayor Giuliani’s smiling face suddenly turned thunderstruck.

. . .

Giuliani was “hiding” beneath the window in the captain’s cabinet, with bodyguards standing around him to block the sight. The crowd kept cheering Ron Paul’s name again and again all the way, for almost 20 minutes, many of them were calling their friends and family to give them the play-by-play.

You can watch some of the footage yourself below:

Ron Paul Speech at Johns Hopkins University

Ron Paul recently spoke at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, on September 11th 2007. "A Traditional Non-Intervention Foreign Policy" was the name of his speech. The speech and discussion period were moderated by Robert Guttman (CPFR director) and Andrew Ward (Financial Times White House correspondent). He spoke of how non-interventionism is not isolationism, how an overly aggressive foreign policy can actually encourage worldwide terrorism, and how the Federal Reserve indirectly plays a part in military misadventures. The countries he focused on were Iraq and Iran, though he did speak of Korea and Vietnam as well. One of the methods of combating terrorism that he brought up was the old school concept of Letters of Mark and Reprisal. Ron Paul faced some tough questions from the audience, but was able to defend his views eloquently. Venues that Allow Dr. Paul more time to speak with fewer interruptions such as Johns Hopkins demonstrate that he is a true statesman who is not reliant on talking points to support his positions. The JHU SAIS should be commended for allowing him to speak, particularly since Ron Paul's positions probably differ from many of the academics there. His full speech is available below:

You can also download this speech for offline listening. You can also view detailed information about this event.

Jim Cramer: Wake Up Bernanke!

It looks like Ron Paul isn't the only one who's choosing to stand up to the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke. Jim Cramer goes ballistic on the air, demanding that Ben Bernanke "Wake up" to the carnage happening in the economy, and lower interest rates. Cramer cites the collapse of the stock market, and the millions of people soon to be facing foreclosure due to tightening credit:

I hate to disappoint Jim Cramer, but I highly doubt the Fed Chairman is going to lower rates. This is because there is one major concern that trumps all for the Federal Reserve: protect the currency at all costs. Ben Bernanke doesn't care for the troubles of condo flippers and day traders. Nay, even if it meant bankrupting every businessman and homeowner, the dollar must be preserved. You see, if we drop rates at this critical juncture, every single foreign government that is holding our debt, as denominated in dollars, will dump dollars so fast the what happened to the Weimar Republic will look like a picnic. Ben Bernanke will do two things: raise rates to keep people buying up our debt, then perform a massive helicopter drop.

Why the recent stock market high wasn't that high to begin with

The pollyannas rejoiced recently when the Dow Jones Industrial Average at last broke 14000 on July 19th 2007. "See!" they thought to themselves, "The economy is doing great! Who are these fools who constantly warn about doom and gloom?". These are also the same permabulls who tend to believe every statistic the government publishes. Here I will show that this new "high" was never high to begin with, and any profits made by tracking the DJI are more akin to a statement issued by the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland fame:

"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"

Here I will compare the two previous peaks, the aforementioned from this month (14000), and the peak of the internet bubble: on Jan 14th 2000, the Dow Jones reached 11,723. The reasons why I compare peaks, and don't measure from trough to peak are because of hindsight bias and because I want to compare apples to apples (peak to peak, trough to trough).

I'm not going to use inflation to measure the change in the stock market in real terms, as it would involved a longer discussion about what the "true" inflation is. Instead I will compare the purchasing power of the dollar compared to other currencies. The currencies I have chosen roughly correspond to the G8. I chose gold and silver as traditional currencies and stores of value.

Data from Onanda.com	2000/1/14	2007/7/19	purchasing power drop
British Pound	0.60750	0.48770	19.7%
Canadian Dollar	1.45080	1.04360	28.1%
Euro	0.97530	0.72470	25.7%
Gold	0.0035210	0.0014870	57.8%
Japanese Yen	106.150	121.9560	-14.9%
Russian Ruble	28.670	25.44230	11.3%
Silver	0.19610	0.075990	61.2%

The change in the purchasing power of the dollar compared to other currencies is absolutely astounding. The only currency that the dollar has actually increased its purchasing power against is the Yen, but this is mostly due to the fact that the Japanese have been pusruing a Zero Interest Rate Policy for many years now. For those not familiar with it, basically the Japanese have been "running the printing presses" like crazy to stop deflation, but it hasn't been working quite the way they expected (see Carry Trade).

Get ready for the big surprise: the peak-to-peak increase in the stock market was only 19.4%! As an intellectual exercise, if you had bought Euros or Pounds and put them in a regular savings account, and not invested in anything you would have made more money. If, like presidential candidate Ron Paul, you had put all your money into Gold and gold mining stocks, you would be making out like a bandit.

This is why I'm voting for Ron Paul for this presidential election. The Federal Reserve has been devaluing the currency so much, it's no wonder that the stock market seems to be shooting through the roof! Ron Paul will tame the federal reserve at the very least, and eliminate it entirely if he can.

International support for Ron Paul

It seems as if the message of liberty, peace, and prosperity is loved not only in the United States, but throughout the world. People in other countries have spontaneously picked up the message of Ron Paul. Witnesseth:

• Ron Paul France (France, in French)

• Bavaria for Ron Paul (Germany, in German)
  This group celebrated the Fourth of July, when the local branch of the American Embassy would not.

• Belgians for Ron Paul (Belgium, in Flemish)
• Ron Paul Brazil (Brazil, in Portuguese)

And then there is, of course, The Austrian School of Economics (English) who is behind Ron Paul.

Ron Paul Cures Video Game Addiction

Put down that controller, boys and girls, Ron Paul may just cure you of video game and television addiction! Witness this young man attest to this fact:

Ron Paul noticed this effect early on:

"Remember the complaints that kids were addicted to TV and video games, and ignored the world around them? There are plenty who don't fit that bill. And the tool in their hands and ours is the internet. With it, we can circumvent the biased media."

Why I will no longer work on Mursatron 5000

As some of you have seen in a previous post, I had already started creating artwork for the game Mursatron 5000: A Casey Serin Simulator. But whenever I sat down a done research on using a third party game engine or created my own, I got the sensation that I was doing work not having fun. "Nonsense!" I'd tell myself, "This will be awesome! This is for Casey Serin fans and haters everywhere!". Then I thought about it some more. All I was doing was fan service. Casey Serin is going to shut down his blog in August anyway, and after the hatred simmers, he will eventually fall into obscurity. That is, until the day the IRS, FBI, CashCall, and LossMitPro catch up to him and wring him dry. My three book covers I think are enough entertainment.

I have come to the conclusion that I have more useful things to do than to slave away on a video game for several weeks that is likely to turn out pretty mediocre, or worse yet, would be as incomplete as any task that Casey Serin puts his mind to. But, more importantly, I have discovered a more important purpose to my free time: supporting the Ron Paul political campaign. I had actually been following him for a while, as I discovered him to be the lone, sane, honest politician in Congress. He isn't tied down by lobbyists. He holds the "quaint" notion that the Constitution limits the power of government and should maximize the freedoms of individuals as well as the states to make their own decisions. He's for sound money, as opposed to having our money controlled by unaccountable private institutions (the Constitution says only our government can control money... and there was never an amendment to change that). He wants to stop our country from engaging in nation building, as we don't have the moral authority to bully countries into doing our bidding. Why the hell are our troops still in Germany after the Berlin Wall fell? Nation building should only be the result of beating another country in a just war, not en end to itself. Also, continuous warfare on non-entities (War on Terror, War on Drugs) drains the economy and erodes our civil liberties. I digress; my point is that my skills are better served than making a silly game about some naive, amateur, fraudster.

Europa Barbarorum for Barbarian Invasion

EB for BI is no longer hosted here. It has been released to the public domain and is now on sourceforge.

Note: Europa Barbarorum is an amazing mod for an amazing game called Rome Total War. To those not familiar with Europa Barbarorum, Rome: Total War is an amazing ancient era civilization and combat game, which allows you to manage ancient armies much like an ancient general would. EB takes it to the next level by making the game as historically accurate as possible.

From Zero To Hero: Ron Paul Is Now a Top-Tier Candidate

Just a few months ago, Ron Paul barely recognized in polling statistics. Before the election race started however, he was a favorite among libertarians and admired on a few economics blogs. Due to more people hearing his message on the internet, ABC news reports that Ron Paul has topped McCain in campaign financing with 2.4 million dollars. This is heartening, because this financing consists almost entirely of personal donations instead of the usual special interest or corporate donations. This also omits "in kind" financing due to the fact that donations of time and money aren't calculated until later. In terms of financing, the makes Ron Paul a top-tier candidate. This is a sign that his campaign has momentum, and his poll numbers should undoubtedly go up. He is already the top republican candidate on youtube and a top search in Technorati, but due to this surge in financing, the mainstream media will find him hard to ignore.