Criminal Intent (or the lack of it)

I'm only in college. I still find the lack of criminal intent in the people around me appalling. Really. Just the other day, I was on a public computer in college, when enthu pointed out one entire folder lying on the desktop. A particular set of students had downloaded a set of documents that they would copy entirely for a project. I don't really have a problem with people copying projects off the internet. There are times when the spark of inspiration simply does not come. However, when you're doing something wrong, at least DO IT PROPERLY. How can you leave traces on a computer that is accessed by a large number of people? And on the desktop?

I'd almost forgotten about writing this post, until (new character, YAY!) Gen. L. Oblivious reminded me with a 'lack of criminal intent' incident of her own. Gen. L. Oblivious is properly known as General Lee Oblivious. Now that the introductions are out of the way, the incident:

Gen. Oblivious : I'm spooked even when I walk around college!!
greySith : lol wtf... What's to be afraid of in college?
Gen. Oblivious : oh theres plenty...
greySith : Name one realistic reason
Gen. Oblivious : The other day... I was going through a RANDOM guy's phone to choose a pattern for the department sweatshirt and the next picture was... no prizes for guessing... mine...
1) staring at the ceiling in the boring math lecture
2) at the cafe house with a disfigured mouth chewing on something
and three more like that
greySith :@
Gen. Oblivious : Felt like I was being watched by Big Brother...

Now, I'm not the sort who would take pics of women without them noticing just for the heck of it. But, if I had to do it (for a bet etc.) I really wouldn't have taken pics of the girl and then handed her my phone to look through some pics. How daft is that!?

Some of you might say that criminal intent is only needed by people who do things that are wrong. I tend to disagree. You're online now, reading my blog. The internet is an unsafe place. Very unsafe. It is ideal to leave as little trace of what you do online as possible. Whether or not it is happy information or incriminating information, information on the interwebs can be used against you. Criminal intent does not only mean covering up wrongdoing. I consider it to mean protecting any information from people who shouldn't have it. On the internet, as a certain cartoon character would say, 'be wawy wawy caweful'.

Note: Gen. Oblivious is not to be mistaken for Captain Oblivious. She far outranks him!

For a few moments...

... Matt Prior became the coolest cricketer in the world!

The world isn't ending...

... in 2012. I will quote the same sources that are running around in circles with their hair on fire, screaming 'aaaaaaaaaa', claiming we're all going to die in 2012.

The Large Hadron Collider will become fully operational sometime in 2010/2011. I am sure that there is much truth in the 2012 doomsday predictions, but I have similar faith the 'LHC-will-be-our-end' theory.

Therefore, since the world will asplode in 2010/2011, when the LHC creates an all-devouring mini black hole, there's no chance of doomsday being in 2012.

There simply won't be a world to asplode!

Conscience

The scene: fag end of a horribly annoying robotics paper. Have just reached a problem that is in two parts. Part 1, I knew exactly how to do. Part 2, I assumed would never come in a paper, and if it did, 'I'd figure it out.'

So now I'm there, 'figuring it out'. Three possible answers come from the three possible ways of doing the problem - 2.5 years, 3 years and 3.33 years. The numbers are running through my head. After a brief battle in my head, I finally decide on 2.5 years.

About three minutes later, the paper ends. The usual post-paper rapid copying session begins. I wearily close the answer booklet and keep the pen down in disgust.

The guy in front of me looks at another guy,

Guy 1: What's the answer to the payback period problem?
Guy 2: Three years
Guy 1: Great, I got the same answer!

Almost instantaneously, a demon and an angel appear on my shoulders. (Okay, so they don't, but we'll pretend that they did).

Demon: Go on! Change it!
Hands eagerly start looking for the last pages of the answer booklet
Angel: NO WAY!
Sheepish hands keep looking for that page, albeit more slowly
Demon: Come on! You haven't done this for three-and-a-half years. No one will grudge you this once!
Happy hands find the problem
Angel: Now is no time to begin.
Brain starts to think of the method that gives 3 years as the answer
Demon: Al..mo..st.. there!
Brain has decided the changes to be made. Hand slowly moves towards pen
Angel: You decided that 2.5 years made the most sense. YOU made that choice, now see it through, no matter what.

The whole 'back your decisions' thing suddenly snaps the brain out of the angel-demon reverie.

I'm glad I didn't change it. Turned out later that I had 'figured it out' the correct answer. And I'm proud I didn't give in. My sinless record in college survives!