I really wish I hadn't stayed up all night programming; I'm reading Plato's "The Republic" and it's so darned interesting. Just wish I was a bit sharper mentally for it ... for those of you who haven't read it, give it a read. The stuff he puts forth ... quite interesting.

Edit: I just got back from my exam. I could of written the essay *lot* better (it was unfocused and meandered from topic to topic), but overall I'm pretty satisfied, considering I managed to read the Republic and Politics by Aristotle in about 6 hours...

Did you know that if Plato had his way, women could have more power back in the day? Plus he'd have all those women work out in the gymnasium with men (They used to work out nekkid in the gymnasium).. YEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPP.

But some random brain farts before I crash:
- Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Although I feel that sometimes Socrates/Plato have a very negative view of people (inherently born bad?), I think that both would argue against absolute power corrupting absolutely. They claim that each person is bound by three characteristics: reason, emotion, and intellect. Since corruption is allowing your emotions (selfishness and greed) get ahead of reason and intellect (you *know* you shouldn't be getting corrupted), having reason and intellect control emotion will prevent this from happening.

This brings up an interesting point. Could there be an ideal government led by a smaller group? I've never been a fan of true democracy (the United States is a republic, not a true democracy) and I've wondered how a more centralized government would work. Of course, for a large country like the United States this would never work; I think these smaller governments could only work on smaller countries with the maximum size being a country the size of North Korea. Cuba would be perfect (I'm not trying to be funny here).

I'd like to see something like China's government (a Premier with a party that helps ruling) without the bureacracy ... and America's free market systems. I'm not sure who said that centralized power and free markets couldn't coexist, but I'll have to read up on why. Checks and balances are overrated if your executive branch can govern well; this requires the training of Plato and Socrates; "do it for the good of the whole."

Oh god, I'm a closet Socialist, aren't I? Damnit.

Things to do tonight:
- continued bug fixes at lb7 (presentations esp.)
- roadmap doc for audiomatch
- roadmap doc for tabulas
- coordinate api development for lb7 with borst
- ensure that paypal ipn is integrated with lb7
- send ben logo for tabulas/description