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I have to feel sorry, though, for those who make the same mistake as these spammers did and don't read this block.
And This Too, Shall Pass
If I had a Hammer...
I opened up this particular gong show act in [Re: Fanaticism], as a reply to a post by Pentrant. Tony rang his own personal gong on the argument, and I agreed with him that amongst the two of us there isn't much need of an internet argument that we couldn't do in person. However, Tony's Uncle Matt decided to get involved. Uncle Matt has blog links to a couple of the blogs I follow only in sadness via Feed the Wingnuts Some Sledgehammers. Therefore, it shouldn't be a surprise that he has written quite a bit of ridiculousness that is making me angry.
I have to stop reading this sort of stuff. It's probably not good for my outlook on life, which I'll be one of the first to admit sucks to begin with.
I've decided that I'm in the mood to editorialize Uncle Matt's latest posts and break them apart, simply to help myself and do it somewhere where I am free to use as many words as I need, not some stupid HaloScan box.
The comment in particular that has been driving me crazy took two or three readings before I think I was able to make a connection of it to the topic at hand:
Have you read the NY Times lately? Please go back and read about a month's worth of frontpage articles and then we'll discuss oppresion of Christian idea and thought...this from the so-called Paper of Record.
First of all, what does "Paper of Record" mean?
I love the sudden interjection of "oppresion (sic) of Christian idea and thought" in the middle of a discussion of Conservative v. Liberal fanaticism. It implies that Liberals aren't Christian or don't have/care ...
Blockquotes
Just a quick cool hack I found: I added to my template Dunstan Orchard's Blockquote JS file... For those that don't know, this uses the existing, although rarely used, CITE and TITLE attributes/tags to create an attribution link for a blockquote. Apparently, even though the standard has had the CITE attribute for several years now, no browser has yet to actually display it in a meaningful way. This JS file appends an attribute line to the blockquote to help solve this problem. It works in Firefox, but not IE.
Book of the Moment: Watchmen
Watchmen is ultimately one of the keys to the rise of the Graphic Novel in America. Interestingly enough, both Alan Moore, the writer of Watchmen and several others, and Neil Gaiman, the author of the Sandman (the first volume of which I read last weekend), are both British guys who have done much to gain acceptance of Graphic Novels in America. In America (unlike several other parts of the world, such as Japan) comic books and animated television/movies are oft considered "child" forms of entertainment. Graphic Novels are the more adult form of comics: often darker, edgier, more violent, more emotional, more thought-provoking. The art of the graphic novel in American culture rose in the 90s and now is having a heavy influence on Hollywood. You've probably seen a live action movie based on a graphic novel (From Hell or the less than extraordinary League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), and if you haven't, you will shortly (Sin City).
Watchmen itself is the tale of a a group of superheroes (the Crimebusters, nee Minutemen)... an unravelling of their back stories (the characters are new for the novel, although derived from older, now out of vogue, characters), an examination of their worth to society, an examination of their morality and mortality. I've long been of the belief that a good superhero comic is an exploration of morality, and Watchmen delivers that well. That belief shows in my preference often of Marvel's comics (Spiderman, X-Men) to DC's (Superman, Justice League), and perhaps another facet of why City of Heroes just didn't keep my attention. That isn't to say that Marvel doesn't have its poorer properties or DC its worthier properties. In fact, it has been DC that's lead the pack towards more maturity lately ...
Re: Fanaticism
Well, I feel sort of offended by this post from a friend of mine. I can't equate "Bush hating" with fanaticism. I'm not a Free/Open Source fanatic... I see the pros/cons of both sides and use only what suits me at the moment. As much maligned as IE is, for an example, it's recent shot in the arm of security (from XP SP2) puts it in line with Firefox as far as basic security is concerned and major exploits post-SP2 are usually user error (which I would argue most exploits before SP2 were still user error, but there were the definite "magic self installers" out there, too).
But as for Bush, maybe it is fanatical to love my country, but is it fanatical to complain when you think someone is damaging your country and offending your morals? Is that fanaticism?
I hate Bush because he is damaging the country. Him and his PNAC buddies/owners are doing irreperable harm to the country by tearing down some of the good international policies our forefathers fought hard to get in place, by ignoring the Geneva Convention, by deciding that "for the good of the country" (read: "for the good of corporate interests") that the United States must be engaged in an endless war...
I hate Bush because he represents some of the worst of Christian bigotry. Am I a fanatic for believing, as the forefathers did, that there should be a seperation of Church and State? Am I fanatic for not being a "religious fanatic"? Am I fanatic for being offended by the way Bush throws the word "God" around like pennies or the way Bush acts like he's the second coming?
In my few short years on this small planet I feel ashamed by the ...
Puzzle Pirates: An Officer's Journey
It felt good to be acknowledged a few nights ago in Puzzle Pirates... My character, the rather unassuming "just tell you where you need me" type guy named, as is typical for me, Rekam, was promoted to an officer within the crew Moose of Doom. Whereas the supergroup promotions in City of Heroes were largely ceremonial and ultimately provided little benefit, the promotions in Puzzle Pirates are just as intricately tied into the Economics and Play of the game.
As an Officer, Rekam is given the responsibilities over entire ships. Prior to the promotion the pirate Rekam, if 'e wished to set sail and pillage the seas of the Midnight Ocean, would have to find an officer already out at sea or job temporarily for another crew. (There are several things that can be done without hitting the seas, but you make pieces o' eight faster when ye're out pillaging the high seas.) Now Rekam can borrow one of the crews boats, hire jobbers, and go out sailing on his own. The other night he won his first battle alone (except for robot hands performing the ship's "lower" duties), and last night he took a entire journey from one island to another and back, mostly alone, winning four out of five battles with the brigands (robot ships). An Officer, due to the added responsibility and work, also makes slightly more in the course of a journey.
I got the typical "Intro to Officership" course, which like so many other things in my life I was able to jump in and run with it. The new position gives me an even better view of Puzzle Pirates' robust economy. I can't believe that the moneymakers in the world of virtual economies haven't yet encroached upon this economy yet ...
Holy Cow, Batman
Doing some random reading on Virtual World economies via Julian Dibbell (who is doing a Stanford seminar with Lawrence Lessig on Law and Virtual Worlds which sounds interesting) and came across COH Treasures. I've mentioned it before, but I played City of Heroes for about 3 months before getting bored with it and quitting. At the time I quit I had 1.4 million influence (COH's currency) on hand which I traded to the supergroup I was in for them to invest in younger superheroes. My jaw dropped to learn that to buy that much influence via COH Treasures would cost: $6,930.00.
On Copyleft...
I've been reevaluating my old rants against the GPL and realized where my stopping block was. I had long thought that I was put off by the Copyleft (all derivatives should be just as open as the original code), but when I was looking at Creative Commons licenses I decided on using the Copyleft clause (in CC terms: "share-alike"). In retrospect, my real concern was not with Copyleft, but with the other Creative Commons clause I choose: non-commercial. I'd love to have a GPL that allows me to restrict commercial derivatives like the CC by-nc-sa. I realize some of the arguments for/against this, but it would be nice to ask for even a minimal sum to license OS code for commercial use, instead of just hoping for charity.
But I realized that I now have much less resignation to write GPL code than I've ever had before. Perhaps as I grow older I indeed grow wiser, but I think in my case it is merely a matter of growing into less of an egotistical and greedy prick.
Why am I happy?
Now many events happen by chance, and events differing in importance; small pieces of good fortune or of its opposite clearly do not weigh down the scales of life one way or the other, but a multitude of great events if they turn out well will make life happier (for not only are they themselves such as to add beauty to life, but the way a man deals with them may be noble and good), while if they turn out ill they crush and maim happiness; for they both bring pain with them and hinder many activities. Yet even in these nobility shines through, when a man bears with resignation many great misfortunes, not through insensibility to pain but through nobility and greatness of soul.
— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book 1, Section 10
I've realized that today, being told that officially I have the most amount of work ahead of me as I've previously considered, I'm actually happy. So deliriously happy that I actually went out and did the things I was going to do and have been actually *gasp* studying this evening. In fact, for those not in my CECS 311 class, that would explain today's Aristotle quote, because I've been reviewing (in this case, reading in depth that which I had skimmed) the works we've been told to study for Computer Ethics & Law.
So, today I had been idly wondering why I felt so relieved and so happy to learn that I was completely at the bottom of the barrel and would have a lot of work to deal with. I just got crapped on, partly through my own choices, and yet, I'm happy. I'm happy to have a second chance. I'm happy to be alive. I'm happy to ...
Regrets Come Home...
Ever realize as you contemplate making a decision that you've already unconsciously made that decision? Ever have your unconscious mind push you to face the consequences of that decision whether or not your conscious mind is ready?
I've stated before that the only fate I can believe in is that which we bring upon ourselves. Where I consciously wanted to pretend to be content where I'm not content, my unconscious was tugging me to fight... and in retrospect it seems obvious what those small things added up to and why I did them, but at the time they seemed undirected and without purpouse. Luckily for me, this particular time appears to have worked out in my favor, even if I hadn't been planning on pursuing this. But, let me start over somewhere near the beginning:
Last summer I put a lot of effort into a job search. I emailled and considered harassing many HR reps from several big national companies. I somewhat intently read and commented on several blogs of interest in my job search. I was particularly hoping to perhaps get noticed for a position at Microsoft and believed, apparently mistakenly, that doing it for a non-Summer coop semester might give me some sort of leg up. I even emailled one particular noted software developer who owns a smaller firm only to find out he was something of a jerk.
After all that I finally got a job offer. It just wasn't for any of the jobs I had wanted. I took it, being a fool and needing a break from struggle. I knew at the time it was the easy way out and I would live to regret it. I do feel like I almost died last semester as I struggled to keep ...
Joel on GPA 2.0
Joel has just posted a new article that freshly opens old wounds.
Thanks to some Google Cache diving I've found the entire contents of my original post from 06/29/04:
I'm going to use Joel Spolsky as a whipping boy for my frustrations with the job search. Some would say that I should be gracious that he conceded to replying to me personally. He is, after all, some would say, a giant in software development.
A GPA is not objective. A GPA doesn't really say much without knowing where the GPA comes from. Joel Spolsky apparently stopped reading my resume as soon as he saw the 2.8 GPA just as I assume every other national company I sent my resume to did. I swear that the real problem here is grade inflation. Joel Spolsky tells me that most of the resumes he gets are from people with 3.8-4.0. I would bet that I've worked harder than the majority of them. I would also bet that the majority of them have dealt with a majority of teachers who believed that a 3.0 was average. At UofL most of the Art and Sciences School and Business School teachers do. On the other hand, a good third to half of my GPA is from teachers who strongly believe that a 2.0 is average. As far as they are concerned, my GPA is .8 above average. Most of the companies that deal with Speed on a frequent basis understand that. Both of the interviews I've had have respected that. The problem is, how do I show that I'm more than just a GPA number? How do I play ball at a national level?
Of course, part of what angers me is:
A Deeper Analysis of Fun in Play
In Chapter 3 of Designing Virtual Worlds, Richard Bartle describes a system he devised to break players of Virtual Worlds in classifications based on what they consider "fun" within the virtual world. Admittedly any such system is prone to exceptions, but in thinking about it I found one telling exception that to me says that Bartle's two-dimensional system doesn't have enough depth to it... the fact that Bartle excludes himself from the categorizations. Bartle explains that because he analyzes virtual worlds he doesn't see them as fun.
First of all, let me admit that I don't have the academic depth that Bartle has, and have not subjected these thoughts to as rigorous approach, as it is only meant as a thought experiment.
What I believe the primary lack in Bartle's system is is that it doesn't take into account all of the depth of a virtual world. Bartle's categorizations break a virtual world into a main dichotomy of "Players" and "Game". I think that in any virtual world there are often much more layers of gameplay than just those two. The reason for this is that whereas Bartle admits to not "having fun" in Virtual Worlds, I can admit to having, from experience, fun in my own ways in Virtual Worlds. (Barring pure egotistical debate that I "don't know as many of the magician's tricks" as Mr. Bartle, it does lead me to suspect that the system could use widening.) Extending it can only really add those layerss which I find fun that are currently outside the existing chart... Bartle himself might well still remain off the chart, but I think that the added depth will explain things better.
What is needed is a good general framework to represent the major ...
Tears of shame...
You don't get it?
It's not money that was needed from the President in the face of this huge Tsunami, it was the much more general concept of support: troops, solidarity, voice and vision. Certainly, it's not in his Constitutional job description, but a good president would have done it (largely because it is an ephemeral duty passed down from Washington himself). To pick a random name from a hat: had FDR learned of a crisis such as this he would have been on the radio immediately to rally congressional and public support to help. It's because of leaders like FDR that the machines of TV and Radio are there for immediate use, should the President wish to call Americans to arms in the face of great tragedy. Sure, patience is nice when you can afford it, but in the face of such great natural tragedies time is often a luxury that cannot be afforded.
Whether or not the American public is doing its part to help in this time of crisis, the American President is the figure that the entire world looks to to give a human voice to the commitment of the American public.
The sad thing is that these are the same concerns I voiced on September 11th. In the face of the greatest national tragedy of recent memory, our President's first action was not to speak to the American people, to assuage their grief and provide an anchor to the American public of trust and decision. Instead, the President ran and hid until his speech writers had had time to provide the "proper subtexts and spin" necessary to help push the President's agenda in a time when agendas should have been pushed aside.
Each and every speech Bush has given ...
The Tsunami Challenge
I've just put my money where my mouth is and donated $50 to Oxfam America to help care for those affected by the recent tsunami. My friend tas at LoadedMouth has set up a page for tracking blogger donations in his Blogger Tsunami Challenge and is pushing to spread the word by creating matching challenges. Here's mine:
The first person to let me know they've matched my $50 contribution can have the main character in my in progress novel named after them. If you ask nicely or exceed my contribution I could even give you a glimpse at my research/notes and let you shape the development of "your" character. Even if I don't complete the novel you can brag to all your friends that you "once were the main character in a novel". (People after the first are welcome to ask for secondary characters to be named after them...)
