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Those who argue 'the good side' of religion are ALWAYS thinking through severe myopia. Look around you; World War III is currently igniting on a global scale entirely because of religion. Geek game designers, despite their own over-reactionary limiting biases, (against spirituality), are smart enough to recognize the tom-fool sham that religion is.

I think that is a pretty simplistic argument claiming religion is the root of a specific war (the war on terror), ignoring that the last three major conflicts the United States was involved in (Vietnamese War, Korean War and World War II) were not fought about religion.

Now, if we use your logic, one could say that facism, communism, democracy, or capitalism were the ideologies for which folks would wage war, and thus, anyone who subscribes to any of those views suffers from an ideologues myopia.

In essence, religion is a poor excuse for war, but just because some folks believe it is, does not mean that religion itself is a sham or inherently wrong.

I find it interesting that fiction writers, (that is, people who have learned how to think effectively enough to be able to write a book), are also generally aware that religion is for chumps.

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, but honestly, religion takes a few good points from spiritual philosophy and warps them into mind-numbing brain poison designed to enslave and limit.

Ignoring the attempts to inflame passions by saying "religion is for chumps", let's consider this: you say that religion takes a few good points from spiritual philosophy and warps them.

I would say that what you're implying is that spirituality is "good" and (organized) religion is "bad".

The problem is... I don't think religion, when viewed as a communal expression of one's spiritual beliefs, is any more wrong than a group of people getting together to ride bicycles.

The problem is not with religion, per se, but with what happens when groups become mobs, or when people abuse their power within a community to incite and inflame tensions to promote violence against others.

So yes, while I respect your view that religion is often misused as an excuse to be intolerant, assinine, and perform evil acts... but in this, it is no different than any other organized group of human beings.

Don't people understand that it is dangerous to ride a bicycle while listening to music!?

i saw a transvestite wonder-woman piloting one of these in times square during the august critical mass ride. she seemed to be doing most of the pedaling with bunch of tourists half heartedly participating. there wasn't any conferencing going on, i think they were more into the spectacal. and maybe looking for a way to join critical mass. it looked like it was hard to steer. the pedi-cabs fared much better -- those are also trikes but with two passengers up front and one cyclist pedaling in the rear.

a side note, not long after times square i was arrested with about 240 other cyclists (out of 5000). the pedi-cab people were allowed out of the police lines, something about pedi-cab drivers "just doing their job"

Fear of being road pizza'd by an H2 is a reasonable feeling on a bike. But there are people trying to do something about it.

Critical Mass is a pro-bike social movement that tries to empower bicyclists. Check it out:

http://www.critical-mass.org

The oil companies outlawing bicycles? Pretty close, actually. There's a haphazard international collection of activists called "Critical Mass" which has the naive idea that everyone would be better off if people ditched their cars and rode bikes. Periodically, they get together and ride bikes in large numbers in the hopes that it will create a "Critical Mass" of bicyclists.

Response from business and law enforcement in the US is swift, harsh and unrelenting. In my own city the usual official descriptions range from "Communist" and "anarchist" (neat trick, that) to "terrorist". Lots of police presence, lots of arrests, lost of MJTF Homeland Security money going to keep them from riding bikes without at least one police officer per bicycle rider.

Food defamation laws are now routine. To say anything that would disparage food products or production is a crime in most states. It's not just "I don't like broccoli". Dairies have been shut down through legal pressure because they stated that their milk was free of BGH. Monsanto contended that simply saying that disparaged and defamed anyone who used BGH. Complain about the horrendously unsanitary conditions on the huge industrial hog farms? You could end up in court if you make noise anyone hears.

Yes, Virginia, that really is the way business is run these days.

The powers that be do not like even the possibility of dissent. Milton Friedman said during the first Bush Administration that one of the great advances was that nobody could even conceive of alternatives.

For those interested in seeing Bike safety improvements, please see the Critical-Mass movement.

In cities all over the world, on the last Friday of the Month (traditionally) people take to the streets and have a group ride. Its informal and fun. It is an effort to display the proof that Car-Centric culture/construction/society has an alternative.

The group just rides around town at a modest enough pace for the children amoungst us to keep up -- just a tonne of fun.

Check it out!

Bikes belong in the street. There is a political/social movement called Critical Mass that advocates bike-safe streets. ANY city can start a Critical Mass ride, they take place in cities all over the planet on the last friday of the month - AND ITS SUPER FUN!

all thats necessary is a few posters in the bike shops designating a meeting time (city hall, say 19:00) and the group determines the ride based on their mood. Follow the rules of the road, and pass out filers.

"we aren't blocking traffic, we are traffic"

how long before segway riders organize take-back-the-sidewalks rides?

annmariabell.com

The only time it's really a problem is Critical Mass.

Perhaps we should just be riding bikes in the bike lane and walking on the footpath (sidewalk)?
This thing really seems like the ultimate complicated solution to a problem that's already been solved... by bicycles! A bike is cheaper, faster, more reliable and it keeps you fit! Try joining a critical mass ride in your city. It's the most fun you can have on wheels.

We aren't missing a damn thing. If your other writing is as bad as the stuff you post to Slashdot, it's no wonder your books don't sell. And no, I'm not normally this mean about it, but your article was nothing except a long-winded advertisement for your book. The few tidbits you chucked in about "bottoms-up" marketing on the net have nothing to do with "open source" anything, and everything to do with changes in the face of telecommunications and media, especially as linked to demographic niches.

If you want to write an insightful article on the impact of the 'net, why not focus on something interesting like the 2001 election of RT Rybak to the office of Mayor in Minneapolis. His campaign grew out of his participation in a Minneapolis-issues politics mailing list and continues to use the list to communicate with constituents.

The list itself is notable for trumping some other forms of communication and media sources when it comes to "being in touch" with politics and news in Minneapolis. As an example, a recent Critical Mass bike ride in downtown Minneapolis was subject to a fairly brutal police crackdown, and while the main papers and (apparently) evening news slid right over the story, the list was a primary source of communication on the incident (the other great source being IndyMedia's web site).

I realize you've written many articles over the time I've read Slashdot focused on how the web/net democratize society and the economy as well, but this particular article is just plain shoddy. Especially since you throw in a lot of jargon, but don't really connect the dots between a dog book and net marketing. You haven't shown the rest of us how this really works (a key piece of what "open source" is all about), and you haven't shown how it has really helped you. Did you do a cost-benefit analysis detailing how much time you spent hyping your book in various online forums versus the revenue those presumably additional sales produced? Did you check to see if your online efforts were truly the source of the increase by using appropriate statistical sampling methods? Have you provided any part of the book online, or just a lame link to Amazon which any right-thinking moral netizen is boycotting?