Slashdot Mirror
Turn Your Head Into Speakers
Roland Piquepaille writes "A small company based in Iowa has developed products made with a "smart" metal that can turn your walls or your head into speakers. "Last August, Etrema -- an innovative technology firm nestled in the cornfields of Ames, Iowa -- started selling those chrome discs for $1,500 a pair. Called Whispering Windows, they can turn any wall, window, or drab conference table into a speaker." The author tried the technology, and even if she needed a full bottle of Tylenol after usage, said "it's not every day that your head serves as a piece of stereo equipment." This overview tells you more about this "magic" metal, the Terfenol, which is a combination of terbium and dysprosium. The article also says that we can soon expect pirated versions of Terfenol coming from China."
I, for one, welcome our new Speaker-Head overlords. Their superior Speaker-Heads alone will be enough to grant world domination.. and..
Mod me as a troll, but this one has to be said.. What the FUCK were they thinking?
Eric S. Raymond, self-appointed historian/custodian of hacker culture and inventor of the "official" logo for said culture, a libertarian, "gun nut", neo-pagan, musician, open-source developer, fetchmail maintainer, LARP-er, warblogger, and anti-censorship activist. Surprising however is the claim to be a libertarian, and yet at the same time praise both Bush, the war on terror, and the blatant violations of international law in pursuit of the WOT.
Certainly an accomplished and diverse resume. Certainly an unconventional person by anyone's measure. I for one appreciate and commend ESR for his many contributions to the "hacker" culture that I consider myself to be somewhat a part of, although I disagree with the terminology and some of the widely held beliefs of said culture. There is no doubt that Eric has been a valuable member of our community, certainly The Cathedral and the Bazaar and his lobbying of Netscape were large steps forward for the open-source movement. There are those who view these important contributions with less appreciation than I, and ESR has his foes among our movement, of that we can be certain, but the general consensus is that he has added greatly to that which we cherish.
Now however, even more than ever we have begun to see Raymond take the path of those who seek fame and power more than the ability to serve and contribute. Claims of egotistical behavior and power-hungry publicity tactics are more the norm than the praise of the past. Resentment and revulsion have become the typical reactions among many here and elsewhere. Why is it that we are more likely to see unchecked trolling against ESR than any other in our community save perhaps Stallman? I will present the facts and background that will inform you the reader of the self-absorbed and uncompromising views of Eric S. Raymond. To take a cheap and easy shot, I would say that it is an ugly picture, even more so than the portrait of the man himself.
Let us begin with what seems to be the most specific and common complaint against the man, his usurpation of the Jargon File, the dictionary of hacker culture. Disregarding those who are angered merely at the fact that ESR has taken the Jargon File as his own and removed some of the older terms, many have railed against him for molding the File in his own image. We will also disregard terms such as "Aunt Tilly", that although not used widely if at all by any hackers at all save Raymond and a handful of others is not an entirely unfit term for the File, as it originated on the LKML and some feel it is fit for inclusion. Instead I will cite the three massively unfit terms that Raymond has chosen to enter into the "offical" lexicon of hacker-dom, "GandhiCon", "anti-idiotarianism" and "fisking". GandhiCon - 386 hits on google. I have found that ESR is the main user of this term, and seems to be it's originator. Other than ESR this term seems to be limited to those who have read ESR's writings on the subject and wish to imitate him. Hardly a widespread "hacker" term by anyone's measure. However I am willing to concede this addition on the basis that at least it deals with issues central to the open-source movement, others are more up in arms over it's usage than I, but I appreciate that this particular term actually could be a candidate for inclusion in the Jargon File.
The other two additions are more troubling, and are nothing more than pet terms of ESR himself and his personal ideology and habits, which I will delve into further into this post. Anti-idiotarianism - supposedly "very common" according to ESR's entry. This entry is far beyond gripes with things like "Aunt Tilly". Anti-idiotarianism refers mostly to ESR's own screed on the subject, "The Anti-Idiotarianism Manifesto". A document that highlights ESR's own personal politics and attempts to bash multiple groups of people. Simply search for this term to find out the depths of of his political views. This political term that describes ESR's own writings has no place in the Jargon File, as is the case for fisk