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CodeCon, Placebos, Fear, Yoyo-hacking, Dune, etc.

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the these-are-no-ordinary-yo-yos dept.

doom writes "Annalee Newitz rambles about CodeCon, placebos, random numbers, fear, yoyo-hacking, Dune and more. This is what it means to be a geek: Techsploitation."

4 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. is that it ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful


    i know /.'ers have a short attention span but 200 words of thin rambling doesnt really make an article

    if i wanted articles of this level of intelectual calibre i would get my lowdown from "TechTV" or "the Screensavers"

  2. This article is a splendid example of... by purduephotog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... what is not journalism. It's mostly a rambling trend of thought that, unfortunately, is very publishable on the internet.

    "Hacking YoYos" ??? Hardly. That's not new, and it certainly wasn't invented at this conference. People (and self) have always 'modified' a yoyo when it wasn't performing well.

    I won't even go into the logic the writer espouses while complaining that doctors are allowed to cause pain in the name of science. Anyone remember the 'call for volunteers' that NASA wanted to lay on their back at a negative incline for months to simulate weightlessness? That's a hell of allot more intrusive and damaging than being poked or heated.

    Enough New-Age crap.

  3. What the hell was that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have no idea what that article was about. What is CodeCon? Nevermind the shiny LED's and the yo-yo's, someone find that writer an editor. In fact, speaking of editors, how the hell did this get posted in the first place?

    Oh, and for some reason, the Shmoo site is down. *goes in search of a mirror*

  4. The real hackers? by KludgeGrrl · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Somehow "hacking a yo-yo" seems much more in the spirit of what hacking (as opposed to cracking) is all about -- playfully seeking to improve the way things work.

    But then I suppose that I'm just grasping after an earlier halcyon age, when everything was somehow better (including spelling) ;)