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John Linnell of They Might Be Giants Talks Tech
harrymcc writes "We've published Benj Edwards' wide-ranging interview with John Linnell, one half of the 30-year musical partnership known as They Might Be Giants. He talks about his life as a technology user--from his first encounter with the Radio Shack TRS-80 to his mastery of Asteroids to the band's long-time use of Macs to its pioneering experiments on online music."
often referred to as "The Thinking Man's Drinking Band."
Nerds everywhere thank them for giving us intelligent music in a time when the soul of music has nearly vanished.
They're still around? Hadn't heard about them since High School (which would have been about 20 years ago). My favorite is still 'Istanbul Not Constantinople'.
The base TRS-80 model 1 had next to no sound abilities, but the Orchestra-80 provided what was for the day, advanced sound.
http://www.trs-80.org/orchestra-80/
I owned one of those :). It seems woefully primitive by today's standards, but for the day, it was quite marvelous to hear music coming from my computer.
Not sure what your point is here. Are you saying it's hypocritical to advocate for "human rights" while purchasing/using (or even evangelizing) Apple products?
First of all, it's worth nothing that Foxconn factories make more than just Apple products. All the major manufacturers use Foxconn or similar factories with similar working conditions (actually, according to some reports Apple puts slightly more effort than other companies at insuring that worker standards are decent, but let's ignore that for now). So, basically, this isn't an "Apple" issue, this is a "technology" issue.
So, is it hypocritical to advocate for "human rights" while purchasing/using (or even evangelizing) technology? That's a tough question. Ultimately all aspects of our modern living take a toll on the environment, and, unfortunately, on other people. I suppose one could be blithely selfish and simply not care about other people's rights or standards of living. That would be less hypocritical, I suppose, but certainly not more moral.
There are also the usual progress-based arguments like: "it's better for those workers to have some kind of job rather than none", or "technology helps us be more efficient and helps us lift more people out of poverty", or "everyone is entitled to some luxuries, the key is being reasonable in one's impact", and many many others. What's my point here? My point is that there are some legitimate moral dilemmas here, and we should certainly be debating them, and figuring out a good path forward. But painting a caricature wherein "Mac users" are fundamentally and universally hypocritical (moreso than other tech users?) is a complete waste of time.
^my new favorite TMBG song
s/[stupid comments]/[intelligent discourse]/gi
You know Foxconn makes parts for virtually all major computer companies, right? It's almost impossible to avoid. That doesn't make poor treatment of empoyess acceptable, but singleing out Apple is a little silly.
and mainly find only sheeple of amazing varieties and multitudes!
And of course, you're better than that.
They are an awesome band and really fun to see live - they are pretty darn good players too - cheers
Not sure what your point is here. Are you saying it's hypocritical to advocate for "human rights" while purchasing/using (or even evangelizing) Apple products?
That's about the size of it, yes.
Wow. Tree hugger. Sheeple. Foxconn.
You should work for either Fox News or MSNBC because you've mastered the dark art of pushing buttons and filtering reality without actually saying anything intelligent.
And yet, here you are, taking advantage of a technology that is (for the purposes of your discussion) identical to that that you criticize them for enjoying. Now, maybe you don't care about human rights. Then, nobody could call you a hypocrite. So, you can be one of four things:
1. Someone who lives "off the grid" and never has any contact with the outside world, period. We all know that isn't the case.
2. Indifferent to the suffering of others.
3. You feel bad, but do nothing about it, because you don't want to be a hypocrite.
4. You do more about the problem than they do. (Would that make you a bigger hypocrite?)
Would any tree-hugger care to explain for me their obvious willingness to overlook Foxconn's business practices and most importantly their treatment of employees just to support "Macs"?
I, for one, only use white-box no-name parts whose manufacturer cannot possibly be found, let alone pressured for better working conditions! That'll teach Apple!
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Never heard them, so went to their website hoping to preview some fun music. After a couple minutes gave up and went to youtube. Not bad, but why would a band make it so hard to listen to and buy their music?
The Big Bang Theory's theme song is performed by TMBG - a geek match made in heaven!
Does it include an accordion? If so, that makes them awesome.
Some examples: TMBG, Weird Al, Moxy Fruvous (back when they were still together), MC Frontalot (listen to his backing tracks carefully, it's there).
I am officially gone from
Must be an American thing that so many people here seem to have heard of them - this side of the Atlantic TMBG are only vaguely remembered as being a novelty band from two decades ago.
The Wurzels surely?
Fun with Anagarams! LADS HOST, SHALT DOS. HAS DOLTS. AD SLOTHS, HATS SOLD. ASS HO, LTD.
Now you have a musician that's at least a bit computer/internet-savvy. Not a word about his take on copyright terms, copyright extortionists, youtube-video-deletions-because-of-a-song-playing-in-the-background, etc. A missed opportunity.
The problem is that they typically go out of their way to make mention of Mac usage. If you are going to emphasize something then you are by proxy saying all others are lesser!
The primary point is this... if they are going to go out of their way to fan boi apple, then why are they also not deluging Apple with requests or even protests of their business dealings with Foxconn? I like my standards served with a double portion waiter!
Also, I might ask the same question of you. If your only source of cash is from a person that robs a bank does it make you morally absolved? Just because Foxconn is the only choice does not make you less guilty. In the end your $$ goes to provide for their continued existence. The additional issue is, as I said the Intellectual dishonesty of peddling one ideology while supporting against your ideology with your own money!
Let provide and example of what I mean. I abhor DRM so much that I have refused to purchase games that contain any form of it that requires me to check in with a remote server for activation. They never get my money and I never get to play the game, unless I pirate it. But the short story is this, I do not give my money to companies that I provide activist attention against! Now perhaps if more people in this world had the temerity to act upon their beliefs the way I do, we would not be giving money to companies that like to abuse everyone for that extra penny.
But in the end, I do realize how hard it is to not carry that iPhone around and fan boi for certain companies. I keep only a basic prepaid phone for contact and emergency purposes, I do not give my money to Apple or any company that I knowingly have a grievance with, unlike the vast majority of intellectually dishonest members of society!
The author of the article seems to want to fit the band into a mold in which it doesn't belong, but that's the way life is. Here's what an " enlightened" employee of /. had to say about their latest kids album:
http://pudge.net/glob/2009/09/tmbg-pushes-atheist-propaganda.html
The point is revealing people for what they are in that they have values that they campaign for but spend their money against.
I do not begrudge those who purchase apple products but I do begrudge those who would campaign for human rights and then make an effort to point out their use of apple products. You see the devil is in the details and how you represent yourself is important. As long as we let people do this without pointing out their double standards what hope do we have of improving things eh?
My intent is not to paint Mac users as more hypocritical over other tech users. As a Techie myself I know that hypocrisy is filled to the brim in my career. I do not advance any OS over the other one because I know better. You can configure just about any OS to be ROCK SOLID if you are capable enough. Each OS has a pro and a con that you simply need to be aware of in your considerations.
It is indeed hypocritical to advance any cause while knowingly supporting against it with your money. Foxconn's dealings are not much of a secret these days, it would be hard for me to believe that "Mac" fans are ignorant of this.
For me I actually have more problems with Apple than I do Foxconn. I do not hold a company responsible for people that commit suicide as the person is killing them self. There are more problems than meets the eye here, however knowing that it is common for person of the left persuasion to blame Foxconn more than the self destroying, it is only fair to ask why this dishonesty continues.
Most people had Microsoft because they think they are a tyrant of a company, well Apply has them beat by a long shot. You can't develop anything for their platform without Apple getting a slice of your pie. You can develop all sorts of things for most of the other OS's without them even interfering! Microsoft may not be an open source platform but they are far more open than Apple, which is why MS won the desktop war.
And yet EVERYTHING you watch on TV is edited on a mac using "Final Cut Pro" as are most movies you watch and love.
The MAC is prevalent in your life. You just are far too uneducated to see it.
Embrace the MAC for it is the path to your salvation....
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
A better example is, if you do business with companies that caused and profited from the economy collapse, (All the big financial institutions) are you absolved of the crimes of causing the financial collapse?
Typically those kind of people that point out others loosely connected hypocrisy are themselves a huge hypocrite in almost everything they do. they point out other peoples flaws to help hide their huge glaring flaws.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Why they changed it? I can't say...
People just liked it better that way!
Something witty.
The problem is that they typically go out of their way to make mention of Mac usage. If you are going to emphasize something then you are by proxy saying all others are lesser!
The primary point is this... if they are going to go out of their way to fan boi apple, then why are they also not deluging Apple with requests or even protests of their business dealings with Foxconn? I like my standards served with a double portion waiter!
Also, I might ask the same question of you. If your only source of cash is from a person that robs a bank does it make you morally absolved? Just because Foxconn is the only choice does not make you less guilty. In the end your $$ goes to provide for their continued existence. The additional issue is, as I said the Intellectual dishonesty of peddling one ideology while supporting against your ideology with your own money!
Let provide and example of what I mean. I abhor DRM so much that I have refused to purchase games that contain any form of it that requires me to check in with a remote server for activation. They never get my money and I never get to play the game, unless I pirate it. But the short story is this, I do not give my money to companies that I provide activist attention against! Now perhaps if more people in this world had the temerity to act upon their beliefs the way I do, we would not be giving money to companies that like to abuse everyone for that extra penny.
But in the end, I do realize how hard it is to not carry that iPhone around and fan boi for certain companies. I keep only a basic prepaid phone for contact and emergency purposes, I do not give my money to Apple or any company that I knowingly have a grievance with, unlike the vast majority of intellectually dishonest members of society!
Must be nice to be hypocrisy-free in your bubble there. Your self-righteous devotion to virtue is impressive. Tell me, when do you think your moral perfection will reach critical mass and the light of your divine righteousness will guide the world to the One True Path which you are kind enough to forge for us lowly imperfect hypocritical troglodytes--who are cursed with the unbearable temerity to not immediately appreciate Your Word?
By your reasoning all accusers are guilty of the same misdeeds as the accused. Fantastic logic there!
The key here is KNOWINGLY contributing your money to a cause that you campaign against. If you are ignorant of what a company is doing I do not expect you to know better neither can you be blamed for hypocrisy. Now, despite that, most fans are well aware of the dealings of those they worship, therefore they cannot be expected to be as ignorant as others.
If you espouse "Human Rights", then make it a point to Fan Boi Apple, then you are most likely guilty of hypocrisy. If you don't care about the workers at Foxconn, or do care and don't buy Apple then you are not a hypocrite in this matter. One also cannot be a hypocrite in ignorance, but they are not blameless in will full ignorance.
For non-sheeple my logic is easy to grasp.
The article seems to be trying to position John as some kind of hacker/musician. The question on when did you first write computer programs could have had the same answer as when did you last write computer programs.
I love.. love.. love They Might Be Giants - trekked across town on foot one day so I could see them play in a little record store (place was packed, so I never saw them in the store.. but I heard them). As noted elsewhere, if you've never listened to them you're in for a treat.
All you know about, is trolling others, and you even admit it you online piece of trolling trash http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1907528&cid=34543612 Care to produce your CSC degree, gmhowell? You know - the one you do NOT have?? You're also a big talking bullshitter. Fact.
This quote from you says it all about you though, scumbag:
"I do whatever amuses me at the moment. Sometimes that is trolling. As far as AC? I only do that to avoid undoing moderations." - by gmhowell (26755) on Wednesday April 20, @12:49AM (#35877174) Homepage
Your own words prove to us that you're online trash gmhowell, you scumbag troll.
This IS why nobody here takes you seriously, or pays you any heed: You're a scumbag, & stalker troll!
You're also a recidivistic proven scumbag piece of online trash troll, here:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1907528&cid=34543612
And here:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2087330&cid=35846218
There's also just NO DENYING you are a troll, especially when you admitted it there in the links above, literally, in your own words.
Projecting your own faults onto others now? Please - give us a break, troll.