...watch Mike stumble through learning such basics as male vs. female, love, communication, why we have religion, how we use humor, death and how we fear it, money, privacy... Each time, Mike's character forces us to question the "why" behind those ideas in society that we take for granted. Religion (in our form) doesn't seem natural to him. He doesn't laugh. He doesn't understand the wonder of sex, nor why we have property.
Sounds like Michael Valentine Smith could have been a great Open Source developer.
I find myself unwilling to admit how irritating I find Katz's paternalistic, touchy-feely, approach to group dynamics. I should be able to ignore this half-arsed pop psychology, and laughable desire to extrapolate "Norman Rockwell" caricatures of real-world social institutions into the digital medium.
Congratulation, John - you have developed a new form of writing, transcending mere emotional connection to the reader, and actually inducing within them the desire to take a shower and scrub away the clinging, cloying sentiments that have engulfed them.
"Mutual benefit is the core of community" says Katz. Rubbish! Mutual protection is the core of physical community - the desire to group with those who are similar in opposition to those who are different, based on perceived threat. Mutual benefit is just a coincidence. Hostile environments form wherever there is fear of that which is different - fear manifest in rascism, nationalism, sectarianism (and all the other 'isms as well).
But Email, Usenet,/. are not "enviroments" which posess hostility or benevolence. They are simply collection of bits shuttling back and forth between computers. The experience of an individual user - the sequence of bits to which they are exposed - can only encompass a tiny percentage of the total mass of data in the system. No two people get quite the same experience, and technology is the very reason for that. Filtration, selection and peer-review allow for the creation of a unique information environment for every single person.
The suggested alterations to/. amount to an admission that the author does not know how to filter his experience. Or that he chooses not to, in the desire to share his pain with the rest of the world. Bugger off! I don't want a group hug. I don't care if you hated your school-days. Spare me your incessant whining. In fact, what am I saying? Uncheck the "JonKatz" box, add "JonKatz" to the killfile, "/ignore JonKatz". There, done! My sense of perspective returns, and the rights of all persons involved remain unviolated.
In the cold war era the danger was from "Big Brother" shaping thought and controlling information. Now it seems we've got to deal with "Big Sister" covering our eyes and protecting us from the big, bad world which is really much too dangerous and scary for us. No, don't look! You won't like it! Trust me!
(yes I know there's a bit of stereotyping of female authority figures in that, but work with me here - I'm doing a soundbite.)
Slashdot Mirror
...watch Mike stumble through learning such basics as male vs. female, love, communication, why we have religion, how we use humor, death and how we fear it, money, privacy... Each time, Mike's character forces us to question the "why" behind those ideas in society that we take for granted. Religion (in our form) doesn't seem natural to him. He doesn't laugh. He doesn't understand the wonder of sex, nor why we have property.
Sounds like Michael Valentine Smith could have been a great Open Source developer.What would these be? Loud screams, beating of the chest, throwing bananas?
SlickJim
I find myself unwilling to admit how irritating I find Katz's paternalistic, touchy-feely, approach to group dynamics. I should be able to ignore this half-arsed pop psychology, and laughable desire to extrapolate "Norman Rockwell" caricatures of real-world social institutions into the digital medium.
/. are not "enviroments" which posess hostility or benevolence. They are simply collection of bits shuttling back and forth between computers. The experience of an individual user - the sequence of bits to which they are exposed - can only encompass a tiny percentage of the total mass of data in the system. No two people get quite the same experience, and technology is the very reason for that. Filtration, selection and peer-review allow for the creation of a unique information environment for every single person.
/. amount to an admission that the author does not know how to filter his experience. Or that he chooses not to, in the desire to share his pain with the rest of the world. Bugger off! I don't want a group hug. I don't care if you hated your school-days. Spare me your incessant whining. In fact, what am I saying? Uncheck the "JonKatz" box, add "JonKatz" to the killfile, "/ignore JonKatz". There, done! My sense of perspective returns, and the rights of all persons involved remain unviolated.
Congratulation, John - you have developed a new form of writing, transcending mere emotional connection to the reader, and actually inducing within them the desire to take a shower and scrub away the clinging, cloying sentiments that have engulfed them.
"Mutual benefit is the core of community" says Katz. Rubbish! Mutual protection is the core of physical community - the desire to group with those who are similar in opposition to those who are different, based on perceived threat. Mutual benefit is just a coincidence. Hostile environments form wherever there is fear of that which is different - fear manifest in rascism, nationalism, sectarianism (and all the other 'isms as well).
But Email, Usenet,
The suggested alterations to
In the cold war era the danger was from "Big Brother" shaping thought and controlling information. Now it seems we've got to deal with "Big Sister" covering our eyes and protecting us from the big, bad world which is really much too dangerous and scary for us. No, don't look! You won't like it! Trust me!
(yes I know there's a bit of stereotyping of female authority figures in that, but work with me here - I'm doing a soundbite.)
Does anyone have any news about Linux?
SlickJim
Stenography The art or process of writing in shorthand.
Steganography The art of writing in cipher, or in characters which are not intelligible except to persons who have the key [fairly loose definition from Webster's]