An interesting book I read a few years back - Uncommon Genius by Denise Shekerjian. She interviewed a number of the MacArthur Foundation winners to try to determine what makes a genius.
What she found was that none of the winners could imagine doing anything else.... they did what they did out of love for their field.... and that they had all been doing it for a long, long time, day in and day out, just doing their work. Even the youngest winner she interviewed -- who I think was a linguist in his 20's -- had been studying languages since he was 6 years old.
Also some interesting background on the MacArthurs and the Foundation if I recall.....
According to today's NYT article, 'Monday' is being dropped. Kinda stupid to begin with.... Also being dropped is PWC's plan to move Monday's hq to Bermuda for tax purposes. Not a very good idea, either, in today's political climate.
At the outset, there's maybe five artists working on an album.
...and producers, engineers, the guy who goes to pick up the food, dealers, the guys who cleans the bathrooms in the recording studio, hookers, business managers, equipment rental,....
What a sad, sad thread this is. All anyone seems to be concerned about is career, career, career and how their education will prepare them for a job. Is that all you want to do with your life - work? Don't you want to be able to enjoy good music, good literature, good cinema. Don't you want to be able to understand your place and your country's place in history and in the world? Don't you want to be able to think for yourself or will you just be another slave to the great marketing beast.
You people don't belong in universities. You belong in trade schools.
What sad and ultimately meaningless lives you will all lead.
Here's my theory: Back in the ancient days, the BeforeTime, the web was mostly the home of academics, students, geeks, gen-Xers,/.'ers and other assorted slackers and layabouts who had plenty of time on their hands and no real purpose in life;-). Naturally random web surfing was the perfect sort of mental masturbation for these lusers. As the web became more of a mainstream phenomenon, there were more real people on the web -- people with jobs, families, houses, lives, shit to do. So naturally web surfing became more purposeful. I predict, though, that this may change dramatically when boomers start retiring and have more free time.
Why I'll hold my nose and vote for Al
on
Should You Vote?
·
· Score: 1
I think the differences between the two major candidates are ulitmately miniscule, and any polices they implement with regard to Social Security, healthcare, etc. will be filtered through a bi-partisan congress anyway, so will probably come out looking about the same no matter who wins.
I can't vote Libertarian because I don't share their ultiimate faith in the market (read: corporations) to do what's right. Witness Ford and Firestone. I do believe that government has a balancing role.
I can't vote for Nader because he's just an old lefty fart.
Buchanan..., yeah, right.... far right.
My decision to vote for Gore is based primarily on cultural issues: the Jerry Falwell's and Pat Robertson's have been keeping quiet throughout the whole campaign but they're just salivating in the wings, waiting for a Bush victory. I cannot and will not support the party of the Christian right. If you think you're seeing culture bashing now, wait til these guys get re-emboldened by a Bush victory......
Here's an interesting quote from an article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer that fits somewhere in this debate:
Consider some numbers collected by Philadelphia Federal Reserve economist Len Nakamura for an upcoming article in the Fed's Business Review. In the United States last year, there were 7.6 million people working as what Nakamura calls creative professionals - engineers, architects, scientists, designers, entertainers and so on.
That's more than six times the number of people working in such jobs in 1950. And as a proportion of the total workforce, the number of creative professionals has about tripled.
Aside from the higher wages they command and the greater amount of training they require, people in these jobs share another trait, Nakamura says: They are able to earn a living largely because of property rights - patents, licenses, trademarks and the like - which give them (or their employers) at least temporary monopolies over the product of their work.
I'd guess this applies, directly or indirectly, to most/. readers as well.
There are a number of legitimate costs associated with music production that most people aren't aware of or don't think about, e.g., contributions to pension plans and health insurance for union musicians. There are lots of musical and technical people behind the scenes who support the process and there are longstanding contractual and practical arrangements to insure that these people make a decent living under decent conditions as well.
I'm not saying that $16 is necessarily the perfect price point for cd's -- but let's look at reality, not your fantasies.
"...millions of Americans have been accessing free music for years now, and have come to see their music archives as both a right and an integral part of their lives...."
Hey, I've been accessing free books for years now at my local library. I myself have come to see access to free books as a right and an integral part of my life.
So, Jon, how about putting your books on line and make them available for free download?
You can always find alternative means of generating revenue to support yourself and your family.... Suburban Detective T-shirts.... Jon Katz refrigerator magnets...
Interesting that Katz's story should be posted the same day that this article was front page news in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Maybe they're both right. The gist of both seems to be that women of all ages are using the net as a tool (which is as it should be) rather than as an end in itself and are turned off by the adolescent, masturbatory male geek culture......
This certainly puts the lie to all the 'intellectual property wants to be free' crap that's been circulating here and elsewhere. Everyone tells us how the artists are abused by the big, bad record companies..... now we hear what the artists have to say for themselves.
When Jon Katz publishes his next book on the web for free, maybe I'll change my mind. Somehow I don't think he paid the publishing, promotion and book tour costs for 'Geeks' out of his own pocket, do you??
This has been an interesting and thought-provoking week. If nothing else the protests have forced people to become aware of WTO and what it is and does.
My first reaction (to my boomer horror) was -
Hey these guys trying to get into the meetings are actually sitting down and trying to hammer out compromises on these issues that are at least partially acceptable to everyone. The folks in the street are all screaming 'I want it MY way!'. I'd like to see the anarchists, milita members, greens, hippies, labor unionists, and Pat Buchanan-ites sit down and agree on anything!
I do agree, though, that the whole process needs to be opened up to the light of day and more people need to be brought to the table.
Also, inundated with advertising and junk mail catalogs during this holiday season, I've become even more disgusted and awestruck at the amount of pure useless CRAP that is being churned out and advertised by the corporate machine..... and how much of it is apparently bought by Americans.
I haven't seen EOD and probably won't (ok, maybe when it comes out on video...) Judging by your description, though, I continue to be amazed that a sweet and ulimately deeply religious film like Dogma draws protesters while tripe like this which shows priests being butchered and, judging from the commercials, churches being blown up or whatever, doesn't elicit a peep from these morons........
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An interesting book I read a few years back - Uncommon Genius by Denise Shekerjian. She interviewed a number of the MacArthur Foundation winners to try to determine what makes a genius.
What she found was that none of the winners could imagine doing anything else.... they did what they did out of love for their field.... and that they had all been doing it for a long, long time, day in and day out, just doing their work. Even the youngest winner she interviewed -- who I think was a linguist in his 20's -- had been studying languages since he was 6 years old.
Also some interesting background on the MacArthurs and the Foundation if I recall.....
According to today's NYT article, 'Monday' is being dropped. Kinda stupid to begin with.... Also being dropped is PWC's plan to move Monday's hq to Bermuda for tax purposes. Not a very good idea, either, in today's political climate.
At the outset, there's maybe five artists working on an album.
...and producers, engineers, the guy who goes to pick up the food, dealers, the guys who cleans the bathrooms in the recording studio, hookers, business managers, equipment rental,....
What a sad, sad thread this is. All anyone seems to be concerned about is career, career, career and how their education will prepare them for a job. Is that all you want to do with your life - work? Don't you want to be able to enjoy good music, good literature, good cinema. Don't you want to be able to understand your place and your country's place in history and in the world? Don't you want to be able to think for yourself or will you just be another slave to the great marketing beast.
You people don't belong in universities. You belong in trade schools.
What sad and ultimately meaningless lives you will all lead.
Here's my theory: Back in the ancient days, the BeforeTime, the web was mostly the home of academics, students, geeks, gen-Xers, /.'ers and other assorted slackers and layabouts who had plenty of time on their hands and no real purpose in life ;-). Naturally random web surfing was the perfect sort of mental masturbation for these lusers. As the web became more of a mainstream phenomenon, there were more real people on the web -- people with jobs, families, houses, lives, shit to do. So naturally web surfing became more purposeful. I predict, though, that this may change dramatically when boomers start retiring and have more free time.
I think the differences between the two major candidates are ulitmately miniscule, and any polices they implement with regard to Social Security, healthcare, etc. will be filtered through a bi-partisan congress anyway, so will probably come out looking about the same no matter who wins.
I can't vote Libertarian because I don't share their ultiimate faith in the market (read: corporations) to do what's right. Witness Ford and Firestone. I do believe that government has a balancing role.
I can't vote for Nader because he's just an old lefty fart.
Buchanan..., yeah, right.... far right.
My decision to vote for Gore is based primarily on cultural issues: the Jerry Falwell's and Pat Robertson's have been keeping quiet throughout the whole campaign but they're just salivating in the wings, waiting for a Bush victory. I cannot and will not support the party of the Christian right. If you think you're seeing culture bashing now, wait til these guys get re-emboldened by a Bush victory......
Here's an interesting quote from an article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer that fits somewhere in this debate:
/. readers as well.
Consider some numbers collected by Philadelphia Federal Reserve economist Len Nakamura for an upcoming article in the Fed's Business Review. In the United States last year, there were 7.6 million people working as what Nakamura calls creative professionals - engineers, architects, scientists, designers, entertainers and so on.
That's more than six times the number of people working in such jobs in 1950. And as a proportion of the total workforce, the number of creative professionals has about tripled.
Aside from the higher wages they command and the greater amount of training they require, people in these jobs share another trait, Nakamura says: They are able to earn a living largely because of property rights - patents, licenses, trademarks and the like - which give them (or their employers) at least temporary monopolies over the product of their work.
I'd guess this applies, directly or indirectly, to most
There are a number of legitimate costs associated with music production that most people aren't aware of or don't think about, e.g., contributions to pension plans and health insurance for union musicians. There are lots of musical and technical people behind the scenes who support the process and there are longstanding contractual and practical arrangements to insure that these people make a decent living under decent conditions as well.
I'm not saying that $16 is necessarily the perfect price point for cd's -- but let's look at reality, not your fantasies.
"...millions of Americans have been accessing free music for years now, and have come to see their music archives as both a right and an integral part of their lives...."
Hey, I've been accessing free books for years now at my local library. I myself have come to see access to free books as a right and an integral part of my life.
So, Jon, how about putting your books on line and make them available for free download?
You can always find alternative means of generating revenue to support yourself and your family.... Suburban Detective T-shirts.... Jon Katz refrigerator magnets...
Interesting that Katz's story should be posted the same day that this article was front page news in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Maybe they're both right. The gist of both seems to be that women of all ages are using the net as a tool (which is as it should be) rather than as an end in itself and are turned off by the adolescent, masturbatory male geek culture......
This certainly puts the lie to all the 'intellectual property wants to be free' crap that's been circulating here and elsewhere. Everyone tells us how the artists are abused by the big, bad record companies..... now we hear what the artists have to say for themselves.
When Jon Katz publishes his next book on the web for free, maybe I'll change my mind. Somehow I don't think he paid the publishing, promotion and book tour costs for 'Geeks' out of his own pocket, do you??
You might want to try Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin. Kind of a sf coming-of-age novel. Perfect for a 13 year old.
>I therefore strongly dislike the use of "gender" >to mean "sex."
Nouns have gender....... people have sex.
This has been an interesting and thought-provoking week. If nothing else the protests have forced people to become aware of WTO and what it is and does.
My first reaction (to my boomer horror) was -
Hey these guys trying to get into the meetings are actually sitting down and trying to hammer out compromises on these issues that are at least partially acceptable to everyone. The folks in the street are all screaming 'I want it MY way!'. I'd like to see the anarchists, milita members, greens, hippies, labor unionists, and Pat Buchanan-ites sit down and agree on anything!
I do agree, though, that the whole process needs to be opened up to the light of day and more people need to be brought to the table.
Also, inundated with advertising and junk mail catalogs during this holiday season, I've become even more disgusted and awestruck at the amount of pure useless CRAP that is being churned out and advertised by the corporate machine..... and how much of it is apparently bought by Americans.
I haven't seen EOD and probably won't (ok, maybe when it comes out on video...) Judging by your description, though, I continue to be amazed that a sweet and ulimately deeply religious film like Dogma draws protesters while tripe like this which shows priests being butchered and, judging from the commercials, churches being blown up or whatever, doesn't elicit a peep from these morons........
For your reference:
There was an article a couple of issues back in
wired about the amish and their use of technology. Good stuff --
Matrix = Dark City + Jackie Chan.
If you like Dark City, see it on DVD with Roger Ebert's full length commentary......