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Friday, February 25, 2005 - 05:42 p.m. -
Another reason to hate journalists.
And don't blame the headline writer - it's built into the lead. Or "lede" - a further reason to hate journalists.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 04:43 p.m. -
(Oh, and beware the below-mentioned Ellis' page: It often contains images and ideas that will certainly result in your termination and imprisonment if displayed in the wrong venue.)
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 04:39 p.m. -
I just found out that one of my favorite contemporary writers, creator of the brilliant Transmetropolitan series, Colonel Warren Ellis, is slightly younger than I am. Small consolation that he looks, sounds, acts, and feels twenty years older. See what a cigar'll do?
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 04:38 p.m. -
Moral: Don't underbid.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - 08:48 p.m. -
Get this -
10 GOP state senators right here in Washington want to split our state down through the Cascades. My first response was a slightly warmer version of "Good riddance!" but we've got to stop this, or at least amend it. If we create a 51st state that means adding two Republican senators to an already unbalanced US Senate, not to mention the damage to the Electoral College. Some big-name Democrats have expressed interest.
A much better solution, and one that they will certainly reject, would be to split Washington AND Oregon into two states with a north-south border rather than the east-west Columbia. No new senators, no new electors, but a nice redistribution of voters - and wealth. I'd sign on in a heartbeat. I suggest that you all get in touch with your state senator and let them know that you don't want to give the Republicans two free senators.
Saturday, February 19, 2005 - 11:10 a.m. -
I can love art again.
I'll just quote the piece rather than try to direct you to the artists' section:
DYLAN REIFF AND JOE KORSMO
In 2002, Dylan Reiff and Joe Korsmo began tracking the internet activities of Kolin, aka V. Gnome, an 18-year old computer gamer. They monitored and recorded Kolin’s AOL instant messages and gathered information about his friends and family from other sources on the net. Blending this data with scenarios from videogames and sci-fi films, they developed a mythology in which Kolin is “singled out as the savior of the human race.” The story is told in Gem Missile: A Tribute to V. Gnome, a 40-page book that incorporates photographs of Kolin and excerpts from his personal correspondence. In August 2003, Reiff and Korsmo showed up on Kolin’s parent’s doorstep in Chicago. Reiff introduced himself as “Z. Figiam,” Kolin’s “mentor from the future,” presented him with the book, and left without further explanation.
The plot thickened several days later with Kolin posted a detailed description of the encounter to an on-line gaming forum, along with digital photos of every page in the book. Members of the forum quickly added their own theories and responses, which ranged from close readings of the text and speculations about the gender of its authors, to admissions of jealousy and accusations that Kolin had invented the story in order to get a high rating for his thread (which in a few weeks had received over 40,000 hits).
A year passed after this initial contact. In August 2004, Reiff and Korsmo mailed Kolin a package containing a photograph of their meeting a year earlier, along with a note, a certificate, and a plane ticket to Minneapolis. Kolin was met at the airport by a man in a beat up Lincoln Town Car who identified himself as “The Gatekeeper.” For two days, Kolin was lead around the city in search of robots, buried treasure and information needed to save the future. Reiff and Korsmo involved numerous actors and another on-line gamer who, equally baffled, was driven with Kolin to a forest and abandoned there. At some point, Kolin noticed that his new friend had mysteriously disappeared. “I stood there alone in the woods, in Minnesota, with a shovel and a large black locked box, more confused then I have ever been in my life.” Kolin survived the trip and posted a detailed account of his adventure, concluding, “it was a great experience, and I would not hesitate to save the future again, if the chance ever arose.” Dylan Reiff is an actor and playwright who studies theater at Antioch College. Joe Korsmo studies business and marketing at the University of Pennsylvania. Both are avid gamers and have been playing them together for 15 years. Their installation is titled after Kolin’s mother’s announcement: There’s Someone at the Door, He Says He’s From the Future.
Friday, February 18, 2005 - 12:48 p.m. -
Not sure what to make of this,
but I think I like it. I guess I should expand: I definitely like the instance, but I'm not so sure about the consequences. Well, it's South Africa, so who knows if it'll spread. Just go check it out.
Friday, February 18, 2005 - 09:28 a.m. -
And how long do you suppose this will last? I'm not so concerned with the busted sacredness of my childhood icons, as some folks seem to be. But come on - "Buzz Bunny?" A superhero in the future? Try again.
Monday, February 14, 2005 - 04:20 p.m. -
Fascinating. I just checked my GMail account for the first time in quite a while and discovered that its spam folder was bulging. Turns out I've been getting about 1/day since December at least - despite never having used it for anything except thanking my dear and wonderful friend Kate for inviting me (she is one step higher up on the geeking order).
I mean, I guess it's not that surprising, and I get ~200x more spam on my main account, but still. Makes me want to sign on for Cringely's old idea that we charge about $.0001 for each e-mail sent and give it to an infrastructure-supporting fund or something. It doesn't really harm anyone but bulk mailers and the very poor - and maybe the $$ could go to help them (the poor) with access. Anyway, there's no way that I know of to institute and enforce such a scheme, but let's get to work on it, OK, Internet? Thank you.
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