"How much influence would you allow others to have on you?"
May 30, 2002
This one comes from the “If” Project. New questions posted every month.
If family or friends had issues with the one you are romantically involved with, would you listen? How much influence would you allow others to have on your relationship?
Definitely, I’d listen. I may completely disregard their comments, but I’ll listen. If nothing else, it would alert me to new pitfalls to avoid with family members.
My immediate family is fairly live and let live. They trust me not to be a complete assface when it comes to choosing my friends, associates, and what have you. If one of them had something to say to me about someone with whom I was romantically involved, chances are it would be a rather important something: like “he just made a pass at my girlfriend, I don’t think he’s completely straightforward with you” or “I remember seeing him last week on ‘Cops’.” I was engaged to a guy who was of a different ethnic background, and after I’d been dating him a year, my dear aunt was heard to remark to my mother, “Oh, you mean she’s still dating one of -=them=-?” (Of course, this is the same aunt who urged her son to dump a girl because the girl had cervical cancer and wouldn’t be able to bear his children; so in retrospect it’s really not too surprising.)
Permalink
A technological haiku. Paean. Something.
May 24, 2002
God bless DSL,
geeking more, for less purpose —
but faster! so much faster!
I originally left this over at helenjane's place...then I decided to try and make it an actual real haiku.
It's not as if I can do anything more today, with no MIME:Lite component installed, and the ISP prefers to muck with their own Perl configuration (I can't say as I blame them, on that one.)
Permalink
Reading, writing, and 'rithmetic.
May 23, 2002
And next week is a short one because of the Memorial Day holiday. Ahhhhh…that’s nice. I’m going to loop back and do the Wednesday Whine later on, but right now, here’s the Thursday Threesome:
Onesome. Readin’. Tell me about your favorite book you read as a kid.
I think it was The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks. I read a LOT when I was younger (really? you say. We never would have guessed). Once I got off the phenobarbitol, I left the fantasy genre behind for sociological science fiction. Which, some might argue, isn’t really a step up.
Twosome. ‘Ritin. Everyone does a Senior Research paper. What was YOUR Senior Research Paper about?
I must have been in an alternate universe. I have no idea what the hell a Senior Research Paper is. Let alone ever had to do one. Is this similar to a university thesis paper? I’m going to guess “yes”, and say, “I never did one, then.” Rising tuition costs helped me realise that I really wasn’t getting a whole heck of a lot out of my university experience. I already knew how to learn, form opinions, evaluate issues, break down tasks, problemsolve, troubleshoot, and so forth. About the only thing that uni would have taught me, had I been able to afford to stay the course, would be how to put up with incalculable amounts of steaming bullshit yet still keep a smile on my face. Or, as the old charm-school joke goes, “Well isn’t that interesting.”
Threesome. ‘Rithmatic. Using those ‘rithmatic skills to balance the checkbook…so, what store seems to have the most entries in your register, and what the heck have you been buying there?
I own far too many candles. I get them at different places; but I still own far too many of them. Books are another big fave, though I’ve been cutting down on spurious book and music purchases by not going to book and music stores. Or, at least, that was the plan…until I actually made a semi-impulse purchase from Amazon the other day, my first ever (I tend to want to see sthing before I buy it — I’m odd that way.) Well, I was bored out of my tree here at work, and the browser window just…pointed…itself…at Amazon. Yeah. That’s what happened.
Permalink
No codes here. You rude things.
May 21, 2002
So there’s a message in my inbox from some person stopping by my site, asking for the serial number to Photoshop 5 LE.
They’re kidding, right?
Folks, you will not find software serial numbers on this site. You won’t find commercial software, hacked or un-, available to download. You won’t find tips and tricks to get yourself some ‘warez’. You won’t find links to ‘warez’ sites.
I disagree with the overweening, overbearing actions of the RIAA, MPAA, and of many software companies in regards to how they deal with copyright violations, both in terms in penalties and in terms of their own reach (or belief therein). I think that in some cases, software is priced too high, especially for buggy code that users have to patch and patch and patch again, or that opens a user’s system to attacks from without, or that reads any kind of information off of a user’s computer and reports back to some company or data repository somewhere. I don’t think that software should have an expiration date. I think that software should bloody damn well be backwards compatible. I don’t think that Microsoft’s tactics of forcing people to upgrade their operating system on Microsoft’s schedule are an ethical practice. I think that their licensing scheme does NOT provide adequately for those businesses and individuals that are just fine working on Windows 98, thank you very freaking much. I think that once a consumer purchases a CD or DVD, that consumer should be free to make as many copies for personal (PERSONAL!!!) use as we wish. We should be able to mix CDs, so that we can make compilations of the songs we like and not ever have to hear the songs we don’t like. We should be able to play multimedia CDs in their computer’s CD ROM without crashing their system. We should be able to, if we so choose, mix several DVD movie tracks (without all the bonus features) onto a single DVD, for easier travel use.
I do not think that people should make full downloads of television programmes available on the Internet. I do not think that people should freely exchange full music files. Taking and enjoying something without some sort of exchange or recompense is—never mind the law for a minute—mean spirited. It implies, This person is so inconsequential that I can enjoy the fruits of their labour without even so much as a thank you, a note of appreciation, or some assistance to the well-being of the creative mind that put it here for me to enjoy. It’s really rude, people.
I don’t think that the various studios and conglomerates deserve all of the money. I think that the artist who created the works should benefit more directly. I think that some new distribution channels need to be set up, and as the Internet continues to evolve, they likely might—but only if we all get working and 1) set them up; 2) honour them; 3) use the new-born systems as intended: an alternate way to distribute product and pay for it, not a way to completely subvert the exchange process.
So everyone looking for software serial numbers and video downloads, go elsewhere and try and procure that shiznit (I think is the term). I think that the corporate magnates are in the wrong with the whole DCMA crapload. But I think you’re only justifying their opinion. Quit living down to expectations, develop a spine, and help subvert the dominant paradigm. Don’t just ignore it.
What—you think they won’t create something else equally nightmarish if you give them room to do it? Sheesh…
Permalink
This entry brought to you by large quantities of caffeine.
May 16, 2002
Thursday Threesome:
Onesome. Living. Livin’ La Vida Loca. Oh, for goodness sake. What pop song do you love to sing along with but don’t want to admit it?
When I want to sing along with something, I sing, darn it! Not well, mind you, and often not accurately; but if we weren’t meant to sing along with the radio, the U.S. Congress would have tried to pass some inane piece of legislation against it by now. I don’t care if the lyrics are silly. And I don’t really know any current pop songs. Yes, I exist in a radio-less, MP-3-less vacuum with nothing but my own extensive music collection to keep me company. I’ve not even got a sound card in my computer at home.
I love Thomas Dolby‘s Aliens Ate My Buick. I’ll sing along with just about anything on that disc. His song That’s Why People Fall In Love makes me laugh, because the first time I heard the chorus, I thought it sounded like he was singing, “That’s why white people fall in love” and I sat there wondering “What in the hell…?!??” I knew that wasn’t what he was singing…but get a copy of the song and give it a listen. You’ll see what I mean. And then you’ll never be able to listen to it again and keep a straight face all the way through.
Twosome. a Charmed. Charmed, did you say? Come now, are you superstitious? Do you buy into lucky charms and signs and such?
I’m not overly superstitious, but I know the power of symbols and suggestion. Never mind what people have done to others throughout history: you can harness your own subconscious and really give yourself a power boost. Heck, I’m in the process of making a Tarot deck! (All right, all right, I admit it, it’s mostly for fun. And yes, I call matching characters up to archetypes “fun”.)
I say I’m not overly superstitious because I may have a “lucky charm” or object. I have a statue of a dragon coiled up on a shelf in my room, and all scholarly thoughts aside, that guy gives me luck. I can break it down and explain that I like that particular statue because its expression and attitude conveys that each individual has power and the responsibility to use it wisely, and that is a core tenet of mine; but there’s probably atavistic luck-vibe-getting thoughts that lurk in my hindbrain, and likely always will.
Threesome. Life. Let’s play the game of Life. Or is it Monopoly? What is your all time favourite board game?
You know, I don’t think that I have one. No, wait, strike that. Chess. I know that this isn’t what the TT question writer was thinking about when they penned this question, but it’s my favourite game that requires a board-type playing surface (real or computerised).
Permalink
You can't make this stuff up.
May 14, 2002
You've just got to love today's subversive guerilla humourists: Liberal Arts Mafia (check out their self-made Propaganda and prepare to pee your pants laughing), i-Mockery, The Corporation, Valley of the Geeks. That last has a special place in my heart:
- They use the term “geek” properly — ie, a computer wonk. All other uses are just, well, WRONG.
- Their selection of banner ads is amusing.
- It's really amusing because I've worked at some of those companies.
Like this one below:
That company really was...er...particular about how it enforced things. Every single product name had to be clearly trademarked — which often necessitated some pretty extensive text rewrites (and the contributing authors were not happy with it, believe you me...such tortured English!) A new term would be introduced almost weekly; and there were never any written guidelines for the trademarking, so departments would bicker back and forth. Things would get rather vituperative. Once, we pinned down someone from the legal department to ask a question about the latest vexing trademark issue. When we got things clarified, we asked if they could email that to us. We were told that the company didn't want to commit anything to email because there was the potential that it could later be used against us in a deposition.
Permalink
72 of 92 pages « First < 70 71 72 73 74 > Last »
