I just happened on to the birth of a new weblog yesterday, Evil Woman.
Since Evil Woman and I both like so many of the same weblogs, I have no choice but to add her to my blogroll.
Categories
Year: 2002
Categories
Stealth P2P
Found this thanks to Rogi:
It seems as if a little extra functionality has been riding along with Kazaa when you download the file/music sharing software — P2P technology that will allow the user’s machine to be integrated into a true P2P distributed computing network.
Well, that’s not such a bad thing — P2P is good. However, the problem is the people who downloaded the Kazaa software did NOT know they were downloading this extra piece of functionality.
Now, it’s true, the company behind the software, Brilliant Digital hasn’t “turned on” the software yet, and won’t without asking first. However, I find the deviousness of this process to be appalling.
I said last year that for P2P to be successful, distribution of the software would need to be viral in nature. What I meant by this, is that one would need to use different approaches to distribute software, such as through email. And that the software would need to be modular and lightweight.
I did NOT mean that the software would be silently attached to other software, and distributed without the user’s knowledge.
My suggestion: if you downloaded Kazaa, dump it. Now. Uninstall it. And then contact Brilliant Digital for specific instructions to follow to ensure that no trace of this software remains on your machine.
And next time — be a little more cautious about what you download.
Categories
Herb Caen continued
I think I picked up my use of the elipses (…) from Herb Caen. He was a master in its use. Punctuation, grammar — these are tools to use, not rules to follow.
Herb Caen days continue. The following is an excerpt from an April, 1995 column:
SUNDAY was a great day for kite-flying, sailing, jogging, jiggling while jogging, jogging with a headset, jogging with Spandex, tossing Frisbees for dogs to retrieve, throwing tennis balls for dogs to return, roller-blading, skateboarding with a sail, wind-surfing, surfboarding on contemptuous breakers, biking, motorbiking, fishing, dishing, making sculptures out of the loose stones of the seawall, tossing sourdough bread to the wheeling gulls, lying in the sun, taking photos of your friends with the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop . . .
I DIDN’T do any of those things but they were all on view Sunday along the magical two- mile stretch from the St. Francis Yacht Club parking lot to Fort Point — paths well-traveled by generations of San Franciscans abundantly pleased with themselves at their choice of a place to live, laugh, love and luxuriate.
The Presidio: what a treasure on a Sunday- sweet-Sunday, with the wind brisk but not knife- sharp, the people (all sizes, shapes and languages) in a mellow mood. No intrusive sounds, only the boom-crash of a pounding surf throwing rainbow-spray high into the blue. In the distance, old Alcatraz, once our Devil’s Island, surrounded by forests of white sails that part to let a container ship through, followed by an auto carrier, a tanker, a row of barges towed by a chesty tug looking pleased with itself, as tugs tend to do.
Categories
Over the top
Did I go over the top in the last posting? I did, didn’t I?
I do this sometimes, have you noticed that? Probably why I’m called “Burningbird” rather than “Miss Dove” or “Miss Seagull” or “Cute Little Wren”.
There’s a whole lot of difference between stealing a sign — though this is wrong and not to be condoned — and other crimes one can do. Kick self and tell self “Get some friggen perspective, Bird, or we’ll yank away your ‘I’m holier than thou’ membership card. And make you eat it.”
I have a confession to make. When I was a young teenager, about 14 if I remember correctly, I was out with a group of friends in the wee hours of the morning when we noticed a police car parked in front of a home.
To make a long story short, we stole the blue plastic light cover from one of the lights on top of the car.
So much for my high moral ground
(…she says as she slinks away, hanging her head in shame…)
Categories
Steal this ashtray
I know it seems at times as if Jonathon and I have become weblogging’s first tag team. I can’t help it — he finds these interesting things and makes these extremely open observations, and my hands go to the keyboard and I feel compelled to add my own observations to his. I have no control over this process.
Case in point: Today Jonathon discusses a weblog posting he found where a person, Michael Barrish, describes his initial reaction to critical comments:
1. Attack the accuser
2. Minimize the wrong
3. Defend your character
It would seem that the Michael Barrish’s girlfriend wanted him to help her steal a Duck Crossing Sign. That’s not the story. He ended up not stealing the sign. That’s still not the story. He received several critical emails from readers. However, even that’s not the story.
What is the story is that the Barrish didn’t steal the sign because he didn’t want to get caught, not because stealing was wrong.
My philosophy is, I’ll steal signs with my girlfriend but I won’t get caught.
And when he received emails from people saying that stealing is wrong, he tried to justify his actions. However, he faced his own moment of truth:
It’s worth noting that I’ve never been one for the rule of law. Fact is, I respect the law only in the sense that I can be punished for breaking it. The only laws that matter to me—and these matter quite a bit—are the ones I make for myself.
One such law or rule (this may sound strange in the present context) is that stealing is wrong, particularly when one steals for what Jay Perkins calls ‘unnecessary and idiotic reasons.’ And it doesn’t matter that one’s accuser is a righteous jerk, or that little harm comes from the theft, or that one is fundamentally moral. It’s still wrong.
What saddened Jonathon was Barrish’s final statement:
Of course I’m not just speaking about duck signs here, nor only about myself. The same self-serving logic used to justify petty theft is used to justify the destruction of the planet. People do what they want, then find reasons to justify it.
Bullshit. This is absolute and total bullshit.
Yes, some people will do selfish acts and then seek to justify their actions. However, most people, and I count myself in this group, making me a “goddamn paragon of rightousness”, follow our moral codes without any equivocation.
What Barrish failed to realize is that by saying this problem is a global problem, he’s absolving himself of any responsibility for his action and his reaction to the criticism he received.
“People do what they want, then find reasons to justify it.”
Bullshit.
Yes, I am not always law abiding. I walk against a red light when no car is around. (In Boston, the cops are suspicious of you if you don’t.) And I have been known to exceed the speed limit. And I’ll fib if someone asks me if I like their new dress and I think it’s the worst piece of crap.
But I don’t steal. I don’t cheat on my taxes. I screw up my taxes, constantly, but I don’t cheat.
I don’t break things, except by accident. I have found things and returned them, intact, to their owners. I point out billing errors even if it benefits the store. I’m kind to small children, pets, and don’t throw garbage out the window. I conserve electricity, I bought a small car with good gas mileage, I recycle.
I respect and value my friends, including my weblogging friends.
“People do what they want, then find reasons to justify it.”
Bullshit.
Time to tie this one back to an earlier topic: This might surprise you all when I say this, but there is no “justification” for the suicide bombings or for the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. My seeking to understand the reasons behind these acts is NOT the same as seeking justification.
Somehow, the two — justification and understanding — got tied together. I’m extremely glad that this issue arose because I just now realized that I needed to say this. I needed to say the words, “There is no justification for the suicide bombings”. But I’ll still seek to understand.
Justification. There is no justification for not following your own moral code. None. To say otherwise, is nothing more than a justification for your justification, and is equivalent to not having any moral code at all. Just a few rules that you conveniently “forget” from time to time.
Self-righteous paragons of the world, stand up and be counted.