Michael Wesch, Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, knows how his students speak to one another: EMail, SMS, IM, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LiveJournal, Blogger.
The world we live in has changed for the better. We can either join the revolution or be crushed in its wake.
"If you had any knowledge of the noble things of life, you would refrain from coveting others' possessions; but for me to die for Greece is better than to be the sole ruler over the people of my race." -- King Leonidas of Sparta to King Xerxes I of Persia, before the Battle of Thermopylae, 480 BC (recorded by Plutarch in Sayings of Spartans [Greek: Apophthegmata Laconica])
"Marsha, we are committed to fighting terrorism in any form across the world. Next question, Bob."
"Mr. President, Italy will begin requiring any who publish on the internet, including news editors and bloggers, to register with the government. Many view this as censorship which intends to use fear to silence political critics. What is the White House reaction to this news?"
"Italy and its people have been committed to the war on terror and I think we should support all attempts to subvert democracy. I mean, support all attempts to censor those who subvert democracy. Also, I'd like you to go with these men from the Secret Service. They have questions about donations you made to the ACLU."
"If Turkey were to give itself the right to interfere in Iraq militarily, what is there to stop other neighbors from doing so?" --Barhim Salih, Iraq's deputy prime minister
"[An invasion would be] violating the sovereignty of another country and is against international laws and treaties." -- Jamal Abdullah, an Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government spokesman
"There's a better way to deal with the issue than having the Turks send massive troops into the country." --George W. Bush, U.S. President and Hypocrite Extraordinaire
California passed a law to ban smoking in a car that contains minors. My feelings are mixed.
I think smoking is a personal choice with which the government shouldn't interfere, but it crosses a line when you subject others to it. "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." It's irresponsible to force your kids to deal with the health hazards so you can get your fix. It's bad parenting.
In general, I think laws which treat smoking as a legitimate health issue are beneficial--but I also think we have too many laws. Hell, I KNOW we have too many laws. Every time we add a law to deal with stupid people, I'm concerned the law will trip me up in some way it wasn't intended for.
But the stupidest part of this is how the law is applied. It's a traffic ticket--and they can't even pull you over for it, it's only if they pull you over for something else. Traffic tickets are about revenue, not compliance. If you want to keep kids safe, you get DFACS involved the same way you would any extreme safety issue.
But writing traffic tickets? It's good for headlines, I s'pose.
"Sometimes it makes me sad that if I only I could be cynical, craven, hypocritical, manipulative, and greedy, I, too, could make a fortune swindling the gullible faithful, plus the power trip for my ego would be like a Harley ride to heaven."
"When (WHEN) your backup drive goes bad, which you will notice because your last backup failed, replace it immediately. This is your number one priority. Don't wait until the weekend when you have time, do it now, before you so much as touch your computer again. Do it before goddamned breakfast. The universe tends toward maximum irony. Don't push it."
I remember that one script I wrote ran fine for years and then failed suddenly. Another sysadmin sent me the error I'd put in; it included something like, "Oh fuck, this isn't supposed to happen."
"Everything that is good about the Internet, everything that differentiates it from television, is about empowerment of the individual. I don't want to be a part of an effort that could result in the elimination of all that."
