Philonoist.net

Internet junkies will have undoubtably seen one red paperclip, the internet bartering story of a man who started with the titular item and has “traded up” in his quest for a house. When I last checked in, one red paperclip guy had half of a duplex rent-free for a year. Not bad for starting with a paperclip.

Of course, the story is rife with slightly questionable trades and people looking to cash in on the fame castoffs (the Coleman grill for the doorknob is the most egregious bad trade), but they’ve always been in favor of ORP guy (whose real name is Kyle).

I was a little disappointed to see Kyle trade the duplex deal in for an afternoon for Alice Cooper. WTF, mate? The current offers section shows what’s being offered in exchange for golfing with the “School’s out for summer!” singer. None of them, in my opinion, have any real potential.

We’ll see how Kyle gets out of this jam. My advice: take the country music radio promotion.

Ah, a local treasure, in the basement (near the toilets, perhaps intentionally) of the Dedham Community Theater. I took a trip here while seeing Super Size Me. Trust me, it’s bad. The Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA)

Let’s talk about e-mail lists. They’re ineffective for every task, except one: mass e-mailing people into oblivion. E-mail lists magnify the worst aspect of communication technology: the ultra-quickness, low cost and total anonymity of e-mail is now raised to the nth degree.

Olin has roughly 232 e-mail lists, based off of a quick count. For a community of, realistically, the order of 400 e-mail addresses (291 students, 30 faculty, and staff positions), doesn’t this seem like a high number? Maybe that’s just me. Most of these do the one thing they can do just fine: send homework reminders, exam locations, etc. to the entire class. Or send the meeting notes to people who need them. But at Olin, the three most popular lists are: Carpediem, HelpMe, and Randomness. And these are the ones that suck the most, that cause 95% of all of our problems. Carpediem was originally intended to advertise events or opportunities, both on-and-off campus, that may appeal to members of the student body. HelpMe was originally intended to help students get over the hurdle of asking for something, such as a ride, a pair of scissors, a lab partner, etc. Randomness was originally intended to be the catch-all for every other list, with the only rule being that students can’t complain about the content.

There are a few problems with the general format: Students frequently send an extra e-mail marked RESOLVED to Helpme when a request is completed. (Naturally, this increases the number of e-mails from n to 2*n). And, as brilliant as we are, students have a tough time finding the “Reply” button, opting instead to just use the “Reply All” button. (They do different things. Honest.) But for what it’s worth, the community has kept these general guidelines in mind for the majority of the time. Students keep carpediem clear of junk.

So, this is all great. Except one tiny, eensy-weensy thing: E-mail lists, by their very design, suck at discussion. And, unless you’re very careful: the Internet in general sucks at discussion. It’s an order of magnitude tougher to come to consensus, make a creative work, even have an argument via e-mail or forum posts. (Imagine this: “In your last e-mail, you called me a hor. Did you mean ‘whore’ or ‘horse’?”) Why? Because there’s a lot more to a group of words when they’re spoken. If I’m speaking to you in person, you’d know immediately if I was joking, sarcastic, serious, angry. You could immediately ask for clarification, instead of waiting for a clarification e-mail, instead of reading between the lines. Phone conversations work nearly as well, because so much is in just the tonality of a voice. No e-mail list, no online group is ever going to replace face-to-face conversation.

Here’s the easiest way to talk about something, which no website is going to replace: Do it in person. Want to have a discussion on a recent newspaper article? By all means, send out the link via e-mail lists. But include a time and place where you’ll be. Bring your own coffee or tea. And there’s a point when it all goes too far: A list for girls. I’ll be honest, as soon as I heard this, I thought “Whoa. That’s pretty discriminitory. The list of possible things girls could talk about in an all-girl environment…. why, they could even be talking about me! This must come to an end!” But after resisting the “Reply” button for 10 seconds, I realized the probable truth, (coupled with reading more about it later); for the most part, its girls asking other girls for feminine products. Maybe it’s even more than that. I don’t know. Sorry, but what the hell? I certainly hope this isn’t the reason the list started. I understand people run out of things they use, and usually at times when they actually need it. But if you need a tampon: Ask your roommate. Or the girl next door. There’s no reason to have documented (and Google searchable) requests for a tampon.

Some things do not translate well to the virtual world. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to find out which ones don’t.

Three seperate lawsuits are now facing the McDonald’s corporation. And all three of them are going to get thrown out, if I’m understanding them correctly. All three center around McDonald’s french fries, which McDonald’s publicly acknowledged last week contain milk and wheat ingredients. One child allergic to gluten became ill after eating the fries, and a woman in Illinois with celiac disease also became ill. Finally, one women in California who has sworn off animal products sued and claimed she wouldn’t have eaten the fries if she had known they contained animal products.

I’ll start with the last, since it’s the easiest: You’re in a McDonald’s, and you expect something to not contain animal products? The air in McDonald’s probably contains animal products. The fries are cooked in the same oil as the Chicken McNuggets. Put two and two together lady. Same goes for the folks with gluten problems. Why are you at McDonald’s? Celiac disease requires a specific (gluten-free) diet that fits your need. McDonald’s isn’t part of that diet. And there are plenty of bread products in the vicinity that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near McDonald’s if I was allergic to wheat.

Don’t sue a company because their food made you fat or because you’re allergic to gluten and you thought “the fries are safe”. Save lawsuits for real issues that matter. Like their coffee being too hot.

Edit: We’re going down the rabbit hole, Alice! Last week, McDonalds claimed their fries contained allergen products. Today they issued a press release saying the opposite. Curiouser and Curiouser. Apparently, I’m not alone in the confusion over this.

Technorati Tags: McDonalds, legal, lawsuit

First of all, I love the Olympics, even if it is the greatest time-suck known to man. What I mean is, you sit down, flip on NBC, USA, CNBC, MSNBC, or Universal HD, and you’re completely sucked in. You watch event after event. NBC claims to average 24.5 hours of coverage across all of its networks. I completely buy that. I’ve probably watched most of them. But here’s the thing: I don’t want to turn on NBC ever again, until Bejing 2008. How could the network have gone from must-see-thursday night to monday-crap-o-rama? “Coming after the Olympics: The Apprentice followed by Medium!” Two shows I don’t ever want to see. And Conviction? Every curling fan alive can now tell you the average age of a New York prosecutor is 28. (But it’s just another legal drama…. shouldn’t NBC plug “Law and Order” instead?)

Naturally, ABC did the same thing with its Super Bowl coverage. I admit: I tuned in to the post-Super Bowl Grey’s Anatomy. And, looking back on it, I’m not proud of it. (Though the ploy of a bomb in a body is nice. Kudos, writers of Grey’s Anatomy.) But there’s this little thing called “advertising to the right audience”. Fans of Olympic Hockey will not watch a show about up-and-coming attorneys. Hell, up-and-coming attorneys probably won’t watch a show about up-and-coming attorneys. And football fans aren’t going to possibly remember to watch an all new Grey’s Anatomy Sundays at 10. Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.

I’m grateful to NBC for airing the Olympics, something that they’ve overpaid to air. Seems to me though that it would be easier to recoup your heavy investment by selling advertising time instead of using it to plug your own shows.

To the networks: We both know there are some people out there who want to watch schlock, but get real. You want to know why more and more people are turning to cable? Because your schedules are filled with garbage.

(While I was writing this, Cory Doctorow commented on my earlier post. Whee!)

Technorati Tags: Olympics, media, NBC, television, commercials

I’ve been throwing around in my head for a few days now how to write this, so I’m going to cut to the chase: I sell cosmetics. And I’m proud of it, dammit.

I know, you’re probably shocked. A male engineering student, selling makeup? Why? Because I’ll need money for grad school. Because Cutco Knives are cliche.

But mostly, because I think they’re good products. Now, I couldn’t tell you the difference between foundation and lip gloss, but I could tell you that the ones I sell are all-natural, cheap, and look pretty good. I coud tell you that harmful chemicals are included in department-store cosmetics, and that the ones I sell are chemical-free. I can tell you that the shampoo and conditioner I do use make a big enough difference that even a guy like me can tell my hair is healthier. I could say that the weight loss products (again, all-natural) are great too because I know people who have lost weight on them. There’s a suprising range of products, and they all seem to do what they claim. When was the last time you heard that about a product?

At the very least, you could check out the online store I set up. Please. Do it for the children.

Technorati Tags: cosmetics, makeup, skin care

It takes a lot to get me to write about politics, especially when there’s plenty of other stuff on my plate, but the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq(PDF Courtesy of the Beeb) is the most laughable document I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a while. It is little more than overt propaganda for the war and current administration, chock full of the best-of-the-best sound bites from National Security Council Members since 2003.

“There’s always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant world, but it’s not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday’s brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve, and we will win that victory.”

-President George W. Bush, October 6, 2005 (emphasis in original)

I suppose I wouldn’t have such a problem with this document if it were written as, say, a position paper, with thoughtful, well-researched opinions from someone not a bedfellow of the White House. But the format of this document is what pisses me off most: it’s a PowerPoint slide show in printed form.

There are no less than 4 levels of data: The title at the top of a section, a big arrow point, a bullet point, and a potentially misleading checkmark point. At first glance, it seems like we’ve already done the things checked off (especially after reading the introduction, which declares “The following document articulates the broad strategy the President set forth in 2003 and provides an update on our progress as well as the challenges remaining.” Emphasis mine, but there is no section labelled accomplishments anywhere in the document.)

I have to think the style of the document is intentional, since this is for mass public consumption. In a society where some 100 Billion PPT slides are manufactured yearly, how better to gloss over 2 years and 2,000 American Casualties than by watering down the war into a few bullet points?

I’m not asking for a timetable to end the war. We’ve tried that already, and the White House has balked. Fine. But I do expect the troops home soon. I expect that American problems should be treated with more importance than building a society centered around 8 pillars of varying Republican-Conservative ideals like non-regulated business and self-reliance. In a scary thought, as their own country turns against them slowly, the Bush White House is forcing more and more of itself onto Iraq.

“America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, to attain their own freedom and to make their own way.”

Yeah, right.

Partial Text of the Iraqi Constitution

Article (14): Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination because of gender, ethnicity, nationality, origin, color, religion, sect, belief, opinion or social or economic status.

Wow. Pretty amazing that it’s explicitly stated in a “democracy” that’s been going strong for about, oh, 6 months, and not stated in our constitution, which has had about 228 years of practice.

You know, we should probably fix that. We could learn a thing or two from these Iraqi folk.

The most disgusting thing in the world is racism. And yet, one would argue, this is the oldest thing in the world. Why do we fight wars? Quite frequently, because of race, or religion, or nationality, or reasons that for those lost in the war, is something they cannot control. Men, women, children, have died because their skin was too black, too yellow, too dark. And, without being overly dramatic, who can forget those who perished in religious skirmish after skirmish, be it Protestant vs. Catholic, Christian vs. Muslim, Jewish vs. Everyone else.

Who is to say that whites are the “best”? To the <a href=http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/jul/20/072010065.html”>White Peoples Party of Nevada: I am white. I should be an easy sell. I want one reason you think I should join your party. But I bet that no matter what you throw at me, it will be vile, horrible filth.

Minorities are taking the jobs of America? Well, if they work harder, they should have the jobs. May the best person win. Whites are unfairly treated due to affirmative action? Perhaps, but if there were no racism in the world, we wouldn’t need programs like affirmative action in the first place? Blacks carry AIDS more frequently? Again, maybe, but that could be because they’re uninformed about safe sex thanks to poor schooling, which is due to a lack of funding, which is probably due, again, to racism. Minorities are lazy. Minorities are worthless. Mixed-Marriage is a sin. Wrong, Wrong, and Wrong.

As you can see, racism is not the answer. It is the problem. And the problem needs, to paraphrase Einstein, a new way of thinking. One where the only thing excluded from the table is racism.

These groups are driven by hate, by, by bad experiences and misinformation by turning a blind eye to the present and following the perverse ways of the past. I feel nauseous now. I want to cover my ears, hide my eyes, and pretend that racism no longer exists, that is a thing of history. That the world is a place without boundries, without borders, without fear, without hate. But that world is a long way off. That world does not, may never exist.

If the only thing I have to fear is fear itself, then right now I’m very, very afraid.

I’ve decided that the way I do book recommendations is no fun. Well, it is fun, but mostly for me. I want it to be fun for you too. Therefore:

Recommend books. Win stuff. Celebrate.

Here’s how it works:

Every month, I’ll ask for book recommendations. Submit as many as you like. If one of your books is selected for that month, you’ll receive a point. 5 points in the school year? You’ll get a free dinner somewhere. Submissions for the month of September must be receieved by August 27th, at 11:59 PM.

Continue reading »