Jo S. Wun's Blog, page 7
December 10, 2011
Who Loves Ya Baby?
I took a few metaphorical steps back from my monitor today, and considered my relationship with 'Like' buttons (I know, Google, you like to be a bit different from everyone else, and you can label them +1, or anything else that takes your fancy, but they will still be 'Like' buttons). When they first appeared on Facebook, the idea of declaring to the world that I like, for example, Nike (I don't, particularly, but I don't dislike them [it?], particularly, either) seemed weird to me. But then I don't really do that brand loyalty thing. Where is the 'Indifferent' button when you need it?
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If a product or service meets my definition of good, then I might buy, and possibly recommend it, for as long as that product or service continues to meet my definition of good. I might also be influenced, when looking at a new product or service, by my assessment of previous products or services, from the same source. What I won't do is make excuses for a poor product or service out of (misplaced) loyalties.
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In the real world, I shy away from buying products which amount to not much more than an advert for their manufacturer (it really is a marketing coup when you get your customers to pay for the 'privilege' of advertising your product). The way the 'Like' button was promoted seemed to be the online version of the same thing, albeit considerably cheaper.
I use 'Like' buttons now, mostly to express my appreciation of what someone has written, or perhaps a photograph or graphic they've posted. Occasionally, I 'Like' pages (eg. Grief Beyond Belief) to show my support for what it stands for, provides, or promotes. I have yet to 'Like' a commercial product page.
Two things happened recently which prompted me to think about why I click 'Like'. Firstly, this post on Sam Harris's blog, and secondly the introduction of the 'Like Stream' on Diaspora*. Sam Harris's post is the transcript of an interview with Daniel Kahneman, who has a new book out called Thinking, Fast and Slow, which I haven't read, but it's on my ever expanding to read list. Sam's first two questions are about our use of intuition and/or reasoning to determine our actions.
The new Diaspora* 'Like Stream' displays only those posts which you have 'Liked', a handy feature which allows you to more easily find that funny graphic which made you LOL a while back, and which you'd now like to share with Aunty Gladys. Looking through my 'Like Stream', Daniel Kahneman's answers to Sam's questions came to mind, and got me thinking about my relationship with 'Like' buttons. Some days I'm click-happy, something akin to being trigger-happy, but without the resulting carnage, but other days will find me analysing what I really think before I click, usually resulting in far fewer 'Likes', but more comments.
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And while I'm on the subject of 'Likes', please spare a few moments to think about a new breed of junkie, the 'Like' junkie. These are the people who implore you to 'Like my page!' and judge their personal worth by the number of 'Likes' they get. Sigh.
"So, EVERYBODY, like my page!" he cried, wiping away a little drool from his chin, desperate, wild eyes darting to and fro, manic grin distorting his features.
If you were crazy enough to click that last link you will now know that my Facebook page is not much more than a mirror for my posts here!
December 9, 2011
Posthumous Fame In Black And White
Vivian Maier (1926 – 2009). I only just heard of her, but it seems her fame as an amateur photographer has been growing steadily since 2007. Wikipedia has information on her life and work, and there are a large number of her photographs viewable at VivianMaier.com, where you can also find information on purchasing prints.
Here are just three of her photographs which especially caught my eye.
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August, 1958, Churchill, Canada
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January, 1956, Chicago, IL
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January, 1953, New York, NY
Hat-tip to Jess* [ Miss ✱ Appletosh ] on Diaspora* who, amazingly, was able to unearth an article about Vivian Maier from the pile of pooh that makes up a large part of the content at BuzzFeed.
December 8, 2011
A Falling Tear
Yeah, I heard you say, "I love you"
And I see the expectancy on your face
Waiting for my "love you too"
Pain stalks your eyes in proportion
To my growing hesitation as I ponder
"Is this the great extortion?"
Is this love of yours conditional?
Does it depend upon my verbal response?
Is it just provisional?
What made you choose to say it now?
Today seemed much the same as all our yesterdays
Except the furrows in your brow
Regret already written on your face
This feels so like a challenge to a duel of empty words
And sadness now corrupts our space
But beaten by a falling tear
Although we both know it's the beginning of the end
I say, "I love you too, my dear"
Unlimited Capacity For Love by Grace Jones
Listen on Posterous
December 7, 2011
Count To Ten
I'm gonna close my eyes
And count to ten
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I'm gonna close my eyes
And when I open them again
Everything will make sense to me then
Count To Ten (Live) by Tina Dico (With Ina Müller)
Listen on Posterous
Just as an aside, the way she pronounces 'sometimes' reminds me of Sean Connery!
You can also watch the video from which this music came.
More info about Tina Dico at her website.
December 6, 2011
What Do You See?
I look around me, and what do I see?
I see humans, lots of them. They look very similar.
I see other lifeforms, too, who possess similar features to humans. But perhaps the most obvious differences are that they tend to be a lot hairier, and most of them keep their 'hands' on the ground, most of the time.
I see more lifeforms. Some can naturally do things which humans cannot. Some can fly.
Some of the lifeforms I see are larger than humans, but most are not. Most are so small they are hard to see, with many of them being multi-legged, and crawling on the ground.
And when I plunge into the water, there I find another world, equally abundant in lifeforms, and abundantly varied in size and shape.
Both in and out of the water, I see vast numbers of lifeforms growing directly from the earth, "rooted to the spot", literally.
Everywhere I look there are lifeforms.
And I see that the lifeforms live among inanimate objects, some of which contain essential stuff which the lifeforms use.
Occasionally, I think I see something which isn't there. Do I need to repeat, "which isn't there"?
There are many things my eyes cannot see. I cannot see my eyes. I cannot see what is directly behind a tree trunk. I cannot see what is above the cloud. I cannot see what is on the other side of the planet. I cannot see the planet. I cannot see the very, very small.
Until recently, all I could do was use my imagination to create in my mind a picture of what my eyes couldn't see. Now my eyes have mirrors and microscopes and cameras to aid them.
And yet, still, occasionally, I think I see something which isn't there.
I suspect it will happen again.
I guess that's magic.
Entangled Breeze by Audiologic
Listen on Posterous
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You can find more from Ben Riordan (aka AudioLogic) at MacJams
Entangled Breeze is released under a Creative Commons Attribution License
December 5, 2011
iPine For The gSpot
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I pine for you, oh little green dot
Beside the names of friends
I feel alone, a greyed out spot
Excluded from the trends
Perhaps it's me, my net connection
The DNS has failed?
Or worse than that, a bad infection
A threat become unveiled?
But no, the modem lights, they flicker
TX and RX too
I'm still receiving tweets in twitter
(So funny and so true)
Well, I suppose they've just logged out
Got other things to tend
Aarghh! Here comes the fear and doubt
They've gone and clicked unfriend!
And just as panic's grip gets stronger
The gSpot turns to green
I'll huhuhu and :( no longer
My LOLs will flood the stream
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December 4, 2011
The Numbers Game
Jo 1
1 When I first read a few pages in the book of Yahwey, it seemed certain it must be a special document because every chapter, and every sentence, was numbered. 2 I thought the writer must have been very confident about the importance of what he was writing, if he felt it necessary to number all his sentences. 3 I imagined he must have lived, and written, in some sort of garret, or perhaps in a castle, using a quill pen, by candlelight. 4 I didn't know, at the time of my first reading, that the book of Yahwey was written by lots of different people, and at vastly different points in time - because nobody saw fit to mention it.
5 I actually found the numbers quite off-putting. 6 Kinda broke up the flow. 7 I had to start ignoring the numbers as much as possible.
8 And the language. 9 Well, I struggled with it. 10 I've heard that some people consider it to be beautifully written, or rather, translated. 11 At least the King James version, anyway. 12 It's probably a blasphemy, of a literary kind, but I find it hard to agree. 13 I didn't know it on my first reading, but the olde Englishe employed by the translators was not currente Englishe at the time the translators were working. 14 According to Wikipedia, "In a period of rapid linguistic change the translators avoided contemporary idioms, tending instead towards forms that were already slightly archaic," which is why you get all that thou, thee, it came to pass and verily stuff. 15 To my mind, it just makes it harder to understand what it means. 16 Which, for a book that's supposed to be the ultimate guide to this here gig, seems a bit of a shortcoming.
17 If you are interested in finding out what's in the book of Yahwey, then I highly recommend this site. 18 There, you can view different translations side by side. 19 There are 30 (!) versions to choose from, and that's just the English language ones, which form a small part of the total number available, including Vietnamese and Chinese versions, just to mention a couple. 31 I rather like reading the Contemporary English Version alongside the KJV, or Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition.
32 The book of Yahwey is often lauded as a source of moral authority. 33 Here's an example, from the 'new' bit, which, perhaps, we can all learn from.
34 If you didn't click the link then you might not understand why the moral appears to be that you would be wise not to let your pigs get too near to Yahwey, when he's in human form, just in case there are any demons about. 35 Or maybe I'm just being silly, and it's obviously another metaphor?
36 Don't get the idea in your head that I think there is nothing of value in the book of Yahweh. 37 There are some good bits. 38 However, if I took Jefferson's approach and used a razor blade (see Friday's post), I'd probably end up with a much slimmer version than his.
39 And there is something to be said for numbering sentences. 40 It's easy to refer to the good bits (after you've found them). 41 And by way of example, I can refer you to Jo 1:20-30, as undoubtedly the most significant thing I've written today.
42 Finally, for anyone who read last Sunday's post, if you were hoping for a miracle, I'm sorry to tell you that it didn't happen. 43 Neither One Of Us nor From A Distance was randomly selected as the first track I heard this morning. 44 I don't think Foghat's version of I Just Want To Make Love To You qualifies as a miracle, by any stretch of the imagination.
I Just Want To Make Love To You by Foghat
Listen on Posterous
December 3, 2011
Cherry Picking?
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What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him? And if a brother or sister be naked, and want daily food, and one of you say to them, "Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled," yet give them not those things that are necessary for the body, what shall it profit?
So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
December 2, 2011
Nipped In The Bud
Why do men have nipples? I know it's not a new question, but it came to mind again recently due to an itch - on my left nipple to be precise (and on which the itch was quickly dispatched by a bit of judicious rubbing, I'm sure you'll be pleased to know).
According to the book of Yahwey, the first human was made out of soil (or the slime of the earth - depending on which translation you read). I will refer to that human as Human A. Yahwey then created a place with a lot of trees in it, put Human A there to look after it, and issued a fairly rudimentary job description in the form of a list of dos and don'ts.
After he'd done that, it occurred to Yahwey that Human A could do with some company, so (instead of making another Human) he made a bunch of animals and birds, and for some reason known only to him, got Human A to come up with names for them all. Quite a task - must have taken a while. If I'd been Human A I might well have been tempted to say, "leave it out, guv'nor. That wasn't in the job description!"
Next, it dawned on Yahwey that none of the numerous lifeforms he'd created was a suitable partner for Human A (a bit slow on the uptake, for a god, you might think). Not having thought of it before, he immediately addressed the issue via the first instance of cloning, thankfully while Human A was under anaesthesia. He clearly hadn't thought about a human partner for Human A up until this point, so one wonders why he made Human A with redundant features in the first place (nipples), and in addition to that, a reproductive system which makes no sense whatsoever without a counterpart in at least one other human body?
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Some people, who assert the book of Yahwey is absolutely spot on in every detail, would mumble something about Yahwey working in mysterious ways, and ask who we are, as poor sinners, to think we could ever comprehend Yahwey's master plan. Actually, they'd probably shout rather than mumble, and conclude by saying that anyone who even thinks about the possibility of questioning anything in the book of Yahwey will face dire consequences - "You just wait and see! (So nerr, nerr, na-nerr nerr!)"
Others, who also place great value on the book of Yahwey, but could be described as reasonably intelligent, roll their eyes and say, "It's a metaphor, dummy!"
Oh, right! How silly of me! A metaphor! Like the story of Yahwey interfering with a young woman to create a human version of himself who gets himself into serious trouble with the authorities, so much so that they torture him to death, but, because he's a part of Yahwey, comes back to life after a day or so is a metaphor?
Well, no, they say. That's not a metaphor. That really happened! Which leaves me distinctly puzzled. How do we know that the former story is a metaphor but the latter is not? What criteria do we use to decide what's metaphor and what's not? Is it a chronological thing? Everything up to a certain point is metaphor and every thing after is for real? Is it that the 'old' bit of the book of Yahwey is metaphor but the 'new' bit is not? It's probably just as well I'm not asking these questions 500 years ago, at which time nothing in the book of Yahwey was a metaphor, and suggesting it might be was a sure fire way of getting yourself burnt alive.
It seems to me that this metaphor business is just another variant of the propensity, amongst those who laud the book of Yahwey, to cherry pick from its pages; something which appears to be the default behaviour these days. Is there nobody, today, who is prepared to display the courage of a certain Thomas (no, not the doubting one) who took a razor blade to the pages of the book of Yahwey and produced a slim-line version containing only cherries, according too his taste?
Be that as it may, it still hasn't explained why I have nipples, which very occasionally itch. For an answer which seems reasonably well thought out, with some evidence to back it up, you could always look here.
Disclaimer: Those nipples are not mine!
December 1, 2011
You Have The Right To Remain Silent
You do have the right to remain silent, but doing so will not change anything. If you are happy with the way things are, then I suppose that's fine (albeit unbelievably disappointing). After watching the video, I had to accept that I didn't know, specifically, how human rights are defined, so I searched via DuckDuckGo.
Reading through the list, it's plain to see we have a very, very long way to go before we can hold our heads high. And it's not just about atrocities in the 'third world'. Check the list and see how many of these declared rights are regularly abused in your own country.
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
