May 01, 2003
Mnglrglrflbl
It's that time of month again.
I work as a programmer in the billing department of a small phone company. Our bills go out at the start of the month. And we run a sort of just-in-time development process. And there are always changes to be made. So for two or three days each month I don't sleep.
Or blog, of course.
April 30, 2003
iPodonia
James Lileks wants a new iPod too.
Great minds, and so on.
What he actually got was a swing.
Read it.
April 29, 2003
Gotta Getta iPod
I gotta get me one of them iPods.
The new models are cooler than ever, even if the "dock" looks worse than useless. 30GB of storage, 6 ounces, 8 hours playing time. Connects via FireWire or USB; doubles as an external hard disk for my perennially full Sony Picturebook.
You can even play Solitaire!
Clearly, what Apple and/or Sony need to do is smoosh this thing together with the nifty Sony Clie NZ90, which wonderful as it is, is direly lacking in storage. Then add a multi-system cellphone and GPS and you'll have the ultimate geek gadget.
Except by that point it will weigh as much as my Picturebook, and still do less.
Never mind then. I'll just take the iPod.
Googleage
Meanwhile, Google has picked up my blog! If you search on "Stupid Stupid Blogger" I'm right there. On page 2.
Funny how that works, considering that no-one links to me and it took months to pick up my other site.
Blogosphere
I'm part of the Blogosphere Ecosystem!
'Course, I'm an Insignificant Microbe, coming in at number 1964 out of 1966, but you have to start somewhere, right?
Right?
April 28, 2003
Whuffie Again
The other problem with Whuffie, of course, (and Doctorow does touch on this in the book and in the interview) is that it is controlled by positive feedback.
And we all know how well that works.
For those who don't, consider your favourite economic boom-and-bust - from the tulip craze to the Great Depression to the dot.com bubble. Or lynx and hare populations in the Arctic. Or consider a nuclear explosion, which is a great example of positive feedback. If you're lucky, positive feedback will give rise to boom-and-bust cycles. If you're unlucky, you'll get a boom-and-splat.
Not a good way to run, well, anything, really. Unless you want to make a very large bang.
Whuffie
To be fair to Mr. Doctorow, he does point out in this interview that his society would not function as described; and that it would need:
some kind of antitrust law or garbage collector that periodically comes along and randomizes Whuffie
Whuffie is the measure of respect in the society of Down and Out; more than that, it's that society's equivalent of cash - as much as it has any equivalent.
Of course, unless you've brainwashed 100% of the population, the anti-trust laws or garbage collectors will need to be backed up by the men with the you-know-whats.
Down And Out
Oh, yes.
As always, by the light of day it's neither as original nor as interesting as it was at 4 A.M. But here goes:
When you are designing your Utopia, remember this: People will be people, and to make things work, somewhere there will have to be men with guns. And it does not necessarily make things better for them to be hidden from view.
What brought this on? Last night I was reading Cory Doctorow's new book Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. It's not a bad book, and you can download it for free, which is always a plus.
But the society described in the book simply wouldn't work - unless there are, somewhere behind the scenes, men with guns.
Read it anyway.
Brain Fried. Core Dumped.
I had an interesting an original thought last night that I wanted to share with you.
Unfortunately, I've forgotten what it was.