Amusing
"Maybe you have a Trojaned version of SubSeven."
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Setting the record straight: Mike Godwin (not Pam Samuelson) came up with the phrase "the coming of the anti-Feist" to refer to "database protection" legislation.
That legislation has reared its head again. I'm not sure what the best place to link to about that would be. The ALA database page hasn't been updated recently (it doesn't discuss the current database legislation), and that's where I first think to look. I don't think EFF has a more current page on this, either.
Aha, Peter Suber has something on it. First he invents Nomic, then he helps us keep track of database legislation hearings.
Peter Suber and a few other leaders of the movements he keeps track of make clear that changes in how people are thinking about creativity and intellectual activity are not just about software. It is easy to forget that if you get enmeshed in the free software community's issues. But other disciplines, activities, and communities are rediscovering some of their best traditions, and Peter Suber is helping keep track of the process.
Recently I joined Americans United for Separation of Church and State after reading a great deal about the Roy Moore case. I encourage you to join Americans United also; they really need moral and financial support right now.
I've written something about establishmentarianism and Roy Moore, but I still need to finish it.
One interesting thing the United States doesn't have today is open public debate about the merits of rival religious beliefs. There are some journals, there are some Internet mailing lists and old Usenet groups, and there are lots and lots of missionaries. The missionaries will come to your house if you ask them (or even if you don't); they'll stop you on a street corner in certain major cities, especially, in one case I can think of, if you have a beard. There are also plenty of institutions designed to promote belief among people who are already members of a particular community or tradition, and increasingly many to try to retrieve or recover "lapsed" members. (I described in my old Advogato diary attending a seminar put on one such project called Aish Ha-Torah.)
Some groups also have rallies or revivals, but these, too, seem mostly to target current or past members of these groups. Also, there's nobody at a revival meeting presenting a contrary view!
What we don't seem to have are many public debates, or newspaper op-eds, or apologetics books sold outside denominational bookstores, or anything like that. (I guess the dueling missionary web sites sometimes come close, if they deign to respond to one another, but I don't imagine a lot of people are reading these "discussions".)
I wonder if people are afraid that overt conflict over religious belief will lead to some of the horrors and atrocities it's provoked in the past -- if people will start to kill one another because they disagree about the divine. The Statistical Abstract of the United States says there were 1,385 reported hate crimes in the U.S. motivated by religion in 1997 (the last year available in the edition I have). Almost all of them (1,087) were "anti-Jewish"; 28 were "anti-Islamic" and 3 were "anti-atheism/agnosticism/etc.". I'm afraid the anti-Islamic figure must have increased substantially since 2001.
I wonder if there is a secret, unspoken, and pervasive terror that these figures would skyrocket if there were more open disagreement about religion -- if people fear that debaters would be murdered in bars or lecture halls, or that religious controversialists would be assassinated. We have made religion such a private matter, and not primarily by separating church and state. We aren't as afraid to talk about other things this way, are we?
I ordered four Noe Venable CDs (Down Easy, Boots, The World is Bound by Secret Knots, and a second copy of the latter, which turned into a birthday gift for Wolfgang early in September). I think they're a bit uneven, which is a famous limitation of the album format -- even a reason some people are rejecting albums altogether -- but in general I'm very happy to have them and feel like a proper Noe fan new. I've seen her in concert three or four times now (and she's been up for a Pacific Northwest tour recently, so Oregonians and Washingtonians may have had a chance to hear here).
My biggest disappointment is that there isn't a recording of "Juniper" with just Noe and a guitar. (There is one on her web site, and this is the first song I ever heard her perform, and she did an even better job live in San Francisco than in the Santa Barbara recording on her web site. Also, she changed "my father the thinker" to "my father the preacher", something I think I've already mentioned I consider a poor choice.) And "Is the Spirit Here?", a thrilling, stirring, piercing song, is somewhat more thrilling, stirring, and piercing in concert than on The World is Bound By Secret Knots. But many of the songs are very familiar from Noe's concerts and really quite good. On Secret Knots, are several treasures. "Simple Song", "Wings Again", and "Lilies" are a wonderful group right in a row.
and beauty is tired of playing dead
and beauty is tired of hiding her head...
On Boots, I have to recommend "Boots", "Prettiness", "Look, Luck", and "Don't Stop Crying".
I also got a limited edition Noe Venable feral cat dream pillow (#2 of 50). It's supposed to contain herbs that promote vivid dreaming, including catnip. Sure enough, I've been having vivid dreams ever since. Of course, I've been in acupuncture, too.
Riana helped me find the original German of my father's favorite part of The Trial in my copy of the German, and I transcribe it below.
"In dem Gericht täuschst du dich", sagte der Geistlich, "in den einleitenden Schriften zum Gesetz heißt es von dieser Täuschung: Vor dem Gesetz steht ein Türhüter. Zu diesem Türhüter kommt ein Mann vom Lande und bittet um Eintritt in das Gesetz. Aber der Türhüter sagt, daß er ihm jetzt den Eintritt nicht gewähren könne. Der Mann überlegt und fragt dann, ob er also später werde eintreten dürfen. 'Es ist möglich', sagt der Türhüter, 'jetzt aber nicht'. Da das Tor zum Gesetz offensteht wie immer und der Türhüter beiseite tritt, bückt sich der Mann, um durch das Tor in das Innere zu sehen. Als der Türhüter das merkt, lacht er und sagt: 'Wenn es dich so lockt, versuche es doch, trotz meinem Verbot hineinzugehen. Merke aber: Ich bin mächtig. Und ich bin nur der unterste Türhüter. Von Saal zu Saal stehen aber Türhüter, einer mächtiger als der andere. Schon den Anblick des dritten kann nicht einmal ich mehr vertragen.' Solche Schwierigkeiten hat der Mann vom Lande nicht erwartet, das Gesetz soll doch jedem und immer zugänglich sein, denkt er, aber als er jetzt den Türhüter in seinem Pelzmantel genauer ansieht, seine große Spitznase, den langen, dünnen, schwarzen, tartarischen Bart, entschließt er sich doch, lieber zu warten, bis er die Erlaubnis zum Eintritt bekommt. Der Türhüter gibt ihm einen Schemel und läßt ihn seitwärts von der Tür sich niedersetzen. Dort sitzt er Tage und Jahre. Er macht viele Versuche, eingelassen zu werden und ermüdet den Türhüter durch seine Bitten. Der Türhüter stellt öfters kleine Verhöe mit ihm an, fragt ihn nach seiner Heimat aus und nach vielem anderen, es sind aber teilnahmslose Fragen, wie sie große Herren stellen, und zum Schlusse sagt er ihm immer wieder, daß er ihn noch nicht einlassen könne. Der Mann, der sich für seine Reise mit vielem ausgerüstet hat, verwendet alles, und sei es noch so wertvoll, um den Türhüter zu bestechen. Dieser nimmt zwar alles an, aber sagt dabei: 'Ich nehme es nur an, damit du nicht glaubst, etwas versäumt zu haben.' Wärend der vielen Jahre beobachtet der Mann den Türhüter fast ununterbrochen. Er vergißt die anderen Türhüter, und dieser erste scheint ihm das einzige Hindernis für den Eintritt in das Gesetz. Er verfluht den unglücklichen Zufall in den ersten Jahren laut, später, als er alt wird, brummt er nur noch vor sich hin. Er wird kindisch, und da er in dem jahrelangen Studium des Tërhüters auch die Flöhe in seinem Pelzkragen erkannt hat, bittet er auch die Flöhe, ihm zu helfen und den Türhüter umzustimmen. Schließlich wird sein Augenlicht schwach, und er weiß nicht, ob es um ihn wirklich dunkler wird oder ob ihn nur die Augen täschen. Wohl aber erkennt er jetzt im Dunkel einen Glanz, der unverlöschlich aus der Türe des Gesetzes bricht. Nun lebt er nicht mehr lange. Vor seinem Tode sammeln sich in seinem Kopfe alle Erfahrungen der ganzen Zeit zu einer Frage, die er bisher an den Türhüter noch nicht gestellt hat. Er winkt ihm zu, da er seinen erstarrenden Körper nicht mehr aufrichten kann. Der Türhüter muß sich tief zu ihm hinunterneigen, denn die Größenunterschiede haben sich sehr zuungunsten des Mannes verändert. 'Was willst du denn jetzt noch wissen?' fragt der Türhüter, 'du bist unersättlich.' 'Alle streben doch nach dem Gesetz', sagt der Mann, 'wie kommt es, daß in den vielen Jahren niemand außer mir Einlaß verlangt hat?' Der Türhüter erkennt, daß der Mann schon am Ende ist, und um sein vergehendes Gehör noch zu erreichen, brüllt er ihn an: 'Hier konnte niemand sonst Einlaß erhalten, denn dieser Eingang war nur für dich bestimmt. Ich gehe jetzt und schließe ihn.'"
I'm astonished at the richness of this parable. "Er vergißt die anderen Türhüter, und dieser erste scheint ihm das einzige Hindernis für den Eintritt in das Gesetz." This is true (I would have put it in my collage if I had known about it, and if my collage had been created with my perspective today instead of my perspective three years ago). "He forgets about the other doorkeepers, and this first doorkeeper appears to him the only obstacle to his entrance into the Law."
A pilot reader, noting my curiosity about the air traffic control system, answered some of my questions and pointed me to a series of columns about ATC written by an actual controller. It's called Say Again.
This is really pretty cool. My reader also helped me understand the difference between a tower, a center, and an approach control facility. (He explained that airspace is dividing among controllers not only horizontally but also vertically, so that two different controller might control airspace at different altitudes above a single point on the ground. This makes me wish for a three-dimensional map of U.S. airspace showing which ATC facility is responsible for controlling flights through each point.)
An "actionable strategy" means "a strategy which can get you sued". But some business people have, amusingly enough, started to use the word "actionable" to mean "practicable". So "actionable strategies" are seen as good things in business jargon.
I found this funny when I completed a questionnaire about Microsoft's Peter Biddle, which asked me whether he was good at creating actionable strategies.
Speaking of Peter, we have just posted a position on trusted computing as well as a position on VeriSign's Site Finder service. I wrote both of these. You should be able to find the trusted computing position from the EFF home page.
Ren found this cool site on plane curves with a lot more detail on methods of generating new curves from old than I'd ever seen anywhere. Some of this is in Gardner (for example, deltoids, cycloids, evolutes, and involutes), but not nearly all. If you liked the Spirograph toy, you'll love this site!
Contact: Seth David Schoen