Archive | Humanity RSS for this section
January 16, 2012 

Let’s Talk About . . . Meditation

These last few days, largely as a part of my renewed kick to be healthy, I’ve taken to going for walks after work. I go for about an hour, which end up being a little over 3.5 miles. In that hour, I plug in my headphones, queue up some music from my phone or Spotify and just walk.

It’s become apparent to me that this activity is healthy in a way other than for my heart. It’s a salve for the soul, really. A moment of peace in an otherwise hectic day. I know a good number of you already know this. But it’s a new sensation for me. Rather than getting bored with the monotony, I look forward to a chance to de-stress and decompress at the end of the day. A chance to just drown out any other problems or pending issues, and it just gives me some time to relax. And pant a little. But that’s okay too.

It got me to thinking as I walked this evening, how much such a routine could be beneficial for everyone. My wife has recently purchased a rabbit which lives in our guest room. Before bed, she goes to let it out of its hutch, run around a bit, eat some hay and oats, and just generally be cute. Don’t believe me?

20120116-192508.jpg
See? Told you so.

When she gave that as a reason for purchasing the rabbit, I scoffed a bit, but now I see the value in it. You’ve got to have something to release, to switch-off, at least for a while. It helps you re-focus, re-evaluate your position, and just generally be a little more content than with what you’ve got, and where you are.

It gives you a chance to think, too, if you like. To work out a problem in a non-threatening, non-pressing environment. During that time of meditation, whatever form it may take, lets you take a fresh look at whatever’s been bothering you lately, and often, you can find a solution, or at least figure out something to try. Somehow, not being under pressure allows you to think a little less “in-the-box”, allows you to be a little more creative.

Let’s talk. So how about you? What’s your outlet? Your time of meditation? What do you do so you don’t have any responsibility, and can just relax for a while? If you don’t have that time, I’d challenge you to try it for a week. Even just a few days, and report back with what you’ve found out about yourself. Let’s all just sit back, relax, and enjoy ourselves for a few minutes a day.

January 12, 2012 

Let’s Talk About . . . SOPA

Stop Sopa, from Joystiq Image from Joystiq

SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act and its sister bill PIPA, or the Protect Intellectual Property Act, are two of the latest in the corporate war on piracy. At least ostensibly. Point of fact, the wording of the laws are so incredibly invasive, their constitutionality should really called into question by our congressmen, much as the DMCA’s should have been. I wrote a paper about the DMCA, and a lot of my research kept taking me back to the EFF and their work to brief congress on the ill effects of such ridiculously unbalanced law. (If on the off chance anyone wants to read it, let me know. I’ll dig it up and post a PDF.)

A quick history of Copyright Legislation

The DMCA was a piece of protective legislation that applied extremely lateral judicial powers to the whims of the copyright holders. At the time, the major culprits were the RIAA and the MPAA, though the RIAA was considered the worse of the two. What the DMCA allowed the RIAA to do was request–and receive–subpoenas without having a name or really any information more identifying than an IP address. What’s worse, is there was no judicial oversight on the issuance of these subpoeans. All it took, to simplify, was filling out a form. No judge ever saw the documents, or approved the subpoena. Crazy, right?

These nameless subpoenas were served to ISPs across the nation demanding the names and addresses of the users to whom those IPs belonged. Verizon took exception to this, and refused, so the RIAA sued. A federal court ruled Verizon must comply, but it was appealed and a federal appeals court ruled against the RIAA.

SOPA and PIPA

Fast-forward to last year, when SOPA and PIPA were introduced. These two bills offer rights-holders similar widely lateral judicial leeway, but it extends so much further now. Instead of merely demanding a user, the media companies can hold hostage a website which had a user post a link to another site that has something copyrighted on it. What’s worse, the rights holders can request damages from the website with the offending user, as if the website itself were responsible! The law is so broad, and provides such unilateral judiciary power to bodies well outside the scope of judiciary authority, and all it takes a complaint form, and out go the lights. It nearly seems guilty until proven innocent.

Think about the real world repercussions of such a law. Facebook has something like 800 million active users. If 1 of those 800 million people, even one who lives outside of the USA, post a screenshot from the latest Warner Brothers film, Facebook could be blacklisted because it aided copyright infringement. Youtube has around 350 or 400 million active users. If ONE person posts a clip from the latest episode of Family Guy, Fox could pull the plug on Youtube. If Google crawls and indexes a link to a fan’s painstaking transcription of the latest Nickleback album, it just takes a complaint. And you’ve lost Google.

This is pure madness. There are no real checks and balances in place, seemingly no real recourse for the targeted site. No “innocent until proven guilty.” Just any vaguely related post by any user about anything copyrighted can land a site and its owners in hot water. It’s a piece of legislation that will breed paranoia, fear, and corporate censorship of the Internet, which has been a relatively unbridled mode of free speech for decades.

Where will it leave us?

Would you want to live on an Internet where you’ve got to mind your Ps and Qs because you don’t know if big brother is watching? What if big brother were watching, and what if big brother weren’t even your government. It was corporate fat cats, waiting in the wings to censor anyone who dares talk about the product they’re trying so hard to sell? Wait a tic. Doesn’t that seem a little backward? You’re going to censor out your own product from the system by which you are likely to get the most exposure? It just makes bad business sense. Frankly, the idea is utterly terrifying to me. While I’m not typically an overly-paranoid conspiracy theory kind of guy, but the sheer invasiveness of this legislation tickles my privacy bone all kinds of wrong.

Many of you have your own websites. What happens if you have a commenter post a link to a youtube video–assuming Youtube still exists–of a copyrighted song as a response to your funny picture of a weasel? Well, if SOPA passes, YOU could be responsible. Wouldn’t that make you think twice about keeping that blog? Because you can’t control your users, and you can’t probably police everything they might post. (Well, I can. 0-4 comments per post would be pretty easy, especially since half of those are me.) This legislation would destroy the open–free–Internet as we know it.

If you don’t believe me, go take a look at the big websites around. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and a number of others I’m sure are considering a blackout for a day in protest of SOPA. Think about that. These are websites with MILLIONS of page hits a day, generating BILLIONS of dollars in ad revenues. And they feel so strongly about this legislation they’re willing to give it all up just to prove they’re serious.

Think about it. Do you want an Internet without Google? Without Reddit? Without Wikipedia? Without Youtube? Do you want an internet–an international community–which runs in fear of AMERICAN corporate interpretations of fair use? It’s a trick question, of course. You could want it all you like, but it would never exist. How could it? Corporate webmasters would be so neutered, they would just shutter their sites and move on to other ventures. Site like twitter, which were so instrumental in the OWS protests, not to mention any number of the foreign protests, could never exist. Too many users to police, too few dollars, too much risk.

What now?

We’re on the precipice of a real world-changing piece of legislation. While I wish it were something more akin to a national ban on fossil fuels, or nationalized health care, it’s an all-out assault on our first amendment rights. No. We do not have the right to thievery. We do not have a right to share anything and everything ever created. The corporations have their right to make money, too. But not at the expense of civil liberties. Not at the expense of an international tool, one considered by the UN to be a basic human need now.

Do what you can. Write your congressmen and women. Write your mom. Write your aunt. Tell them they’re at risk of losing their farmville. Whatever it takes, but do SOMETHING. We’re standing at a precipice. Don’t stand idly by while we step off it.

January 10, 2012 

Let’s talk about . . . People

No. Not like that. I mean people we meet, spend time with, befriend, and ultimately, drift apart from. It’s a fact of life, not everyone you were friends with back in elementary school is still your friend now. Not your first crush, not your second crush, not your best friend who you dodged all kinds of trouble with back in high school.  People move apart. Simple as that.

A recent conversation with Rachelskirts brought a lot of thoughts about this phenomenon to the surface, and I think it’s something worth visiting, as we enter a new year, when we’re all usually feeling a bit over-nostalgic anyhow. She pointed me to this post by Sarah Brown  (who I think we can credit as being a major influence for Rachelskirts). It’s short, so it’s worth a read, but to summarize: letting go of people is tough because they impacted you so deeply, you hold out for hope that you can always be close.

This is an exceptionally sunny and, potentially, heartbreaking approach to the matter. And this way of coping with these events is not without merit. It espouses a more optimistic outlook. It makes your memories more keen, less dull. It allows for the full spectrum of emotion in your thought-life as you reminisce when you pass an old haunt: coffee shop, school, perhaps even motel. You feel deeply, but it also means that when things come to an end you hurt deeply. You long for those good times again, and you have trouble letting go. A deeper felt hurt lends to more fond memories of the past. You live in the moment, and then in the past. But in the moment, you’re really living. You just have to make sure not to get stuck in the past.

I, on the other hand, don’t really deal with the situation that way. I’m not very good at living in the moment. I tend to live in the future, always looking for what’s next. I don’t mean to say I’m constantly unhappy with my present–quite the contrary, I feel like I’m in a pretty good position in life right now–but that does not mean that I stop and try to look into the future for what’s next. The same goes with people. I suppose I always have some subconscious reticence to forge deep ties with my peers.

I have had any friends, many good friends along the way. Many people who have left impregnable marks upon me and who I am, as I have upon them. But people are transient. Many of these people I’ll never see again, never even talk to again. Sure, there’s maybe the odd “Happy Birthday” on Facebook, but that doesn’t really mean much. And while some would view it as sad that these connections are lost, I just see it as a naturally occurring part of life. People flow in and out of our lives, no one more or less important than any one else, just some sticking around longer than others. We learn from, grow with, and impress ourselves on each other, but then it ends. They go do the same with someone else, and so do you. Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

I guess maybe it sounds cold and cynical, but that’s not really it at all. It’s just an acknowledgement that maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to let someone grow into who they’re going to be, and it’s okay to let yourself grow into who you’re going to be, and that often means you’re growing in two different directions. In many ways, you helped shape those paths for each other, if you’re feeling the cosmic irony of it all.

But every person from the past is worth remembering, worth thinking about, but ultimately not worth regretting the decisions you’ve made that led to your separation. Because those decisions got you to where you can make new friends, as long as you’re willing to let the old ones go. These too will likely not last forever, but you know what? That’s okay. It’s just another step, and it’s your job to help each other get where you’re going, wherever that may lead.

So. Let’s talk. How do you handle the ebbs and flows of people and friends through your life? Do you cling for dear life, or do you just see where it’ll take you. Do you mourn the loss, or do you get excited for what’s next? Am I full of crap? Maybe! Let me know.

Let’s talk.

January 9, 2012 

Let’s talk. Trust me. I’m from the Internet

After 7 years of being online as the pseudonymous “Thursday’s Child,” I have decided to do away with anonymity, because, let’s face it, I wasn’t that hard to find anyhow. And, well, I guess I’ve just outgrown it.  While it was fun, and I’ll still be keeping the other domain, I’ll likely just use it for email, since I have a number of things attached to that email address.  I’ll be posting here.  And with new focus.

My blog has always been about me. But it’s becoming readily apparent, that road has been trod a few too many times, and the pickings for posts has grown perilously thin. Indeed, I have come to accept that I am not an interesting individual, nor will I probably ever be. The only thing I’ve got going for me, in the regard of interest, is my brain, and well, I guess I keep that to myself.  But not any more.  My brain is filled with all manners of fantastical, mythic, and ridiculous thoughts just like yours is. That’s what makes brains so special. They’re grey and squishy, and all look about the same, but they contain within them infinite worlds.  Words and pictures and smells, all different, all new and novel to anyone else but you.  And then there’s the internet.

Websites all look relatively the same. There’s some flashing something, some rectangles, some words, some pictures. But they’re all drastically different. You’ve got photo blogs, news blogs, science blogs, personal blogs, fiction blogs, artist portfolios, Facebook, Google Plus. All of them the same, but all of them unique and novel to anyone who hasn’t been there before, and each one novel every new day when you log on, filled with the brain matter of other people. So let’s all put our brains to it, and see what we might do to help each other out, eh?

We’re all good at something. So we all have something to contribute. Some of us are good at contributing boring, but necessary, things. Some of us are good at contributing exciting, but unnecessary, things. Some of are good at contributing boring, but still unnecessary things. And the world goes on.  Me? I’m a problem solver. I look at problems and try to break them into component parts, and solve a piece at a time. It doesn’t always work, and for that, I’ve got other people who are good at other things to help me along.

So let’s talk. Let’s talk about money. About credit. About debt. About investing. About cooking. About that nasty English paper you’ve got coming up. Let’s talk about photography and poetry. Let’s talk about love and about hate and about that mean guy two cubicles over.

Maybe, just maybe, together, we can get through this big ole nasty world together. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be all the better for it. I’ll offer what tips I can. You can correct me if I’m wrong. I will often be wrong. I will often be right. There will often be no right answer.

For those of you who know me, you’re probably wondering who’s taken over my blog, and what they’ve done with the real me. I assure you, I’m of sound mind. I just want to try something new. So bear with me as I work out the kinks. Go ahead and help if you like. That’s the idea.

This will continue to be my blog where I make posts sporadically about any number of things. But I want to experiment with it being your blog, too. When you want to say something that doesn’t fit on your own. Or that you can’t fit in 140 characters.  Go ahead and send them to me. My email is in the about page.

I’ll go through them, post them either alone or smashed up with others, giving credit if you want, or leaving it anonymous. I’ll respond to each one here, so that maybe someone else having that problem might benefit. Let’s see what we can do.

When it comes down to it, what do you have you lose? Besides. Trust me. I’m from the internet!

*NB: The thumbnail image you saw is a painting by a Cuban artist who painted three of those, as commissioned by my father. They’re a representation of the scripture which says to bear one another’s burdens. While I may not really be a religious guy, it’s a pretty good way to live, and is kind of the idea of this experiment.

« Newer Entries
Older Entries »