personal

The death of greatness

Aaron Swartz, a web technologist and internet activist who worked on RSS, reddit and fought against SOPA/PIPA, committed suicide the other day in Brooklyn. Metafilter has a collection of some of his accomplishments.

[II was in the right place, at the right time to meet many amazing folks. Aaron was one of them. I met the 14 year version of Aaron and his talent was obvious, as was his compassion.]

The Days When We Had Rest, O Soul, for They Were Long « Blogarach:

…even as we’re dimly aware that poorer, less connected, less important people are hounded to their lives’ ends by the dirty machinery of our penal system, which is powered by punishment wholly out of scale to any wrong, punishment which is itself quite often the only wrong ever committed, the sheer, tawdry, grotesquely ill-proportioned persecution of the young man for acts whose criminal taxonomy is something out of a Lewis Carroll poem is the sort of spectacle that really does make you wonder how long, actually, a society intent on destroying its genius in order to preserve the inbred rights of its rentier class to extract filthy lucre from the margins of genuine intellect can endure.

[It’s easy to wail when greatness dies. But as Bacharach points out, there is a shame to it as well since we don’t cry enough about the loss of “poorer, less connected, less important people”. We all contain the same divinity. No one is given more or less of that. We need to do more and by that action provide ourselves the peace of knowing we did all we could.]

Stop bullshitting.

Thread: Stop bullshitting.:

This is the best piece you’ll read all day, maybe all year.

Don’t miss the opportunity to clean house and have a great rest of your life, even if you haven’t narrowly escaped death.

Stop Bullshiting – Bucketlistly Blog:

Facing with mortality, people become more open, and honest to themselves. The things that people usually do in their daily lives such as being right, being important, and being selfish suddenly vanished. That’s what made these people become more human than any of us. They are open to changes, even if they were certain for their entire lives that they were right. They apologize, They forgive, express love whenever possible.

[What a profound effect this can have for all of us. I lie and fool myself and worse, demand honesty and truth from others at a very high level. I will continue to be better at this. I’ve made the greatest strides so far at giving others space to not face the truth. Time for reach for more.]

Source: Scripting News

Larkfarm: Random Bits: Twitterless and Happy

Larkfarm: Random Bits:

Rather, it’s a simple reflection of one fact of life: the payoff from Twitter does not, for me, justify the time investment.

I’m coming up on 52 years old in less than two months. I’m acutely aware, in a fashion that was not true in my twenties, that everything I choose to do uses up some of my dwindling supply of hours on this earth. As life goes on, I find that this makes me ever pickier about what I’m willing to spend time on. Some things – like earning a living and supporting my kids – are simply not optional. But for many others, the question is simple: is this the most enjoyable and fulfilling thing that I could be doing with these hours?

[I hear that. Been in the back of my mind as far back as I can remember.]

Scripting News: Heat-seeking missiles.

Scripting News: Heat-seeking missiles.:

This stretch of beach was about 10 miles long, and except for a town in the middle of it, mostly empty. One morning I decided to take my swim via car. I drive a couple of miles south, on a stretch of beach that was totally empty. I laid out the towel, read for a while, then went for my swim. When I came back, there was another car parked right next to mine. The people were gone, so I couldn’t ask them why they chose that spot, when there were so many other places to stop that were totally secluded.

[Dave’s example is more extreme, but I find the same thing is true at the mall. I park far away from everyone. I’m rarely at a mall during its peak hours. I love walking. Yes, almost invariably when I return from my errand there’s rows of empty spaces, but someone parked right next to me. And sometimes so closely that I can’t get back in my car without climbing in on the passenger side. That’s crazy. I’ve considered printing up cards for the occasion so I can leave one on their windshield.]

Source: Scripting News

On Human Technology

On Human Technology:

Brian David Johnson: Being More Human:

But as we near 2020, something different will happen. When computational power approaches zero, we will be able to turn anything into a computer. We can put computer intelligence into a water glass or your shirt or even your body. We no longer will ask ourselves: Can we do it? We will ask ourselves: What do we want to do?

I’m trying not to imagine a teaspoon of miniscule computer chips dissolved in my coffee.

[Is that what those little black things are? No wonder…]

Source: inessential.com

Thread: Occupy Staten Island. (A marathon? Now? I think not.)

Thread: Occupy Staten Island.:

People don’t realize how much damage was done to our communities, and even more important to the infrastructure that connect us. It looks like these systems are really damaged. Months before they come online. it’s time to sober up and get a clue, all of us. Especially our mayor.

[The marathon folks should consider having the runners who came to NY help others instead of run. Think how much good they could potentially do in that one day. And the Road Runners should consider donating back to the city the resources that are normally used to put on their event.]

Source: Scripting News

Friendship

It will last for years, include bad jokes, dark humor, pre-dawn meetings in parking lots, post-dusk rides back into parking lots, pain, sweating, suffering, freezing, whining, complaining, smiling, laughing, getting lost, headwinds, and talking about how fun it all was later.

And that’s just for starters…

The Heinlein Maneuver

Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land cover

The Heinlein Maneuver:

What are the minimum, indispensable functions of government? What functions are present in all human societies? Is it possible to name anything which obtains in one society which is not differently just the reverse in another? Or not done at all? Has there ever been a truly anarchistic society? The Eskimos, perhaps? We have an anarchist running a newspaper in this town, who is opposed to public roads, public schools, public anything—he maintains that it is not ethical for a majority to do anything collectively which each individual did not already have the right to do as an individual. This is an explosive notion; a corollary is that all taxation is wrong, all zoning laws are wrong, all compulsory education is wrong, all punishment by courts is wrong. In the mean time he lives in a well-policed society, his own considerable wealth protected by all these things he deplores. But one thing is sure: many of the things we take for granted are not necessary to a stable society, but we take them for granted. You could get a Campbell-style story out of doubting the most sacred of sacred cows—except big business, of course; John does not tolerate outright heresy.

[Genius. I was 13 when I read my first Heinlein book. And I read all I could get my hands on since. First? Obvious. Stranger in a Strange Land. Hardcover. Looked like the above. Introduced me to Rodin as well. ]

Source: Letters of Note

Rodin Gates of Hell