Geek Conferences: Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself02/16/2004 05:37 AM Is the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference elitist? This
question seems to be stirring up the blogosphere, and causing lots of
good people who I read and like to throw verbal bricks at each other.
I thought that as someone who is clearly not a member of the blogging
elite, I might have a useful perspective to offer. Is the conference
elitist? Of course it is - and no, it isn't. Both are true. It is
elitist in the sense that it requires interest, knowing that the
conference is going to happen, and being able to come up with the
large amounts of time and money to attend. This rules out a very large
proportion of the world. However, if someone is motivated and willing
to rough it, it is possible to attend the conference for a lot less
money than the standard cost of the conference and swanky hotel. In my
case I found cheap late night flights on Southwest, stayed in a very
cheap hostel (though not as cheap as the hacker loft crash pad), and
got a free pass to the conference by writing and asking Tim O'Reilly
nicely for one -- I saw other free passes being given away via the
Wiki. So the money doesn't have to be the huge barrier it seems like
at first, but attending does require a bit of luck and or chutzpah,
geographical proximity, and being willing to stay in considerably less
than stellar accommodations. The conference can also feel elitist
because so many of the people who attend know each other. Many of them
have long-standing professional, technical and personal ties (and
ongoing feuds). If, like me, you are somewhat reticent by nature, you
don't have ties to lots of people at the conference, and you don't
have any particular product or idea to promote, it can be easy to feel
intimidated or like an outsider surrounded by insiders. For instance,
one day of the conference I ran into Dan Gillmor, Doc Searls, Micah
Sifry and Scott Rosenberg at a cafe next door to the conference. I
read 3 out of 4 of them regularly, I respect their work a lot, and I
would have enjoyed sitting at their lunch table and listening to them
talk. Did they invite me to join them for lunch? Of course not, no
more than I would invite a random stranger I saw...
Libraries Have Nothing to Fear [about RSS] but Fear Itself
"However, whether or not to use RSS on your site should no longer
be an option. I believe it has become a necessity if you wish to
compete with others in your industry....
For many users today, bookmarks have become useless since we have
too many of them. Bookmarks allow for information overload just as
easily as RSS does, but the difference is that RSS allows updates
through all that information overload. A bookmark gets hidden, but if
you update your site then the RSS feed will reflect that and tell the
reader its time to view the content....
With the plethora of sites around fighting for the mindshare of
your readers becomes essential. Why lessen your chances by not
including a RSS feed? That opens the gates for everyone else to
increase their readership. RSS feeds create more opportunities and the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages." [BusinessLogs, via del.icio.us/tag/rss]
Fear itself
Fear itself08/22/2004 07:00 PM Fear Itself: an american journalist wants to put the
threat of terrorism into perspective, and elects to ride on a bus line
in Jerusalem, the train line through Madrid, and a British Airways
flight said to be a bombing target. He comes away with it unscathed
but the stories he tells about the history of terror, especially in
Israel, is chilling and daily life in some parts of Jerusalem sounds
like scenes lifted straight out of Brazil. [via the big K]
Look of fear
Look of fear01/06/2005 12:14 PM David Pescovitz:
Neuroscientists at CalTech are studying a woman (known as SM) who can
look at a person and recognize when they're happy, sad, or angry. But
she can't tell if someone looks frightened. The reasons they've
uncovered could someday lead to new treatments for people with autism.
From News@Nature:
The researchers were intrigued to find that SM totally avoided looking
at people's eyes. She discerned her information simply from looking
around the nose and mouth.
This was generally enough for her to identify emotions such as
happiness or anger, where features such as a smile, or bared teeth,
are important.
But wide eyes are a particularly important component of a fearful
expression. Because SM was only looking at the nose and mouth, she did
not notice the eyes and concluded that the person was feeling
neutral.
"First you have to look at the eyes, and then the brain has to make
use of that information to figure out it's fear," explains (researcher
Ralph) Adolphs.
Bush Fear01/17/2004 10:46 PM Conservatives use fear to keep the populace complacent and submissive
so they can stay in power. ?You might want some?
the fear about Kerry
the fear about Kerry04/09/2004 04:06 PM I've received literally 30 requests from people I know to contribute
to the Kerry campaign. That must mean something good about the
campaign's organization. But I remain skeptical about whether the
Senator can muster the message.
Obvious disclaimer: I know nothing about how elections are won, and
I'm sure Kerry's got the very best in the world helping him build the
strategy that defeats amazingly powerful politics on the other side.
But as I watch Kerry (as opposed, e.g., to MoveOn) define the issues in this
campaign, he still feels inside-the-beltway-tone-deaf. One by one we
get "new initiatives," Christmas tree lists of things Kerry will do
when president, much like Clinton would rattle off lists of gifts in
his State of the Union Addresses (for hours and hours and hours). Each
new initiative gets a flurry of attention, some praise, some
criticism, and then disappears. The result is at best a slight
good-idea victory, but more likely a draw. But people, the
professional pols say, care about the economy, or their jobs, or
taxes, or education. So a campaign must stick to addressing those
issues.
Maybe. And of course, Clinton won largely because he kept on message
(It's the economy, stupid.)
But to this know-nothing writer, this election seems different. The
Clinton/Gore days felt very different. It was a time when Nader could
say that there "was no difference" between Bush and Gore -- and of
course, with respect to many issues, there was no real difference
apparent.
Yet I can't believe anyone is going to get excited about this election
by being given a list of policy initiatives. I have views about
policies, but I don't keep a checklist to decide who I'm going to vote
for. Instead, the passion and anger that bubbled Dean to the top was
focused on something much more fundamental: a basic corruption of
government. Not corruption in the banana republic sense -- money to
politicians. But a corruption of basic integrity. Deception about the
war. Obstruction of access to information about influence (e.g.,
Cheney and the oil companies). Coddling to corporate criminals. (Yea,
I know, you'll whine about that, but it sounds so good). And
persistent Nixonian attacks on critics.
This is the basic, apple-pie message that I would bet would win. That
we have gone back on basic American values -- or those values we
believe we believe. "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" was not
meant to distinguish "Truth and Justice" from the "American Way." And
I would think a constant beat reasking the same question -- Who have
we become? -- would slowly erode any passion for reelecting this
President.
Or alternatively, focus on kids. Look at the first three winning
entries from the Bush-in-30-seconds ad campaign.
These "conservative" policies will have one single consequence: to
burden our children. With debt -- as Bush races us to the largest
deficits ever. With insecurity -- as another generation of fanatics
focuses on just one idea: kill Americans. With corruption of our basic
values -- as the two americas reality becomes clearer and clearer.
Something like this would have been Dean's message, though he was
weakened for other reasons. It would have been close to the clear
message Edwards had refined. But it's not yet been the message that
has come across from this candidate.
Don't Fear Their Spanish
Don't Fear Their Spanish05/31/2004 10:06 AM Many people in the United states view Spanish speaking people as a
menace who must be controlled. They insist that people must be
prevented from speaking other than English. I have a different view.
I Shall Fear No Bandwidth
I Shall Fear No Bandwidth03/08/2004 11:15 PM Church offers Wi-Fi for reading scripture commentary, comparing texts,
and following sports scores: It sounds like a parody at first, a
church providing Wi-Fi access throughout the building, but Richard
Tallent makes a good case for combining technology with religious
practice. It's not quite the parable of the prodigal son, but he notes
that it's the folks who are hardest to reach who are the ones who
should have the most outreach to bring them in. He also provides a
link to Acts which describes a listener to Paul who fell asleep and
out an open window while he was preaching. There is nothing new under
the sun (Ecclesiastes). [via Robert Scoble]...
Fear the Robots
Fear the Robots03/22/2005 04:31 PM The robot threat may be a hoax, but the lack of
reaction from the C-Span host strongly suggests that he's a secret
android killing machine.
Fear, but no loathing
Fear, but no loathing01/08/2004 08:51 PM A small revelation hit me today. Relaxing after sauna - the place
where probably most Finnish ideas (and children) originate - I was
exchanging text messages with some dear friends, and somehow it
clicked together.
I no longer fear death.
I mean, I would be incredibly pissed off if I died tomorrow, since
there's just so many things I haven't done and seen yet - but no, I
cannot say that the actual idea of the black wall at the end of my
life feels frightening any more. I don't mean that I want to go
tomorrow and climb Mt Everest - I'm still scared shitless at the
thought of falling into a crevasse, thankyouverymuch :) - or get into
other extreme sports, but more of an acceptance of the simple fact
that I will, eventually, in two, twenty, perhaps 200 years, kick the
bucket and be no more. Perhaps I'll leave children behind, or
perhaps I will not. I hope I do, and if I do, I leave good kids. Who
knows. But regardless of what I do - the road will come to an end,
and I'm okay with that now.
This thought is really very comforting. It means that my relationship
to failure is no longer what that used to be either... I don't really
fear it either. It is quite okay to make mistakes, too! A gigantic
screwup might cost you your life, but if you fear death, you cannot
really go all-out when you shoot for something you want. Fear is what
keeps us grounded back in reality, and that is a good thing, but it
can also hold you down. One must learn to appreciate fear for what it
is (stupid people get shot first), but one should not be frightened -
if this makes any sense to you :-).
"Make love, not war", it is said. But in some sense, they
are the same thing: You cannot fight well, if you fear the battle.
Nor can you really love someone, if you are afraid of what might
happen. In both there is no middle ground. It belongs only to the
cannon fodder.
Do not fear death. Do not fear mistakes. Do not fear shame. Do not
fear love. 'cos in the end, it will all be okay, and death will be
the final adventure.
Fear of Fraud07/28/2004 07:37 AM Paul Krugman .. Krugman ..
today
nytimes.com/2004/07/27/opinion/27krug.html?hp track this
site | 6 links
Should you Fear Google?
Should you Fear Google?02/18/2003 11:12 AM Ponty writes "Google-watch.com is presenting a list of nine complaints
about (almost) everybody's favorite search engine. Some of ...
Fear LPC Mudlib 1.0
Fear LPC Mudlib 1.012/30/2003 02:51 PM A text-based, real-time role-play oriented MUDLib for LDmud.
Fear September?
Fear September?09/01/2004 01:57 PM September historically offers the worst stock market performance by
far. Whatever.
Fear the Noise
Fear the Noise06/17/2005 04:53 PM Steve Rubel points to the noise on blogging from a UPS marketing
executive: ...What concerns me about blogs is the signal to noise
ratio -- do we really need all these niche, special-interest blogs, or
will it become increasingly...
Don't fear the patent
Don't fear the patent06/05/2005 11:35 PM The European Parliament and European Commission are currently at
loggerheads about software patents and the definition of
"computer-implemented inventions." The open source community is trying
desperately to stop any kind of patenting, while large IT corporations
such as Microsoft are trying to lobby the parliament into allowing
just about any software technique through. In the midst of all this,
doomsayers have been predicting the death of Linux and open source
software. Open source projects such as MPlayer are now posting huge
"The End Is Nigh" notices on their sites. But things aren't as dark as
they might seem.
Fear and Greed
Fear and Greed06/05/2005 11:27 PM Enterprises are adopting social software out of both fear and
greed. Fear is the primary driver for corporate blogging, while
greed is driving adoption of social software within the
enterprise. I have used this metaphor to explain what I...
Can You Fear Me Now? (TechWeb)09/19/2004 04:05 AM TechWeb - Multipurpose cell phones, data-storing pocket knives: Can
you fear me now?
.NET Fear and Opportunity
.NET Fear and Opportunity06/29/2004 12:15 PM "... they were looking to deploy .Net but more than three-quarters (76
per cent) said their plans are being hampered by a lack of relevant
expertise."
The Truth Behind Fear and Cloning02/12/2004 06:16 AM Some people are enraged by the prospect of human cloning. Some are
grossed out. Some see it as their only hope to one day get well.
Biotech author Brian Alexander sets us straight. By Kristen
Philipkoski.
Fear of a Spam Planet
Fear of a Spam Planet02/10/2004 02:36 AM SilKk, Spam Mafia
remix: "You cannot stop my fuckin' mail from going. I don't give a
shit nigga you try to sue me. I have your ass blasted up in court with
an Uzi." (02-03)
New hurricane fear for Caribbean09/06/2004 04:03 PM Parts of the Caribbean are bracing themselves for the arrival of
Hurricane Ivan within the next 36 hours.
Football: No fear for Robson
Football: No fear for Robson05/06/2004 08:54 AM Newcastle must be brave in their Uefa Cup semi-final in Marseille,
says manager Sir Bobby Robson.
Fear-mongering as strategy01/06/2005 11:47 AM Is Social Security really so in crisis that we have no choice but to
remodel it? An internal White House e-mail shows that regardless of
whether it is or isn't (and it isn't), convincing Americans that
the system is approaching collapse is the Bush administration's
strategy for dismantling Social Security. The telling missive shows
that Bush strategists know Americans will only support gutting the
popular retirement program if they believe that no other options
remain.
Why We Fear the Digital Ballot09/25/2004 09:34 PM While most experts appear to agree that electronic voting has real
problems, few argue that they could completely undermine the November
election.
Probably true. And now it’s on my to-do list. (Hey, I learned it
once when I was a kid, I could do it again. It can’t, after all,
be as difficult as AppleScript.)
Dissecting the Propaganda of Fear
Dissecting the Propaganda of Fear01/02/2004 01:15 PM Chuck Talk writes "I have recently been reading commentary from
writers who seem to be under the impression that freedom is a bad
thing. They have chosen to place their collective blinders on and tow
the party line by using the tried and tiresome argument that free
software cannot succeed. It s a simple-minded exercise in
prevarication, and they have performed a great disservice to their
readers by choosing to ignore the meaning of free in the sense of free
software. It refers to freedom, not price. Grok Description matches for Fear of fat GrokA matches for Fear of fat
Fear of fat
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry:
