Log in 
New user? Wednesday, July 12, 2000
The queer world of the X-Men
Salon: The queer world of the X-Men -- "The point is not that the X-Men are themselves gay, or even that a comic-book reader would necessarily see the parallels I've drawn; it certainly never occurred to me at the time I was reading the comics. Instead, the comics' evocation of the ordeal -- and the hostile rhetoric -- that many gay men and women face allows the adolescent reader to see his or her own alienation in the experiences of these characters."
A great article. I've been craving comic books the last month or so. I'd like to start reading a few titles again. Time to take a trip to the local comic shop. X-Men is going to be great for the industry this summer. :-)
Crooks
In my opinion, Napster is a theft-engine. An accessory to piracy on a mass-scale. They're crooks.
Dave Winer calls Lars Ulrich a "bastard, greedy and stupid". I'm sure he's got two words for ya.
Dave doesn't seem to care that people are getting away with enjoying other people's life's work for free without permission.
Perhaps someone should crack the Frontier application so it doesn't need a serial number. Throw that distribution up on Gnutella, and DOWNLOAD.COM, and let the world enjoy that "Dionysian orgy of passions" that Tom talks about, without that messy $899 license fee to worry about.
I mean really, how hard could it be? Let the orgy commence! And Justice for All.
(Over the course of the day I've figured out that my sarcasm isn't very obvious. The comments about cracking Frontier are purely sarcastic)
If Napster could take the high road and figure out a micropayment system that would guarantee that the correct parties would get paid the amount they've asked for their songs when they're downloaded, I'll be all over Napster. I'll be their biggest fan. I imagine a lot of the music on that high-road Napster would still be free of charge. The more the better, but everyone has a right to price their work however they want. The free-market economy will shake out the new winners and new losers. Until such time, Napster is the theft-engine, plain and simple.
SA
You've asked others not to question your editorial integrity, to edit your home page, whether "in fairness to your readers" or not, and I respectfully ask you do the same. Nevertheless, I've posted your comments on my home page.
The issue is our fundamental disagreement about Napster and what freedoms it gives people, right or wrong.
If you feel I cannot be a member of the Support Associates program with a differing viewpoint in the Napster debate, so be it.
I'll also take this opportunity to mention to my readers, in fairness, that I have 3 paid-for Frontier licenses in addition to the 5 afforded me by the SA program.
RE: JS res
Jim, in fairness to your readers, I think you should explain to them that you have five free licenses for Frontier. You have repeatedly made an issue of the price of the software. I think they deserve to know that for you the price is $0.
Also, as I said in a private email, I think the honorable thing for you to do is to resign from the Support-Associate program. As is evidenced on your home page, it's not working. I wish you the best of luck, but really, let's call an end to this. Thanks Jim.
kids
What will Napster and the like do to kids' perceptions of property, and the right vs. wrong of stealing?
By the way, there have been excellent contributions to this debate today from Joe Mahoney, Dave Rogers, Greg Pierce, and Dave Winer. Thanks to all of you for your insight!
RE: Crooks
If Napster was really pro-artist, they would have put a micropayment system in the Napster client from the beginning. But, as e-mails from the Napster founders have illustrated, they knew full well they were making piracy easier, not making it easier to fund the artists.
I'll say it again, if Napster had micropayments, I'd use it.
And hey, wouldn't it be cool if users could make some sort of commission for offering the hard drive space and bandwith needed to transfer the files? Not only that, the effort to rip the songs in the first place!
EVERYONE would use Napster if that was the case... :-)
Tuesday, July 11, 2000
CMS discussion
There's a discussion going on about the expensive failures of big-name content management systems at Truer Words. I'll be watching this one for sure.
How embarassing
Now I've learned that Tony Twist, the GOON that thinks his name is worth $24.5M (LOL!) and that sponsors would have been lining up to have him endorse their products (snicker), if only there hadn't been a mobster villian named Antonio Twistelli in the Spawn comic book, is from Sherwood Park, Alberta.
I've lived, as recently as 1997, in Sherwood Park, Alberta. My grandma, and aunt and uncle, and two of my cousins life in Sherwood Park, Alberta. I lived there when I was 4 years old. It's a great place to live. It reminds of Victoria, where I live now -- it's beautiful, sleepy, and small.
How sad that Twist came from Sherwood Park, Alberta.
MOSR "sources"
Thank you Damien for the link to this absolutely hilarious page! All about how MOSR really gets its information. ;-)
Monday, July 10, 2000
Oh bother
I've never linked to the Drudge Report before (I think), but this is just too weird. AppleDisneyPixar?
The bigger they are...
Things are so bad at Microsoft that the best news they can come up with is: Microsoft predicts 25 percent jump in Chilean sales.
