On the shortness of life

I'm reading "Steppenwolf" and I'm very impressed with the perspective the author takes on his characters approach to life. To me it's a great contrast between Steppenwolf and Seneca, who I've also been very impressed by. Both approach the subject of how a man can become a slave to his passions, and rather than mastering the thing he loves, become a victim to it. However, they both approach it from different angles. Seneca has mastered his passions, or has at least mastered appearing to have them mastered. Steppenwolf is still a victim to them; seeing the conflict they put him in but still drawn in by their decadence. I find myself in the same conflict. Can I really be a master of myself, or will I always be subject to the currents of the culture I'm in? I'm constantly tempted by the easy path of going along with the common thread, but I'm repulsed by it at the same time.

I don't know. I'll keep reading, and see where it takes me. Would the benefits of going with the flow outweigh the costs? I doubt it, but I could be wrong. There's not just me to consider either. Whatever path I take will influence my son. Do I want him to have a simple, contented life or a conflicted, up-and-down life? I'm genuinely torn about the right answer.

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Amazing visualization of our environment

Someone hooked the real-time location of satellites around Earth into Google Earth. The result is amazing. I know this is a minuscule fraction of the available space around the planet, but you've got to wonder when we'll reach a tipping point with the number of satellites we have. I'm sure the amount of smog we produced from burning coal seemed tiny at one point. 

via: Boing Boing

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On time for yourself

When most people say they want to be rich I think they really mean that they want to be free from many of the seemingly unavoidable traps of modern life. Doesn't it follow that you could become rich by refusing to participate in a lot of the social rituals take for granted? I'm a big believer in the Stoic school of thought that says a man who forged his own chains of gold is still chained.

What's an apparent anarchist in-potentia to do? For the last little while my strategy has been to laugh at the insanity of people, but I'm feeling more and more that it is possible to make a difference, even if only on a local level. Realistically, where else can one start? If you try and change a huge system without understanding the underpinnings, you're guaranteed to fail. If you're lucky, there won't be many side-effects. Bottom-up beats top-down in any group bigger than about a dozen people. I wonder if that has anything to do with our enjoyment of team sports. I don't know of any seriously popular sorts that have more than about a dozen people on the field at a time (per team). Our monkey brains have a hard time understanding anything greater than the tribe level, and that influences us more than we care to admit.

I like to think the incredible connectivity of the Internet will make our lives better, if the designers can make sure it still appeals to our monkey brains. Maybe I'll go buy some shares in FourSquare and Facebook; they seem like good bets in that sense.

I should probably also find out if they're publicly traded.

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Government as a service is toxic

It's amazing what governments are able to get away with, and how easy it would be to change. The technology exists, it is too cheap to measure, and its advantages far outweigh the costs.

Why are we not pursuing a truely open government which enables innovation rather than squashing it? Because of those with vested interests, both in and out of office. We need to insist on a government that empowers individuals rather than pigeonholing them. If we keep expecting to just pay taxes and get results back we're going to be disappointed. If we get real time feedback from them it will be so much easier to alter our environment to get optimal results.

Please stop supporting the status quo, we can do so much better.

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Life is beyond parody

Russian yatch to offer pirate-hunting cruise
The comment by a yatcher about sums it up: “They are worse than the pirates,” said Russian yachtsman Vladimir Mironov. “At least the pirates have the decency to take hostages, these people are just paying to commit murder.”

On the one hand, it's funny in a morbid way and may actually help get rid of some of the pirates. On the other hand, it's really, really messed up.

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Finally watched 'Rocky'

I have a confession. I'm 25, male, and I've never seen <i>Rocky</i>.

I will be writing my commentary on the movie as I watch it. Exciting, earth-shattering stuff.

About 10 minutes in, Rocky seems to relate to animals better than people. I'm not sure if this has to do with how open he is, or how many times he's been hit in the head.

He's a debt collector. I can see that. Punching people without gloves ties in well with punching people with gloves.

I like the mob boss's (?) coat. Fits him well, good colour, good cut.

I thought fedoras went out of fashion with Kennedy? Why is Rocky sporting one?

I like this "take a shot" line. Surprisingly proactive thinking. I hope this message continues.

Rocky is really bad at charming ladies. There's times when you shouldn't talk dude, even I know that.

And an hour has passed.
I really do like Rocky's philosophy of taking the chance, even if it means failure. Better to take the risk and fail than to wonder whether you could have done it.
I write all this before the fight starts, and I won't edit afterwards. I think I know how this will end. Not just because I'm not a complete cultural retard.

Rocky only weights 10 lbs more than me. That's something. For some reason I thought the heavyweight threshold was higher.

Fight about to start. Is Creed supposed to be a parody of pro-wrestling?

Geez, I've had fights like this in videogames. Except Rocky never hit back.

At round 14 I get the feeling Apollo's will is about to break. This is the Homer Simpson strategy. I don't see it working.

I'm sure jokes about Rocky's brain damage are trite by now, but this inspired generations of fighters. Is brain damage a noteworthy goal?

I like how the cutman had the knife ready when Rocky asked him to cut him.
"Cut me!"
"No!"
"Do it!"
"Ok." *has knife*

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Facebook charging for uploads

I don't know why people keep thinking Facebook is going to charge people for any kind of access. They because successful because they're free, and they continue to make metric assloads of money by staying free. If they were to start charging it would become a ghost-town overnight when people immigrate to a new, free service. They make their money from ads on the pages; the more people they can encourage to come on the site the better. It's like radio. You 'give away' the content, but the people listening hear ads as well as what they're there for.

Snopes post about it

It would be a terrible business decision for Facebook to charge for access, and they're smart enough not to do it. It would be like Google charging for searches.

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