danielo

I like Posterous very much. However, I can do everything I can do with it, with Supergru.mp, plus some more things. It's a more consolidated, simple web home for me. So, if you want, you can follow me over there. If not, I'll see around real life someday.

It's not popular to think about the Dalai Lama with logic and historical accuracy. But the truth is more useful for actual Tibetan people than the popular clap-trap. For every celebrity screaming about "freeing" Tibet, there are a hundred Tibetans who are enjoying more freedoms now than when they were under the repressive autocratic regime of the Dalai Lama and his ilk.

A rare accurate perspective about the Dalai Lama, from Skeptiblog: "Dalai Lama - Freedom Fighter or Just a Great Salesman."

Requesting entrance into a person's abode should be handled with
respect and dignity.
 
Physically knocking on a door is a personal act, and one of respectful
request. It requires an investment of self -- an act that, albeit
slight, involves a little bit of one's substance. It's a knuckled
endeavor. The knock, as an organic outcome of a physical act, has
character. A knock can speak confidently, or it can speak timidly, but
in all cases, it's a personal statement of an intimate nature.
 
On the other hand, the doorbell is a sleazy bastardization. It
reduces all entrance-seekers to one single mechanized sound, one common
intrusively impersonal tone that lacks character. Doorbells are lazy.
Because the doorbell chime is often centered in the residence, the act
of merely pressing a button foists an intrusive noise upon all souls
inside. Doorbells say "Let me in! Let me in!"
 
Down with doorbells!

I loves me some electronic communication. It's largely because I'm a misanthrope, and prefer my communications with other humans to be as impersonal as possible. I use a few minutes of my cell phone minutes a month, but close to a thousand text messages. If the day comes that artificial intelligence can produce conversations that are indistinguishable from actual human communication, then our species will have reached its zenith -- the perfect human is one with an "off" switch.

I've become a Twitter-er as well. I still don't really "get" Twitter, but I like it for some reason. Aside from the basic, and fundamentally selfish, idea on which Twitter is built, that anyone does, or should, care about the minute-to-minute activities of any particular person, there are some secondary usefullnesses of Twitter. It can be used for scheduling and notification of calendar items, or forwarding messages to other services. Occasionally, it's interesting to get quick live reports from an event someone is attending, or breaking news items, such as from CNN.

There is a new trend of organizing "Tweet-ups," which are real world meetings between people who know each other through Twitter. I can scarcely conceive of a less desireable thing. I don't even much like being around the people I like already. Getting together with people who are little more to me than text blips on a screen with the intention of fomenting more complex relationships makes as much sense as marrying a death row inmate.

If you're following me on Twitter, for the sake of Pete, please don't invite me to a Tweetup.

My new bike guy does motorcycles, automobiles, small engines,
alternative energy systems, misc. mechanical & electrical... but his
specialty, & love, is BICYCLES. He just started full-time shop work
out of his garage, & to say his prices are reasonable is a HUGE
understatement. A full tune-up, adjust, & lube on a bicycle is $20,
while you wait. And he does ALL bikes, so if you were put off by the
Bob and George who won't work on Huffy's, then you need Phil.
 
Phixall Phil 208-841-2137
 
His business is called "Phixall Services," though I'm going to try to
sway him toward "Phixall Phil." He goes "live" on Monday (permits
willing), but he's doing piecemeal work now, & when word gets out that
he's not just skilled, but also cheap & nice, he's going to be busy.
Put this number in your phone now:
 
Phixall Phil 208-841-2137

"I will say here while I am upon this subject, I have no disposition to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which in my judgment will probably forever forbid their living together on terms of respect, social and political equality, and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there should be a superiority somewhere, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position…

"I will say then, that I am not nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way, the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not, nor have I ever been in favor of making voters of the negroes, or jurors, or qualifying them to hold office, or having them to marry with white people…there must be the position of superior and inferior, that I as much as any other man am in favor of the superior position being assigned to the white man.

"I will add to the few remarks that I have made, for I am not going to enter at large upon this subject, that I have never had the least apprehension that I or my friends would marry negroes if there was no law to keep them from it, but as my friend Douglas and his friends seem to be under great apprehension that maybe they might if there was no law to keep them from it. I give him the most solemn pledge that I will to the very last stand by the law in this State that forbids the marriage of white folks with negroes."

--Abraham Lincoln, from the Lincoln-Douglas debates

(Thanks to Kirsten for the wonderful post.)

The Urban Prankster Network was set up by the Improv Everywhere folks to spread the concept of improvisational urban art "missions" to other cities. As far as I know, the Boise UPN division hasn't accomplished any missions yet, but after a newish member ("agent") recently bumped my "Random Memorial" idea in the forum, she and I decided to collaborate and push it into existence. If you are interested in such things, you should join and help us in this first mission, which is simple and low-key, with a minimal investment of time and risk required of participating agents. I'd like the momentum of this simple misson to carry into other missions -- several have been suggested on the site, and most could be carried off with even a handful of the 31 agents currently enrolled.