Consumption Junction: Graduation!

Larry Page of Google gave a graduation speech at the University of Michigan, and Adam Herscher recorded the whole thing.

I've redesigned this site in an attempt to achieve a feeling of purity, clarity, and simplicity. I'm also eating a strawberry.

Unfortunately, I am not also outside in the spring air, but stuck inside attempting to write a draft of a paper for my Multinational Intellectual Property Law and Policy class.

Nonetheless, Ferry Corsten and Mountain Dew are still encouraging me.

My host has forced everyone with a moveabletype blog to disable commenting, because the scripts were spawning too many processes and killing the server. I may have to find another blogging system.

Update: I guess they turned it back on...

Wow, I still have a blog. Ok, back to studying...

I had to disable comments for a while... I'll get them back up as soon as I have time. :)

I think that maybe part of what Joichi is getting at in talking about "emergent democracy" relates to the transaction costs of democratic organization.

There is a lot of economic theory about how transaction costs affect markets and interests in property, etc.

One of the problems with democracy, or grass-roots organization in general, is that it takes too much work just to communicate. This is why, for instance, when pollution affects a large number of people a little bit, they don't organize to stop it; the transaction costs of organization are higher for each person than the cost of the small bit of pollution they receive.

But if we reduce transaction costs through media like blogs, maybe these sorts of groups will start to spontaneously organize and start to solve these sorts of market problems. I think, though, that the costs have to be reduced to almost zero for this to happen. Even the cost of waiting 5 minutes to dial up an ISP is too long. Maybe with broadband, even searching for the right website is too long. But if people could just type in a word or two and find the right tool for organizing, something very interesting might begin to happen... hmm.

Some lamer hacked my bbs. Real 1337, man. If you want to hack something, you could at least try to hack a site where more than 3 people post a month. Oh, BTW, your little image was cute. Have a nice day at school tomorrow. ;)

I'm in the process of thinking about how the heck to blog about Law school when I'm so inundated with work.

I think my posts will have to be a lot shorter and less in depth, but I'll try to post a bit more often.

When you're learning so much, I think there's a tendency to want to organize it all in your head and explain everything. That's what I'm supposed to do for the exam though, so I'm not there yet. Maybe I'll just try to give some snippets of what we're learning and talking about.

So my first snippet: I'm finally starting to get on top of things, in my 4th week of classes. We're moved into the new apartment, and stuff is all over the place, but at least we have a bed there. :) We'll have to continue to try to put things together slowly until it's done.

Everything is still hard, and still a lot of work, but a picture is starting to emerge. I know I won't fail now, but I'm still not sure whether I'll be able to be in the top. We'll see. :)

I remember a time when the newsgroups were full of interesting discussions about interesting things. The people there were hackers and scientists, and they had a lot of strange fetishes, but were generally very intelligent and thoughtful.

Some of these people migrated to slashdot when it started. But now, I can't even read it anymore. It's become a cesspool. Not because of trolls or anything like that, but because of the people that everyone seems to mistake for hackers now.

I just read a post there, under a story decrying software patents, by someone asserting that your brain is exactly the same as a computer, and you could run DeCSS in your head, so the DMCA outlaws your thoughts.

The level of stupidity of these people is becoming really astounding. Everyone seems to think that the only purpose of software is artistic expression, and there is no difference between a program that controls a vat of chemicals and a novel. Really, give me a break. I have a nagging suspicion that many of these guys are actually 14 year old script-kiddies who want to think they're cool because they're talking about something anti-establishment or anti-corporate.

Sure, we'll just abolish software patents. In 20 years, the only patentable things will be computer hardware and motors. (Everything else will be software.) That will be swell for the world economy, and for the U.S. in particular. We don't really need all those Microsoft employees anyway; ship 'em all off to India and let 'em work for a living like people in the 3rd world. It won't matter, because benevolent hackers working as tour-guides or cooks will make all the software we need for free...

Sorry for the sarcasm -- it's not usually my style. I'm becoming less tolerant of stupidity though. Argh.

Money!

This is hilarious. Two Korean girls doing karaoke. Watch the video, but you have to watch the whole thing. Don't just stop half way... ;)

Update:
Here's some more info about the video...

Update 4/05:
I think the video has disappeared from other sites, so here's a backup copy I kept.

Found a very engrossing short story on kuro5hin... It's short on plot, but has a lot of very interesting ideas... :)

I particularly liked the idea of living in a transportable apartment, travelling while you sleep... I'd be able to travel to all sorts of interesting places in comfort, and save tons of time... Of course, other people may think it's a horribly scary concept... ;)

I had been sort of put off of scifi the last few years. This story has really rekindled my enthusiasm... hehe.

An argument on Joi's site about emergent democracy and many other issues has prompted me to write a little more about my thoughts on the matter.

Aren't we really talking about emergent order here? We're talking about a large number of nodes on a network, which all link to each other based on their own ideas about what is important, interesting, or relevant to their worlds.

This, of course, means that certain memes will gain primacy through extensive linking, bringing them to the top of the pile in search engines...

Such memes gain their position based on their perceived value to the majority of sites, or to the most popular sites out there. This, to some, seems to be a very democratic way of sifting memes, but I tend to look at it more as emergent order in an anarchic system.

Some blogs become popular initially due to their quality or due to the rarity of blogs in the beginning. After this, however, many blogs only become popular through linking from these previously determined popular blogs. Is this not an example of something directly akin to feudalism? Here's how it seems to work in societies:

Anarchy begets feudalism. Feudalism begets revolution. Eventually, people may decide to create a more democratic system, based on laws and rights, etc. Eventually they may realize that separation of powers helps preserve this system.

Anarchy doesn't necessarily imply raping and pillaging. In the world of blogs, I use it to mean that there simply isn't any order; there are just millions of blogs out there. Of course, people only have limited attention and limited time. They need order to increase the efficiency of this medium. A-list blogs are a reaction to this need, and create a concomitant stifling force. The emergent structure in the blog world is not conducive to democracy at present, only to a popularity-induced hierarchical order.

If we are to make the move to democracy, nothing about it will be emergent. It will be done by consciously giving say to everyone in a structured way, such as on slashdot, but across blogs, and preserving everyone's chance to be heard. I think that this has to be a consciously designed structure, which can only be preserved through coded structure, just as national democracy is only preserved through a delicate balance of confidence and law...

Now, this isn't to say that there aren't democratizing forces at work today in the world... Globalization has given people many more ways to vote with their wallets than ever before. It's brought all sorts of changes that may lead to more people having more of a say in things. But ironically, the more voices struggle to be heard, the more must be sifted out by society. Structures must be consciously created to allow a societally sanctioned path for the smallest voices to see part of the action, or to reach the top of the heap.

If and only if the whim of A-list bloggers constitutes a fair path through which everyone should have their content sifted, we can believe in a new emergent democracy. If this doesn't sound quite democratic to you, I think you may see my point. :)

I've been thinking lately about how there are so many things in my life that are really unbloggable...

The main thing that comes to mind is my martial arts training. I can't really talk about what I do, who my teachers are, or the amazing things I learn and practice... I'd love to, but it wouldn't help anyone do anything except endlessly intellectualize about things that need to be seen and felt to be understood.

It's similar in some respects to Sufism or other forms of mystic experiences such as are found in Zen...

I think that this is also part of the problem with talking about war in any far-removed context. There is no immediate experience of the sort that really gives you an understanding of the meaning involved. Intellectualizing without experience leads to seemingly impassioned arguments entirely devoid of a real understanding of effects or consequences... Pure sophistry...

This sort of thing is so common in martial arts, it's extremely difficult to avoid. Perusing rec.martial-arts reveals tons of 100+ post threads titled "What is the best MA?" or "Striking vs. Grappling", in which the posters endlessly argue points of strategy most of them know almost nothing about...

I guess what I'm thinking about is the boundary of the net's efficacy for the exchange of understanding, which is also the boundary of that ability in language in general. The things that cannot be conveyed through language should be kept out of any forum for debate, because that debate can't achieve any new understanding of the issue...

Whenever there are new and seemingly utopian visions, for instance with regard to the potential for blogging, I feel much reassured about my understanding of things when I can begin to see the limits of those visions. It brings me back into the realm of reality... :)

I got an email about this because they went to a DC bloggers meetup to research for the story. I don't know when it'll be on though... Unfortunately, I missed it since I'm out of town. :-(

Here is a lucky guy who was able to go... ;)

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS is working on a story about weblogs to air sometime in the coming weeks and they will be attending the Feb. 18 meetup in DC to interview a few of you about your weblog and how and why you do it. ... If you're interested, you can see past stories about the media done by the NewsHour at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/media/index.html. ...

I've added a forum to my site now, powered by the XMB system. Hopefully (hint, hint), my friends across the world will come and post something there, so we can shoot the shit just like the old days at Kiva Han in Pittsburgh, while procrastinating on school projects... ;)

It's too easy to lose touch. I'm hoping that if the people I know hang out here sometimes, it'll be a little easier not to. That means you. ;)

I was thinking today about how interesting it would be to read someone's blog back to the '20s or '30s, if they had existed at the time... The obvious follow-up question is "How many of today's blogs will still be around in 40 or 50 years?"

It's an intriguing question. How many really have the tenacity to write regularly about their comings and goings for their entire life? The kids who are blogging now will probably give it up when they go to college, maybe when they move somewhere and take their first job... Who knows what percentage of them will take it up again...

All I know is that if people continue these sites, at least some of them will be an incredible trove of introspection for future generations. Imagine being able to read hundreds of differing accounts of September 11, 50 years hence...

The potential of this medium is not only in connecting people in the here and now, but also in documenting the feeling of a particular moment in history, according to individuals... A chorus of unique voices that will inevitably convey something much more nuanced than AP or Reuters ever could.

I remember when my Grandfather was in his last days. My mother set up the video camera, brought me into the sunroom of my grandparents' house, and told me to ask him about what his life was like... What was life like during the infamous great depression, which he had lived through, seen with his own eyes? He talked about a number of things that had struck him, especially about helping the many homeless migrants get by, even while he was struggling to make ends meet.

The more voices we can save for posterity, the better. The human stories that we can tell are what bring meaning to our lives — not technology or science, or even progress. Let's not waste the opportunity we've been given, to pass on some of the meaning we find in our lives. Let's embrace it.

I found a great article on Shift about an Iranian guy living in Canada who started a blog, and has brought the revolution of blogging to Iranians across the world. He was a columnist in Iran before moving, so he already had a readership, who quickly became interested in the potential of this new medium.

So Hoder set up a bunch of FAQs in Farsi, and they all seem to have gone wild with their newfound ability to express their views. He says he is now aware of over 600 Iranian blogs, and they're (of course) still growing.

I found his site extremely interesting: I've always felt that Iran was quite different, more thoughtful a country than its neighbors, and this seems to have its root in Shiite Islam and its particular philosophies with regard to discussion and argument.

Shiites believe that argument over interpretations of the Koran and Sharia law are essential. Unlike in the madrassas promoted by the Saudis, in Iranian religious schools and institutions you find healthy debate of a variety of issues, curtailed only by the current Islamic Republic... But the tradition seems to run extremely deep.

There has also been a stark demographic shift in Iran since the Iran-Iraq war in the '80s in which millions were killed — the vast majority of the population is under 25 years old. I think that if the right events come to pass, Iran could eventually become a real modern dynamo, equal to or greater in strength than Turkey at present.

I've been thinking a lot about blogging recently, since I started this project a couple of months ago. A story on Joichi Ito's blog gave me a lot of food for thought recently, as well. (BTW, he also went to Nishimachi ;)...

I have begun to want to blog everything cool that I see in my life, and I don't have nearly enough time to do it. I can't imagine how all these bloggers out there of working age manage to find the time to post stuff every day... I guess a lot of it is not that interesting, but it still takes time...

My plan is basically to get this blog working the way I want it before I start law school next year, so I'll be able to write about all the issues I encounter. It should be pretty interesting... I just hope that I can manage to get on the Uberman's sleep schedule prior to law school. Having 4 extra hours each day would seriously ameliorate my need for time to fuel my obsessions... :)