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CNN: Senators compromise on filibusters

I applaud the spirit of compromise here. That is after all, like
it or not, what it’s all about. Neither side tends to get 100% of what
they want all of the time. Not the Republicans, not the
Democrats…and certainly not my Libertarians! (we have a couple of
dogcatcher posts, though, and are doing a great job! Watch out!)

Let’s remember this compromse if we can, and try not to demonize
people we don’t agree with as long as they’re not actively trying to
harm you. We disagree. Like it or not, not everyone thinks the way you
do…and part of the marvel of our society is that you can get along
day-to-day with these people without poking them with a stick.

David Brin puts it well: And yet, it also seems to me that we’d all be a lot happier, and better off, and more capable of dealing with criticism if each of us were to remember, now and then, to say the following phrase:
I am a member of a civilization.

(IAAMOAC)

I have friends that I agree with on lots of things, and friends I
agree with on some things…and friends that I like, but seldom agree
with on much to do with politics, religion, and such. Them’s the
breaks. As long as they’re still nice people overall, it’s OK.

While driving home today, I was flipping back and forth between Sean
Hannity on WSB (Atlanta AM 750) and Randi Rhodes on Air America
(Atlanta AM 1690). I’ll be honest…I like some of the talent on each
of those stations, but I don’t like either of these people. They’re
TOO far out there…and they’re indicative of the problem. It was
amazing, and somewhat distasteful, to listen to.

So thanks again, centrist Senators. Thanks for reminding us of how the
process can work. (I admit, I forget too…libertarian fantasies
sometimes get in the way of reality.) Now…can all you guys get back
to doing something meaningful? *grin*

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The new Make Magazine looks
great…I may well ask for a subscription for my anniversary or
something. But I think this extra section takes the cake: MakeShift 01 —
an intractable conundrum to separate the intellectual and
creative wheat from the chaff: a dead car battery in the middle of
nowhere; an eight-hour time limit before deadly weather sets in;
nothing but your wits, camping gear, and left-over snacks to solve the
problem.

Awesome!

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So, when I was blogging
earlier about Brin
and climate change, I was reviewing some old posts. I noticed an
old one about Jamie Zawinski , where I talk about his
fantastic Groupware BAD essay.

I went back and reread it. There’s good shit there, for several reasons:

  • He NAILS his point, and still manages to be laugh-out-loud funny.
  • His basic “calendaring share” may be something a buddy and I try to
    hack up. Good stuff.
  • Quotes, quotes, quotes!

I mean, really…this is priceless:

“Groupware” is all about things like “workflow”, which means, “the
chairman of the committee has emailed me this checklist, and I’m done with
item 3, so I want to check off item 3, so this document must be sent back to
my supervisor to approve the fact that item 3 is changing from `unchecked’
to `checked’, and once he does that, it can be directed back to committee
for review.”

Nobody cares about that shit. Nobody you’d want to talk to, anyway.

Go Jamie! You friggin’ rock.

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BoingBoing: V-TV DAY: WE WON THE BROADCAST FLAG FIGHT!

I’m still reviewing the info, but this looks like a pretty solid
win. Not that the studios aren’t going to try to take it to
Congress…but winning in Congress is a different kettle of fish than
pushing something through a 5 person commission.

As Cory Doctorow put in at boingboing: And to the studio execs whom I faced across the table, who shouted at us and excluded us and told us that this was going to happen no matter what: NEENER NEENER NEENER.

I like it.

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Wired: Sony Get
Real On Virtual Goods.

Excellent. As far as I am aware,
this will be the first legal transfer of MMORPG characters and objects
in a game other than Second
Life (which had this from the beginning, and explictly works with
outside markets like Gaming
Open Market on fraud detection, etc.). So good deal. It’s a
captive auction site for Sony, of course…it’ll be interesting to see
if Sony abuses its market control power (bans certain auctions,
etc.). Plus, in true gaming MMORPGs (unlike Second Life, which has no
“leveling”, or backstory), there will be a subset of players who
dislike the legal sale of high-level characters, items, etc. But, to
Sony…it’s all about the money. *grin*

And please note…I’m not saying that liking money is bad. But for
a LONG time, the mainstream game developers (like Sony) have opposed
these sorts of auctions. Their stated reasons have often been along
the lines of “it affects the gameplay, and we’re committed to great
gameplay for our users”. To a certain extent, I think this has been
disingenuous; I think they’ve just been trying to figure out how they
can lock all other options out, and make the money themselves. Which
again…isn’t all bad; but I think they HAVE been dishonest about
their motives. And that IS bad. Unsurprising, though!