Monthly Archives: May 2014

A Bit of Science, Some Literature, A Tune or Two, and Some Crazy News

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This entry is part 23 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I spent most of my day today, neck deep in code, tweaking Drupal API bits on a data entry form to bend it to the will of my client.

I am not exactly a programmer, so this isn’t my idea of a good time.

But, it needs to be done, and so it gets done. And there’s still a lot more to do, and a ticking clock hanging over every keystroke.

That’s how a lot of our life is–full of things that need to be done that we aren’t all that thrilled about doing. It’s a shame, really. I know people who love the bulk of what they do, but the bulk of people I know slog through the day, pulled forward only by the sweet promise of release from the drudgery of the day and the solace of a cold beverage or a few fleeting hours with their significant other/family/friends before they have to bed down and do the whole thing again tomorrow.

Time is, indeed, the most limited resource we have. (And according to one of the links below, it may literally be running out… that’s kind of trippy to think about… if you have a minute to spare.) Because of that, we should all be well aware of what we do with those precious moments we have where we are in control and can do what we want.

…and that’s about as deep as I have the time to go, since I need to get off to sleep as that code won’t write itself.

https://www.facebook.com/kierduros/activity/10152031641295981

Bad Business, Intergalactic Bad Guys, Some Good Evil, Celebrity How To, and Other Stuff That Makes Me Feel Old

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This entry is part 22 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

There was a semi-lengthy back-and-forth in a comment stream today about how celebrities interact with their fans.

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of different methods of interaction. Some of them much more personable than others. I’ve seen celebs content to sit behind their tables, offering nothing more than a well-acted smile and nod as their assistant takes the fans’ money and they sign a picture. I’ve seen others end up late to panels or other appointments because they stopped to have an actual conversation/shake hands/pose with a random fan (or five) who crossed their path. There are genuinely introverted people (like Johnny Depp) that fight to overcome their own preferences because they know how important their fans are and there are people (like Jack Nicholson) who are really known for being right bastards (and yet, on their raw talent alone, still manage to maintain some sort of fan base).

The ones who happily and willingly interact with their fans–something that modern technology has made a lot easier to do–seem to have not just a more loyal and active fan base, but one which is willing to follow the star to any new project and (perhaps more importantly) toss money at projects and causes that the celeb is part of or supports. (Alyssa Milano, a few years back, pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars for a clean water charity simply by asking her fans, via Twitter, to donate for her birthday.)

If you are (or become) a celebrity and you don’t like dealing with your fans face to face… do whatever you can to avoid having to do so. Don’t let your management or promoters force your fans to pay good money for a half-assed experience that you’re going to hate (and they may walk away from liking you less). More importantly, perhaps, tell your fans honestly why you don’t do photo ops or meet and greets. Fans–real fans–will understand and appreciate the insight into you… and, as an extra added bonus, you may just make a real difference in their life by making them feel less alone in their own quirks and anxieties.

Crawfish Boil, Taste the World, Star Wars Day, Church and State, and a whole lot of other stuff

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This entry is part 21 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

This past weekend was a busy one. Some friends of mine had their second annual crawfish boil. A day full of more food than you can sensibly eat. (Not that that stopped any of us from trying.) Also the requisite and assured good company of good friends. Really can’t beat that.

Followed that up on Sunday with another food-oriented event, the fourth annual Taste the World in Fenton Village, one of the projects I’ve been helping out with for the last few years. It’s a fantastic community event that, four years in, really seems to be coming into its own. This year the weather cooperated pretty well (could’ve done with a little less wind… but that was far better than the rain drenching everyone at the end of the day last year) and we had a little extra boost from Yelp! along with all the normal local support.

Sunday was also May the 4th… Star Wars Day! Not that I did anything special for it, since I was out all day with Taste the World, but it did lead to some very entertaining online things to come home to.

All in all, pretty solid weekend… and one that I could really use another weekend to recover from.

History Most Don’t Know, Instances of Future History in the Making, Talented Kids, and other Interesting News

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This entry is part 20 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Today’s been another mixed-bag, newsfeed-wise. There’s a lot going on in the world right now and it seems most people don’t even come close to grasping just how much things will change, depending on which way some of it goes.

The big one, of course, is the ongoing Net Neutrality fight. But that’s running parallel to the continued fallout from all the revelations about how the NSA (and other agencies) have been spying on pretty much all of us. Both of those current events have some of the biggest players in the information game at one another’s throats. In the first case, it’s the content providers against the infrastructure owners. The the second, it’s companies like Google against the U.S. government.

Both of these fights are going to get a lot more messy before they get better. There are indications that there’s some heavy corporate influence shifting the sands of the Net Neutrality battle in ways that I (and many others) think will be very bad for the public in general. In the domestic surveillance case, a number of companies are trying desperately to regain the trust of their users (and their foreign business partners) by pushing back against gag orders and, apparently, gearing up for a drawn out fight with intelligence agencies and law enforcement.

There’s more than a little overlap in the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in these two arenas. I find myself rooting both for and against some companies (like Verizon, who stands a lot to gain if there’s no mandate for Net Neutrality, but is also in a position to fight against the government overstepping it’s bounds in the surveillance arena). It’s… problematic, to say the least.

All I know for sure is that the world has been changing really quickly over the past 30 years or so. For decades, we’ve been in a period of transition where out reach has extended beyond our grasp. Waters have been further muddied and vision blurred by high emotions and secret dealings. Even now I doubt we have anything near the full picture of everything going on in these two major battles.

This could go on for years. But I worry that the bulk of the public is either ignorant of the importance of these fights or already growing bored with the legal wranglings and semi-obscure technical specifications. Without the support of an knowledgeable public, the big players are free to do whatever they want, regardless of whether it’s good or bad for the rest of us.

Can’t say I care much for that.

But I don’t have any good solutions, either.

Some Good News, Some Bad News, and Some Outright Crazy Stuff (You know, as usual)

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This entry is part 19 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Kicked off my day this morning with an off-site meeting and then capped it off with two other meetings that popped up out of nowhere. Which, of course, lead to a mad dash to get stuff done… and a list of things that will get in the way of a nice, leisurely Friday in the office.

But, I followed up the day at work with a bit of getting together with former coworkers. That’s always nice. Fun to hear what people (people who I can’t stalk on Facebook because they either don’t use it at all or don’t post enough) have been up to and how things are going at the old employer.

Did a lot of walking through DC, got home later than expected, and now… now I’m getting to bed later than expected… so… nothing profound or all that coherent (especially since I’ve still got a lot of stuff in my inbox that needs watching… and a packed weekend of stuff ahead of me).