Hugh MacLeod: The Two Immutable Laws of Blogging:
1. “Nobody’s going to read your blog unless there’s something in it for them.” -Seth Godin.
2. “Nobody’s going to link to your blog unless there’s something in it for them.” -Hugh MacLeod
Any questions?
Also recent from Hugh: top ten blogger lies and everyone’s a gatekeeper.
Brutal and bullshit free.
A little meditative thought, going over old lyrics of mine. Powerful stuff to face old writing. All sorts of things become clear upon reflection.
One thing, for example, that got me was how black and white the world once seemed. Was it that way for you long ago? Here’s a question to frame it for you: What is a friend?
I’ve been blessed with many in my life. One who is my wife. One who is my brother. One who may not be my brother by blood – but is my brother nevertheless. One a mentor. One practically a father. One my zen master. Three who called themselves my mom. Those I’ve worked with thru some hard times, and those who work to try and build something special with me, with little resources, and little personal gain.
And then there is the instance of the one I turned on for a break of trust. It still can shock me the depth of anger I felt at the perceived betrayal. Since then I’ve actually let a few people walk all over me, my response to that situation bothered me so. Richelle says I’m now too trusting. It’s a compliment… I think 🙂
Well according to dictionary.com a friend is:
If I recall correctly, as a kid your definition of a friend is very black and white: Someone you play with.
And as a teenager it gets a bit more complex – A soul you can trust. A heart that accepts you. A person you care for. A fist that will fight for you. Two feet that will stand beside you when things get hairy.
But as an adult we muddy our definition of the word friend. It becomes elastic to include acquaintances. People who we simply share interests but may not care for in the least.
Maybe this is a good thing. We grow tolerant. Our hearts less exclusive. Maybe its the acknowledgment that life is a whole lot easier if we lay down our walls and be cool with one another.
Maybe its an acknowledgment that we had it right when we were children – simply now a friend is someone you share a drink with and maybe a joke.
I’d like to believe that, but…
A part of me holds that teenager’s definition a little too dear – for example, it pisses me off how some throw around the word friend and then walk away the first time someone needs help.
That same part wants to revolt at how we market our 1,251 friends on My Space or look at our link ranks on Technorati… speaking of which… if you link to me.. are you my friend? If you don’t… what does that say?
Well, then again, sometimes a link is just a link. A comment is just a comment. And it’s expressions of reaching out that counts. One way, or another.
Back to my guitar and those old lyrics.
And an exciting one. There is a possibility of a huge – and terrific – life changing event, in the near future. I’ll share if it happens. Maybe still if it doesn’t.
In the meantime, I’ve missed some work due to a nasty cold (with sniffles and cough), that led me to miss this month’s monthly blogger meetup, and to fall behind on sharing a bunch of conversations I’ve been involved in recently.
Some can be found in my latest post on media 2.0/publishing 2.0/whatwascalllednewmediabutnowisn’t at Philly Future, including links to interesting reading on copyright, RSS, the A-list, and more.
Also of note is part 1 of a report on where things stand at Philly Future.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Happy 300th, Ben!:
If Benjamin Franklin were alive, he might skip the events planned around town today for his 300th birthday.
Too much folderol for his taste, too much speechifying. Too much Franklin, Franklin, Franklin.
It would offend his sense of modesty, and while Franklin wasn’t humble (he knew he was smarter than most), he worked hard at being modest.
It was a virtue he cultivated, aware of its value in everyday life. To be a leader of men, he realized, it was best to be one of the guys: generous in praise, respectful of divergent opinions, quick to give credit to others, slow to take it himself.
In short, Franklin was a genius with a first-class disposition, a rare thing. His brainpower, his energy, and his high emotional IQ made him the de facto civic leader of Philadelphia, its go-to guy, while still in his 30s.
The story of the founding of Pennsylvania Hospital is one example of his uncanny ability to get things done.
It wasn’t Franklin’s idea. It was Dr. Thomas Bond, a London-trained physician, who wanted a hospital for the poor and indigent. As Bond pitched his idea around town, people invariably asked: Have you talked to Franklin?
Franklin embraced the plan. But how to raise the 4,000 pounds?
Franklin had an idea. (He always had an idea.) He had a citizen petition presented to the Colonial Assembly, asking it to create a hospital.
When – as he knew they would – rural legislators objected to such a large expenditure for Philadelphia, Franklin, a member of the Assembly, rose and asked it to put forward half the money – but only if the other 2,000 could be first raised privately. Assembly members agreed, thinking that the private appeal would fail but that they could collect political credits for their generosity.
Franklin then organized the fund-raising, the 2,000 pounds was raised, the Assembly put up the other 2,000 pounds, and America’s first hospital was erected at Eighth and Pine Streets, where it stands today.
Thus did Ben Franklin invent one of the mainstays of modern philanthropy: matching funds.
As Franklin wrote later: “I do not remember any of my political manoeuvres, the success of which gave me at the time more pleasure…”
The hospital was chartered in 1751, three years after Franklin retired to give time to civic and scientific pursuits.
To friends who asked why he would give up a lucrative printing business, Franklin explained that when he died, he would rather have people say that “he was useful” than “he was rich.”
Related: Dan Rubin: Happy Birthday, Blog Daddy. Indeed he was.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King: Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence:
The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.
And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak.
…Dr. King shows the best possible way to testify, the highest calling of declaring one’s faith publicly. Most public declarations of faith are unseemly, full of preening and judgement. I grew up in an area where it seemed most Christians acted anything but, so it was a revelation to me for a public figure to have championed his religion so humbly, honestly and respectfully. Before I encountered Dr. King’s speeches, I didn’t understand that true manifestations of faith could cause someone to embrace those who were different or those with whom we disagree. It’s obvious why so many, regardless of their own faith or lack thereof, found common cause and a comfort in Dr. King’s values.
Al Gore: MLK Day 2006: Speech at Constiution Hall:
Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction. Justice Brandeis once wrote: “Men feared witches and burnt women.”
The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk.
Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the Bill of Rights.
Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment’s notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march-when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously?
It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.
(via Atrios)
On Vietnam: (listen to the whole speech):
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death… America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.
On political strategy/solidarity:(listen to the whole speech):
Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively — that means all of us together — collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That’s power right there, if we know how to pool it.
On Equality:(watch it):
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
(via MFA)
Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.
(via Pax Romano)
More at Philly Future
Wired News: Cyberporn Sells in Virtual World:
You’ve heard of machinima — films made by altering video-game footage — but that’s not the only thing coming out of games these days. Players of the massively multiplayer online title Second Life have started a new type of pornographic magazine, one that passes up real-life models for sexy, in-world avatars.
The magazine, Slustler, is both shot and distributed in the world of the game. There, after throwing down 150 Linden dollars (approximately 60 cents), players can browse Slustler’s 100-plus pages per issue whenever they choose.
Thomas Struszka, Slustler’s editor, started the project this May. “In my opinion,” said Struszka, “the freedom and creative potential are what put Second Life above every other online world.”
Technology enables us to do new things every day, but human nature? Heh.
Anyways, Second Life sounds like fun… but I have way, way too too much going on in this world 🙂 Speaking of Second Life, Lawrence Lessig will be doing a virtual visit to discuss his book “Free Culture”.
I’m really enjoying the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Nothing like it on television. These past few episodes have been some of the best.
Here’s some recent related links:
Dave Rogers: BSG: Flying Toasters:
Adama raises the central question, but doesn’t have the answer. Events conspire to propel him even further along this journey as he’s forced to confront loss on a scale that seems incomprehensible. It’s been fascinating to watch his character wrestle with these questions, his conditioned and habituated thinking, and the consequences of the choices he’s forced to make, as someone with authority and responsibility. I was surprised and pleased last night in the scene were Adama confronted Boomer to ask why the Cylons hate humanity so, and Boomer said that “hate” probably wasn’t the right word. Adama indicated his impatience with her by saying he didn’t intend to fence with her. Boomer then reflected his own words back to him, from his retirement speech aboard Galactica.
It is, I think, the logical conclusion of believing one can create a technology that can “patch” or “work around” the worst failings in our own nature.
What happens if we succeed?
NewsNet5.com: Bill Would Allow Arrests For No Reason In Public Place:
…The Ohio Patriot Act has made it to the Taft’s desk, and with the stroke of a pen, it would most likely become the toughest terrorism bill in the country. The lengthy piece of legislation would let police arrest people in public places who will not give their names, address and birth dates, even if they are not doing anything wrong.
WEWS reported it would also pave the way for everyone entering critical transportation sites such as, train stations, airports and bus stations to show ID.
“It brings us frighteningly close to a show me your papers society,” said Carrie Davis of the ACLU, which opposes the Ohio Patriot Act.
There are many others who oppose the bill as well.
“The variety of people who opposed to this is not just a group of the usual suspects. We have people far right to the left opposing the bill who think it is a bad idea,” said Al McGinty, NewsChannel5’s terrorism expert.
McGinty said he isn’t sure the law would do what it’s intended to do.
“I think anything we do to enhance security and give power to protect the public to police officers is a good idea,” he said. “It is a good law in the wrong direction.”
Gov. Bob Taft will make the ultimate decision on whether to sign the bill.
WEWS was told that Taft is expected to sign the bill into law, but legal experts expect that it will be challenged in courts.
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