In the course of some archiving I stumbled across the April 1st, 2003 hoax I perpetrated on the Brandeis community. On that day the home page of Boogle, the search tool I maintained to make finding and sharing files on the campus network easier, was replaced by a letter from the Recording Industry Association of America explaining how students would have the price of all music and movies on their computers added to their term bills. The reaction was, in many cases, sheer terror, probably because the hoax seemed so plausible.

Sadly, we did shut down the service shortly thereafter, due to mounting pressure from the actual RIAA and the increasingly hostile legal environment. The school newspaper covered both the hoax and the actual shutdown.

Inspired by Jason Kottke’s yearly list. One or more days and nights were spent in each place. Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days. Those marked with a † were visited for a full day but not a night.

Slightly less than two years after shaking up the format and attempting to move the show from Los Angeles to St. Paul, followed by months and months of floundering around trying to decide on a hosting team that worked, and then finally giving the job to John Moe last August, but making him move to Minnesota to take it…now Minnesota Public Radio is canceling Weekend America, blaming a bad economy. Moe’s been doing a great job, but the revolving door of hosts and locations couldn’t have done the show any favors. It was fresh and friendly and fun and interesting, and a great way to spend a couple hours on the weekend. I’m going to miss it a lot more than Day to Day.

They modify their hit songs for the Muppet audience. Very cute.

• Tony Bennett believes in little things, like Elmo.
• Norah Jones can’t find her friend, and doesn’t know why.
• James Blunt lost something beautiful.
• Feist enjoys counting to four.

And perhaps famous in his own right, Beaker sings Ode to Joy. And sort of blows up the internet.

I’m starting to watch Wonderfalls, Brian Fuller’s previous creation prior to Pushing Daisies, my current favorite show. Like Daisies, Wonderfalls has a supernatural element. The main character works at a Niagara Falls gift shop, where animal figurines start inexplicably talking to her — and urging her to connect with the people who pass through her shop. As she helps travelers on their journeys, Jaye starts to finally confront her own purposeless existence.

I’m glad I didn’t discover this show when it aired in 2004 and I was still in college. I think it resonates more with me now than it would have then. When first I graduated I felt disconnected and lost — jobless and going through a protracted breakup. But since that first two months, I’ve had a post-college existence that is stable and productive, if not always entirely fulfilling. And I worry that I’ve never taken any serious risks, never jumped without the ground clearly in view. Never fallen, but also never flown.

In Wonderfalls, the main character lives in a trailer. A conveyance built for the road, but here firmly planted, hitch plaintively outstretched. That’s not my life. But sometimes it feels like it is.

The end of last season’s Doctor Who was a muddled disaster that, in trying to wrap up 4 years of characters and plot, mostly just mucked things up and left viewers confused and unsatisfied. Just one of the things that bugged me to no end was the idea that a regenerated younger Doctor, full of genetic knowledge but lacking genetic love, could, with a few throws of buttons and switches, become a genocidal maniac. Or was that Doctor Donna? Hard to remember.

Anyway, since the show is all about consequences and loneliness and such, I propose a better alternative. Sure, the Doc can maintain his present (Tennant) form by short-circuiting the regeneration process. But in order to channel all that energy into his old hand (and save himself a regeneration cycle), two things happen. First, old Doctor dies. Dies dead, body lying there, really dead. Second, new Doctor does not inherit any of the genetic memory past his previous regeneration. So last thing he remembers is destroying the Daleks on the space station and saving Rose, and none of the last three years.

Now wouldn’t that be poignant?

And then, obviously, the Shadow Proclamation and various other allies and factors would come in and help clear the whole mess with the Daleks up, I suppose. Or maybe Sarah Jane’s “warpstar.” Whatever.

When I was working at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, I would sometimes sit in on lunch seminars or gatherings of the research fellows in which Lewis Hyde was a participant. While most of the fellows at Berkman had a background in the law, Hyde’s academic resumé consisted of a tenured teaching position — in English — at Kenyon College in Ohio. That, and that he wrote a book about the “erotic life of property,” and that he was a poet, were all that I knew about Lewis Hyde’s scholarship.

And I suspect the same was true of many of Berkman’s other researchers, because they always seemed astonished when, after someone would make an astute point about some aspect of the cultural commons, or what have you, Hyde would pipe in to say something like, “I actually explored that issue in a chapter of the book I published in 1975,” or, “that’s what I’ve been working on with the blah de blah foundation for the last ten years.” They’d throw vexed looks that exclaimed, “Who is this guy? And was he actually thinking about these things back when I was in pre-school?”

This week’s New York Times Magazine features a profile of Lewis Hyde penned by Daniel B. Smith and titled, “What is Art For?“. It sheds a lot of light for me on what Lewis Hyde is all about and the fascinating, methodical journey he has been pursuing for much of his life.

His first major quest was to explore how the fundamental nature of man to be creative and sharing clashed with market-driven societies, and how artists can survive, and perhaps thrive, under such strictures. His continued work often dealt with ways to encourage and reward creativity in modern America. And his current great project is aimed at expanding society’s understanding of the commons and its centrality in both creativity and progress. To do so, he weaves in the ideas and opinions of, among others, great American founding thinkers like Jefferson and Franklin, who well understood the need for a vibrant shared commons of ideas and thought to encourage innovation.

Is is this “capacious” cultural commons that Lewis Hyde strives to open to all of us, and it is, I think, a noble quest. And the methodical and deliberate way in which he goes about it is a marked — and welcomed — change from our modern politics as well as from the thinking of traditional scholars in this field, which is often strongly couched in the language of the law, sometimes to its detriment.

When I was at Berkman, I interacted every day, often in very mundane ways, with thinkers and explorers of great wisdom and great curiosity. It is interesting to occasionally check in on some of them, and a little disappointing to realize that I might have missed some neat opportunities to learn from these folks. Something to keep in mind for future jobs and circumstances.

I happily talk politics, or religion, or any other sensitive topic. I will listen, rebut, pose questions or offer counter-examples, but I rarely give a direct opinion, even in this blog. I find that generally people have opinions of their own, and I am more comfortable offering challenges and exploring fuzzy lines than embarking on direct confrontations. If I’m asked, I’ll openly give my opinion, but people do not generally think to ask. But since you’re here, I’ll just assume you’ve asked. Because I have something I want to say.

Barack Hussein Obama, perhaps the most improbable candidate in recent memory, was elected our 44th president. His election is powerful and symbolic and gives me profound joy. An energetic, articulate, deeply thoughtful person, Obama has created a movement of the dispossessed. So many Americans, young and old, rich and poor, of all ethnicities and backgrounds, have felt for a long time that America has faltered in its great mission. The America I speak of is not the gritty reality, but the dream, the vision, the beacon of hope that has in the past shined out across our vast world and touched its far corners. I would never call America perfect: our country is deeply flawed. We have time and again throughout history demonstrated remarkably poor judgement. But we have also had moments of astounding greatness.

The promise of America, the prestige of America, the image of America, and the reality of America, all were tarnished under President George W. Bush. Barack Obama offers a new message of hope and possibility. His generic mantra of change is easy to disparage, but his oratorical style, his abiding faith in America, his ability to bring people together in common purpose, these things should not be underestimated. Read the profiles and character studies: Obama can never stop analyzing his own flaws, is ever driven to do better. He is not a messianic leader, but a pragmatist. I believe his message of change is real, and is exactly what America needs at this time and this place.

More than that, Obama is an amazing organizer and manager. He may have little experience in government, but the way he handled his campaign speak volumes about what he can achieve in Washington. From broad strokes to small details like the beautiful logo, the Obama campaign is a case study in doing everything right.

How can one predict the success or failure of a president, two months before he even enters office? I know I can’t. But I am filled with hope for a brighter future. For the first time in eight years, optimism has taken hold. It is an outlook that has been absent from my life for too long, and I am happy to have it close by again.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

How can you listen to this speech and not be inspired?

The IT organization I work for has made great strides in recent years to become larger and more professional. Along with higher expectations for features, stability, and security has come larger budgets, and several big projects to implement major overhauls to infrastructure. In general the trend seems to be towards moving away from tested open-source software maintained in-house to expensive commercial software, often managed by third parties.

I disagree with this trend, especially for an academic institution, but companies make decisions all the time regarding the real or perceived trade-offs between free and commercial software.

Today I heard about one proposal being discussed for a multi-million dollar identity management solution. Other highly expensive projects include a massive new Microsoft Exchange service, outsourced email for students, and a ton of pricy new security tools like monitoring appliances and encryption products.

Keeping all of that spending in mind, here is an email I just received:

In light of the recent notes from [Harvard President] Drew Faust and [FAS Dean] Mike Smith concerning the climate of fiscal austerity, we will forgo the reception we’d planned following the staff meeting.

That does not help me to feel confident that good budgeting decisions are being made. Keep the millions of dollars in licenses and fees and support contracts for proprietary systems of questionable value run by highly-paid consultants. Dump the cheap snacks and sodas that show management cares about employees. Glad to know where we stand.

When I was in Barcelona back in July, I was amazed by the quantity of bicycle traffic and the many miles of marked, traffic-separated bike lanes. At least nine out of every ten bikes I saw was a red Bicing-branded model, part of a city-wide program of several hundred pick-up/drop-off points. Meant for locals, not tourists, the program costs about $30 per year and lets participants use a smart card to “check out” a bike from any stand and return it to any other. First half hour is free, a penny a minute thereafter (in 30 minute increments), reservations not to exceed two hours.

In a dense city like Barcelona, recently decked out with tons of new bike lanes and home to narrow alleys that are generally off-limits to cars, the program is such a success that the company that runs it has trouble keeping up with demand and maintaing its fleet. The program, similar to many that are thriving in warm-climate, dense cities through Europe, cuts down on car traffic, results in better physical fitness, and, perhaps best of all, improves the life of the city.

Take this quote from a New York Times article about the programs:

“The critical mass of bikes on the road has pacified traffic,” said Gilles Vesco, vice mayor in charge of the program in Lyon. “Now, the street belongs to everybody and needs to be better shared. It has become a more convivial public space.”

A lesson that many American cities could do well to take to heart.

The Onion, January 2001:
Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’

The Onion, November 2008:
Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress

Their reporting continues to be top notch. And almost everything in their 2001 article has come true…

Objective polling and statistical analysis gives the chance of Obama victory in today’s presidential election at 98.9%. (The projection is based on running 10,000 election simulations.) If McCain scores an upset win, it will likely be because of voter-fraud fraud. That is to say, attempts to clear voter rolls, challenges at polling places, and the like, including the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

From 2002 to 2005, according to Hendrik Hertzberg, only 20 people in the entire US were found guilty of voting while ineligible. Only five were convicted of voting more than once. By contrast, tens of thousands of voters in at least six swing states have been removed from voter rolls or blocked from voting in ways that violate federal law, according to the New York Times. While John McCain is spreading divisive and dangerous lies about ACORN “perpetrating one of the greatest voter frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy,” political leaders, many in his party, have been putting in place dangerously insecure and unreliable electronic voting machines (and sometimes distributing them in inequitable ways so that urban, lower-income voters are more likely to be prevented from voting).

The voter-fraud hysteria is not backed up by facts. The systematic disenfranchisement, in some cases clearly intentional, is. If John McCain wins tonight, it is doubtful that it will be an honorable victory.

100,000 supports come out to see Obama in Denver. In worries me a bit. He’s not a rock star, he’s not the second coming, he’s a good politician at the right time and place. Sure, Americans are fed up, many of our cherished values and institutions are in shambles, and Obama’s brings a brand of hope and change to the table that people are desperate to latch on to. But I don’t like seeing otherwise sane and rational people I know succumbing to the siren call of partisanship and spin. We’re better than that. And we have the luxury, with a tremendous poll advantage, that while McCain continues to toil in the swamp, Obama’s supporters can keep their discourse elevated.

Every time I go to bring up 826 Valencia in conversation, I can’t remember the name (or, more precisely, the number). Here is Dave Eggers’ talk from February that describes the project. One of these days I’m going to check out 826 Boston. It’s only a mile away from where I’ve been playing frisbee, but sadly not open at 9pm. 🙂

Judging solely by their trailers, these films looks particularly notable:

• Let the Right One In
• Good Dick
• I’ve Loved You For So Long
• Milk
• Waltz with Bashir

I’m also intrigued but confused by Synecdoche, New York.

What other coming films look interesting?

Is the Honda CR-V, which puts out less CO₂ than a Mini Cooper, has good visibility, and is fairly low to the ground, a guilt-free SUV? Not entirely, but it is better than most. Regardless, “it just feels like a jacked-up hatch.” He says it as a put-down, but since I was looking for a hatchback to begin with…

Longer post on this whole process forthcoming, once everything is wrapped up.

Somehow, I don’t think buying a new car will bring me greatness, no matter how clean its windshield. But it does serve to temporarily distract from the bleary desperation (ennui?) of life. Summer is slipping away, and winter approaches. Winters are not a good time of year for me.