apophenia:: making connections where none previously existedAndy van Dam dancing the cha-cha- June 29, 2008 Michael Carter just sent me an email with a link to a YouTube video entitled Andy van Dam in "Dancing with the Professors." Andy was my undergraduate advisor, my mentor, and is a dear friend. I was one of his TAs and absolutely loved seeing him do goofy things in class. That said, I've never seen this side of him and I'm completely beside myself in giggles. This makes me wonder.... where are all of the other avd videos I found one of Andy losing in ping pong. But there has to be more..http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/06/29/andy_van_dam_da.html marbellio trying to stay cool- June 23, 2008 Random kitty cat share for no good reason... Marbellio is trying to stay cool in Los Angeles and this picture is soooooooo cute. So I just had to share. Hopefully this brings a smile to your face on a Monday morning. Tehehe.http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/06/23/marbellio_tryin.html feeding quasi-"legitimate" trolls in an attention economy- June 22, 2008 In an attention economy, it's better to ignore than to critique. This drives me absolutely bloody batty. Anyone who's been online for too darn long knows has heard the expression, "don't feed the trolls." This stems from the general belief that trolls engaging in trolling for attention. Giving them attention by telling them off feeds into their goals. Thus, the best way to deal with a troll is to ignore them. We know this pattern from offline examples too. Schoolyard bullies are one...http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/06/22/feeding_quasile.html markers of status: different, and yet the same- June 17, 2008 (I was asked to respond to some of Clay Shirky's posts on Talking Points Memo Cafe. I figured that this would be a good excuse to blog since I've been a bad bad bad bad blogger lately. What follows is my first blog response.) Original Post on TPMCafe: markers of status: different, and yet the same Speculating on social status in an age of networked participation, Clay Shirky accurately points out the ways in which metrics for status have become diversified. It is possible to gain...http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/06/17/markers_of_stat.html politics of terrorism studies- June 1, 2008 Years ago, I subscribed to Newsweek to get a source of lightweight magazine news that was relatively mainstream. I don't expect in-depth coverage, but I still enjoy seeing how certain things are being framed. Plus, it's fun to read Steven Levy, knowing that he's making tech culture broadly accessible. Lately, I've also been enjoying columns by Fareed Zakaria. I don't always agree with him, but I find his essays far more provocative than I'd expect from such a mainstream column. Thus, they..http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/05/31/studies_on_terr.html |