OK – i have a funny feeling that i’m supposed to be offended by this caricature of me:

But, frankly, i’m utterly amused that anyone would put me in such a silly comic that is mocking a lot of folks and issues that i know.

Of course, my first thought was that it doesn’t look like me. As Coates pointed out, i would never carry a bag like that, i don’t have a tattoo and there’s no white fuzzy hat or armbands (which i would wear with such a sleeveless dress).

And i know that i’m supposed to be ragingly pissed at the misogynistic interpretation of me, but i just can’t help but laugh. ::slapping own wrist:: Bad feminist, bad.

Metamanda and i were writing a paper when somehow the topic of bunnies came up and she pointed me to the Unfortunate Animal of the Month Club on Morbid Tendencies. Fantastic!!

Like Joi, i will be on the Prix Ars Electronica digital communities jury. We have been asked to nominate communities that should be recognized (or you can submit your own). My trouble in determining what to nominate stems from the fact that some of the most valuable communities are inherently niche communities and thus, i’m not likely to know about them. This is where i need your help. Do you know of communities that should be nominated? If you’re the creator of a particular community, you should definitely submit yourself, but if you know of something that i should know about for this category, please let me know ASAP in the comments. Some types of communities that i’m interested in knowing about include: fan fiction communities, communities of youth, communities for marginalized populations, effective support groups, communities of sharing, etc.

For the second time in 2005, Prix Ars Electronica will honor important achievements by digital communities. This category focuses attention on the wide-ranging social impact of the Internet as well as on the latest developments in the fields of social software, mobile communications and wireless networks.

The “Digital Communities” category is open to political, social, and cultural projects, initiatives, groups, and scenes from all over the world utilizing digital technology to better society and assume social responsibility. It is meant to recognize the initiators and propagators of these communities as well as the developers of the relevant technologies, and to honor those whose work contributes to the establishment and proliferation of Digital Communities as well as provide understanding and research into them.

The prizes in this category will total 20,000 Euros: one Golden Nica (10,000 Euro), two Awards of Distinction (5,000 Euros each) and up to 12 Honorary Mentions.

For full information please check http://www.aec.at/en/prix/communities/communities.asp
Online submission: http://www.aec.at/en/prix/registration/index.asp
Deadline for submissions: March 11, 2005

When Scott was signing up with United, he found that he was required to give a title. Of course, rather than just having the generic ones, they went all out. Choices include:

Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss, Dr, 1sgt, 1stLt, 2ndLt, Adm, Baron, Baroness, Bishop, BrigGen, Brother, Cantor, Capt, Cardinal, Cmdr, Cmst, Col, Count, Countess, Cpl, Cpo, Dean, Duchess, Duke, Elder, Ens, Father, FleetAdm, General, Governor, Gysgt, Hon, Imam, Judge, Lady, Lcpl, Lord, Lt, LtCmdr, LtCol, LtGen, LtJg, Ma, Major, MajorGen, Mcpo, Mgysgt, Minister, Monsignor, MostRev, Mother, Msgt, Mstr, Pastor, PettyOff, Pfc, Po1, Po2, Po3, President, Prince, Prof, Pvt, Rabbi, RearAdm, Rev, RightRev, Scpo, Senator, Sfc, Sgt, Sgtmaj, Sir, Sister, Smn, Smn1, Smst, Sp4, Sp5, Sp6, Sr, Sra, Srta, Ssgt, Swami, TechSgt, VeryRev, ViceAdm

You love him just the way he is… and just the way he will be after a Loews Metro Man package

Our unique Metro Man package will help any man polish his look, improve his culinary skills and refine his taste… all in the name of becoming more attractive and dashing to women. The Loews Metro Man is a 24-hour transformation featuring services to educate, pamper and makeover a man. He’ll get a two-hour tasting meal, etiquette info, wine knowledge, manicure or pedicure, haircut and shave and a consultation with a personal shopper*. The package includes all this plus accommodation for one night. For even more enhancements, there’s also the Metro Man Deluxe. It’s two nights which builds on all of the above services, and adds things like waxing, a facial, dental bleachings and more*. The Deluxe package is tailor-made for each man, and is priced accordingly.

OMG. ROFL. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Has anyone done this???

Wired has a great article on the I Love Bees game. I’ve been peripherally following this since it started, and i’m quite excited about it. In short, I Love Bees is an interactive game played throughout the US, encouraging people to figure out a large storyline and follow clues online and offline at payphones. Absolutely fabulous.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s “Harrison Bergeron” was one of those short stories that blew me away as a kid and i find myself still referring to it. In talking about identity online with two friends tonite, we got into a conversation about how digital tools create certain handicaps that, in theory, might place everyone on an equal playing field. I brought up “Harrison Bergeron” and was stunned to find that they hadn’t read it. So, i figured that i’d post it here (under extended entry) in case there are others who haven’t had the opportunity to read this wonderful short story.

Continue reading →

The NYTimes has a revisiting of Milgram’s subway experiment. This is a classic experiment where grad students were told to go onto NY subways and ask passengers to give up their seats. A surprising number of them agreed to do so, but what was shocking was just how traumatic it was on the students to even ask this question, to break the social contract.

The September Project is a collection of people, groups, and organizations working to create a day of engagement, a day of conversation, a day of democracy.

A friend of mine is working on The September Project to bring together people around the country on September 11 to “share and discuss ideas about democracy, citizenship, and patriotism through public talks, roundtables, and performances.” For the most part, these events will be taking place in public libraries. I think that’s pretty rad considering that libraries are public spaces dedicated to making information more accessible and librarians have been some of the greatest activists in the fight against government suppression of knowledge.

There are almost 200 events currently scheduled, with more popping up daily. This is a fun project to support, so if one’s not scheduled in your city, consider organizing it!

You gotta love optical illusions. Click here for more.

(tx Eric)