Happy ending today for some scary times for Andy Lester's daughter. Glad things went so well, Andy!
I'd like to shoot the guy who called that beautiful little girl's daddy mean names.
Go for it; it was me.
No shooting, please.
petdance on 2002-08-19T19:49:17
Please don't shoot Simon. He's a valuable member of the community (even though he's recused himself from it a great deal lately).Plus, there's not much difference between dubbing someone a "fuckhead," and saying "I'd like to shoot the guy". One of the points I tried to make clear in the talk that you refer to was that we all screw up, or all do nasty things, every so often, and so we ALL need to be a little more accomodating and not be so quick to flip the Bozo Bit.
Also, please note that my talk very specifically is not about a given person, or a given exchange, but about the geek tendency towards anonymous anger and hostility. I used a single comment as an example, but it's certainly not the only one.
On a happier point, I appreciate the kind thoughts about Quinn. I'm sure she's going to be just fine; it'll just take some extra work on our part.
Re:No shooting, please.
jdavidb on 2002-08-19T22:02:37
Plus, there's not much difference between dubbing someone a "*" and saying "I'd like to shoot the guy".
Yes, that was a bit of a joke. Sometimes I go so serious people can't tell I'm joking. Calvin and Hobbes fans (at least, those who have memorized Bill Watterson's entire canon, like me
:) ) may recall a strip where Calvin is watching violent television and talking to Hobbes about a study that shows a correlation between children growing up watching such things and violent problems later in life. Hobbes asks Calvin if he thinks the study is correct, and he responds, "Nah, I'd like to shoot the guys who think this stuff has any effect on me." Quoting from Eric Raymond and your talk, "[h]ackers have relatively little ability to identify emotionally with other people." Specifically, we forget that there are actual people on the other end of the email we send. One of the elements of those actual people on the other end is that they are all living lives, and sometimes those lives include serious struggles. Chewing out a colleague is bad enough without chewing out a colleague going through a personal crisis. Of course, hackers are known for overreacting. They can't just tell someone they are wrong, they have to get angry and express that anger with foul language. And I was making an exaggerated overreaction in my "shoot 'em" comment.
No, I don't really want to shoot anyone. But thanks for pointing out the contradiction; I was waiting for someone to do so so I could elaborate with this explanation.
And, forgetting all that: your story about Quinn made my day Friday!
Re:Worries
jdavidb on 2002-08-21T01:18:14
The journal seems to imply they have a probable solution to that problem as well.
Three cheers for Quinn; she's already got her own journal! I hope her daddy teaches her to program Perl, too.
:)
