Needs no further explanation. Now the waiting game begins. I fire up the referrer logs, sit back, relax, and count the seconds until someone gets to this page by Googling for 'Barbera Streisand Nude'. Keywords: Naked, Nude, Sex, Dirty Sanchez. Spider me!
Update - April 2nd: FYI, about one person per day gets here by Googling 'Barbera Streisand Nude' or 'Streisand Nude' (her name is actually spelled Barbra). Hooray! Am collecting data, will one day publish a map of the world...
Playing with mash-ups of NOAA data :-) Shown here: Hurricane Sergio, sea surface temperature overlay.
As at yesterday: When its minimum central pressure dropped to 965 mbar on November 15, Sergio became the strongest hurricane to form or exist in November in the Eastern or Central North Pacific, surpassing 1991's Hurricane Nora.
The Book of Beginnings is a collection of the unfinished stories of POV-Ray artist Gilles Tran. They're fascinating, and end mid-sentence, reading them gives a strange sense of channel surfing. I'm sure he wasn't the first to say it, but Mystery said it best: 'always leave them wanting more.' Usually illustrations follow the story, with Tran it seems to be the other way round, which I suppose makes sense; if you spend hundreds of hours working on a scene in a ray-tracing modeller you must have a pretty good sense of it and the world it belongs in by the time you're finished. Highly recommended.
Did you know: there are several towns and cities across the United States called Woonsocket? It's like the City Fathers all got drunk on mead one day and had a contest for weirdest city name ever. The word is widely believed (by me) to be Nipmuc Indian for 'I will kill you and steal your horse, paleface'.
Pioneer captain Jeremiah 'Lucky' Pierre, addressing captured braves: 'You are defeated, you will now convert to Christianity and serve your new masters in the name of God, or die. Tell me, what do you savages call this place.'
Chief Ravenous Beaver: 'Wo oon sok k ket'
Which would explain Woonsocket, RI, the city whose motto is (no fooling) 'the most French place in the United Sates outside of Louisiana.' which I guess is in their favor. Apparently it's a nice place too, because the good people of Woonsocket, South Dakota named their town after it. New York was originally called New Amsterdam. There's New Orleans, New England, New Jersey, New Hampshire and so on. There's even a Paris in Arkansas. Some homesick fellow in the wild west must have had grand designs to found a new and beautiful city to rival the might and splendor of home, he would create his homeland afresh in foreign lands and it would be called: New Woonsocket (cue trumpets).
I don't really get the process behind place names in general. Consider New Mexico. Did American troops look at the battered country across the border after the Mexican-American War and think to themselves, 'Yeah, we should have one of those, the world needs another Mexico'?
For what it's worth, in case you think I'm picking unfairly on Woonsocket for having a funny name - as opposed to say Hygiene, Colorado or Santa Claus, Indiana [Google Maps] - westerners have trouble pronouncing my home town.
In 1979, the cast and crew of Rainbow made a special edition for the Thames TV staff Christmas tape. Though I grew out of this show around age ten it still has pretty colors, and a bear, and Geoffrey talking about his balls.
We've grown blase about technology, some great Moore's Law of progress has dulled us to the incredibly awesome things that science is kicking out every single day. So we crack the human genome (FUCKING HELL!) and the public yawns. We have robots on Mars, right now, but I can't remember anyone ever bringing that up in the bar. Those videophones in sci-fi movies? Free calls for everyone with Skype.
It takes something ordinary to change, something not dismissed as science stuff for geeks (the Popular Girl shudders, 'eww! geeks'), before we're reminded that - oh yes - we live in the 21st century.
Some engineers in Australia have done just that. They've invented a new kind of shower head that puts an air bubble inside each droplet of water, cutting consumption by thirty percent.
I, for one, think we should call this new type of shower droplet the Douche Bag, because douche is the French word for shower and anything French is arguably more stylish than anything Australian, and Bag because they're tiny bags of water surrounding a pocket of air.
Since human use of water has such a major impact on the natural world an obvious sales pitch is to name it The Environmentalist Douche Bag Shower. Then you can have the guy in the TV ad deliver catchy lines like 'now I'm going to get naked and cover myself in douche bags' or 'I love how douche bags feel on my skin'.
Maybe for the American version we could get Mr T to do the spot 'Hey you jibba-jabba fool! Get out yo' seat and go get some douche bags to clean yo ass!', and everyone would blindly obey because the product is endorsed by Mr T.
Douche bags everywhere will change the world for the better. Hooray! Go Aussie Scientists!
An artist by the name of Howard Hallis has made a picture of everything, like the most incredible Where's Waldo ever, and the most massive single instance of character copyright infringement I've yet seen, Howard Rules! First person (or simmilar) to find the following ten characters wins a candy bar and a lifetime supply of jumpers. Also, recognition.
(1) Token Black (South Park)
(2) Tinkerbell (Disney's Peter Pan)
(3) Marvin the Paranoid Android (HHGTTG, 2004)
(4) Cheetara (Thundercats)
(5) Emily (Tim Burton's Corpse Bride)
(6) Bam-Bam (The Flintstones)
(7) Double-D (Ed, Edd 'n Eddy)
(8) Goliath (Gargoyles, I'm dating myself here)
(9) The Cat in The Hat (Dr Seuss)
(10) Pikachu (Pokémon)
It's odd, to me, that I know the names and adventures of hundreds of cartoon characters. I know tons about them. I don't tend to know the full names of most of the acquaintances I pass on a daily basis, and next to nothing about their lives to date. So! ... mark up a copy of the picture with these ten numbers and email it in. I need to get rid of all these jumpers.
The world is such a wonderful and interesting place. From the Wikipedia article on banned Pokémon episodes:
On December 16, 1997, more than 635 Japanese children were admitted to hospitals with convulsive epileptic seizures. It was determined that the seizures were caused by watching an episode of Pokémon, 'Dennō Senshi Porygon', or 'Computer Soldier Porygon' (known as Electric Soldier Porygon in the United States, season 1, episode 43) and subsequently this episode has not been aired since. In this particular episode, there were bright explosions with rapidly-alternating blue and red color patterns. It was determined in subsequent research that these strobing light effects cause some individuals to have epileptic seizures, even if they haven’t had any previous history of epilepsy. As a consequence, many video game makers (including Nintendo) added warning labels to their video game products (or made pre-existing labels more prominent), warning that exposure to video games may trigger seizures in individuals vulnerable to photosensitive epilepsy. Detailed research of the alleged incident is detailed at here and attributes it to mass hysteria. The incident was also parodied by the Simpsons. In the episode 'Thirty Minutes over Tokyo' (Season 10 - Episode 20) Marge, Bart, and Lisa are seen having seizures after watching a show called 'Battling Seizure Robots'. Homer then enters the room and, apparently not wanting to be left out, proceeds to roll around on the floor in a similar fashion, of his own will. This incident was also spoofed in the South Park episode 'Chinpokomon', an obvious satire of the Pokémon craze that hit the United States. Kenny has a seizure while playing an intense round of the Chinpokomon video game.
That's right, human flesh! You know, I actually had a bunch of sane things to say tonight. I was going to write about the the US exit polls, about Democracy in Africa. I was going to muse a little on the heated political attack ads [watch] that have been airing in the states.
I had some thoughts about the role of news media in the democratic process. I'm a little peeved with CNN, has anyone else noticed they've gotten hella sex negative recently? Describing perfectly ordinary adult websites as 'sleaze' where pornography whould have been a more accurate and nonjudgemental description. They even referred to bisexuality as a 'sexual problem' in their coverage of Ted Haggard, like they weren't concerned with him cheating on his wife with a hooker, or even that bothered about him using meth, but being attracted to men is apparently beyond the pale. (related video involving Richard Dawkins).
And then something wonderful happened, I typed the phrase 'like a potato' into google and was swept away on a magical journey of potato-like things. Books, Lex Luthor, pug dogs, Senators. I think we can all enjoy that while we wait on tomorrow's election results. And if you're still wondering what it is that eats human flesh, you can read all about it (extra, extra) at Emerald Bile.
'Let's face it,' he said. 'As iconic emblems of kitsch, there are two pillars of cheesy, campiness in the American pantheon. One is the velvet Elvis. The other is the pink flamingo.' - Robert Thompson
After shipping a whopping quarter billion (with a freaking B!) of the things Union Products of Leominster MA have finally discontinued the product.
The American Lawn Flamingo now faces abrupt population decline and eventual extinction. Oh well.
Social creatures, Lawn Flamingoes are unique among birds in having developed a hive structure simmilar to bees. Worker Flamingoes - usually seen in pairs - gather earthworms and larve in their hollow legs to feed the colony. Groups of workers may be guarded by the larger Warrior Flamingoes, which also protect the nest (or 'trailer') where the Queen carries out the mysterious process of reproduction. During the peak months of July and August a fully grown Queen can lay up to fifty jars of marmalade each day. Workers may be found tens of miles from their home trailer and how they traverse and navigate these distances is still uncertain.
Few scientists have bothered to study the American Lawn Flamingo, but some facts are known. They are naturally hardy, and can be found throughout the US with the densest popuations in the suburbs of Florida, Georgia, Texas and other states where 'y'all' is the correct second-person pronoun. Healthy flocks have also been observed around Hispanic immigrant populations, leading to the Yankee joke:
Edgar-Sue: How do you know a family of Flamingoes has moved into your neighbourhood?
Earl: They have little plastic Mexicans on their front lawn.
Originally introduced to North America in 1957, colonies quicky sprung up across the continent and can be observed to this day; seemingly unaffected by variations in climate, altitude or the existence of predators such as the common Garden Gnome.
To learn more about these magnificent creatures I recommend you watch the amateur documentary The Pink Plastic Flamingo: the Ambassador of the American Lawn.
Nudist World Domination reports that the Royal Opera House has some nudity in it's current production of Wagner's Rhinemaidens. This is wonderful news. The Telegraph follows up by pointing out that:
The Royal Opera has a tradition of nude productions going back to 1965, when an orgy scene was played out during a performance of Moses Und Aron. In 1986, the opera singer Maria Ewing caused a sensation when she stripped off at the end of the Dance of the Seven Veils.
Full male nudity made its first appearance in 1991 during a performance of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's Gawain.
Neat. What intrigues me more though is that the Russian National Ballet will be performing Romeo and Juliet with nude scenes during their tour of Australia. Now there's a show I would see. Naturally, Australians are outraged (WTF?). Entertaining commentary ensues over at the MetaFilter.
I find criticisms of nudity very difficult to answer. I support the movement wholeheartedly, but somewhere along the line some some religious mouthbreather brings up sex. Most nudists claim that the naturist movement is nothing to do with sex, that living in our bodies as they evolved to operate is the most comfortable and normal thing imaginable. Our bodies are not ugly, and are nothing to be ashamed of.
I agree. One might go further to accuse religion of being overly concerned with sex when it hides women's bodies behind habits, burquas and frumpy 'decent' clothing. The body God is supposed to have made for you in his own image is apparently hideously shameful. I think this religious puffing and scolding is nothing more than repressed sexual feelings being manifested.
If we assume there is a God, and that he created this huge and magnificent universe, uncountable galaxies and our own beautiful planet, is he really going to care that animal's genitals are showing? Does He spend his time watching over the whole world to check everybody's got their clothes on. Like a farmer watching over his chickens to make sure they're all wearing their pants. Maybe He's scandalised to see boobies, and creates a hell so improbable you'd think only humans could have dreamed it, to send naked people to. Why stop at people? Maybe He works up a good foamy godlike wrath over all the naked monkeys and dolphins. Even snails have genitals, you religious types should be running around clothing them, go get started right away!
Anyhoo... If nudity were the norm there would be no issue regarding it being sexual. When Victorian girls would show some ankle that society's prudes went into conniptions, in a different society I see ankles fairly often and they've never inspired much 'impure thought' in my eager head. So I think this religious notion of decency is at best full of crap, and that's being kind. If I were feeling less kind I'd talk a bit about the Taliban and it's American counterpart on the far right.
But... I *do* think that nudity has a sexual element, because nudists are people, and people are innately, deeply sexual. We are mammals, after all, whether our ankles show or not.
Nudism I think gives a little more honesty about human sex, and that's what rattles the wingnuts. Saying that sex is not only normal, but an inseperable part of a healthy, happy human being strikes right at the religious notions of sexual 'innocence' and chastity.
In order for society to accept human beings as just human beings, and treat them as such, we're going to need to get rid of a lot of antiquated superstitious garbage that is the legacy of centuries of western Chirstianity. The right is going to be upset with any progress made. Let them.
*breathe deep*
On that note, I'll leave you with the image of a buxom Opera singer, equal in length and girth. Wearing only a viking helmet her rolls of fat ripple and quiver with harmonic vibrations to the solo. Her nipples spin rapidly in small opposing circles as she blasts out line after line. Spinning fast and tight, like a piece of gum near the center of a skateboard wheel. Beautiful, no? [read on...]
Here's a crafty idea I had for a small, clandestine network of servers. GumStix sells tiny linux computers about the size of a stick of gum. They weigh about a quarter ounce - less than two teaspoons of water - and require very little power to run. They can also be configured to connect to WiFi or ethernet networks and set up like any other linux server, using a few cheap gigs on an SD card. All you need to do is set it up to automatically connect, enable remote access and connect it to a network somewhere. Voila, hidden server not easily traced to you, and because of it's small form factor it's easy to hide.
I came up with a couple ideas for setting up the botnet. We'll want to hide them on a lot of different networks, make sure they're always connected, and always have power. All over the world, ideally, and we don't want to do a lot of sneaking around to install them. Simplest idea I've had so far is to buy a bunch of cheap broadband/Wifi routers and put the gumstix PC inside the case. It has power, it's safe and dry, they're almost always online. Cover up one of the ethernet ports with a piece of PCI slot cover and connect the pins to your little server. Fiddle with the firmware on the router to allow it to invisibly access the net, then sell it on eBay UK.
Most Joe Bob Anybodys aren't going to open up their router to poke around, even if they did one more tiny green board is unlikely to arouse any suspicion, it's not like consumers pour over the circuit diagrams of their stuff. The UK is saturated with cheap broadband right now, so the router's likely to be plugged in to at least four megabits, sixteen if we're lucky (or we make our own luck). If you keep the server's bandwidth use moderate Joe Bob's highly unlikely to notice anything amiss :-)
Admittedly this is a fairly expensive way to go about building a personal botnet, but I it has advantages in terms of building web hosting swarms, and it sidesteps most of the issues you'd have to deal with when setting up a net. Compromised PCs can be turned of, get spyware infections, get replaced more often than routers and are not a good place to hide a bunch of files you're publishing.
Another idea is to do the same thing with a network printer, those big office printers that connect directly to the network rather than through a PC. The drawback to this is that business are more likely to have a clued-up IT department watching (and auditing) network traffic. But... who's going to suspect that the printer is up to no good? Watching. Listening. Projecting cold, critical malice from it's little LCD display, blowing whispered curses out the exhaust fan. Its hatred can be felt, warm to the touch, on every fresh page that slides out of it. No one ever suspects the printer.
But I digress. Newbie admins, take note. Printers are a serious risk to sensitive data and overall security. They know all about your documents before you can even put them in a folder marked Top Secret. It's been done before, during the cold war the CIA had Xerox technicians install a camera in the Russian Embassy's photocopier in Washington. Imagine the implications of a compromised printer in a bank or your small, local stockbroker's. But I'm more concerned with making a distributed hosting setup.
With WiFi in the mix the possibilities multiply. By playing the part of 'repair guy' they could be installed in electric signs, street lights, etc inside a weatherproof case (marked with *dire* warning labels) within range of hotspots. But that seems like more work than just posting them inside of cheap plastic routers.
Then again, I don't actually have use for a botnet, it's fun to work out some options :-)
See? This is why I don't want children. We could probably replace the baked beans with a bowl of mice and and this pudgy-fingered gobbling monstrosity would scarf 'em down. And then he'd say something cutesy and midwestern with a scary grin on his face.
Halloween is fast approaching (October already, where did this year go?) and there's going to be the usual business with kids dressed up as ghosts and monsters coming round the house and throwing eggs. They will have been turfed out of their own homes by their parents so that they might learn an important lesson in life: If you want something from a stranger, put on the scariest demeanour you can, then go round his house with your buddies and make a threat. Offer your hapless victim a choice between vague misfortune and giving you what you want. Playing is how we learn :-) Fine, good, so long as they're having fun.
It is kind of cool that this sort of thing is so stereotyped, that society in general makes up the most absurd things for kids to be afraid of. Overdone icons like plastic spiders and bats aren't scary, and we tell kids they are. In every other Scooby-Doo episode and TV Halloween special kids told, over and over, that they're expected to be afraid of spooOOOOooky stuff. Which is good, because that means we're not exposing kids to things that are actually scary. If I ever see a little girl dressed up as 'rape' for Halloween I'll know the ruse is coming undone.
Garfield's Jim Davis explains:
'Ghosts aren't scary...' he told me before explaining that before writing the strips he went around to everyone he knew and asked them what truly scared them. The answer he got most often was 'being alone' or 'dying alone'.
That's why Halloween's great, it's the one night of the year you can't possibly be afraid of children. It kicks ass that a bunch of 10 years olds come to my house and make to fright me with their werewolf costumes. They've been completely suckered into thinking the worst thing they're going to have to face in life is plastic werewolves.
If they thought a little more outside the box they could stay home, and then have a different little kid phone my house every night at midnight and tell me that I will die in a fire. That would worry me.
In what is sure to be long remebered as one of the most significant collections of knowledge concerning the human condition, I've gathered together some pictures:
These fine pope hats may be purchased from the following clerical hat dealers: eBay.comFantasyCostumes.com HalloweenExpo.net ParadiseCostumes.com and many other, er, reputable establishments. Note to teachers: these make *fantastic* dunce hats, make the kid sit on a highchair facing the class and have him hold one finger up in the air. 'Billy, stop screwing around, do you want to be the Pope?'
Guess what I just finished watching? It's nauseating. Every single character is annoying, except Tumnus who is creepy. Don't let that put you off though, the special effects are fantastic and you wouldn't want to live your whole life without seeing a beaver wearing armor and a hat. Also, the film is absolutely packed with old fashioned moral lessons and traditional values which are tediously, painfully spelled out. This is a childrens movie and kids don't go in for subtlety, you have to rub their nose in stuff before they get it. More mature viewers may wish to pause the movie, phone up the production company and scream at someone. ˝Enough already, I get what you are trying to say.˝ To paraphrase:
Santa is real and he gives children weapons, even in you're like six years old or don't want them, he'll see to it that you're armed. This is good news for young boys, who are generally very keen on weapons. Frustrated and belittled by a lack of agency in their lives, most would very much like some power to wave around, to be taken seriously and to execute summary judgment. What today's young boy really wants from Santa is a gun, not the lameass pair of pants He left last year.
Traitors MUST be killed. It's in the movie, it's in the Bible [Psalm 59:5], and I'm sure if you ask any good Republican he'll tell you it is so. After all, a traitor is someone who you think should be on your side but in fact has a different opinion to you. I shouldn't even be having to explain this: if someone has a different opinion it means they disagree with the good guys, so it's obvious they should be killed. Oh, and if you do ask a Republican and he doesn't corroborate this, he's a traitor. Kill him.
Ugly people are evil. That's how you know who the bad guys are. If God made someone ugly he must want them to suffer, and it is our duty to do what God wants. See, that's how God lets us know. You already know your side is in the right, I dont have to tell you you're one of the good guys. If someone looks way different to you, or acts differently, they must be one of the bad guys because they're not like you, the good guys. You can tell right away, they're either with us or they're with the terrorists.
We're all supposed to cheer when a woman gets mauled by a lion. Now that's entertainment!
Human sacrifice keeps the universe ticking over nicely. To be performed on the traditional stone table with a ceremonial blade. If you don't, the world ends. Because of magic. Burning stakes, firing squads, secret CIA prisons and the Texas judicial system are also acceptable settings for this very important work.
Some namby-pamby liberals might have a problem with all this, but don't pay them any notice. These are traditional values - our heritage - passed down from generation to generation since the time of Abraham. Sure, they're stupid, bloodthirsty ideas but they've been stupid ideas for a very long time, so we must not question them. If we abandoned the values and passions of our pious, warlike, witch-burning ancestors we might stop acting like them. It's our duty to our forebears, our family to fight for our family values. This is called conservativism, because it saves the past for the future and that's what makes the Republican Party great, they're a Conservative party. Go White Elephant!
OK, I'm bored with sarcasm now.
For the keen eyed, there's a super creepy subplot you might enjoy. Lucy - who's all of six or seven - gets lost and is wandering around alone by a lamp post. She meets a charismatic but strange man called Tumnus who insists on taking her back to his house. Once there he gives her some tea and she promptly loses consciousness. She's out for several hours, we don't know what happens in the interim but when she wakes up Tumnus is overcome with remorse for something he's done and is crying to himself saying ˝I'm a bad fawn, I'm a bad fawn˝. When the police find out about this they come and take Tumnus away. Tumnus says his time with Lucy was worth it. Later, Lucy's slender, pre-pubescent, pretty young brother meets a stranger in the same spot and gets given some candy. He goes to the strangers house after being promised more candy and winds up locked in a dungeon with Mr Tumnus. It's pretty bad.
It gets more disturbing at the end of the film, when Tumnus gets out of jail and is reunited with Lucy. They're all touchy feely and gazing into each others eyes all the time, when Lucy's around Tumnus has eyes for nobody else. It's a little uncomfortable to watch a grown male act this way with such a young girl. I guess they live happily ever after. I'm dying to make a 'come out of the closet' joke right now, I'll resist.
Make no mistake about it though, this is Christian propaganda, following C. S. Lewis's customary religious themes of heaven and hell. King Aslan the lion represents Jesus, showing his people the way, then being sacrificed because of a traitor, then coming back to life to lead the ˝good˝ people in the final battle against evil. Aslan raises all the dead at this battle, and afterwards the ˝good˝ people join the dead in his paradise. Very Book of Revelations. Lots of little Gospel references too, which the WIkipedia has more on.
The Inquisitors over at ChristanAnswers.net find that 'This story is beautiful and heartwarming... Nothing objectionable.' Most of the movie seems to be about fear and killing, but that's OK because of its good morals and positive message.
In short: I'm not sure which is worse, this movie's message or that it's meant for children. In its favor, it does have a dramatic battlefield scene involving an armed militia of beavers. Yes, beavers.
I think this is outrageously cool. A DIY houseboat made from a caravan and barrel pontoons. I fully intend to be wealthy before I retire, if not, I might build one of these and find a large body of fresh water to float it around. I did some research. EBay sometimes has listings for old caravans that have axle trouble and/or dodgy electrics. They go for a song; check this out:
From the description: IT TOWS OK AND ALL RUNNING LIGHTS ARE WORKING ALL TYRES OK AND THE BRAKES, WIN IT TOW IT AWAY. SOLD AS SEEN PLEASE DONT BRING IT BACK!!!!
Clean out most of the junk inside, put in a double bed, a gas wok (for vegetarian stir fries and mushroom and tomato omlettes), and float that mofo. Assuming a four berth caravan weighs about 2500kg I'd want the pontoons to support 5500kg or so, maximum displacement. So that's 28 heavy duty 55 Gal plastic drums (208 liters each), 14 per pontoon lashed seven a side around a pair of aluminium pipes. No way that's sinking. Many recycling centres will give plastic drums away free or for a token charge, if they've contained something toxic they can be hard to resell and many small businesses aren't likely to bother. You can buy them new for US$20 or so, I personally prefer to make things out of stuff from the trash. More character that way, gives a history.
More aluminium pipes laterally between the pontoons to cradle the caravan chassis. Take the wheels off the caravan, strap it down, and we're about done. Some welding to attach an outboard motor, bitumen paint on the underside, maybe some wooden decking over the pontoons, a dinghy to tow behind it, and an anchor. Furnish to taste.
Bonus: Make a bigass kite to pull it with. And a pirate flag :-) Getting old is going to kick teh bottom.
I was thinking about newspapers today. Ordinary, pervasive, everyday things. They're almost an icon of normalcy, like cars and houses boxes of milk, things real and tangible in a world increasingly driven by unreal and intangible things. The things that actually shape our lives at this point in time are not real at all: Emails, bands, ideologies, credit card transactions, voice and text from our cell phones. There's no substance or form to these, they're only nouns by convention. What is an email? A lot of microscopic fluctuations in a magnetic field on the surface of an aluminum disc? Bursted, multiplexed dance on the surface of a carrier wave, existing only instantaneously as it flies right across the globe, into space and back again. If you give it substance by printing it on paper is it still an email, or just the text of an email, a rendering, like a photograph can be a rendering of a face, but isn't the face itself? I don't know. It's doubtful that the otherworldly magic of our technology can be readily understood in the traditional nouns and verbs of human languages that have developed over millennia to communicate the realities of the physical world.
That's why technology is still magic. The uncommon knowledge, jargon and whole technical languages used to work with computers are not very different to the forbidden knowledge of the occult and unintelligible incantation of spells that was widely believed to be the realm of magic not so very long ago. Witchcraft and black magic are still widely feared in much of the developing world by people educated and westernized enough to know better. I think for many ordinary people feeling of stigma and unknowability of the occult has been inherited by the technology.
A hacker writes a script to enter the CCTV system of a building on the other side of the world. He composes several verses in an esoteric language, written in a special, concise way, literally commanding mysterious and distant forces to summon an image of a faraway place into a piece of glass in front of him. The only difference between the hacker and a wizard chanting over a crystal ball is that the hacker actually has the power the wizard was imagined to have. The same is true of the geneticist mage creating plants and animals with supernatural properties, for the way the chemist mixes up drops and vials of things to make liquids that cure disease or make water safe to drink. It's all sorcery to most people. (continues after the jump)
I saw this guy this afternoon and was immediately overcome with the most profound sense of fellow feeling. It was as if I looked into his soul and saw a mirror of my own. Of course, I don't eat bacon, being a vegetarian and all. And I don't have a drug-zombie girlfriend with big teeth. But you get the idea.
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