After a while…

I don’t know how I can forget the basic premise of this game each time I play, but it happens more than I want to admit.

If you’re not convinced, notice the price. $5.99 for 14 songs! That is a deal that you should jump on.

He is going on tour in the USA at some point, and a new album should be hitting in 2011, so keep your eye out for that if you’re already a fan.

During his humorous jabs at the movement, George Carlin brings up a very valid point – the “Save the Earth” folks seem to be misstating their goals. It isn’t the same as preserving a coin collection so you and your friends can marvel at your ability to shine things; it’s more like remembering to not spit into the wind.

George Carlin would point out that saving the planet is selfish and human-centric, since we are just worried about saving our own kind (rather than doing something for the mystic good of Mother Earth). Well, what’s wrong with that? I enjoy the thought that people prefer to work for mankind compared to doing the unspoken bidding of a vague pagan deity.

Most of the people working to save the planet are respectable: scientists, engineers, etc. Sadly, those most vocal about the movement have a hard time separating their egos from the cause. And their counterparts on the other side of the political line can only see them, rather than any of the work being done.

So the next time you hear a debate about saving the planet, realize no one’s really on the other side of that issue. It’s just a venting of egos between hotheads who are too busy thinking of things to say to actually listen.

I may be two and a half years late for this to count as a proper feature, but it’s still worth it.

Richard Dawkins coined the term in his book “The Selfish Gene” to mean any influential idea that builds itself into a culture.Some examples from our culture: “washing your hands is important”, or “society needs some people to be really rich”, or “your clothing indicates what sort of person you are”. It does not matter if an idea is true or not; to become a meme, an idea must be able to quickly take root and change the way a large group of people behave.

You could see this philosophy in the Star Trek series. People from a futuristic culture followed a “Prime Directive” – which was designed to keep their cultures’ memes from spreading to more primitive cultures. If something were to spread from an outside influence, there might not be enough understanding built into the culture to fully support it. If that were to happen, that meme could transform into something destructive. The “wash your hands” meme (without a proper understanding of germs and sickness) could end in spreading MORE diseases throughout a society.

All that aside, the word “meme” seems to be understood very differently today. The focus on the spread of big ideas has shifted onto the spread of cultural touchstones. Social creatures naturally share interesting things amongst themselves, but these interesting things aren’t really world-changing. Cute kittens and silly drawings may be amusing, but they don’t change how we think.

Are our cultural touchstones different from those generated decades earlier? Yes and no. They are spread in the same way, but have a different source. For the past hundred years, advertising has been building memes. Companies sold the idea of “wash your hands” to people through print ads, and eventually through the actions portrayed in television and film. Their intent was to build up a demand for commercialized soap – and it worked brilliantly. By introducing a meme into the right environment, society shifted in a certain direction and people started buying hand soap.

Today’s Internet memes are much smaller, and are built by the community (rather than outsiders looking to influence people toward a purchase). Memes become popular by the public’s snap judgment of the content’s worth. Each meme spreads depending on how deeply its content resonates with the public. If a certain image or video is particularly moving, it will reach a huge audience.

Advertisers still craft large-scale memes to push the undercurrent of public opinion. We cannot easily perceive the spread of these memes, as they are designed to manipulate our perceptions over time. However, small-scale Internet-spread memes live on the surface of society. Their spread is easily tracked as they do not do much more than gauge where society’s current sensibilities lie. For this reason, “small memes” have taken over the current meaning of the word – while large memes are practically ignored.

A monk approached him and asked “Are you enjoying your purchase?”

Joshua looked at the monk, then down at his cone. He wrinkled his brow, and said “Not anymore.”

Wacky Crimes
Speaking of technological change, Google exec Eric Schmidt had this to say in 2007 about privacy:

If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it

And this seems to be an attitude a lot of younger people are adopting. We hear about the dumb criminals who post tales of their exploits for the world to see – and who are subsequently captured for their crimes. We laugh at sloppy attempts at philandering – especially those done over publicly visible social networks. “Those people should know better than to make such things public” we think. In our eyes, they are the bad guys getting what they deserve. Mr. Schmidt probably laughs at these follies as much as the rest of us (maybe even more). Seeing “bad people” brought to justice is one of the rawest forms of entertainment.

Do these examples of “wacky crimes gone sour” make the whole privacy issue moot? Of course not, and to claim that all privacy advocates are related to these “wacky criminals” is setting up a straw man for the real issues at stake.

Managing Social Circles
Danah Boyd gave a speech at SXSW 2010 about privacy in social networks. The transcription of the talk is available on her website, and is a valuable read if you want to know more about social networking.

Ultimately, it boils down to social circles. You know you have to act in different ways around different kinds of people. When you’re with your friends, you are open and will share anything that isn’t too personal (health issues, etc). When you are with family, you are quick to share personal issues but may hold back on sharing details about relationships or the media you consume. When you are at work, you must behave very differently – professionally.

In the real world, managing your social circles is an easy task. Moving from one circle to the next takes physical effort (driving/walking/picking up the phone), and during this physical effort we make the mental effort to switch gears.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any gear shifting on social networks. You get one profile on Facebook, and every member of every circle gets stuffed into the same pot of friends. Now what? If you’re a member of over 50% of the Facebook community, you’ll do nothing different. You see your Facebook as “full of friends” and will share everything you would normally. That is, until Mom sees something you wish she hadn’t. Or your boss/customers realize your non-professional side doesn’t mesh with the company image. Or your friends won’t stop laughing once they saw that embarrassing photo of you in the third grade. These social circles – easily managed in our real world lives – have been shattered inside social networks.

Rethink “If anyone won’t like it, never do it”
Doesn’t seem like a reasonable compromise, does it? That’s something even Eric Schmidt can understand. I’m sure he does things in his personal life that he doesn’t want everyone to know. Maybe Eric is a fan of the Showtime series Dexter – that’s not a very Google-friendly show. Maybe Eric drinks alcohol on occasion – and to your church, getting tagged in a photo with a bottle of beer is tantamount to admitting you’re an alcoholic. Maybe Eric likes wakeboarding – and bathing suit he wears isn’t something he wants his employees to see. Maybe Eric hates the lamps his kids gave him for Christmas – and doesn’t want them to know.

In order to please everyone, Eric would have to adopt his lifestyle to the lowest common denominator (the group in his life which is most easily offended). He would have to strip his life of anything any group could disapprove of. What sort of life would that be?

We need to be able to filter details about our personal lives among the people we know – it’s a necessity if you’re planning on living your life the way you want (and that’s called freedom).

Alien vs Predator - Chess

IO9 had a great take on the “Alien vs Predator” theme recently, with the two moral foes (?) taking eachother on in fairly mild sports, such as tennis and chess. Wallpaper-quality images are available!

Megan Baehr is a cartoonist, but also has an interesting collection of plush characters called “Nonesuch”. Today, we take a look at this collection of adorable plushies.

Bud the Robin - Gummibaehr

The apparent stitching goes well with the fuzzy material and simple character design. And of course, each Nonesuch has button eyes. I imagine these patterns would work well for tiny children, although the charm of the pieces appeals to a much wider audience.

Sammy the Red Fox - Gummibaehr

Sammy the Red Fox is made with a brick-red fabric that gives the doll a classic look. This is probably my favorite piece out of the Nonesuch collection.

Lolly the Rabbit - Gummibaehr

Nonesuch critters are made from wool felt and polyester stuffing. These unique plushies can be found in either 4.5 inch or 10 inch sizes. Shown above is the 10 inch “Lolly the Lop Rabbit” doll (which also comes in a 4.5 inch size).

Bat - Gummibaehr

One of the highlights of this DeviantArt gallery is the photographic style used to capture the character of the Nonesuch. Each plush is shot in front of a background characteristic of the theme – the vampire bat is photographed against a coffin-like backdrop.

Phaedra the Phoenix - Gummibaehr

If you’re a fan of Gummibaehr’s style, check out her Etsy store. Although the store doesn’t have too many Nonesuch in stock, the designer does take special orders for items in her DeviantArt gallery.

Rocky Raccoon - Gummibaehr

Morscata12 spotlights a DeviantArt gallery every Wednesday. Come back next week for new finds!

If you want to hear more, check out Kutiman’s YouTube channel or MySpace page. Enjoy!