9/14/2007

Rainbow Smurfs and Digital Robin Hoods?

I was having sushi last night with some friends at a Korean restaurant off the beaten path in San Pedro (the “Cambridge” of San José, someone once said—the analogy surprisingly fits) when I brought up the issue of my blog. “You guys better check it out, it just keeps getting better and better” I remarked with aplomb, and shot them my trademark right eyebrow lift indicating that my assessment was in fact tongue-in-cheek—this in hopes of getting some sort of reaction from these cynics. I made all efforts to make my blog the focal point of our brisk conversation. Because hitting up my contacts online for comments wasn’t working so well, I decided to shamelessly panhandle live and face-to-face. My efforts have still not been as successful as I would like, but when I checked my blog later that night I found one extra comment. Ahh, my friends! I’m lucky I have them. And it was a carefully crafted remark too—poised and thoughtful. However, commenters have yet to pile on to any of my posts.

Don’t get me wrong, I love having an avid readership, even though it might consist solely of my mom and a couple of friends, but I definitely want to cast a wider net. However, I can’t complain; last night’s blatant self-promotion was fruitful for my digital ambitions to lord over all things digital media. My friends and I had an on-the-spot brainstorming session, a spontaneous attempt to conduct an after-dinner Internet think-tank experiment, where we engaged in a bevy of digital media topics—everything from the grisly to the sugary to the ultra-geek—that could serve as promising topics for future posts. Some of these I’m keeping stashed away for a rainy day, letting them age like a good wine so by the time I decide to author a post regarding one of these topics, I will have a well-thought out argument that absolutely no one will be able to challenge (this is also tongue-in-cheek by the way, I actually hope to stir up a comment string some day so contentious that it will fire up even the most jaded and indifferent reader’s inner Ann Coulter).

So what issues should I touch on right now? Last night we toyed with the idea of the digital Robin Hood, a “good” hacker (I though about naming it a gooker, but it sounds gross, and a little too much like hooker), that instead of accessing restricted networks and opening up cans of digital whoop-ass, would actually patch up security flaws, beautify websites, and create robust and scalable firewalls anonymously and for free. However, we quickly trashed this idea as completely retarded and uselessly absurd. I also thought about discussing my theory of the gay Smurf trifecta: Brainy smurf, Vanity smurf, and Smurfette (who I always though was a full-on tranny—and I’m not talking about a car’s transmission) but this seemed grossly off point and somehow inappropriate. Neither of these seems like a good topic to start the kind of spirited debate I hope to have on the pages of my blog one day. So what do you think? I would love to hear your suggestions.

4 comments:

sexymathboy said...

I suppouse one can´t get enough enlightment in life; sushi ideas for blog-posting had never served the samuray...

...Yet I have to recognize that the subject today made me feel aquainted and somehow influent. Maybe I´ll even consider to post my ideas someday.

Jpastor I tell you this: Internet is, sometimes, a tool that segragates rather than unify; people gather together in viurtual comunities where all of their ¨preferences¨ are satisfied in a way such that they never leave a well determined circle, when time passes by, the users´ interests are all blocked by a firewall of pertenence that keeps the them from the real concept of total accesability. ¨Stupid-proof¨ searchers are keeping people off the true experirience of net surfing.

Just an idea.

Unknown said...

What do we think about what? I do think the idea of a digital robin hood is maybe a little bit to good to be true...there´s no such thing, and will never be,someone who will watch your ass not trying to crash the computer...for free hahaha. however, as u said J, that´s what the brainstorming is all about, puting in ideas or points of views.
However,in this specific subject, i also think there can be a way, profitable of course,to help out in a different way than charging the ridiculous prices for any type of security softwares. Something like "geeks for rent" or "lab rats defenders", something of that nature. These names are made up of course, but they can be appealing to people that lack of computer knowledge...peace out.

jf said...

funny how people first see the bad things that a person can do with a tool, like the internet and technology... but yes, like federico says, there are actually some people that had made good things using internet and at a low cost... like the 100$ (which right now is about 75$) which starts as a good initiative and as the big companies got in, and technology as available to a wider piece of the third world...

this is like everything in life... we got the freedom to do whatever we think is correct or we know is not but even tough we want to do it... free will it think it is...

koehan said...

Well... after thinking things for a while I've finally made my mind... I'm set up to write this comment and unleash my writing upon your blog...

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't shyness nor laziness what had me thinking but "techy" - or geeky if you want - as I might be from time to time, I find reading boring and uninteresting most of the time.
So... why am I writing this in the first place you may think? Besides being stucked in my home in the middle of what it feels like an endless monsoon rain I have to say

I've found the chance of letting my legacy - too much for a couple of random ideas though :-S - quite refreshing and appealing.
Ok, enough with the blathery already. Having said this I'm now forced to admit I find your blog quite pretentious and ambitious.

"Lord over all things digital media." A little bit more than digital blasphemy some might say. I think is amusing and even funny. It sounds to me like wishing to be "Googlelized".
Am I making sense or I'm just dropping words in an attempt to make a senseless point? I don't know. And honestly, I don't care since I haven't been blessed with the gift of the words.
I'm just an average guy who wanted to make a statement. No more, no less.

Having no more to say - or in my mind as well - I feel compelled to close this humble comment with one of the damn coolest lines I've heard in a movie in a long time:

"Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot..."

P.S. Being pretentious is not a bad thing, but there's a thin line between being pretentious and being arrogant. Don't you agree?