Klaatu01's Journal: Friends

I do not want to be alone in the world, so where can I find Friends on slashdot.org? Oh woe is me!

At the same time I have recently been turned on to LinkedIn.com and have already reconnected with 13 former co-workers, friends and technically savvy family members. That's cool! I like finding ways to keep in touch with people of similar backgrounds, experiences and interests but at the same time am not opposed to making new friends with differing views. Comments are welcomed!

If you are a fan of either Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) or computer rendered artwork, check out the site Raph.com for some cool illustrations! I especially like the work of artist Neil MacCormack and his "Future Station" is at the top of my list.

Friends are an illusion

[WillAffleckUW]

Linked-in friends doubly so.

According to Linked-in I have something like 112 friends.

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

according to linked-in i don't exist

Re:

[WillAffleckUW]

I used to not exist and then five people on linked-in said I did.

Amusingly, I was in Who's Who in the World 20 years before linked-in existed.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Personally, I prefer Facebook myself. Or the Washington Post.

On slashdot

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Don't forget friends of your friends- of which you now have more than 400.

Re:

[WillAffleckUW]

Yeah, but what about those people who are Friends of your Friends but also Friends of your Foes?

I mean, pick a side ...

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

That's the whole point with me- chances are you're both. I sit rather comfortably center high state, on the left/right/libertarian/stateist 2d graph. Left wing nuts and right wing nuts both see me as an extremeist- because I am in the center.

Political Compass

[Morosoph]

Centre-low [politicalcompass.org] :o)

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

See, unlike you I have a slight (though not as strong as your belief in liberty, obviously, as I'm almost imperceptably above the centerline) problem in trusting human beings to do the right thing. Thus my trend towards authoritarian methods.

Trust

[Morosoph]

The big problem to me is that the authority is made of us.

Also, I find that emergent phenomena can correct for many human failings, but authority can concentrate them instead. Authority selects for those who learn to specialise in the mastery of attaining power, rather than in doing stuff.

To me, the degree of trust in people isn't particularly relevant; it's what various power structures select for that matters...

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

The big problem to me is that the authority is made of us.

I see that as a problem too- but I see a solution as well. In the last 50 years or so, we've gotten very good at making a specific type of machine. A decision making machine. Give this machine enough input, it will output the same decision *every* time, and not be swayed by emotions and mortal sins. Give the authority to the machine, and you will be able to trust it to make decisions without regard to it's own welfare.

Also, I find that emerge

Authority and Emergence

[Morosoph]

The big problem to me is that the authority is made of us.

I see that as a problem too- but I see a solution as well. In the last 50 years or so, we've gotten very good at making a specific type of machine. A decision making machine. Give this machine enough input, it will output the same decision *every* time, and not be swayed by emotions and mortal sins. Give the authority to the machine, and you will be able to trust it to make decisions without regard to it's own welfare.

I'm not so bothered ab

Re:

[Marxist Hacker 42]

I'm not so bothered about the decision-maker's welfare as the peoples'; people beat computers on empathy, including the subtleties that are beyond calculation. Often deviance in output reflects unmeasured changes.

Empathy is a HUGE part of the problem to me- empathy is class warfare dressed up in compassion. We feel empathy for those whom we can see ourselves becoming or having been- and nobody else. This creates an unequal, and injust, application of the law when applied to the bureaucrats of the system

A Question, if I may

[RM6f9]

Have you worked for an anti-virus software company, and if so, which one? We might already be acquainted....

Since

[Alioth]

Since so many of the group buggered off to Multiply, I need some new journals to read. So if you like reading about random thoughts on scratch-built computers, retrocomputing, and flying, just friend me in return.

's Done.

[Shadow Wrought]

Look forward to reading more your JEs. As a pilot and airplane buff also (as is Alioth- though he's current;-), I'm wondering what planes you worked on.