Well, folks, Christmas has come and gone. As is often the case with the season, I'm stunned by the generosity of friends and family. Most of the gifts I received were clearly the result of genuine thoughtfulness. I like to think that the gifts I give hold similar importance to their recipients, but one can never really know. Virtually without exception, mine was a fabulous holiday. I hope everyone can say the same.
Unfortunately, there are always those determined to undermine my sunny demeanor. The recurring conflict between "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" bothers me. There are actually people (presumably non-Christians) who take offense when another wishes them a merry Christmas because it excludes well-wishing for other concurrent holidays. Wait...what? I may not be a good one, but I'm Catholic, so it follows that I celebrate Christmas. A theoretical Jewish friend would not, of course, celebrate Christmas, but I would never, ever be offended if that friend wished me a happy Hanukkah.
The United States is increasingly secular and I see nothing on the horizon that would slow that process. Nowadays, the phrase "Merry Christmas" is mostly a more concise way of saying "I hope you have fun on this upcoming December 25th." How is that a bad thing? The people who get angry are probably the sort who would interpret my self-identification with Catholicism with an endorsement of the Crusades...and Manifest Destiny...and probably slavery. It requires such a huge leap to hear "Merry Christmas" as a bad thing that I'm very nearly speechless. Happily, my fingers still work.
I was touring through Oprah's message boards before Thanksgiving--I'm comfortable enough with myself to admit it--when I saw a lady's post about her vowing to never celebrate Christmas again. Care to guess why? Go ahead, take some time. I'll wait.
Ohhh, so close, but still wrong. It's because Christmas is a lie! She has no fewer than three sources (THREE!) the 'prove' Jesus wasn't born until September 11, 0001 CE. Thus, Christmas, the supposed celebration of Jesus Christ's birth, is wrongly placed on the calendar and should therefore not be observed.
There are plenty of literalists out there who see the Bible as an historical text rather than a religious tome. That's silly. Those people simply lack imagination and live their lives in fear of defending their own opinions. Christmas certainly started as a straight celebration of the birth of Christ, but the word Christmas has become synonymous with the ideas of family, friendship, kindness, generosity, peace, and love--the driving forces behind any religion. In some sense, Christmas has come to represent what all religions hope to achieve.
Does this particular holiday draw attention away from other concurrent holidays? Almost certainly. Does that really matter? I don't think so. 'Tis the season to be jolly, regardless of what you believe. Just remember, when all's said and done, others wishing you good things deserves appreciation, whatever your personal beliefs.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
WoW, we should've met sooner
I consider myself to be an intelligent guy. People tell me I'm a smart guy (most of them are not coerced). As part of that, I like to think that I'm also mature enough to admit when I'm wrong. It is, in fact, extraordinarily rare for me to actually be wrong, which is all the more reason to draw attention to it when it happens. This time, I am wrong about a video game.
Blizzard's World of Warcraft (hereafter: WoW) boasts more than 13 million subscribers...that's 13,000,000! WoW is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The genre makes a fair bit of sense if you don't think too hard about it.
ArenaNet's Guild Wars (hereafter: GW) has something more like 4 million subscribers. A mere shadow of the fanbase for WoW. GW has a compelling, story-driven narrative, better graphics, a more forgiving battle system, and is much less intimidating.
Both these games came out about the same time and I tried them both. Once the respective trial periods expired, GW was the one that I continued playing...for a bit more than three years now. My initial impressions of WoW boiled down to an utter disbelief that anyone could actually prefer WoW to GW. GW simply outclassed its cousin in all the ways that mattered to me, and since I'm always right...
I maintained that belief for better than three years and played the bejesus out of GW. It's gotten to the point where the bad guys don't even bother trying to kill my party and me any more, they simply commit the appropriate ritual suicide as I approach. I love GW, but life started to get in the way of my fun. Virtually all the competent players in the game are in my guild (there are precious few). The guild is growing up and has competing commitments. Unfortunately, most of what I have left to do requires some of my guildies. This has led to a general ennui toward the game that will take some time to dissipate.
One of my best friends has been a WoW-er for some time and likes to pester and pressure me into his gaming universe. At one point I promised him that when (and if) I start to grow weary of GW and have some money lying around, I will give WoW another try.
Those conditions were met about a week ago and I need to revise my initial assessment of WoW. It's a beautiful world that's fun to play in. There isn't the same degree of graphical precision I enjoyed in GW, but WoW's strongest asset is starting to pull me ever deeper into the experience: sheer size. The world of Warcraft is massive beyond reckoning.
I'm still not convinced that WoW deserves its amazing popularity or that competing games should quiver and die before the onslaught of WoW. Now I'm convinced, at the very least, that WoW is fun. I just have to learn how to go to bed before 4am while I'm playing.
Blizzard's World of Warcraft (hereafter: WoW) boasts more than 13 million subscribers...that's 13,000,000! WoW is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The genre makes a fair bit of sense if you don't think too hard about it.
ArenaNet's Guild Wars (hereafter: GW) has something more like 4 million subscribers. A mere shadow of the fanbase for WoW. GW has a compelling, story-driven narrative, better graphics, a more forgiving battle system, and is much less intimidating.
Both these games came out about the same time and I tried them both. Once the respective trial periods expired, GW was the one that I continued playing...for a bit more than three years now. My initial impressions of WoW boiled down to an utter disbelief that anyone could actually prefer WoW to GW. GW simply outclassed its cousin in all the ways that mattered to me, and since I'm always right...
I maintained that belief for better than three years and played the bejesus out of GW. It's gotten to the point where the bad guys don't even bother trying to kill my party and me any more, they simply commit the appropriate ritual suicide as I approach. I love GW, but life started to get in the way of my fun. Virtually all the competent players in the game are in my guild (there are precious few). The guild is growing up and has competing commitments. Unfortunately, most of what I have left to do requires some of my guildies. This has led to a general ennui toward the game that will take some time to dissipate.
One of my best friends has been a WoW-er for some time and likes to pester and pressure me into his gaming universe. At one point I promised him that when (and if) I start to grow weary of GW and have some money lying around, I will give WoW another try.
Those conditions were met about a week ago and I need to revise my initial assessment of WoW. It's a beautiful world that's fun to play in. There isn't the same degree of graphical precision I enjoyed in GW, but WoW's strongest asset is starting to pull me ever deeper into the experience: sheer size. The world of Warcraft is massive beyond reckoning.
I'm still not convinced that WoW deserves its amazing popularity or that competing games should quiver and die before the onslaught of WoW. Now I'm convinced, at the very least, that WoW is fun. I just have to learn how to go to bed before 4am while I'm playing.
Monday, December 8, 2008
I Can't Believe I'm Siding with a Bully
This has been stewing in the back of my head for quite some time now. Our policy-makers still seem to struggle coming to grips with this newfangled "Internet" thing and how to deal with all the meanies. The most recent scandal is the 13 year-old girl who killed herself "because" of cyber-bullying.
For those not keeping up, Lori Drew (49) created a MySpace account posing as a 16 year-old boy for the express purpose of crushing the feelings of Megan Meier (13). This is really the horrifying part to me: how does a 49 year-old mother stoop so low? Megan struggled with depression and apparently found solace through MySpace. Lori's persona flirted with Megan over some time; Megan thought the relationship to be fairly serious. At that point, Lori got what she wanted: an opportunity to cause maximum damage. Lori "turned on" (read: betrayed) Megan. Naturally, the younger girl was crushed, though I can only imagine that the subsequent suicide was a surprise to everyone.
The end result of all this is that there is a dead child and a broken family. The next logical step is a lawsuit. Even though the idea of a lawsuit like this offends me (it essentially attaches a discrete value to the life of a loved one) I can understand the drive to get some sense of retribution. After all, traditional vengeance is largely frowned upon. However, I'm not sure there's really a crime here.
Sure, there's an apparently-morally-base woman bent on destroying 13 year-olds and an unfortunately dead child, but where's the crime? Lori was recently found guilty of violating the MySpace license agreement which essentially states that users must accurately represent themselves on the website. Due to this heinous infraction, Lori faces the potential for three years in jail and a $300,000 fine. This is a dangerous precedent to make.
If this ruling passes, it means that something as minor as fudging one's age on a social site could warrant some time in the slammer. If this ruling passes, it makes the Internet a treacherous place to be. If this ruling passes, it will shine in my mind as a victory of lawyers over justice, and stand anathema to what I believe is right.
Does Lori deserve punishment? Probably, but more for being a horrible person than any actual wrongdoing. Bullying is bullying. It has always existed and will always exist. So long as any differences, real or imagined, exist among individuals of a population, there will be bullies to point out those differences as loci of ridicule. It is a rite of passage that most must simply endure and learn from as they move into adulthood. What the thrust of cases like this seem to be is to outlaw bullying in the presumably-safe, imaginary world of the Internet. I submit that the virtual world is very much like the real one. People lie, cheat, and steal when it best serves their needs. When the anonymity of the Internet is factored in, I'm honestly shocked that there is so much truth out there.
As with so many of today's problems, I see this as a failure on the parent's part. I have no doubt that Ms. Meier was a loving, doting mother who wanted nothing but the best for her child, but someone dropped the ball in this. It may have been that Megan was too embarrassed to tell her mother of a burgeoning online romance. Perhaps Ms. Meier placed undue confidence in her daughter's ability to judge online interactions. Maybe Megan was just too sneaky.
The biggest lesson in this is that parents have a responsibility to understand whatever it is that interests their children. If a kid is drawn to rap music with explicit lyrics, ask why. Is it really the message, or just the rhythm? If they like some awful cartoon, watch it, with or without them, and determine why it draws them in so. I don't encourage spying, but parents have exactly one job on the planet for the first 18 years of their child's life: get them to that 18th year; everything else is relegated to the back burner.
Lori Drew should be ashamed at what she's done. Not for the bullying or subsequent suicide per se, but because, as a direct result of her actions, Lori made it impossible for Ms. Meier to complete her job.
Ms. Meier should be (and probably is) ashamed that Megan didn't see her mother as a safety net. When someone that young turns to suicide, I can't help but eye the family. In particular, when a girl that young and her mother are that distant, something is amiss.
While I wouldn't endorse it, I would understand a monetary penalty against Lori. Her infractions do not warrant jail time, but her character flaws should be listed for all to see. If she gets her monetary reward, Ms. Meier should put it in trust, clear her debt, donate to Megan's favorite cause, something other than deposit in into her checking account. One should never profit from their child's death.
Everything on the Internet, even well-meaning blog posts, should be taken with a fist-sized grain of salt. Never assume truth in a place where anonymity is the rule, not the exception. Kids in particular need to understand this, but parents have to know that it's their job to teach the lesson before something terrible comes from that juvenile ignorance.
The moral of this story: keep your kids close, love them dearly, and know what makes them tick.
Now go call someone you love.
For those not keeping up, Lori Drew (49) created a MySpace account posing as a 16 year-old boy for the express purpose of crushing the feelings of Megan Meier (13). This is really the horrifying part to me: how does a 49 year-old mother stoop so low? Megan struggled with depression and apparently found solace through MySpace. Lori's persona flirted with Megan over some time; Megan thought the relationship to be fairly serious. At that point, Lori got what she wanted: an opportunity to cause maximum damage. Lori "turned on" (read: betrayed) Megan. Naturally, the younger girl was crushed, though I can only imagine that the subsequent suicide was a surprise to everyone.
The end result of all this is that there is a dead child and a broken family. The next logical step is a lawsuit. Even though the idea of a lawsuit like this offends me (it essentially attaches a discrete value to the life of a loved one) I can understand the drive to get some sense of retribution. After all, traditional vengeance is largely frowned upon. However, I'm not sure there's really a crime here.
Sure, there's an apparently-morally-base woman bent on destroying 13 year-olds and an unfortunately dead child, but where's the crime? Lori was recently found guilty of violating the MySpace license agreement which essentially states that users must accurately represent themselves on the website. Due to this heinous infraction, Lori faces the potential for three years in jail and a $300,000 fine. This is a dangerous precedent to make.
If this ruling passes, it means that something as minor as fudging one's age on a social site could warrant some time in the slammer. If this ruling passes, it makes the Internet a treacherous place to be. If this ruling passes, it will shine in my mind as a victory of lawyers over justice, and stand anathema to what I believe is right.
Does Lori deserve punishment? Probably, but more for being a horrible person than any actual wrongdoing. Bullying is bullying. It has always existed and will always exist. So long as any differences, real or imagined, exist among individuals of a population, there will be bullies to point out those differences as loci of ridicule. It is a rite of passage that most must simply endure and learn from as they move into adulthood. What the thrust of cases like this seem to be is to outlaw bullying in the presumably-safe, imaginary world of the Internet. I submit that the virtual world is very much like the real one. People lie, cheat, and steal when it best serves their needs. When the anonymity of the Internet is factored in, I'm honestly shocked that there is so much truth out there.
As with so many of today's problems, I see this as a failure on the parent's part. I have no doubt that Ms. Meier was a loving, doting mother who wanted nothing but the best for her child, but someone dropped the ball in this. It may have been that Megan was too embarrassed to tell her mother of a burgeoning online romance. Perhaps Ms. Meier placed undue confidence in her daughter's ability to judge online interactions. Maybe Megan was just too sneaky.
The biggest lesson in this is that parents have a responsibility to understand whatever it is that interests their children. If a kid is drawn to rap music with explicit lyrics, ask why. Is it really the message, or just the rhythm? If they like some awful cartoon, watch it, with or without them, and determine why it draws them in so. I don't encourage spying, but parents have exactly one job on the planet for the first 18 years of their child's life: get them to that 18th year; everything else is relegated to the back burner.
Lori Drew should be ashamed at what she's done. Not for the bullying or subsequent suicide per se, but because, as a direct result of her actions, Lori made it impossible for Ms. Meier to complete her job.
Ms. Meier should be (and probably is) ashamed that Megan didn't see her mother as a safety net. When someone that young turns to suicide, I can't help but eye the family. In particular, when a girl that young and her mother are that distant, something is amiss.
While I wouldn't endorse it, I would understand a monetary penalty against Lori. Her infractions do not warrant jail time, but her character flaws should be listed for all to see. If she gets her monetary reward, Ms. Meier should put it in trust, clear her debt, donate to Megan's favorite cause, something other than deposit in into her checking account. One should never profit from their child's death.
Everything on the Internet, even well-meaning blog posts, should be taken with a fist-sized grain of salt. Never assume truth in a place where anonymity is the rule, not the exception. Kids in particular need to understand this, but parents have to know that it's their job to teach the lesson before something terrible comes from that juvenile ignorance.
The moral of this story: keep your kids close, love them dearly, and know what makes them tick.
Now go call someone you love.
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