Late Night Amusement - Russian Spam

I get the best Russian spam late at night these days - somehow it's evading both of my spam filters - but instead of deleting it, I'm using it as a chance to brush up on my reading in Russian. And the messages are a great combination of really basic words that I know, complex words that I'm able to discern meaning from given a basic understanding of spam, and cognates, which are always fun.

Yeah, so I have better things to do with my time and reading short stories or Russian newspapers would probably be better training, but this way I get a little every day to keep those neurons active in preparation for Sochi 2014. If you are interested in any great Russian spam, just drop me a line - I'd be happy to forward...

William Gibson's Latest Novel

Spook Country, I read in a recent Wired interview that William Gibson's latest is more of a spy novel than sci-fi, so I decided to pick it up one day at the Stanford Bookstore and start reading... it had been a few years since my last foray of Gibson's work - Idoru, I think it was - and I thought it was about time to pick up another. I've always been a fan, since Neuromancer first came out, but this book seemed to come from a different genre all together. Until I began reading.

The character who Gibson first introduces the reader to is a woman journalist who is technically astute and a risk-taker. I like her already. She finds herself in unpredictable circumstances, as do many of Gibson's characters, and although it's a book set now rather than in the near future cyberpunk timeframe, the world he creates around these characters still has a similarly gritty feel because of the way he crafts the language as well as the story. It fascinates me.

Gibson has an essence in his writing that I always loved. Somehow through the depth of his character creation and his ability to craft stories through a mellifluous cornucopia of language, he develops novels of a deeper quality than most modern authors. I've noticed two types of successful authors - type a) churning out 1-2 books a year, following a formula, providing wonderful stories that entertain a broad audience and type b) developing through great detail in research and/or language more complex chronicles. Gibson falls into the b category. Neither, in my opinion, is better than the other; they are different styles that work for different writers. Isaac Asimov was type a. He wasn't trying to be James Joyce. Nor, I'm guessing, is Gibson, but he seems to fit more into type b. I like both.

Anyway, I digress. I haven't finished Spook Country yet, but I shall report back when I do. So far, it doesn't disappoint.

Soviet Era Video Games Resurfacing

According to Wired, 32/70 of the world's only video games ever built or played in the Soviet Union have been unearthed and are now on display in an old bunker at Moscow State Technical University called the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines. Supposedly during their use (70's - 90's), most games cost 15 kopeks to play (like 15 cents, not including exchange rate). They had mechanical score counters like older pinball machines, but they didn't track high scores - it wouldn't have fit the Soviet model.

Here is the gallery of games. From pong-like to graphics more on the level of Donkey Kong, they resemble games we had in the U.S. mostly in the early 80's. One is called "Sniper-2" and still has a large rifle-like gun attached. Most of those shown in the gallery had a military angle, like "Dogfight".

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for video game emulators to take shape and multi-game boxes to develop with these games in them once students get a chance to take them apart and develop code emulators. Although as a kid who grew up with pinball machines and an Apple II in my house, playing an emulator game - even in an arcade type shell - still isn't quite the same as the original. The muscle memory just isn't there with different controls. The nostalgia still remains though.

I think when I return to Mockba (Moscow) one of these days, I may have to visit this little museum. For Bay Area locals who want to play old arcade games, check out the arcade at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz.

Eco-Fads in Magazines & Atherton Green Event

Green is the new black, gray, white, and everything in-between this month. With Earth Day around the corner, everyone is jumpimg on the eco-bandwagon. San Francisco led the publication frenzy, with Town & Country and 7x7 not far behind. Oddly enough, Town & Country was the only one to include a section printed on recycled paper. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of research put together by each of these magazines on sustainable and environmental design and lifestyle options. Definitely a step in the right direction.

I'm helping with Atherton's Earth Week celebration on April 21st, putting together some eco fashion for the event. If you live in the Bay Area, come join the event - it's open to everyone, not just members of the Atherton community. If you don't live here, check out the site anyway because it is a fabulous model of how to educate people about how to make an environmental impact locally. (More news to come as we complete the planning.)

Fashion Week Live, SF Luxe & Sergey's Story

Yesterday, I attended Fashion Week Live in San Francisco. The mother of all fashion shows, it took my breath away. See my detailed post on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog. SFluxe linked to my post and several other good ones as well. Great photos.

Just before the post above is one linking to a fantastic article about Sergey Brin (for those of you who have met him at my parties) that tells the story of his emigration from Russia which I found really interesting, having never felt comfortable asking about that myself. Even when you've heard the Google story a zillion times, this one is different - it reminds me of how scary the USSR was and how courageous those who fought to leave had to be. I've always admired Sergey for his tenacity, but this article, focusing largely on his Jewish roots, attempts to credit some of where it came from. And it cracked me up because my husband always runs into him at Costco.

What's Next?

As this site and blog have largely been an experiment to date, I'm now working on a new plan to take it to the next level.

I have two very diverse types of traffic on this site, so it will be undergoing a transition in the next few weeks to months, depending on what I decide in terms of design and development. Also, since my posting goes in waves in terms of whether I'm blogging about politics, technology, arts or something else that particular day or hour, I've decided to offload some of the content so it's better suited to encouraging return visitors and community participation.

My current thoughts are to put my consulting and writing business off onto its own site (something that is much overdue considering I help other people with their sites all the time - although I've discovered this is a common phenomenon that the people who know the most about the web have the least amount of time to put into their own sites). The business site will host my blog about technology, politics, startups, security and the like.

I'm going to start a new fun fashion & style blog with my friend, Beth B, so the audience that comes here to read about that (a very popular topic) can move to that site. I also still plan to contribute to the Silicon Valley Moms Blog for culture, parenting, and local posts.

sairy.com will likely remain as it is, only acting as a mini-hub to direct people to wherever they want to find the writing that most interests them (Security Focus, SV Moms Blog, my new technology blog or upcoming fashion blog). I may give it a design face lift in any case. I'll keep you posted... some people have already expressed great ideas to me via email of how to proceed. I welcome other thoughts as well.

Lessons in Internet Culture on Tomorrow's "Good Morning America"

I was interviewed today as an expert on Internet culture for a segment on "Good Morning America" tomorrow morning about Internet defamation. The piece is related to the Washington Post article, "Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web" that broke today about law students who believe that derogatory misinformation online hurt their chances for jobs after law school. I'll blog more about this issue later after seeing the segment - there's a lot to be said about the dangers involved, especially for young people. I was told the video would most likely be online later in the day.

Searchable Printable Downloadable & Pocket-Sized Books Google Style

There are many wonderful medical websites that can be found online, and these types of sites can help you find all kinds of great health information whether it is pregnancy information you are seeking or articles and facts about type 1 diabetes.
...

The masterminds behind Google have been working on the concept of putting books online and searching them for over ten years now - since before Google began. When I was at UofM with Larry Page, I remember him talking about wanting to put the entire Library of Congress online. Through Google, he's gradually been developing partnerships with universities, publishers and other corporations to make this happen, ending for a result that allows people to download books online.

Slashdot discussed this today, calling what Google wants to do as creating an "iPod/iTunes for Books". That would be the next level with a handheld hardware gizmo. The Times Online (UK) says "Google plots e-books coup." Yeah, right. I doubt they're trying to corner the market in this one - they just want to be the first ones to do it. (And they will do it - just give it time.)

Google's not the only group to come up with this concept. Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive (who also knows Larry through some other UofM people in a roundabout Silicon Valley two degrees way), created theBookmobile that is a vehicle that can print books in the public domain. These are books that are already out of copyright and are online like Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately the Bookmobile itself is out of print now, but the link above explains how to build one yourself.

Sex Toy Technology

I had no idea there was so much technology behind sex toys (no pun intended, please...) Actually that's not entirely true - I have a friend from the high school BBS days who started Morningwoodlabs.com so I knew a little about this stuff.

Anyway, Regina Lynn wrote this eye-opening article for Wired News about her experience at the recent Adult Entertainment Expo in (where else?) Las Vegas. Lynn's article notes how there are not only machines for use in sexual activities but also "Internet-enabled sex toys." Yup. I'm not going to write any more about it here though; not interested in xxx spammers. Have fun, be safe.

Springtime, Sleeping Lions & the Earworms Phenomenon

I've had a lot of show tunes stuck in my head this past week - not sure why - but the coup de grace was "Springtime for Hitler" from The Producers. So I decided to do a search and see what other people have said about this phenomenon (not the show tunes per se but songs in general.) Here's the scoop:

They're called 'earworms' and they happen to women and musicians most. (No wonder - I'm both...) WebMD reports that 98% of people have had this happen to them at one time or another. James J. Kellaris, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati did a study in 2003 of 559 students and on their list of most common earworms were songs like "YMCA", "Who Let the Dogs Out" and my personal favorite, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" that played repeatedly on hold music for this hotel I was to stay in once and I recall being stuck listening to that song for hours. No wonder I was traumatized by that trip.

Just yesterday, someone on Fazed mentioned getting "We Belong" stuck in his/her head after having not heard it in years. That happens to me all the time - I always wonder where my brain digs this stuff up. No one seemed to respond with any intelligent scientific info on that though.

For those cases where we find ourselves "tortured" by one annoying song that just won't get out of our heads, Alison McCook wrote in '03 that "people most frequently plagued by this phenomenon are those with slightly neurotic tendencies, and people who enjoy and listen to music often."

For those people, rumor has it that chewing on cinnamon sticks will help make the song begone. I'll see if that works. All I know is that by the time I'd finished drafting this post, "Springtime For Hitler" had been replaced by "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". (Trivia tidbit: I looked up the lyrics and all of those "haweemowah" type sounds in the song are mostly Zulu for phrases like "the lion's in peace" and "the lion sleeps." Kinda boring for how exotic they sound...)

As for tonight, my guess is "Auld Lang Syne" will get stuck in my head fairly soon. Happy New Year!

Ten Ways To Tell If You're A Geek

Here are ten ways to tell if you're a geek. Three or more affirmatives means you are. (And in case you're curious, these are all true examples from friends of mine.)

1) Your domain name is shorter than your first name.
2) When someone says to finger them, you find a UNIX prompt.
3) You salivate over early invites to Beta sites like Orkut, Gmail and Vox.
4) Your cat's named after a text editor.
5) Your kid's named after a programming language.
6) You think dressing-up means wearing socks.
7) You'll only make the first move in a chat room.
8) You used Kozmo to deliver breakfast. At 3pm.
9) You've dog-eared over 18 O'Reilly books.
10) You spend more time blogging than with your significant other.

New Word of the Week: 'Ecosexual'

So just as I was getting used to 'metrosexual' rolling off my tongue in cocktail hour conversation, there's a new term in town: 'ecosexual'. I doubt it's unique to our city, but this month's San Francisco magazine uses the word to describe people who consider ecological and environmental factors when looking for romance.

They make it sound like this is new. I guess that's what happens when you live in the city - you never go to Berkeley or Santa Cruz where this has been prevalent since the 60's. Do you know any vegans who would be happy with their partner putting a big slab of pork on their plate for dinner? Of course not, that's ridiculous. But in the day and age of x+sexual=exciting reading, they had to come up with something, I guess.

Killer Vodka

Here's a sad, somewhat scary story - in Russia, fake vodka (made from stuff like brake fluid and lighter fuel) is killing tens of thousands of people a year, and is becoming a worse problem. Here's the story.

If you've never been to Russia or you don't know much about the Russian culture, it might be difficult to understand why this is such a big problem, but drinking vodka in Russia is like drinking wine in France, or drinking beer at a baseball game. That's just the way it's done. Add to that the bleak existence many of the people have been living for so long and alcoholism is rampant.

So these people really need their vodka. They'll stand in line for hours to get it (or at least they did back in the days of the Soviet Union - I remember seeing the lines when visiting Leningrad (now St. Petersburg again). Vodka, bread and toilet paper were the 3 major products everyone would wait for. Although there wasn't much vodka available, at least it was the real thing.

The Bad Etiquette Droid You're Looking For

I don't know why I just thought of this recently, but why, I ask, was C-3PO, supposedly programmed for "etiquette and protocol" in millions of languages and cultures, so devoid of manners and etiquette himself? A bit of a snob, he was, but always interrupting people. "But Sir..." "Shut him up or shut him down," injected Han Solo during "The Empire Strikes Back," sick of listening to 3PO's babbling.

Not only did he interrupt often, but he kicked his "counterpart", sweet little R2-D2 and called him an "overweight glob of grease." Now, I ask you, is that a polite thing to say?

Gaming for Girls

I read a BBC News article entitled "Games industry is 'failing women'" today about how there aren't enough computer games for women. This isn't really news. But what is interesting is that they are making broad generalizations like "just boys saw Star Wars multiple times" which I can attest is not true. I saw it multiple times.

They say girls like The Sims. Girls also like puzzle games like Tetris. Yes, that's true but we also do like some of the girly fashion games that aren't bland. And we like the more typically masculine games too sometimes. There are plenty of girls out there playing role playing shoot-em-up games.

But you have to also examine the trends of the latest video game markets - they have tended toward more character-driven, reality-type, action games because that's where the money is and animation drives interest. Gone are the days of Frogger and Apple Panic where I always felt computer games were more gender-neutral.

They say four of the 11 creative teams Electronic Arts has are headed by women, but that doesn't matter if the teams are largely comprised by men. Then there's the competitive factor too - gaming companies have to one-up each other by coming up with the next, newest, more realistic games to go head-to-head with the other guys.

Just putting women in charge isn't going to necessarily do it. It must be the right women, and the teams need to include women, and these women need to represent a broad range of gamer types. From what I know of gaming companies, the environment is largely male computer geeks who spend their time coding, playing video games or watching porn. (Yes, I'm generalizing here too, but I have friends who worked in these companies and they told me that's what they did.) That's a far cry from the social female demographic they are talking about trying to reach here.

Then there's the possibility that maybe girls or women in general just aren't into computer or video games as a concept. Maybe they would rather be at the mall with their friends than on the computer no matter how perfect the game is for them. It's just not their scene.

As to whether the gaming industry is really "failing" women? I don't really hear my female friends complaining, "gee, there aren't enough good games I like" but then again, most of them weren't playing computer games and video games like I was as a kid. Am I complaining? Mmmm... maybe. I suppose I'd prefer more games that interested me, but honestly, when I've had the time to play computer games, I've typically chosen to do other things. (Now if someone would come up with some good games for my cell phone for the doctor's office waiting room, now we're talking!) Even when I was the age that they're talking about targeting (roughly 15-25 yr-olds) I still had other things I wanted to do with my time. Like hanging out with my friends playing live role playing games instead.

So who cares if only 40% of teenage girls play video games vs. 90% of teenage boys? Probably only the gaming companies.

Lamenting the Loss of the BBS

I've posted to three blogs today so far (including this one), and commented on two. Slowly but surely I'm becoming a part of these online communities and feeling more comfortable in my own blogging skin. Eventually perhaps I'll come to match usernames with personalities and develop online relationships. Perhaps.

It wasn't always this way. In a former life, I was part of a very special online community. Back in the day ("the day" being 1987), I wandered onto my first BBS. Bulletin Board Systems were to the late 80's what web sites are today. Discussion groups were the precursors to blogs. I was one of approx. 40 people in Kansas City who were a part of the BBS community and we had a lot of fun together. We visited each other's BBS's, posted in discussions, chatted with each other, and occasionally gathered in person. Some of those people - you know who you are - I still consider close friends. Others disappeared into the ether (and are probably somewhere on the net), never to be seen or heard from again.

Ah the innocent days of youth, staring without a care in the world at my Amiga monitor writing about Nietzsche to some guy I'd never met. As a fourteen year-old, my parents were scared stiff of my meeting nameless, faceless people from the other side of town. My dad insisted upon accompanying me on my first physical outing to meet the people with whom I'd conversed to the wee hours on my computer. Once he saw how harmless and geeky they were, he decided to stay at home the next time. (Don't get me wrong - there were a couple of sleazy people in the group - but it became a fun sport to avoid them rather than a daunting chore (i.e. spam).)

My BBS had a theme, like most, and nearly everyone who visited became a role player within the theme. Each new visitor-caller I greeted with a chat invitation and a kind word. We discussed technology, art and science. We weren't all tech-savvy; some people just happened to own computers with modems.

Running a BBS taught me many things. It taught me how to meet new people. It taught me that the digital environment is a great equalizer. It taught me to be responsible for an online system and it taught me how to design a site. I learned how to write, and I learned that text can be easily misconstrued.

Now that I'm a new parent, as I think of my daughter's future I can't help but wonder: what will online life be like for her? I shudder to think. Will I be downloading new anti-spam software on a weekly basis? Will I be demanding an AIM chat with every new "guy" she meets? Installing keystroke logging devices to track her conversations just in case? At least she won't always be meeting these people in person, but is that a good thing?

I miss the days of the BBS. I miss the innocence and the wonder of it all. Even when I was a system administrator with root access to major government networks, it didn't have the same thrill. I miss walking past my desk at night, seeing the flashing lights on the modem and wondering who I might meet in chat mode. Each day brought a new surprise. Now as I surf the web for some sense of geography for mapping out the places I want to see, I still picture each site in my mind the way I formerly visualized BBS's - a living, breathing matrix of intelligent creatures trying to connect. I crave that close sense of community. Blogging in Silicon Valley has provided some of it, but there's no going back to the days of youth. Long live the 64th Dimension!

Bienvenue

Welcome to segmented. Since blogs typically include segments of news, ideas, thoughts and information, that's where I came up with the name. It also happens that s-e-g are my initials.

This isn't my first time blogging, but it's the first weblog I've created on my own, so it is an experiment of sorts. I was knee deep in the blogosphere when the hype began but didn't see the pull to start my own at the time - I knew the time commitment involved and wanted to wait for the right moment.

As to the content, I outlined this blog to focus on technology, politics, culture and arts but I will most certainly cover other topics. I designed my own degree program entitled "Technology & Society" where I studied technology policy, politics, economics and culture. My career, including BBS development, network consulting, computer security, web startups, Internet campaigns and online activism, has been centered around that. However, I wear many other hats - writer, parent, volunteer, world traveler, philanthropist, activist, musician, figure skater - but I prefer not to be defined by any particular role. These are all a part of who I am.

I may be able to hack a kernel, sing an aria and land an axel, but I can't make this blog successful without fresh ideas and participation from others. So I welcome your thoughts and comments as I embark on this new venture. Appreciez!