Youth

"Youth, large, lusty, loving - Youth, full of grace, force,

fascination.
Do you know that Old Age may come after you

with equal grace, force,
fascination?"

- Walt Whitman

Photo by Charles "Teenie" Harris

What I Learned Today

What I Learned Today by Amanda Hardy

It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.

I can't say what follows is an agreeable philosophy, but he paints a pretty picture.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

by

Oscar Wilde

The Preface

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and
conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate
into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful
things.

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of
autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are
corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the
cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom
beautiful things mean only beauty.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.
Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban
seeing his own face in a glass.

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of
Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man
forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality
of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.

No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true
can be proved. No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical
sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.

Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.
Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.
From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art
of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's
craft is the type. All art is at once surface and symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity
of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and
vital. When critics disagree,
the artist is in accord with himself. We can forgive a man for making a
useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for
making a useless thing is that one
admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless.

i used to watch bad school filmstrips like this...

aaaahahahahahahahaha

i bet this is the greatest in-class movie EVER!



http://www.encyclopedia-obscura.com/moviesebrain.html

ever see a flying lawn mower?

ever see a flying lawn mower?

http://www.hugi.is/hahradi/bigboxes.php?box_id=51208&f_id=1159




more about it
http://www.flyingthingz.com/flying_thingzsky_cutter_kit.htm

artists as silly sickos

Bunny by Lem

More on Damien Hirst

geektest came out surprisingly low

You are 36_span> geek

You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator. Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend. You [to Geek]: We need more than that, Scotty. You'll have to stay until you can squeeze more outta them engines! Geek [to You]: I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain, but we need more dilithium crystals! You [to Normal]: He wants to know if he gets overtime.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

on women and videogames and assholes

I'll try to organize this recitation of a conversation as best as possible:

In an article on slashdot (link) about women and videogames I
jokingly commented:

>In related news, my 12-year-old offer to marry
>the first woman to regularly defeat me at
>StreetFighter regardless of age, race, or looks,
>goes entirely unanswered.
>
>I think I was born 5 years or so too late;
>I've seen a few teenage girls who contend
>in Soul Calibur...
>
>I gotta move to California where they have more asians...
>

the people who ended up replying to it were saying
some really obnoxious things, so I added another:

>Let me apologize to any woman reading for all
>the comments in this thread that indicate women
>gamers are unwelcome if less than attractive.
>..As if every single social interation between
>the sexes need be sexual. We need you as gamers
>if only to dilute this kind of idiocy among us.

to which an anonymous troll replied:

>Shut up, pussy.
>
>I bet you're the "sensitive male friend" that always takes girls to
>dinner and listens to them talk about their boyfriends but never
>gets any action from them.
>
>Grow a pair, you fucking twat.
>

I usually restrain from replying to anonymous jerks, but
I made an exception this time:

>you hit the nail on the head. i am.
>
>and you're the resentful fugly goth
>(you're no beefcake, this is slashdot)
>who gets neither sexual NOR social attention.
>
>nice to meet you.
>

which garnered the reaction:

>You don't have a clue what I am or what I get. And I could
>hardly be resentful. I avoid the people I described above and
>my world is richer for it. And who cares if you're goth? So you
>wear tight black clothes and that matters how in this discussion?

which made me laugh my ass off:

>aaAHahahaHaHAhaahhaahaha
>
>looks like -I- hit the nail on the head too,
>anonymous coward ^_^;;;;
>

and very satisfyingly, other readers modded my posts up
as insightful or funny, and modded his down as
trolling and inflamatory ^^

not all heroes go to heavan

I found a real treasure today. The work of one great unsung
hero, singing the greatness of another great unsung hero.

R. Crumb, who most people know as the odd 60s cartoonist
to make "keep on truckin'", "mr natural", and "felix the cat", was
a connesieur of private suffering, and most of his works in some
way or other focus around the strife of very flawed people.
He made cartoons that were serious art 30 years ago, while we
still wait the last few moments for the medium to gain legitimacy
today.
...as much as I respect him, he's still too creepy for me to take
in large doses tho. What follows, however, is now without a
doubt my favorite creation of his: a biography of a blues founder,
done just as it should be done.

Exepted from "The Big Book of Blues : A Biographical Encyclopedia"
by Robert Santelli:
"Charlie Patton was the first great Delta bluesman; from him flowed
nearly all the elements that would comprise the region’s blues
style. Patton had a course, earthy voice that reflected hard
times and hard living. His guitar style - percussive and raw -
matched his vocal delivery. In a since, Charlie Patton, in addition to
being a bluesman of the highest caliber, might also be the first rock
& roller. Patton was far from passive when he performed in
front of an audience. It was not uncommon for him to play the
guitar between his knees or behind his back. He also played the
instrument loud and rough. Patton jumped around and used the back
of his guitar like a drum. He was a showman and made histrionics
part of his act."




I appended three of Charlie's songs for here: Elder Green Blues, Shake
it and Break it, and Mind Reader Blues with Bertha Lee from the last
recording session just before his death. His work is old enough so as
to be public domain, so search around and you'll find stuff like this

The great Mississippi flood of 1927 mentioned herein was a cataclysm
that echoed through history, both in the soulful mourns of blues players
and the evolution of engineers controlling nature. read more here.
"I
saw a whole tree just disappear, sucked under by the current, then saw
it shoot up, it must have been a hundred yards [downstream]. Looked
like a missile fired by a submarine."

laws as multiple presentation views on data (warning: techie)

article
"Robolawyer to Handle Clickwraps?"

adelord writes "Recently Wired published an essay (wired.com) by Mark D. Rasch describing the need for a 'browser-based automaton that could be adjusted to match your tolerance for legal mumbo jumbo' to help the user navigate the torrent of user agreements most of us click through without reading. Is this a job for Google Labs, and if not, who else would write the software for it? Do you think it is a good idea? While the legal exposure from writing software that partially fills the role of a lawyer could be enormous, I sure that it would have an ironclad user agreement that I would simply click through in my excitement to use it."

my comment

This article hints at something I've wanted to brainstorm around for a long time now: implementing laws and arguments as a suite of views on a set of data, instead of as they both currently are implemented: flat documents in the legislative and judicial respectively.

Pushes for plain-text legislation, while noble in intent, I take to be infeasable due to the innumerable intricacies of law--that is to say, there is no simple yet effective way to express certain complex legalities. But if instead of having one, and only one phrasing of a law, EULA, judicial argument, or whatever, we allow several VIEWS (ie phrasings intended for a specific audience) of the DATA (the semi-immutable concept that the document attempts to express).

We already accomplish this in lesser forms: an "executive summary" as part of a document is a classic example of rephrasing the meaning of a document for a specific audience.

Imagine if we wrote laws with a legaleese view, a summary view, a plain-english view, and a technical/medical/whatever'sapplicable view. The public would be served by reading the summary, nonlawyers that want to monitor their government would have the plainenglish, and specialists in the subjectmatter would have their applicable view. "How could that work, there's too much chance for conflict and deceit among the several views?" you may ask. We already undertake such a human risk when judges review law for interpretation. Only in this scenario, instead of one phrasing, the judge has MULTIPLE valid phrasings, each with it's own context, from which to pull interpretation. A natural heirarchy of where to pull what meaning could be established: If --a-- detail in the legaleese completely contradicts the basis of the executive summary, the summary holds more weight, as the summary is where one would state "overall intent". Contrarily, if the --totality-- of details in the legaleese and plain-english draw a conclusion other than the summaries', the summary is in need of revision.

I see applicability well beyond just laws, but they make for a good first thought. Eventually, I could even see this implemented as a document format where switching between views are as difficult as following hyperlinks, and view-preference-options are standardized so one can surf the net as different levels of readers. (patent it first and i got yer prior art right here, bitch ^_-) I could even see slashmoderation as a worthwhile inclusion to the concept.

Anyway, the whole idea's pretty alpha in my mind, and I'd love other ppl's thoughts.

clean your toilet - the fun way

Usually I don't love the spam ppl send me, but this was funny:





Clean Your Toilet -
The Fun Way


1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.

2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the
toilet and close both lids. You may need to stand on the lid.

4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds.
Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.






5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides
a "power-wash" and rinse".

6. Have someone open the front door of your home.
Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.

7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.

8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom, and run outside where he will dry himself off.

9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.

Sincerely,

The Dog

which personality disorders do you suffer from?

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Low
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	Moderate
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	Low
Narcissistic:	Low
Avoidant:	Low
Dependent:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Low
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! --

See, this is why I think Cornfed is a good image for me.

I got my shit pretty under control, but i still like to be among crazies, ^_^



The text of schizotypal: "
Many believe that schizotypal personality disorder represents mild
schizophrenia. The disorder is characterized by odd forms of thinking
and perceiving, and individuals with this disorder often seek isolation
from others. They sometimes believe to have extra sensory ability or
that unrelated events relate to them in some important way. They
generally engage in eccentric behavior and have difficulty
concentrating for long periods of time. Their speech is often over
elaborate and difficult to follow."



except for the ESP part, that's pretty true. I think weird, am accused

of talking too complexly, took ritalin when i was little, and like being

alone nearly as much as i like not being alone ^^

(Sometimes I feel so) Uninspired

ahhh sometimes i almost enjoy being down for a while,
because i enjoy some of my sadder songs all the more.

lots of good sad songs exist in many genres.. i of course
like the blues a lot, and i know country music (not c/w) is
the same way. (what do you get when you play a country
song backwards? your wife back, your house back, your
dog back...)

still though, as much as i like a good sad song, i am
COMPLETELY removed from anything goth. i don't know..
as sad as the songs i like can get, they always have a hint
of hope, or a bittersweet taste.. much of what i see in goth
is doom&gloom with no hope, and that strikes me honestly
as quite juvenile.

i wish i could come up with a better categorization for the
following song than just 'classic rock'. traffic and similar
clasic rock bands (that's too broad dammit) have been a
foundation of my philosophy since I was very small. I've
taken on a lot since from other genres, but this reaches way back.

Sometimes I feel so uninspired
Sometimes I feel like giving up
Sometimes I feel so very tired
Sometimes I feel like I've had enough
Sometimes you feel like you've been hired
Sometimes you feel like you've been bought
Sometimes you feel like your room's been wired
Sometimes you feel like you've been caught
But don't let it get you down
There is no reason for not failing
You've got to smile and turn the other cheek
So today you might get up
But by tomorrow you'll be sailing
And you won't even hear these words I speak
Some people want to be so desired
Some people can't stand the light of day
Somebody's laughing while someone is crying
But for to want in the close of the day
But sometimes I feel like my head is spinning
I'm gonna cave with all I see
I don't know who's losing and I don't care who's winning
Hardship and trouble following me

(Sometimes I feel so) Uninspired by Traffic (Winwood/Capaldi)

new security measures

1940s italians defined fascism as corporatism

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power."

- Benito Mussolini


"Fascism is an extreme right-wing ideology which embraces nationalism as the transcendent value of society. The rise of Fascism relies upon the manipulation of populist sentiment in times of national crisis. Based on fundamentalist revolutionary ideas, Fascism defines itself through intense xenophobia, militarism, and supremacist ideals. Although secular in nature, Fascism's emphasis on mythic beliefs such as divine mandates, racial imperatives, and violent struggle places highly concentrated power in the hands of a self-selected elite from whom all authority flows to lesser elites, such as law enforcement, intellectuals, and the media."

- Ben Tripp, paraphrasing Mussolini's diary


"By setting up special parastate agencies or "corporations" to replace failing or inadequate private enterprises, [Mussolini] was able to control the important economic sectors. Elitists everywhere found that laudable."

- Ernest Fitzgerald


quotes collected by the person who runs http://scrod.ath.cx/

cognac and sugarcookies didn't disagree as much as i expected.

meh, stinky weekend.

how to begin..



i'm still seething somewhat over saturday. for the millionth

and LAST time, i couldn't get a hold of my friend. we parted

thurday agreeing we'd probably firsbeegolf friday, and though

i've called many many times trying to figure out what's the time,

i have yet to hear from him. i went to the course and saw a mutual

friend who's all "really? we played and he just left, and yeah, i've

called him today."

?!?!?!

he plays it off as all mistakes, but i'm done beleiving that.

everyone who knows him knows he's horrible with phonecalls,


but this has happened so often, i officially don't think i can take it


any other way than "i don't give a fuck whether we hang out or not."


it certainly doesn't SEEM that way face to face, but TOLD

him i hate that MANY times: just answer the damn

phone and say "no" so i can KNOW and get on with things

instead of wasting my time trying to get something to happen.

he's officially made trying to hang out with him not worth the effort,

and i'm DONE.



this was about the mood i was in when i went to the fashion show.

well, kinda. even when i'm mad i'm pretty level, i guess.

Ju-u-ulie, whom i messaged about a cool pic she has wherein

she's wearing a dress made of ties, told me about this fashion

show, which is exactly the kind of new and different type of thing

i've been on the lookout for. i'd never been, so it sounded fun.

i was soooo bummed to be going to this alone, but no friend

was down for a fashion show. i had this cool chinese shirt that

for a while i was thinking "finally! an excuse to wear it!" but

i chose to just wear a black sweater. i don't know well enough

to know what would look silly, so nice safe black.

it was pretty crowded and tough to see, but i once in a while,

i could see pretty well. it was especially hard to see when

there was a crowd favorite, they'd all really scoot around for

a good view then~

i was pretty impressed with the dresses themselves, i wouldn't

go to one of these expecting much, and further i never liked

victorian-era style, but the halfway mix of victorian frills and

2000s sun-dress was good enough to remember, and for me

to remember means it's pretty good ^^

i spent most the show chitchatting with a woman in her

late 30s, mostly peoplewatching. there were a couple

pretty burly transvestites, and i'd bet there'd be noone

prouder to wear one of those dresses if they could ^_^

plus they had some AWESOME free cookies.

cognac and sugarcookies didn't disagree as much as i expected.

after the show, I recognized Julie and Mandy; i think there

were others, but I wasn't sure.

i probably should have said hi, but at the time, i didn't have

any better introduction than "hi, i'm the loser from the net

that came alone" and again, i was still so pissed at my

friend i wasn't in any kind of cheery mood and would

likely have been horrible conversation. not how i'd like to

be introduced, anyway. it was really interesting though, and

i'd totally go again, to at least this lady's shows.



the show was surprisingly short, and i was at a loss for

what to do. i was thinking of going to mantra lounge,

i reasoned: that's another place i've been meaning to

try, and i was already dressed for it on a sat. night.

but i stopped by the quickie mart for a snack while

on the way home to let my dog out first, and happened

to hear some pretty good jazz music booming from accross

the street. so when i came back, i went there instead, and

what a cool little bar. it's called the estate:

http://onmilwaukee.com/bars/business/estate.html

and i stuck around for a couple hours enjoying the show.

the place has the PERFECT decor, it's exactly as i imagine

a jazz bar should look. i love how there's always more

to discover here on the east side, even in plain sight.

on the advice of one of the people inside, i'm thinking

of seeing both friday & saturday's shows, and a week

after that, the drummer for james brown, of 'funky drummer'

fame, is gonna be there!!



man this is typing too much--time to get terse.

sunday i picked up my buddy for our usual habit of

going to famous dave's for some bbq ribs, and the

guy is sick as a dog. i really didn't appreciate him not telling

me ahead, and had to be very cautious not to shake his

hand or anything because i REFUSE to get sick right now,

no f'in way. washed my hands, took some pre-cold ward-er-

offer-medicine, i got too much to get done right now to get sick.



so overall i spent the weekend pretty bummed, but

there were some pretty cool things that happened nonetheless

mmmm, pool table

met a pretty cool guy today somewhat randomly while playing

frisbee golf. we'd apparantly crossed paths before.

he had his own pool table, and was a good match too.

Poem, "Fragments of Olympian Gossip" by Nikola Tesla

While listening on my cosmic phone
I caught words from the Olympus blown.
A newcomer was shown around;
That much I could guess, aided by sound.
"There's Archimedes with his lever
Still busy on problems as ever.
Says: matter and force are transmutable
And wrong the laws you thought immutable."
"Below, on Earth, they work at full blast
And news are coming in thick and fast.
The latest tells of a cosmic gun.
To be pelted is very poor fun.
We are wary with so much at stake,
Those beggars are a pest—no mistake."
"Too bad, Sir Isaac, they dimmed your renown
And turned your great science upside down.
Now a long haired crank, Einstein by name,
Puts on your high teaching all the blame.
Says: matter and force are transmutable
And wrong the laws you thought immutable."
"I am much too ignorant, my son,
For grasping schemes so finely spun.
My followers are of stronger mind
And I am content to stay behind,
Perhaps I failed, but I did my best,
These masters of mine may do the rest.
Come, Kelvin, I have finished my cup.
When is your friend Tesla coming up."
"Oh, quoth Kelvin, he is always late,
It would be useless to remonstrate."
Then silence—shuffle of soft slippered feet—
I knock and—the bedlam of the street.


PBS had a special tonight on one one of my favorite scientists, Tesla.
He was highly critical of Einstein's theories,
and here veils his disdain for the research for an atomic bomb.
Tesla was an odd pacifist, once tried to create a submarine-like machine
to end all war, and staunchly beleived to end war, you need make the
weak able to defend themselves, not a weapon to lord over all.

Global Personality Test

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (73high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.. Orderliness (40moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment. Extraversion (70high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

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personality tests by similarminds.com

cheney = sack o shit

"The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight." -Dick Cheney, lying about John Edwards



how can ANYbody not see that these people lie reflexively?

tell me comedy writers aren't staging the election..

aaaaahahahahahaha


god BLESS the daily show, why didn't i see this sooner?





"cheney actually had a factual error on his fact-check reference"


http://factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=272





in the debates, cheney cited a link, factcheck.com, which


ends up at george oros's anti-bush site ^-^;;


he meant factcheck.org, which further says


"Cheney got our domain name wrong -- calling us "FactCheck.com" -- and
wrongly implied that we had rebutted allegations Edwards was making
about what Cheney had done as chief executive officer of Halliburton."

edited from 'The Enchiridion' by Epictetus 135 A.C.E.

i always seem to get into this stuff when i'm sleep-deprived..



fulltext:

http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html



44. These reasonings are unconnected: "I am richer than
you, therefore I am better"; "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I
am better." The connection is rather this: "I am richer than you, therefore
my property is greater than yours;" "I am more eloquent than you, therefore
my style is better than yours." But you, after all, are neither property
nor style.




1. Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our
control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever
are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation,
command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own
actions.




The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered;
but those not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to
others. Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish
by nature are also free, and that what belongs to others is your own, then
you will be hindered. You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will
find fault both with gods and men. But if you suppose that only to be your
own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is,
then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find
fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will.
No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be
harmed.




27. As a mark is not set up for the sake of missing the
aim, so neither does the nature of evil exist in the
world.




42. When any person harms you, or speaks badly of you, remember
that he acts or speaks from a supposition of its being his duty. Now, it
is not possible that he should follow what appears right to you, but what
appears so to himself. Therefore, if he judges from a wrong appearance,
he is the person hurt, since he too is the person deceived. For if anyone
should suppose a true proposition to be false, the proposition is not hurt,
but he who is deceived about it. Setting out, then, from these principles,
you will meekly bear a person who reviles you, for you will say upon every
occasion, "It seemed so to him."




43. Everything has two handles, the one by which it may
be carried, the other by which it cannot. If your brother acts unjustly,
don't lay hold on the action by the handle of his injustice, for by that
it cannot be carried; but by the opposite, that he is your brother, that
he was brought up with you; and thus you will lay hold on it, as it is
to be carried.




5. Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles
and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for instance, is
not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror
consists in our notion of death that it is terrible. When therefore we
are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others,
but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person
will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting
instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed
will place blame neither on others nor on himself.






8. Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish
that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on
well.






14. If you wish your children, and your wife, and your friends
to live for ever, you are stupid; for you wish to be in control of things
which you cannot, you wish for things that belong to others to be your
own. So likewise, if you wish your servant to be without fault, you are
a fool; for you wish vice not to be vice," but something else. But, if
you wish to have your desires undisappointed, this is in your own control.
Exercise, therefore, what is in your control. He is the master of every
other person who is able to confer or remove whatever that person wishes
either to have or to avoid. Whoever, then, would be free, let him wish
nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others else he must
necessarily be a slave.

On social networking..

I've been having an interesting conversation with Laura, and with her
permission, I'm reposting one part of it here, in the hopes that
someone else has some interesting thoughts on the matter.

----------------



>>

>>My dream, insofar as social networking sites like myspace,

>>is to gain a virtual equivalent of shouting out my window

>>"does anybody wanna play tennis?" and everyone who lives

>>within 5 miles, has played tennis in the last month, and isn't

>>busy right now gets to hear the offer. I think it's so badly

>>needed; I see so many kinds of people who aren't finding

>>others of their ilk, for no other reason than a lack of good

>>communication. It's still in it's youthful stages, but sites like

>>this I see to be the genesis of my above-mentioned dream.



> however I think its really people that don't work

>that way, more so than the network. Even if you could

>somehow send a message to everyone searching for a

>common interest, most of the people receiving that

>message wouldn't jump into the activity without

>knowing who you were first.



agreed. but i think the social change towards being open to such
broadcasts can develop in tandem with the technology, as larger social
sites like this invent and tailor features to their users. myspace's
saving grace in that respect is the chaining made by friendslists and
groups. it's reasonable to expect the likeliness of a friend of your
friend's sharing an interest with you is fairly high. that similarity
decreases somewhat slowly the longer the chain of friends, but the
number of potential people increases geometrically (faster than
exponentially). that's just a fact. that fact has impact which we'll
slowly discover and utilize.

slashdot, one of the most popular techgeek news/discussion sites, uses
a different interesting technique. they semi-randomly nominate a small
percentage of readers as moderators. moderators get 5 points they can
use to 1 or -1 somebody's comment (and categorize it as funny,
offtopic, insightful, etc). It's something like a jury or electoral
college for a discussion. the result is authors and readers work
together in a coordinated system that lets a discussion organize itself
such that the most interesting comments are made more obvious while the
least worthwhile are hidden. further, people whose comments often get
moderated up gain 'karma', and are favored even more. i think that's a
brilliant way to separate spam from meat, and i see tons of potential
to get even better.