I am not weary of warcraft, but having reached the point where every new advance for my toon will take long hours — weeks — to accomplish, I am resetting my bearings and may be posting more here and at Dreaming 5GW.

One could devote an entire blog to the intersections between World of Warcraft and that other discussion of warcraft. For instance, months of playing the game have shown me how so many players, of widely different ages and backgrounds, play WoW for different reasons. It is a challenge; it is a social activity; it is a distraction from mundane living; it is a purely personal quest for fulfillment. Yet the players use the same platform, with variations allowed by various add-ons and even hacks, to create a whole environment that holds together. Is there a lesson here for 5GW? I’ll bet Shlok thinks so. But my message for Shlok: however “empowered” the individual players may think they are, above and beyond other players, the toons’ weaponry and skills and talents are merely abstract, virtual, non-material. In fact, only slight variations in connectivity and computing power may be distinguished between them; in general, they are mostly equally empowered by the same things. (“Connectivity”) However, the human beings behind the toons have very different skill levels and abilities, from maturity levels to intelligence to temperament.

Other lessons abound. But I am WoWoW: Weary of World of Warcraft.

My latest comment at tdaxp was bleeped or held for moderation.

In reference to the discussion there, “Is Barack Obama Too Black to be President?”, in which Dan suggests that Obama used ageism to attack John McCain (the spin repeated again at tdaxp, as if it had not occurred nearly enough in so many other places), I wrote:


A fuller quote:

“This is offensive, and I think it’s disappointing, because John McCain always says, ‘Well, I’m not going to run that kind of politics,’” Obama said. “And then to engage in that kind of smear, I think, is unfortunate, particularly since my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his.”

The Illinois senator added: “For him to toss out comments like that, I think, is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don’t need name-calling in this debate.” [1]

A definition of “bearings” includes:

“6. Direction, especially angular direction measured from one position to another using geographical or celestial reference lines.

7. Awareness of one’s position or situation relative to one’s surroundings. Often used in the plural: lost my bearings after taking the wrong exit.” [2]

“Bearings” has a relation to seafaring, as anyone even slightly aware of that subject knows (#6 above); the word has been metaphorized to include any sort of veering off course, through the phrase “to lose one’s bearings” (#7)

Reading the fuller quote from Obama, in context — not merely pulling the phrase and then dreaming a context for the proper negative spin — shows how he meant it. To on the one hand claim an aversion to smear politics, but veering into using such political ploys after all, is to lose one’s bearings. To claim one is a “straight talker”, to take a principled stand against smear politics, but engaging in dubious assertions precisely to smear Obama, McCain has veered off his principled course: he may be losing his bearings.

It has nothing to do with age — unless you are so sensitive about your age, you choose to hear it in a much more limited context of your own creation.

[1] http://news.aol.com/story/_a/obama-accuses-mccain-of-losing-his…

[2] http://www.answers.com/topic/bearing?cat=technology

…by Shane Deichman with the 123 Meme.

Folks this is how 5GW will happen! Beware the facile meme, the urge to do as it commands!

Ok now on to seriousness. The 123 Meme works as follows:

1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

However, the meme stops here. At least in this branch, since I won’t be tagging others. (I am channeling the character in Dead Poets Society who doesn’t march with all the others.) But I can do 1-4.

Book: The Complete Essays of Montaigne.

And for several months now, it’s the only book I’ve had handy, the only book I read. I must have read everything in it by now….but only piecemeal. I pick it up and open to a random page, read a bit — sometimes read a whole essay (for the umpteenth time), sometimes read only a few paragraphs. And in this way I’ve gone front-to-back and back-to-front over it several times.

Here are the three sentences requested by Shane Deichman:

I would have portraits there of Joy and Gladness, and Flora and the Graces, as the philosopher Speusippus had in his school. Where their profit is, let their frolic be also. Healthy foods should be sweetened for the child, and harmful ones dipped in gall.

Just a quick note.

I have spent almost two months relatively blog-free while playing World of Warcraft.

Previously — my last blogging slump — I had devoted a lot of time playing Blogshares while my blogospheric output dwindled, though even then I had begun to wonder whether Blogshares might hold some lessons for those interested in the fifth generation of warfare.

Lately, I’ve wondered something of the same about World of Warcraft — but barely. Instead, I’ve made some mental notes about WoW and how the game may reveal some things about our society and habits of cognition. For instance, WoW is incredibly racist; i.e., each race in WoW — gnomes, night elves, humans, dwarves, orcs, trolls, etc. — has particular limitations or special traits not shared by other races. No one playing the game seems the least bit bothered by such a method of categorization.

Instead of trying to find the ways World of Warcraft might illuminate the subject of the fifth generation of warfare, or else trying to find some material for Dreaming 5GW — some lesson — in my two months of obsessive game play in that other world of warcraft, quite the opposite has occurred. My distance from the blogosphere has given me perspective, and I’ve had a surprising realization.

The Blogosphere is an MMORPG: a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Those who have never played such games may not understand what I mean by that; but so it goes.

I have also wondered whether the blogosphere may ultimately be little more than that. But then, do we really comprehend the concept of MMORPGs? Hah.

This may be my favorite song, ever. Best rendition of two classics.

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole makes me glad to be human.

 
From:

Wikipedia:

The Hawaiʻi State Flag flew at half-staff on July 10, 1997, the day of Iz’s funeral. His koa wood coffin lay in state at the Capitol building in Honolulu. He was the third person in Hawaiian history to be accorded this honor (the other two were Governor John A. Burns and Senator Spark Matsunaga) and the only non-politician. Over 10,000 people attended his funeral. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean at Mākua Beach on July 12, 1997.

i aggree. we must come togethor and smash the al qaedas heads in with sledge hammers. there going around cooking children and blowing themselves up in mosques that celebrate the prophet’s (peace be upon him) birthday. there a threat to humanity and there a threat to islam. let’s not forget along the way that israel is a terrorist state and that bush is completely evil

—from commentary about a YouTube video.

This video, in fact:



Sometimes, I spend hours reading conversations on YouTube. The cultural and/or international clashes are enlightening, though often incoherent in a literalist sense.  That is, one can read between the lines, follow the trends, see what the world is thinking.

In this respect, wedding video to international dialogue may prove the most powerful force of globalization.  So much subtlety occurs between the lines — in fact, so much that is subtle occurs without the participants even realizing the scope of what occurs.

It is interesting to see that the most common English word — well, I’m guessing, without having done a study; but the most common English word world-wide seems to be FUCK.  It is a very funny catch-all, with many meanings “between the lines”.

Also interesting:  The way homosexuality so often enters into any confrontational conversation on YouTube.  Once upon a time, a mention/comparison to Nazis or Hitler was a sign that the conversation was over; now it’s fags, faggots, gaaaaaaaaaay, etc.  World-wide it seems.  This is significant.  (I once began a series on homosexuality and globalization…but became distracted from finishing it by the OODA, which needed exploring in more detail before I could finish the series.)

One thing I’ve never written or spoken in conversation, which seems quite relevant, but which I’ve often thought:  If someone were to ask me which American celebrity has done the most for “gay rights”, my answer would not be Ellen DeGeneres or Rosie O’Donnell, or any of the slew of celebrities who have come out of the closet and/or have advocated for gay rights.  Those two, and others, have done much, and I wouldn’t demean them or lessen their roles — however, the real answer (and I truly believe this) is:

Jerry Springer.

Yep.  That’s right.  His show, as trashy as it was, nonetheless opened America’s eyes to the cheap and tawdry side of America, in which gays, lesbians, straights, bisexuals, and persons of every race and of both (and more?) genders were equally represented.  One could no longer speak of homosexual depravity without acknowledging the depravity of heterosexuals.  Homosexual pedophiles?  Well, there were many incestuous heterosexuals, heterosexual pedophiles, adulterous heterosexuals, heterosexual swingers and prostitutes, and so forth as well.  Etc.  I don’t believe people realize the extraordinary effect Jerry Springer had on America.  Regardless of his true motives — whether for money or fame or any other thing — he served a key role, perhaps the key role (especially given the many imitators who have followed him) in opening the stage for dialogue vis-a-vis gay rights, gay equality (the good and the bad), and so forth.

And I wonder, really, if YouTube is serving the same purpose, for issues relating to race relations, cultural relations, international relations, as well as gay rights.

Something to think about.