The Serpent's Wisdom

If you've got keyboard shortcut tips -- on Windows, Firefox, other popular applications, please share them! The less I have to use a mouse, the less pain I'm in.

cowgrrl and I had a conversation about the refresh button last weekend. We both agreed that it's kind of like a monster that can eat your life if you are too complacent.

What I mean is, I decided not long ago that if I find I'm hitting "refresh" on the same few sites, that's to be the trigger for me to decide I should do something else for a while. Play a game, do homework, work on my podcast, prepare lunches for the next few days, mend clothing, anything. I have no shortage of things to do. I even make up a list and called it my "to do for when I'm hitting refresh on the internet list."

I'm not going to be a hard-ass about this because sometimes vegetating *is* the most productive thing I can do at that moment. But I am trying to shake my complacency.

From FB: Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

At Rhode Island College, a freshman copied and pasted from a Web site’s frequently asked questions page about homelessness — and did not think he needed to credit a source in his assignment because the page did not include author information.

At DePaul University, the tip-off to one student’s copying was the purple shade of several paragraphs he had lifted from the Web; when confronted by a writing tutor his professor had sent him to, he was not defensive — he just wanted to know how to change purple text to black.

And at the University of Maryland, a student reprimanded for copying from Wikipedia in a paper on the Great Depression said he thought its entries — unsigned and collectively written — did not need to be credited since they counted, essentially, as common knowledge.

The article goes on to argue that kids growing up in the digital age, a time when you can answer almost any question in a second or less by typing into a search engine instead of tromping down to a library and looking through books for hours, and who every day of their lives "share" other peoples' content on facebook or LJ, have trouble understanding the difference between content they created and content they repost.

I really have a hard time finding any sympathy, though this could of course be a function of the fact that I lived over half my life before the internet came along. Is it really that hard to tell the difference between words your own brain has stuck together to make sentences and paragraphs, and words you only cut and pasted?

Assignments are meant to help you learn not just how to answer questions but also how to think critically. Students who only answer questions by cutting and pasting are conditioning themselves to avoid learning how to critically evaluate what they read. Is it hyperbole to worry about the effect this could have on the Republic? Already we have the Tea Party, which is barely more than internet trolling carried over into real-life.

This is a screenshot from my Yahoo inbox.

You all remember, I'm sure, when Snap Shots started popping up on links in LJ posts. This is like that, only more evil, because Yahoo chooses all on its own to make mouseover links out of words and phrases in emails. So if I make the mistake of mousing over one while reading, this evil bugger pops up and I have to close it just to keep reading my email. So I have a world of hate for these "helpful" overlays.

I've been trying with Firebug to isolate the precise script or frame to block to make these go away forever, without success. Anyone know?

ETA. The filter you can add to AdBlock Plus to get rid of similar overlay frames and mouseover links in Yahoo news stories is "konalayer.swf".

Son of ETA. I found the solution and it's easier than I expected -- you go to general options and de-select everything under "shortcuts" and click save. I suppose I'll let this be a lesson to me: check the user options page before going immediately to the hacker-type solutions. I'm just so used to sites having annoying "features" that I didn't even think it could just be disabled by unchecking a checkbox.

Godwin's Law: As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.

Godwin's Law, expanded: As an internet discussion thread grows longer, the probability of the following approaches 1:

• a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler
  
• a reference to Godwin's Law

Godwin's Law, expanded, 2009 edition: As an internet discussion thread grows longer, the probability of the following approaches 1:

• a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler
  
• a reference to Godwin's Law
  
• a LOLCAT
  
• a Monty Python quote
  
• a proclamation that someone has "won the internet"
  
• a .gif of Michael Jackson eating popcorn (from the "Thriller" video)
  
• someone exclaiming that they just lost "the Game"

Facebook rejected my name on Wednesday, and I haven't heard anything back since their initial email. How long does it normally take them to respond?

As a feminist and a leftist i get this a lot: the implication that if i find something offensive which they did not -- or especially if it is something they found funny or amusing -- that i am overly sensitive and, if i am so easily offended, maybe i shouldn't be using the internet.

Look, please don't say this to people. It's not helpful.

If i say i found something offensive, or even say i can see why someone might be offended, i am not implying that you're a horrible person for finding that same thing amusing. If i happen to think someone is a horrible person, i'll say so, but it takes a lot for me to think that.

But, here's why this upsets me.

Reaction A: "Oh, that offended you? Huh. I was actually amused by it."
Reaction B: "Oh, that offended you? Huh. I was actually amused by it. I guess you must just be really sensitive. If you're so sensitive, maybe you shouldn't even be on the internet where people can hurt you."

Reaction A is a simple expression of "Okay, i didn't have the same reaction." It's fine for people to not agree on things or have the same reaction.

Reaction B goes further and belittles you. It's is exactly the same as, "Why can't you take a joke?" But someone who says this may as well also be saying, "If people can hurt you by doing/saying X, maybe you shouldn't do anything you find fun or even leave the house." Because it's not just a game or an internet forum where someone might be triggered, it's anywhere and everywhere you go.

Reaction B is victim-blaming because we don't choose what triggers us. "Triggering" is when something random and unexpected reminds you jarringly of a traumatic event in your life. It's especially frustrating when something insensitive done or said by someone else triggers you. Again, we don't choose to be triggered by something. Also, not everyone is triggered by the same thing.

So when you say Reaction B, you are blaming someone for being triggered by something. They aren't going to read your comment and say, "Oh, gosh, you're right, i'm choosing to be offended by something so little and silly," because their response wasn't a choice in the first place.

Youtube wants me to sign in using my google account.

Problem is, i don't HAVE a google account. But i can't seem to make Youtube stop thinking that i do.

I cleared my cache; it's still happening. Any thoughts?

ETA: I worked it out.

ETA PS: I'm an idiot.

It's okay to stop Rickrolling people now.

Stuff White People Like

Oh, this new blog ruffles the feathers in all kinds of ways. It's brilliant. The comments on each post are proof that it's working. Yes, the criticism that this really mainly applies to yuppies is true, but since they are dominating a lot of the urban cultural dialogue it's still funny and informative to observe the squirming.

Recycling is a part of a larger theme of stuff white people like: saving the earth without having to do that much.

Recycling is fantastic! You can still buy all the stuff you like (bottled water, beer, wine, organic iced tea, and cans of all varieties) and then when you’re done you just put it in a DIFFERENT bin than where you would throw your other garbage. And boom! Environment saved! Everyone feels great, it’s so easy!

... If you are in a situation where a white person produces an empty bottle, watch their actions. They will first say “where’s the recycling?” If you say “we don’t recycle,” prepare for some awkwardness. They will make a move to throw the bottle away, they will hesitate, and then ultimately throw the bottle away. But after they return look in their eyes. All they can see is the bottle lasting forever in a landfill, trapping small animals. It will eat at them for days.