Jason Griffey

and again with the break in blogging.

Lately I’ve been giving lots of thought to my upcoming birthday. I’ll be 30, and for reasons unknown to me, it seems important somehow. I don’t know if it’s some wierd societal thing that I’m just subconciously projecting, but it actually is making me think about it. I don’t feel old, and don’t expect that this birthday will start me feeling old, I just think that this trip out of my twenties is going to be something different than it was, different than it has been.

very unsure about it.

Ok…some time since blogging due to spring break and being without internet access.

The most interesting thought that I’ve had recently has to do with the title of my blog and the way I seem to handle information processing. In several classes we have discussed info processing of sorts, and I’m starting to try to pay attention to how it is I operate. I probably take in more info in a day than I should…I’m constantly connected, visit 6-10 news sites repeatedly thoughtout the day to stay on top of stuff, get tons of email, and IM with friends. In reflecting on that, several people have asked how I tell good information from bad on the internet (a common question from non-netheads). The best explanation that I have been able to come up with is that I do some kind of pattern recognition for what my brain tells me is “good” or “safe” on the net…things like level of language use, proper grammer, is it recently updated, keywords used, and other things I’m certainly not aware of. Somehow, though, I ferret through stuff. The same goes with searching…I google for something and can pick the most likely result on the first page to give me what I want in milliseconds, without consciously reading and processing the information in the text.

This phenomena interests me. I will be writing more as I think of situations and anecdotes.

Missed another day of blogging. I’m preparing the hairshirt for later to atone for this.

But today, I’m preparing to take off for Spring Break….and I have LIKE A MILLION THINGS TO DO that are due immediately after break.

ARGH!

But, overall, it’s a good thing.

Random Counting Crows quote for the day:

“Thought I might get a rocket ride, when I was a child,
but it was a lie that told myself when I needed something good.”

I’ll almost certainly miss days while I’m on break…so I’ll see whoever is reading in a few days.

Went to interesting blog talk today…seems like blogs are getting quite the run through in academia currently.

Getting ready for Spring Break…going to visit family…nothing too exciting, but it’s getting out of town.

Have I mentioned that I listen to WAY to much Counting Crows?

“There are bones beneath my skin, mister…
a skeleton in every man’s house.
Beneath the dust and love and sweat that hangs on everybody
there’s a dead man trying to get out…”

Happy Mardi Gras, and Laisse Le Bon Temps Rouler!

Jason

Trying to finalize plans for the summer….so many conventions! So many options….gotta figure out some stuff. Definitely going to the ALA in Toronto and GenCon in Indianapolis.

Ok…back. Finally. Feels like I’ve been gone a month. It’s the combination of lack of connectivity and being in the hills of KY….talk about a different kind of place. Going from Chapel Hill (bastion of the liberal) to the bible belt/religious right/gun toting/backwoods that is my home is a real eye-opener. I got a reminder of where I was when my grandmother asked me “Are there many colored’s in NC?” After deciphering that she was asking me if there was a high concentration of African Americans (or other non-caucasion people, I suppose)…and after I understood it, I still didn’t quite know how to answer. I’d like to believe that she was out of it…doped on various meds, but I can’t be sure.

Welcome to small town KY.

Okay…still in KY. Granny is doing really well. Turns out that it definitely wasn’t a heart attack…and no damage was done. All in all, a great outcome. Still worried a bit about her.

Coming home to NC tomorrow…looking forward to getting home.

More later, when I have real internet access.

Well…a different sort of day today. Spent all day yesterday driving to KY to check on my grandmother’s health. Luckily, she is doing better…just released from the hospital, and seems ok. Turns out to be stress related, and we’re trying to make sure and eliminate all of that that we can.

Today Jack Valenti gave a public presentation titled “Comments on the Moral Imperative” at Duke University Law School. It was the typical Valenti patter that has been reported before (overused cliches and dogmatic approaches to intellectual property), but two things came up that I hadn’t seen reported before. One was that, at least for this lecture, he framed the problem facing the MPAA with digital duplication as a moral problem and not a legal one. Clearly it’s illegal…he seemed very confused why people seem to think that it’s not immoral as well. The second issue, closely related, is that he made no distinction at all between content and media, simply unwilling to admit that there is a difference between the two and conflating them to his advantage. So: the main question is “Has the MPAA ever made a distinction between content and media in the past to their advantage, and is that useful in the current environment?” The secondary question is “Is this really a moral failing of some sort in the youth of today?” Webcast of the speech will be available in a few days or so at: http://www.law.duke.edu/webcast/