Peter Howard is Wintermute, mythologist

Débranché

25February2006 [directLink] [personal]

Have been feeling strangely disconnected lately. I’ve been back for over five weeks, but don’t feel like I’ve settled. Doesn’t help that we’re moving house this weekend. So I returned to ‘home’, but with the knowledge that it wouldn’t be home for very long, and that it had changed. There are now only three kids living at home (of five), part of the reason why we’re moving to a (much) smaller house, a three-bedder. Uni kicks in in a couple days as well, which might come as a shock to the system, having been hanging around and not going to classes for some time now… Once I get setup at the new place and into a new routine I expect my feelings will change, but for now, I’m completely disconnected. Disconnected from home, family and friends, and the rest of the world — haven’t been keeping up with a lot of websites I was reading, haven’t kept up with the news as much as I’d wanted to…

I knew it’d be a shock to the system coming back here, but this is just weird - there’s no real emotion attached, I’m not even connected enough to do that much. I think my head has to get used to some new frames of reference.

And am about to be literally disconnected too: we’re trying to get ADSL2+ at the new place, but it’ll take at least a couple weeks to setup, meaning very little internet connectivity in the meantime. Will be able to check emails and that’s about it.

When Myth-Making Backfires

22February2006 [directLink] [myth]

Was interested to see the French government and media backpedalling from their previous fear-mongering about Bird Flu. As long as the flu stayed far away it was okay to turn it into a foreign threat. (See my previous post for more on the beat-up and Othering). But now that the flu has hit France, those who were previously demonising it have to turn around and say that everything’s alright and under control. Chirac sent the PM to tour a farm and eat some chicken to prove its safety; the news show detailed footage of avian vaccinations being deployed in the infected regions; they followup with details on how safe it is to eat poultry products (the flu gets killed at 70ºC!).

Suddenly the bird flu has to change from a dangerous virus ravaging foreign lands to a harmless bug, and our leaders are in control and able to protect us where foreign leaders failed protecting their own citizens.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Australian media react when cases hit here. Though of course, they’ve had some time to change their stories, with the portrayal of the flu in Australian media being slowly toned down ever since the first cases appeared in Western Europe. Or maybe the media just got bored of that story and moved on…

Housekeeping, Syndication Politics

21February2006 [directLink] [personal]

Have dumped my RSS2 feed in favor of 100% Atom 1.0. Support for Atom has gotten to the point where I think that’s feasible — I’ve only kept the RSS feed around because Atom wasn’t quite widespread enough, and more importantly, Akregator’s support wasn’t up to scratch. Akregator still doesn’t parse Atom entirely correctly, but I’m tempted to dig into the code and see if I can’t change that.

So, I’ve deleted the rss2.xml file and added a 301 Redirect to bits.atom. Hopefully when feed readers come looking they’ll get the Atom feed automatically (though it’ll probably throw up some duplication errors). If you’re subscribed to my feed, check that it’s the bits.atom address and change it manually (any properly coded feed reader should automatically change it, but most of them aren’t properly coded).

Related :: Syndication Politics:

• Workbench :: RSS Means Never Being Board (Rogers Cadenhead 17Feb2006)
• Burningbird :: We Interrupt This Commercial Break With A Word About RSS (Shelley Powers 19Feb2006)
• Intertwingly :: Mr Safe (Sam Ruby 20Feb2006)

(Note: Shelley’s entry at Burningbird is hilarious, the other two are there for background)

Nokia N and E Series

19February2006 [directLink] [wishlist]

I desperately need a new phone, and am trying to get a nice all-in-one gadget - music player, organiser, camera, with wifi. Nokia release a bunch of new N Series and E Series phones over the next couple months, one of which I’ll be getting… They all have the features I want, but focus on slightly different things. No details on prices yet, though I’m guessing they’ll be round the A$1000-A$1400 mark. (Seems impossible to get wifi in a phone for under $1000).

• Nokia N91 :: predominantly music player, includes a 4GB hard drive (CNet.com.au Specs)
• Nokia N80 :: 3MP camera (CNet.com.au Specs)
• Nokia E70 :: business focus with QWERTY keyboard (CNet.com.au Specs)

Nokia have really impressed me with their designs lately. There were a couple years in there where they copied a lot of other (very ugly) offerings, but they seem to have gone back to their old simple and sleek designs. And it’s about time someone bundled features together like they have with these phones!

Vanishing From View

19February2006 [directLink] [myth]

I really don’t have anything new to say about a lot of what’s been happening lately around the issue of religion and state. There’s been the cartoons of Mohammed, and now the whole RU486 mess. I might end up with some coherent thoughts, but for now, a pointer to an older post on religion and state education, and a link.

From Ongoing:

To all the excellent Christians and Jews and Muslims out there: I know you exist. But you’re vanishing from view behind the cloud of mucky dust being raised by your lunatic fringe; as of right now, in the twenty-first century, when someone claims to be deeply religious, that’s grounds for suspicion of bigotry, greed, and a predisposition to homicide.

Source: Ongoing 13Feb2006

Rethinking Judas

03February2006 [directLink] [myth]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the myth of evil, and of evil characters. My general feeling though, is that attributing someone’s actions to evil simply lessens their humanity, and their responsibility. The best modern example is Hitler: whenever he is described as a monster, it is as though there was nothing he nor anyone else could do about his actions. It both lessens his responsibility, ascribing his actions to evil, or to fate if you will, and lessens our wariness of people like him. It is assumed that we, now, could spot another Hitler, simply because of the evil that would emanate from him, rather than spotting his actions, or the circumstances that would allow for another Hitler.

Similarly, I’ve been thinking about Judas, the original, and for Christians, the greatest traitor. (Adam and Eve and the Serpent are a whole ‘nother topic). There are a few different ways of looking at Judas, but lately I’ve noticed the use of a rather insidious one: seeing Judas as an instrument of fate. The explanation is that he had to betray Christ, in order that He might die to save us. But of course, it can’t be that simple. And I don’t believe in Fate. It is absurd, and not particularly educational, to lessen Judas’ humanity, to ascribe his actions to Fate, or to the will of god(s). I suspect that Judas did what he thought was necessary. Certainly self-interest played its part; the 30 pieces of silver are important. But why would Judas think he should betray Jesus? I see two possibilities: either he wanted to make Him a martyr, or he no longer agreed with his methods. It could also be a combination of the two. What if Judas, like many Jews at the time, thought the promised Messiah would bring His Kingdom by the Sword? He is then disappointed to find that Jesus talks of Peace and non-violence, and of submitting to one’s masters. He believes that the Jews need to be galvanised into action; perhaps he joins the same faction that are responsible for Barabbas’ liberation when Pilate offers freedom for him or Jesus. After the Crucifixion it appears that Judas realises he’d made a mistake. And indeed, Paul’s condemnation of Judas comes not because of his betrayal, but because he despaired, killing himself.

In any case, I find it curious that there are such strong taboos on entering the mind of the monster. But I believe it is important. Even the Greeks didn’t have simple black and white characters in their myth. The gods had human characteristics; human heroes can do wrong, and the bad guy can be redeemed. When our myths are black and white, they are disconnected from reality, and we cannot learn from them. We are not driven by fate, we are not born Good or Evil. We are responsible for our own actions. And indeed, we can be fooled. When a Monster rises, we will not recognise him as a Monster. But teaching that Monsters are Human will help people recognise when other Humans do wrong.

Code 46

03February2006 [directLink] [movies]

My conclusion: Winterbottom doesn’t have the brain for science fiction. On the surface, there’s no doubt that this film is sci-fi. It’s certainly trying hard to be Gattaca. And I get the impression that the film is informed by a history of science fiction films - there’s plenty of City of Domes in there for example. But… it’s just not science fiction. It’s a film set in the future, and using that as an excuse to explore an interesting what-if, but going about it wrong and without the science.

Also interesting was the use of language in the film. The characters spoke mostly English, but dropped words in French and Spanish in there. It had a clever Europe of the future feel, but given it was set mostly in China, and sounded really forced, was a bit too pretentious.

All told, an interesting idea, not a bad story (if rather predictable), but not particularly well executed.