The Second Commandment

Lesson Two.

Big Brother is Watching.

In the modern world, technology has made most, if not all, information available at your fingertips. The government knows this, but so does everyone else. Cellphone signals can be picked up, email and interweb chats can be copied, and people will even dig in the trash and recycling to find whatever information they can. The use of the Web has made things even easier than it used to be.

The most common practice of getting what you want when you can't pay for it is stealing someone else's identity. This is not a very hard practice. Find a poor soul who isn't smart enough to realize that the poor prince from Nigeria really is a drug addict in a basement in Des Moines, and convince him or her to send money. "All I need is a credit card/social security number/bank account." Whatever works.

If you apply for a job, the company will most likely do a background check that will include the FBI (are you a felon?), and possibly a Google search.

There is so much information about you out there, and the more you add, the easier it is to find you.

Of course, there are the simpler ways to track:
There are cameras everywhere.
The cable and satellite companies can track what channels you're watching and make "suggestions."
Banks keep track of your purchases and can call you if they "suspect" something.
Your computer gets updates to help it run better.

And yet, Comrade, I always remember what Mama Orwell always said:
"If you can see the Empire State Building...The Empire State Building can see you."

We are a voyeuristic society that enjoys peeking on everyone, yet we don't want someone else looking in on us.

If you want total anonymity, you have to go off the grid. This means no phones, no computers, no bank cards.
You work in cash, you store the money under the mattress, and you contact others by only face to face contact. That's how avoid Big Brother....
Or you call the phone company and ask if the government is paying its bills, and if they aren't you remove the wiretaps until they pay up. I mean $60,000 bills that aren't paid? And you're going to hound me on a $30 parking ticket? That's blasphemy, Comrade.

Be safe and careful. Don't be stupid and post pictures of yourself doing illegal activities, because someone will know.
Don't make threats over the phone, as someone is listening. Don't believe me? Look up The Conversation.

And if you must be watched, be boring. Because, Comrades, if you're life is boring, no one will want to watch...and that's when you can do fun things.

Here endeth the lesson.

Because, Comrade, You're a Dumbass!

Everyone knows the deal with the Eden Prairie Facebook debacle.

The problem I have with these kids is not the drinking. I know, as a teacher I should say, "Hey kids, don't drink...EVER!" That, however, is not going to happen, and I know that.

No, the problem I have with these kids is that they're idiots. In the new world, it's way to easy to find the incriminating evidence online.
These kids, Comrades, are idiots. Let me make that clearer: Hey kids, you're dumbasses!

Athletes: you signed a waiver promising you wouldn't do anything stupid like this...then you get pictures taken.

All of you: you posted pictures. Do you not understand that this goes with you? Let's say you decide to go for a job in a few years. If the company does a background check on you and, oh...I don't know...searches Google, they might come across those images.

What you write, what you post...if it's online, it's out there for the whole world.

You have to be careful, and you idiots, possibly believing that you're untouchable, don't show remorse or brain cells.

You're walkout was also pathetic. I'm not going to beat on the parents, because they should be embarrassed of kids like you who don't understand the true essence of the walkout. You used it as a way to get out of class...and you looked like idiots. Congratulations, those of you in the newspaper should enjoy having that hang over you as you apply to college or go for a job, dude.

A colleague of mine ran into this problem as well. His anonymity gone, his colleagues and students were reading his blog and gossiping about him. Then he made a mistake: he wrote about work. Bam! A colleauge printed some of his work and handed it into the administration who then debated about firing him (it doesn't matter what he wrote, what matters is that he wrote...period). They were afraid.
They're still afraid, except now the fear is less about him talking about the inner workings of his school, and more that he will do something that will make him end up on the front page of the newspaper.

And I know it frustrates him. His first mistake was posting, but his second mistake was appearing in a student's film project for a class. Now his every move is being scrutinized by the administration. He can't talk to the students, and it's making him unhappy.
He's, "just a dirty, old man," or he has, "an inappropriate relationship with the kids."
He stopped writing on his blog, because he was told he would lose his job if he didn't.
He's afraid. Of course, he also told me that he's also unhappy, because he can't fix his students' problems...but that's another story.

This colleague would be the first to tell you that he was a dumbass. He made mistakes.

Learn from what happened to him and from what I'm telling you: whatever you do...if you post it online...then EVERYONE will know. Don't be stupid.

Here endeth the lesson.

Understandings

"Why?"
It's the hardest, most frustrating, most pointed question in any language.

"Why me?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Why is the sky blue?"

"Why?"

The last is the hardest and depends on tone.

And yet, we have a desperate need to answer that question. Humans can't live in the unknown. We even tell those who don't ask, "why," they are ignorant.
Standing in the fields and cities, we look to the skies and stars and ask, "Why are we here?"

The worst, however, is when someone looks at you after you present a gift and asks, "Why?"

I recently gave someone a nice gift. I didn't mind that she asked me why as I know it was a total surprise.

What bothered me was the response from others.
"Why did you do that? You're not even that close."
"Why? I've known you longer...I should have been given a gift like that?"
"Why? I mean what are you trying to get out of this?"

Look, here's the bottom line:
I don't need a reason.
I did something nice for a person I respect and care about. That's it. If you're desperate for a reason, then pick and choose from these:

Because I can
Because I knew how much she wanted it going all the way back to the beginning of vita.mn
Because sometimes the very thought of making someone happy is enough to push back the cynicism for another day
Because Karma exists
Because sometimes, comrades, we don't need a reason. We truly can be selfless.

I did something nice for a person who many would argue I barely know. I would say I did something nice for someone who has never put me down, who has never judged me, and who has never used me.

I did something to prove that good things come to those who wait.

If you can't fathom that, then you don't understand the idea behind "why"....

Here endeth the lesson.

Bill Gates...Has a Sense of Humor?

Tonight, Comrade, was the 2008 CES keynote address.
While most of it was pretty boilerplate ("Here's what to expect from technology in the next few years."), Gates did include a short video of what his last day as CEO of Microsoft will look like.
Highlights:

Gates cuts a track with Jay-Z called, "Pimp Master Bill." Yes, this was Bill Gates rapping...and it was bad.

The Master of Microsoft sends an audition tape to Steven Spielberg. Scenes include Gates as Wolverine and as...Napoleon Dynamite.
Spielberg then calls Clooney about playing Gates, who whines about not being able to do it.

Next, he starts calling pundits. First it's Clinton to see if she wants a running mate. She declines.
He calls Obama and says, "Barack...it's Bill."
The response?
"Bill...Shatner?! How are you."
"No...It's BILL."
"Clinton?" Obama asks. "Does SHE know you're calling?"

There's also a scene with John Stewart where Gates asks, "Can I be a co-host of the [Daily] show?"

Gates, in what is easily my favorite section, calls Bono and pulls him off stage to make him listen to Bill's Guitar Hero playing. Bono listens and then says, "Oh for fuck's sake, Bill. I already told you we don't have any room in the band."

You have to love a guy who's willing to poke fun at himself and throw around a ton of money to get celebrities to help you.
No one will probably remember (or care) what Gates says tonight, but they'll remember the video.

When it is posted on Youtube (and it will be), I'll update with a link.

Here endeth the lesson.

Update: yeah...I thought so.