3 posts tagged “internet”

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Sunset Rubdown - Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End Of Your Feral Days

Sunset Rubdown

Man sometimes life just comes at you all at once.

They always tell us, "Don't put off work to study during midterms." And that's really hard to avoid, and I did it, and I thought it'd be no problem to catch up, but it just keeps coming and coming. And if I get this job, I don't just have to catch up, I have to be ahead, because I have to throw away two weekends for training. And I need weekends for coursework.

Good events, however: Last night at the newspaper, the Politics editor wasn't going to show, so I got put in charge of the section. It was kind of a shame, though - I started off with 4 pages, then Opinion ate one, then I had to give up another because a long article I was counting on never showwwwed. Oh well, there ended up being a good collage on that page. This issue is going to be awesome.

Too bad the presses are kind of broken.

Oh, and related to a comment-conversation I was having recently, at the production night, some of the American ex-pats on staff were discussing how pot is a "big deal" in America compared with here.

Also, Americans use "AIM" instead of MSN.

Okay so that was one good thing. Another good thing... Uhh today was pi day so we ate pie. Wikipedia actually has Pi Day in its "On this day..." section, which is where they have holidays. And historical events.

This post is obnoxiously long, mostly because of the quote.

The Bio test was... questionable. Again I had trouble getting into the building, but found a more legitimate entrance than last time (see last post). It's funny - I saw a friend of mine, and she said "This is the sketchiest building on campus; I had to get in through like... the shipping entrance!" Hah.

The Bio lab (earlier that afternoon) was boring but insightful. As I said, it was on cooperative behaviour, and we dealt with the Prisoner's Dilemma. I guess I'll explain it here... basically it's any situation where you're interacting with someone else and you have the opportunity to either "cooperate" or "defect", and there's a certain "payoff matrix":
I cooperate, you cooperate: We both get the benefit, we both pay the cost.
I cooperate, you defect: I pay the cost without benefiting, you get the benefit without paying the cost.
I defect, you cooperate: You pay the cost without benefiting, I get the benefit without paying the cost.
We both defect: Neither of us gets or loses anything.

Situations like this are pretty common in human interactions as well as the natural world (hence it being in Bio). Example: we're two apes, and we come across each other. We can both pick fleas off of each other, and we both benefit, but if one of us doesn't pick fleas off of the other but lets the other pick fleas off of them, then that one will benefit more because they haven't wasted time and energy on the other one.

So, the lesson is that if you know you're only going to interact with the other individual once, it's most beneficial to defect, because it's always more energetically beneficial. However, this only works if they will sometimes cooperate, and if you are going to run into the same individuals, they'll remember that you're a cheater and also defect. So if you know you'll repeatedly interact, it's best to have a "tit-for-tat" strategy: start off by cooperating and then copy the last move of your partner.

The point is, whether to be "nice" or not depends on whether you'll see someone again, and I think that has a lot of applicability to society. I noticed this when I went skiing on the weekend - people have no problem cutting in line because they know they'll never see anyone again, and besides we're all covered up anyway. Where else is this poignant? The most anonymous environment there is: the Internet. People can be mean on the internet, holy crap, because if they piss anyone off seriously, they can just disappear or adopt a new identity.

Here's an example. I was watching this video on Youtube (I won't even go into what that says about society), and I couldn't believe what was going on in comments. Here's an abridged (sort of) version of a basically 3 week long comment war. I happen to think it's best enjoyed when read aloud in a deadpan, clinical voice.

Comments on "Party Boy, Corey Delaney Interview Part 2"

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: HE IS ONE STUPID! UGLY! CUNT!!!!

cdelia11: shut up goth

Lazl0ow: indeed, stupid goth.. you suck... cry baby cry

kdnk384: ahah you guys told that faggoty goth kid! / niiccce

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: you dont even know me! and by the way cry baby happens to be a really good movie!!! and for the record...you suck!

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: wow did it take you a lifetime to reaise that?

[intervening discussion]

wokkle: who corey if ur talkin bout him fuck off he was on of my old mates when he lived near me!

beefking69er: this guys such a faggot, if i see him in public me nd my fukin crew will kick his fucking ass then we'll go on the news and be smart asses.

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: Hello brainless follower....

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: COREY CAN SUCK MY DICK FOR ALL I CARE HE'S STILLAND UGLY STUPID CUNT!!! and i fell sorry for you living near him and also for having a poor judge of character...i cant believe you were his friend...how sad!

[much discussion proceeds]

Scotx2: if u look under dickhead, looser, dumb shit, faggot, try hard in the dictionary u would see a picture of this idiot!! he has no future, no hope, wont get a job and will recive benefits and waste good honest ppls money on "parties"

eatthatpopcorn: i know ur gay and would probably like for a guy like corey to suck your ****, but i doubt he would want to. / he's out of your league

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: Um i wouldnt even give him the chance to you stupid fuck!!! my league he dosent even hit my radar....he's basically and imature oxygen thief just like you if your inspiring to be just like him...GROW UP!!! YOU STUPID FUCK!

eatthatpopcorn: i think your screenname tells me all I need to know about you: You Have Issues.

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: Hmm from your screenname i get the feeling your one stupid fat fuck who likes eating popcorn and worshipping idiots!!!! am i right or what!!!

samleon2008: well i don't worship corey...or any other idiots
and i'm not fat / so sorry but it's not true it's false

Amagahd: armyofdarkness. . .lulz yer gay

samleon2008: true dat

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: suck my dick!

[more unrelated discussion]

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: sucky fucking dick you stupid gay bitch!!!

eatthatpopcorn: dang, you sure showed us! you totally proved you're not gay by asking a guy to suck your dick. / stop hating on avril and get a life.

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: who the fuck is avril....by the way a female can only be a lesbian technically!!!! besides i never said i wasnt gay dick head!!!!

eatthatpopcorn: this guy is funny. but seriously he's a big loser

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: you better be talking about yourself there!!!

eatthatpopcorn: here's the thing: I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY. and i don't care about corey or making you happy. / w/e / seriously you need to evaluate the reasons you have no social life. / don't bother responding i'm done with you

xxxarmyofdarknessxxx: I honestly dont give a shit what you think or say...why the fuck should you care about makeing me happy, i certainly dont care about you....no social life as apposed to you!!! display names dont mean anything you dick head....but ofcourse youre not smart enough to know that...i comment back because i think so people need to be told off you disposable cunt!!!! and i always get the last say...so shut the fuck up and take it like a bitch!!!

Thankfully, there are plenty of places on the Internet very much not like that. Like vox!