Subculture morphology [bOing bOing]

ok, this has been an argument that I've made to quite a few people since I've been around 14, subcultures are about normalization to a different aspect of the same thing, it is about changing yourself to be like others, not about being yourself. if you want to be you, strick out, be brave, try something, but don't join someone else, because that isn't being you, it is just making a choice to be with or like them, and usually you end up, as this project demonstrates, just like them….

Intern for the Lafayette Project. Are you in the New York City area and looking for an interesting project? We are looking for an intern here at the Lafayette Project. Job description follows:

The Lafayette Project is looking for an intern with geek tendencies and an interest in bringing weblogs to a wider audience. Familiarity with weblogs and some technical knowledge (XHTML + CSS, or Java) is required but a willingness to learn is more important than experience.

Work will mostly involve coding and testing, other assorted tasks as necessary. You'll also have the opportunity to meet folks in the tech industry and attend events. The position is based in Tribeca (Manhattan, NY) and you will work directly with the Project Director, Meg Hourihan, and Lead Engineer Mark Wilkie. Meg co-founded the company behind weblogging tool Blogger (recently purchased by Google) and is an author and frequent speaker on weblogs. The position can be part or full-time and a modest stipend is available. Please submit a resume and cover letter to meg@megnut.com with the subject LP intern. [megnut]

this will be a great job for someone, so I'll spread the news….

Hodgman on food. John Hodgman, former professional literary agent, is now a food columnist (my dream job!) for Men's Journal. In April he went In Search of the Next Big Fish. In May, we discover him Rediscovering the Lost Art of Bitters. And a quick search yields many more results, including an article extoling “the Lobsterwich – the perfect summer sandwich.” Move over, Steingarten, there's a new man on the block! [megnut]

mmm, yes, awesome job, but the lobsterwich is not ideal for the summer, the fried chicken drumstick is ideal for summer food. as it is light, and portable without refridgeration.

get it while you can. Jed Horovitz has produced an extraordinary film about the “culture wars” which may well not be around for long. You can get Willful Infringement on DVD. Many people should. When the lawyers find this, we'll need archives stored in many places. (Note: the web page says I'm in the film, but only for a few seconds. The really great characters are two clowns.) [Lessig Blog] [A blog doesn't need a clever name]

I think this will be a handy movie to teach some classes with…

For poorer and for poorer. For young couples trying to start a new life together, the dismal economy means more fighting, postponed weddings — and less sex. [Salon.com] [A blog doesn't need a clever name]

this is increasingly true, espectially given college costs and students loans….

On the virtual, some thoughts on social computing and the value of disciplinary heresy. I need to reflect on the feedback I got on my conference presentation, so I'm just going to think out loud for a bit. If you weren't there (and even if you were) you can take a look at the (829 kb) powerpoint version, and I should post a full draft paper within the week. [Purse Lip Square Jaw]

We have to realize that what deleuze means by virtual is not really what even bergson means by virtual, though it is derived from bergson somewhat… and latour, i think is talking about something entirely different, which is closer to the virtual that is used by pierre levy, i think. but yes, quite a bit of this work is more accessible now, and latour is actually becoming in many programs 'required reading' which is good.

Social vaporware. Bill Thompson wants a little less conversation about social software (and presumably, a little more action):

This lack of awareness about what has been done before means that, by and large, the ongoing debate about social software is generally uninteresting, intellectually shallow and largely irrelevant.

It is a shame, because the people having the discussions are intelligent and write well, and… [kottke.org]

It is a shame, because as I was reading last night in an old political theory reader, some of the key points of fascism are anti-intellectualism, a will to end rational discussion, and to just do things. This seems to me to be quite a problem, because lots of people don't want to figure things out before doing them, they just want to do them and damn the consequences when they realize they've done something wrong… well, lets sit back and think a bit before we 'just do it', lets have some open and rational discussion, and then when we figure out whether something is worth doing, then do it, but don't go out there assuming that because it is built it will be good for whatever you intended it to be good for. communities, people, whatever, don't just build it, think, discuss, think again, then act, etc. etc.