Getting attention the old-fashioned way
A second journalist has contacted me for reaction quotes for a story he's working on about the evolution of the Cypherpunks list, people leaving the list, and so forth. Presumably Vulis figures in a central way, though this second journalist did not mention him by name in his short request for comments. I sent him a note saying I would not give him such quotes. Many of you apparently received a letter from another journalist last week asking for comments for another story, with a mostly-similar theme. There, Vulis was the obvious focus. (I ignored his letter. The journalist who mailed me this morning I actually refused with a reply, as he's written some good pieces in the past. I just won't cater to assisting Vulis in disrupting the list by giving him more publicity.) Well, these "stories" prove that a disruptor can get the attention he craves by shitting all over the list, mailbombing it, referring to list members as pedophiles and "limp-wristed blonde bitches" (methinks Vulis has a pretty strong latent fixation, given his constant focus on certain topics and words). Sad that journalists cater to this kind of thing. I guess "personality pieces" are ever so much more popular than technical pieces, or even careful explications of things like crypto anarchy and the real implications of the tecnologies we are involved with. By the way, nothing in this post may be used by any journalist in any story. Rights are reserved. Readers of this list may read these comments, but reporters may not quote them. (I'm not sure of the legal status of such comments, but if they can assert their copyrights for their widely distributed stuff, why can't I?) --Tim May "The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology." [NYT, 1996-10-02] We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
"Tim" == Timothy C May <tcmay@got.net> writes:
Tim> I sent him a note saying I would not give him such quotes. I wonder if you're likely to have your refusal to give quotes quoted. Tim> (methinks Vulis has a pretty strong latent Tim> fixation, given his constant focus on certain topics and words). Gee, I figured it was just a weak vocabulary. Tim> Sad that journalists cater to this kind of thing. I guess Tim> "personality pieces" are ever so much more popular than technical Tim> pieces, or even careful explications of things like crypto Tim> anarchy and the real implications of the tecnologies we are Tim> involved with. Sad, yes; surprising, no. It's been my experience that such things are often dependant on the journalist's audience (i.e., is it a trade rag like InfoWorld or the National Enquirier?) In any event, journalists (and/or their publishers) aren't usually noted for doing things that are interesting or important. Rather, they seem to have a preference for writing and publishing what will sell. (Just as is the case with TV talk shows, etc.) What's worrysome is that the degenerates who concern themselves with nonsense are numerous enough to make sufficient demand to keep the mainstream press focused on such trivial matters, allowing more significant things to go unreported outside of the small circles from which they've originated. It reminds me of something I saw on television while waiting for my car to be serviced last week. A talk show was on (I think Jenny Jones), and they brought on stage a woman who took her financially troubled sister in. The man of the house (apparantly they were unmarried, but had children together) ended up with the sister. During the course of telling the story, they brought more and more of them out, until they had all three people there in front of the audience. Everyone on stage was yelling at each other, the audience making judgemental comments to the people on the stage. I was attempting to read, but the volume was so loud I couldn't help but be distracted. A ridiculous commentary of the pathetic mentality of so many people. (And some people actually wonder why my geek code contains "!tv".) -- Matt Curtin cmcurtin@research.megasoft.com Megasoft, Inc Chief Scientist http://www.research.megasoft.com/people/cmcurtin/ I speak only for myself. Hacker Security Firewall Crypto PGP Privacy Unix Perl Java Internet Intranet
C Matthew Curtin wrote:
"Tim" == Timothy C May <tcmay@got.net> writes:
Tim> Sad that journalists cater to this kind of thing. I guess Tim> "personality pieces" are ever so much more popular than technical Tim> pieces, or even careful explications of things like crypto Tim> anarchy and the real implications of the tecnologies we are Tim> involved with.
Sad, yes; surprising, no. It's been my experience that such things are often dependant on the journalist's audience (i.e., is it a trade rag like InfoWorld or the National Enquirier?)
Or for that matter, the Netly News, http://pathfinder.com/Netly/daily/961112.html
In any event, journalists (and/or their publishers) aren't usually noted for doing things that are interesting or important. Rather, they seem to have a preference for writing and publishing what will sell. (Just as is the case with TV talk shows, etc.)
What's worrysome is that the degenerates who concern themselves with nonsense are numerous enough to make sufficient demand to keep the mainstream press focused on such trivial matters, allowing more significant things to go unreported outside of the small circles from which they've originated.
I couldn't agree more. Maybe I should have helped Lewis Koch out. At least he isn't a fucking hypocrite. -rich
participants (3)
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C Matthew Curtin -
Rich Graves -
Timothy C. May