Productive Procrastination

[robinturner]

One of the unanticipated problems of the Information Age is that the more technology finds ways to save time, the more people will find ways to use it to waste time. The classic example is e-mail, which drastically cut down the time consumed by delivering inter-office memos that were rarely read in any case, leaving workers with more person-hours to spend on posting jokes to each other and finding the best online source for viagra and prozac.

I am in a similar situation at the moment. I have found out that my boss wants course outlines by Monday. I look at my web page for my new course and find that, although there is an alarming lack of academic content, there is a pretty picture for each week. I am particularly pleased at finding the pumpkin-carving scene from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to put on the week that contains Halloween. Assignments? Exams? Who needs them?

Comments

[trochee.livejournal.com]

there is a very silly epistolary correspondence in The Confusion (the second volume in Neal Stephenson's latest ego-project, which is fun; it's like reality television for academy nerds) that puts me in mind of this note. I tried to write up a description, but part of the fun is discovering that sort of comment in the middle of all the apologias and other 17th c. goo.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

Here's my own review/commentary.

I enjoy them, but they're not great works of literature. But it's like a pretty good comic book, or a pop song that's catchy and fun but melts in your brain like cotton candy.

[solri.livejournal.com]

I don't see much anything at that link.

Cut and paste problem.

I'm familiar with those maxims, but didn't know the source. I once wrote some additions to the list, but I can't remember where I put them. On eof them was "I read somewhere that accurate citation of sources is very important."

[solri.livejournal.com]

Hmm, looks like an interesting book. I've never been interested in finance, but if a cyberpunk auther can link it to alchemy and the Royal Society, it can't be bad!

[cf.livejournal.com]

ugh. those books were such a disappointment. Stephenson's economic history is almost all wrong. its an okay read. sorry cant post more held down by sleeping fiance have only two free fingers...

[cf.livejournal.com]

couldnt access link, btw did you know mark bergman/meredith goldschmidt?

[solri.livejournal.com]

I fixed the link - it was broken because of Deepest Sender translating a tilde into the HTML for a tilde.

I've not heard of either of these people. Google turned up nothing for Meredith Goldschmit and over 6,000 disparate results for Mark Bergman.

[cf.livejournal.com]

Meredith taught lit at bilkent and mark ran the it infrastructure about seven years ago. Mark thought he might know you. .. He developed large parts of the cyrptography infrastructre of the old keenals.

[solri.livejournal.com]

I think I remember Meredith - used to dress all in black and taught a course on American Gothic or something like that?

I know some of the computer people here, but I can't think of a Mark.

[cf.livejournal.com]

that sounds about right...mark's her husband. Guy with a beard and a motorcycle. He tells me that he actually ran the lice's system and just helped out fixing the uni's system from time to time.

anyhows...

sidebar: "Ontological Double Genitive"

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

FYI: this came up in real_philosophy

Re: sidebar: "Ontological Double Genitive"

[solri.livejournal.com]

Means nothing to me (or Google), but then Derrida and Heidegger are two of my least favourite philosophers. To my ears, "Ontological double genitive" sounds like a spoof philosophy game show.

Re: sidebar: "Ontological Double Genitive"

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

<=== knew who to ask
;-)

thanks

Oh, how do you feel about Rorty? I always found him apleasant read.

Re: sidebar: "Ontological Double Genitive"

[solri.livejournal.com]

Rorty is one of the few pomos who can actually write.

Re: sidebar: "Ontological Double Genitive"

[hfx-ben.livejournal.com]

Just so.

Oh wait ... is Habermas included in that number? I don't enjoy him as I do Rorty but have read him for content far more.