two to two-two!

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dateline: oZkiki

11 august 1996 2:19 p.m.

They found a pipe-bomb in Aiea the other day. A dud, but still. It was the third bomb that has popped up in paradise in the last few weeks. The first was at the Pali Lookout -- the only one that went off, but no one was hurt. Then another in Makiki, just off the freeway. Dumped as if someone had been tinkering and got nervous after the whole Atlanta incident. Copycat crimes have to be expected, although you've gotta credit the media for some of what makes doing it so attractive. That doesn't bother me half as much as where some of the media's commentary is headed. "Dateline NBC" started it all four years ago, with their expose of online pedophiles. The whole "Spooky Evil Internet" theme has been around for a while, as has the repeated assertion that the internet provides access to "bomb-making" resources. As do libraries, but try banning stuff there. Anyone should be concerned about censorship, but lately I've been thinking about why the media seem to be hinting more often than not that the internet should be reigned in. Competition. Obsolescence. The media are afraid of people like me. People who instinctively turn to their computers first when looking for information. Sure, even after the much-hyped "online explosion" only one out of ten Americans are truly net-savvy. But compare that to ten years ago, where "information" was wholly the territory of newspapers, TV networks and radio stations. All regulated, either by government or monstrous corporations. So of course most newspaper editorials give "Freedom of Speech!" a big hug with one hand while brushing off the internet with the other. Of course even honorable journalists have a slight sneer when they say "information superhighway." That sucker's coming straight through their comfy little neighborhood, paving over their ego-puffed castles. Now you see why I snicker at MSNBC. Can we say "grasping at straws," anyone? Three years, tops. I won't even go into telephone companies. ("Let's use your own phone lines to undermine your business!") While I'm on the subject of media excess, let me close with this: So there might have been bacteria on Mars... germs, the flu maybe. We get it -- now get over it! Derek doesn't get off until six, and I'm awfully impatient today. Okay, X-Files was a repeat episode, I can sleep easy again. It was "Nisei" (which I've always spelt "nissei" -- second-generation in Japanese), a two-parter that I had on tape. Mmmmm. Boy... Mulder should wear glasses more often. Also thanks to Ed, a passing web-wanderer, who wrote with the name of that other Hawai`i-based TV series that sucked: "Marker," starring Richard Grieco. I spent most of yesterday playing with forms. My first effort is a bit overdone, I guess, but I hope it'll nail down some feedback about my pages. It was so hot last night, I barely slept. I was awake by seven, so I've just wasted the last few hours trying to do a Java clock. Try as I might, I can't seem to set the time-zone thingy on the first example I found. I got nowhere near figuring out the second one, but the scrolling-text applet I found on the page I stole the clock from was kinda neat, so I played with that for a while. I'm very cynical about this whole Java thing. For people like me who use stupid computers (stupid because it's old, not 'cause it's a Mac -- I hear you laughing!), it's painfully slow. Heck, I had to spend half an hour downloading Netscape 3.0b just to start goofing around with it. Java just sounds trendy, somehow mired in the "Gen-X" experience. I wonder if the next Big Thing to come along in programming will be called "Biscotti" or something. Besides, as a programming language Java is useless 'till there's a tight compiler for it. All you can do now are party tricks. Heck, a lot of the supergeeks at SLIS don't think HyperText is a good idea... Wait. Wait. Stop. Aaaaaaaugh! I'm going geek! Ugh. Too much typing. I gotta get out. I'm going to the beach.