Problem Attic. Insert witty tagline here.

Gus comments:

I hereby nominate the total awesomeness that is Songs in List Form (via Dinosaur Comics, and also spotted on MeFi).

(If you come across good memes, email me.)

This Slashdot comment is a brilliant combination of several memes all at once. I count 5 separate ones, all mixed up into one awesomely big meme jelly. Awesome, like a fox.

I’ve added a ‘Memes’ category to this blog. This will try to follow some of the more amusing memes from around the place.

For those who haven’t come across the word, a meme is something like an idea-virus. It’s an idea, a phrase, a game — or just about anything — that spreads all over the place.

By way of example, here’s the first meme:

Transparent screens.

Well, not quite. A bunch of people have done some crafty digital camera work, and the results are quite cool. I first came across the meme at Veerle: Transparent desktop confab, and you can find a gallery of the results of this meme at MacBidouille.com - Ecrans Transparents.

Tim Bulkeley posted recently on a discussion he’d run across about digital (computer) literacy. He was struck by the phrases “digital natives,” and “digital immigrants.” Digital natives are those who have grown up with computers and digital technology — today’s western kids. Digital immigrants are those who have had to learn — like their teachers.

However, I think this divide is somewhat of a myth. Most kids have no more clue about things digital than “immigrant” adults; they just learn faster and earlier. I’ve seen many kids who parents would describe as computer literate, but who have just learnt to do a few more tasks than the parent has — in addition to word processing, the kids can also play games and build a powerpoint presentation.

The biggest problem is that there is still very little understanding. The digital natives still have no idea why things work the way they do, they just know how to make them happen. This is digital literacy of a very poor kind. Compulsory basic computer theory for everyone, I say!

For anyone interested, I’ve made available on the internets a calendar including travels, confirmed “Tragedy of the Commons” gigs, and other items I feel might be somewhat useful to people. You’ll need to be running a compatible Calendaring program like iCal, Mozilla Calendar, or Sunbird.

Subscribe here: webcal://problemattic.net/ical/public/Public.ics

[Update] It will be updated regularly; it automatically syncs changes as I make them. Your calendar program should allow you to set a regular refresh (something sensible please - once a day should be plenty).

Cynicism is good, because it teaches you to think critically, to ask questions of everything.

Cynicism is dangerous, because it tempts you to accept the easy answer, to scoff at the answer you don’t like.

Cynicism is easy, because, let’s face, life is pretty ludicrous.

Cynicism is hard, because sometimes you just need to believe in something, but you’ve trained yourself not to.