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diff --git a/article/abortion.html b/article/abortion.html index 507fdc8..01144b7 100644 --- a/article/abortion.html +++ b/article/abortion.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ <p>Article ID: 3</p> <p> -<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113">In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled seven-to-two in favor of Roe's rights to abortion against a healthcare official of the state of Texas. Roe argued for abortion with ``privacy'', derived from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.</a> As the U.S. has a precedential judiciary system, this effectively legalizes abortion across the country. +<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/410/113">In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled seven-to-two in favor of Roe's rights to abortion against a healthcare official of the state of Texas. Roe argued for abortion with “privacy”, derived from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.</a> As the U.S. has a precedential judiciary system, this effectively legalizes abortion across the country. </p> <p> @@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ The poor person was life, and your decision did cause their decession. But is t </p> <p> -There is a subtle, but eventually significant difference between helping a person down the street and voluntary pregnency. (Involuntary pregnency is basically ``alright, here comes a person at your doorstep, you MUST help them and keep them alive'', there's not much to discuss there in my opinion.) +There is a subtle, but eventually significant difference between helping a person down the street and voluntary pregnency. (Involuntary pregnency is basically “alright, here comes a person at your doorstep, you MUST help them and keep them alive”, there's not much to discuss there in my opinion.) </p> <p> diff --git a/article/copyright.html b/article/copyright.html index 46b2cad..7790d21 100644 --- a/article/copyright.html +++ b/article/copyright.html @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ </p> <p> - Information unlike physical items can be copied with minimal cost, especially in the case of digital information, and thus the traditional private property argument of ``this is theft and the author loses stuff'' doesn't really apply. However, information/data that an author creates shall be under the control of the author, it's ultimately what they create and is their private information. The authors, not anyone else, should control how their information goes. (Transferring this control to another entity is ultimately using their control to share or give away the same control, so that's no different.) + Information unlike physical items can be copied with minimal cost, especially in the case of digital information, and thus the traditional private property argument of “this is theft and the author loses stuff” doesn't really apply. However, information/data that an author creates shall be under the control of the author, it's ultimately what they create and is their private information. The authors, not anyone else, should control how their information goes. (Transferring this control to another entity is ultimately using their control to share or give away the same control, so that's no different.) </p> <p> diff --git a/article/democracy-fundamentals.html b/article/democracy-fundamentals.html index 1dba8a9..afd408f 100644 --- a/article/democracy-fundamentals.html +++ b/article/democracy-fundamentals.html @@ -9,24 +9,24 @@ <body class="indent"> <h1>Democracy: Fundamentals (Unfinished)</h1> <p>Article ID: 4</p> - <p><i>Unless otherwise specified, ``democracy'' in this article refers to representative democracy. ``Country'' can additionally refer to other regions that have people and its own policies, such as a state, provinces in some countries, etc.</i></p> + <p><i>Unless otherwise specified, “democracy” in this article refers to representative democracy. “Country” can additionally refer to other regions that have people and its own policies, such as a state, provinces in some countries, etc.</i></p> <p> - We usually think of ``democracy'' as people influencing the policies of the country by electing trustworthy experts that serve their interest to make actual decisions about running the country. This type of democracy, representative democracy, has evolved from direct democracy aging back two thousand years ago as created by Athens in Greece. Representative democracy is more scalable than direct democracy and also avoids some forms of populism and uninformed decisions as its the experts in the field that are making the actual policies. + We usually think of “democracy” as people influencing the policies of the country by electing trustworthy experts that serve their interest to make actual decisions about running the country. This type of democracy, representative democracy, has evolved from direct democracy aging back two thousand years ago as created by Athens in Greece. Representative democracy is more scalable than direct democracy and also avoids some forms of populism and uninformed decisions as its the experts in the field that are making the actual policies. </p> <p> - The Chinese term for democracy is ``民主''. The first character, ``民'', means ``people''; the second, ``主'', ascin ``主人'' means ``owner''. You could understand it as saying ``the people of the country own the country (and thus get to decide on its affairs)''. But at the same time, ``主'' as in ``自主'' means ``do things themselves'', i.e. the right not to be interfered by others while doing their own business. + The Chinese term for democracy is “民主”. The first character, “民”, means “people”; the second, “主”, ascin “主人” means “owner”. You could understand it as saying “the people of the country own the country (and thus get to decide on its affairs)”. But at the same time, “主” as in “自主” means “do things themselves”, i.e. the right not to be interfered by others while doing their own business. </p> <p> This is, of course, not the proper definition for democracy; democracy is just saying that the general public ultimately runs the country. But we could take the time to appreciate how with democracy we usually end up with liberty and how we take personal liberty for granted. </p> <p> - In any case, both democracy and liberty are important in a long-lasting prosperous system of society. Note my wording in the first paragraph, that the decisions of elected experts are for ``running the country''—I specifically mean issues that deal with either the general public (such as public health and the environment) and things that would be otherwise hard to solve personally (such as enforcement of contracts and crimes). The ``will of the people'', represented by the government, have no business doing things like banning freedom of thought or mandating people not to smoke in their private property. Only when things affect others such as smoking in public should the government, or the will of the general public, have any say. And of course, people should take responsibility for their own private deeds. It is argued that a lung cancer patient who got lung cancer by smoking excessively doesn't deserve medical insurance from taxpayers; but for cases where an illness isn't caused by a identifiable private decision factor, medical insurance and support should be given. (In practice the distinction is subtle; this is also a very controversial topic.) + In any case, both democracy and liberty are important in a long-lasting prosperous system of society. Note my wording in the first paragraph, that the decisions of elected experts are for “running the country”—I specifically mean issues that deal with either the general public (such as public health and the environment) and things that would be otherwise hard to solve personally (such as enforcement of contracts and crimes). The “will of the people”, represented by the government, have no business doing things like banning freedom of thought or mandating people not to smoke in their private property. Only when things affect others such as smoking in public should the government, or the will of the general public, have any say. And of course, people should take responsibility for their own private deeds. It is argued that a lung cancer patient who got lung cancer by smoking excessively doesn't deserve medical insurance from taxpayers; but for cases where an illness isn't caused by a identifiable private decision factor, medical insurance and support should be given. (In practice the distinction is subtle; this is also a very controversial topic.) </p> <p> People overemphasize the importance of democracy. In fact, democracy is in my opinion less important than liberty—though in practice indeed liberty wouldn't survive for long without democracy. </p> <p> - Note that abortion and similar subjects may fall into the scope of government. Some opponents of abortion believe that fetus is human life and thus abortion is murder and shall be outlawed. The ``privacy'' and ``personal liberty'' arguments don't stand up well against this as it's no longer a personal matter when another human life is supposedly on the line. <a href="abortion.html">I oppose the abortion bans that Republicans in the US are placing in many states for a different reason.</a> + Note that abortion and similar subjects may fall into the scope of government. Some opponents of abortion believe that fetus is human life and thus abortion is murder and shall be outlawed. The “privacy” and “personal liberty” arguments don't stand up well against this as it's no longer a personal matter when another human life is supposedly on the line. <a href="abortion.html">I oppose the abortion bans that Republicans in the US are placing in many states for a different reason.</a> </p> <p> Modern populism (which is a poorly-defined term but does have the following general scope) gives the power of deciding everything that happens in the country to the people. This is bad in two ways. (1) The general public often make uninformed and un-thought-through decisions and are easily influenced. (2) The government, in this case directly the collective decision of the people, is stepping its feet into the personal lives of people. While it is democratic, it doesn't give people liberty, creating a tyranny of the majority, and at the same time making uninformed decisions which are better made by experts which people elect. diff --git a/article/democracy-us.html b/article/democracy-us.html index e5eaad1..71e31d8 100644 --- a/article/democracy-us.html +++ b/article/democracy-us.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ <h1>Democracy: The United States (Unfinished)</h1> <p>Article ID: 5</p> <p> - When people talk about democracies, it's common to think of the US Constitution as the ``defining point of democracy''. While the US is the first modern democracy, its laws is far from perfect. In fact, it may be one of the worst of modern time! I will briefly go through the following. + When people talk about democracies, it's common to think of the US Constitution as the “defining point of democracy”. While the US is the first modern democracy, its laws is far from perfect. In fact, it may be one of the worst of modern time! I will briefly go through the following. </p> <ul> @@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ <h2 id="#corruption">Corruption</h2> - <p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B/S1537592714001595a.pdf/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens.pdf">A study shows that ``Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.''</a></p> + <p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B/S1537592714001595a.pdf/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens.pdf">A study shows that “Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.”</a></p> <p> A near-ideal democracy would have a roughly linear positive correlation between the fraction of voters who support a policy and the possibility of the policy being passed in the legislature. But in the US, the line is flat at about 30%. A representative democracy wouldn't have a perfect correlation, because the general public is unable to be informed on all topics; fluctuations are normal. But <em>a flat line</em> means that the opinions of the people don't matter at all. This does not make sense in any type of democracy. </p> <p> - According to the study, the influence of economic elites and business interest groups on politics is rather high with a rough positive correlation as opposed to the flatline for the general public, making the US an oligarchy rather than a democracy. Mass-based interest groups have discernable impact on policies, but are still trivial compared with economic elites and businesses. About three billion dollars are spent yearly by large ``politically active'' businesses to bribe politicians to pass policies for their interest. While businesses should have a say in legislation, it is unacceptable that they have superior dominance over public opinion. + According to the study, the influence of economic elites and business interest groups on politics is rather high with a rough positive correlation as opposed to the flatline for the general public, making the US an oligarchy rather than a democracy. Mass-based interest groups have discernable impact on policies, but are still trivial compared with economic elites and businesses. About three billion dollars are spent yearly by large “politically active” businesses to bribe politicians to pass policies for their interest. While businesses should have a say in legislation, it is unacceptable that they have superior dominance over public opinion. </p> <h2 id="senate">The Senate</h2> @@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ The Senate of the USA consists of 100 members, with 2 from each state. Two senators from California represent 39 million people while the two from Wyoming represent 500 thousand people. The founding fathers never could have imagined such a huge a difference between the population of states. </p> <p> - Some people believe that the Senate helps against populism as opposed to the House. Although the number of Senators for each state do indeed not correspond to the population, this has no correlation whatsoever with preventing populism and doesn't serve an obvious purpose. It only ``helps'' by giving completely unproportional voting powers to people based on their location, period. + Some people believe that the Senate helps against populism as opposed to the House. Although the number of Senators for each state do indeed not correspond to the population, this has no correlation whatsoever with preventing populism and doesn't serve an obvious purpose. It only “helps” by giving completely unproportional voting powers to people based on their location, period. </p> <p> The Senate also suffers from the fillibuster. Passing a bill in the Senate has a few steps: Firstly the Senators must <em>agree to vote</em>, passed at a supermajority. Then the Senators actually vote on the bill. Those who are against the bill will just disagree to vote altogether, effectively requiring all bills to have a supermajority support to pass which is nearly impossible as the two dominent political parties almost always oppose each others' bills and neither have a supermajority in the Senate. @@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ <h2 id="plurality-voting">Plurality Voting</h2> <p> - Single-winner elections in the US uses what's called ``plurality voting'', where each voter casts one vote to their favorite canidate and the canidate with the most votes win. This contributes to the partisan dualopoly (not an actual word, but it basically means ``monopoly'' but with two rather than one) as voters who support smaller parties will undergo the decision of choosing their honest favorite or one of the two big parties that most closely ressembles their favorite. As it's hard to gather votes for smaller parties, and thus there's a small chance of them actually winning the electron, many voters strategically vote for the big party in order to not be ``taken over'' by the big party that they oppose more. + Single-winner elections in the US uses what's called “plurality voting”, where each voter casts one vote to their favorite canidate and the canidate with the most votes win. This contributes to the partisan dualopoly (not an actual word, but it basically means “monopoly” but with two rather than one) as voters who support smaller parties will undergo the decision of choosing their honest favorite or one of the two big parties that most closely ressembles their favorite. As it's hard to gather votes for smaller parties, and thus there's a small chance of them actually winning the electron, many voters strategically vote for the big party in order to not be “taken over” by the big party that they oppose more. </p> <div id="footer"> diff --git a/article/dream-of-the-whisker.html b/article/dream-of-the-whisker.html index 544d674..4aaf5d8 100644 --- a/article/dream-of-the-whisker.html +++ b/article/dream-of-the-whisker.html @@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ that I would never be able to experience with confidence. Crawling back to my comfortable enclosure, I waited.</p> <p>Usually, around this time the humans would deliver me water and milk, along with opening some canned food for me to <em>enjoy</em> in my warm -and fluffy bed. ``Children'', namely young humans, would come and play -with me, often taking weird photos of me with what they call a ``phone'', -saying that I’m ``cute''. I honestly have no idea what these mean, but I +and fluffy bed. “Children”, namely young humans, would come and play +with me, often taking weird photos of me with what they call a “phone”, +saying that I’m “cute”. I honestly have no idea what these mean, but I guess it’s nice that I could bring them some fun. Now it’s been a while and they still haven’t came. My intuition tells me that something has changed. Only now did I realize, that what I feared has been true, all diff --git a/article/free-hardware.html b/article/free-hardware.html index fbd591b..33198cf 100644 --- a/article/free-hardware.html +++ b/article/free-hardware.html @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ <h1>Free Hardware</h1> <p>Article ID: 8</p> <p>This article is unfinished, combined from all over the place, and is a big mess. Read if you want, I guess.</p> - <p><strong>In ``free software'' and ``free hardware'', the ``free'' in ``free computing'' does not refer to price; it refers to freedom and liberty of users.</strong></p> + <p><strong>In “free software” and “free hardware”, the “free” in “free computing” does not refer to price; it refers to freedom and liberty of users.</strong></p> <p>This section is mainly for posts on <em>hardware hardware designs</em>. Without which, <em>no computer user is free</em>.</p> <blockquote> <p>In fact, access to schematics, boardviews, datasheets and any other documentation is <em>critical</em> to software freedom.</p> @@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ Intel and Microsoft. An oligopoly is a market structure in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers or producers. People often confuse this with monopolies, for which the latter Francis Wayland -defines as ``an exclusive right granted to a [hu]man or a monopoly of -[hu]man, to empoly their labor or capital in some particular manner'', +defines as “an exclusive right granted to a [hu]man or a monopoly of +[hu]man, to empoly their labor or capital in some particular manner”, which cannot exist in a free market (i.e. free of government regulations). The technology industry in most countries is an oligopoly, not a monopoly. @@ -91,12 +91,12 @@ for daily life, exacebating the harms of a relevant oligopoly market. There is yet another practical harm of a oligopoly technology market: about the rights of users. When CPUs are produced by almost solely Intel, AMD, and a few others, they are now free to add their backdoors -and ``management engines'' into the CPUs that we users use daily, and +and “management engines” into the CPUs that we users use daily, and their seek for profit pushes them to do so. We now have to work with spyware in our computer hardware, and we can't do anything about it, because the oligopoly nature of the market doesn't allow us common people to monitor, produce, develop, or otherwise deal with our own -technology except for the ``expected usages'' that the oligopoly +technology except for the “expected usages” that the oligopoly superimposes on us. One way out is to decentralize the development and production of CPUs diff --git a/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html b/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html index 2be51ee..365b668 100644 --- a/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html +++ b/article/free-software-education-in-china-and-covid-19.html @@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ </p> <p> - The contact tracing system used is not Free Software. At first I didn't understand why (except for the explanation that they want to profit from harming citizens which is hopefully just a hypothetical ``explanation''), but I noticed that the authenticity and accuracy of the system may be affected if users are allowed to modify their software. This seems to be the core of some problems with regards to software freedom—here, the user is not running software to complete their tasks. Rather, it's the government's way to maintain public safety, therefore I believe that whether users should be able to modify software in these conditions is up to discussion. Back to the point, since a green-code proof from the system is needed to get in a lot of places, a person basically needs to use proprietary software to live a normal life (to get into coffee shops, for example). + The contact tracing system used is not Free Software. At first I didn't understand why (except for the explanation that they want to profit from harming citizens which is hopefully just a hypothetical “explanation”), but I noticed that the authenticity and accuracy of the system may be affected if users are allowed to modify their software. This seems to be the core of some problems with regards to software freedom—here, the user is not running software to complete their tasks. Rather, it's the government's way to maintain public safety, therefore I believe that whether users should be able to modify software in these conditions is up to discussion. Back to the point, since a green-code proof from the system is needed to get in a lot of places, a person basically needs to use proprietary software to live a normal life (to get into coffee shops, for example). </p> <p> diff --git a/article/math-science-and-philosophy.html b/article/math-science-and-philosophy.html index 98ece1c..f2beded 100644 --- a/article/math-science-and-philosophy.html +++ b/article/math-science-and-philosophy.html @@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ specific conditions, etc. are all, formally, abstract activities with little reference to the physical world.</p> <p>However, humans do not truly invent ideas out of pure thought. The basic building blocks of our analytical cognition, which may be in some -sense considered ``axioms'' of our perspective of the world, result from +sense considered “axioms” of our perspective of the world, result from us observing the world around us, finding patterns, which then evolve into abstract ideas. Consider the possibility that the formation of numbers as a concept in mathematics results from humans using primitive @@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ imperfection, is used in every part of physics, not just for its calculations but also for representation of ideas down to the basic level. I find this to be uncanny. What if the physics theories we derive are erroneous because of erroneous mathematical systems or concepts? I -believe that part of the answer is ``experiments'', to return to the +believe that part of the answer is “experiments”, to return to the empirical nature of, well, empirical sciences, and see if the theories actually predict the results. But there are tons of logistical issues that prevent us from doing so, not to mention the inherent downside to @@ -146,32 +146,32 @@ unforseeable implications.</p> <p>The addition of mathematical concepts into physics doesn’t only bring the maths we want to bring over, it brings all relevant definitions, axioms, logic, proofs, theorems, etc. all along with it. Once we -``assign'' that a physical entity is ``represented'' by a ``corresponding -concept'' in mathematics, we can only abide by the development thereof. +“assign” that a physical entity is “represented” by a “corresponding +concept” in mathematics, we can only abide by the development thereof. So although physics originally isn’t guided by mathematics, the act of choosing the part of math that’s useful in physics puts physics under the iron grip of mathematical logic, which is inconsistent and potentially incomplete, as contrary to the realistic and observable nature that physics is supposed to be.</p> <p>I had a brief chat with Mr. Coxon and he aclled how the existence of -neutrinos were predicted ``mathematically'' before they were +neutrinos were predicted “mathematically” before they were experimentally discovered physically. I do not know the history of all this, but Mr. Coxon said that physicists looked at a phenomenon (I believe that was beta decay) and went like: -``where did that missing energy go''? and proposed that there was a +“where did that missing energy go”? and proposed that there was a particle called a neutrino that fills in the missing gap. (Alternatively, they could have challenged the conservation of energy, -which leads us to the topic of ``why do we find it so hard to challenge +which leads us to the topic of “why do we find it so hard to challenge theories that seem beautiful, and why does conservation and symmetry -seem beautiful'', but let’s get back on topic...) Then twnety years later -neutrinos were ``discovered'' physically by experiments. Mr. Coxon said +seem beautiful”, but let’s get back on topic...) Then twnety years later +neutrinos were “discovered” physically by experiments. Mr. Coxon said that it looked like that mathematics predicted and in some resepct -``guided'' physics. Personally I believe that this isn’t a purely -``mathematical'' pre-discovery and it’s more of a ``conservation of energy, +“guided” physics. Personally I believe that this isn’t a purely +“mathematical” pre-discovery and it’s more of a “conservation of energy, a physics theory was applied, and math was used as a utility to find -incompletenesses in our understanding of particles.'' I think that I’ve +incompletenesses in our understanding of particles.” I think that I’ve heard (but cannot recall at the moment) two cases where conceptual -analysis in ``pure math'' perfectly corresponds to the phenomenon in +analysis in “pure math” perfectly corresponds to the phenomenon in physics discovered later which again makes me question whether math played some role in the experiment-phenomenon-discovery cycle of physics. I guess I need more examples.</p> @@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ physics. I guess I need more examples.</p> and its leading into rational thought and reason. To me this sounds like the development of math, but in some sense this could also apply to physics, though I still believe that physics theories even if reasoned -require experimental ``testing'' (not ``verification'') for it to be +require experimental “testing” (not “verification”) for it to be acceptable in terms of physics. THis leaves me in a situation where none of the ways of knowing that I can understand, even if used together, could bring about an absolutely correct[tm] theory of physics. See, @@ -194,9 +194,9 @@ messey real world (and if we do simulations that’s just falling back to our existing understanding of logical analysis). So now we have no single way, or combination of methods, to accurately verify the correctness of a physics theory, which by definition of physical is -representative of the real world, basically saying that ``we will never -know how things work in the real world''. That feels uncanny. Also, how -do I even make sense of a physics theory to be ``correct''? It’s arguable +representative of the real world, basically saying that “we will never +know how things work in the real world”. That feels uncanny. Also, how +do I even make sense of a physics theory to be “correct”? It’s arguable whether any physics theory could be correct in the first place. If Kant is correct then all our theories of physics is ultimately perception and having biology in the form of human observations in the absolute and @@ -225,9 +225,9 @@ class="math inline"><i>A</i></span> (i. e. physics is squishy) is both true and false. Thus, <span class="math inline"><i>A</i> = 1</span> and <span class="math inline"><i>A</i> = 0</span> are both true. Then, take a random statement <span class="math inline"><i>B</i></span> -(let’s say ``Z likes humanities''). Thus we have <span +(let’s say “Z likes humanities”). Thus we have <span class="math inline"><i>A</i> + <i>B</i> = 1</span> where <span -class="math inline">+</span> is a boolean ``or'' operator because <span +class="math inline">+</span> is a boolean “or” operator because <span class="math inline"><i>A</i> = 1</span> and <span class="math inline">1 + <i>x</i> = 1</span> (<span class="math inline"><i>x</i></span> is any statement). But then @@ -236,10 +236,10 @@ class="math inline">0 + <i>B</i> = 1</span>, which means that <span class="math inline"><i>B</i></span> must be 1 (if <span class="math inline"><i>B</i></span> is zero, then <span class="math inline">0 + 0 = 0</span>). Thus, if we can prove that -``physics is squishy'' and ``physics is not squishy'' (without differences -in definition), then we can literally prove that ``Z likes -humanities''. Other from not defining subjective things like ``squishy'' -and ``is'' (in terms of psychology), we can’t get around this easily, and +“physics is squishy” and “physics is not squishy” (without differences +in definition), then we can literally prove that “Z likes +humanities”. Other from not defining subjective things like “squishy” +and “is” (in terms of psychology), we can’t get around this easily, and everything would be provable, which would not be fun for physics.</p></li> </ul> diff --git a/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html b/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html index f0984be..7381325 100644 --- a/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html +++ b/article/pragmatic-use-of-nonfree-software.html @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ <h2>Abstract</h2> <p> - Free Software is undoubtably a good thing for society. However, modern computer users are stuck in the proprietary ``ecosystem'' for historical reasons. This document describes the justification and best current practices of using proprietary platforms to spread the ideas of Free Software. + Free Software is undoubtably a good thing for society. However, modern computer users are stuck in the proprietary “ecosystem” for historical reasons. This document describes the justification and best current practices of using proprietary platforms to spread the ideas of Free Software. </p> <h2>Status of This Memo</h2> @@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ </p> <p> - In February 2022, the author decided to permit limited usage of nonfree chat platforms to hopefully spread our ideas to the general public. This was attempted by registering a Discord account, creating a Guild called ``Free Software Introductions'', and setting up a basic Discord-to-IRC relay to #fsi on both irc.andrewyu.org and irc.libera.chat. + In February 2022, the author decided to permit limited usage of nonfree chat platforms to hopefully spread our ideas to the general public. This was attempted by registering a Discord account, creating a Guild called “Free Software Introductions”, and setting up a basic Discord-to-IRC relay to #fsi on both irc.andrewyu.org and irc.libera.chat. </p> <p> - One of the communities that he knows about, the VF-Technic Minetest community, primarily uses Discord as a means of communication by players not in-game. As the users inside are Minetest players, a Free Software voxel sandbox game, similar to but much more flexible and freedom-respecting than Minecraft, it is believed that the users have some contact with Free Software, although they might not understand the freedom part of the issue, i.e. they might be thinking in terms of ``open source'' instead, and do not understand the harms of nonfree JavaScript and services like Discord. After sharing the invite link in the VF-Technic Guild, some people joined, and we've partially converted two users. + One of the communities that he knows about, the VF-Technic Minetest community, primarily uses Discord as a means of communication by players not in-game. As the users inside are Minetest players, a Free Software voxel sandbox game, similar to but much more flexible and freedom-respecting than Minecraft, it is believed that the users have some contact with Free Software, although they might not understand the freedom part of the issue, i.e. they might be thinking in terms of “open source” instead, and do not understand the harms of nonfree JavaScript and services like Discord. After sharing the invite link in the VF-Technic Guild, some people joined, and we've partially converted two users. </p> <h2>Justification</h2> @@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ </p> <p> - Generally, users on IRC and XMPP have a fair understanding of the Free Software Movement, and it is quick and easy to inform them what we mean by ``free'', ``the four freedoms'', and similar ideas. For users on the Libera Chat IRC network, which by far has the most users of any network, it is exceptionally easy to introduce a user into the #fsf channel for discussions with people supporting Free Software. Introducing ignorant users on these protocols and platforms are a day-to-day simple task. Furthermore, the amount of users we can reach on these protocols are rather limiting. Libera has around forty thousand users according to the `LUSERS` command, and considering the fact that around 90% of these people aren't ignorant, there isn't much we can do. + Generally, users on IRC and XMPP have a fair understanding of the Free Software Movement, and it is quick and easy to inform them what we mean by “free”, “the four freedoms”, and similar ideas. For users on the Libera Chat IRC network, which by far has the most users of any network, it is exceptionally easy to introduce a user into the #fsf channel for discussions with people supporting Free Software. Introducing ignorant users on these protocols and platforms are a day-to-day simple task. Furthermore, the amount of users we can reach on these protocols are rather limiting. Libera has around forty thousand users according to the `LUSERS` command, and considering the fact that around 90% of these people aren't ignorant, there isn't much we can do. </p> <p> @@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ <h2>Current Practices</h2> <p> - Activists <b>MUST NOT</b> list such nonfree services in ``Contact Information'' pages on their website or similar sources, unless followed by a explanation that the purpose of the nonfree platform is to introduce users thereof onto free protocols and to eventually exterminate the nonfree platform. Whenever these references to nonfree platforms appear, the author <b>MUST</b> present free methods of communication. Activists <b>SHOULD</b> pragmatically use as many of the popular free protocols as possible, to ensure that oppurtunities of introductions are not lost. In cases involving competition between free and nonfree protocols and platforms, ethical concerns (i.e. enabling talking to a new user on any ethical platform) <b>MUST</b> take precedence over technical concerns (such as disliking the XMPP protocol for its inefficent use of XML). + Activists <b>MUST NOT</b> list such nonfree services in “Contact Information” pages on their website or similar sources, unless followed by a explanation that the purpose of the nonfree platform is to introduce users thereof onto free protocols and to eventually exterminate the nonfree platform. Whenever these references to nonfree platforms appear, the author <b>MUST</b> present free methods of communication. Activists <b>SHOULD</b> pragmatically use as many of the popular free protocols as possible, to ensure that oppurtunities of introductions are not lost. In cases involving competition between free and nonfree protocols and platforms, ethical concerns (i.e. enabling talking to a new user on any ethical platform) <b>MUST</b> take precedence over technical concerns (such as disliking the XMPP protocol for its inefficent use of XML). </p> <p> @@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ </p> <p> - For example, the author created a Discord Guild called Free Software Introductions, which is one-way-puppeted to #fsi on irc.andrewyu.org, which is then one-way-puppeted to Libera. The relay system is sort-of messed up, but it's working. Inviting new users to such Guilds (https://discord.gg/7CYp7ntww7) when perse refuses to or is ignorant on how to use IRC helps conveying our ideas to users, but as the author has made their own ``sacrifice'' already, there exists less of a need for other existing Free Software activists to join and use it instead of free protocols. + For example, the author created a Discord Guild called Free Software Introductions, which is one-way-puppeted to #fsi on irc.andrewyu.org, which is then one-way-puppeted to Libera. The relay system is sort-of messed up, but it's working. Inviting new users to such Guilds (https://discord.gg/7CYp7ntww7) when perse refuses to or is ignorant on how to use IRC helps conveying our ideas to users, but as the author has made their own “sacrifice” already, there exists less of a need for other existing Free Software activists to join and use it instead of free protocols. </p> <h2>Technical Limitations</h2> diff --git a/article/purple-hibiscus.html b/article/purple-hibiscus.html index cc00eb3..5ab4727 100644 --- a/article/purple-hibiscus.html +++ b/article/purple-hibiscus.html @@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ <p>These are some random, unorganized thoughts on Purple Hibiscus, particularly around the bildungsroman of Mama.</p> - <p>Adiche wrote in chapter one that Mama polishes the figurines often, especially after episodes of family violence, suggesting that the figurines were of symbolic importance to Mama. After they were shattered as Papa flung his missal at Jaja and missed, ``it was not just the figurines that came tumbling down, it was everything'', suggesting that the figurines symbolizes family unity. This indicates a critical change in Mama—from someone that views herself as a ``wife'' and a ``woman'' and truly believes that Papa is correct in violence and punishment and that such violence is justified, to a person who understands the importance of independence and freedom and opposes tyranny.</p> + <p>Adiche wrote in chapter one that Mama polishes the figurines often, especially after episodes of family violence, suggesting that the figurines were of symbolic importance to Mama. After they were shattered as Papa flung his missal at Jaja and missed, “it was not just the figurines that came tumbling down, it was everything”, suggesting that the figurines symbolizes family unity. This indicates a critical change in Mama—from someone that views herself as a “wife” and a “woman” and truly believes that Papa is correct in violence and punishment and that such violence is justified, to a person who understands the importance of independence and freedom and opposes tyranny.</p> - <p>I believe that this sudden change is uncanny when considered from a relatively logical perspective. The figurines merely symbolize the family environment, and logically it makes little sense that Mama would perceive ``the figures broke'' as a fundamental change in the family environment—in real life it's hard to imagine someone being so sensitive to symbolism. I will need to look through the novel again, but I do not currently recall prominent foreshadows of Mama's perception of the family environment falling apart in the story's timeline before Palm Sunday. These might just be subtly hiding somewhere waiting to be picked up by the cautious reader, but if such foreshadows are actually present, Adiche may be hinting at the tendency for people to not consciously realize or to intentionally hide subtle feelings until a point where the pressure could not be held any more, and emotional, irrational acts of desperation inevitably commence, reflecting on the futile nature of humans trying to approach rationality but failing to do so. Alternatively, a simpler explanation would be that Adiche is trying to highlight the sensitivity to seemingly irrelevant symbols of emotional and irrational side of people. I believe that both of these are possible interpretations of the novel on first read, but some close analysis in the future or further knowledge of context, such as Adiche's family and cultural background, may be in favor of one particular explanation. I'll see when I get to reviewing the whole novel, and I believe I shall take extra care on the part after Mama comes to Aunty Ifeoma's after Papa breaks the bible table on her and causes another miscarriage and her exact actions on Palm Sunday.</p> + <p>I believe that this sudden change is uncanny when considered from a relatively logical perspective. The figurines merely symbolize the family environment, and logically it makes little sense that Mama would perceive “the figures broke” as a fundamental change in the family environment—in real life it's hard to imagine someone being so sensitive to symbolism. I will need to look through the novel again, but I do not currently recall prominent foreshadows of Mama's perception of the family environment falling apart in the story's timeline before Palm Sunday. These might just be subtly hiding somewhere waiting to be picked up by the cautious reader, but if such foreshadows are actually present, Adiche may be hinting at the tendency for people to not consciously realize or to intentionally hide subtle feelings until a point where the pressure could not be held any more, and emotional, irrational acts of desperation inevitably commence, reflecting on the futile nature of humans trying to approach rationality but failing to do so. Alternatively, a simpler explanation would be that Adiche is trying to highlight the sensitivity to seemingly irrelevant symbols of emotional and irrational side of people. I believe that both of these are possible interpretations of the novel on first read, but some close analysis in the future or further knowledge of context, such as Adiche's family and cultural background, may be in favor of one particular explanation. I'll see when I get to reviewing the whole novel, and I believe I shall take extra care on the part after Mama comes to Aunty Ifeoma's after Papa breaks the bible table on her and causes another miscarriage and her exact actions on Palm Sunday.</p> - <p>Further on in the novel, Mama then commits the ``desperate act'' of poisoning Papa to death, after which she experiences another change in personality. She becomes fairly robotic and rarely displays emotions, which in and of itself could be considered an unnatural emotional state. This reflects how constant emotional pressure, and likely her own guilt of killing a supposed ``loved one'' tends to make people numb and hyposensitive to emotional stimuli, creating depressive dissonance. Kambili's anger for Mama, but ultimate understanding, the former of which hasn't really occurred before in the entire novel suggests how even after turmoil in constant domestic violence and unhealthy family relationships, death is ultimately empty in its very nature. This in turn reflects that Kambili, who may be considered to be in the most healthy mental state in the her inner family, is able to understand and perceive emotions from the perspective of others and appreciate how there is a sensitive and kind part of everybody. However, I'm not sure how this interpretation could extend to political violence, which is routinely compared with against domestic violence and religion throughout the novel. It could be argued that Adiche wants to present the inevitability of power dynamics in modern society, but I doubt that that's the actual point of the novel.</p> + <p>Further on in the novel, Mama then commits the “desperate act” of poisoning Papa to death, after which she experiences another change in personality. She becomes fairly robotic and rarely displays emotions, which in and of itself could be considered an unnatural emotional state. This reflects how constant emotional pressure, and likely her own guilt of killing a supposed “loved one” tends to make people numb and hyposensitive to emotional stimuli, creating depressive dissonance. Kambili's anger for Mama, but ultimate understanding, the former of which hasn't really occurred before in the entire novel suggests how even after turmoil in constant domestic violence and unhealthy family relationships, death is ultimately empty in its very nature. This in turn reflects that Kambili, who may be considered to be in the most healthy mental state in the her inner family, is able to understand and perceive emotions from the perspective of others and appreciate how there is a sensitive and kind part of everybody. However, I'm not sure how this interpretation could extend to political violence, which is routinely compared with against domestic violence and religion throughout the novel. It could be argued that Adiche wants to present the inevitability of power dynamics in modern society, but I doubt that that's the actual point of the novel.</p> <p>(Then there's Jaja getting into prison and the weeks before he gets out of prison and such, which gets messier. I don't have the time and energy to write about that today, so I guess that comes later.)</p> <div id="footer"> diff --git a/article/sway-keysym.html b/article/sway-keysym.html index 68a1bab..b70bdcc 100644 --- a/article/sway-keysym.html +++ b/article/sway-keysym.html @@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ xkb_symbols "basic" { // leave "basic" in-tact unless you know what you're doing key <CAPS> { [ Shift_L, Shift_L, Shift_L, Shift_L ] }; };</pre> <p> - Note that here, the ``<code>key</code>'' lines are in the form <code>key <X> { [ A, B, C, D ] } ;</code>, where ``<code>X</code>'' is the keycode symbolic name of the physical key you want to press. In my case, it is <code>CAPS</code>. Check <code>/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/pc</code> and <code>/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/latin</code>, or the relevant files for your keyboard configuration, to look up the keycode symbolic name from the name you're used to. (Looking up <code>Shift_L</code> in <code>symbols/pc</code> gets you to <code>LFSH</code>, which is what you would use in place of ``<code>X</code>''. <code>A</code> is triggered when <code>X</code> is pressed alone, <code>B</code> when it's pressd with Shift, <code>C</code> with AltGr, and <code>D</code> with both AltGr and Shift. + Note that here, the “<code>key</code>” lines are in the form <code>key <X> { [ A, B, C, D ] } ;</code>, where “<code>X</code>” is the keycode symbolic name of the physical key you want to press. In my case, it is <code>CAPS</code>. Check <code>/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/pc</code> and <code>/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/latin</code>, or the relevant files for your keyboard configuration, to look up the keycode symbolic name from the name you're used to. (Looking up <code>Shift_L</code> in <code>symbols/pc</code> gets you to <code>LFSH</code>, which is what you would use in place of “<code>X</code>”. <code>A</code> is triggered when <code>X</code> is pressed alone, <code>B</code> when it's pressd with Shift, <code>C</code> with AltGr, and <code>D</code> with both AltGr and Shift. </p> <p> <b><code>$HOME/.config/sway/config</code></b> @@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ xkb_symbols "basic" { // leave "basic" in-tact unless you know what you're doing xkb_layout "gbcustom" }</pre> <p> - Of course, replace ``<code>1:1:AT_Translated_Set_2_keyboard</code>'' with your actual keyboard identifier listed in <code>swaymsg -t get_inputs</code>. And reload Sway. + Of course, replace “<code>1:1:AT_Translated_Set_2_keyboard</code>” with your actual keyboard identifier listed in <code>swaymsg -t get_inputs</code>. And reload Sway. </p> <p> There might be better ways to do so, but I've got this to work. For these unusual setups, it is a bit complicated and not as straightforward as adding a <code>xmondmap</code> line to <code>.xinitrc</code>. Hopefully things would get better as Wayland matures. diff --git a/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html b/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html index b8d0895..68ff75a 100644 --- a/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html +++ b/article/texmacs-maxima-integral.html @@ -14,16 +14,16 @@ I've been trying to get <a href="https://www.texmacs.org/">TeXmacs</a> with its <a href="https://maxima.sourceforge.io/">Maxima</a> <a href="https://www.texmacs.org/tmweb/documents/tutorials/maxima-tutorial/maxima-tutorial.en.html">plugin</a> to work. </p> <p> - Enabling the ``mathematical input'' mode in its interactive sessions I can use TeXmacs as a nice computer algebra system. However, an issue arises when I use integration. + Enabling the “mathematical input” mode in its interactive sessions I can use TeXmacs as a nice computer algebra system. However, an issue arises when I use integration. </p> <p> - If I enter \(\displaystyle\int x\,\mathrm{d}\,x\) with ``<code>\int <enter>x d<tab><tab>x</code>'' (spaces here are actually typed in while the ``<code><tab></code>''s and ``<code><enter></code>''s are their respective keys), I get this idiosyncratic error: + If I enter \(\displaystyle\int x\,\mathrm{d}\,x\) with “<code>\int <enter>x d<tab><tab>x</code>” (spaces here are actually typed in while the “<code><tab></code>”s and “<code><enter></code>”s are their respective keys), I get this idiosyncratic error: </p> <pre>incorrect syntax: 1 is not an infix operator integrate( x 1, ^</pre> <p> - This seems to be a bug when TeXmacs is translating things into Maxima. Just replace the ``<code><tab></code>'' between the integrand and the ``\(\mathrm{d}\)'' with a multiplication operator entered by ``<code>*</code>''. For example, <code>\int <enter>x*d<tab><tab>x</code> yields the correct result of \(\displaystyle\frac{x^2}{2}\) rather than the nonsensical error. + This seems to be a bug when TeXmacs is translating things into Maxima. Just replace the “<code><tab></code>” between the integrand and the “\(\mathrm{d}\)” with a multiplication operator entered by “<code>*</code>”. For example, <code>\int <enter>x*d<tab><tab>x</code> yields the correct result of \(\displaystyle\frac{x^2}{2}\) rather than the nonsensical error. </p> <p> For reference, the source code of a demonstration document is included below in Scheme and XML-like (?) formats. diff --git a/article/the-old-web-was-better.html b/article/the-old-web-was-better.html index c9e697a..292fa99 100644 --- a/article/the-old-web-was-better.html +++ b/article/the-old-web-was-better.html @@ -10,19 +10,19 @@ <h1>The Old Web Was Better</h1> <p>Article ID: 9</p> <p> - When I go to an average ``modern'' World Wide Web site with the default configuration of Lynx, a wonderful plain text Web browser, I am usually greeted with things like <code>example.com cookie: some jibberish Allow? (Y/N/Always/neVer)</code> for which I'd press V a couple times. Then, I would press C-f or page-down a couple times to scroll past a giant navigation bar full of nested lists, a few HTML login forms, multiple search bars. Then I'd see the actual text of the article I'm looking for. Or sometimes, the site would show ``Please enable JavaScript to view this page.'' or some Cloudflare prompt saying that I need to enable JavaScript to solve a proprietary CAPTCHA to view the page because they have detected ``unusual activity from my network''. Or I would be met with a blank page. If I decide to visit the modern Web with a ``normal'' Web browser such as Firefox or Chromium, with a default install, I'd get a ten-megabyte load of a bunch of fancy advertisements at the top of the page, a giant navigation bar that's really colorful to distract me from what I actually want to see, some pop-ups wanting me to fill in my email address to sign up for their newsletter (which as people say would usually be weekly HTML email spam), flashy advertisements on the side bar, and when I finally scrolled past the header part of the page, a few hasty paragraphs with large paragraph seperations unreadably wrapped in a narrow column. All to display a few kilobytes of actual text, and rarely a few hundred kilobytes of useful images. + When I go to an average “modern” World Wide Web site with the default configuration of Lynx, a wonderful plain text Web browser, I am usually greeted with things like <code>example.com cookie: some jibberish Allow? (Y/N/Always/neVer)</code> for which I'd press V a couple times. Then, I would press C-f or page-down a couple times to scroll past a giant navigation bar full of nested lists, a few HTML login forms, multiple search bars. Then I'd see the actual text of the article I'm looking for. Or sometimes, the site would show “Please enable JavaScript to view this page.” or some Cloudflare prompt saying that I need to enable JavaScript to solve a proprietary CAPTCHA to view the page because they have detected “unusual activity from my network”. Or I would be met with a blank page. If I decide to visit the modern Web with a “normal” Web browser such as Firefox or Chromium, with a default install, I'd get a ten-megabyte load of a bunch of fancy advertisements at the top of the page, a giant navigation bar that's really colorful to distract me from what I actually want to see, some pop-ups wanting me to fill in my email address to sign up for their newsletter (which as people say would usually be weekly HTML email spam), flashy advertisements on the side bar, and when I finally scrolled past the header part of the page, a few hasty paragraphs with large paragraph seperations unreadably wrapped in a narrow column. All to display a few kilobytes of actual text, and rarely a few hundred kilobytes of useful images. </p> <p> The Web, which people often refer to as the aggregate of human knowledge and high-speed distribution of information, has turned into a degenerate mess of advertisements, JavaScript, slugishness, tracking and profiling, security holes, and slowness. In summary, the modern Web is <em>painful</em>. </p> <p> - I'm looking back towards the 1990s, where Websites would be like this one. Simple (X)HTML, plain text, or another lightweight markup language. No ads, trackers, JavaScript, popups, <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html">Software as a Service Substitute</a> etc. Just distribution of information and ideas, as gophertext, plain text, or simple (X)HTML. As simple as that---basically ``use the simple defaults of your Web server program and don't bother with huge management systems''. + I'm looking back towards the 1990s, where Websites would be like this one. Simple (X)HTML, plain text, or another lightweight markup language. No ads, trackers, JavaScript, popups, <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html">Software as a Service Substitute</a> etc. Just distribution of information and ideas, as gophertext, plain text, or simple (X)HTML. As simple as that---basically “use the simple defaults of your Web server program and don't bother with huge management systems”. </p> <p> Though, some semi-modern things are good. MediaWikis, for example, while their behind-the-back workings of mulplitudes of PHP mountains, SQL databases, and recently JavaScript-infested visual editors are extremely unelegant, they do provide a consistent simple user interface, without many browser requirements, for users to distribute useful information with. Just not loads of JavaScript and margins and paddings and ads, please. </p> <p> - It would also be better if more people were to have personal Websites to express themselves with, rather than relying on centralized social media giants, who once again display a bunch of ads and wraps articles/``posts'' at 30 columns to make people uncomfortable reading comprehensive ideas and get them inclined to write short illogical rants and personal attacks. <a href="https://learn.tuxiversity.org/">Tuxiversity</a> and <a href="https://landchad.net/">LandChad.net</a> are useful resources to get started with. + It would also be better if more people were to have personal Websites to express themselves with, rather than relying on centralized social media giants, who once again display a bunch of ads and wraps articles/“posts” at 30 columns to make people uncomfortable reading comprehensive ideas and get them inclined to write short illogical rants and personal attacks. <a href="https://learn.tuxiversity.org/">Tuxiversity</a> and <a href="https://landchad.net/">LandChad.net</a> are useful resources to get started with. </p> <p> The same applies to the Internet more generally. Don't send huge, clunky HTML emails. Simple chat protocols like IRC. Whatever. diff --git a/contact.html b/contact.html index 719c12b..210500b 100644 --- a/contact.html +++ b/contact.html @@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ <li><a rel="me" href="https://social.treehouse.systems/@AndrewYu"><code>@AndrewYu@social.treehouse.systems</code> on Mastodon</a></li> <li>Paper mail to <code>Yu, Runxi (Run Xi 于润熙, s22537%29, 1800, Lane 900 North Sanxin Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai, China 201620</code>. (Note that I do not check school mail daily and I can't check it during vacations. Please do not attempt to use OpenPGP encryption or such for paper mail.)</li> </ul> - <p><a href="/note/wechat.html">Please do not contact me via WeChat. (Same for other proprietary stuff like Discord.)</a><br /><a href="/note/social-media.html">I do not use modern ``social media'' like Twitter or Weibo, here's why.</a><br /><a href="/note/comms.html">Please follow these communication guidelines when applicable.</a><br /><a href="/school/contact.html">If you are a student of YK Pao School and would like to contact me for school-related purposes, use this.</a></p> + <p><a href="/note/wechat.html">Please do not contact me via WeChat. (Same for other proprietary stuff like Discord.)</a><br /><a href="/note/social-media.html">I do not use modern “social media” like Twitter or Weibo, here's why.</a><br /><a href="/note/comms.html">Please follow these communication guidelines when applicable.</a><br /><a href="/school/contact.html">If you are a student of YK Pao School and would like to contact me for school-related purposes, use this.</a></p> <h2 id="pgp">OpenPGP</h3> <p>If you have no idea what these mean, read <a href="https://emailselfdefense.org/">the Email Self Defense tutorial</a>.</p> <p>Usually, electronic mail that I send are signed with my OpenPGP key. Please use OpenPGP when contacting me through electronic mail. The following are available.</p> diff --git a/index.html b/index.html index 98f6a5d..86b5681 100644 --- a/index.html +++ b/index.html @@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ <b>Recently:</b></br> <a href="https://gabrielsieben.tech/2022/07/29/remote-assertion-is-coming-back-how-much-freedom-will-it-take/">Remote attestation contradicts our goals for a free Internet</a> <br /> - <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/web-environment-integrity-is-an-all-out-attack-on-the-free-internet">``Web Environment Integrity'' is an all-out attack on the free Internet</a> + <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/web-environment-integrity-is-an-all-out-attack-on-the-free-internet">“Web Environment Integrity” is an all-out attack on the free Internet</a> <br /> </p> <hr /> @@ -78,14 +78,14 @@ <ul> <li><a href="/note/pronouns.html">My Pronouns</a></li> <li><a href="/note/comms.html">Communication Guidelines</a></li> - <li><a href="/note/wechat.html">``WeChat''</a></li> + <li><a href="/note/wechat.html">“WeChat”</a></li> <li><a href="/note/ask.html">Don't ask to ask, just ask</a></li> <li><a href="/note/social-media.html">Modern Social Media</a></li> <li><a href="/note/emacs.html">My Problem with Emacs</a></li> <li><a href="/note/suicide-jokes.html">On Jokes about Suicide</a></li> <li><a href="/note/on-racist-jokes.html">On Racist Jokes</a></li> <li><a href="/note/tone.html">Tone Indicators</a></li> - <li><a href="/note/really.html">``Really'' is a confusing word</a></li> + <li><a href="/note/really.html">“Really” is a confusing word</a></li> </ul> <hr /> <h2 id="otherart">Nice Articles from Others</h2> @@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ </ul> <div id="footer"> <hr /> - <p>Unless otherwise specified with the ``<span class="copyright">copyright</span>'' HTML/CSS class, works hosted on this subdomain (<code>www.andrewyu.org</code>) served with the HTTP(S) protocol is available under <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/note/pubdom.html">Runxi Yu's Public Domain Dedication</a>.</p> + <p>Unless otherwise specified with the “<span class="copyright">copyright</span>” HTML/CSS class, works hosted on this subdomain (<code>www.andrewyu.org</code>) served with the HTTP(S) protocol is available under <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/note/pubdom.html">Runxi Yu's Public Domain Dedication</a>.</p> </div> </body> </html> diff --git a/microblog/index.html b/microblog/index.html index 98b258e..55216b8 100644 --- a/microblog/index.html +++ b/microblog/index.html @@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ <br /> I've always tried to fight against such interpretations as I found them to be, perhaps a bit sexist. Yet looking at my own manifestation of femininity, I find shocking ressemblence with my dependence on peopole (and occasionally also abstract entities like knowledge). <br /> - Perhaps it depends on what we mean by the word ``femininity''. Is it the quality of being female? Or is it the behavioral norms traditionally associated with the female gender? + Perhaps it depends on what we mean by the word “femininity”. Is it the quality of being female? Or is it the behavioral norms traditionally associated with the female gender? <br /> (Or perhaps this experience is limited by my perception of my own trans femininity and isn't a common theme upon modern cis femininity?) <br /> @@ -40,12 +40,12 @@ <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/microblog/#5">(anchor link)</a> </p> <p id="4"> - My world is still of metaphorical illusions. I need to learn to be afraid of romanticized narratives and perspectives. However, it is apparently hard to do so—I sink into romantic words that create a color filter in my perception, they make reality look so beautiful, so... ``sweet'', moving me further away from what reality really is. + My world is still of metaphorical illusions. I need to learn to be afraid of romanticized narratives and perspectives. However, it is apparently hard to do so—I sink into romantic words that create a color filter in my perception, they make reality look so beautiful, so... “sweet”, moving me further away from what reality really is. <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/microblog/#4">(anchor link)</a> </p> <p id="3"> I'm probably not the only one who has these dangerous/harmful/unhelpful thoughts:<br /> - How different, or perhaps ``better' could my life be, if I could go back to the start of Year 9, and make different decisions? Perhaps that would mean choosing something other than IGCSE History. Or perhaps that means... when that was still possible, let my yearn and longing for intimacy with trusted people to discuss philosophy and science with, stay undeveloped.<br /> + How different, or perhaps “better' could my life be, if I could go back to the start of Year 9, and make different decisions? Perhaps that would mean choosing something other than IGCSE History. Or perhaps that means... when that was still possible, let my yearn and longing for intimacy with trusted people to discuss philosophy and science with, stay undeveloped.<br /> Perhaps I could have became a happy person. The me of the present could never know. <a href="https://www.andrewyu.org/microblog/#3">(anchor link)</a> </p> diff --git a/note/ask.html b/note/ask.html index a07ef20..42a0333 100644 --- a/note/ask.html +++ b/note/ask.html @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ </head> <body> <h1>Don't ask to ask, just ask!</h1> - <p>Please don't send random emails and IRC messages saying ``Are you there? I have a thing to ask you about...''. Just ask the question. If I'm online I might answer right away, if I'm not I'll answer you when I have time. An ``Are you there?'' or ``Can I ask a question?'' question is just a waste of time and effort.</p> + <p>Please don't send random emails and IRC messages saying “Are you there? I have a thing to ask you about...”. Just ask the question. If I'm online I might answer right away, if I'm not I'll answer you when I have time. An “Are you there?” or “Can I ask a question?” question is just a waste of time and effort.</p> <div id="footer"> <hr /> <p><a href="/">Runxi Yu's Website</a></p> diff --git a/note/comms.html b/note/comms.html index 51201e7..2affd98 100644 --- a/note/comms.html +++ b/note/comms.html @@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ </p> <ol> <li>Write a descriptive subject for emails. Do not send emails with an empty subject or no subject header. The subject should be give the receiver a brief idea of what the email is about.</li> - <li>Send complete information. When telling me something or requesting something, please provide complete background information, knowledge required, and other relevant context. This prevents back-and-forth communication along the lines of ``and now I need to know ... but you didn't tell me that so can you please give that to me''. Providing context defragments conversations which increases efficiency.</li> + <li>Send complete information. When telling me something or requesting something, please provide complete background information, knowledge required, and other relevant context. This prevents back-and-forth communication along the lines of “and now I need to know ... but you didn't tell me that so can you please give that to me”. Providing context defragments conversations which increases efficiency.</li> <li>When using instant messaging such as IRC, do not split one sentence into multiple messages. Fragmentation reduces readability.</li> <li>Do not use excessive emojis.</li> - <li>Be direct. As the sender, do not use polite expressions like ``you did quite well in that presentation'' when in reality, the sender believes that the presentation is not ``quite well''. Direct critique and suggestions are very welcome here. Politeness is acceptable if it does not interfere with honest conveying of information.</li> + <li>Be direct. As the sender, do not use polite expressions like “you did quite well in that presentation” when in reality, the sender believes that the presentation is not “quite well”. Direct critique and suggestions are very welcome here. Politeness is acceptable if it does not interfere with honest conveying of information.</li> <li><a href="./ask.html">Don't ask to ask.</a></li> <li>Use plain text email. Both hard-wrapped and non-hard-wrapped emails are acceptable. If you do hard-wrap, please wrap at 72 characters for English. Chinese, if hard-wrapped, should be at 36 characters. Non hard-wrapped emails should <a href="https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3676.txt">specify format=flowed as per RFC3676</a>.</li> <li>Interweave the original message with the response when replying to an email and remove irrelevant parts (i.e. greetings, closings, signatures, etc.) of the quoted original email.</li> diff --git a/note/emacs.html b/note/emacs.html index 84eb285..2a21741 100644 --- a/note/emacs.html +++ b/note/emacs.html @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ <body> <h1>A Few Problems with Emacs</h1> <p> - <a href="https://emacs.org/">Emacs</a> is supposedly a text editor but is more of a integrated computing environment. At its core is an Emacs Lisp interpreter and a text and buffer-oriented set of conventions that Emacs Lisp code follows. The ``default''/``standard'' build of Emacs contains a World Wide Web browser, newsreader, electronic mail client, Internet Relay Chat client, a few games, and overall a ton of stuff that I do not use, need or want in my environment. Therefore I use a minimal-ish custom build (i.e. simply leaving stuff out during <code>./configure</code>, which makes me feel a bit better. + <a href="https://emacs.org/">Emacs</a> is supposedly a text editor but is more of a integrated computing environment. At its core is an Emacs Lisp interpreter and a text and buffer-oriented set of conventions that Emacs Lisp code follows. The “default”/“standard” build of Emacs contains a World Wide Web browser, newsreader, electronic mail client, Internet Relay Chat client, a few games, and overall a ton of stuff that I do not use, need or want in my environment. Therefore I use a minimal-ish custom build (i.e. simply leaving stuff out during <code>./configure</code>, which makes me feel a bit better. </p> <p id="space-based-alignment"> One problem that I've recently noticed with Emacs is the tendency to use a set amount of spaces, expecting a monospace font, to align items across a buffer. For example, when <code>:tags</code> are used with <code>org-agenda</code>, the agenda page aligns the tags to the right of the page with spaces precalculated from the window size. But when we have double-width unicode characters, for example Chinese characters in the mix, or if we are using a variable-width Latin font, the alignment is completely screwed up. Resizing the window also doesn't update the wrapping and alignment of items inside. Emacs's text buffer-centric design makes it really hard to do otherwise. diff --git a/note/on-racist-jokes.html b/note/on-racist-jokes.html index f9d6574..ba979fe 100644 --- a/note/on-racist-jokes.html +++ b/note/on-racist-jokes.html @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ </head> <body> <h1>On Racist Jokes</h1> - <p>The use of the terms ``black'' and ``black slave'' as insults is:</p> + <p>The use of the terms “black” and “black slave” as insults is:</p> <ul> <li>profoundly disrespectful towards the millions of black people that have been abused, discriminated against, and treated unfairly, in the past and the present</li> <li>ill-considerate towards people who are experiencing racism</li> @@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ </ul> <p> - A common argument to make here is that ``consider how you would be discriminated against when you become the minority, you wouldn't appreciate such jokes on your social group''. Although we head in the same general direction, I do not agree with this frame of mind. Discriminatory jokes are wrong, independent of the possibility of the discriminator being held to the same activities in the future. + A common argument to make here is that “consider how you would be discriminated against when you become the minority, you wouldn't appreciate such jokes on your social group”. Although we head in the same general direction, I do not agree with this frame of mind. Discriminatory jokes are wrong, independent of the possibility of the discriminator being held to the same activities in the future. </p> <p> - The argument to ``take this easy as these are just jokes'' is ridiculous. The mere act of descriptive terms for a specific social group being used as a ``joke'' undermines the seriousness of the social issue. Find something else to joke about. Not something like racism and other forms of discrimination. + The argument to “take this easy as these are just jokes” is ridiculous. The mere act of descriptive terms for a specific social group being used as a “joke” undermines the seriousness of the social issue. Find something else to joke about. Not something like racism and other forms of discrimination. </p> <p> diff --git a/note/really.html b/note/really.html index a587c91..3bb7995 100644 --- a/note/really.html +++ b/note/really.html @@ -1,17 +1,17 @@ <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> <head> - <title>``Really'' is a confusing word</title> + <title>“Really” is a confusing word</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <meta charset="utf-8" /> </head> <body> - <h1>``Really'' is a confusing word</h1> + <h1>“Really” is a confusing word</h1> <p> - Often times when the word ``really'' is used in as an adverb in an assertion or proposition, it may be useful to replace it with ``in some sense'', and seek to ask or clarify ``in what sense''. It shall be recognized that questions that arise may be legitimately hard to answer, but it may be still beneficial to consider them. + Often times when the word “really” is used in as an adverb in an assertion or proposition, it may be useful to replace it with “in some sense”, and seek to ask or clarify “in what sense”. It shall be recognized that questions that arise may be legitimately hard to answer, but it may be still beneficial to consider them. </p> - <p>The same applies for ``actually'' and similar words when used this way, though in my experience, people tend to use ``really'' this way. I do so too, and I'm trying to get rid of this habit.</p> + <p>The same applies for “actually” and similar words when used this way, though in my experience, people tend to use “really” this way. I do so too, and I'm trying to get rid of this habit.</p> <div id="footer"> <hr /> <p><a href="/">Runxi Yu's Website</a></p> diff --git a/note/social-media.html b/note/social-media.html index e716a2c..b868be6 100644 --- a/note/social-media.html +++ b/note/social-media.html @@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ <body> <h1>Social Media</h1> <p>Referring to things like Facebook, Twitter, and similar: I do not use social media. I do not find social media to be meaningful.</p> - <p>Social media as I understand it is based on ``microblogging'', i.e. short posts about a person's life, thoughts, etc. Sharing random fun facts about life is fine, but it's really suboptimal for thoughts, especially political ones. Social media is usually designed in a quick ``consumption''-oriented style, often leading to flamewars instead of in-depth discussions because of its ``quick'' and ``short'' nature. Modern social media recommends new posts and people to people based on what they ``like'' and ``boost'' further creating an information cocoon, ``shielding'' them from new ideas, rather than allowing for natural human distribution of good articles.</p> + <p>Social media as I understand it is based on “microblogging”, i.e. short posts about a person's life, thoughts, etc. Sharing random fun facts about life is fine, but it's really suboptimal for thoughts, especially political ones. Social media is usually designed in a quick “consumption”-oriented style, often leading to flamewars instead of in-depth discussions because of its “quick” and “short” nature. Modern social media recommends new posts and people to people based on what they “like” and “boost” further creating an information cocoon, “shielding” them from new ideas, rather than allowing for natural human distribution of good articles.</p> <p>Instead, I read and write <a href="/#articles">articles</a> and <a href="/other-articles/">share</a> those that impress me naturally.</p> <p>Most popular social media services <a href="https://stallman.org/facebook.html">such as facebook</a> are also nonfree and have extra problems.</p> - <p>Sharing some fun facts about life is okay. <a href="/life.html">I do that too.</a> Just don't use microblogging for should-be-extensive topics and don't use these ``posts feed'' things.</p> + <p>Sharing some fun facts about life is okay. <a href="/life.html">I do that too.</a> Just don't use microblogging for should-be-extensive topics and don't use these “posts feed” things.</p> <p><a href="https://drewdevault.com/2022/07/09/Fediverse-toxicity.html">The Fediverse can be pretty toxic</a> by <a href="https://drewdevault.com/">Drew Devault</a>, founder (I remember?) of <a href="https://sourcehut.org/">SourceHut</a></p> <div id="footer"> <hr /> diff --git a/note/suicide-jokes.html b/note/suicide-jokes.html index 6622eb5..d1805a2 100644 --- a/note/suicide-jokes.html +++ b/note/suicide-jokes.html @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ <body> <h1>On Jokes about Suicide</h1> <p class="copyright"> - People really need to stop joking about suicide. Stop clowning around with statements like ``I’m gonna kill myself'' ``I will commit suicide'' or ``I want to jump off a building''. It is not cool to tell others you want to end your own life for something of little importance that may have inconvenienced or bothered you. It is extremely disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of people who loose their lives because of suicide and is inconsiderate to people who are really suffering from mental health issues. Joking about suicide is not okay, grow up and find other ways to deal with and express your stress or frustrations. + People really need to stop joking about suicide. Stop clowning around with statements like “I’m gonna kill myself” “I will commit suicide” or “I want to jump off a building”. It is not cool to tell others you want to end your own life for something of little importance that may have inconvenienced or bothered you. It is extremely disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of people who loose their lives because of suicide and is inconsiderate to people who are really suffering from mental health issues. Joking about suicide is not okay, grow up and find other ways to deal with and express your stress or frustrations. </p> <p>This short paragraph was written by Tyler Zhang, a student at YKPS.</p> <div id="footer"> diff --git a/note/wechat.html b/note/wechat.html index 82bbac2..a21675b 100644 --- a/note/wechat.html +++ b/note/wechat.html @@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ WeChat's servers are nonfree; the service is centralized. </li> <li> - Tencent suspends WeChat accounts for sending ``politically sensitive chats''. + Tencent suspends WeChat accounts for sending “politically sensitive chats”. </li> <li> Information collected by WeChat is given to the police of the PRC without court warrants. diff --git a/other-articles/consolation-of-philosophy.html b/other-articles/consolation-of-philosophy.html index b1c3747..e1edcd5 100644 --- a/other-articles/consolation-of-philosophy.html +++ b/other-articles/consolation-of-philosophy.html @@ -3344,7 +3344,7 @@ the performance of good. So this ability of theirs proves them still more plainly to have no power. For if, as we concluded just now, evil is nothing, 'tis clear that the wicked can effect nothing, since they are only able to do evil.'</p> -<p>''Tis evident.'</p> +<p>”Tis evident.'</p> <p>'And that thou mayst understand what is the precise force of this power, we determined, did we not, awhile back, that nothing has more power than supreme good?'</p> @@ -4994,8 +4994,8 @@ license, especially commercial redistribution. <div style="display:block; margin:1em 0"> To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase ``Project -Gutenberg''), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license. </div> @@ -5018,7 +5018,7 @@ or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. </div> <div style="display:block; margin:1em 0"> -1.B. ``Project Gutenberg'' is a registered trademark. 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Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain ``Defects,'' such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or @@ -5215,8 +5215,8 @@ cannot be read by your equipment. </div> <div style="display:block; margin:1em 0"> -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the ``Right -of Replacement or Refund'' described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all diff --git a/other-articles/custodians-online.html b/other-articles/custodians-online.html index 41edd29..a3fffaf 100644 --- a/other-articles/custodians-online.html +++ b/other-articles/custodians-online.html @@ -38,27 +38,27 @@ <div class="footnotes"> <ol> <li id="fn-1"> - Larivière, Vincent, Stefanie Haustein, and Philippe Mongeon. ``<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0127502">The Oligopoly of Academic Publishers in the Digital Era.</a>'' PLoS ONE 10, no. 6 (June 10, 2015): e0127502. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127502., <br>``<a href="http://svpow.com/2012/01/13/the-obscene-profits-of-commercial-scholarly-publishers/">The Obscene Profits of Commercial Scholarly Publishers.</a>'' svpow.com. Accessed November 30, 2015. <a href="#fnref-1" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩</a> + Larivière, Vincent, Stefanie Haustein, and Philippe Mongeon. “<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0127502">The Oligopoly of Academic Publishers in the Digital Era.</a>” PLoS ONE 10, no. 6 (June 10, 2015): e0127502. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127502., <br>“<a href="http://svpow.com/2012/01/13/the-obscene-profits-of-commercial-scholarly-publishers/">The Obscene Profits of Commercial Scholarly Publishers.</a>” svpow.com. Accessed November 30, 2015. <a href="#fnref-1" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩</a> </li> <li id="fn-2"> - Sample, Ian. ``<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices">Harvard University Says It Can’t Afford Journal Publishers’ Prices.</a>'' The Guardian, April 24, 2012, sec. Science. theguardian.com. <a href="#fnref-2" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.">↩</a> + Sample, Ian. “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices">Harvard University Says It Can’t Afford Journal Publishers’ Prices.</a>” The Guardian, April 24, 2012, sec. Science. theguardian.com. <a href="#fnref-2" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.">↩</a> </li> <li id="fn-3"> - ``<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121017558785551.html">Academic Paywalls Mean Publish and Perish - Al Jazeera English.</a>'' Accessed November 30, 2015. aljazeera.com. <a href="#fnref-3" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.">↩</a> + “<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121017558785551.html">Academic Paywalls Mean Publish and Perish - Al Jazeera English.</a>” Accessed November 30, 2015. aljazeera.com. <a href="#fnref-3" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.">↩</a> </li> <li id="fn-4"> - ``<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-tears-down-academias-illegal-copyright-paywalls-150627/">Sci-Hub Tears Down Academia’s ‘Illegal’ Copyright Paywalls.</a>'' TorrentFreak. Accessed November 30, 2015. torrentfreak.com. <a href="#fnref-4" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.">↩</a> + “<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-tears-down-academias-illegal-copyright-paywalls-150627/">Sci-Hub Tears Down Academia’s ‘Illegal’ Copyright Paywalls.</a>” TorrentFreak. Accessed November 30, 2015. torrentfreak.com. <a href="#fnref-4" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.">↩</a> </li> <li id="fn-5"> - ``<a href="https://www.change.org/p/save-ashgate-publishing">Save Ashgate Publishing.</a>'' Change.org. Accessed November 30, 2015. change.org. <a href="#fnref-5" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.">↩</a> + “<a href="https://www.change.org/p/save-ashgate-publishing">Save Ashgate Publishing.</a>” Change.org. Accessed November 30, 2015. change.org. <a href="#fnref-5" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.">↩</a> </li> <li id="fn-6"> - ``<a href="http://thecostofknowledge.com/">The Cost of Knowledge.</a>'' Accessed November 30, 2015. thecostofknowledge.com. <a href="#fnref-6" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 6 in the text.">↩</a> + “<a href="http://thecostofknowledge.com/">The Cost of Knowledge.</a>” Accessed November 30, 2015. thecostofknowledge.com. <a href="#fnref-6" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 6 in the text.">↩</a> </li> <li id="fn-7"> @@ -66,11 +66,11 @@ </li> <li id="fn-8"> - ``<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-shutdown-of-libgen-bookfi-and-sci-hub-151102/">Court Orders Shutdown of Libgen, Bookfi and Sci-Hub.</a>'' TorrentFreak. Accessed November 30, 2015. torrentfreak.com. <a href="#fnref-8" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 8 in the text.">↩</a> + “<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-shutdown-of-libgen-bookfi-and-sci-hub-151102/">Court Orders Shutdown of Libgen, Bookfi and Sci-Hub.</a>” TorrentFreak. Accessed November 30, 2015. torrentfreak.com. <a href="#fnref-8" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 8 in the text.">↩</a> </li> <li id="fn-9"> - ``<a href="https://archive.org/stream/GuerillaOpenAccessManifesto/Goamjuly2008_djvu.txt">Guerilla Open Access Manifesto.</a>'' Internet Archive. Accessed November 30, 2015. archive.org. <a href="#fnref-9" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 9 in the text.">↩</a> + “<a href="https://archive.org/stream/GuerillaOpenAccessManifesto/Goamjuly2008_djvu.txt">Guerilla Open Access Manifesto.</a>” Internet Archive. Accessed November 30, 2015. archive.org. <a href="#fnref-9" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 9 in the text.">↩</a> </li> </ol> </div> diff --git a/other-articles/intellectual-property.html b/other-articles/intellectual-property.html index fe3d79e..5c03844 100644 --- a/other-articles/intellectual-property.html +++ b/other-articles/intellectual-property.html @@ -10,50 +10,50 @@ <p>This article was taken from <a href="https://textz.com/">textz.com</a>. It is in the public domain.</p> <p> -``I advise you to settle the matter in a friendly way.'' +“I advise you to settle the matter in a friendly way.” </p> <p> -``Indeed, I was thinking myself that would be best. She’s a woman, after all. Women have no souls, says Mohammed, with good reason. To forgive would be more humane, too, more Goethe-like.'' +“Indeed, I was thinking myself that would be best. She’s a woman, after all. Women have no souls, says Mohammed, with good reason. To forgive would be more humane, too, more Goethe-like.” </p> <p> -``Certainly. And then you wouldn’t have to give up the recitation evening, either, which would otherwise be lost, after all.'' +“Certainly. And then you wouldn’t have to give up the recitation evening, either, which would otherwise be lost, after all.” </p> <p> -``But what should I do now?'' +“But what should I do now?” </p> <p> -``Go to them tomorrow and say that this one time you are willing to assume it was unconscious influence.'' +“Go to them tomorrow and say that this one time you are willing to assume it was unconscious influence.” </p> <p> -``That’s very good. That’s just what I’ll do.'' +“That’s very good. That’s just what I’ll do.” </p> <p> -``But because of this you needn’t give up your revenge, either. Simply have the essay published somewhere else and then send it to Mrs. Durège with a nice dedication.'' +“But because of this you needn’t give up your revenge, either. Simply have the essay published somewhere else and then send it to Mrs. Durège with a nice dedication.” </p> <p> -``That will be the best punishment. I’ll have it published in the Deutsces Abendblatt. They’ll take it; I’m not worried about that. I’ll just not ask for any payment.'' +“That will be the best punishment. I’ll have it published in the Deutsces Abendblatt. They’ll take it; I’m not worried about that. I’ll just not ask for any payment.” </p> <p> -Then we speak about his talent as an actor, I am of the opinion that he should really have training. ``Yes, you’re right about that. But where? Do you perhaps know where it can be studied?'' I say: ``That’s difficult. I really don’t know.'' He: ``That doesn’t really matter. I’ll ask Kisch. He’s a journalist and has a lot of connections. He’ll be able to give me good advice. I’ll just telephone him, spare him and myself the trip, and get all the information.'' +Then we speak about his talent as an actor, I am of the opinion that he should really have training. “Yes, you’re right about that. But where? Do you perhaps know where it can be studied?” I say: “That’s difficult. I really don’t know.” He: “That doesn’t really matter. I’ll ask Kisch. He’s a journalist and has a lot of connections. He’ll be able to give me good advice. I’ll just telephone him, spare him and myself the trip, and get all the information.” </p> <p> -``And about Mrs. Durège, you’ll do what I advised you to?'' +“And about Mrs. Durège, you’ll do what I advised you to?” </p> <p> -``Yes, but I forgot; what did you advise me to do?'' I repeat my advice. +“Yes, but I forgot; what did you advise me to do?” I repeat my advice. </p> -``Good, that’s what I’ll do.'' He turns into the Café Corso, I go home, having experienced how refreshing it is to speak with a perfect fool. I hardly laughed, but was just thoroughly awakened. +“Good, that’s what I’ll do.” He turns into the Café Corso, I go home, having experienced how refreshing it is to speak with a perfect fool. I hardly laughed, but was just thoroughly awakened. <hr /> @@ -62,13 +62,13 @@ Then we speak about his talent as an actor, I am of the opinion that he should r <p>28 January 1912</p> <p> -Sunday morning, while washing, it occurs to him that he hadn’t seen the Tagblatt yet. He opens it by chance just at the first page of the magazine section. The title of the first essay, ``The Child as Creator,'' strikes him. He reads the first few lines—and begins to cry with joy. It is his essay, word for word his essay. So for the first time he is in print, he runs to his mother and tells her. What joy! The old woman, she has diabetes and is divorced from his father, who, by the way, is in the right, is so proud. One son is already a virtuoso, now the other is becoming an author! +Sunday morning, while washing, it occurs to him that he hadn’t seen the Tagblatt yet. He opens it by chance just at the first page of the magazine section. The title of the first essay, “The Child as Creator,” strikes him. He reads the first few lines—and begins to cry with joy. It is his essay, word for word his essay. So for the first time he is in print, he runs to his mother and tells her. What joy! The old woman, she has diabetes and is divorced from his father, who, by the way, is in the right, is so proud. One son is already a virtuoso, now the other is becoming an author! </p> <p> After the first excitement he thinks the matter over. How did the essay get into the paper? Without his consent? Without the name of the author? Without his being paid a fee? This is really a breach of faith, a fraud. This Mrs. Durège is really a devil. And women have no souls, says Mohammed (often repeated). It’s really easy to see how the plagiarism came about. Here was a beautiful essay, it’s not easy to come across one like it. So Mrs. D. therefore went to the Tagblatt, sat down with one of the editors, both of them overjoyed, and now they begin to rewrite it. Of course, it had to be rewritten, for in the first place the plagiarism should not be obvious at first sight and in the second place the thirty-two-page essay was too long for the paper. </p> <p> -In reply to my question whether he would not show me passages which correspond, because that would interest me especially and because only then could I advise him what to do, he begins to read his essay, turns to another passage, leafs through it without finding anything, and finally says that everything was copied. Here, for instance, the paper says: The soul of the child is an unwritten page, and ``unwritten page'' occurs in his essay too. Or the expression ``surnamed'' is copied too, because how else could they hit upon ``surnamed.'' But he can’t compare individual passages. Of course, everything was copied, but in a disguised way, in a different sequence, abridged, and with small, foreign interpolations. +In reply to my question whether he would not show me passages which correspond, because that would interest me especially and because only then could I advise him what to do, he begins to read his essay, turns to another passage, leafs through it without finding anything, and finally says that everything was copied. Here, for instance, the paper says: The soul of the child is an unwritten page, and “unwritten page” occurs in his essay too. Or the expression “surnamed” is copied too, because how else could they hit upon “surnamed.” But he can’t compare individual passages. Of course, everything was copied, but in a disguised way, in a different sequence, abridged, and with small, foreign interpolations. </p> <p> I read aloud a few of the more striking passages from the paper. Is that in the essay? No. This? No. This? No. Yes, but these are just the interpolated passages. In its spirit, the whole thing, the whole thing, is copied. But proving it, I am afraid, will be difficult. He’ll prove it, all right, with the help of a clever lawyer, that’s what lawyers are for, after all. (He looks forward to this proof as an entirely new task, completely separate from this affair, and is proud of his confidence that he will be able to accomplish it.) @@ -77,19 +77,19 @@ I read aloud a few of the more striking passages from the paper. Is that in the That it is his essay, moreover, can be seen from the very fact that it was printed within two days. Usually it takes six weeks at the very least before a piece that is accepted is printed. But here speed was necessary, of course, so that he would not be able to interfere. That’s why two days were enough. </p> <p> -Besides, the newspaper essay is called ``The Child as Creator.'' That clearly refers to him, and besides, it is sarcasm. By ``child'' they really mean him, because he used to be regarded as a ``child,'' as ``dumb'' (he really was so only during his military service, he served a year and a half), and they now mean to say with this title that he, a child, had accomplished something as good as this essay, that he had therefore proved himself as a creator, but at the same time remained dumb and a child in that he let himself be cheated like this. The child who is referred to in the original essay is a cousin from the country who is at present living with his mother. +Besides, the newspaper essay is called “The Child as Creator.” That clearly refers to him, and besides, it is sarcasm. By “child” they really mean him, because he used to be regarded as a “child,” as “dumb” (he really was so only during his military service, he served a year and a half), and they now mean to say with this title that he, a child, had accomplished something as good as this essay, that he had therefore proved himself as a creator, but at the same time remained dumb and a child in that he let himself be cheated like this. The child who is referred to in the original essay is a cousin from the country who is at present living with his mother. </p> <p> -But the plagiarism is proved especially convincingly by a circumstance which he hit upon only after a considerable amount of deliberation: ``The Child as Creator'' is on the first page of the magazine section, but on the third there is a little story by a certain ``Feldstein'' woman. The name is obviously a pseudonym. Now one needn’t read all of this story, a glance at the first few lines is enough to show one immediately that this is an unashamed imitation of Lagerlöf. The whole story makes it even clearer. What does this mean? This means that this Feldstein or whatever her name is, is the Durège woman’s tool, that she read the Gutsgeschichte, brought by him to the Durège woman, at her house, that in writing this story she made use of what she had read, and that therefore both women are exploiting him, one on the first page of the magazine section, the other on the third page. Naturally anyone can read and imitate Lagerlöf on his own initiative, but in this cast, after all, his influence is too apparent. (He keeps waving the page back and forth.) +But the plagiarism is proved especially convincingly by a circumstance which he hit upon only after a considerable amount of deliberation: “The Child as Creator” is on the first page of the magazine section, but on the third there is a little story by a certain “Feldstein” woman. The name is obviously a pseudonym. Now one needn’t read all of this story, a glance at the first few lines is enough to show one immediately that this is an unashamed imitation of Lagerlöf. The whole story makes it even clearer. What does this mean? This means that this Feldstein or whatever her name is, is the Durège woman’s tool, that she read the Gutsgeschichte, brought by him to the Durège woman, at her house, that in writing this story she made use of what she had read, and that therefore both women are exploiting him, one on the first page of the magazine section, the other on the third page. Naturally anyone can read and imitate Lagerlöf on his own initiative, but in this cast, after all, his influence is too apparent. (He keeps waving the page back and forth.) </p> <p> -Monday noon, right after the bank closed, he naturally went to see Mrs. Durège. She opens her door only a crack, she is very nervous: ``But, Mr. Reichmann, why have you come at noon? My husband is asleep. I can’t let you in now''— ''Mrs. Durège you must let me in by all means. It’s about an important matter.'' She sees I am in earnest and lets me come in. Her husband, of course, was definitely not at home. In the next room I see my manuscript on the table and this immediately starts me winking. ``Mrs. Durège, what have you done with my manuscript. Without my consent you gave it to the Tagblatt. How much did they pay you?'' She trembles, she knows nothing, has no idea how it could have got into the paper. ``J’accuse, Mrs. Durège,'' I said, half jokingly, but still in such a way that she sees what I really mean, and I keep repeating this ``J’accuse, Mrs. Durège'' all the time I am there so that she can take note of it, and when I go I even say it several times at the door. Indeed, I understand her nervousness well. If I make it public or sue her, her position would really be impossible, she would have to leave the Women’s Progress, etc. +Monday noon, right after the bank closed, he naturally went to see Mrs. Durège. She opens her door only a crack, she is very nervous: “But, Mr. Reichmann, why have you come at noon? My husband is asleep. I can’t let you in now”— ”Mrs. Durège you must let me in by all means. It’s about an important matter.” She sees I am in earnest and lets me come in. Her husband, of course, was definitely not at home. In the next room I see my manuscript on the table and this immediately starts me winking. “Mrs. Durège, what have you done with my manuscript. Without my consent you gave it to the Tagblatt. How much did they pay you?” She trembles, she knows nothing, has no idea how it could have got into the paper. “J’accuse, Mrs. Durège,” I said, half jokingly, but still in such a way that she sees what I really mean, and I keep repeating this “J’accuse, Mrs. Durège” all the time I am there so that she can take note of it, and when I go I even say it several times at the door. Indeed, I understand her nervousness well. If I make it public or sue her, her position would really be impossible, she would have to leave the Women’s Progress, etc. </p> <p> -From her house I go straight to the office of the Tagblatt and have the editor, Löw, fetched. He comes out quite pale, naturally, is hardly able to walk. Nevertheless I do not want to begin with my business at once and I want to test him first too. So I ask him: ``Mr. Löw, are you a Zionist?'' (For I know he used to be a Zionist.) ``No,'' he says. I know enough, he must be acting a part in front of me. Now I ask about the essay. Once more incoherent talk. He knows nothing, has nothing to do with the magazine section, will, if I wish, get the editor who is in charge of it. ``Mr. Wittmann, come here,'' he calls, and is happy that he can leave. Wittmann comes, also very pale. I ask: ``Are you the editor of the magazine section?'' He: ``Yes.'' I just say, ``J’accuse,'' and leave. +From her house I go straight to the office of the Tagblatt and have the editor, Löw, fetched. He comes out quite pale, naturally, is hardly able to walk. Nevertheless I do not want to begin with my business at once and I want to test him first too. So I ask him: “Mr. Löw, are you a Zionist?” (For I know he used to be a Zionist.) “No,” he says. I know enough, he must be acting a part in front of me. Now I ask about the essay. Once more incoherent talk. He knows nothing, has nothing to do with the magazine section, will, if I wish, get the editor who is in charge of it. “Mr. Wittmann, come here,” he calls, and is happy that he can leave. Wittmann comes, also very pale. I ask: “Are you the editor of the magazine section?” He: “Yes.” I just say, “J’accuse,” and leave. </p> <p> -In the bank I immediately telephone Bohemia. I want to give them the story for publication. But I can’t get a good connection. Do you know why? The office of the Tagblatt is pretty close to the telephone exchange, so from the Tagblatt it’s easy for them to control the connections as they please, to hold them up or put them through. And as a matter of fact, I keep hearing indistinct whispering voices on the telephone, obviously the editors of the Tagblatt. They have, of course, a good deal of interest in not letting this call go through. Then I hear (naturally very indistinctly) some of them persuading the operator not to put the call through, while others are already connected with Bohemia and are trying to keep them from listening to my story. ``Operator,'' I shout into the telephone, ``if you don’t put this call through at once, I’ll complain to the management.'' My colleagues all around me in the bank laugh when they hear me talking to the telephone operator so violently. Finally I get my party. ``Let me talk to Editor Kisch. I have an extremely important piece of news for Bohemia. If you don’t take it, I’ll give it to another paper at once. It’s high time.'' But since Kisch is not there I hang up without revealing anything. +In the bank I immediately telephone Bohemia. I want to give them the story for publication. But I can’t get a good connection. Do you know why? The office of the Tagblatt is pretty close to the telephone exchange, so from the Tagblatt it’s easy for them to control the connections as they please, to hold them up or put them through. And as a matter of fact, I keep hearing indistinct whispering voices on the telephone, obviously the editors of the Tagblatt. They have, of course, a good deal of interest in not letting this call go through. Then I hear (naturally very indistinctly) some of them persuading the operator not to put the call through, while others are already connected with Bohemia and are trying to keep them from listening to my story. “Operator,” I shout into the telephone, “if you don’t put this call through at once, I’ll complain to the management.” My colleagues all around me in the bank laugh when they hear me talking to the telephone operator so violently. Finally I get my party. “Let me talk to Editor Kisch. I have an extremely important piece of news for Bohemia. If you don’t take it, I’ll give it to another paper at once. It’s high time.” But since Kisch is not there I hang up without revealing anything. </p> <p> In the evening I go to the office of Bohemia and get the editor, Kisch, called out. I tell him the story but he doesn’t want to publish it. Bohemia, he says, can’t do anything like that, it would cause a scandal and we can’t risk it because we’re dependent. Hand it over to a lawyer, that would be best. |