Joi Ito's Web

Mailbox overflow »

Nov 10, 2003 - 11:44 UTC »

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I think it may be due to the press I got this month, but my mailbox has been totally overloaded with a variety requests. I've tried to go back and follow up with people who have sent me email, but I think I've missed a bunch. If you've sent me email about something and haven't received a reply, can you either put yourself in my Public To Do List or continue to ping me? I know this is rude, but not replying is more rude. I try to reply to everything I get, so if you've been ignored, it is accidental. Sorry.

Speaking of false positives »

Joichi Ito

Nov 10, 2003 - 07:55 UTC »

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Speaking of false positives, I'm also against blacklists because they can also cause false positives that are difficult to correct. Smartmobs was blacklisted by Verio and it took Roland two months of hell to get it sorted out.

I know I use a blacklist for my comment filtering. It's a stop-gap measure until someone figures out a better solution.

Becoming a cranky old man »

Joichi Ito

Nov 10, 2003 - 07:46 UTC »

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Many of the old men I know are cranky. They are often cranky because they've been fighting long battles. Battles about technology, battles about politics, battles about education, all kind of battles. Most old men have their hot buttons that trigger a rush of memories of these battles. When most old men talk to each other, they sense these hot buttons and generally avoid each other's hot buttons. The rule about avoiding religion and politics as dinner topics comes from the fact that there are many hot buttons in these areas.

Last night I was one of these cranky old men. We were talking about terrorism and profiling. I am a veteran of many battles on privacy and security. I didn't realize how much of a cranky old man I'd become until a friend of mine last night kept pushing that hot button with the opinion that profiling was a good thing and that a few false positives were worth the cost to protect America. I got completely emotional and ruined the tone of the friendly dinner conversation. The problem with a dinner conversation is usually there is some alcohol involved which clouds memory (access to facts stored in cranky old brain) and logical thinking, and you can't page slap people with your previous arguments. As a cranky old man last night I realized how difficult it was for me to have casual conversation about a hot button topic and how difficult it was to have a rigorous discussion about complicated topics when I didn't have access to a method of providing context. I felt like I was just beating my chest to show I felt strongly about the issue...

I think this issue of having difficulty engaging in a discussion with someone on a topic you understand well where you have a strong opinion is an issue that many academics face. This forces them to climb their ivory towers and engage in esoteric debates in an esoteric language with their peers and not reach down to the average person. This is also why many academics avoid publishing in popular media.

I wonder if there is a solution to this problem. I think layers of blogs is one thing that helps. I consult with a number of academic sources to come up with my somewhat simplistic assertions about certain issues. Others write about it even more casually on their blogs. If things are attributed correctly, one can usually drill down to the source (although many academics sources are still not online). Sometimes it works the other way around. I write about something casually and accidentally trigger a bunch of hot buttons which ends up providing more context and rigor.

The scary thing is, I can see myself starting to want to only have discussions with people where we read each other's blogs, a sort of blogademic.

Watch the eclipse on the web »

Joichi Ito

Nov 09, 2003 - 09:34 UTC »

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It's daytime here, but I'm watching the eclipse on the web.

Thanks for the link Victor!

US warplanes rumored to be flying over Scotland to possibly bomb someone else »

Joichi Ito

Nov 08, 2003 - 20:02 UTC »

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ilind.net
November 5, 2003 - Wednesday
The following is from Information Clearing House today.

"Note: Unconfirmed Report"
Can any of our Scottish readers verify the following report:

Since Saturday, people in the Highlands of Scotland have been witnessing large movements of US warplanes overhead. Experienced observers say the large numbers are reminiscent of those that preceded the bombing of Iraq in 1998 and military strikes against Libya in the 1980's, as well as the first Gulf War.

It is thought that the planes have flown on a route over the North Pole to bases in Europe and the Mediterranean. The size and scale of the movement suggests that the US may be preparing to strike against a country in the Middle East in the next week to ten days. I have been getting a lot of email referring to this report. If you have information in relation to the above, please email me at email@cox.net"

Has anyone seen this or know of any other information about this? Is the US about to attack someone else?

Via Markoff

Urging people to vote »

Joichi Ito

Nov 08, 2003 - 19:03 UTC »

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Getting ready to give speech. The guy next to my is Jun Maki who played the producer of the photo shoot in Lost in Translation

Tomorrow is the general election for the Japanese parliament's Lower House. Mizuka and I joined the Governor of Nagano, Yasuo Tanaka, Shigeaki Saegusa (the conductor), Jun Maki (the copywriter who appears in Lost in Translation as the producer of the photo shoot), Yoichiro Kawaguchi (computer graphics professor), Hajime Takano (journalist) and many others in a two hour march through Ginza urging people go and vote tomorrow. It was called the senkyo ni ikouzei! movement. Our march was a nonpartisan effort to get people to vote regardless of their politics. We handed out leaflets, waved flags and made speeches on street corners. I made a speech about how most Japanese believe something needs to change yet do not feel they have any impact. I argued that Yasuo Tanaka showed that politicians can cause change and that voters can elect such officials. I stressed that you get the politicians you deserve and that if we wanted a democracy in Japan, people were going to have to vote.

It was a hot day, but people were very receptive. It was clear they were happy to see Yasuo Tanaka and unlike the time we were handing out leaflets protesting the National ID, the percentage of people willing to take them from you was much higher.

Also, the opposition party of Japan, the Democratic Party of Japan has announced a "shadow cabinet" appointing Yasuo Tanaka the minister in charge of decentralization. Ishihara, the mayor of Tokyo has spoken out against this.

Here is a 11.3MB Quicktime Movie of Mizuka and I trying to hand out flyers.

Junjiro Hara starts blogging »

Joichi Ito

Nov 08, 2003 - 06:45 UTC »

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Junjiro Hara is a well known reporter at the Asahi Shimbun who I've known for many years. He is retiring this year and has decided to start blogging and continue his mission as a journalist to change Japan. His blog is in Japanese. I think he is one of the first professional mass media journalists to start officially blogging. Blog on Hara-san!

Dinner on the 11th in San Francisco »

Joichi Ito

Nov 07, 2003 - 11:38 UTC »

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I'm in San Francisco from November 11 for 48 hours. I'm free for dinner on the 11th. Sign up on the wiki page if you're interested in getting together. I'm arriving on that day so I may be a bit tired, but I'd be happy to meet up with everyone.

Jacob Levy has agreed to help organize it. Thanks Jacob.

Inhaling nanodust »

Joichi Ito

Nov 07, 2003 - 07:52 UTC »

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Reading in the New York Times about the health hazards of inhaling carbon nanotubes reminded me of Snowcrash. I wonder what would happen if you inhaled these RFID's.

Where am I? »

Joichi Ito

Nov 07, 2003 - 07:01 UTC »

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I was just looking at my United Airlines mileage online and realized that I'll hit the 100,000 mile mark with United on this next trip I'm making. Looking at my travel patterns, it seems to be tracking my network that has expanded over the last few years through people I've met online. My body is like a packet that's chasing around the bits.

I've also started getting invitations just about every day to parties all over the world. "Just in case you're in the neighborhood." This is really weird. The funny thing is, sometimes I am in the neighborhood. I wake up each morning often not sure what city I'm in or in a mild panic because the city I was in in my dream is not the city I'm in right now.

I know many people who travel more than I do, but I'd been pretty grounded for the last few years so this year has been a fresh experience for me. Connectivity like my Danger Sidekick, wifi in airports, IRC, my blog, wiki and all of the other social software stuff has made travel a much more enjoyable experience. I feel like I have friends in every region, I'm rarely lonely, and with IM and IRC, there are always a bunch of friends to hang out with while I wait in airports or take cabs around town. The fingerprinting and possible harassment at the US border is the sand in the vaseline. (And I don't remember where I got that metaphor, but I like it. Someone used it in reference to copy protection I think.)

Joi Ito's Web

Joi Ito's conversation with the living web.

Mailbox overflow »

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Speaking of false positives »

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Becoming a cranky old man »

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Watch the eclipse on the web »

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US warplanes rumored to be flying over Scotland to possibly bomb someone else »

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Urging people to vote »

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Junjiro Hara starts blogging »

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Dinner on the 11th in San Francisco »

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Inhaling nanodust »

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Where am I? »

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