September 2001 Archives
The first Slash 2.2.0 beta (2.1.0) is also almost ready. Basically, we need to upgrade slashcode.com and use Perl and document the procedure and then release it.
Both beta releases are basically ready for production use (slash 2.1.0 will be exactly what is running on Slashdot, and I use the current build of MacPerl 5.6.1 all day long), but will take another month or two to iron things out before a release. I want both released before year's end (slash 2.2.0 should be released long before, I hope).
jjohn said Ben Folds has an album out. I gotta check that out.
There are only a handful of open bugs and tasks remaining for the beta release. Matthias has one big one (DB backward compatability; he had db_186 working great, but are looking to go back to 185 because Mac OS X uses 185, and so does the old MacPerl) and one with CGI Scripts crashing on ACGI.
I have a few tasks to finish up, but nothing too major. So as soon as Matthias is done, we can get a beta out within a few days (about a month later than planned, which isn't too bad).
Some people are mad at the U.S. -- the most benevolent world power in the history of the world -- for doing bad things that "made" people do this. The U.S. has done far more good than bad in this world, and I am quite sick of people jumping on our throat when someone knocks us down. Those people are jerks whom I have no use for.
I found out this evening that my TiVo recorded several episodes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Brak Show. I am very pleased with this.
Tuesday was a very interesting day for Slashdot. We apparently had over 3 million page views in the 24 hours following the beginning of the evil. We'd never hit 2 million before. The next 24 hours saw over 2 million. Three of the stories on the evil are in the top 10 most active stories of all time on Slashdot. It was a lot of work to keep Slashdot running this week, and we did a pretty good job of it. Could've done better, but it helped identify a lot of little problems with the code. Good.
As there are no sports and his wife is on holiday, Matthias has extra time to work on MacPerl. Thomas Wegner has done some great work, as usual, on Shuck and some other things. I hope to get some work done this weekend on MacPerl.
The problem was I mistyped my email address the first time; I realized it immediately and wrote to them asking them to fix it. But apparently that never happened, as they still had the wrong email address in the records. Hopefully this is not a problem in the future when I need to do new releases etc.
One thing I really hate is when people misdefine words, or redefine them so they mean something different in the same context they were used previously.
One of these cases is "organic food." I grew up thinking all milk was organic, but someone changed the definition on me, and now I find out that apparently I've been drinking inorganic milk all my life. Yum!
But one case that really bugs me is the word "privilege". This used to mean to get some sort of extra or special consideration. Now, it means to get what you got coming to you in the first place, but someone else is denied. The common example is "white privilege," whereby I am treated like any normal human being should be treated, while others are denied that basic consideration.
But this is a bastardization of what the word means. It says that I am not entitled to what I get. That just because someone else is denied what they deserve, that I don't deserve it (and they didn't deserve it in the first place, either). And please don't think that isn't what is meant; one joker on TV this weekend (one of those local Sunday morning talk shows) said that some whites take it for granted that they can walk down the street without being harassed. Well, of course they do. This is a basic expectation in a civilized society. One should take it for granted when it exists, and be outraged when it does not.
Apparently I am supposed to feel guilty for being treated the way I am supposed to be treated. Well, I refuse to play along.
I will fight against those who don't give people the same considerations I get, just because of their race or ethnicity or religion or gender or whatever else. But I refuse, absoultely refuse, to feel shamed that I don't get penalized by my skin color. I refuse to believe that being treated like a human being is a privilege. It is not a privilege, it is a right. Just because you are being denied your rights, it doesn't mean that I am at fault, it doesn't mean I am to blame, it doesn't mean that I am getting something extra, and it doesn't mean that I will feel bad that I am treated like a normal human being.
This devalues the whole concept of equal treatment. These people are telling blacks that to be treated like a normal human being is a privilege. That it is something extra, something more than they deserve. That they are being treated the way they should be treated, and that to be treated better is more than they deserve.
They should be saying that blacks are not getting treated according to their rights as human beings, instead of saying whites are getting special privilege. But they don't do this. Why? I'd guess it is because they want to use guilt instead of truth to further their cause. I'd rather not believe it is because they want to keep minorities feeling reliant on others so they and their votes and their support can be more easily controlled.