Taglines

This page catalogs taglines my blog has had in the past and may hold in the future. If you have ideas, I'm all ears :-) Most of these refer to the power of being able to express your thoughts or otherwise make a contribution in a manner accessible to the world. In other words, to have a presence beyond your immediate surroundings.

Past

• The Next Generation - This one was meant to convey that my blog was the next generation of my site, which had until then been static html pages.

Current

• Living in the Fourth Age of Sand - The ages of sand are described in detail by Douglas Adams in a speech entitled Artificial God. The idea is that a personal website is one way in which modern citizens can make an impact in an ever-growing, ever-anonmyzing world. For the fourth time in history, regular old sand is being used to transform how we understand the world. This time, it is used to create fiber optics to link together the computers that build the internet; thus allowing the population differentiate themselves and reclaim their sense of self. I say, that anybody trying to reach back out the world is indeed living in the fourth age of sand.

Future

• Infinitely Using Finite Means - This one is derived from a phrase used by Noam Chomsky and coined by Wilhelm von Humboldt. It refers to the ability to construct infinte meaning from a well-defined and limited language. This idea can be extended to any such magnificent expansion of simple ideas; including programming languages and computers in general. Since we all use language(s) everday, we are all making infinite use of finite means and thereby exercising a pretty powerful ability.
• I know the distance to the sun - A Smashing Pumpkins lyric that, to me, is some sort of post-modern existential hoopla that is appealing. Again, to me, possibly only to me, it reflects the idea of knowing lots of things but not being sure what it all means. For the record the distance is almost 93 million miles.
• All generalizations are false - A statement that reflects a truth about the validity of conclusions one can draw. It also promotes the idea of analyzing things on a case-by-case basis to ensure that an understanding is gained before an action is taken.
• Advertising is Scientifically Immoral - In a speech given by Richard P. Feynman on Galileo's 400th birthday, he pointed out that the core of science is really the ability to objectively report findings about experiments conducted to prove a hypothesis. Advertising is the exact opposite. You do not present all the data regarding a product, you use spin and basically pretend that you're telling the truth. Hence, this practice is scientifically immoral. The merriment I felt upon hearing this sentiment made me laugh out loud with joy!
• The more you know, the more you forget - This concept was brought up in a book written by Jeff Hawkins. I often do find myself having trouble remembering details and have realized that if I do find events familiar I, probably like a lots people, blur them together. Since we know that the flavor and spice of life is in the details and moments, I can see this site as something that helps preserve these delicate ingredients.