Excelsior the book

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It's not that people don't know I'm here: I'm fine with people know I'm here, deanomgwtf!!! It's that stuff-being-printed-under-my-name is quite a great deal different from talking- about-it-under-a-googleproofed-version-of-my-name-on-a-thread. That anybody here thinks "oh what's the big deal: talking on a forum, printing it in a book - what's the diff?" really exacerbates how shitty the whole thing makes me feel. I'm not "ashamed of what [I] wrote," todd - it was a conversation I was having with friends, not something I wanted preserved in print. It has nothing to do with imagining that people can't find me here - of course that's OK! It has to do with being printed/preserved for posterity in a way I didn't want. The idea that one should be as careful with one's words on an internet forum as one is when writing for print seems so patently ridiculous as to spurn further comment.

I'm gonna leave this thread & the forum now for real, as my attemps to clarify my position are just making me angrier & angrier. Bye everybody.

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Tep; Why?

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:50 (nineteen years ago) link

I think that 95% of us agree that mark did something dumb, but maybe we should give him a chance to do something about it before we completely freak out.

St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I agree. If, presumably, none have been sold, it can just be pulled, right?

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:52 (nineteen years ago) link

ps I keep thinking of the sitcom Dear John except in reverse and not at all. anyway great theme song. J0hn will be missed, but we must carry on. I for one have to do a radio show that no one will be listening to.

artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:53 (nineteen years ago) link

It has nothing to do with shame/worth of posts and everything to do with "one thing that you should reasonably be able to expect when you post to ILX is that another ILXor will not copy things you've written into a book which will then be sold to people without asking you first".

Well, since this isn't inherent to the internet, I guess the responsibility for maintaining this belief falls on the moderators of this board, no?

deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:54 (nineteen years ago) link

Do I have to spell out that "reasonably expect" means "the likelyhood that it could happen obviously exists but chances are that it won't and that this no bearing on your right to feel annoyed or pissed off when someone does it"?

For the record, I personally don't care that my posts are in this thing. I do not make the mistake of thinking that this means that no one else should care, either.

VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:54 (nineteen years ago) link

xpost "Excelsior: The Book" (dumbass)

VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:55 (nineteen years ago) link

http://socsci.gulfcoast.edu/fsale/presentations/LOGIC2/img045.jpg

whoooooosh, Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, Dan, you should be smart enough to realize that there are a lot of different people on ILX and they all expect different things out of it that sound "reasonable" to them.

deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:57 (nineteen years ago) link

It's awful that John is made to feel like this. I completely understand his anger.

Penelope_111 (Penelope_111), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link

Tep; Why?

Because it won't ever be honored. Because it's unrealistic. It's like expecting that you can walk down the street having a conversation with the person next to you, or on the other end of your cell phone, without people listening. It's unrestricted space, and it's explicitly and visibly unrestricted space: it isn't possible to occupy it without being aware of that.

It's like expecting that those eavesdroppers -- whether they mean to be or not -- will never tell other people what they heard you talking about, nor post it to "In Passing," nor in their book about People Saying The Darndest Things, or whatever.

It might be a reasonable requirement of courtesy, but like it or not, courtesy beyond a certain point isn't a reasonable expectation. It just doesn't happen. It isn't something given by default.

It's not like this is new. The profit involved should be irrelevant, and seems to be irrelevant to most peoples' concerns: would they object to someone printing out a thread at Kinko's to read at work? That's all CafePress does: they print it out. They make no claims to copyright or ownership (they do require that their clients possess copyright to the work they're printing; it's never been clear they need to). So the concern is either empty principle or has to do with privacy: not wanting to be read by people you don't know are reading, or aren't answerable to the ILX community, or whatever.

How is it any different from printing out a thread and showing it to a spouse or coworker? Or letting them read your screen? Or the lurkers who read everything anyway?

I'm not saying it isn't okay to be bothered by it, although it's probably clear it doesn't bother me; I'm saying it's not reasonable to expect people to act accordingly, because they haven't been, and they aren't going to start.

(The odds that anyone who's been active in popular online places for a few years hasn't been reprinted somewhere without their consent or knowledge are not great.)

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link

I'd geniunely like to see what Momus has to say about all this.

Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:01 (nineteen years ago) link

That may be so, but I would expect a regular poster to these forums to at least ask. I'll take emptty principle every time, I think.

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Would you expect a regular poster to ask before showing their non-ILXing spouse, coworker, or friend a thread?

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:02 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think Mark meant anything malicious with the book. I do feel, like everyone else, that it was a major blunder and a not-so-slick thing to pull. Does "he really didn't mean to" truly have no currency online?

Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:03 (nineteen years ago) link

All the way up here I did ask this q:

'Are you taking out email addresses or the names or what exactly?'

Mark hasn't ans this.

I didn't see any harm mostly bcz the threads selected (ILE) were harmless stuff, ilm would be a far more serious issue bcz there are ppl who make a living out of writing whereas the stuff selected here is not like that.

see you soon j0hn.

massive x-post

Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:03 (nineteen years ago) link

Storm. Teacup. When return, bring pie and Momus refutations, please.

Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:03 (nineteen years ago) link

That's a different matter, Tep. You can debate the ontology of printing out a thread or showing your screen to a coworker all you like, but a book is decidedly different, especially one that can be bought in a public place.

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:05 (nineteen years ago) link

See what Mark has to say and then decide whether or not to get so upset, take action ... etc.

deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:05 (nineteen years ago) link

That's a different matter, Tep. You can debate the ontology of printing out a thread or showing your screen to a coworker all you like, but a book is decidedly different, especially one that can be bought in a public place.

Why? This is a print on demand service, one no more public than here -- and harder to find. The word "book" doesn't have magic powers that make it different from "printout."

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Please note, Cafe Press is not a publisher.

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/

'Welcome to our marketplace of over 3 million member-created products ranging from custom-designed T shirts to posters and books...'

This is like going to Kinko's and printing out a webpage, then circulating it amongst a few friends. Relax!

Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:07 (nineteen years ago) link

I just said that twice, Momus.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:08 (nineteen years ago) link

(Apparently peoples' concerns go beyond that, in other words.)

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Right. I am largely unaware of this Cafe Press place and also Kinko's, for what it's worth.

I still think Mark should have asked. I could have got the Bee Vibrator thread in if he had.

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:09 (nineteen years ago) link

http://socsci.gulfcoast.edu/fsale/presentations/LOGIC2/img045.jpg

swoop, Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:09 (nineteen years ago) link

You forgot the "and charging your friends to read it" part.

VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:09 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think any good can be served by belittling someone's feelings about this.

Penelope_111 (Penelope_111), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link

You can't legally record a phone conversation without telling the other person involved - I see this as analogous to that.

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:10 (nineteen years ago) link

What if I compiled this website, made a cover, and sold it on cafepress?

WITH A FOURTEEN CENT PROFIT!

Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link

Dan, Kinko's charges, too. You pay for the copies. CafePress costs a lot of money; I work with them all the time. Print on Demand is an expensive service (albeit much cheaper than it used to be). Mark wouldn't make any money from this without selling over 100 copies.

Nick: Sorry, Kinko's was the only chain name I could think of; a photocopy shop, in other words.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:12 (nineteen years ago) link

i am with tep 100 percent.

todd swiss (eliti), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:12 (nineteen years ago) link

STOP STEALING MY IDEAS ACEWHISKEY

Tep: So your friends are paying Kinko's for the copies, then?

VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

I know damn well I put a caveat on mine, I would expect Matos, who is slightly higher profile than myself I think it's fair to say, would have done the same.

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

Actually, SM, that's not true. At least in the US, a phone conversation may be recorded, so long as AT LEAST ONE OF THE PARTIES is aware the call is being recorded.

x-post

don maynard (don maynard), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:13 (nineteen years ago) link

j0hn, it could be worse, what if he included large animated .gifs in the book or worse yet, embedded a media file.

let's hire a hitman to kill jon williams:
http://ilx.wh3rd.net/thread.php?msgid=4756047
http://ilx.wh3rd.net/thread.php?msgid=4773376

..and redefining 'enormous' on
How are they going to end ILX?

I will match every dollar raised with one towards a hitman.

-- Andrew Farrell (afarrel...), June 22nd, 2004 3:57 PM. (afarrell) (tracklink) (later)

Remember that pot we have for collecting money for a hit man? Can I contribute about £1000, please?
-- People love Gravity and Evolution! (masonicboo...), June 23rd, 2004 9:26 AM. (kate) (later)

Well a ferry ride to Rochester is $55, we could outfit Sean in a trenchcoat for another $50...
-- Mr Noodles (infinitecow...), June 23rd, 2004 11:22 AM. (Mr Noodles) (later)

gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:14 (nineteen years ago) link

You can't legally record a phone conversation without telling the other person involved - I see this as analogous to that.

This is cutting and pasting, though; the "phone conversation" here takes place in full view of a tape recorder kept in a public place so everyone who wants to listen to it has access to it.

Tep: So your friends are paying Kinko's for the copies, then?

It would be okay if Mark did this for free, but not if he asks people to pay cost?

(That isn't what it sounds like people are saying.)

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:14 (nineteen years ago) link

My point about the profit is that no one is making money from the content. They're charging for the container.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Is the issue the money, or is it the context? It seems that J0hn is more upset about not having control over if and how the stuff he says on here plays out IRL.

Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

are killfiles optional in the cafepress book?

gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:15 (nineteen years ago) link

There would be a different set of issues at play if Mark wasn't charging people for this, as far as I'm concerned.

As an aside, at what point in the conversation did I give the impression that I was completely unaware that Kinko's charges you for making copies? I would really like to avoid appearing like a complete and total moron in the future.

(AKA FOR FUCK'S SAKE)

VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:16 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't see the big deal. Plus, like I said above, I bought one to be a twat -- so. Sorry I ruined the plan to take this off the shelves.

I think a few people are severely overreacting. This is like "Pump Up the Volume" almost.

"Talk hard, Momus!"

Homosexual II, Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link

What if I made a book from this post:

STOP STEALING MY IDEAS ACEWHISKEY
Tep: So your friends are paying Kinko's for the copies, then?

-- VengaDan Perry (webmail), June 23rd, 2004 4:13 PM. (Dan Perry) (later)

AND MADE A FOURTEEN CENT PROFIT?

Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Never, ever ask lawyers about this kind of thing. They are liable to respond like this:

May I provide links to other sites on my Web Page?

This topic is debated often and no clear resolution has emerged. Unless you are given express permission to link to a site, you should contact the owner of the other site and obtain their permission before you do so.

Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:21 (nineteen years ago) link

Fuck making a link.

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Horrible analogy, but here goes... I feel like I have a reasonable expectation of safety in my neighborhood. That doesn't mean I cancel my lease the next day if someone steals a tulip from my flower garden. Of course I have *every right* to do so, but wouldn't most people think I was going a bit far? If more and more things start disappearing from the neighborhood, then sure, I leave -- my expectation of safety has been shattered. But if it turns out, say, the tulip was stolen by a high-school kid trying to put together a bouquet of flowers for his girlfriend on homecoming, then I am markedly less worried.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that I'm giving Mark the benefit of the doubt by assuming that he did this out of cluelessness and a general ignorance of online tact, rather than out of some impulse to cause harm and hurt people. Maybe I'm wrong, in which case all the ire is justified.

Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:23 (nineteen years ago) link

As an aside, at what point in the conversation did I give the impression that I was completely unaware that Kinko's charges you for making copies? I would really like to avoid appearing like a complete and total moron in the future.

I don't think you're a moron -- I addressed you, but I was talking to the thread, too, or I would've just emailed you. Not everyone knew what Kinko's was; I was trying to make the comparison clear, that CafePress is just a high-end photocopying service. So many of the complaints upthread are incredibly vague that it doesn't seem at all clear that people object for the same reason, or even agree with each others' objections.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:24 (nineteen years ago) link

well i hope j0hncontinues w/LPTJ at least

also, what about people who link to ilx in their blogs?

artdamages (artdamages), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:24 (nineteen years ago) link

This reminds me of the dream where I had six fingers and somebody tried to give me another finger and I was all like "no, hey, I already have like six, that's three too many" and they were all like "hey, dude, it's just another finger" and forcing it on me and shit and so I turned purple and ran through walls and shit.

Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:25 (nineteen years ago) link

The profits should be used here:

ILX Mods plot Jon Williams death via hitman! [aka Bored Of The Flies 2004]

gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 20:25 (nineteen years ago) link


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