Tim's nose (was Re: nose against the grindstone)

[paul@poboy.b17c.ingr.com (Paul Robichaux)]

> Paul Robichaux believes we are being "dissolute" in discussing t-shirts and
> such when our noses should instead be against the grindstone (talking to
> journalists? huh?):
> 

[ my original message deleted ]

Perhaps I didn't express myself clearly. In fact, it's evident :)

My opinion, which stands, is that we have spent an inordinate amount
of time in frivolous discussion about T-shirts. My personal opinion is
that you build esprit de corps by common effort and common
achievement, not by how you dress (although my primary experience with
that sort of team spirit comes from my time in the Marines, where
everyone wears the same kind of T-shirt :)

> Mostly these points boil down to the plaintive cry of "How can you have fun
> when others aren't?" That is, how can Cypherpunks pursue frivolous issues,
> at times, when we should be in our sled dog harnesses, pulling a heavy
> load?

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be having fun- but the ongoing
discussion about dress preferences (T-shirt vs. polo vs. cap and so
on) and styles doesn't seem to have an end in either sense (that of
termination or that of purpose.)

Many of our illustrious contributors have talked with high-powered
journalists in the past, and I applaud that effort. Considering the
target market of Phil's article- other professional journalists- I
think spending time to answer his questions is worthwhile.

To me, it's more important to educate reporters in (for example)
Huntsville and Peoria to our cause than to spread the word to trendy,
likely-to-be-sympathetic-to-our-cause folks who read _Wired_, _Village
Voice_, and _Whole Earth Review._

> Other List members are also making contacts (Paul Ferguson?), and Lance
> Dettweiler has posted the call for discussion with journalist Philip
> Mulivor on the alt.whistleblower list. (Lance speculates, correctly I
> think, that Mulivor has no Net access. If true, I question that Mulivor is
> such a high-priority journalistic target anyway. Maybe he is. But I'm sure
> enough folks will talk to him. The talk of mail programs and t-shirts is
> not likely to affect this.)

Well, Lance missed the boat here; I have had an ongoing exchange with
Phil via his e-mail account (mulivor@crc.monroecc.edu), which last I
heard counted as net access...

> Anyway, the danger is perhaps of journalistic _overexposure_, not
> underexposure. Perhaps people should blast me for wasting precious hours
> talking to Kelly, Levy, Dibbell, and others, when I could've *more*
> profitably spent the time studying "perl" and hence pulled the Cypherpunks
> sled a few more miles toward our distant goals. (I'm being facetious, of
> course, as I don't particularly _want_ to learn perl and become another
> Unix jock.)

I'm tempted to say something flip here about "when the average Joe
understands crypto issues like he understands the beer tax, then we
can quit." I don't think that's true, but overexposure _in the media
as a whole_ is not a problem we have right now. Not everyone reads the
_NYT_ and the other pubs mentioned above, and not everyone listens to
NPR. (Ask Crunch about the audience he's trying to reach at raves!)

> As the one who brought up the "Cypherpunks t-shirt" issue, I see nothing
> wrong with spending some time tossing ideas around on this. Most
                      ^^^^
Agreed. I humbly suggest that we've spent our allotted time and could
move on to something more productive.

> The wonderful thing about distributed, decentralized systems like ours is
> that folks can work on what interests them.

Right on, brother. 


-- 
Paul Robichaux, KD4JZG     | "An interesting mistake... I wish I knew what 
perobich@ingr.com          |  led you to make it."
Intergraph Federal Systems | "I make a lot of them. It's how I learn."
(but not their opinion)    |      - A. Jablokov, _A Deeper Sea_