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The dataset generation failed
Error code: DatasetGenerationError
Exception: ArrowInvalid
Message: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 23
Traceback: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 153, in _generate_tables
df = pd.read_json(f, dtype_backend="pyarrow")
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 815, in read_json
return json_reader.read()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1025, in read
obj = self._get_object_parser(self.data)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1051, in _get_object_parser
obj = FrameParser(json, **kwargs).parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1187, in parse
self._parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1403, in _parse
ujson_loads(json, precise_float=self.precise_float), dtype=None
ValueError: Trailing data
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1997, in _prepare_split_single
for _, table in generator:
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 156, in _generate_tables
raise e
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 130, in _generate_tables
pa_table = paj.read_json(
File "pyarrow/_json.pyx", line 308, in pyarrow._json.read_json
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 154, in pyarrow.lib.pyarrow_internal_check_status
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 91, in pyarrow.lib.check_status
pyarrow.lib.ArrowInvalid: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 23
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1529, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1154, in convert_to_parquet
builder.download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1029, in download_and_prepare
self._download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1124, in _download_and_prepare
self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1884, in _prepare_split
for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2040, in _prepare_split_single
raise DatasetGenerationError("An error occurred while generating the dataset") from e
datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationError: An error occurred while generating the datasetNeed help to make the dataset viewer work? Make sure to review how to configure the dataset viewer, and open a discussion for direct support.
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Watch Chloe Kim Piggyback a Stranded Snowboarder Down a Mountain
Chloe Kim is going viral, and this time, it’s not because of a gravity-defying halfpipe run. The two-time Olympic gold medalist stopped to helped a fellow snowboarder in need on Mammoth Mountain, and a video of the incident — in which Kim guides the rider by hand and eventually carries them down the mountain on her back — has hit the internet straight in the feels.
In the video, we see Kim carefully leading the snowboarder down a slope, holding their hands and giving words of encouragement. When the other snowboarder falls down, Kim even helps them flip over and get back up safely. Eventually, Kim decides to give them a piggyback lift down the mountain, which apparently isn’t as hard as it sounds when you’re an Olympic snowboarder. “This is easy,” she says in the video. “Light work!”
At the bottom of the hill, the snowboarder learned who their savior was and, appropriately, headed over to give her a hug. And Kim left them with some words of encouragement and a recommendation to check out an easier trail. Because one tough run doesn’t mean you have to give up!
Mammoth Mountain, a skiing and snowboarding destination in Southern California (and the place where Kim learned to snowboard), posted the video to its account on Monday, where it racked up more than 18,000 likes in less than a day. A repost on ESPNW brought a fresh round of applause. “my heart has exploded,” Olympic long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall wrote, adding “this is the video i didn’t know i needed.” “I’m not crying . . . you’re crying,” Olympic high jumper Chaunté Lowe said.
We didn’t think it was possible to love Kim any more than we already did, given that she’s, you know, a generational athlete, a business owner, an advocate for racial justice, and the first woman to win consecutive Olympic halfpipe gold medals. If you’ve ever gotten stuck on a tough slope while snowboarding or skiing, you know how scary it can be. (Speaking as someone who once had to crawl up a hill after turning down a black diamond run by accident . . . it’s not a great feeling!) Kim’s combination of patience, calm, and expertise was exactly what the stranded rider needed to get back down safely. Turns out, this Olympian also has a heart of gold to match those medals. Grab your tissues, and watch the sweet video above.
This article was originally published by Popsugar.com. Read the original article here.
BRILLIANT BEAUTY HACKS TO LOOK STUNNING
Michael B. Jordan Proves He Still Has His Boxing Skills in Dramatic “SNL” Promo
Shop the Editor-Backed Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Powder on Sale Right Now
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Sexual Assault Archives - Center for Changing Our Campus Culture
Category: Sexual Assault
Faculty/Staff, Leadership/Administrators, Sexual Assault, Student Conduct Personnel, Victim Services/Advocates
Community Collaboration for Comprehensive Campus Sexual Violence Prevention
For colleges and universities to effectively address and prevent sexual violence, collaboration with community resources, including local rape crisis centers, is essential. This web conference addressed specific examples and research related to collaboration to strengthen sexual violence prevention on college campuses. Drawing on the recent report UC Speaks Up: An Assessment of the Climate for Sexual Violence Prevention, Education, and Response on Three University of California Campuses this web conference provides a foundation to understand the current needs and highlight how strong partnerships between community agencies and campus advocates can contribute to preventing sexual violence. In a panel discussion with college campuses and community Rape Crisis Centers, sexual violence preventionists and advocates provide unique examples of the strategies they implement to support the advancement of sexual violence prevention in their collective communities. Watch Webinar
Health Professionals, Sexual Assault, Victim Services/Advocates
Bridging RCCs and LGBTQI+ Communities to End Rape Culture
LGBTQIA+ activism has been central to upending gender norms, and in so doing, challenged long held beliefs of dominance, power and control, and gendered identities. As a result, LGBTQIA+ communities are ideal allies with the anti-rape movement in the fight to end sexual violence. This web conference is for advocates who provide services, support, education, and so much more in the LGBTQIA+ community to co-create an understanding of how sexual violence can be eliminated through collaboration with our local rape crisis centers. Watch Webinar
Sexual Assault, Victim Services/Advocates
Faith Centered Approaches to Fighting Sexual Violence
Culture and community are an integral part of a victim/survivor’s support system following a sexually violent experience, and spirituality can be an essential part of someone’s healing process. While it’s important to acknowledge that many survivors do not choose to lean into faith to cope with trauma, those who do greatly benefit from a strong relationship between sexual assault providers and spiritual healers. Faith traditions and communities are diverse and so is how they approach addressing sexual violence within their communities. It is important for spiritual leaders to understand the impact of sexual assault on the people they support and to feel comfortable joining and activating the survivors’ support networks, which often necessitates the awareness of local resources. Co-facilitated with Sikh Family Center, this web conference is for faith-based organizations and advocates who are interested in expanding their tools, offering community-based support, and joining the anti-sexual violence movement in disrupting and preventing sexual violence. Watch Webinar
Health Professionals, Law Enforcement, Leadership/Administrators, Sexual Assault, Victim Services/Advocates
Campus-Community Partnerships: Coordinating a Comprehensive Trauma-Informed Response to Sexual Violence
Sexual violence on college and university campuses is a complex issue requiring collaboration and integrated approaches to support survivors. Approaches that engage the entire community in addressing sexual assault on campus are essential. Partnerships between various campus programs and departments and community-based resources help ensure access for members of the college community, including those who have experienced sexual violence, to much needed resources, strengthen the accountability of institutions to the community, increase knowledge about the impact of sexual assault on campus, and link community-based advocacy resources with campuses. This web conference is for campus administrators and advocates interested in expanding their partnerships to support survivors and address sexual violence both on and off campus. Watch Webinar
U.S. National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence: A Listening Session to Inform the Development of a National Action Plan
In this listening session, participants shared their insights and recommendations on what should be included in a National Action Plan. Participants will have the opportunity to provide input on a series of questions about national priorities to address all forms of gender-based violence. Watch Webinar
Law Enforcement, Sexual Assault, Stalking, Student Conduct Personnel, Victim Services/Advocates
Restorative Justice: Exploring Alternative Ways of Achieving Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors on Campus
Sexual assault survivors have long desired alternatives to the criminal justice system which often leaves them feeling unheard. Accountability for those who do harm is the core of what survivors want. The Restorative Justice approach provides survivors with an alternative justice process that depends on an acknowledgement of harm from the perpetrator from the beginning. It facilitates communities coming together for collective solutions to address sexual violence. Spanish recording: https://youtu.be/I362ZrPmUec Watch Webinar
Athletics (NCAA), Engaging Men, Sexual Assault, Students
Engaging Campus Athletes in Sexual Violence Prevention and Response: A Look at Resources and Policy
Campus athletes often hold social power and influence on campuses and are a key audience to preventing sexual violence on college campuses. Engaging student-athletes and campus athletic staff brings its own unique partnership challenges. Join VALOR on this web conference to learn about current resources and policy for reaching student-athletes for sexual violence prevention and response. Watch Webinar
Advancing Equity Through Collaboration: Human Trafficking and Sexual Assault
Since the 2000 passing of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), many organizations who previously had little or no interest in forced labor and who had otherwise held no anti-oppression principles realized the value of the anti-trafficking momentum to further their own agendas. Because of this, many anti-trafficking organizations claiming values of survivor-centered, trauma-informed, and empowerment-based programming engaged in coercive intervention and other strategies that did not center the consent and bodily autonomy of survivors. Additionally, many components of these strategies rely on policing tactics that place people from marginalized communities (including trans people, immigrants, and BIPOC) at increased risk of harm through engagement with the criminal justice system, target vulnerable sex workers, and do not address the root causes that leave people in the sex trades without access to safety and support. “End Demand” has been a popular part of the anti-trafficking narrative since it’s early days, and “Demand Reduction” prioritized as a “prevention” strategy. Meanwhile, demand reduction has been criticized by labor rights organizers as antithetical to the labor organizing practices that can keep workers safe (working together, increased screening, organizing for safety), and by anti-trafficking advocates for its incongruence with what is shown to reduce exploitation in […]
Sexual Assault, Students
It’s On Us Sexual Assault Awareness & Consent Education 101 Workshop Powerpoint
I Owe You Consent is Christina’s survivor story from It’s On Us. She is a former student and current survivor activist. She shares the story of a night when she did not consent to any sexual activity and the effects that night has had on the rest of her life. Play Christina’s video at the training, a sporting event, and any place where you have an audience. Download Presentation
Engaging Men, Sexual Assault, Students
It’s On Us Active Bystander Intervention 101 Workshop Powerpoint
I Owe You Action is a bystander intervention story from It’s On Us by Vlad, a former student. He tells a story of a night when he saw something risky happening and he decided to take action and intervene. Being an active bystander is something anyone can do – there are many ways to take action to prevent a potential sexual assault. Play Vlad’s video at a workshop/training, a sporting event, and any place where you have an audience. Download Presentation
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cc/2023-06/en_middle_0045.json.gz/line7
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| 0.683679
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PAN TADEUSZ: THE LAST FORAY IN LITHUANIA
Directed by: Andrzej Wajda
Country/Year: Poland, France, 1999
Duration: 147’
The Adam Mickiewicz epic poetry which takes place in Lithuania at the beginning of 19th century was already adapted by Polish movie makers a few times. In 1999 Andrzej Wajda went for this classic of Polish literature also reminding that he himself was a great poet of screen. This movie is the apotheosis of countryside, an ideal vision of beautiful landscapes and perfectly arranged scenes like, for example, a famous final sequence of polonaise dance. Mickiewicz was writing his poem in exile so his work is full of melancholy and nostalgy for his motherland. The director preserved the atmosphere of the literature archetype, as well as made it very cinematic. He extracted the scoop, melodramatic threads and subtle humour. The story begins with Tadeusz Soplica coming back to his family estate and almost immediately falling in love with Zosia Horeszkowna. This new affection is a chance to make peace between two families after a long time. Pan Tadeusz, however, is mostly the image of the dying Polish gentry with its charming customs and intrigues .
Andrzej Wajda (1926 – 2016) one of the most important artists of the Polish Film School, director of over 40 films, four of which were nominated for the Best Foreign Language Movie Academy Award. In 2000 he won an Honorary Oscar Statuette for five decades of extraordinary film direction. He won many different awards at various festivals around Europe, in Cannes, Berlin, Venice. He made a lot of film adaptations of Polish classical literature, such as „Wesele” by Stanisław Wyspiański, „Pan Tadeusz” by Adam Mickiewicz, „Zemsta” by Aleksander Fredro. Starting with his debut film „Kanal” (1956) and finishing with his last film „Powidoki” (2017), he created very bold films closely bound with Polish history, and at the same time universal, that became a benchmark for the future generations of film makers.
His most important films:
• 1956 „Canal”
• 1958 „Ashes and Diamonds”
• 1972 „The Wedding”
• 1974 „The Promised Land”
• 1976 „Man of Marble”
• 1990 „Korczak”
• 2007 „Katyn”
• 2013 „Walesa. Man of Hope”
Honorary patronage
Fantastic Hunan Blooming in Poland
Polish-Chinese musical bridge
12/09/2018 – Fantastic Hunan Blooming in Poland
20.12.2017 – Grzegorz Niemczuk and Chen Xi – FESTIVAL CLOSING CONCERT
IN THAT ONE SECOND, WE BECOME ONE WITH INFINITY. PHOTO EXHIBITON OF LODZ FILM SCHOOL
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Towneley Cycle Story of Noah and Gill Essay Example for Free
Towneley Cycle paper of Noah and Gill EssayThe Towneley cycle is a level line created in the s pointteenth centaury with playwrights who expressed a strong amount of hatred against. Hatred was the major theme put forwad by the playwrights. Male superiority, is another element of the Towneley cycle as the as this stories portrayed the male as angelic representations of human beings whose only major problem were their wifes who had to fully depend on their guidance. Settings The play Noah and Gill is depicting the get on before rescuer set in the period where the male were portrayed as angelic and holy. the duration where secularism was considered unclean and the women were considered to have to be under the gibe of men Characters Noah who is a man of God married to Gill. Noah constantly complains about his wife and in the play he is portrayed as holy. Second fictional character in the play is Gill who plays Noah wife as nagging woman, who constantly causing stress to her h usband and the same time seems shrewish. P sens development The story starts between two married partners Noah and Gill the plot develops from an ancient Christian traditional way of life.Surrounded by both the traditional and bibilical myths, the play holds a strong attraction to the relation with the way of life in the 17th century. To develop the story line the playwright borrows from new fields mostly the the themes expressing scorn against women and the mere traditional way of life which are treated dramatically in the age before Christ (B. C) Symbolism There is a lot of use of symbolism in the story cycles as the women are used as that mark of weakness that constantly pulls down the male in the hostel while the male symbolizes the angelic pillar of the society.The male also symbolize authority that has to be followed by the female in the society so as to keep the balance in the society. Combination of the above styles creates the following When this elements are used in comb ination with each other we see the development of a storyline which symbolizes a mixture of the period Before Christ and the period during the 17th century marking a blend of two civilizations an ancient and a modern age civilization as the settings of its occurrence and the character presentation which shows perceptions of the 17th century reasoning.Aspects of the 17th century reflected by the story are the illustrations on how women were looked down upon in the 17th century and the hatred that was mated on women by the. The clothing used in the play also shows the marked balance in the belief system which the play is set up as it correlates with the 17th century way of life not the original Before Christ would be settingA classic story done in the settings of the early 17th centaury at the verge of a shift to secular acting from the more conservative Christian story line, expoundd in the Towneley cycle Noah and Gill in the second shepherds play depicts women as saints which oth er readers have portrayed to illustrate women negatively but without expression of double standards in your reading it is found that women are not expressed as negatively as men in the story (Dane, 2000).In this play significant attention has not been paid to other women characters that appear in the cycle as they are important in the understanding of women the crucial womens role in the plays. for example the women who have been virtually ignored in the production of the cycle include Mary Magdalene and even virgin Mary. The play write intentionally presents this women as shrews for example instead of choosing examples in the scriptures the playwright chooses to use fictional characters as in the case of Noahs wife and Gill where Gill is his own creation (Grafstein, 2002).Hatred of women in the culture in those times is illustrated by the negative interpretation of the women characters. Through a recently carried out research it has been shown that the position of the women was not as bad as the misogyny has lead us to believe . As the women who expressed enormous hatred for women missed out on be best chances to picture women negatively.Instead of using Sarah in the play Abraham and Isaac to portray mans rebellion against God as originated from the woman scoffing the best picture could have been illustrated by Miriam treating Moses with contemptuous disregard (Kolberg, 2004). Its also seen that despite the women of those times were oppressed they had a great control of their lives than the women of the seventeenth century when this plays were written.The play recognizes the scoffing teachings as Noah complains of his wife and the general nature of women. During the first two thirds of the play the theme is centralized on Noahs wife lack of respect for authority, this depicts her in comparison to the nature of the fallen angles and as materialistic and worldly. In the play Noah is presented angelic family head that has to outwear with a stressful wife, who is simply another display of a woman needing the direction of the male.Women are also illustrated comically and more negatively than men. The writer came up with women in these stories to show that women were second class citizens in the eyes of God Reference Dane W. (2000) Collections Of the16th and 17 centurybest Stories Chicago American Library Association Grafstein, Ann. (2002). Towneley Cycle Story Noah and Gill. Mcgrawhill New York. Peter ,Kolberg (2004) Towneley Cycle Story of Noah and Gill Foundation inn the literary skills Longman publishers (2) 22-27
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Palgrave Macmillan Leads Pack of New Publishers Partnered with AcademicPub
New York, NY, August 20, 2013 - AcademicPub™, the leading provider of digital and print custom books for higher education, today announced seven publishers have become partners in the world's largest repository of chunked content available for creating custom course material.
Building on its vast Library of Content available for selection by instructors worldwide, AcademicPub™ reported Palgrave MacMillan and six other publishers' materials are now fully accessible as atomized content in course packs.
Caroline Vanderlip, CEO of AcademicPub parent company, SharedBook Inc., made the announcement about the new publishing partners.
In addition to Palgrave MacMillan, which is providing scholarly content, journal content and textbook chapters from their Higher Education group, the respected publishers announced today are: Keesing's Worldwide, Reaktion Books, the United Nations, University of British Columbia Press, University of Pittsburgh Press, and Wageningen Academic Publishers.
Of the 247 publishers now included in the AcademicPub platform, more than 60 are from outside the United States. A complete list of publishers in the AcademicPub Content Library may be found here.
Now in its third year of operation, AcademicPub makes available more than 8 million units of content for use in course packs for classes throughout North America, and around the world.
"Instructors tell us that they like the multiple points-of-view offered by the aggregation of content from multiple publishers," said Vanderlip. "With well-known publishers like Palgrave MacMillan and the others in the AcademicPub Content Library, instructors can also be assured of the highest quality content, available in pristine files with automated copyright clearance."
About AcademicPub
AcademicPub, SharedBook Inc.'s Technology platform for higher education, assembles, composes, prices and delivers custom textbooks-in eBook and/or print format. AcademicPub allows for immediate creation and inclusion of copyright-cleared content from anywhere, such as web articles, self-generated lectures or from the AcademicPub Content Library. Digital or print distribution generates a fast and easy way for educators to provide an engaging educational experience, with lower prices and up-to-the-minute materials for students. More information and free registration for faculty is available at www.academicpub.com. Headquartered in New York since 2004, SharedBook Inc. is privately held and can be found atwww.sharedbook.com.
Caroline Vanderlip
cvanderlip@sharedbook.com
Labels: macmillan, press releases, publishing partners
5 Reasons to Use AcademicPub This Fall
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cc/2023-06/en_middle_0045.json.gz/line11
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Shared DNA underlines massive USA-Netherlands World Cup faceoff | MLSSoccer.com – MLSsoccer.com
Shared DNA underlines massive USA-Netherlands World Cup faceoff | MLSSoccer.com
Only on the Apple TV app. Learn more
National Writer: Charles Boehm
By Charles Boehm @cboehm
AL RAYYAN, Qatar – Christian Pulisic looks to be ready; Josh Sargent probably will be, too. Even Gio Reyna, as best we can tell from the outside, is fully available.
Much the same can be said of their Dutch counterparts, despite a bout of flu or a flu-like bug working its way through the Oranje squad, like the one that hit the US men’s national team’s staff during their first week in Qatar. (The Dutch blame the omnipresent, arctic air conditioning chilling seemingly every enclosed space here.)
On Friday Gregg Berhalter reminded everyone just how much a moment like Saturday’s World Cup Round of 16 match means (10 am ET | FOX, Telemundo).
“At this stage, it’s go time,” said the USMNT coach, “and if you can push through it, you do it.”
The Netherlands are accustomed to these big moments. Though they, like the US, missed out on Russia 2018, they’re perennial contenders at this tournament, and current boss Louis van Gaal led them to a third-place finish at Brazil 2014. He’s repeatedly underlined his belief that they can and will exceed that achievement this year, though he served up plenty of intriguing praise for Berhalter’s young Yanks at his matchday-1 press conference.
“It’s typically American; I think that they have evolved rapidly,” he said in Dutch of the USMNT. “They have many players at top European clubs. So it goes without saying that they would perform well and achieve these results. Perhaps the USA wouldn’t have expected it from this squad, but when you watch them play it’s crystal clear that they’ve had opportunities.
“… I had expected the USA to progress, in any case, after the first match [vs. Wales], because I hadn’t seen them before that.”
That won’t change the widespread expectation that his side will sweep past the US. World Cup golden boot chaser Cody Gakpo is on a scoring tear, with Memphis Depay a menacing creative force alongside him. Technical masters like Frenkie de Jong and Davy Klaasen dictate in midfield and imperious Liverpoool center back Virgil van Dijk, not so long ago the world’s most expensive defender, anchors a solid back line. That’s just a sampling of the individual quality.
“It’s tough; they have talent … really top-end talent,” said Berhalter, who began a 15-year stint in Europe with six seasons in the Eredivisie from 1994-2000.
“But for us, it’s about the collective. Listen, the [US] back four has done a great job, the goalkeeper’s done a great job. But it’s about team defending, working as a unit, moving collectively. And when we do that, we put the opponent in difficult positions where they can’t access the spaces they want to access. And I think that’s been what we’ve been good at in this tournament so far.”
Berhalter’s Dutch soccer education
Berhalter also spoke at length about the lessons and legacy of his time in a country that famously loves, and loves to argue about, the sport and its finer points.
“I learned so much in Holland, great experience being there,” he recalled. “When you’re in Holland, basically, after every training session, you have a debate with your players about the training session. After every game you have a talk with people about the game. People love to discuss soccer, and you really learn a lot.
“Everyone has their opinion, everyone shares their opinion. And it was a great time for me. I went to Holland just out of university, totally unprepared for professional-level soccer. And if I wasn’t in Holland, I don’t think I would have had that background, that building that really helped shape my ideas.”
From his team’s primary formation to the concepts of possession, pressing and positional play that they’ve espoused over his tenure, that influence is not hard to detect.
He also beat the Netherlands for the international allegiance of dual-national fullback Sergiño Dest, one of the USMNT’s top performers in the group stage.
Final preparations
While van Gaal may have only recently begun to research the USMNT, Berhalter said he and his staff received a scouting dossier on the Oranje “immediately after” their decisive win over Iran on Tuesday.
All that and the very real, very stressful eventuality of a penalty-kick shootout, should the game be deadlocked after 120 minutes, has occupied their two days of training since giving the squad a welcome day off on Wednesday.
“We’ve been watching Holland for the last 11 months, watching all their games. We’ve had multiple people at their group-stage games watching live, we have the wide angle. So really doing a deep dive on them,” Berhalter explained.
“It’s literally one game at a time, one minute at a time in this knockout stage. Anything makes the difference in the result. And you have to be patient, you also have to realize that it could be a 120-minute exercise, and you have to plan your lineups and substitutions accordingly. So we’re game-planning all that and then finally have the penalty kicks, which we practiced yesterday, and we’ll practice again today.”
USMNT left pondering missed World Cup opportunity: “It’s going to hurt for a while”
USMNT can’t solve Netherlands’ tactical wrinkle in Word Cup elimination
Even with World Cup results, USA fans divided on Gregg Berhalter
USMNT may “lose some sleep” over World Cup elimination to Netherlands
USA Player Ratings: What follows the World Cup exit vs. Netherlands?
Armchair Analyst: Matt Doyle
Three takeaways as USA suffer World Cup exit against Netherlands
USA heartbreak in Qatar: World Cup run ends against Netherlands
Where Does the USMNT Go From Here? | Club & Country Today
Is this the USMNT’s Moment? | Club & Country Today
USA Advance to the World Cup Knockout Stage: How They Did It | Club & Country Today
A Must Win Game for the U.S. | Club & Country Today
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Main > Fairy tale > All authors > Andersen Hans Christian > Fairy tale "Five Peas from a Pod"
Five Peas from a Pod
" said the mother, but she didn't believe it would happen; yet she was careful to strengthen with a little stick the green plant that had given her daughter such happy thoughts about life, so that it wouldn't be broken by the wind. She tied a piece of string to the window sill and to the upper part of the frame, so that the vine could have something to wind around as it shot up. And this it did. You could see every day that it was growing.
"Look, it has a blossom!" said the woman one morning; and now she had not only the hope, but also the belief, that the little sick girl would get well. She recalled that lately the child had talked more cheerfully and that the last few mornings she had risen up in bed by herself and had sat there and looked with sparkling eyes at the little pea garden with its one single plant. The following week the sick child for the first time sat up for over an hour. Joyous, she sat there in the warm sunshine; the window was opened, and outside stood a fully blown pink pea blossom. The little girl bent her head down and gently kissed the delicate leaves. This was just like a festival day.
"Our Lord Himself planted the pea, and made it thrive, to bring hope and joy to you, my blessed child, and to me, too!" said the happy mother, and smiled at the flower, as if to a good angel from God.
But now the other peas! Well, the one that flew out into the wide world crying, "Catch me if you can!" fell into the gutter of the roof and landed in a pigeon's crop, where it lay like Jonah in the whale. The two lazy ones got just that far, for they also were eaten by pigeons, and that's being of real use. But the fourth pea, who wanted to shoot up to the sun, fell into a gutter and lay for days and weeks in the dirty water, where it swelled up amazingly.
"I'm becoming so beautifully fat!" said the pea. "I'm going to burst, and I don't think any pea can, or ever did, go farther than that. I am the most remarkable of the five from that pod!"
And the gutter agreed with it.
Under The Willow Tree She Was Good for Nothing
The Poor Sick Mother
Category: Gool little Henry
Read times: 111
The Crow, the Cock, and the Frog
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Posts tagged ‘CFO’
Update on Tesla from The Conference Call Today
Today after the market closed was Tesla's analyst conference call to review fourth quarter earnings. TL:DR It was as weird as ever, maybe weirder. Even before the call, Elon Musk said that the numbers released today would be un-audited, and the call ended by saying -- in a sort of "oh by the way" over the shoulder parting shot -- that their CFO was leaving and being replaced by a 36-year-old with only Tesla experience and no prior CFO role (not unlike the random young dude that the Arizona Cardinals just hired as their coach, but that is another story). Neither Musk statement was a big confidence boost given the myriad questions swirling around the legitimacy of Tesla's reported financials. But the REALLY weird stuff was in between.
The LA Times, which really has had some of the best Tesla coverage, has the best summary I have found so far of the call. Before I get into some things we learned that helped support my article I wrote the other day, I want to share some of the priceless other highlights of the call. All from the LAT article:
Tesla faces questions about whether enough new Model 3 sedans can be sold to generate substantial profits.
“The demand for the Model 3 is insanely high. The inhibitor is that people don’t have the money to buy one,” Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk told analysts on the call.
This is really hilarious. The same could be said of Ferrari's, Manhattan Penthouses, and bone-in rib-eyes at most top steakhouses. Once you get past the absurdity of the statement, you realize that Musk essentially admitted the demand cliff many have suspected for the Model 3, as Tesla has burned through its entire multi-year order book for the Model 3 in just 6 months.
Yet, Musk said, the new [China] factory [which is currently a bare patch of dirt] will be building cars at an annual rate of 300,000 vehicles by the end of the year, at an expenditure of $500 million — much less than a typical auto plant normally costs.
And much faster, by the way, than any automotive company in history has ever started up a new production plant.
It turns out, by the way, the Tesla still seems to be running itself like a free-wheeling largely-unplanned software startup rather than like a capital-intensive automobile manufacturer. Imagine this from Daimler or Volkswagen or GM:
Musk said Tesla might build the Model Y at its Nevada battery factory but indicated no one should count on it. ”It’s not a for-sure thing, but it’s quite likely, and it’s our default plan,” he said.
But let's get to my thesis I have been arguing for a while. Tesla has a lot of problems, but the one I have been most focused on is that Tesla is a growth company that has stopped managing itself for growth. Both R&D and capital spending have dried up, especially in relation to revenues -- a particularly vexing problem because Tesla has chosen a strategy of owning the sales, service, and fueling networks (not just manufacturing) so growth is even more capital intensive for Tesla than it is for other automobile manufacturers (see the earlier article for details). Tesla's stock price is close to $300, but its current auto business is likely not worth more than $50 share -- the other $250 is hopes and dreams of growth, valuation that goes away if Tesla is no longer perceived as a growth story.
Beyond the fact listed above that Musk essentially admitted the demand problem in the US for Model 3, here is what else we heard:
Tesla owed much of its cash-flow improvement to a drastic reduction in capital expenses — which can signal either a reduced need to buy, say, factory robots or a slowdown of investment in future growth. In the last three quarters, capital spending has shrunk from $786 million to $510 million to $324 million.
This number is insanely low. As @teslacharts showed today, this is equal to 4.5% capex as a percent of revenues!
The mature non-growing auto companies typically spend 5-5.5% or revenues on capex just to maintain their position. 4.5% is NOT a growth number.
In a conference call with analysts, Musk said he still plans to build a factory in China this year and begin building a Model Y subcompact next year. Asked where the money would come from, CFO Ahuja said cutting costs and careful spending would do the trick.
Musk was unusually subdued but his usual speculative self. The China factory site remains a bare patch of ground, and no news was offered on loans from Chinese banks that Tesla is hunting for.
Beyond the fact that Musk is almost criminally full of sh*t on his projections for his China factory production, why the hell is Tesla digging around in the couch cushions to fund their Asian expansion? Their valuation is at freaking 60-80x earnings. Why aren't they raising capital for this and a thousand other things they need to be doing?
But in fact, Tesla is actually planning to contract its capital base, announcing in the call they will likely pay the upcoming ~$1 billion bond redemption in cash.
At the same time, past announced growth projects are falling by the wayside. The semi truck, which was announced to great fanfare and helped pump up the stock price at a critical time, has essentially been dropped from the product plan (Musk did something very similar with the solar shingle at SolarCity, touting the technology and leveraging it to sell the company to Tesla, and then essentially dropping the product).
In the Model S & X, Tesla has already acknowledged that no effort has been started to update these aging products, and in fact production is being cut and much of the manufacturing workforce for these products has been laid off. These two products have always been the main source of Tesla's gross margins and its unclear how they will make up the lost margin and sales from these core products that Tesla seems to be essentially abandoning rather than investing in and refreshing. We also learned that prices are being cut on these vehicles:
On Tuesday, Tesla offered an $8,000 discount on S and X cars for customers who let Tesla limit the range of the car’s battery pack using custom software. The range for the software-limited Model S, for example, would be cut by 20 miles, to 310. That car cost $96,000 at the end of 2018. Tesla cut that price by $2,000 this month. Tuesday’s deal puts the price down to $85,000 — a reduction of $11,000 for 20 miles less range.
Note the software limitation does ZERO to cut Tesla's costs, so these are 100% hits to Tesla's margins.
Because the batteries themselves wouldn’t differ, production costs would stay the same as in the higher-range car. The gross profit margin falls by $11,000 per car. (A Tesla spokesman told The Times that improved efficiencies on the assembly line would help address that problem.)
The next milestone for Tesla will be release of fully audited 2018 numbers. I have no idea when these will appear and would not be surprised if they are delayed. There are still some real financial question marks in the numbers we have seen to date, and only the 10-K will begin to answer some of them.
In the past I have been careful to say that Tesla is a dangerous short and that you should not take my non-expert advice investing, and I repeat all that now. I understand business strategy and I am more sure than ever that Tesla's strategy is falling apart and the wheels are very likely to come completely off in the first quarter. However, I do not understand the stock market's ins and outs and whether Tesla's failings get translated now or later to the stock price is not something I can predict well. Trump could bail them out, some sucker could buy them, they could fudge their numbers for years, etc. So be careful.
One More: I forgot to mention that Tesla has reduced its SG&A expenses over the previous two quarters in absolute terms, and thus substantially on a percent of revenue basis. For a mature company this is good news. For a growth company, this is a sign that growth may not be the goal any longer. SG&A staffing represents a company's capacity to do new things and take on new projects and enter new markets and add new services. No way companies like Google or Facebook would have been trimming SG&A in the height of their growth years. Cutting SG&A is what you do when growth is over or when there is a cash crunch or both.
Postscript: Not to be too much of a pedant on myself, but I said "parting shot" which I think is OK but I believe the original term was actually "Parthian Shot" named for that army's technique of riding full on towards the enemy, then turning tail and riding away but firing backwards with a bow and arrow off their horse as they rode away. Really used to piss off the Romans.
Tags: CFO, china, investing, LAT, Manhattan Penthouses, Neither Musk, REALLY, running, strategy, ZERO
Category: General Business, Investing | Comments Off on Update on Tesla from The Conference Call Today
Government Agencies Run For Their Employee's Benefit
About 20 years ago I did a rail transit study for McKinsey & Company with a number of European state rail companies, like the SNCF in France. With my American expectations, I was shocked to see how overstaffed these companies were. At the time, the SNCF had more freight car maintenance personnel than they had freight cars. This meant that they could assign a dedicated maintenance person to every car and still get rid of some people.
Later in my consulting career, I worked for Pemex in Mexico, where the over-staffing was even more incredible. I realized that in countries like France and Mexico, state-run corporations were first and foremost employment vehicles run for the benefit of employees, and, as distant second, value-delivery vehicles and productive enterprises.
Over the last 20 years, I have seen more and more of this approach to public agencies coming to the US. If nothing else, the whole Wisconsin brouhaha hopefully opened the eyes of many Americans to the fact that public officials and heads of agencies feel a lot more loyalty to their employees than they do to taxpayers.
I see this all the time in my business, which is private operation of certain state-run activities (e.g. parks and recreation). I constantly find myself in the midst of arguments that make no sense against privatization. I finally realized that the reason for this is that they were reluctant to voice the real reason for opposition -- that I would get the job done paying people less money. This is totally true -- I actually hire more people to staff the parks than the government does, but I don't pay folks $65,000 a year plus benefits and a pension to clean the bathrooms, and I don't pay them when the park is closed and there is not work to do. I finally had one person in California State Parks be honest with me -- she said that the employees position was that they would rather see the parks close than run without government workers.
Of course, if this argument was made clear in public, that the reason for rising taxes and closing parks was to support pay and benefits of government employees, there might be a fight. So the true facts need to be buried. Like in this example from the Portland transit system, via the anti-planner.
In 2003, TriMet persuaded the Oregon legislature to allow it to increase the tax by 0.01 percent per year for ten years, starting in 2005. In 2009, TriMet went back and convinced the legislature to allow it to continue increasing the tax by 0.01 percent per year for another 10 years. Thus, the tax now stands at $69.18 per $10,000 in payroll, and will rise to $82.18 per $10,000 in 2025.
At the time, TriMet promised that all of this tax increase would be dedicated to increasing service, and as of 2010, TriMet CFO Beth deHamel claims this is being done. But according to John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute, that’s not what is happening.
Poring over TriMet budgets and records, Charles found that, from 2004 (before the tax was first increased) and 2010, total payroll tax collections grew by 34 percent, more than a third of which was due to the tax increase. Thanks to fare increases, fares also grew by 68 percent, so overall operating income grew by about 50 percent, of which about 7 percent (almost $20 million) was due to the increased payroll tax.
So service must have grown by about 7 percent, right? Wrong. Due to service cuts made last September, says Charles, TriMet is now providing about 14 percent fewer vehicle miles and 12 percent fewer vehicle hours of transit service than it provided in 2004 (comparing December 2004 with December 2010). TriMet blamed the service cuts on the economy, but its 50 percent increase in revenues belie that explanation.
By 2030, according to TriMet’s financial forecast (not available on line), the agency will have collected $1.63 billion more payroll taxes thanks to the tax increase. Yet the agency itself projects that hours and miles of service in 2030 will be slightly less than in 2004.
Where did all the money go if not into service increases? Charles says some of it went into employee benefits. TriMet has the highest ratio of employee benefits to payroll of any transit agency. At latest report, it actually spends about 50 percent more on benefits than on pay, and is the only major transit agency in the country to spend more on benefits than pay. This doesn’t count the unfunded health care liabilities; by 2030, TriMet health care benefits alone are projected to be more than its payroll.
Tags: California State Parks, cars, CFO, economy, france, Government, payroll tax, SNCF, transit, US
Category: Government, Rail and Mass Transit | 7 Comments
We Don't Need To Turn Over No Stinking Evidence
A few days ago, I pointed to a Tom Kirkendall post where he reported that a large volume of evidence, including interview notes with star witness and Enron CFO Andy Fastow, was finally turned over to the Skilling defense team. This is required by law to occur before the, you know, trial itself but in fact comes months and years after the trial. Apparently, there are a lot of bombshells in the notes, including this one as described by Skilling's attorneys in a brief linked by Kirkendall: (citations omitted)
Task Force prosecutors called the "Global Galactic" document "three pages of lies" and the "most incriminating document" in Skilling's entire case. At trial, Fastow testified Skilling knew about Global Galactic because Fastow "confirmed" it with him during a spring 2001 meeting. Skilling denied knowing anything about Global Galactic. To bolster Fastow's testimony and impeach Skilling's, the Task Force introduced a set of handwritten "talking points" that Fastow said he prepared in anticipation of his meeting with Skilling. At trial, Fastow swore he "went over" the talking points with Skilling, including the crucial point "Confirmation of Global Galactic list." Id. In closing, the Task Force relied heavily on this document to corroborate Fastow's testimony that he discussed Global Galactic with Skilling.
The raw notes of Fastow's interviews directly impeach Fastow's testimony and the Task Force's closing arguments. When shown and asked about the talking-points document in his pre-trial interview, Fastow told the Task Force he "doesn't think [he] discussed list w/ JS."
This obviously exculpatory statement was not included in the Task Force's "composite" Fastow 302s given to Skilling. Nor was it included in the "Fastow Binders" the Task Force assembled for the district court's in camera review of the raw notes. It is not possible that this omission was inadvertent. Fastow's statement is one of the most important pieces of evidence provided during all his countless hours of interviews. Moreover, in preparing both the composite 302s and Fastow binders, the Task Force extracted and included other"”relatively inconsequential"”statements from the same interview date and even the same page of notes. The Task Force's exclusion of this critical piece of evidence for over three years is inexcusable and, on its own, warrants a complete reversal of Skilling's convictions and other substantial relief.
Disclosure: I actually worked with Jeff Skilling briefly at McKinsey & Co. From that experience, I have always thought it unlikely that this incredibly detail-oriented guy did not know about a number of these key Enron partnerships. However, that presumption on my part in no way reduces my desire to see him get a fair trial, and I am becoming convinced that he did not.
Tags: Andy Fastow, CFO, Global Galactic, Jeff Skilling, JS, review, skilling, Task Force, Tom Kirkendall
Category: Crime | Comments Off on We Don't Need To Turn Over No Stinking Evidence
Startup Looking for Help
I know a gentleman named Alan Shapiro who has come up with what looks to me to be a nice new boat concept he calls the "Raptor". Pictures of the boat are below (click on any picture for larger image)
I believe he also has a link to some YouTube video at his web site. Update: Here is the YouTube link.
He knows how to design and build the boat and has pretty good contacts for selling it, but needs help from a CFO/Strategist/business-type to push the company forward. He has a prototype built and the production model fully costed-out and sourced. However, he is about to look for a new round of financing and need help in that process. He is offering equity in the company but can't pay a salary. The job would not be full-time in the beginning. If anyone has some time on their hands and has experience with startups and likes boating, this may be something to look into. I have helped him a little bit, but I am out of time and need to focus on my own business.
I do not in any way warrant whether this is a good opportunity or not. Don't assume that because Coyote seems like a smart guy, that this must be a viable business, because I just don't know. I have given him a bit of startup money in exchange for some future boats, and a bit of advice, but that is the extent of it. He has a draft business plan I am sure he would share with qualified candidates.
What I like about the product is that in the rental business, there really is a need for a personal watercraft or jetski that is enclosed, such that it will rent in colder waters and does not require renters to get out of their street clothes. If you know what a mouse boat is, these are much higher performance versions of that type product. He takes jetski engines, from 50-110HP, and puts them into this really fast hull shape. This boat is fun to drive (see the video linked above) and my opinion is that it would rent well, but I of course have not been able to prove that with actual boats. Alan believes there is also a strong market for individual sales, but I can't confirm or deny that from my own knowledge.
If you are interested, or know someone who might be, email me at the link on the right with some information about yourself and I will pass it on to Alan.
Tags: Alan Shapiro, CFO, pictures
Category: Small Business | 1 Comment
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Why the Emir of Qatar gave Messi a tunic, what it means
10 memorable impressions from the Qatar World Cup
The Qatar World Cup has delivered a rich feast of soccer for the past month, with shocks, great goals, incredible celebrations and record-breaking feats served up by the assembled cast.
Red cards in the World Cup so far
Gree part of FIFA World Cup 2022
World Cup pitch invader with rainbow flag released: ministry
No booze? No problem for most fans at World Cup in Qatar
This Sunday, December 18, although it may seem strange because of the date, the Qatar 2022 World Cup ended with Argentina as champion, winning the cup again 36 years after Maradona lifted it.
There have been five red cards at the Fifa World Cup 2022 in Qatar so far. The first sending-off came for Wales when they played Iran in their Group B clash. Wayne Hennessey was shown a red card for clobbering Mehdi Taremi in the last 10 minutes of their second game.
The first winter FIFA World Cup to be held in a dessert nation is now on full swing. Perched on a small peninsula in Persian Gulf of the Middle East, Qatar is featured by a tropical dessert climate and one of the hottest-rated countries on Earth. Even in winter, the highest temperature can reach to 30 degree Celsius.
An Italian man who ran onto the pitch during a World Cup match in Qatar carrying a rainbow flag has been released following a brief detention, the Italian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Soccer fans at the almost alcohol-free World Cup are ready to pay high prices for a beer, a few have tried to smuggle booze into stadiums but most simply accept that drinking is off limits at the first tournament in a Muslim country.
Arab fans unite after surprise wins in Qatar
Victories against the odds by Arab teams competing at the Middle East's first World Cup have inspired their supporters, bringing a rare sense of optimism and unity for fans from the Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean.
German pundit Wagner apologises for bathrobe comment
Pundit and former German international striker Sandro Wagner apologised on Monday for his "ill considered" remark when he commented on the World Cup match between Germany and Spain the day before for the German TV channel ZDF.
Senegal beat Qatar to leave World Cup hosts on brink of early exit
Host nation Qatar were pushed to the brink of an early elimination from their own World Cup on Friday after a 3-1 defeat to Senegal.
Serbia coach shoots down Brazil spy drone rumours
Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic dismissed rumours of Brazil spying on their training sessions using a drone, saying on Wednesday the South American superpower would gain nothing from filming their workouts.
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Critical Code Studies Conference – Week One Discussion
by Mark C. Marino
thread: first person
What does it mean to apply a "critical" lens to programming code? Members of the CCS Working Group grapple with this and other foundational questions, hashing out the methods, boundaries, and stakes of a new academic field. This essay is part of a series on Critical Code Studies distilled from a six week online discussion.
Editor's note: We are pleased to present a distilled version of the lively discussion that took place in the summer of 2010 at the Critical Code Studies Working Group. Mark Marino, the organizing chair of the group, has written an introductory essay to these discussions and Critical Code Studies as a whole. The text below is drawn from Week 1's discussion, led by Mark Marino. A video introduction and overview from Marino is also available here. - Ed Finn
It is my distinct honor to welcome you to the Critical Code Studies Working Group.
What started as an idea about the need for a kind of seminar to produce readings of code has turned into something much, much more.
Just take a look at the names of those gathered here and you will see a veritable who's who of techno-culture studies and no doubt the who's next of code studies.
I thank you all for coming and I promise you that this will be time well spent. Special thanks to my coordinating assistant Max Feinstein and to Jeremy Douglass and Dave Parry who helped develop the shape of this working group.
For agreeing to publish these threads, I would like to thank electronic book review, particularly for the generosity of Joseph Tabbi, and editors Lori Emerson, Ben Robertson, and Ed Finn.
Critical Code Studies starts here.
In the past 3 years, since electronic book review published "Critical Code Studies" and my talk at the Modern Language Association meeting which named a practice that was already underway, I have watched the flurry of activity in code analysis and software studies with a mixture of growing excitement and vague disappointment. Excitement because the amount of interest in reading code, in examining these world-shaping and world-simulating lines of instructions, has been overwhelming. There have been books, articles, panels, and entire conferences themed around "code" including groups such as SLSA, Digital Humanities, and DAC. The numbers of critics turning their attention to code are swelling, and the movement to instill code literacy in all learners continues to build momentum. There are 17 scholars who are members of the Critical Code Studies blog and another 25 scholars I have identified as prominent participants, but that number far underestimates the number of techno-culture critics who are beginning to count code among their objects of study. We see that in monographs, courses, and even blogs.
However, in spite of my excitement my disappoint remains because as I look at the many articles and books, PowerPoint slides, and blogs that do talk about software and programming, the lines of code that appear in these discussions are precious few and their role in the argument is often minimal, a mere passing example, an illustration that the software does in fact have code. The code often stands in as a sign that there is code in the software. So that brings me to this working group, which aims to build on the original call to action with examples and tools for reading code. It's time for the full launch of Critical Code Studies.
To jump start that process, to give it a bit of stimulus and some shovel-ready projects, we have convened this working group.
However, while we have many interests and there are many levels of criticism that are worthy of attention, the focus of this working group is the interpretation of computer source code. It is not to speak in the abstract about the nature of code, though we will do that. It is not to speak about the viability of the practice that shall be demonstrated by our readings. It is instead an opportunity, in the context of a talented and committed set of peers, to generate close readings of source code.
In my talk at DAC 2009, I said if you want to do code studies, put more code in your slides. I will encourage us at every turn to put code in our dialogue here. Like the shepherd dog Intro to Literature teacher, I will work to keep returning us to the text.
This is not to criticize those who talk about code in the abstract. That is a fundamental conversation that needs to be fully thought out. There is now a robust body of discourse about the nature of code, how code differs from text and human, spoken languages. People have captured the nuances in the general. But let us table that conversation for another day.
What we need is for someone to show us what you can do with a "goto" statement, as Wendy Chun has. We need to spelunk (or "cave") the lines of William Crowther's Cave adventure as Dennis Jerz has. We need to talk Tim Toady like Stephen Ramsay. We need to seek out the little crucial portions of code that Jeremy Douglass calls "snippets." We need to delve into the nature of networks with Wendy Chun. We need to dwell in coding language as Mez has.
One example calls forth many more. A few years ago, several critics and I performed readings of "Hello, World," that first program that computer language learners write. Since then, I have seen many more readings of this program. "Hello, World" has become the "Hello, World" of Critical Code Studies. I've now seen readings of that in at least five articles and even more presentations that treat upon that program genre.
All digital humanists and cyber-cultural theorists seem to need is an illustration of a reading of a program, and they quickly follow with their own readings. This working group will produce those models.
The assembled group
Who are we? Well, what started out as a modest little working group has become a veritable Who's Who of techno-culture studies. When I saw the sheer numbers of respondents, I had one thought: I've got to order more food.
Members range from those who write about techno-culture to those who have worked in the trenches creating it. Some labor in libraries of text, others libraries of code. Some teach, some take, some create, some disrupt The department affiliations range from English to Art History, Poly Sci, and the many forms of digital culture. Collectively, we know C, Perl, Visual Basic, JavaScript, Java, Fortran and many more languages.
But perhaps what's more important than the names gathered are the topics: The objects of study include: DamBurst, Google Earth, Second Life, database management systems, semantic web, visual programming languages, live coding, viruses, statistical programming languages, interactive fiction, electronic poetry, and the list goes on.
One group from USC is here as they develop the Magic project, a system for multimedia annotations of source code. No doubt this would be a useful tool in our project.
Throughout the emails of inquiry, I have heard several phrases repeated. Among them:
I've been doing this for years and didn't know this was a field of study.
I know how to program, I know theory, and now I'd like to know how to put them together.
I don't know how to program but I comment on techno-culture and want to add code to my objects of study.
What is the emphasis?
As I look over the applications and emails of inquiry, I do see a number of higher level conversations rising to the top as in a bubble sort. And despite my note of caution about the pitfalls of discussing code only in the abstract, it will be worth our time to recognize them here.
authorship/authorial intent
the role of code and subject groups
the relationship of code to realism
the role of code in political or governmental systems
the place of hacker code
the examination of code as collaborative construction
No doubt, many other topics will emerge over the course of the six weeks.
What makes Critical Code Studies different?
Much has been made lately about the sharks-vs.-jets territorial border disputes about the interlocking yet distinct areas of study that include: software studies, platform studies, hardware studies and, of course, Critical Code Studies. Critics are right to identify some territory-marking that is typical of canines and geeks.
I do not doubt that we are working on the same material and we waste our time to raise our flags to claim the coffee shop for our own private fiefdom. The coffee shop belongs to, well, caffeine. Our shared fascination with technology will keep us there, talking late in the evening and early morning hours. Nor do I think it behooves us to create sub-category specific jargon. We humanities geeks need all the friends we can get. That's why we love Facebook.
However, when people ask me why I keep calling for Critical Code Studies and don't just fold it entirely into another larger field I say, I'll leave the taxonomy to the taxidermists. But until there is an extensive body of humanities-style readings of source code, it helps to have energy specifically applied to that task. As I mentioned, one reading gives rise to a network.
How do I do it?
When I originally conceived of this group, I wanted to put together a seminar. Since then, the group was joined by the people who have taught me, the people whom I read, the bibliography of the original article. So I'm not going to spend time on the many lesson plans I had developed. At least, I'll put away my worksheets for now.
But I do want to share some thoughts on technique, since this group will be a lot about practice.
What code to pick?
People, primarily computer scientists, ask me, what is there to interpret about code? Some have asked, what do you interpret when you are facing thousands of lines of code?
This is a valuable question that Jeremy will address more extensively in Week 2.
But allow me to offer my approach.
When looking for lines of code to discuss in an article, I continually ask myself: what is the line or section of code that defines this piece of software in relation to the particular social critique I am working on?
And here I must again add that my version of Critical Code Studies has always, at its foreground and background, the social. To study code is not to flee the world of globalization, economic inequality, participation gaps or issues of race, gender, or sexuality.
What line or lines of this code says the most about the way it operates on people, on culture - even if through processing data or interacting with all systems?
Let me provide a concrete example.
In my talk at DAC '09, I analyzed, in contrast to a few pieces of software art, a computer worm called annakournikova.
You may recall at some point receiving an email offering you a picture of the tennis ingénue, whom I have now come to know as a kind of trademark product bought and sold in professional tennis. If you received that email in 2001, you were most likely receiving not pictures, but a worm.
The worm operates by opening up a visual basic script file that grabs your address book and send out messages to your unsuspecting contacts. But you have to open first the file, an attachment, which you might think is a jpg file if you don't notice (or can't see displayed) the vbs appended to the end.
My reading was pursuing a question of the heteronormativity of code, an idea raised in Zach Blas' Transcoder SDK and anti-programming language. (Descriptions available here, here, and for code libraries here.)
My sense was that heteronormativity was something that, like so many other normalizing forces, replicated itself through tacit acceptance, by rendering itself as always already, and by hailing people into a system without making its operation or tenets explicit.
This heteronormativity operated within the bounds of professional tennis and professional modeling, selling the spectacle of high octane young women locked in the perilous volley of a clay court fashion show. When the covers of the sports magazine and the men's magazine (which at times are the same thing) share the same image, a notion of gendered sexual roles has been deployed. This could be called heteronormativity.
But where was this in the code of the worm? See 'Appendix A' at the bottom of this post. . Which lines of this code are worth commenting on?
First of all, this code had to be decrypted, using a simple caeser shift +2.
I focused my attention on this section:
Set thisScript =
FileSystemObject.opentextfile (wscript.scriptfullname, a)
thisScriptText = thisScript.readall
Set newFile = FileSystemObject.createtextfile (wscript.scriptfullname, true)
newFile.write thisScriptText
This most "wormy moment," as I call it in the article, marks the moment when the worm writes its own contents into a new file. It sets a variable thisScript when it calls the function opentextfile. Then it writes the contents it has read (its own code) into a new file.
Here was the operation of heteronormativity, writing itself into a person's value system by reproducing its contents in the mind of the person who accepts its deceptive hail, who is seduced into opening the file.
In this context, don't the various natural language affinities just pop out?
Script. (Here thinking of not just the scripts we read as the scripts - or instructions - computers and humans follow). Writing this ScriptText (composition has been automated here and it's predicated on copying). Creating a text file (the act of creation of something that is a copy of a copy that will render itself within the system. That this script text will be filled by a call to read all of this script.)
By the way, I have spoken with Chandler McWilliams about the sheer force of reading code aloud with students; it is very much like poetry in that at times, reading the line renders meaning that might not be apparent in the symbols. There is a line of Julie Levin Russo's code work piece that says:
$humanform->template->assign($body == 'identity' ? 'gender' : $body, $desire);
for the template of the variable humanform, assign the variable body gender if identity is true, but otherwise assign it merely the value of the variable body. And send variable desire while you are at it.
Of course, her work is a piece of code art. But even in the case of the worm code, it helps to read those lines aloud and to say what the operations are: assignment, evaluation, declarations, calls to function.
It is what the programmer must do in her head when she is reading those lines.
But wait, this worm was not handwritten by any programmer; it was written by another program. That's what we find out from the graffiti style tag in the word of the worm:
'Vbswg 1.50b
So what happens in our conversations about intentionality? What happens to meaning?
The meaning isn't there because someone hand-chose each line of code any more than the meaning of a building is there because the architect chose every nail or the author of a tract chose her own type font. But once those nails are there....
Meaning is a product of circulation through society and no doubt meaning is what the critic produces, not out of thin air as the skeptical freshman complains when he receives a C+ on his paper on Moby Dick, but out of the discourse networks of signification that surround all of these cultural texts.
Reply by Micha Cárdenas / Azdel Slade on February 1, 2010 at 1:14pm
Part of my intervention here is to do what I've learned from Avital Ronell, in her seminar on Lacan's purloined letter, that is to ask what is here that we can't see because it's staring us in the face. But also, preparing for this workshop I've been reading Ricardo Dominguez's references to code, and one of those is:
"For the hacker community, EDT [Electronic Disturbance Theater]'s gestures create awareness that something outside of code is relevant. For hackers this was simply not a matter of concern, as is the case for many actors who are only interested in the formal aspects of theatre and its particular history. Suddenly, with a FloodNet action, they face a code that simulates code and pushes code toward real structural inadequacies that cannot be resolved by code." - "On-Line Simulations/Real-Life Politics, Ricardo Dominguez Interviewed by Coco Fusco."
And that brings me to my desire to think about this code in a way that asks what is outside of the code. Specifically, I'm interested in how the code is executed, when it gets run. So I'm particularly interested in these lines:
newItem.Body="Hi:" & vbcrlf & "Check This!" & vbcrlf & " "
set attachments = newItem.Attachmentsattachments.
Add FileSystemObject.GetSpecialFolder(0) & "AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs"
This is where Anna Kournikova comes in and is where the link in the email message that is sent out is created. So the author of this virus is counting on someone to click this link in this email who is interested in seeing a .jpg file of Anna Kournikova. I would argue that the author is counting on a widespread sexual desire among computer users which is either male and heterosexual or lesbian to literally drive the virus, propagate it, ejaculate it. Given the widespread infection of this virus, I think we can say that the author's assumptions were correct. Yet this is not to oversimplify the matter, but to consider the ways in which the operative mechanism of the code is structured by a kind of digital sex culture of the Internet.
Further, to avoid oversimplification, if we consider the lesbian user who clicks on the Anna Kournikova.jpg.vbs link erroneously, perhaps in Outlook on her office PC, we can consider the complexity of emotions she may feel, including desire, but also fear of discovery, concerns about surveillance and possible legal and economic ramifications for her click which are then literally multiplied by the replication and spreading of the virus. As soon as we consider the desire embodied in the click, we can also consider the complex interplay of public and private that are revealed by the operation of the virus, the ownership of the computer and the networked nature of email.
But to return to the code itself, I was also struck by these lines:
Set newFile=
FileSystemObject.createtextfile(wscript.scriptfullname, True)
where the virus replicates itself. If we consider a rewrite of this code into a more literal pseudo-code and substitute the string value in, it could read like this:
Open AnnaKournikova
Insert myself into AnnaKournikova
Here, with a kind of loose (but also close) reading, one can read the author's desire again, possibly, and understand another possible reason for the naming of the virus as such. This leads me to recent writings by Galloway on interface and World of Warcraft. In the essay "The Unworkable Interface" Galloway proposes an idea of intraface, saying:
the intraface, that is, an interface internal to the interface...the implicit presence of the outside within the inside. And, again to be unambiguous, "outside" means something quite specific: the social... [WoW] firmly delivers an avant-garde lesson in politics. At root, the game is not simply a fantasy landscape of dragons and epic weapons but a factory floor, an information-age sweat shop, custom tailored in every detail for cerative ludic labor.
To conclude, my intervention here, which I will elaborate more later looking at my own code from technésexual, is to say that part of the Critical in Critical Code Studies, for me, has to look at the preconditions and outside forces which shape the code and shape us and our analysis of the code when we come into contact with it, but also to consider that any naive seeking for an outside quickly reveals that the outside and inside are mixed, enfolded, inseparable.
Reply by José Carlos Silvestre on February 1, 2010 at 2:59pm
I am not sure about much of the "gendered code" discussion. For instance, when Mark states:
One could argue instead that heteronormativity is positively enforced, and then erases its own history "in order to believe in itself," rather than actually propagating itself tacitly, as part of an Already-There. I was also quite surprised to find Micha reading self-replication as masculine in nature; why shouldn't we understand self-replication as female instead, the phallic suggestions of "writing" (that is lost in the digital, where it is in any case always already a metaphor) notwithstanding?
But I'd like to draw attention to another aspect of the Anna Kournikova worm. Self-replication was not new, of course; the worm's success rested instead on another realization of the potentiality of malicious programming, namely, a confusion between a file of (inert) data and an executable file, and of how the operating system distinguishes and represents both. A related device is found in other malicious applications which use overflows in data files to write arbitrary executable code. The fundamental security violation here occurs in what's perhaps the most basic abstraction of programming, that which separates strings of bits into "code" and "data." It is a pity that the programmer was not capricious enough to have the code also display a picture of Anna Kournikova, and extend this violation to the user's experience rather than restricting oneself to the OS's flawed representation thereof. This clever hack, moreover, mirrors that of self-replication, which travels the other way around: code manipulating itself as data behind the user interface. And so on.
Reply by Mark Marino on February 1, 2010 at 9:47pm
José,
I find your point about the slippage between code and data, or the mis-identification (by the user) to be particularly useful here.
But I would like to hear more about this line:
It is a pity that the programmer was not capricious enough to have the code also display a picture of Anna Kournikova, and extend this violation to the user's experience rather than restricting oneself to the OS's flawed representation thereof.
For me, the fact that the worm does not deliver hearkens back to what has been said about pornography: "to the extent that an 'imperative' is depicted and not 'delivered,' it fails to wield the power to construct (unilaterally, exhaustively) the social reality of what a woman is" (Judith Butler, Excitable Speech, 68).
That this worm does not deliver a picture reflects something at the (un)center of the Internet, links forever linking; it is why the search bar is the icon of the age, why more bandwidth does not lead to more satisfying or thoughtful content.
Again, this for me is the act of the normalizing force: a kind of bait and switch that leaves a reminding spot, a remnant of complicity. To return to the argument from my article, even though this is tacit, I don't see it as any less positive. Just as the role of sexuality is built into many sports, notably tennis.
And lastly: "This clever hack, moreover, mirrors that of self-replication, which travels the other way around: code manipulating itself as data behind the user interface."
Excellent... and also code programming users to execute.
Reply by Jeremy Douglass on February 2, 2010 at 1:39pm
I like where this is going. To continue considering the JPG (or lack thereof) in the context of Micha's original "what is outside of the code" point, there is a broader situation for the email reader of relevant personal, social, and software contexts.
One potential context is that the referenced pictures don't exist, but similar pictures do - the target audience of this worm has been exposed to them, or has reason to believe are available. Can you really understand the code of the virus without understanding why a person would complete the cybernetic feedback loop by activating? In that case, the ideal picture (the "purported" JPG) is motivating, but that motivation arises in part because of real examples of erotic JPGs as they were/are circulating on the Internet and over email in a whole erotic image ecosystem. These images (as much as Anna in her various manifestations) form part of the data that drives the cybernetic system.
This culture of Internet images (and the plausibility of such an image existing and circulating on the Internet) also informs the authoring context - the code couldn't be written in this way if the coder wasn't familiar with the effect of the cultural payload.
Many viruses, worms, and hacks rely on social engineering and/or user complicity to complete the circuit - hence the use of terms like "Trojan." One stance on computer security is to argue that a system is secure as long as you don't open the gates - that is, no matter how brilliant your worm, you can't compromise (penetrate, etc.) the system unless someone lets you in.
By the same token, one could argue that Troy was tactically invulnerable, and that the creation and use of the Trojan Horse was not a battle strategy. And yet, Troy fell.
Reply by Mark Marino on February 1, 2010 at 10:01pm
Micha,
I like your notion "a kind of digital sex culture of the Internet" which evokes for me Michael Heim's Erotic Ontology of the Internet. I also like your intervention about the full range of users who open that message. No doubt, there are others. I have in my head some trusting user of the Internet, maybe someone who uses it only to pass tales of grandchildren, perhaps using AOL, receiving the message and opening it, with no desire at all. The "why" of the worm's success is not revealed by its success.
As to your reading:
"Insert myself into AnnaKournikova" is a wonderful reading. We should add this to the methodologies, this "loose (but also close) reading" or this translation into pseudo-code.
You could also read that line as: I will write a new message and fill it with that which will not be named here.
Reply by Gabriel Menotti Gonring on February 1, 2010 at 4:31pm
I wasn't expecting to see something so close to a critical reading applied to code, but the results look promising! Being the first week, let me play the devil's advocate and wonder if this methodology cannot lead to the old problem of mistaking code with text, and treating it as a system of metaphors to be interpreted/discourses to be unveiled.
Would it be more productive (or even feasible, given peoples' backgrounds) to push forward algebraic or mechanistic analysis of what is being enacted by the codework? Instead of interpreting the code-as-text, analyzing the way the machine computes it, and the difference that might exist between these two 'interpretations' (reading/enactment)?
After all, those objects, variables and functions have these names because they are mnemonics in the first place - or poetical statements of the programmer that speak directly to us, 'critical readers'. For the machine, they 'mean' nothing.
Even the difference José makes between "(executable) code" and "(inert) data" has no point for the computer. A jpeg code is executable - of course, not by itself. But which piece of software is? The very idea of software is a functional abstraction, given the way logical and physical systems interrelate in computing. Maybe we cannot analyze code without foregrounding the containing platform - the layer in which code is read, compiled, interpreted.
Menotti: I thoroughly agree with your objection. The Turing Machine does not require an a priori distinction between commands ("executable code" in its basest) and (inert) data, and such distinction is also absent in small-scale integration digital circuits (i.e. logical gates), which are the deep-buried foundation of actual computers. It is for this reason - that this is an abstraction about binary data - that self-replication and Quine programs are possible in the first place. On the other hand, this is a very basic abstraction, since machine code enforces this separation: there are bits reserved for commands, bits reserved to reference registers, etc. And you can't goof around much with this, because this parsing happens on the hardware level and the processor's architecture is not itself reprogrammable.
I like your point that a jpeg file is executable in a sense. After all, it is a piece of code that, passed to another program (an image viewer), produces a certain effect - colored pixels on the screen - not unlike an executable file is passed to the OS to produce effects. Here the border becomes fuzzy: what counts as code? I can't see much of an essentialist difference, and I guess we must rely on situated practices and systemic conventions instead, as usual.
There are two texts that come to mind here that I think would be relevant. One is Kittler's There is No Software, and the other is the hacker-canonical poem The Story of Mel.
let me play the devil's advocate and wonder if this methodology cannot lead to the old problem of mistaking code with text, and treating it as a system of metaphors to be interpreted / discourses to be unveiled.
Ah, the devil is in the data.
I have been thinking a lot about this particular objection, since it came out in The Valve and in my conversations. The objection: to treat code as metaphors is a serious error. Such an objection suggests that we could make the exact same argument by substituting "butterflies" or, worse, that any line of code can speak to any process or notion. Or rather because code itself is a mostly arbitrary sign system, that the signs themselves are arbitrary and hence meaningless.
That last claim is an or-gate too far.
I try to avoid that fallacy by examining the way the piece of code speaks to its context of creation, circulation, and operation, reading the code against what it does and how it has or does operate.
But recently I've been realizing that code itself is deeply metaphorical. Not to move too far into the world of close reading and literary analysis, I open up my online OED and find:
metaphor:
2) Something regarded as representative or suggestive of something else, esp. as a material emblem of an abstract quality, condition, notion, etc.; a symbol, a token. Freq. with for, of.
and this wonderful quote by Emerson as example 1:
1836 R. W. EMERSON Nature iv. 41 Parts of speech are metaphors because the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind.
Code is metaphorical in the sense closer to N. Katherine Hayles' "material metaphors." On the one hand, it stands as a proxy between human readers and machine instructions. But on the other hand, it is a sign system that corresponds to another realm of discourse and interaction. It mediates.
Reply by Jennifer Lieberman on March 7, 2010 at 12:38pm
Even I'm suspicious of the interpretive moves I'm going to make here in the name of experimenting with a code hermeneutic. It's sloppy, because I haven't fully formulated my thinking about reading code yet - so I would love feedback.
Gabriel, I really liked what you said about wanting to see how the code works- how it is parsed into its various executable forms.
Like Mark, this makes me wonder what we might learn by considering alternative methods that would have the same effects from an end user's perspective. In other words, I'd like to consider contrasting the syntagmatic (what is actually on the page/screen) with the paradigmatic (the other possibilities or ideas represented by what is not on the page/screen).
I'd like to focus on the mathematical/programming paradigms at play in a program/code excerpt/inert data set (for example, object-oriented versus procedural). I think it is potentially interesting to think about when the code *needs* to switch between paradigms because it might not be possible or feasible to process another way, and when switching between paradigms is more of a stylistic choice. Though, I'd be wary of emphasizing the authors' intention here, because there are many factors that can go into this kind of authorial decision: maybe the programmer is more familiar with one language than another.
I think in either case, we may learn something nontrivial about how writing (and potentially reading) code involves conceptualizing the content in different ways. I don't think that there can be any facile interpretive method once we do parse this information out - I would hate for a reading that decries the politics of any object-oriented code because it objectifies language/people/ideas. But, perhaps at this point a literary-critical methodology might be useful in analyzing how each paradigm calls upon the writer (/reader?) to interpret what a program can/should do.
I am curious: what might we gain from thinking about the paradigms used to run a program? Are the assumptions embedded within programming paradigms accessible to the user, as well as the reader/writer? If not, is there anything worth saying about the erasure of the programming paradigm? Just a thought...
Reply by Gabriel Menotti Gonring on February 2, 2010 at 12:48am
Here the border becomes fuzzy: what counts as code? I can't see much of an essentialist difference, and I guess we must rely on situated practices and systemic conventions instead, as usual.
Word. But we should approach the analysis as situated and bounded by conventions as well. In practice, your rhetorical question is answered by our methodology ("what is our object?" "Our object is what we analyze / can analyze."), revealing epistemological limits - the same limits that also exist in the practice of coding.
(Slight detour: just as we want to bring code analysis into the humanities, shouldn't we try to push humanities out of itself?)
Inasmuch as we acknowledge the machine's (and society's) other layers, we don't mess with them (in any sense) - just the ones the code-text, as a description, refers to (heteronormativity, copyright license, etc). The problem might be that this leads to the analysis (and practice) of code as heavily self-contained pieces: if I want my code to be understood/read (by a certain public, in a certain way), I will write it as such - and this is true both for artists making statements and for generous developers that comment their lines throughout, use readable variables, etc. In any case, the critical reader seems to be just discovering the logic behind the coder intentions, as in a whodunit.
(In that sense, an alternative methodology that comes to mind is the judgment of demoscene contests, based on the comparison of the size of different code pieces regarding their output effects.)
Reply by Marisa Leavitt Cohn on February 2, 2010 at 12:14am
"This" is one of those same containers that hails us. It is always already but only because we take our desire as the agentic act, witholding desire and witholding the mouse-click as a non-action. We fall into the enframement of operational language when we do this. All the "reply to this" links on this page I did not click. Are they omissions, executions of choice, preference, votes of confidence in the meritocracy of ideas? The only way for me to participate in this conversation is to click and then to click some more. Am I being disciplined as a code scholar in this way?
I have no problem with close readings of code but I feel like the code snippet as an object and this fill-in text box are not such different animals. As pointed out by Gabriel, the calling out of any layer to read and interpret it is a kind of foregrounding. Why does the code snippet get to be actual code and the box not? They are both material metaphors... no?
The pseudo-code translation:
I will write a new message and fill it with that which will not be named here suggests exactly that, that the box which defines a message but has no message in it, or contains within it the scandalous non-message as the power behind all messages, is a kind of code.
This reminds me of work by Dina Friis Toft (Users as a Resource, Proceedings of 4S, 2009) on viral videos and how the unfolding narrative of a hoax being revealed as hoax is only received well by its audience when it provides a hint of its own wrapping - a way of looking for the answer as already contained in the message. We have already raised the idea that heteronormativity as expressed in the AK worm is rendered as always already. The form of code seems to be one of always already, so long as we are hailed into the operation. The always-already-ness depends upon the mouse-click which is itself another always already. The status as always already is one that rests in the case of the AK worm on the mouse-click as always already performed. Why does the mouse click, which may or may not occur, get presumed? Isn't this interpretation an effect of the worm in that it hails forth an impotent mouse-click, an action as non-action? We are perhaps conflating this impotence with the status of always already. The user who withholds the mouse-click undoes the always already status of the worm, and this withholding is in a way an act of resistance?
"Here the border becomes fuzzy? What counts as code?"
Does the mouse-click count as code? If our methods are to use the "context of creation, circulation, and operation" as the means for interpreting a line of code, then does the mouse-click get interpreted as contextual? When is the click the context and when is it an execution? The distance between the click and the code is perhaps the distance being replicated by the worm. The fact that the click is in an ambiguous status as execution/non-execution is perhaps exactly the script being played out again and again. How does the click count? On a website visitor count, on a banner ad click-through. When are mouse clicks counted and how are they counted? I think that the "click now and get some object of desire" is an instantiation of the question when does the click count? And the answer is a kind of yes of diminishing returns perhaps.
Material metaphors not only stand as a proxy, but make us all into proxies - the programmer and the user. The mouse is not a proxy finger but the finger is a proxy mouse or now with touch pads the finger is a proxy finger. Perhaps the AK worm program is a reading of the mouse-click? Rather than treating the mouse-click as an effect of code we might see it as a kind of code. We allow for get statements that fill in words to make up the pseudo-code that we interpret, so why not include the clicks, the enactments or performances by the user as part of the pseudo-code we interpret rather than as its context or periphery? Why not see the AK worm as a critical reading of the code "click"? We are attributing the always already to the image of a woman, but what about the always already of the click itself - a kind of embodiment of always-alreadyness?
I am an anthropologist by training, so please discipline me if I commit close reading sins.
Wow, Marisa,
Thank you so much for this comment. I'm going to underscore a few lines:
Material metaphors not only stand as a proxy, but make us all into proxies - the programmer and the user.
Does the mouse-click count as code?
I like this question of where the code ends. Mouse-clicks are events, right programmers?
But I think your challenge to the ontology of code offers opportunities for a more nuanced understanding, one that others have gotten into when they say the code of the worm is actually functioning within the software insecurities the worm plays on, a Latourian move to see the networks of code at work and the ways one piece of code is never bounded by the software that contains it.
Question: Are there other places in this worm's code or operation where we see traces of the other code with which it operates?
I also like that we may have to build CCS not around the notion of source code in isolation, but a set of programs operating together. What are all the programs referenced in AK?
My questions here pursue a line of reasoning raised here by Jeremy.
Reply by Stephen Ramsay on February 1, 2010 at 9:20pm
Self-replication (and the attendant phenomenon of indirect self reference) is hardly the only way to be destructive with code. In fact, considered simply as a way of taking down a computer, it's rather like the movie assassin, who, inexplicably, chooses to inflict a long speech upon his victim instead of killing him silently in his sleep.
But the quine is a game and a trick - a form of textual misrule. It's the grain of wheat at a1 that ends up being 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains on g8. It's the gremlin that decides to take a dip in the pool.
I have never known exactly which side to be on when it comes to comparing code to text (I'm distressed to hear one poster above refer to this as a settled question). I want to continue to withhold judgment on that, though to be honest, it reminds me of similar canards that appear in other discussions (like whether one can do literary critical analysis with computer games - as if a theoretical observation could ever act as an enforceable prohibition). And my ambivalence is handy here, because I want to say (following Mark) that this code structure is not created by the exigencies of engineering, but by the rhetorical need for an inside that resembles the outside.
Reply by Micha Cárdenas / Azdel Slade on February 1, 2010 at 11:10pm
And my ambivalence is handy here, because I want to say (following Mark) that this code structure is not created by the exigencies of engineering, but by the rhetorical need for an inside that resembles the outside.
I wonder if this is something fundamental about Critical Code Studies or Software Studies, a desire to be inside [the machine], or to get closer to the inside, or to get at "what's really going on". It parallels, for me, the way that performance art was a way at getting closer to the real, the real body of the artist, a real "live" exchange between audience and artist. It feels like there is some kind of desire in Critical Code Studies to say that by looking at the code, we can understand more clearly what the operation of contemporary society is, because so much of contemporary society "runs on code." And yet my desire is still to see what is outside of the code, what escapes the rhetoric of executable code, error conditions, presumptions, rebellious processes (and here perhaps I think of the code as a body the way my own body refuses to comply with the mythopoetic rules of society), the outside within the inside and the outside that structures the inside.
My own artistic practice tries to use code in a way that invites an audience into a moment which is unquantifiable, to use a digitally codified representation of analog signals to enact a certain affect. Here again, for the bibliography, I refer back to the cyberfeminists and their poems, such as in the book Cyberfeminism: Next Protocols, which I'll share a quote from soon.
Reply by Gabriel Menotti Gonring on February 2, 2010 at 1:00am
Once again, I think we are bound by epistemological limits. How can we possibly judge if the inside (of the machine, I suppose) resembles the outside ('code-as-description')? The supposed inside is limited by the compiler, an abstract (and arbitrary) interpreter in itself.
Conversely, when reduced to its schematic skeleton, isn't rhetoric a form of engineering?
Reply by Stephen Ramsay on February 2, 2010 at 7:51am
I love the idea of rhetoric as engineering generally, but I'm particularly drawn to it in this context.
What's troubling us, I think, is the impression we have that "text" is an infinite field of open-ended signification, while code is tightly constrained, context free, and highly limited. "Look, man, that's just the way you write a for-loop in VB. Try not to get too carried away."
But of course, "text" is not an open-ended field of signification. It's not "anything goes" in contrast to the "only one thing goes" of code. "Rhetoric as engineering" reminds us of that, by emphasizing the way that all writing is writing under constraint and highly embedded. Maybe even, if you'll pardon me, "compiled."
It makes me wonder if the patron saint of CCS might be Wittgenstein (as opposed to, say, Deleuze).
At the same time, I also want to quote Micha Cárdenas / Azdel Slade's sterling phrase above, which I think catches us all out right away:
I wonder if this is something fundamental about Critical Code Studies or Software Studies, a desire to be inside [the machine], or to get closer to the inside, or to get at "what's really going on."
CCS certainly has this razor sharp rhetorical tool at the ready. "Ah, idiot lecteur...what you're looking at is the outward illusion. Inside, we can see what's really going on." But then, two things about that:
1. That might be the fundamental rhetorical move of criticism as such.
2. Mark is trying his damndest not to do that.
Reply by Jeremy Hunsinger on February 6, 2010 at 9:57am
Technically we have two sets of measures of the inside of the machine. There is the grey literature, which describes the machine, and I include internal documentation and environment variables here. Those define what the state of the machine is supposed to be. However programmes and systems administrators also have a set of tools to explore the machine that allows us to find where the machine might be slightly different and how to account for that: perhaps one of the processor pipes or the memory has an error, etc. In short, there are some ways to find some things out about what we can 'know' about the 'machine.' That said, it is possible, as the code we were talking about seems to indicate, that elements can be occluded from the possibility of knowing.
Of course, most of that has no real connection to how and why code works in most normal conditions.
I don't see why code as text can't be settled in one community and not settled in a plurality of others, or its inverse. That's sort of the way that knowledge works... different communities can hold different axiomatic and different axiological systems, operating completely differently, yet still everyone is producing knowledge though holding different beliefs about that knowledge. There is no necessity for the old 'unity of knowledge,' 'everyone must agree,' or 'everyone cannot hold contradictory beliefs' constructs of modernity unless of course that is the game we are playing.
Reply by Barbara Hui on February 2, 2010 at 4:53pm
I wonder if this is something fundamental about Critical Code Studies or Software Studies, is a desire to be inside [the machine], or to get closer to the inside, or to get at "what's really going on."
Hm, well maybe it's not so much a "desire" as the recognition that there's a difference between "close reading" text (or code as text) on the one hand, and paying close attention to the way in which software (as a package) exists/runs in a social context on the other? Forgive if I'm being a n00b here, but maybe there's a problem with the name "Code Studies"? "Software Studies" seems to be a better name for what Mark and Micha are doing, for example, because it implies attention to the "outside" rather than to what the lines of code themselves are doing - and there is a qualitative/epistemological difference between software as it is interacted with by humans vs. how it is interacted with by machines, no? (I suspect I'm stating something that's been stated many times before here).
What confuses me about CCS so far is that it seems to want to do several things, each of which I view with various degrees of curiosity, suspicion and interest. The thing I'm most ambivalent about is the move to read lines of code as text, i.e. computer code as a sort of poetry or metaphor. This just strikes me as a bit silly and ultimately open to any interpretation you could possibly imagine, although I freely admit that might just be the skeptical coder in me not being open-minded enough. Still, as somebody who writes code for a living (and also for use by humanities scholars), the idea of taking the code I wrote today (or any day) and close reading it in the way one reads poetry or literature seems pointless and absurd (being blunt here to make the point, of course).
Now, it seems to me that what Mark and Micha are doing, for example, is saying something more interesting than this about the "code" - but in order to do so, they make the move of abstracting the "code" away from its executable/utilitarian/functional context so that it becomes text. Mark, for example, brings in the example of TransCoder and SlashGoggles, both of which are not actual code in the sense of being executable, but rather texts posing as computer code via the use of code-like syntax. Both of these examples are brilliant parodies of and commentaries on computer culture, but don't really help us to read code itself in its originary context.
Of course Micha (and Marisa with her desire to bring the mouse-click into the discussion) want to discuss the social context of the software that's created by the lines of code, and this is a rich approach, especially because current software is interactive and involves feedback loops. But again, we've moved away from the code and towards the software (as a larger 'package' or entity?), which is all interesting and good, but not "code" studies. Is it?
but in order to do so, they make the move of abstracting the "code" away from its executable/utilitarian/functional context so that it becomes text.
Very well-put. This is what I was calling, borrowing from Pias, "hermeneutics forgetful-of-technics." Not something to be discarded, but very dangerous indeed.
Source code is supposed to be read, and you can tell a good programmer by the clarity and readability of his code. Code has its own conventions about how one goes about reading it, though, and these conventions guide how code is written and how programming languages and environments are engineered. OOP, for example, doesn't do much for performance - with all its added overhead and whatnot - but has become a leading paradigm because of its modularity and readability: that is to say, because it is, in some sense, intuitive for a programmer and adequate for the demands programmers face in practice (for instance, of constantly editing code for slightly different purposes). These conventions, and the possible justifications thereof (such as being intuitive and adequate for common purposes), still lack, [as far as I know], a thorough critical study.
This point in which code is read, and supposed to be readable, is where code borrows from text and becomes a sort of hybrid, and this, along with the "software studies" dimension you just mentioned, create the possibility for the kind of dangerous reading you and I are alerting people about, and maybe even the necessity that code be also read as one commonly reads text. The enterprise is still a cart ahead of its horse, though, until a better understanding of code as it is commonly read and practiced is sedimented.
I find the discussion has taken two different paths, which often meet in the same posts: one is the gendered, forgetful-of-technics reading that takes code loosely as though it were text, and the other is a more conceptual concern about the very limits of code. Gabriel cleverly pointed out that the border between data and code is blurry and possibly arbitrary; Marisa blurred another border, that between the activity of the programmer and the interaction of the user. Another, more radical blurring is suggested when Mark spoke of the code "programming the user to click", and Gabriel and Stephen entertained the notion of rhetoric as engineering: there is a bold, Kittleresque leap in there, extending programming - if not coding - beyond the programming of digital machines.
All great points here, José. I wonder, partly to play devil's advocate but also partly in all seriousness, if it shouldn't be incumbent on practitioners of CCS to also be skilled/experienced writers of functional code? Just wondering this because it tends to be the programmers who raise the sorts of red/yellow flags that we've raised. Meanwhile, non-coders are happy to abstract code and practice hermeneutics forgetful-of-technics. I remember somebody at DAC calling the objection we're raising "the programmers' objection."
It's just that, as a programmer, you look at code and read it in a functional/utilitarian/executable way, while I imagine that somebody who's not a coder reads it as text. Those two people will come away with two fundamentally different readings of the same "code."
Since we are going into the "author's subconscious desire" here, I think it is important to remember that the author of the AK Worm, Jan de Wit, did not write the self-replication routine himself, but borrowed it from another programmer, who goes by the nickname [K]Alamar. (Details here)
So, if we are to attempt to reconstruct the origin of the worm, it goes somewhat like this:
1. A generic worm generator is written by [K]Alamar. At this point, there is just an empty field for a filename to be clicked by the user; once this is clicked, the worm replicates and propagates itself. It is difficult to argue for unconscious gendered discourse at this point: self-replication here can just as well be read as "giving birth" to another similar to oneself, but there is little to invite this reading either way. (If, for example, one used the promise of a game of Tetris as bait, which at this point is just as likely, would we have thought of gendering the code at all?)
2. Jan de Wit considers how to get people to click the worm, the key security breach. We can reconstruct this in two steps:
A) It must not look like a worm, it must look harmless. Executable files are dangerous; data files are harmless. So let's make it look like a data file. This, I insist, is the crucial insight in the creation of this particular worm.
B) It must be something people would be willing to click. So Jan de Wit decides to fill in that generic field (from code he did not write) with a promise of a pornographic picture. This is where concerns about sex and gender become relevant - and do not get me wrong: I do think they are extremely relevant to read the piece of code in question. Would it have been less effective if something else had been chosen? When I check my spam folder at Gmail, I see a lot of similar worms: posing as text files, MS Excel files, and so on. Most often, they pose as personal communication, rather than impersonal file-sharing of pornography or the like. Consider, here, how the I Love You virus or Nigerian scammers trick users.
3. There we go. Send it in to unsuspecting targets.
When we consider this genesis of the worm, the idea that there was a subconscious drive to "write 'anna kournikova' and insert 'myself' into it" becomes considerably less plausible. There is also the uncompellingly obvious reading of the viral self-replication of an infection that is acquired by sexual conduct, and many other readings that proceed by metaphor.
When you look for "subconscious desires" in the writing of the code, you are talking about symbolic substitutions, which can still be safely called metaphors. And metaphor does not belong to what we could name the "system of code," that is, coding as it is thought of in computer science: you are reading a textual dimension to code. I know this is a deliberate move (and Pias, in the original context of critical analysis of video-games, also describes Technik-vergessene Hermeneutik as a deliberate forgetfulness). Again, I do not claim that this is irrelevant or futile per se; much to the contrary, I agree with Marino that this kind of reading is necessary. But it is a dangerous way to read code, especially if we do this before we have undertaken more code-ish investigations, such as trying to reconstruct the coding procedures that generated the worm.
Reply by Jeremy Hunsinger on February 6, 2010 at 10:06am
A person who reads early Foucault without having read Borges and Bataille has a totally different experience from a person who has read Borges and Bataille. Some people read Foucault for the limited utilitarian applications also, which I find sad. But code literacy/cultural literacy or just plain literacy in your areas of study has always been a key to understanding. However...so is the element of difference, so a person that is taught to code from an engineering background would be different, as you say above. But then...it is through the understanding of the possibilities of difference that we can really generate interesting insights. So if X reads something as Z, and I read it as V, the interesting part is why X is different from V, and perhaps even why X is the same as V. There is always a plurality of readings; there have been whole disciplines founded and lost on the basis of getting standard readings and/or understandings. Many are still ongoing: hermeneutics, etc. Some are pretty lost, such as Diplomatics, the subfield of Library Science, which sought to in part define the provenance and original readings of documents, or discover it.
Reply by Hugh Cayless on February 2, 2010 at 6:20pm
The thing I'm most ambivalent about is the move to read lines of code as text, i.e. computer code as a sort of poetry or metaphor.
I'm with you on this, Barbara. As someone who spends a lot of time writing code, I think it's dangerous to project too much meaning onto it. At the same time, I can't help but feel there's something to CCS. Programs do have styles, their creators have motivations for writing as they do, and there may be productive ways of reading code that go beyond the purely technical analysis of its function.
I'm a bit skeptical of pulling out bits of code and quoting them for effect, the way one might a line of poetry. It's utterly unremarkable that a worm opens a file and writes a copy of itself into it when executed. By definition, that's the sort of thing worms do. What interests me about the Anna Kournikova virus is its ineptitude. It doesn't attempt to do anything actually malicious, even though it certainly could have. The problems it caused were incidental to its success at replicating itself. The program is a relatively innocent, adolescent effort, made dangerous to mail systems by the author's hitting on a sexually tempting name for the payload. In this instance, the social aspect is probably the most interesting thing about the code. But I don't think that's always necessarily going to be the case.
Reply by Mark Marino on February 3, 2010 at 11:34am
I love it when you say:
The program is a relatively innocent, adolescent effort, made dangerous to mail systems by the author's hitting on a sexually tempting name for the payload.
What about this specific code reveals it to be an "adolescent effort"? I hear you implying that there is something sophomoric about that act of making the code, but is the code itself somehow adolescent (representative of an immature programmer)? If so, can you point to particular lines? As someone who codes, do you see something in the way the code is structured? Since it was generated by a worm-making program, wouldn't it almost be an infantile or toddler effort, requiring almost no knowledge of programming?
This for starters:
if month (now)=1 and day (now) = 26 then
WScriptShell.run "Http://www.dynabyte.nl," 3,false
This is where the virus' true payload would go, if it had one. The modus operandi of these things being a) propagate as far as you can, b) plant some sort of evil program on the host computer (often set to trigger on a particular date). The code above looks like a fairly dimwitted attempt to figure out how to deploy a malicious payload. But it doesn't look to me like working code. I'm pleased to say that my VB skills are very rusty, but the condition will only be met if the script is executed on Jan. 26, and I'm not sure if the command within the if block will work. This says that the second argument to the Run method is a command (such as one you'd type into a Windows command line). All there is, is a URL. A more sophisticated virus might download and execute another program, or plant a piece of code and set it to execute at a later date, etc.
So it reads to me like the author doesn't really understand how this stuff works. I don't know how much code the generator itself supplied, so it's a bit hard to gauge the level of skill here, but it's not high. I say "adolescent" because this is a prank on the intellectual level of toilet-papering someone's house. What's interesting about it is the social context, the ease with which it was created, and the way it spread.
I think the code itself is basically junk. That's an aesthetic as well as a utilitarian judgment. Perhaps the fact that I feel comfortable making such a judgment points to a way forward though. If some code is identifiable as junk, other code must be the opposite. What's the basis for making that kind of distinction?
Excellent, Hugh, this, what you have done is CCS.
Don't get me wrong, I don't seek literary or highly proficient code to read. I don't see CCS as literature class for Computer Science majors, although some code may be so innovative and profound. I am interested in code objects both mature and immature.
Noting the level of apparent knowledge of the programmer is key, though, because it's such a big part of the bravado and Perling competition of programmers.
Perhaps one of the important parts of CCS is choosing an interesting piece of code to read, which Mark has clearly done here by choosing a virus that works through obfuscation and tricking the user and that so clearly invites transversal lines of analysis including gender, sexuality, interface and authorship.
I wonder about Barbara's question above in relation to Hugh's analysis, where she asks "I wonder, partly to play devil's advocate but also partly in all seriousness, if it shouldn't be incumbent on practitioners of CCS to also be skilled/experienced writers of functional code?"
It seems very much like asking, can only queer people write queer theory, or can only people who engage in queer practices write queer theory, which seems problematic to me. Although it's further problematic in this case because there is a history which we have to deal with of people who are male and of European descent being encouraged to study science and technology. Formulating a field like Critical Code Studies might be setting up parameters so that only people who understand code can do it. If that is so, then it would seem to exclude a lot of people along lines of race, class and gender who could have something very valuable to add to the conversation. And yet, a main part of the idea seems to require a proficiency in reading code and understanding how it operates, not just its semantic or linguistic level.
So I don't have an answer here, I'm just raising concerns, but it seems like there's an emerging idea here about analyzing code across a number of strata, with as many dimensions as possible perhaps, and finding those places where the dimensions interact, as Mark said 'when code does what it says' [to paraphrase] or thinking about the ways in which semantics and operational characteristics interact, such as certain words being chosen for a particular audience of programmers because they make sense to that audience.
Reply by Jonathan Cohn on February 2, 2010 at 6:24pm
Hm, well maybe it's not so much a "desire" as the recognition that there's a difference between "close reading" text (or code as text) on the one hand, and paying close attention to the way in which software (as a package) exists/runs in a social context on the other?
Hi, I'm really enjoying everyone's comments so far. It seems like this question of whether code should be close read really hinges on whether it is considered a type of text or discourse or not. As someone who is relatively new to this, I'm not entirely sure why or if performing a critical code reading can't work hand in hand with a critique of how it performs when run. I am to a large extent in the camp that says everything should be close read. What I am pondering right now is what kind of information one can gather from a close reading of the code of a program versus a reading of what happens when it is run, or viewed as a compiled program. I pose this question primarily because many of the points I can come to via a close reading of the code are the same ones I would come to by seeing a copy of the email message itself, or of hearing about how it spread itself. The issue of how Anna Kournikova's appearance in this program relates to online (masturbatory) sexuality can be unpacked in similar ways by looking at the code or the executable program. I am trying to think more about the way jpg works in this situation by to some extent creating a confusion of signs, identity and aura. Like a mirage, it appears to act as an extension of Kournikova the celebrity, but really it seems to refer to a different Kournikova entirely (e.g. the picture vs. the worm script).
I am really interested in this snippet, to a large extent because it does something that is only perennially visible/accessible/actionable in any form other than by looking at the code itself. The choice of date and website is something of a mystery to me, but it seems to call for a more nationalist type of reading of this code (transnational code studies, perhaps?). While Kournikova is famously Russian, there seems to be some sort of Netherland Pride in this code and it is set in relationship to the online electronics store and to Kournikova herself. Not knowing very much about the Netherlands and its current relationship with Russia, I would love to hear more from others if I am missing or misreading any cultural codes.
Also, I am wondering how the spacing of the code was created, whether by Marino, the code translation program or something else entirely. There is something very poetic about the spacing (which I seem to be failing at adequately recreating) in:
(FileSystemObject.fileexists (wscript.scriptfullname))
newFile.Close
Function doMail()
and the last few lines...
For the programming language to force (or allow) the programmer to have to think about Doing and not doing (as well as fullNames, Texts and truth) in terms of a file's existence seems to create an interesting nexus of key terms concerning identity and the self in terms of code. This along with the repetitious ending full of deferrals and conditionals (Next, End if) - it all feels very Hamlet to me.
It's funny, but to me this doesn't read as poetry at all, but instead as the rather badly-formatted endings of several nested "if" statements and a function. I'm bothered that the 2nd-to-last "end if" isn't capitalized, while the others are, and the fact that they're not indented is also annoying to me, personally 🙂 I also don't have any thoughts about "do"-ing in the sense of identity, or existence, but rather in terms of having the computer execute a loop of code statements. I'm more worried about whether the logic and syntax is correct and the end statements line up, etc.
I'm having these reactions because this appears as executable/functional code (that might have to be read/understood by another programmer) to me, whereas I think it appears to you as text, right?
Perhaps programmers acquire a different/additional kind of literacy that is very difficult to ignore once you become fluent in it?
As though we had been programmed by our coding. I would also like to ask you to share some of your code, if you'd like to: I learned you are interested in geography and mapping (something I have tentatively tinkered with as well recently, but only in very simple, codewise-uninteresting projects) and I think this could be a great place to merge the two strands of reading code. How does one go about organizing a digital environment to map a territory: that is to say, how does one go about creating a map for maps, so to say? The kind of engineering decisions here can lend themselves well to critical study.
Barbara,
While I think you are making important interventions, I want to clarify what I mean when I refer to code as a text.
When I say that we should interpret code as text, I do not mean that we need to read source code (only) as strings of characters or a collection of words the way we would read a text, such as a poem, an essay, or a story. In other words we should not read it by ignoring its functionality or its other layers of meaning (semantic, historic, artistic, mathematic).
Instead, I mean that we should read or interpret the code as a cultural object. Here, CCS builds on the work of Cultural Studies, the work of Stuart Hall and others, who opened up our objects of study by critically interpreting visual texts. That together with semiotics opened the way for critiques of the Sony Walkman or even the Bonaventure Hotel.
The characters as words or word-like signifiers are one part of our readings, as data are another, as instructions are another, as ways of manipulating electronic signals another... et cetera.
One more note,
I tend to draw on vocabulary from literary studies: interpretation, close reading, etc.
But when I talk about close reading code like close reading poetry or Moby-Dick, I don't mean to suggest that code=poetry or that code expressions are written with some kind of poetic ambitions but to say that when we study code, we should deploy the most rigorous examination of the object and all its facets and functions, including the context in which it circulates, and in my training, I have learned that the most exacting standards exist in the context of close reading poetry.
Do other disciplines offer other methodologies we could reference effectively?
Reply by John Bell on February 3, 2010 at 9:06pm
I would agree with that, though I think I would differentiate between syntax literacy and logic literacy. VB isn't a language I've ever used, but I'm still annoyed by the lack of indentation in that code. I'd call that syntax literacy, even though technically it's not a syntax error since it compiles...maybe the code equivalent of a split infinitive.
I'm more interested in the logic literacy, though. I don't mean that in terms of all programmers know formal logic, I mean it in the sense that there are structures that - independent of the programming language - programmers use to make things work. How does that literacy change the way a programmer approaches a non-programming problem? Does it matter if they cut their teeth on a procedural language, as opposed to those new kids with their fancy objects and classes? And is there anything in those methods that the non-programmer can apply without ever writing so much as "Hello, world"?
Reply by Mark Marino on February 3, 2010 at 11:44
VB isn't a language I've ever used, but I'm still annoyed by the lack of indentation in that code.
I want to supply you with two useful pieces to consider.
The first are screen shots of the decrypted code as rendered in The Hacker's Handbook.
The second is a cut-and-paste copy of the encrypted code.
Not sure of this, but I believe the indentation in the handbook was produced by them. The "original" encrypted code has little formatting, but line breaks.
I also post the encrypted version in anticipation of Jeremy Douglass' talk for Week 2 in which he will consider the particular challenges to choosing and viewing primary sources in CCS. What is the form of the code we should analyze? What are the obstacles to presenting and sharing a text?
As I mention in the article, one of the reasons I chose to read this worm is that it was both generated (in part) by using code-generating software and also because in its (arguably) native form, it was encrypted, with much of the code appearing as noise to the naked or uncalculating eye. Because of my relationship to CCS, I'm fascinated by the edge-cases or the cases that seem to challenge the fundamental assumptions of CCS.
What are some of these edge cases? What is unreadable? What code is so meaningless that a cultural critic should just leave it because any meaning they would find in the code would be useless to the rest of the world, to discussions of technoculture?
By the way, while thumbing through some Stuart Hall's written texts, I came across a passage that struck me as very instructive to what we are doing here. This passage comes from the introduction to Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies.
The first issue of Working Papers in Cultural Studies appeared in 1972. The title 'Working Papers' was deliberately intended to set the terms of our approach in a number of respects. This was not the scholarly journal of the field - which, indeed hardly as yet existed. We laid no proprietary claim on it. We recognized that, if Cultural Studies 'took off', it would deploy a greater variety of approaches than we could produce within the Birmingham Centre.... We also recognized that a particular 'mix' of disciplines woven together...to form the intellectual base of Cultural Studies would not necessarily be reproduced exactly elsewhere. We could imagine that Cultural Studies degrees or research based, just as effectively, on visual (rather than literary) texts, on social anthropology (rather than sociology) and with a much stronger input of historical studies than we drew on in the early days....
Hence the journal specifically refused, at the outset, to be a vehicle for defining the range and scope of Cultural Studies in a definitive or absolute way. We rejected, in short, a descriptive definition or prescription of the field.
Could this be a model for the work we are doing here?
Reply by Evan Buswell on February 3, 2010 at 3:46pm
I'm collecting some responses to several people here.
Near the top of this thread, Jeremy says:
Can you really understand the code of the virus without understanding why a person would complete the cybernetic feedback loop by activating? In that case, the ideal picture (the "purported" JPG) is motivating, but that motivation arises in part because of real examples of erotic JPGs as they were/are circulating on the Internet and over email in a whole erotic image ecosystem. These images (as much as Anna in her various manifestations) form part of the data that drives the cybernetic system.
And further down, Barbara says:
Now, it seems to me that what Mark and Micha are doing, for example, is saying something more interesting than this about the "code," - but in order to do so, they make the move of abstracting the "code" away from its executable/utilitarian/functional context so that it becomes text.
I think there's a feeling that there's something between the relationship of the code and our readings that isn't getting articulated, a missing link in our methodologies. I feel that way too.
What I'm not seeing in all of this is the interpreter. To whom, from whom, or in what system does the Anna K virus convey, prescribe, express, and/or repeat a heteronormative perspective qua code? I think Mark's, Micha's, and Jeremy's comments about the way the code is hailing the user through the click, and the way the human is implicated and hijacked in the propagation of the virus, are all apt comments. But if this is the issue, we're reading the wrong program. The code which enables that operation is in MS Outlook (presenting and opening attachments, communicating with email servers), the Microsoft OS (providing the facilities to run the virus), etc. And we certainly do find some assumptions this code is making: that the user always knows what they're doing, and that even if they don't, we can use after-the-fact virus scanners to supplement this unprotected email (I hate to think of the real sexual risk behavior that might accompany these assumptions).
But as others have pointed at, this is analyzing behavior, not actual lines of code. So let's return to the code that commands the virus to reproduce.
The code of this virus is rather difficult to read because of really awful indentation, but incidentally, the code that's been quoted above isn't actually where the virus duplicates itself (that bit is for keeping the user from deleting the file--interesting in its own right). The reproductive line in question is:
FileSystemObject.copyfile wscript.scriptfullname,
FileSystemObject.GetSpecialFolder(0)&"Annakournikova.jpg.vbs"
For the programmer, there are particular things about this code that invite him to think about what he's doing in a specific way, and these are very particular to VBScript as a language. The first is that rather than a simple C-style copy() procedure, this procedure is tied to FileSystemObject, an object that is synonymous with its class (probably not actually an object in the technical sense, but most programmers won't know that), an actor that exists prima facie to the program, uncreated. Further, the GetSpecialFolder(0) function, which via a quick Google search I learn is used to get the C:Windows folder, invites the programmer to further consider the benevolent presence of the operating system presiding over and facilitating everything, C:Windows is not just the folder where the OS happens to be stored, but a "special" folder. I very much doubt that only programmers finalized these VBScript names; MS management wants to encourage this sort of relationship between programmer and OS. Seen in this context, the code is subversive. The author is commanding the OS - presented by vbs as a benevelent overlord - to use its own procedures, inviting into its innermost sanctum, its SpecialFolder, a file that is using it as a mere means of propagation. In this case, "virus" is not just a word for a type of software, but is probably operative metaphorically, giving the programmer a sense of pleasure in misusing a baroque and unfathomable code system to recreate his little toy, just as a biological virus misuses a complex animal. The benevelent overlord is subjected to a reductio ad absurdum, to a critique. But in this perspective, the place of the actual email message and the place of the user in the propagative loop are both passed over (not coded for, in a certain sense). They are the prelude to the main action.
For the user, of course, this prelude is all they are generally aware of. And this, I think, brings up some fundamental questions that critical code studies is going to need to answer if it doesn't want to reduce itself to a strange but interesting branch of computer science. How is the prelude structured by the code? Or more generally, how can invisible writing produce meaning? The answer, of course, lies in a critique of the question: this code is not as invisible as it pretends to be. But how and where does it show up? In what ways do the programmers and their code constellate with the presence of the society of users (coding by clicking, as Marisa brought up, but also by reprogramming, by disassembling/cracking, etc.) and with the assumptions of the operating environment (the Von Neumann machine, hierarchical filesystem, object-oriented language, etc.) to produce meaning?
Reply by zach blas on February 5, 2010 at 7:15am
Hi everyone--
I'm somewhat late to this discussion but happy to finally join in!
I'd really like to take a moment to consider methodology. It seems to me that many of the posts here, in so many different ways, are asking what is critical code studies, how should/can we read code in a "critical" capacity, what types of "code" lend themselves to critique more so than others, how much of the "outside" do we allow in our "readings" of code... Indeed, a lot of defining and attempts to stake methodological territory seem to be playing out. I'd like to share a passage from Alex Galloway's recent essay, "The Anti-Language of New Media," and think about this in relation to my own stance against reductive methodological approaches:
The main difficulty with a book like The Language of New Media, for all its strength, is not simply that it participates in the various squabbles over this or that formal detail. Are games fundamentally about play or about narrative? What has greater semiotic priority, code or interface? In the end these territorial skirmishes do not interest me much... Let me be clear, it is not so much that these sorts of books are misguided (and not so much to pick on Manovich, for there are scores of other texts that do similar work; his simply is one of the earliest and most accomplished examples), but that their conclusions are unappetizing. This is the crux of the matter: they contain no injunction. The problem is not formal definition - for after all I am willing to participate in such a project, suggesting for example that with informatic machines we must fundamentally come to terms with the problem of action. The sticking point is that, in this instance, the use of formalism as a method does not ultimately conform most faithfully to the object at hand. That is, if the computer were a formal medium, then perhaps our analysis of it could be too. But my position is that it is not. So in a certain sense, Manovich is avant-garde, performing an "intervention," while my call is much more conservative. If the language (of new media) is really an executable language and not simply a natural one, then would it not make sense for one's critical appraisal to be in step with that same notion of executability? So when I say their conclusions are unappetizing I mean it in the most mundane sense: that the discourse on "excitable" machines does not, to put it bluntly, excite me. In other words, if computers must be understood in terms of an ethics (those who wish instead to call it a politics should do so), then the discourse produced about them must also fulfill various ethical and political expectations. Else what is the good?
Galloway's text here can easily be turned toward the above-mentioned questions about critical code studies. Are questions about how we chose to read the code the ones we should be primarily asking? How important is it really to define exactly what one means by the phrase "code as text"? When Mark says in his introductory video that he will constantly point us toward actual code to discuss, will this code alone, following Galloway's claim, permit us to satisfy, in his view, the necessary ethical and political expectations of criticism? In part here, I am asking what are the "territorial skirmishes" we should be avoiding in critical code studies?
I think this returns us to Micha's first post, when she quoted Ricardo Dominguez stating that "something outside of code is relevant." In fact, this engagement with the outside seems absolutely required if we are to formulate a politics of (a) code.
So for me, like Mark has said, we should be turning toward specific pieces of code, but we should be open to reading this in a multitude of ways, in that the politics to be articulated resides from us (an outside) intervening into the reading of a specific piece of code and all the relationalities this gives rise to.
So for example, I don't find it "silly" to read computer code as poetry or metaphor, in general. It just depends on why you're choosing to read it that way.
I've been recently interested in all the speculative realist philosophy that's been coming out lately (on blogs and in books), and the other day I was struck reading this passage from planomenology's blog on "does speculative realism exist?": "The question is not whether this conception is right or wrong, but whether it is effective, whether it can have a real impact." This harkens back to Deleuze for me: it's not a matter of this style of reading or interpreting being more valuable or appropriate than another, it's what that reading does.
Interestingly, when Micha visited me at Duke a couple weeks ago, we spent a good chunk of time talking about Agamben's concept of the "inoperative." Agamben calls for a politics of the inoperative, which doesn't necessarily mean something ceases to function technically. This connects quite nicely with Wendy Chun's claim that there can never be a purely technological solution to a political problem (here's that outside again). I wonder if rendering code "inoperative" in his sense would be one way to move toward Galloway's call for an ethics/politics? I'm sure Micha will have thoughts on this!
Reply by Federica Frabetti on February 5, 2010 at 2:34pm
I'm impressed by the level of this discussion and find it hard to follow every strand. Perhaps I've missed a little bit, so i'm asking for clarification here. My question is: how did we manage to lose/subsume/obscure the LESBIAN clicker on Anna's image WITHIN the functioning of wormy heterosexuality???
A lesbian armed with a mouse seems to function EXACTLY IN THE SAME WAY as a straight man in perpetuating the worm of heterosexuality - at least in the context of this snippet of code. Something doesn't ring true to me.
So I suppose the question could also be: why (and how) is this difference obfuscated in (this piece of) code? Is there any place in this specific instance of code (again I would ask: in code, but I'm too scared of being told off for speaking in the abstract) where straight and queer desires can be told apart? If not, is code always straight? Can we 'queer' it and how?
Seriously, it seems to me that here the lesbian clicker could be the point of opacity (sorry, who mentioned deconstruction earlier on?) of our methodological open problem of the relationship between code and the social - which is also the problem of the over- or under-exegesis of code and of its possible metaphorical nature.
I must say I am personally very suspicious not only of the claim that the nature of code is metaphorical but of every claim on the 'true' nature of code. But right now i'm much worried about the neglected lesbian clicker.
Oh, and Mark, I LOVE your piece on 'Disrupting Heteronormative Codes', especially because of the emphasis you (meaning the AnnaKournikova worm) give to the users' predictability. Still i'm not sure that malware is absolutely straight and that queer code is always destabilizing/subversive.
But I am with you on this point: code always - erm, generally - sometimes -sorry!! - relies on the interplay between calculability and uncalculability. At least, it seems to me that this interplay has a great importance in your piece on queer code.
I am also wondering: is the meaning of code perhaps not the only thing we should look for when reading it? In a way, to go back to the beginning of this discussion, I am much more with Gabriel Menotti in this (if I understand you correctly, Gabriel).
On the one hand, I don't want to read the social in code - not necessarily - i.e. although the idea that the meaning of code derives from social networks of circulation is very interesting and perfectly viable, I wonder whether there are other (alternative) ways of making sense of code. Again, I am not even sure that searching for the meaning of code is the most interesting thing to do - although definitely important. On the other hand, I don't want to read code functionally either - i.e., I don't want to read code in order to 'make it work', as I did when I was a programmer.
So HOW do I want to read code? I apologize for the word again but yes, perhaps 'deconstructively' could be a possible way to frame it. Ok, Federica - for example?
For example a bit of code is interesting to me when it is unclear whether it 'works' or not - i.e. when the notion of 'expected behaviour' is put into question, and when a decision must be made (on the part of the so-called 'human', for instance, which I agree is not something we can easily tell apart from code and its various (mal)functionings) whether the behaviour of a certain piece of code is a malfunction or not.
But to read a piece of code in this way, a lot more is needed than that piece of code. I need the specifications (of the 'expected/acceptable/erroneous behaviour'), and perhaps design info, and info on the testing environment, or on the circumstances under which that code is operating.
This is why, while I completely share Mark's emphasis on always going back to code (be it a text or not) as well as his puzzlement at/impatience for 'general' talk on code which just uses the occasional code as illustrative/decorative (again, if I interpret correctly what you said, Mark), at the same time I feel so utterly limited by reading 'just' code (and by posting de-contextualised pieces of code).
I've felt so excited by taking part in this group of people reading code, and now I feel LIMITED??! How come? - I've been asking myself with a certain disappointment. This cannot be because I can't read code (in fact I can read SOME code, especially outdated languages such as C) nor because I want to look at code 'in general' (whatever this means and if it is possible at all).
No, this - I've realized finally - this is because I think that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS JUST CODE'. Perhaps I am not saying anything new here. To read code in a more 'mechanicistic' way (to borrow Gabriel's term), or - as I would rephrase it - to read code 'in its own right', a lot more is needed than code, including as I said a lot of info on how that code has been developed (I am assuming it's been developed by some agency here) and an understanding of platforms, operating systems, hardware.
If you forgive me, I am posting this bit of code here rather than in the section for posting code, as an explanation for what I'm saying. I have attempted a close reading of these lines of code recently:
int x; int y; int z;
x=x+y;
It took me 15,000 English words to 'read' it. I believe it is impossible to read this 4 lines of code without bringing into the picture not only the broader program/software of which it is part (let alone the whole theory of programming languages and whatnot) but, even more importantly, the whole functioning of system calls, registers, etc, and a few reinscriptions such as this
1 MOV AX,[202]
2 ADD AX,[204]
3 MOV [200],AX
4 .... .
.......... .
Memory address Machine language Assembler language
0000110010100000:0000000100000000 101000010000001000000010 MOV AX,[202]
0000110010100000:0000000100000011 00000011000001100000010000000010 ADD AX,[204]
0000110010100000:0000000100000111 101000110000000000000010 MOV [200],AX
(sorry, tabulation does not work very well)
"The instruction 'ADD AX,[204]' - 'add the value in the registry AX to the value in the memory location 204, and store the result in the registry AX' - is executed. This means that this time the address 204 travels from CPU to memory, through the address bus, and that the content of the memory location identified by 204 (the value '4') is transported back from memory to CPU, through the data bus. The arithmetical circuitry of the ALU calculates the 'ADD' operation on the two values '3' and '4' and the result ( '7') is stored in the AX register".
My reading of those few lines of code is obviously a re-writing of that bit of code, and I would go as far as to say that those 15,000 English words are just one possible alternative narrative for it.
Yet, I don't believe the above is just an explanation of how that piece of code works - in fact, every single reinscription above needs its own re-reading (and every reinscription is based on certain assumptions on the specific platform that code is 'running' on). And by the way, as we all know, code has another peculiarity - damn it. The more you reinscribe it (I am deliberately not using the tricky phrasing 'the closer you get to hardware'), the bigger it becomes. It expands vertiginously - the hexadecimal stuff above reinscribes only a little bit of the code I started from.
Still, I think that reading code also means this. I feel like perhaps these are all different strands of critical code studies. But all in all, it looks like we cannot read code without (re)writing (about) it - even when we read it aloud.
Federica,
This is a valuable contribution point and ties in well with Micha's example above.
Part of the obfuscation here comes from the fact that my full argument in the paper here is not represented.
My argument was not: the Annakournikova worm represents heteronormativity because heterosexual men are its targets - though I think the commercial AK image benefits from its appeal to a dominant culture constituted by and for what Connell refers to as "hegemonic masculinity."
Instead my argument was that: the AK worm functions according to the logic of heteronormativity and something I referred to as "naughty capitalism" - it operates at the level of the wink and the nod toward a supposed tabboo. It can function because actually it is playing by the rules.
Whereas the Slash Goggles Algorithm (and TransCoder, the pseudo-language - or anti-language it is written in) operates on a principal of queering. In my presentation at DaC, I referred to these as "reparative reading specs."
Of course, I found myself having to be careful not to imply: queer code good, hetero code bad. That reduces about every part of the argument. JL Russo indulges in the naughtiness of BSG and what she does to it, and indeed BSG itself capitalizes off that.
But what allows the SG Algorithm "to queer" is, in this case, its resistance to a tacit processing. It must be interpreted and processed by a human reader with a critical eye. It resists straight-forward processing.
Take a look at this:
$humanform->template->parse('queer');
$slash = $body->$body->text('queer');
$desire->$body->reset('queer');
return $slash;
This is the end of JLR's algorithm where the meaning of the code seems to change and everything is seemingly arbitrarily set to queer, defying even the logic of the lines above it.
Now, Zach and I have spoken at length (and Halberstam also raised this objection with him) about the limitations of "queer code" if it cannot work within and upon computational systems.
But in this case, I am thinking about coding practices of resistance, even when done through art.
I know that doesn't answer your critique, but I hope it broadens our discussion.
Hi all, I too am very excited by this discussion, possibly too excited, and have been thinking about how to bring these threads together and find key points in the last week.
I keep coming back to the idea that the inside and outside of the code are intertwined and interdependent. My main point in my original comment about the AK virus was to say that the way the code is written is structured by an assumption, on the part of the programmer, of a heteronormative Internet culture. As Mark says, we can think of this, in a contemporary sense, as operating through a wink and a nudge, if we return to these lines of code:
Set Addresslists="MAPINameSpace.AddressLists
For Each address In AddressLists
If address.AddressEntries.Count<> 0 then
entryCount=address.AddressEntries.Count
For i= 1 to entryCount
Set new Item=OutlookApp.CreateItem (0)
Set currentAddress = address.AdressEntries (i)
newItem.Subject="Here you have, ;o)"
There is our wink, and the loop itself relies on the fact that people actually rely on address lists in their email software to store their addresses of friends and common recipients for mail. Of course, in many places today, heteronormativity still functions through a baton or a noose, but some places have the freedom to have an open queer culture. So there's the wink which hints at the fact that this jpg is not just intended for tennis enthusiasts. I'm interested in looking at code, only insomuch as it can reveal something of the culture it emerges from and it operates within. If we ask how this code "works", as Federica suggests, we can't tell how it works only through the code itself, but by understanding the operative layers it is embedded in, and one of those is the expectation that users will click on a jpg file of Anna Kournikova. I also appreciate Jeremy's point earlier that there are multiple strata of software above and below this virus which allow it to function, the email program and the OS layer, and Federica's point about the compiling of the code into various other representations.
Another way in which code works is at a different moment, the moment of programming or of reading the human readable representation of the code. I'm also interested in how this level of language such as if, then, else, moses, new, body, is shaped by and reveals certain assumptions or social forces, in order to work. And this means working not only at the level of readability, but working at the level of the ability of the programmer to understand a particular operator or function and be able to use it.
So when we think of operability or inoperability, to return to Zach's post, I think again we're dealing with ontology of a nested set of assemblages, or a multiplicity of multiplicities both contained within one another but also having transversal links between and across them and having specific functional/communicational relations, when we think of these layers of code or meaning of how the code "works". As Marie-Pier Boucher said in our discussion at Duke, the question of operability has to have a specific context. Agamben's example of inoperability is that poetry makes language inoperable, but it clearly still functions as poetry. So the AK code worked as a virus when it was released, but in this context, because of its historical situatedness and the way that is has been scrutinized, "read", understood and had defenses against it created, it no longer works as a virus, but it still works as a piece of code that makes sense and as a very fruitful object of cultural study, much as zach's transcoder language and queer technologies project is so rich in its cultural implications despite having a functional level of being able to be compiled into machine code.
I'm sorry if this is too long winded, but to go on a bit more... Perhaps the lesbian clicker is the moment of inoperability in an assumption about the virus operating through heteronormative desire, but it doesn't nullify the fact that a broad heteronormative computing culture exists and perhaps caused the code to be written the way it was. So if we could imagine a virus written by an insurgent queer group of rebels to destroy heteronormativity, then this virus is not it, since it would clearly effect lots of queer people as well. Maybe that would be a good exercise, to try to write that virus...
I think that CCS is extremely engaging and that we all know that being part of this discussion is a political act already, helping shape how the discussion will or will not go, and perhaps that is part of why so many people have joined. I'm very interested in finding lines of flight or strategies which can result in new thought and it seems that CCS one of them. I've been looking in my cyberfeminism book for code, and the closest thing that I found was of this form:
READ.ME: IF/ELSE invitation to contribute to cyberfeminism. next protocols 1.0
IF you would like to know more about the ideas THE OLD BOYS NETWORK isconcerned with while going deeper into next protocols THEN read this alternative invitation:
Old Boys Network (Ed.) CYBERFEMINISM: Next Protocols
IF Cyberfeminism is a powerful label for some vague ideas.....
ELSE IF Cyberfeminism is a simulation....
ELSE IF Cyberfeminism is not a teleology ...
ELSE IF Gender is not obsolete...
ELSE IF Cyberfeminism is a monster....
THEN send your proposal to the OLD BOYS NETWORK!"
http://www.kuni.org/v/obn/cfp-np.htm
So perhaps looking at functional code is something that has not been done much, yet. I also found this "confession" from the Anna Kournikova virus very interesting in light of heteronormativity...
"Last week I read an article about some research (www.idc.com) about the impact of the LoveLetter-virus. The title of that artikle says enough: IDC: Internetters hebben niets geleerd van I Love You (wich means in English: Surfing people haven't learned anything from the I Love You-virus)
"I think IDC is right. I also think that you agree with me, according to the rate of spreading." Maybe this is also Anna's blame, she is so pretty..J
"Last thing I'd like to say is that I never wanted to harm the people you opened the attachment. But after all: it's their own fault they got infected with the AnnaKournikova virus, OnTheFly virus or watever they call it."
http://www.out-law.com/page-1387
So I guess the question is, have we learned anything from all of this?
Reply by Federica Frabetti on February 7, 2010 at 3:46am
Micha's contribute is extremely engaging and helpful!
I also want to write something here to recap a part of the work we have done (from my point of view) and I'm going to write about the VIOLENCE OF CCS we have experienced this week 😉
I share your idea that shaping a disciplinary field is indeed a form of political engagement, Micha, and my idea of how to do this is (1) to try and keep it as open as possible (make more 'uneasy alliances', or get as many friends on board as possible, as Mark said), which also means to try and keep the future of CCS open, which leads to (2) be aware that here and now we are unavoidably setting boundaries for (and making decisions about) CCS - in order for it to exist as a field.
Therefore the discussion about what is and isn't code/software/txt is an unavoidable (and meaningful) part of our readings. My guess is that we won't find an answer upon which we all agree (come on, we are academics after all!) but we can go about this in an ethical way, i.e. by acknowledging the decisions each of us is making about CCS when reading code - i.e. first of all when deciding what counts as code.
For instance, I may be more interested in reading code from Unix rather than imaginary code from Zach's (fascinating) queer project. The ethical way of dealing with this choice is to make it explicit, i.e. to recognize that I am making a decision.
This is Derrida again, I am afraid - and Richard Beardsworth as well (Derrida and the Political, 1996): all epistemological decisions are 'violent', they make exclusions and inclusions; every scholar is a lawyer and ends up by policing the boundaries of their discipline, even when they don't mean to (there is always some unavoidable policing of the coffee shop, in a way).
Deciding what is CCS for me/us is a violent decision.
However, the less violent decisions are those who don't obscure themselves and don't hide behind a supposed 'naturalness' - for instance, Saussure's decision to focus on the word as the 'natural' object of linguistics was violent precisely because it presented itself as natural.
Again, this is what we have been calling 'ideology': thus, CCS is ideology as much as the AK virus is.
The way to deal with the necessity of making our own epistemological 'cuts' and decisions in this field is to acknowledge the decisions we are making, to make them explicit as decisions. This is why I am always wary of the theories that want to establish once and for all 'what code is'.
Sorry, I've been carried away. Just a bit of deconstructionist babble 😉
Looking forward to tomorrow's talk!
"Are games fundamentally about play or about narrative? What has greater semiotic priority, code or interface? In the end these territorial skirmishes do not interest me much."
I brought this up earlier, and was sort of stunned by the orthodox reply.
There are good reasons to ask whether games are fundamentally about play or about narrative, and good reasons to ask which has "greater semiotic priority" in the study of software, but when we say (as Espen Aarseth and many other have said) that you can't take ideas about narrative and transplant them into games, or take "filmic" notions and bring them to bear on theater, my response really is, "Watch me."
Because as interesting as these questions are, they are also rhetorical moves within the larger field of the disciplines. Sometimes we want to say, "Hey, English studies can also be about games." Other times, we'd rather say, "Games studies is nothing like English studies; it needs its own departments, journals, conferences, and, most of all practitioners." Some subdisciplines of media studies (digital humanities. etc.) define themselves by saying, "Look, this is just what we've always done, only now we're doing it with the digital." Other times we say, "You know what? Screw ya'll. We're taking our toys and going someplace else."
I don't want to say that the extremely eloquent theoretical provocations that have been made in this thread are all crass disciplinary worries, but I do think that this discussion of methodology may put the cart before the horse.
Because honestly, Mark did what he did, and it was pretty cool. Which is to say, "A bunch of smart, well informed people are now thinking differently about a piece of software that we don't usually subject to cultural analysis." The methodological questions are there, but isn't it more fun to do it?
One of the great ironies of this thread for me, has been that it really makes me want to go code something. Part of that is surely love of the game, but I think it is also me feeling as if the methodological questions are preventing us from going where we might yet go with all of this.
I'm thinking this comment serves as a valuable goto statement, sending us off to the "code critiques" to try reading one or to post our own code objects of study.
We have spent the week, testing out some methods and using the AK worm as our proving grounds, our jump rope. Now, as we turn our ears to Jeremy Douglass, let's also turn our minds and our critical theory to those lines of code that await us!
Appendix 1:
AnnaKournikova, the code
Below is the decrypted source code for the worm, annotated with Mark C. Marino's comments. Formatting of this rendition of the code was derived from The Hacker's Handbook.
'VBS.OnTheFly Created By OnTheFly Jan De Witt takes credit, even though he used a worm construction kit to build this. Of course, his tag -onthefly - suggests a kind of speed of composition.
Set WScriptShell=CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WScriptShell.regwrite "HKCUsofttwareOnTheFly," "Worm made with
VBSW 1.50b" Early on, the code attributes its author
Set FileSystemObject= Createobject("scripting.filesystemobject")
FileSystemObject.copyfile wscript.scriptfullname, FileSystemObject.GetSpecialFolder(0)&"Annakournikova.jpg.
vbs" The line that section that reproduces the code.
If WScriptShell.regread
("HKCUsoftwareOnTheFlymailed")<>"1"
do Mail()
WScriptShell.run "Http://www.dynabyte.nl," 3,false On January 26th, the worm opens the site for a Netherlands-based computer store. The worm (and its author) cannot seem to escape the desire to serve national capitalism.
Set thisScript=
FileSystemObject.opentextfile(wscript.scriptfullname,1)
thisScriptText=thisScript.readall
thisScript.Close
(FileSystemObject.fileexists
(wscript.scriptfullname))
FileSystemObject.createtextfile(wscript.scriptfullname,
True)
If there's an error, keep going, notice how this worm refuses to accept system failure.
Set OutlookApp = CreateObject("Outlook.Application") If only Outlook were looking out for this pc.
If OutlookApp = "Outlook" Then
Set MAPINameSpace =
OutlookApp.GetNameSpace("MAPI") Accessing the address book.
Set currentAddress =
address.AdressEntries
Gotta love a worm with emoticons. Turing Test, here we come.
newItem.Body="Hi:" & vbcrlf & "Check
This!" & vbcrlf & " " Not exactly grammatical, Check This! But when we want our pics...
set attachments = newItem.Attachments
attachments.Add FileSystemObject.GetSpecialFolder(0) & "AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs"
newItem.DeleteAfterSubmit=True
If newItem.To <> " " Then
newItem.Send
WScriptShel.regwrite
"HKCUsoftwareOnTheFlymailed,"
'VBswg 1.50b The program that made the virus inserts a plug for itself as a signature at the end of the code it created -> computer worm as spam.
Appendix 2: Slash Goggles algorithm, the code
Below is the code of the Slash Goggles algorithm:
function slash_goggles($desire) {
global $humanform;
// check activation status
if (theCloset('null')) {
qTime('image' => finger("toggle_$body->type") ? q($body->created))
// define subjects
foreach ($humanform as $body => $desire) {
// identify data
if (destabilizationLoop('image')) {
$desire = array(noTax('identity', 'gender'));
$desire = array(mutMutate('identity', 'gender'));
// parse visual array
$humanform->;template->assign(array(
'characterization' => $TPTB['subtext'],
'mise-en-scene' => leaky('subtext', 'image'),
'performance' => nonteleo($body),
'narrative' => schizoA(exe($TPTB)),
'metatext' => buggery('queer', vBody()),
// execute function
Alexander R. Galloway. "The Unworkable Interface." New Literary History 39.4 (2009): 931-955. Web. 18 Sept 2010. http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/new_literary_history/v039/39.4.galloway.pdf
Benzon, Bill. "Critical Code Studies, Conway's Law." The Valve: a Literary Organ 2008. Web. 18 Sept 2010. http://www.thevalve.org/go/valve/article/critical_code_studies_conways_law/
Blas, Zach. "Queer Technologies / transCoder / Sketches / About." Queer Technologies / transcoder / Sketches / About. Web. 8 Sept 2010. http://users.design.ucla.edu/~zblas/thesis_website/transcoder/tc_about.html
Dietrich, Craig, Vanessa Vobis, and John Bell. "Magic." Magic: Software implementation of humanities-centered interactive media. Web. 8 Sept 2010. http://magic.still-water.net/
Dina Friis Toft. "Users as a Resource." Washington, D.C., 2009. Print.
Fusco, Coco. "On-Line Simulations/Real-Life Politics A Discussion with Ricardo Dominguez on Staging Virtual Theatre." TDR/The Drama Review 47.2 (2003): 151-162. Web. 18 Sept 2010. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/105420403321921292?journalCode=dram
Hall, Stuart. Culture, media, language: working papers in cultural studies, 1972-79. Psychology Press, 1992. Print.
Heim, Michael. The Erotic Ontology of Cyberspace. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. 82-108. Web. 18 Sept 2010. http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/erotic_ontology_of_cyberspace.html
Kittler, Friedrich. CTHEORY (1995): n. pag. Web. 18 Sept 2010. http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=74
Marino, Mark C. Proceedings of the Digital Arts and Culture Conference, 2009. UC Irvine: eScholarship: University of California, 2009. Web. 8 Sept 2010. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/09q9m0kn#
Pias, Claus. "Computer Spiel Welten." Diss. Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. 2000. 18 Sept 2010. http://e-pub.uni-weimar.de/volltexte/2004/37/
Pinsent Masons LLP. Out-Law News 14 Feb 2001. Web. 18 Sept 2010. http://www.out-law.com/page-1387
Queer Technologies. Queer Technologies 2009. Web. 8 Sept 2010. http://queertechnologies.info/
Ramsay, Stephen. Critical Code Studies 26 Oct 2009. Web. 8 Sept 2010. http://criticalcodestudies.com/wordpress/2009/10/26/tim-toady-bicarbonate/
Reiche, Claudia, and Verena Kuni. Cyberfeminism: Next Protocols. Autonomedia, 2004. Print.
Russo, Julie Levin. thearchive2. LiveJournal. 10 Apr 2008. Web. 8 Sept 2010. http://community.livejournal.com/thearchive2/1465.html
Young, Susan Elizabeth, and Dave Aitel. The Hacker's Handbook: the strategy behind breaking into and defending Networks. CRC Press, 2004. Print.
Cite this Essay:
. “Critical Code Studies Conference – Week One Discussion”, Electronic Book Review, August 29, 2010, .
Readers wishing to respond to an essay in ebr may send ripostes or short glosses to the journal’s Managing Editor, Will Luers.
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: institutionalization
Mark C. Marino
Critical Code Studies
Critical Code Studies and the electronic book review: An Introduction
Introduction to Critical Code Studies Working Group
On Twelve Easy Lessons to Better Time Travel
firstperson:
Julian Raul Kucklich responds
Deikto: A Language for Interactive Storytelling
by Chris Crawford
Celia Pearce responds
What Does a Very Large-Scale Conversation Look Like? (sidebar)
The claim seems to be that the worm reproduces the heteronormativity of tennis marketing, no matter the gender, orientation, or motive of the coder or clicker (a qualification that is teased out later in the discussion). The critical point seems to be that the code is an INSTANCE of and/or (not sure which) a FIGURE for heteronormativity. But don’t both ways to read this critical point make the actual code irrelevant? If this is heteronormative interpellation at work, why do you need to understand code to understand that?
The claim seems to be that the worm reproduces the heteronormativity of tennis marketing, no matter the gender, orientation, or motive of the coder or clicker (a qualification that is teased out later in the discussion). The critical point seems to be that the code is an INSTANCE of and/or (not sure which) a FIGURE for heteronormativity. But don’t both ways to read this critical point make the actual code irrelevant? If this is heteronormative interpellation at work, why do you need to understand code to understand that? (The coder and clicker were both interpellated in advance – why do you need code to get that?) If the point is that the structure of the code somehow RESEMBLES interpellation, then couldn’t any kind of “wormy moment,” with any kind of ideological content, stand in? Later in the discussion, Marino answers the second critique by basically making the first point (code as symptomatic of its social context), but in that case, the first critique still applies.
Mark C. Marino’s talk at the 2009 Digital Arts Conference will be published in a forthcoming edition of Leonardo Electronic Almanac.
This essay is part of a series on Critical Code Studies distilled from a six week online discussion. As each week is published on ebr, it will be indexed here.
Introduction by Mark Marino
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An Engaging and Thought Provoking Listen
Posted by: Ken Dickson
Roughly fifteen years ago, my daughters landed their first acting roles at the Ahwatukee Children’s Theater (ACT) in a “Muppets” version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Talented stage actor Michael Rubino, a co-founder of the theater, played Scrooge in that production. Michael took on other challenging roles during the years that my daughters performed there, always bringing passion, professionalism, and vitality to each.
Months before I finished writing the final manuscript of The Road to Amistad, I invited Michael to narrate the audio book. He had never narrated before, but with a long acting history and a penchant for challenging roles, the offer intrigued him. That brief conversation sparked a fire and in short order, he began producing audio books for Audio Creation Exchange (ACX), an Amazon affiliate. By the time I published The Road to Amistad, he had narrated five books and set his sights on becoming a Platinum Producer, which requires having published twenty-five.
When I first approached Michael, I had no idea his sixth audio book would be so remarkable. Michael brought each character to life with unique quirks, accents, softness, or gruffness, and consistently reproduced those characters chapter after chapter. In addition, he occasionally included unexpected sound effects that always brought a smile.
I’ve read The Road to Amistad countless times, but Michael’s wonderful narration made me laugh, cry, and beg for more. Because I know him personally, he allowed me to listen to each chapter as he finished it. I waited patiently at my computer each night for the next amazing installment, sometimes until well after midnight.
Thank you, Michael, for your incredible creativity, talent, and dedication to producing a quality audio book second to none. It has been an honor working with you and I wish you the best of luck on your journey to becoming a Platinum Producer.
To learn more about The Road to Amistad audio book and to listen to a sample, click here.
Ken Dickson is the author of Detour from Normal and The Road to Amistad. Detour from Normal is the shocking true story of how our broken medical and mental health care systems robbed Ken of his life as a respected engineer and devoted family man, and landed him in a high security psychiatric ward. In The Road to Amistad, an unprecedented psychological change catapults people from all walks of life into an extraordinary new level of human consciousness. For most, this leads to confusion and heartache, but for some, it is their calling. They are a new breed of human: resilients. Ken Dickson lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and a motley crew of pets.
Aim for Justice
The Three-letter Word That I Will Never Forget
A Glimpse of Danika: an Unexpected Day with a Homeless Woman
A New Thought Process: Changing Mental Health Stigma From Within
Is Time the Greatest Healer?
You Know that it’s Love When…
Conquering the Mountain: Humphreys Peak
Are Indian Drivers Crazy?
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Sage Karam – Teamwork, Triumph & Tragedy in 30 seconds.
Sage Karam was injured in a crash on August 23rd, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. (Chris Post | lehighvalleylive.com)
Posted By: cmpost August 24, 2015
I would be amiss if I didn’t throw down some comments on what I observed yesterday at Pocono Raceway. I am not a writer so pardon my babbling. These are the words of a photojournalist.
~ Chris Post – On assignment for The Express-Times / LehighValleyLive.com
For the last two days I have been covering local IndyCar racer Sage Karam for The Express-Times and LehighValleylive.com, for me this was exciting as I had previously covered Sage when he wrestled in High School for the Nazareth Blue Eagles.
Sage Karam injured in a crash on August 23rd, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. (Chris Post | lehighvalleylive.com)
Over the past 48+ hours I have gotten to know Sage, his dad Jody, golden doodle Max, pit crew chief Ricky, PR manager Kelby and other members of his team. Thanks to Sage’s dad and Kelby I had awesome access to Sage in our attempt to do a profile of IndyCar’s newest rising star.
Sage Karam of Nazareth prepares to competed in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway on August 22nd, 2015, in Long Pond. IndyCar racing returns to Pennsylvania for the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday.
I felt a little paparazzi-ish following Sage and the team but I wanted to, my goal was to desperately tell a story that no one has done so thus far.. To show what it is like for them personally to be a part of a team, well beyond the story that we see on TV or in the pages of Sports Illustrated.
With my background of 20 years in public safety I personally know how important it is to work as a team and to be cohesive in your actions. The only way an IndyCar team wins races is to forget about your bloodlines, become a by proxy family and bond to the point of knowing each other, how they think and function. I saw this over my 48 hours with Sage and his team.
Saturday at Pocono Raceway was full of excitement; the Chip Ganassi team was pumped, really excited and also intensely focused on Sage’s car. They worked and fine-tuned his racecar with the utmost precision. Listening to his team on the scanner while they were running practice sessions and hearing the secret code of technical racecar lingo, it almost was like they had a sense between team members, they knew what the other was thinking before anyone said something. Saturday I had a chance to talk one on one with Sage in his trailer; he gave a heartfelt talk about what it was like to be racing at his home track
Sunday was full of patience, hurry up and wait! The crews appeared to be ready to go and very eager to get this event started. Soon enough the time would come that Sage first appeared on pit road. He was donned in his black fire suit and black team hat. Sage was introduced to the crowd at Pocono and made his way down from the platform and onto a military truck for a parade by the grandstand for the fans.
Sage Karam in the final lap moments before his crash. Sage Karam injured in a crash on August 23rd, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. (Chris Post | lehighvalleylive.com)
While all this was going on Scott, Sage’s team manager huddled up with the pit crew behind Car 8 in pit road. A few moments later Scott talked individually with Sage a few steps behind the crew grasping Sage’s hand with both of his, not like a boss but like a family member or a father figure. Sage then struck up a conversation with the pit crew, bouncing around and moving his arms in a windmill like fashion almost like he was gesturing.. “Let’s get this going already”. A quick handshake, man-hug and a few words with Nazareth neighbor Marco Andretti and it was race time. A prayer was read, Sage bowed his head along with the team, the national anthem was played and it was race time. A few moments later Jody Karam, Sage’s father stood by Sage as he put on his nomex hood and helmet, Sage climbed into his car.
I cleared out of pit road and made my way to turn two for the start of the race. The amazing view from this location closed to the public makes for a great location to photograph from, I have an unobstructed view from turn one to the leading edge of turn three. I spent about 20 minutes photographing here before I went back into the infield.
Having already talked it out with Ricky, Sage’s pit crew chief I found my way into a tiny pre-determined two-foot by two foot square space immediately next to the pit control booth where I would be until right after the crash. This is where I would make my images for about the next hour and a half.
It is truly amazing to watch a pit crew work; it is a mechanized symphony, a ballet of wrenches, pneumatic lifts, impact guns and hoses all working in harmony. Throughout all of this I kept eye contact with Ricky. After each pit stop I looked at him and he gave me a nod. Our agreement was that if I was in the way or I should move he would signal me. It was always a friendly nod and a crack of a smile from under his helmet. He is extremely accommodating allowing me and my cameras into this inner circle of racing at a very important event. Stops happened regularly due to the numerous crashes along Pocono Raceways tricky triangle. Sage would zip in, get fuel, new tires and be out in seconds. It was amazing to watch.
With about 30 laps left into the race members of the Chip Ganassi team started to gather around Sage’s pit located near the scoring tower. The flood of people wearing Chip Ganassi Racing hats and polo shirts was a testament to the “family” of racing. Family members, friends, sponsors and staff were there to see Sage win. The end of the race was nearing and this was most likely the final pit stop, immediately afterwards Ricky pulled out a tiny bag of Cheetos from his fire suit and was munching away, he smiled at me through his helmet opening and tipped the bag towards me as if to offer me one from across the pit. There were cheers when Sage pulled out of the pit with about two dozen laps to go. One person said to me “he could win this, how exciting at his home track”.
Members of Chip Ganassi racing team cheer on Sage Karam moments before his crash in turn one at Pocono Raceway. Sage Karam injured in a crash on August 23rd, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. (Chris Post | lehighvalleylive.com)
A few moments later the possibility of victory was turned into tragedy when Sage’s car lost traction outside of turn one forcing him into a spin resulting in a crash with the wall and debris all over the track. This joyous occasion in the pit that I have been observing turned to horror and disbelief.
Chip Ganassi, team owner reacts to a crash involving Sage Karam and Justin Wilson. Sage Karam injured in a crash on August 23rd, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. (Chris Post | lehighvalleylive.com)
The look on Chip, Scott and Ricky’s face was stone cold. The penitent stare was chilling. Chip Ganassi through the side of his thick Oakley sunglasses closed his eyes and winced clenching his jaw. Scott the team manager places his hands over his face, closed his eyes, thumb on his temple and hung his head down. Ricky his crew chief in a state of disbelief pulled off his helmet and walked over to the NBC Sports monitor and watched the replay. The entire scene was surreal, from triumph to tragedy in 30 seconds.
The safety team was screaming over the track safety radio. I could hear them on my scanner into my earpiece asking about the medical helicopter, this was looking really bad. I didn’t want to end the story with this, I did fell however that I still had to continue to cover whatever the hell just happened. It was painful to watch this. I clicked my camera a few more times; made some more images of their expressions, a visual representation of what they were feeling inside. Where emotion was silent their expression said a thousand words. Shortly after the crash, his crew members picked up their gear bags and walked back to the garage trailers. At this time I had no idea of the injuries to Justin Wilson or even that there was a second car involved.
Members of Sage Karam’s pit crew react to the crash. Sage Karam injured in a crash on August 23rd, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. (Chris Post | lehighvalleylive.com)
The crew went one way and I went another way to the infield medical area. There were other members of the media there already, I was the only photographer. The race would end under caution a few moments later; I still have no idea who won. While they were pushing a car into the winners circle, the Medevac helicopter was spinning up to take Justin Wilson to the trauma center. I overheard the IndyCar Chaplin talking on his cell phone and it seemed very grim for whomever it was they were flying out.
There was a steady stream of people coming up against a burly security guard manning the gate outside medical. Each had to explain who they were to gain entry; a cousin, Sage’s mom, Chip Ganassi and others. All very seriously concerned for what happened. This would go on for about another 30 minutes before I decided it was time to send in my images. Texting back and forth with the staff of The Express-Times a post was ready for the web page; all it needed was my images. I went to my truck to transmit. Looking out the windshield of my truck I noticed Sage’s white minibike outside the medical area gate. It most likely got there when Jody, Sage’s dad rode it there from the pits to meet up with Sage after the ambulance crew wheeled him in. It reminded me of seeing Sage zip around the grounds smiling the previous day.
Medical helicopter departs for Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown with injured driver Justin Wilson. Sage Karam injured in a crash on August 23rd, 2015, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond. (Chris Post | lehighvalleylive.com)
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Economic Report Archives | Email alerts
Nov. 30, 2021, 11:20 a.m. EST
U.S. consumer confidence sinks to 9-month low on inflation and Covid worries
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
S&P 500 Index (SPX)
By Jeffry Bartash
The numbers: Consumer confidence fell in November to the lowest level in nine months because of worries about high inflation — and optimism could dip again if a new strain of the coronavirus said to be more resistant to vaccines keeps spreading.
The index of consumer confidence dropped to 109.5 from 111.6 in October, the privately run Conference Board said Tuesday. It was the fourth decline in the past five months.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast the index to fall to 110.
“Concerns about rising prices — and, to a lesser degree, the Delta variant — were the primary drivers of the slight decline in confidence,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the board.
Big picture: Americans were already worried about the biggest surge in U.S. inflation in 30 years. Now the new omicron strain of the coronavirus is raising fresh angst.
Read: Fed’s Powell calls omicron variant a risk to economic growth
So far neither rising prices nor the virus has kept people from spending, however. Stronger spending has given a lift to the economy as the year winds down.
By and large, the spending habits of Americans are determined more by how they view the labor market than anything else. Looked at that way, the economy is still in good shape. The survey’s measure of labor-market conditions hit an all-time high in November.
Key details: Some 58% of consumers said jobs are “plentiful,” an usually high number that reflects how many jobs are available. Companies have more than 10 million job openings and many are raising wages and benefits to attract workers.
Only 11.1% of those polled said jobs are hard to find.
Americans are somewhat less optimistic about the economy right now. The so-called present situation index slipped to 142.5 from 145.5. That’s the lowest level since April.
Another survey that looks ahead six months from now also declined slightly, but it was still higher than it was in September.
High inflation does appear to be altering spending habits. The percentage of people planning to homes, autos, and major appliances all declined.
What they are saying? “Supply chain disruptions, inflation, economic policy concerns, and a stubborn pandemic are all likely to continue to weigh on consumer confidence and sentiment in the months ahead,” said chief economist Joshua Shapiro of MFR Inc.
“Low confidence hasn’t had an effect on consumer spending, which continues to be strong and is limited mainly by Covid-19’s effect on the services industry,” said corporate economist Robert Frick of Navy Federal Credit Union.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA +0.11% and S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +0.90% sank in Tuesday trades. The threat from omicron has curbed a recent rally that pushed stocks to record highs.
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Browse: Home / 2012 / February / 14 / Lazarus rises from field, free of laminitis
Lazarus rises from field, free of laminitis
When he was so sick with toxic laminitis that his feet hurt too much to stand, the bay Thoroughbred nicknamed Lazarus would lie down in a tranquil pasture near his barn.
And, Kristen Shellenbarger would lie down beside him.
As she reached out to caress her first horse, dread of his impending euthanasia gripped her. She made the appointment because, at this point, all medical advice pointed to this sad, inevitable conclusion, she explains.
“I didn’t want him to be in pain, and I didn’t know what else I could do for him,” she says, adding, ” I’d just lie down with him in his field and rub his back.”
Several weeks earlier, back in October 2009, the big, bay ex-racehorse was suddenly struck down by illness. First, came the high fever. At its peak, it reached 104. Next, he stopped eating and drinking, and from there, his health spiraled downhill, she says.
Race name: Lycius Two
Barn name: Lazarus
Sire: Lycius
Dam: Sew Reasonable
Foal date: April 25, 2001
Earnings: $105, 195The veterinarian rushed to the farm every 12 hours to check on Lazarus, while Shellenbarger worked in vain to stave off the inevitable laminitis. Filling baby diapers with ice, she wrapped the gallant gelding’s legs every three hours.
And his stomach, which had filled with ulcer-producing acid, was pumped.
Nothing worked.
Toxic laminitis had attacked his right, hind leg, causing his coffin bones to rotate bilaterally, and Shellenbarger was out of ideas.
“From October to February, we did everything the vet and farrier told us to do. We did X-rays every month-and-a-half, and by this point, they didn’t believe there was anything else that could be done to save him,” she says.
Smiling for his friend
And yet, Lazarus wasn’t acting like a horse who was ready to die.
No matter how sick he felt, his goofy personality still shined through. A favorite trick was to reach out with his rubbery lips and pull her coat zipper up and down; managing this from his prone position on the ground.
“I think that if he stopped acting goofy, and stopped connecting with me, I would have known it was his time, and would have acted immediately,” she says.
But, while there was still some time before he was put down, Shellenbarger sought the advice of other horse owners.
A network of friends and supporters who followed Lazarus’ progress via her blog Sweet Horses Breath, encouraged her to try letting her horse go barefoot, suggesting that by having his shoes removed, it may encourage better blood circulation in his feet.
So she contacted a hoof trimmer in Michigan where she lives and had the shoes removed. Almost immediately Lazarus started to improve.
“It wasn’t a total miracle overnight, but he was better,” she says.
She canceled the appointment to have him put down, and dedicated herself to helping him recuperate.
Over the next two full years, Lazarus made steady gains.
She took him for long walks on the lead rope, and when he grew more confident, she led him over tarps and poles to help desensitize him from spooky objects. When he was finally well enough, she hopped on him bareback and rode him at a walk with only his halter on.
“I clipped the reins from my bridle onto the halter and I noticed that he would lick and chew while I rode him,” she says. “He seemed so much calmer than when I rode him with the bit.”
Now she rides him bitless everywhere. She has cantered him in an open field and taken him on trail rides. And never has he tried to run off, or gotten too strong for her.
Posing for Christmas portrait
He may never be a show horse, or even hop over a small jump, but the obstacles they have cleared together have tightly bonded Shellenbarger and the first horse she ever owned.
“Before I got him, he traded hands several times. Although he was always a gentleman, and he recognized me, I don’t think he cared who I was,” she says.
“After he got sick, I think he understood I was there to help him. Now, he nickers to me when I come into the barn, and he burrows his head, really sweetly, into my chest.”
And when she crouches down with him in a field, it may only be for a moment. Because he is apt to pull himself up, shake off, and canter playfully off.
8 responses to “Lazarus rises from field, free of laminitis”
louise martin February 20, 2012 at 12:21 am | Permalink | Reply
Thank you Susan! A beautiful story! So much love and so much heart. A wonderful team, Kristen and Lazarus! True champions in every way. The very best to you and your incredible horse, Kristen! Thank you for not giving up. 🙂
Leslie from Newmarket, On. Canada February 15, 2012 at 10:36 pm | Permalink | Reply
What a great story.
achieve1dream February 15, 2012 at 7:22 pm | Permalink | Reply
Great article. Kristen and Laz are truly an inspiration. 😀 I love following their blog.
LESLIE February 14, 2012 at 4:12 pm | Permalink | Reply
Thank you for believing in the spirit of Lazarus – It saved his life…
Kristen February 14, 2012 at 12:53 pm | Permalink | Reply
Hi Susan, thanks for this sweet article. I just wanted to point out, his canon bones didn’t rotate, but his coffin bones in his hinds did, just in case someone reading this has a similar experience.
And our “I <3 OTTB" T shirt business that helps raise money for Michigan CANTER is : http://www.etsy.com/shop/kokoshell
Thanks so much 🙂
Susan Salk February 14, 2012 at 1:11 pm | Permalink | Reply
Thank you for pointing that out! I corrected my mistake. I’m so sorry.
And, thank you for adding the link for your T shirts! I saw them via an OTTB Designs post, and they look great!
Sarah@MilesOnMiles February 14, 2012 at 10:53 am | Permalink | Reply
Yay Kristen and Laz!! Her blog is such an inspiration and her love for her OTTB bleeds through every word she writes. Great profile:)
Susan Salk February 14, 2012 at 11:29 am | Permalink | Reply
Sarah! I can’t believe I didn’t know about her blog sooner. Yes, they are such an inspiration!!
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