Comments on: Letter to a fan

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 18:49:55 +0000

OK, gimme a stone :p

By: bowser

bowser — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 00:50:45 +0000

While adultery is probably more fun, it seems to apply to a lot.

By: ER

ER — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 03:37:27 +0000

I figured anyone that stupid and mean had to know how to fight.

By: FrankC

FrankC — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 01:24:41 +0000

You should have invited him to meet you somewhere for an ass whipping.

I believe that any response to a critic should involve a threat of violence to their person, just to get your point across.

By: mcfly

mcfly — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 23:59:27 +0000

…might have read my post and thought “pot, kettle, black,” and they’d be completely correct. I haven’t always been the little angel you read before you.

In fact, the halo above my head is something I stole from a bunch of seniors who were playing ring-toss.

By: bowser

bowser — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 15:17:02 +0000

Exactly! Build a better mousetrap, and some of the world will hate you.

By: ER

ER — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 13:44:27 +0000

We all are.

When a man is good at something, something he’s proud of, something useful and beautiful, the last thing he wants to hear is that world he is a part of and perhaps did much to create is coming to an end.

It doesn’t matter if the change that is coming ls perfectly natural, or if the change is due to history, or natural forces beyond our control. Any good that might be a result of it will be glossed over, and any evil exaggerated. That change is still personally threatening, to our self image, and it will be resisted. Psychologically, it will be perceived as an attack, a conspiracy, as evil forces at work. Any who can be characterized as championing or promoting that change, even accepting or adapting to it, will be the Enemy, or foolish dupes of the Enemy, or just fools.

In a fast changing technological landscape this effect will be everywhere. I feel it myself, as I become increasingly out of touch with an evolving technology I once was at the cutting edge of: computing. My navigational skills (which I am so proud of) have become increasingly irrelevant; not only celestial, but analog LORAN and radar interpretation and even fundamental piloting and dead reckoning. Not even the Naval Academy teaches celestial any more, and my old MOS is being phased out and the task being handed over to electronic technicians (ETs). Knowing how to double-clutch and heel-and-toe is irrelevant in a world where even the race cars all have automatic transmissions.

In this environment, it is only natural to lash out, to seek a scapegoat than to calmly accept the inevitable, especially when the inevitable now seems thrust upon us so repeatedly and so frequently.

These people are seeing the rules of the game changing, a game they practiced at, were good at, are totally familiar with, and where they have always prospered. They are scared, they are angry, and they are desperate. And they are used to having things their way.

By: bowser

bowser — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 06:42:02 +0000

Goes with the territory.
Any magazine with a respectable circulation is going to have a wide range of readers. There is bound to be one who will take the time to advocate that position, and do so forcefully.

I think you can regard it as a compliment and the fact the comments are rude and unfair are a measure of the author and not you.

By: ER

ER — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 23:19:24 +0000

I blame Lee Atwater.

By: mcfly

mcfly — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 20:54:02 +0000

Nowadays, as your gentle reader demonstrates, mere disagreement is no longer sufficient. One must attack on all fronts, wage total war, and annihilate utterly. So he can’t simply disagree with your arguments, he must also condemn your usage (and, silently, your ancestry and taste in clothing).

I blame video games.