Pages
Links
-
Recent Posts
Enterprise Posts-
Archives
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
The affinity that drives social systems to regenerate
Our only means of input, actual input, is through the windows of our senses. Our senses pay attention to our surrounding which like it or not will at various times involve other persons. Those other persons are part of a particular social system and you become a participant in that social system. Being a participant, what that means, how its unavoidable has everything to do with affinity and rebirth.
The forces that motivate behavior are the same forces that push social systems to regenerate. The “things” that you read, witness, experience, are the input that is factored into existing collections and becomes part of “you”. When volition strikes those inputs are there to influence.
The affinity or force that motivates one toward something will lead others that way. That affinity is felt by others for specific reasons. Whether it is an idea that governs one’s sense of security or a routine governed by tradition, there are many truths relative to the “particle” that is being attracted to a “thing” that influence movement. Movement itself is what causes social systems to regenerate. Even if that movement is a swirling chaos of movement, like a flock of a thousand black birds moving about in a swarm. The shape, though there isn’t really a “shape” only a bunch of birds, is never the same shape. The coming together that allows us to call it a shape is guided by the affinity of each bird to be near other birds in a crazy looking and amorphous swarm has many reasons. Migration for instance.
Anyway, that’s my exercise for the morning. Trying to argue an idea to myself. In an abstract yet actual way, the dynamics of bird social systems, the forces that shape the swarm and give rise to the renewed cycle of swarming are governed by the same “now” that governs all sentient social systems. So what of it?
Pain of loss, an island, and the stream.
This last week was interesting in that it was unique compared to so many other weeks. For starters, 16 hours were spent inside a car. Last Tuesday I attended a funeral for the child of a friend (a first for me). Then Friday and Saturday were spent on an island celebrating the yearly seasonal shift punctuated by Halloween and the end of the tourist season on the Rock.
Interwoven into the normal tapestry of life once again are the threads of academia. Two classes require a good deal of attention but I focus on my vocation as a developer by constantly pondering and applying the principles from class to life and work situations. New patterns are revealed when events are viewed with different lenses. But alas, so many lenses.
Certainly there are times when one might say that life is normal and really mean it. Normal being when the routine from one day to the next is mostly consistent. It could be argued that “normal” also includes those things that may also be considered “abnormal” such as rare events etc. However, before something can be considered part of normal it has to occur within the context of pre-existing patterns as a “unique” event. Over time and the accumulation of these unique events, new patterns emerge identifying similarities in existing and even new events. This is the “stream” you might say.
Take this funeral I attended; a first for me. Not the first funeral but the first that I’ve attended for someone younger than myself. Also the first time a friend has lost a child. With these experiences the years accumulate and sometimes they can feel pretty heavy.
The weekend was spent with some long-time friends on an island where it was cold and rainy. The island has a certain charm. There are no cars. Only horses and bikes. The pubs all had live music and Halloween decorations. Most people were in costumes. I was part of a set of domino games pieces. I was a “7″ domino. We spent the night trying not to fall down…which was quite a feat given the copious consumption of “spirits”.
Back to the stream. I have to get ready to see my Chiropractor to adjust my skeleton. For reasons not so unique but stemming from my posture and environment, my interconnections sometimes get themselves into positions that strain connective tissue, muscles and the like. Sometimes this can cause headaches when those connections are at the base of my neck, which is usually the case. Anyway, my appointment is in 34 minutes and I’m still in my pajamas.
I’ve noticed that the infrastructure the supports blogs and chats has considerable auditing and provenance related facts just built right into it. There is no substitution for having a hushed conversation while crouching in the center of a field of corn. This obvious fact changes things in ways we have yet to fully understand. But it seems we are learning.
Shalom
Another late night studying.
I finally finished the reading assignment for Social Systems and Collections. There was only one reading for this week but it was very long. The ideas were interesting, the flow was good, but it was pretty dense. I look forward to discussing it with my classmates to see if I understand how it relates to the bigger picture as being drawn in this class.
It’s late and I should probably hit the sack. One of my cats was crashed out on my desk enjoying the heat from my reading light. He keeps me company on these late nights of studying…which is nice. He just heard some stirring upstairs and went to check it out.
There is a mid-term, take home exam this weekend. I have been reviewing the material covered in class over the last 6 weeks. While the ideas and principles being taught have a clear sense to them, associating their concepts into something greater than any one of them. It is happening but it hurts my brain a little…but in a good way.
I’m off to bed. Finally.
A breach of security, a lesson learned
I received a call today from the hosting company where I lease this server. They informed me that my server was identified as hosting the target of a phishing site and that access had been locked down until I could resolve the issue. They were nice about it, but serious as a heart attack.
Naturally I was a little freaked out. After thanking them for how they were handling the situation, I ran home and turned off Apache until I could sort things out. After some investigation (that bled into SI 501 lecture…sorry Professor Olson) I was able to locate the problem. Apparently a vunerability in a Coppermine Photo Gallery application that I was hosting for some friends had been exploited and a php page with images had been uploaded as a ‘photo’.
This has been resolved and a lesson learned. I need to be more particular about what I host or my service provider will drop me like a hot potato.