Archive for September, 2006
I was seven in 1984
nothing was illegal, since there were no longer any laws
-George Orwell, 1984.
I picked up my copy of the Commemorative 1984 Edition at the Oak Park Public Library Annual Book Fair. (If you attend the fair, I would recommend bringing a backpack, a box, and a UHaul. Priced at 50 cents, you can buy a lot of paperbacks…)
According to Wikipedia, 1984 will not be in the public domain (USA) until 2044. There are several web sites that feature the complete text of 1984. It is in the public domain in Canada, Russia, and Australia.
Online editions of 1984 can be found at:
Orwell RU features a terrific gallery of 1984 cover art.
Google Talk without Gmail
Google is now allowing users to sign up for a “Google Account” without having a Gmail address. This means that if you want to use Google’s chat application, Google Talk, you no longer need to have a Gmail account for access.
Reasons to use Google Talk:
- anyone can use the service (Gmail accounts no longer required)
- free and crystal clear voice calls to your friends and family anywhere in the world
- transfer files and folders to others
- free voicemail messages (MEEP!)
- IM from your BlackBerry
Visit Google’s Google Talk sign-up page for more information.
Infatuated with Pandora
Today’s theme is music. Let me introduce everyone to Pandora. It’s an online music player/service that let’s you create streaming stations (playlists) based on your musical preferences. I love it! Pandora enables its users to share their custom stations as well as their user profiles.
My Pandora profile is a window to my soul.
Streaming Soundtracks
I was browsing through the iTunes Radio Stations when I discovered StreamingSoundtracks.com. This website/service is amazing! StreamingSoundtracks.com streams music from an enormous collection of movie and television soundtracks. I’m currently listening to music from The Princess Bride!
To listen to StreamingSoundtracks.com via iTunes:
- Open iTunes (go to Apple.com to download if do not have iTunes)
- Select “Radio”
- Click on “Eclectic”
- Double-click “StreamingSoundtracks.com”
- Enjoy soundtracks all day long!
EricStoller.com is now “AdSensed”
I added Google’s AdSense program to the blog yesterday. My hope is that I will earn enough money from random ad revenue that I will be able to purchase at least 2 cups of coffee 
I estimate that if 1,000,000 people visit my site during the next twenty years and if 10,000 click on any of my ads, then I will earn at least enough money to buy a 16 oz. white chocolate mocha with soy!
From Google:
Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads on their website’s content pages and earn money. Because the ads are related to what your visitors are looking for on your site — or matched to the characteristics and interests of the visitors your content attracts — you’ll finally have a way to both monetize and enhance your content pages.
It’s also a way for website publishers to provide Google web and site search to their visitors, and to earn money by displaying Google ads on the search results pages.
One of the issues that I have seen so far in my quest to earn $2.75 is that content-based ads can be very incongruent with my posts. My posts on Chief Illiniwek have resulted in Google Ads featuring sports mascot costumes. I think that Google needs a social justice filter. Here’s another example of search engine/content-based advertising gone bad…
Facebook: Public and Private
Facebook announced yesterday, via the Facebook Blog, that they are now allowing anyone to join their social networking scene.
We started at one school, and realized over and over again that this site was useful to everyone—not just to Harvard students, not just to college students, not just to students, not just to former students.
This includes your friends who graduated pre-Facebook (yes, there was such a time), your friends who don’t have school or work email addresses, and your friends whose schools don’t give out email addresses.
This doesn’t mean that anyone can see your profile, however. Your profile is just as closed off as it ever was. Our network structure is not going away. College and work networks still require an authenticated email address to join. Only people in your networks and confirmed friends can see your profile.
If you’re uncomfortable with regional users being able to see you on Facebook, you can always change your privacy settings to prevent people from finding you in searches and communicating with you. Also, we’ve built out a bunch of tools that will help verify new users and prevent spammers from bothering you.
Some of Facebook’s new features include The Facebook Friend Game and My Notes (login required for both features). The Friend Game is a trivia game that randomly selects your friends and asks you questions driven by information from their profiles. The My Notes feature has an option that allows you to import notes (posts) from an external blog. My Facebook friends can now view posts from EricStoller.com on their My Notes page.
Facebook is expanding and I think it will be interesting to see how students react to an “open” Facebook. The privacy features are an important part of Facebook and time will tell if this new version, I’ll call it Facebook 2.0, will be as successful as the original semi-featureless version.
Chief Illiniwek needs to be discontinued
I’ve been thinking a lot about my recent post regarding Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois. I published my entry and then left town for a weekend at the Oregon coast. When I returned home, there were 4 comments on my post entitled “Chief Illiniwek needs to stop dancing.” The comments were fairly lengthy and by new readers. Instead of commenting on the original post, I decided that it would be worthwhile if I created a new post with more of my thoughts/feelings/etc.
PAgent asked a great question:
Is it the fact that the Chief is typically portrayed by a white student the aspect that is offensive? Then why not say so explicitly?
I did some research on Chief Illiniwek. Apparently, Chief Illiniwek has been portrayed by non-Native American students at the University of Illinois since 1926. Chief Illiniwek is offensive because the Chief represents a stereotype. There are less than 150 Native Americans who attend the University of Illinois. Chief Illiniwek has been portrayed mostly by white men. It’s like telling the Native Americans and anyone else at the University of Illinois that inside every Native American is a white man. For more information on stereotypes, othering, and assimilation please read Suzanne Pharr’s “The Common Elements of Oppressions.” I tend to link to it a lot because I feel that it’s very useful/informative.
By the way, the Native American House at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the American Indian Studies faculty at the University of Illinois have this to say about Chief Illiniwek:
The Native American House at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides a place where students, faculty, staff, and community members may increase their knowledge and understanding of the histories of American Indian peoples and their cultures, both past and present. Part of this understanding rests on the ability to critique and set aside images that confine the perception of an entire people to a limited and narrow existence. Stereotypical images, negative or positive, are barriers to understanding and seriously miseducate the public about Native Americans. Therefore, the Native American House and American Indian Studies faculty insist that the University of Illinois Board of Trustees discontinue the use of ‘chief illiniwek’ in name, performance, and symbol.
In October of 2005, the American Psychological Association released a statement regarding the use of Native American mascots:
The American Psychological Association is calling for the immediate retirement of all American Indian mascots, symbols, images and personalities by schools, colleges, universities, athletic teams and organizations, the Association announced today.
APA’s action, approved by the Association’s Council of Representatives, is based on a growing body of social science literature that shows the harmful effects of racial stereotyping and inaccurate racial portrayals, including the particularly harmful effects of American Indian sports mascots on the social identity development and self-esteem of American Indian young people.
“The use of American Indian mascots as symbols in school and university athletic programs in particularly troubling,” says APA President, Ronald F. Levant, EdD. “Schools and universities are places of learning. These mascots are teaching stereotypical, misleading and, too often, insulting images of American Indians. And these negative lessons are not just affecting American Indian students; they are sending the wrong message to all students.”
Full text of the resolution can be found at http://www.apa.org/releases/ResAmIndianMascots.pdf
PAgent finished his comment with this statement:
I can’t help but wonder if this is another step toward the generalization that ANY depiction of a Native North American is offensive, regardless of content or context.
How is the depiction of a Native American in any content or context different than white folks in blackface or yellowface? I am offended by Chief Illiniwek because it is racist and stereotypical. Ever since Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, things have not been good for indigenous folks. White folks have tried to exterminate and assimilate Native Americans in this country since 1492. The debate over whether or not the Chief is offensive represents another incident in which the dominant majority is trying to tell a historically oppressed group how to feel.
Michael Smith commented on the issue of political correctness:
And just how far should we go to ban the “offensive” use of native symbols in the name of political correctness?
The term political correctness or “pc” is usually brought out by a member of the dominant paradigm as a means of diluting conversations on social justice and equity. I do not feel that it is morally correct to reduce Native Americans to a racist caricature and then to dismiss the conversation by relegating it to the bowels of political correctness. I feel that we should go “all the way” when it comes to banning the use of native symbolism that is not sanctioned by native peoples. (Yes, I realize that there have been native folks who are pro-chief, please go back and read Pharr’s words on tokenism and assimilation.)
Lyn had this to say:
The court struck a blow for freedom from the tyranny of the few…I really don’t care if a white kid, green kid or whatever portrays the fictional character of Chief Illiniwek. I don’t care if the dance is too authentic or not authentic enough…It doesn’t have to measure up to all of these standards set by the aggrieved group…The idea that only the feelings of actual Native Americans should count on this issue is backassed since it is supposedly the image of Native Americans as perceived by the larger population that is at stake her. The larger population overwhelming sees the Chief as a positive figure. Let freedom of expression win.
I can’t help but laugh and cry at the same time… Yes, the tyranny of Native Americans and their allies is well documented. (Please note that sarcasm is set to ludicrous and plaid.) I usually try to approach my blog commentors with a dose of compassion and charity, but this is really stretching me. Lyn, us white folks need to sit in a room and talk about our privilege for a bit.
Whew, I have almost made it to the last commentor — Erik. Erik, please join me and Lyn in the room where we will discuss our white privilege. Bring water and food. It’s going to be a while.
In closing, I would like to urge the University of Illinois to listen to the Native American House and the faculty of the American Indian Studies Department. UIUC’s non-discrimination statement states that:
The commitment of the University of Illinois to the most fundamental principles of academic freedom, equality of opportunity, and human dignity requires that decisions involving students and employees be based on merit and be free from invidious discrimination in all its forms.
The University of Illinois will not engage in discrimination or harassment against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation including gender identity, unfavorable discharge from the military or status as a protected veteran and will comply with all federal and state nondiscrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action laws, orders and regulations. This nondiscrimination policy applies to admissions, employment, access to and treatment in the University programs and activities.
It is my hope that the University of Illinois will stop engaging in the oppression of Native Americans. I feel that the depiction and defense of Chief Illiniwek is morally reprehensible.
Chief Illiniwek needs to stop dancing
The University of Illinois needs to discontinue its use/sanctioning of racist imagery. Chief Illiniwek was given further life and validity by the 1st District Appellate Court in Chicago. The three judges voted 2-1 in favor of throwing out a lawsuit against the university.
Judge Shelvin Louise Hall cast the dissenting vote and is my new hero. Hall stated that the “Chief’s presence created a hostile environment, especially ‘in light of the number of prominent educational institutions that have voluntarily discontinued the use of Native American nicknames, symbols and mascots.’”
Judge Warren Wolfson and Judge Thomas Hoffman voted to throw out the lawsuit. Hoffman claimed that “he doubted the plaintiffs could prove their discrimination claim.”
Judges Wolfson and Hoffman, please refer to “Crimes Against Humanity” and this post by Blaxplanation.
The use of Native American imagery/symbols is unacceptable.
Appeals court sides with Chief Illiniwek
By Michael Higgins – Chicago Tribune
September 19, 2006, 5:57 PM CDT
Dances by Chief Illiniwek, the University of Illinois’ athletic mascot, do not violate the state’s civil rights laws, a divided state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The Illinois Native American Bar Association filed suit last year against university officials, alleging that the Chief’s performances humiliate Native American students and create a hostile environment that dissuades them from attending games or participating in other school activities.
But a trial judge threw out the lawsuit, and in a 2-1 decision Tuesday the 1st District Appellate Court in Chicago upheld that ruling.
Writing for the majority, Judge Warren Wolfson noted that in a 1996 law, the General Assembly declared the Chief to be an “honored symbol of a great university.”
If the state’s current anti-discrimination law, passed in 2003, had been meant to overturn that “glowing exaltation of Chief Illiniwek,” the state legislature would have said so explicitly, Wolfson said in a 17-page opinion.
The court’s ruling on Tuesday was one of the few pieces of good news recently for supporters of the Chief, a barefoot student in a buckskin costume and a feather headdress who performs at some athletic events.
NCAA officials have barred the university from hosting postseason tournament contests as long as the 80-year Chief Illiniwek tradition continues. The NCAA rejected the university’s appeal of that decision in April.
University officials were pleased with the appellate court’s ruling, Thomas Hardy, executive director of university relations, said Tuesday. He said the school’s trustees are studying the predicament raised by the NCAA ruling, but “no decisions have been made.”
The bar association, which sued the university and five individual plaintiffs, plans to appeal Tuesday’s ruling, said Kenneth Dobbs, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
“Every university, college and high school, except for a handful, have abandoned the use of racist Native American imagery,” Dobbs said. “It creates a hostile atmosphere. … But people tolerate it because of a misunderstanding of Native American culture.”
Judge Shelvin Louise Hall cast the dissenting vote, arguing that the plaintiffs had the right to take their case to a trial.
Hall said reasonable jurors could conclude that the Chief’s presence created a hostile environment, especially “in light of the number of prominent educational institutions that have voluntarily discontinued the use of Native American nicknames, symbols and mascots.”
But Judge Thomas Hoffman concurred with Wolfson’s opinion and went even further, saying he doubted the plaintiffs could prove their discrimination claim.
There was no evidence that the university excluded the plaintiffs from any activities or that the Chief’s performances were aimed at them personally, Hoffman wrote. He said that merely finding the Chief’s “gestures or dress … offensive” wasn’t sufficient to support a lawsuit.
I dream of Electric Sheep
Electric Sheep is the neatest screensaver that I have ever installed on any computer that I have ever logged on to. In fact, if you turn your back on me while I’m on your computer, you might just find that I’ve installed it on your machine. It’s amazing! I find myself staring at it as if it’s a virtual fireplace of fractals.
-100 Webmaster hitpoints
I’ve been blogging for more than a year. I’ve been designing websites for almost 10 years. I create sites that are accessible, usable, and search engine friendly. Unfortunately, I recently discovered (by accident!) that my blog has been less than optimized for search engines. When I created the site, I used a custom theme and began to tweak it to my needs. At some point in my code-weaving, I removed this bit of code in the WordPress Header:
title bloginfo(‘name’) if ( is_single() ) { } wp_title(); /title
Instead of displaying context driven page titles, my site has simply rendered “Eric Stoller’s Blog” on every single page/post. I feel like a bad parent. As of today, my site is now displaying the appropriate contextually-based title: “Eric Stoller’s Blog >> Post/Page Title.”
Please accept my apologies for being a terrible webmaster. My guru status has been taken away. Google, Yahoo, et al., I hope that you can forgive me and give me a fresh index result 
