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graphic symbology in chalk
Tuesday, August 13 2002
This morning Gretchen left with some girlfriends to spend several days in nature somewhere upstate, beyond the Bronx.
I installed the new WiFi machinery on the roof today and it worked as expected. Nothing was immediately changed by the installation, though now I have many more avenues for expansion and experimentation. Imagine what I can do with an internet-connected eight port hub and a plugged-in, fan-cooled PC power supply.
I was walking Sally in the Long Meadow tonight and upon the sidewalk along its western side some child had scratched out most of what he or she knew of graphic symbology in chalk. There was a box, a triangle, a circle, and the entire Roman alphabet stretching from A to Z, as well as the word "CAT." But the alphabet contained some notable omissions; I, K, M, T, and U had all been left out. N was there, but it had been inserted between Y and Z, probably due to its phonetic similarity to the word "and."
Following a link from Slashdot, I found a fascinating Atlantic Monthly article about the De Beers diamond cartel. I read through most of the article before realizing it had been written back in 1982, scratching my head a little about the way it seemed to be treating the late 70s, the early 80s, the Soviet Union, and Apartheid as contemporary. I'd been aware of the De Beers cartel and the fact that it manipulated diamond markets to keep prices high, but I hadn't realized how brilliantly De Beers manipulated advertising, the media, celebrities, and even the British Royal Family as a means of encouraging people to buy diamonds and never let them go. I hadn't been aware that it's impossible to sell a diamond for anywhere near what they cost to buy retail. This got me to thinking - if people must fall prey to the social manipulations of De Beers and "diamonds are forever" - why don't they at least cut out the middleman and the cartel and get their engagement diamonds on Ebay? There are 50 times more diamonds in the strong boxes and crypts of America than the entire global diamond industry produces in a year, and I'm sure some of the people with diamonds are a little strapped for cash.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?020813 feedback
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