The utility of synonyms is revealed

Wasn't there a Love Boat episode about this?

Creative Destruction - Atari Style

For any not familiar, the phrase "creative destruction" is most often used in reference to its economic implications:

A term coined by Joseph Schumpeter in his work entitled "Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy" (1942) to denote a "process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one."

Recessions are a form of creative destruction as companies that were surviving in stronger economic times are pushed over the brink, and new firms spring up to begin the cycle of wealth creation and improved productivity anew.

In that spirit, I think the following classified ad from Craigslist serves as a glimmer of light piercing through the dark night of our current economic times and foreshadowing a brighter future for us all:

In response to the economic downturn, I am offering personal Tetris training sessions on a limited, first-come first-serve basis. I am a patient and non-judgmental coach.

[snip]

Intermediate Tetris [includes]:

• This training program is slightly longer in duration, and incorporates all of the modules covered in Tetris Fundamentals but also includes beer, wine or liquor. You will challenge yourself by applying the skills you’ve learned while growing increasingly intoxicated and playing against someone who is similarly drunk.
• There may be a short primer on computational geometry and algorithmic complexity theory, unless we run out of time.

The kid has got some pipes

Cat plays it cool

The Dingo stole my Avatar

From Rough Type back in 2006. Presumably Second Life has *solved* this problem to a degree by now, but as with the music industry, as more and more of the things we value in life become digital rather than physical objects, this type of problem will continue, with larger and larger economic consequences:

The commercialization of Second Life has hit a speed bump. A new software program, called CopyBot, allows residents of the virtual world to make exact copies of other residents' creations. The knockoffs threaten the livelihoods of the many entrepreneurs, as well as big companies, that have set up shop selling clothes, trinkets, and other goods in the popular fairy land.

As an irate Caliandras Pendragon writes at Second Life Insider, "Those people who are living the dream that is promoted in every article, of earning a RL [real life] income from SL creations, are now living a nightmare in which their source of income may soon be worthless. That's not to speak of big commercial companies who have paid anything up to 1,000,000 dollars to have their product reproduced in loving detail, who will discover that every Tom, Dick or Harriet may rip off their creation for nothing - and then sell it as their own ... If someone wanted to destroy the economy of SL I don't think they could have found a better way."

The furor took an ugly turn late last night when, according to the Second Life Herald, a "seething mob" surrounded a CopyBot operation run by Second Life resident GeForce Go. The mob shouted that Go was "ruining their Second Life." Fearing for her safety, Go closed down her shop and sold her land. In a subsequent "tumultous meeting with dozens of angry and fearful residents all talking at once," Second Life official Robin Linden "sought to allay fears of any further concern about mass copyright violations."

And as some of my posts recently have noted, economic consequences lead to social ones, as in this update to the story:

But the arrival in Second Life of the CopyBot replicator hasn't just produced a commercial and a political crisis. It's brought an existential crisis as well. Because CopyBot can clone entire avatars as well as their possessions, people fear losing their virtual selves. Their sense of what I've termed "avatar anxiety" is deepening. Writes resident Harle Armistice in a comment on the official Second Life blog:

I’m sorry, but this isn’t just about sales ... I have a unique av that I made for myself. It’s me, it’s my work, it’s part of my persona. I’ve been wearing it for ages and I will be wearing it likely until the day SL either goes down or I can’t log in anymore. Or I would be, under normal circumstances ... I am terrified to wear my own content because there’s a script out there that any random user can run to steal my stuff if I do.

The Bloggess vs. One-Eyed Steve (note: not a pirate)

For any not familiar, The Bloggess is the alter-ego blog of a woman who writes an advice column for the Houston Chronicle. Not quite sure how she keeps her day job since her blog is extremely profane and nearly every post could be the source material for some form of public outrage.

However, it can also be extremely hysterical, as with this recent post where she torments a direct marketer trying to get her to promote his skin lotion on her blog site.

(Note that the big "info-mercial" style marketing pitch that Pete made for the lotion was a demo that shows it protecting you from rock-dissolving acid.)

March 16, 2009 - Dear Jenny,

how are you? Have you had a chance to try Skin MD Natural lotion I sent you? What do you think?

Sincerely, Pete

March 16, 2009- Pete, the lotion was great. My skin is smooth and not greasy and I loved that there was SPF in it as well. Sadly, my lawn maintenance team obviously did not follow the directions well because two of them ended up getting rocks lodged in their faces in spite of the powerful rock-busting lotion abilities. One lost an eye and threatened to sue me for disability and I insisted that he just didn’t apply the lotion correctly.

Then I generously (his lawsuit says “forcibly”) rubbed the lotion in his eyes and he started screaming “IT BURNS! IT BURNS!” Which, in retrospect, makes sense because if the lotion is stronger than acid (and the acid is stronger than rocks) it’s probably stronger than eyeballs too. Either way, it did not go well and I’m being forced to sell The Lawn Rangers (that’s the name of my lawn team) in order to pay for legal bills and for a new glass eye for One-Eyed Steve. Also, I’m being sued for calling him “One-Eyed Steve”. Apparently you can’t give someone a kick-ass pirate name without being sued for making fun of a disability. AMERICA!

Also, before I gave One-Eyed Steve the glass eye I rubbed that lotion all over it to protect his eye socket from the sun and he started screaming again. It was actually pretty funny because I was all “Oh, wait. That’s totally not going to work” but it was too late because he was already putting it in when I said it and he started screaming and they took him to the hospital. I was all “Oh my God, I am an idiot” but if you can’t laugh at yourself who can you laugh at, right?

~Jenny

PS. Seriously, your lotion is awesome and my hands are as smooth as an eyeball, which (take it from me) is pretty fucking smooth. Until you get lotion in it. Then all bets are off.

Naturally this sensibility extends to her commenters as well:

Comment of the day: How fascinating that you have to sell the Rough Riders because Pirate Steve or whatever his name is rubbed it in his eyes. They sent me their stupid lotion and I opened it just as my husband started to get a little lippy with me and you know how women can get when they’re nine months pregnant so I slathered him with that shit and poured acid on him and it didn’t work at all. The Skin MD people are not going to like my review.

And by “it didn’t work at all” I mean the lotion didn’t work at all. The acid totally worked. ~ pamela