Founded 1983: Liberal Mindset; Conservative Morality

April 30, 2014

Now Losing My Google AdSense Account Finally Makes Sense!

Ever had the feeling something was direly wrong, and you knew you were right about the cause of the trouble, but all external indicators were inexplicably pointing to you as the cause of the problem? It’s an unnerving, uncomfortable situation — and I’ve rarely found myself so cornered with no way out as I did a few years ago as a new Google AdSense publisher — but now, after reading an informative Pastebin post from a former Google employee, I finally have a sense of closure as to why my AdSense was shuttered by Google.

Continue reading → Now Losing My Google AdSense Account Finally Makes Sense!

June 8, 2012

The Permeable Threat to the Digitized Being of Us

What’s going on with the latest rash of online password thefts? What is the thrill in posting this information on the internets? Is possessing the passwords of other people an ego boost or a public rant against insecure information stored on the web?

First LinkedIn, then eHarmony, and now possibly Last.fm. As the number of sites falling victim to password hackers continues to grow, the questions are flooding in: are these incidents all connected? And, perhaps more importantly, who’s next?

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April 16, 2012

Is Copying the Mona Lisa Inspiration or Stealing?

On October 26, 2007 in our WordPunk blog, I wrote an article — Is Stealing Ever Good? — advocating the theft of inspiration as a qualified original intent:

Some call stealing inspiration, but if you see or experience something and then change or employ those experiences in your life — you have effectively borrowed and stolen the thoughts of others and I wholly encourage that effort.

I am not condoning plagiarism, but I am supporting the opportunity to consider and use ideas that are not your own because there are no original thoughts left in the world.

Over the weekend, I read a fascinating article in the New York Times indicating that the world-famous “copy” of the Mona Lisa was probably actually sanctioned by the great Leonardo da Vinci himself:

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February 6, 2012

David W. Boles is THE Script Professor!

Let there be NO DOUBT on the Internets that I, David W. Boles, am, are, and forever shall be, THE Script Professor! I have been THE Script Professor since November 28, 2005, so let there be no question to my authenticity as pale imitators and purposeful thieves step forward and try to wrangle in private and modify in public my mark to serve their selfish ends by fogging reality and futzing legal authority.

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February 11, 2011October 6, 2013

Kelley Williams-Bolar and the Stolen Better School District

When I was in grade school I attended West Windsor Plainsboro Middle School based on the fact that I lived in the West Windsor area. My parents relocated in 1990 to Princeton, partly due to the fact that the public schools in the area were supposed to be a lot better. Of course, I ended up attending The Peddie School, a private school that was not at all tied to where I lived as people came to the school from all over the world.

Continue reading → Kelley Williams-Bolar and the Stolen Better School District

January 25, 2011January 21, 2013

The White Man Indian Giver

There is nothing worse in the world than preciousness in transient self-congratulatory public notices that claim to do one good while punishing another. I’ll give you an example in the guise of: The White Man Indian Giver.