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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
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Daily Blah for... Thursday, March 18, 2004
Virtual Veteran
Sorry, I got lost for a day or so there. Lost in Vietnam. Battlefield Vietnam, to be precise. I do like it when playing computer games coincides with my job, but this one went beyond mere reporting. It also crossed the line from goofing off and has entered the wide open plains of obsession. Why, you may ask, would a self-avowed peacenik like me want to spend his nights -- and much of his early mornings -- blasting away at strangers on the Internet? What's so much fun about taking part in a morally dubious reconstruction of a morally dubious war?
To which I can only reply: I dunno, it just is. The environment is a big factor, I think. EA did a fantastic job making this particular sandbox. It's been fun to watch the Viet Cong players learning to adapt to the jungle over the first couple of days of the game's release; camping in the high ground so they can pick off G.I.s one by one. The irony of the ambient sound -- which includes songs like War (What is it Good For?) blasting from passing American tanks -- definitely appeals. I'm a firm believer in stimulating interest in history by simulating it as close as possible.
Indeed, there are plenty of positive things to say about virtual violence. The killer instincts of testosterone-ridden youth get sated in a safe way. When all gang warfare is conducted by computer, there's less room for the real thing. The closer you get to the reality of battle, the less likely you are to want war. Because in real life, there's no respawning. Perhaps if the neocons in the Pentagon had spent a little time playing this, we wouldn't be stuck in another lethal quagmire right now.
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