The Whore of Mensa(woodyallenitalia.tripod.com)
woodyallenitalia.tripod.com
The Whore of Mensa
http://woodyallenitalia.tripod.com/short-uk.html
37 comments
Assuming that there's more than one story in this book, chances are that those of us who do occasionally buy books are now that much more likely to purchase that book, if we liked this story.
The percentage of us who both a) buy books, and b) enjoy reading books on a computer screen, is so vanishingly small that it is unlikely to cause any financial damage to Mr Allen. In any case, Woody Allen is already filthy rich (deservedly), so I doubt he gives a toss.
The percentage of us who both a) buy books, and b) enjoy reading books on a computer screen, is so vanishingly small that it is unlikely to cause any financial damage to Mr Allen. In any case, Woody Allen is already filthy rich (deservedly), so I doubt he gives a toss.
It's up to Mr. Allen to decide if he wants to give away his work for promotion and his wealth doesn't make stealing from him right.
It certainly is, from a legal standpoint.
From a moral standpoint, I think the fact that the story was written in 1975, 34 years ago, makes it really a borderline case whether Woody Allen should still have exclusivity over the story he published and profited from for 30+ years.
Even going by the 2x14 years principle, he's out. Imho, the world would be a better place if there was a deadline of about 30 years on the exclusivity of reprinting rights.
From a moral standpoint, I think the fact that the story was written in 1975, 34 years ago, makes it really a borderline case whether Woody Allen should still have exclusivity over the story he published and profited from for 30+ years.
Even going by the 2x14 years principle, he's out. Imho, the world would be a better place if there was a deadline of about 30 years on the exclusivity of reprinting rights.
The problem with morals is that they are different from person to person. If you want to have a debate on copyright law, I'm perfectly happy to have it, but I don't think anyone should rewrite copyright law based only on their own morals. After all, that's why laws are created, to unify all morals and all interests in a country.
In any case, I don't think HN should be a place to swap pirated stories (or movies, music, etc.). Especially not so when they are as terrible and uninteresting as this one.
In any case, I don't think HN should be a place to swap pirated stories (or movies, music, etc.). Especially not so when they are as terrible and uninteresting as this one.
I'm surprised that the original comment here was voted down. It was thoughtful and although I disagree, it expresses a point of view that is respectful.
The Law governing the area you reside in is not magically imbued with moral authority. It is simply a set of rules, some of them enforced, some not, that are backed up by the threat of violence.
When the law contradicts a society's overwhelming sense of morality, conflict occurs and either the law changes or (worse) police begin to refuse to apply the law, further undermining the clear authority of the law.
The Law governing the area you reside in is not magically imbued with moral authority. It is simply a set of rules, some of them enforced, some not, that are backed up by the threat of violence.
When the law contradicts a society's overwhelming sense of morality, conflict occurs and either the law changes or (worse) police begin to refuse to apply the law, further undermining the clear authority of the law.
That's a jackass line of thinking, Dan. I agree with what you're saying; it's why I release things online. But to make that decision for Woody is rude.
If Woody did want to release his older essays online, I'm sure he'd want them as nicely-formatted as they were in his original book, not vomited up on a shitty Tripod page. Formatting certainly chances our attitudes toward what we read. Furthermore, in a case like Without Feathers each separated story loses something of its context, which is a shame and makes it a less fulfilling read.
If Woody did want to release his older essays online, I'm sure he'd want them as nicely-formatted as they were in his original book, not vomited up on a shitty Tripod page. Formatting certainly chances our attitudes toward what we read. Furthermore, in a case like Without Feathers each separated story loses something of its context, which is a shame and makes it a less fulfilling read.
As I've just posted in the previous reply, I don't think it's a jackass line of thinking, because I think that after 34 years exclusive reprinting rights should have expired already.
It's one small step better than blog-jacking in that he gives proper attribution to the legal publishers of the content and doesn't pretend to have any affiliation with the author.
Not sure why it's posted here, but this is one of my favorite stories by Woody Allen.
In high school, I used it as a Humorous Interp piece for my debate class and ended up winning state.
Even with his flops (I couldn't stand Whatever Works) Woody Allen is one of the few artists who's made an incredibly vast series of excellent works and managed to effectively move between different genres without sacrificing his own vision. Can't say that about many people, and it's certainly something I aim for myself.
In high school, I used it as a Humorous Interp piece for my debate class and ended up winning state.
Even with his flops (I couldn't stand Whatever Works) Woody Allen is one of the few artists who's made an incredibly vast series of excellent works and managed to effectively move between different genres without sacrificing his own vision. Can't say that about many people, and it's certainly something I aim for myself.
I didn't even realize this was Woody Allen. Awesome read.
Tripod hosting still exists?
That was awesome. I wish I was understood half of those undertones, but the story was fresh and somehow sexy in a bizarre, sociopathic, way. Thank you for sharing that gnosis :)
It was mostly just name dropping “intellectual” people/books/periodicals for effect... the specific references didn’t really affect the story, or have any particular significance. (Still fun though.)
I think the point was to be pretentious to the point of irony, which the namedropping achieved.
Yes. My point was only that not knowing the names so dropped doesn’t actually diminish the story, because they didn’t really have any deeper significance.
The story seems very similar in theme to this one: http://www.viruscomix.com/page473.html
At first I was like , this looks long, better go watch some tv. But before I knew it I had already finished it 'cause it was so interesting.
That was so I intellectually stimulating my mind almost exploded!
That was so I intellectually stimulating my mind almost exploded!
Since I like smart women, the story got me a little excited :)
context?
Writers are hackers too.
Adding because of the (-)ve votes. What I meant is the play of words is quite close to what I hacker would do with his code. At least I think so.
Adding because of the (-)ve votes. What I meant is the play of words is quite close to what I hacker would do with his code. At least I think so.
Yay, everyone's a hacker!
Except, they aren't. Writers may be clever people and smart, entertaining, and so on, but there are plenty of them that aren't really hackers by any definition that isn't so broad as to be completely meaningless.
Except, they aren't. Writers may be clever people and smart, entertaining, and so on, but there are plenty of them that aren't really hackers by any definition that isn't so broad as to be completely meaningless.
Have to agree. In general, as much as I like most of these alt stories that have been posted to HN lately, I came to HN to escape this sort of posting. I'm sure we could expand the term 'hacker' to apply to anyone who was a creative misfit in their field; ingenious doctors, writers ahead of their time, one-handed clock makers, etc but that's not what I consider a hacker in the context of this community. Still, would love the alternative with links like this as a companion site to HN.
I'm not commenting on this specific article, but, to me, the definition of a "hacker" has always been someone who "tinkers", as opposed to a design springing fully formed from the head of Zeus. By this definition, Edison was a hacker, and Tesla was not. Linus is a hacker, but Dijkstra was not. I don't know enough architects to say who was a hacker in that field (maybe Christopher Alexander?), but Frank Lloyd Wright was not (he designed fallingwater in the time it took his client to travel to meet with him, after meditating ahem on it for months).
By this definition, for writers, a hacker is someone who fiddles with their writing - as in this morning, I removed a comma from my novel. This afternoon I put it back in.
I don't claim it's the definition of hacking, but I think there's some merit in its perspective.
By this definition, for writers, a hacker is someone who fiddles with their writing - as in this morning, I removed a comma from my novel. This afternoon I put it back in.
I don't claim it's the definition of hacking, but I think there's some merit in its perspective.
> but Frank Lloyd Wright was not (he designed fallingwater in the time it took his client to travel to meet with him, after meditating ahem on it for months).
Isn't putting stuff off to the very last moment the hall mark of the true hacker ?
Isn't putting stuff off to the very last moment the hall mark of the true hacker ?
Woody Allen is a hacker. Look at his innovations in cinema - Annie Hall was dated by the time I finally saw it but still pulled some awesome quirks. In Without Feathers, from which this story is taken, one of the plays is incredibly recursive and meta. I still want to perform it.
That's not defending this story, though. Just expressing a little love for Woody.
That's not defending this story, though. Just expressing a little love for Woody.
Can't someone be smart and innovative without necessarily being a "hacker"?
That raises the discussion of what a "hacker" is.
I don't like the word hacker myself. I think it's an unnecessary descriptor that raises more irritating arguments than it's worth. In that regards it's similar to calling somebody an "artist", though in the latter case there's slightly more weight behind the word.
If we're going to use the word "hacker", though, then having a play that features the cast calling up Woody Allen and asking him what to do next is a hack in that it subverts the format of the play.
I don't like the word hacker myself. I think it's an unnecessary descriptor that raises more irritating arguments than it's worth. In that regards it's similar to calling somebody an "artist", though in the latter case there's slightly more weight behind the word.
If we're going to use the word "hacker", though, then having a play that features the cast calling up Woody Allen and asking him what to do next is a hack in that it subverts the format of the play.
(Reminder: I think seshagiric is wrong, as I state below/above, but not wrong in such a way as to merit lots of downvoting. Save that for the egregious abusers/flamers/other nasties)
two columns of text is the bomb.
If it all fits on your screen, maybe. Otherwise, having half the visible content completely disconnected from the other half, separated by a few pages of scrolling, is absolutely pointless.
But I copy things into http://amarsagoo.info/tofu/ to read. That is “the bomb.”
But I copy things into http://amarsagoo.info/tofu/ to read. That is “the bomb.”
Why copy when you can bookmarklet: http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/
Well actually I use an OS X service, so it's just a single keyboard shortcut.
But Tofu is much nicer for reading long prose than the Readability bookmarklet. Try it some time.
But Tofu is much nicer for reading long prose than the Readability bookmarklet. Try it some time.
Tofu looks nice -- interesting idea to make text more easily readable by splitting it into many columns, each as high as your window is.
Someone really needs to make a web version out of that! Shouldn't take too long, and I bet many users don't want to download and install an extra piece of software for that.
Someone really needs to make a web version out of that! Shouldn't take too long, and I bet many users don't want to download and install an extra piece of software for that.
I hope that 'someone' is the original creator, and not a someone who nabs a really cool idea for themselves. I didn't DL it for exactly the reason you commented on. If it was a web version, I'd use it all the time.
Edit/Elaboration: This is pirated content. I don't think pirated content should be spread on a site like HN. It's very similar to blog-jacking, only now the original content is a book. If you want to read it, you can buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Without-Feathers-Woody-Allen/dp/034533...