Who says Jon Stewart, America's top mock journalist (and Emmy winner), can't pontificate about the future of television? Well … Stewart, for one. The Daily Show executive producer Ben Karlin, for another. And our readers. "Wired, being Wired, is pushing these guys to say brilliant stuff about the future," one noted, "but Stewart and Karlin continue to resist." Their lips say no, but their eyes … Hey, speaking of romance, Carlos Owens, the subject of our �September Obsessed page, lost a girlfriend to his giant-robot-�building hobby. So a reader who could sense that Owens has no time for Match.com suggested he get his bot to Burning Man: "He may have to use the mech to fight the ladies off." 'Cause you know what they say about the size of a man's exoskeleton.
Leader of the TV World
My 5-year-old picked up the September issue (13.09), looked at the photo of Jon Stewart on the cover, laughed, and said: "The president has a remote in his mouth!"
Roger Connor
Poughkeepsie, New York
A Real Turn-Off
Considering the amount of spam I receive that's directly traceable to either GeoCities or Yahoo!, the idea of Yahoo! being in the TV world sounds great to me ("The Super Network," issue 13.09). I've been looking for a reason to kick the tube for a long time now, and this would definitely do it. Yahoo! should get good at what it's supposed to be doing first before marching on to the Next Big Thing. Actually, a lot of companies could benefit from that advice.
Ray Tracy
Prince George, British Columbia
The Real Deal With Bots
David Kushner's "On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Bot" (issue 13.09) paints an unrealistic picture of commercial poker bots. His article basically whores Ray E. Bornert II's product without proving that WinHoldEm can actually win at hold 'em. Netting $30 overnight is hardly a big score at a 0.5-to-1 limit, and it takes at least 10,000 hands to approach a confident sample size. Even the most advanced bots can barely break even against bad players; there is yet to be a bot well suited for optimal full-ring and tournament play. Mr. Bornert, your bot is totally welcome at my weekly home game.
Zac Echola
Fargo, North Dakota
Identity Politics
"Blood Feud" (issue 13.09) leaves out one angle of some importance: what it takes to be a federally recognized tribe. If a tribe wants to keep its federal recognition, it follows that membership must be based only on criteria the government accepts. If the Bureau of Indian Affairs had accepted a DNA result of 2�percent Indian to mean Cherokee, your slant would have merit. But if the only federally permissible criterion is the infamously corrupt Dawes Roll, it's unfair to criticize the Cherokee Nation for being forced to use it. What's worse is that the people in your photographs, some of whom aren't even mentioned in the piece, seem to invite readers to compare features and judge who is really Indian. That answer cannot come from your readers, the Dawes Roll, or DNA tests. The concept of blood quantum is a remnant of a racist culture we still haven't left behind. From an Indian perspective, there is no such thing as a 2�percent native; there are only whole people. Each person knows their identity in their heart (I'm Choctaw) - and self-identity is the only test that should matter.
Vail Edna Henry
Basye, Virginia
You Call That Design?
In regard to "The Dream Factory" (issue 13.09): It sure would be fun to start fabricating and creating my own designs. But I think the comparison (by Squid Labs' Saul Griffith) of DIY design with the hideous Web sites of the 1990s is spot-on. As a Web designer, I work mostly on mom-and-pop do-it-yourself sites. Maybe fab printers will be available for under a grand in a decade, but design should be left to designers.
Tevi Hirschhorn
Hollywood, Florida
Leave My Browser Alone
Great, remix culture has hit the browser ("Monkeying with the Web," Start, issue 13.09). Don't these developers have anything better to do than write software to ruin one of the few democratic tools available? Next they'll be changing our front yards because they don't like where we've planted our bushes. Yes, the Web was designed to be open. Having individuals making it hackable for their self-serving goals ruins it for the rest of us.
John Huff
Prescott, Arizona
Go North, Dr. Who Fans
Americans don't need to go all the way to the UK to see the new Dr. Who TV series (Playlist, Reviews, issue 13.09). Canada's CBC also airs it, and we are right next door. Come on up!
Chris Westbury
Edmonton, Alberta
Don't F-Up Family Guy
The new Family Guy feature-length episode ("Putting the 'F' in Family," Play, Reviews, issue 13.09) isn't exactly "available exclusively on disc." Somebody bootlegged a copy and put it online. Message to anyone who thinks pirating is good: Snap up the downloaded version and certainly the studios will think long and hard before putting out any more direct-to-video episodes that won't make them any money.
Don Del Grande
Benicia, California
Let the Ravens Run National Defense
Reading the piece about the NFL's Baltimore Ravens and their digital game analysis system ("The Ravens Go Digital," Posts, issue 13.09), it occurred to me that the US has got things ass-backward. Ravens head coach Brian Billick should be president - or at the very least he should be in charge of Defense and Homeland Security, while Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld should be football coaches. That way, all their strategic and intelligence failures would cost us no more than a few football games, and Billick, who would never allow such a poorly designed intelligence system to exist on his watch, would be protecting the country.
Andy Samet
Roselle Park, New Jersey
I like what the Baltimore Ravens are doing with technology, but I think Erik Malinowski jumps to conclusions about the connection between geekery and football success. While the Ravens have had a nice run under Brian Billick, other teams won far more games during that period, using presumably less-sophisticated coaching tools. Plasma screens and tricked out A/V rooms don't score touchdowns or make tackles.
John Vresilovic
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Still Trying to Grok Grokster
Regarding "A Rotten Ruling" (Posts, Lessig, issue 13.09): If with the Grokster ruling the US Supreme Court has found that makers of technology are liable for how it is used, then maybe someone ought to take this decision and go after handgun and/or bullet manufacturers.
Matthew Blumberg
Brooklyn, New York
The Supreme Court ruled that actively promoting a product for illegal purposes is in fact illegal itself, but Lawrence Lessig claims the ruling is a blow for innovation. If I am a gun manufacturer with advertisements stating "Get Rid of That Asshole Husband, Once and for All," will I be held liable in a court of law if that is what some woman decides to do? Yes. Does that ruling affect the manufacture of a better, more powerful gun without said advertisement? No.
Michael Greer
Spartanburg, South Carolina
