Return to Sender
Skim Board *
Image: Gtron Sištěm * Re: Speed and Science
Some schisms we can appreciate. Like the rift that opened in response to Charles Graeber's raucous story about Alex Roy's high-speed dash across the country. The Go Speed Racer crowd hailed him as a paragon of audacity, the proud possessor of what must be cannonballs of steel. But the Slow Children at Play folks thought his irresponsible butt should spend time parked behind bars in seven states. Point taken. As for the fanatical trolls clattering about creationism in light of Clive Thompson's column on language and evolution — for that "debate" we have little patience. Hey, we're all for dialog. But if you want a magazine that dismisses the notion that life on Earth evolved from more primitive forms, you're talking to the wrong nerds. Next time you pick a fossilized bone with our content, find an actual controversy.
Domo Arigato Dojinshi!
"Japan, Ink" (issue 15.11) provides hope for a young artist like myself. The idea of Creative Commonsstyle licensing for dojinshi remixes of original comics is riveting, since current communication and media laws are swallowing everything. Here's to the future. I hope one day to create a manga series with such a strong fan base that spinoffs will be sold alongside my own.
Isaiah Headen
Washington, DC
Fan Club
It was refreshing to hear a discussion of the business benefits of fan-created content instead of seeing it condemned as blatant stealing ("Japan, Ink"). Fan-created content does exist in the US, but if it's tolerated at all, it's only because the creators make no money from their work.
Samantha Close
Mizuho, Japan
Lost in Translation
I can tell that Wired really took this seriously, because you went to Japan and hired a professional manga-ka ("How Manga Conquered America," issue 15.11). Atsuhisa Okura has clearly mastered the form. Just one thing: You chose to go with the Japanese convention of having the comic read right to left, which is fine, but you did a clumsy job of translating that to the Web. Experienced manga readers are comfortable reading either way, and when you're holding a book it's obvious which way the pages go. On the Web, not so much.
Brigid Alverson
Excerpted from digitalstrips.com
Flipping Out
It is horrible people like you who continue to push for the half translation of manga in the West ("How Manga Conquered America"). English is written from left to right. Traditionally, Japanese is not. When translating into English, the job isn't done until the page has been reformatted for left-to-right viewing.
Many people simply can't read from right to left; they become physically nauseated, as if they had motion sickness.
If you had a shred of decency you'd promote the flipping of all manga artwork published in North America — or, at the very least, promote two printings: one not flipped for the Nihon-jin-wannabe assholes, and one flipped for normal English-reading Americans.
I hope you reconsider your tragically misguided point of view.
Chris Taran
Scranton, pennsylvania
Uncertainty Principle
As a science teacher, I share your frustration with students' dismissal of biological evolution as "just a theory" (Start, Clive Thompson, issue 15.11). But to call evolution a "law" is counterproductive. We need to teach students that all scientific knowledge is tentative. Just because 90 percent or 99 percent or 99.9 percent of scientists agree on something does not make it inviolable. Einstein, Heisenberg, Copernicus, and Darwin all demonstrated this. Why not use language that opens the doors to future revolutions instead of shutting them?
Eric Ashton
New York, New York
Toaster? Or Toilet?
In "Bon Voyage, Earthlings" (Start, issue 15.10), Miyoko Ohtake compares the proposed Virgin Galactic spaceport to a Cylon Raider.
One can only conclude that Ms. Ohtake has never suffered an illness that would require the use of a bedpan.
Ralph Jones
Aurora, Colorado
Notes From the Front
Hell of a story on Shannen Rossmiller ("I Spy," issue 15.11). That chick is something else!
Joseph Watkins
Camp Kalsu, Iraq
Language Barrier
Wonderful article on Shannen Rossmiller's freelance online terrorist hunting ("I Spy"). Why doesn't the FBI have enough imagination to do something like this on its own? It seems that most of her success is because she learned Arabic; that should not be a huge obstacle for the bureau.
Bob Pierson
Kansas City, Missouri
Political Supporter
I have a hard time believing that you failed to mention Ron Paul in "Campaign 2008: Webbiest Ever" (Start, issue 15.11). He is constantly rejected by mainstream media, despite the fact that he does well in Republican online straw polls and continues to rank high in online surveys. WIRED: Ron Paul's blog; his presence on Digg, Eventful, Facebook, Flickr, Meetup, MySpace, and YouTube; the fact that he has raised more than $9 million online. TIRED: the current top contenders for the Oval Office.
John Graf
Eatonville, Washington
Drivers Wanted
WOW WOW WOW!! Great story. Great writing. Yes, the act is stupid, pointless, dangerous, and INCREDIBLE ("The Pedal to the Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Continental Sprint for Glory," issue 15.11)! If you were not thoroughly engrossed in this article, then you must be one of those poor bastards who are only passengers, even when sitting behind the wheel.
Excerpted from comment posted on Wired.com by peacelover222
Speed Demo
Alex Roy's disregard for the welfare of everyone else on the road is sickening. Your enthusiasm for "The Pedal to the Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Continental Sprint for Glory" only serves to endorse his behavior. When he ends up killing someone, it will be no accident.
Michael Jobin
Boston, Massachusetts
Tech Hugger
In "Burning Down the House" (issue 15.10) you say, "By its very nature, the environmental movement has always been antitechnology and antigrowth." WTF? All the environmentalists I know are avid proponents of green technology and smart, sustainable growth.
Wil Cone
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Nice Hack
Your review of the Comcast Motorola DVR box (wired Test 2008) mentions that the user can't hop past commercials. I was miffed by this, too, but a few seconds of searching the Web yielded an easy hack that restores the 30-second-commercial-skip feature (Google "DCT3416 30 second hack" for details).
Mark Rudnick
Atco, New Jersey
The Other Opiate of the Masses
Where is the Chinese resistance ("Staring Down the Censors," issue 15.11)? It doesn't exist, because the Internet is just being used as a pacifier by the dictatorship. Suckle on the teat of approved entertainment and maybe even taste a little forbidden fruit at minor risk. But if you make any real move, you're a nameless corpse in a ditch somewhere in the Gobi.
Excerpted from comment posted on Wired.com by rigatoni
Cisco Sucks
It is incredible that a country as huge as China can put into place an Internet-monitoring policy ("Staring Down the Censors"). But the really disconcerting part of the story is that Cisco, which has profited in the West by helping us expand our ability to communicate, is making money by helping the Chinese government limit citizen access to the outside world and to outside ideas. Come on, Cisco! What's your next business move? Giving al Qaeda a state-of-the-art telephony system or providing Iran with a core switch for a nuclear installation?
Tony Turner
Springfield, missouri
