Sunday Fiction :The Watchmaker

With tweezer hands he laid the gilded gears in place. He closed the sell, whistling softly as he completed the delicate work. This was the artisan’s finest creation, a watch for the king himself. The watchmaker rocked back in his chair, tasting the air. It was different today, the familiar musk of his workshop was overshadowed by acrid tones. He was a success; his skill unmatched; the slave turned artisan.
The boy sat silently in the corner. He was a good child. A faithful child. The watchmaker had insisted upon it. Only a boy of faith could be trusted with such an important delivery. He carefully wrapped the watch in leather and beckoned the child closer.
“You understand, you must go directly to the king. Do not falter, he must receive his gift tonight.” The boy nodded mutely and darted out through the door.
The boy loped through the crowded streets, sticking close to the dusty market canopies. Merchants pitched gibberish to nobody in particular as he passed. He checked his pocket. It was still there. He caught sideways glances from strangers but none would meet his eyes. No, it must be his imagination, they couldn’t know what he carried.
The guards allowed the boy to pass with a nod. The watchmaker had arranged everything. The boy climbed the stairs, taking the route the watchmaker had inststed he memorise, and recite, over and over till it had become second nature.
The king smiled at the boy’s arrival, begged him to come close with a weary finger. He drew open the pouch, his eyes salivating. It was perfect, he shooed the boy, his eyes not leaving the glittering object. Servants presented dinner, he dismissed them with a wave. No-one else could see it, it was for him and him alone. The watch ticked on his eyes transfixed. Then midnight, the hands aligned in perfect symmetry. A click, a hiss a puff of smoke, a boom rendered voiceless by the cavernous halls. The watch was gone and with it the king.
The watchmaker smiled in his chair, his greatest work complete.

Anonymous vs Scientology

The story of Anonymous has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood epic. A roguish accidental hero, a wise sage, a great and powerful enemy. The war between hacker-group Anonymous and the Church of Scientology began with a lone act of censorship. A church of scientology indoctrination video featuring Tom Cruise was hosted on the youtube video website. Cruise’s manic laughter and his claim that scientologists are the only one’s who can help in the case of a car accident were mocked by commentary.
The church, citing the digital millennium copyright act, forcibly removed the video. Soon after the removal a video featuring a dark robotic voice set to stock images of storm clouds appeared on the video site, declaring war on the church. In response the sages of this tale “Wise beard man” , GlaDos and an unnamed scientologist spoke out, supporting the cause but urging caution and non-violence in letters and video posts across the web.
In mere days, anonymous achieved a campaign of protests that would be the envy of any activist. Scientology centres throughout the United Stated, Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia were “raided” by thousands of masked protesters. The Church of Scientology official website was shut down by hackers prompting international media coverage.
The public relations line is that anonymous chose their name as a defence against Scientology’s alleged attacks against individual detractors. In truth the group existed long before “Operation Chanology,” the manoeuvres of which have sparked protests at scientology centres around the world. “Anonymous” was born on the Chan group of message board websites. Think of these as the toilet wall of the Internet. Users post gory pictures, pornography and crude messages in the name of shock humour. Like the toilet wall, when someone wishes to post a message without fear of social consequence they may choose to remain anonymous. Over time users of the site began to refer to anonymous as though he were a real person. Many conversations can be found between “Anonymous” and the identified users of the site.
The entity known as Anonymous became HG Well’s invisible man, acting without fear of retribution and ultimately without morality. Their early operations on the internet reflected this. Operation Myspays (sic) was a sophisticated effort to obtain the passwords to the personal pages of myspace users. The targets then had their personal profiles plastered with homosexual pornography. The goal of the mission was ”lulz,” hacker slang for laughs. Their moniker “The Internet Hate Machine” is well earned.
Cruelty is a common theme among the users of the site, “Anonymous” have made prank phone calls to the parents of a teenage suicide, made bomb threats and convinced girls to post nude pictures on their site then tracking down their details to publicly name and shame them.
The Internet Hate Machine is fuelled by media attention. Media reports are collected and celebrated as trophies. The favourites are usually the most negative coverage. When fox news dubbed Anonymous “Hacker’s on Steroids,” the site erupted in jubilation. The report was dissected, set to music and is frequently featured on the site as an in-joke. Even their most innocent activities suggest a desire for attention. A long-standing hobby of anonymous is meme-pushing. Attempting to move their in-jokes into the internet domain. The community is accredited with creating many pieces of internet miscellanea. Lolcats; pictures of cats with humourous descriptions originated on the chan sites, as did the popularity of Tay Zonday’s song, “Chocolate Rain.”
There is talent among the community, for an organization without formal structure or hierarchy they show a great deal of sophistication in their raids. Operation Myspays featured a series of spoof pages promising access to Myspace through work or school filter systems. Unwitting users entered their passwords that were disseminated through the community to begin the attack. They are experts in manipulating media, websites, and social sites to manipulate people in the name of cruel laughs.
Ironically it is this remarkable ability which may prove the undoing of Anonymous.
The goal of the war on scientology may have been laughs, but the cause has struck a chord in the community. The chan message-boards are attracting new ideological members, combating the current leadership of scientology with noble sentiment. One of these new members of anonymous suggested a list of future causes “His fellow anonymous” could support, the following reply was received.
“We are not your fellow Anonymous. We are not V for Vendetta. We are an Internet Hate Machine, we do whatever we want for the hell of it, for our own fun. The rest of the things you heard about us was just propaganda so you would all help us.” –anon. Other users posted gory images of traffic accidents and medical procedures in an effort to ward off idealistic newcomers.
Others have welcomed the change as serendipity. One longstanding member of anonymous encouraged detractors to welcome the newcomers and accept that the group had evolved a sense of social responsibility. The anonymous communities growing on mainstream sites such as facebook and myspace are largely unaware of the hacker roots of the group and oppose the current form of Scientology for their litigious nature, alleged suppression of the media and the “Fair Game” policy, where Scientologists were encouraged to attack SP’s or suppressive persons by any means. The Church of Scientology states that this policy is not in use.
With great passion on both sides the media war is not likely to reach a stalemate any time soon. In the mean time one question still remains to be answered; What does it mean to be anonymous?

A Brief History of Love

Valentine’s day is here, a day for lovers young and old. From stolen glances and fleeting exchanges from admirers to the golden love of ages. For those disposed to finding the root of things the reason for this occasion remains a mystery. Little is known of either of the Saints known as valentine.

Anti-globalists will be disappointed to find that Valentine’s day is not the invention of Hallmark, or any other of the global greeting giants. The beginnings of the day have been traced to a short story by Chaucer, often cited as the first great writer to make use of the English language as opposed to the latin favoured by early scholars. The story described a fictional practice of exchange of letters among lovers. This struck a chord with readers of the day and the practice caught on.

Beginning with hand written letters eventually advances in the steam driven press made prewritten cards an affordable option for those too shy or ineloquent to express their love in their own voice. The practice has caught on throughout the western world with valentines day marking the third biggest calendar gifting occasion.

For those determined to find they hand of capitalism it may do to look to asia where the developmentof in a twist, girls are expected to give ohjugd-choko, or obligation chocolates to men in and around their office.

It is likely that some of our valentine traditions were drawn February pagan harvest festivals. After feasting and dancing the mayflower pole, the young women of the village would draw the names of young men from a basket. That would be their partner for the year at many events and festivities. Often these pairings would lead to marriage. While we no longer rely on chance to choose our own partners it is gratifying to know that this day continues to pair folks around the world.

Requiem for A Formula One

Chaucer said that time heals all wounds. This is not the case for Adelaide's loss of the Grand Prix. Thirteen years on a silent protest continues on social networking site, Facebook. The group "Bring Back the Formula One To Adelaide" boasts more than two-thousand members, dwarfing rival group "Keep the Formula One in Melbourne," at twenty-four.
With most of Facebook's user base aged 15 to 25, many members are too young to remember the final race in 1995, but still they mourn its loss.

The Adelaide circuit was widely regarded as one of the best city tracks of its day. It features high-speeds straights punctuated by delicate turning sections against the lush backdrop of the Botanical gardens. The Grand Prix received international praise both for this fine track design and the excitement and enthusiasm that accompanied the event.

To Adelaide's youth it has become larger than life, a symbol of the South Australia's past success on the world stage.
With Melbourne's 2010 renewal deadline looming it is also a symbol of the future, described by group founder Hugh Waterman as "an opportunity for Adelaide to firmly place itself back on the international map."

With the continuing popularity of the more economical V8 event, treasurer Kevin Foley is unlikely to place a bid on the Grand Prix anytime soon.
For now, it is safe to say that being a little bit narky about F1's is as cemented in South Australian culture as Cooper's on tap or the misphrase "Heaps good."