I have recently returned from the depths of southern Arizona where I think it's safe to report that the citizens there are a part of a large military black-ops project to develop the first super soldier resistant to solar radiation and heat.
Back in the summer of '89, I met with a design school recruiter. He wanted me to attend Al Collins School of Design in Tempe, Arizona. When I asked him about the heat he shrugged and said something about dry heat not being as bad as humid heat, blah, blah, blah. He was right but that doesn't mean it's still not hotter than hell.
How people live in southern Arizona is beyond me, but they do, voluntarily, without a gun to their head.
Now before you rush to comment with the words "air" and "conditioning" you need to know that people have lived in that area for centuries, long before the advent of air conditioning, iced drinks, and summer whites — which would have made for a brilliant edition of National Geographic.
The Hohokam, as they are called, made the Casa Grande Valley their home, creating an advanced prehistoric civilization that included ball courts, massive irrigation system channeled off the Colorado River, and the Big House, or Casa Grande which is also the first ever National Monument.
Personally I think 'casa' really stands for 'hot' and 'grande' means 'big time' but when I suggested this to the Park Ranger, he told me I should probably sit down while he yelled for a med-kit and water.
Built in 1300 AD and standing three stories tall with walls three feet thick, the Big House was made from clay and timbers carried across the high desert floor from some sixty miles away. The mostly intact remains serve as a monolithic testament to the civilization that created it seven-hundred years ago. It is in fact the original This Old House.
While the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans may have the Hohokam beat when it comes to civil engineering and societal accomplishments, I was still very impressed by the structure, protecting me from the yellow cancer god while I made sure to keep a safe distance from any snakes and scorpions — stupid snakes and scorpions.
Mostly smooth to the touch, the giant artifact made me wonder if the work my friends and I do today will ever be held in high regard seven-hundred years from now. While I kind of doubt that anything we do invididually will earn such longevity there is strength in numbers.
The Internet Archive was built to serve just that purpose, collecting a good portion of the Internet for future research, posterity, etc. through voluntary participation. Sadly the non-commercial service has started to come under legal attack, and I fear this is merely the beginning.
That is what brought the Philadelphia law firm of Harding Earley Follmer & Frailey to the Wayback Machine two years ago. The firm was defending Health Advocate, a company in suburban Philadelphia that helps patients resolve health care and insurance disputes, against a trademark action brought by a similarly named competitor.
In preparing the case, representatives of Earley Follmer used the Wayback Machine to turn up old Web pages - some dating to 1999 - originally posted by the plaintiff, Healthcare Advocates of Philadelphia. Last week Healthcare Advocates sued both the Harding Earley firm and the Internet Archive, saying the access to its old Web pages, stored in the Internet Archive's database, was unauthorized and illegal."
The Internet isn't the cure for cancer, but it's advent and adoption into our culture is history I think we will want to preserve, copyright law be damned. I am hopeful that I speak for all of us when I say that it will be a cold day in Arizona before we let some petty legal claim chip away at preserving our work.
If the Hohokam can build a mud skyscraper that has lasted for seven-hundred years then surely we can find a way to save the Archive and make it last for at a few hundred years — perhaps it's time to create the first ever National Digital Monument.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
As far as heat goes, try 90+ degrees with 70%+ humidity....as Lewis Black says about Florida, it's "too hot when you walk outside and think, 'you know, I should've put deodorant on my balls'" Amen.
screw the whales, save the internet.
Great post and tying it all together. Excellent all the way round
Wow, this is really sad. I've used the way back machine on several occasions, it's an excellent resource. I would really hate to see it go over such petty legal maneuverings.
110 degrees dry heat = 100 degrees = sauna
110 degrees heat + humidity = 130 degrees = steam room
Heat plus humidity is insane. The humidity just makes sure glasses fog up when you leave an air conditioned building. Anything over 95 degrees is nasty, humidity or not.
A Canadian.
Well It's gonna be 93 Degrees and around 85% humidity tomorrow. So yea, "Heat plus humidity is insane."
-Sid
A Texan
Heat + humidity + cycling for 8 hours in the Texas sun!
Thats what Lance Armstrong had to endure sometimes when he trained for the Tour de France which he won for the 7th time in a row yesterday!
There's a concoction that will eventually be lethal for the Internet: politicians, lawyers and BigCorps.
Whether it's fining and hassling music and movie fans or choking smaller fish trying to edge into their markets, if these guys could shut down the Internet and replace it with a proprietary version, they would.
I used to be a mailman. Delivered your posts in 106 degree (dry) heat in Southern California. I once got "heat intoxication" (you're not sweating but thirsty so you keep drinking water). After a few hours I could hear it slosh around in my stomach. Finally got pretty sick and had to be replaced out on the route. Found out later you can literally drown. So dry heat or humid heat, --either can be pretty dangerous.
That being said, Friday night we got one hellava thunderstorm here in the burbs of DC. It knocked out power which didn't come on for 11 hours. HOT+HUMIDITY+NO ELECTRICITY. How did those native Americans do it? I'm such a wus.
This is the very reason why I've had a desire to turn at least a part of my career away from computers and the Internet. I've never have had much faith on having the lots of work and effort put into web site creation and design (if that's what you are referring to) to be properly preserved and lasting within centuries to come, you know, with the fickle nature of computer technology and all that. Practically nothing of the stuff I did ten years ago when I started on this either exists or is in use anymore. It's like building houses over quicksand. These days, I'd rather spend my efforts on something that actually withstands the test of time.
I thought the heat was bad in Phoenix until I drank the water, which I'm assuming is actually earth-pee. However, the 24-hour burrito stands are worth fight and dying for.
Another Texan here -- I love Dallas, and I can deal with the heat, but on any given day, I spend a total of 3 minutes outside. (Except on yardwork days)
It's just ridiculous. How people lived here before AC is beyond me. The only time I spend outside in the summer during the day is walking to my car.
By the way, there's no feeling quite like getting in a car that's been in the sun all day with the windows rolled up, turning on the AC, and getting that blast of blazing hot air straight into your face.
Whenever I get to wherever I'm going, I feel like I need a shower. I've gotten used to just living my life all sweatyified.
As a fifth generation Arizonian... I feel the need to defend the state by saying it was not always this hot. The plethora of cement has contributed mightlily to the horrendous heat we have here. That and the dammed up water... there was more water around 80 years ago or so.
At least that is what my grandmother told me.
Blair - mother of a sixth generation Arizonian and a first generation American
As to the Wayback Machine story: if they didn't want people knowing certain things, why did they put the information on the internet? Maybe I'm missing something but this situation seems like a no-brainer!
"why did they put the information on the internet?" ... ‘cuz they thought it wouldn't last and they could lie through their teeth, and then delete or alter the site after they were finished with fleecing the innocents.
Greater than 85 degrees is to hot, and humidity is always bad.
Sincerely,
A Vermonter
In Northern Montana the indian tribes there have what they call the "Red Bottom Festival". No, they don't run around showing their red bottoms, butt I first thought that they just might do that. In Arizona they have the Blister Bottom Festival. No they actually have a Gord Festival that has the lowly gord portrayed in various body parts on plaques. I guess when it gets "HOT" the mind burns to express itself in ways of being in heat.
Here in Sacramento, where the temperature regularly gets into triple digits during the summer, (we also call it "dry heat") we have a term for people who can't take the heat: Wussies. (I suspect Greg uses a similar term for native Californians like me who complain about the cold when the temperature dips into the fifties.)
As for the attack on the Internets by the legal vermin, this is a shame; I couldn't agree more that "politicians, lawyers and BigCorps" may eventually ruin the Internet. I have to wonder how these cases will affect things like Google's page caching or even the ability to link to other pages without permission. I have feeling that it is only a matter of time before some assclown sues some one else to prevent them from linking to their page.
it's from hearing things like this that i gain a new and slightly bizarre love of the 'variable' weather we enjoy in old blighty :-)
and i also get all confused by fahrenheit, celsius and kelvin.