ludditeonline, Author at Luddite Online

Net Neutrality Wins the Day

Luddites of 17th Century England fought the government to retain a hold on their livelihood and standards of living. The government's recent decision to enforce rules of "net neutrality" designed to prevent private corporations from parceling out better Internet

Entropy

Thermodynamics. (in statistical mechanics) a measure of the randomness of the microscopic constituents of a thermodynamic system. Symbol: S. (on a macroscopic scale) a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition, that is a measure of the

Luddite Film of the Century?

Amidst all the rapid and radical change from carbon paper, leaded gasoline, transistor radios, black and white television, rotary dial phones, and telegraph machines to high-speed Internet, disposable cell phones, space travel, omnipresent surveillance, and high-definition everything in less

Silicon Valley and Amorality

Within recent memory, people respected those who achieved success through hard work. Similarly, not so long ago, cool was how we described those who could pull us out of sad, abusive, toxic places and make us feel good again. The

Fugunka Films on Luddite Online

The contemporary world may be described as the era of “isms.” Capitalism, communism, fascism, nationalism, idealism, nihilism, atheism, totalitarianism, relativism, socialism, patriotism, fanaticism, pluralism, populism… the list goes on and on. Combined with education and government policies inspired by

Is there anybody out there?

GROOWINKY FEATURES POETIC MUSINGS, ZANY DRAWINGS (DONE MOSTLY ON DISCARDED JOURNAL ENTRIES), INVENTED WORDS, FILMS, AND OTHER CREATIONS WHICH POUR OUT OF ONE MAN WHO LIVES FEVERISHLY UPON THE CREATIVE CURRENTS OF HIS OWN MIND. Once upon a time not

War of the World

We are at war. How many times have you written off the guy at the office who keeps coming to your desk with the latest copy of Soldier of Fortune magazine and berating you for dismissing everyone on the Right

Lifelong Learning

Since the digital technology revolution, there has been an increasing trend toward a “reinvent-the-wheel” mindset, which has given lifelong learning a bad name. Probably, most of these tendencies result from the ability of digital technology to make possible

Technology: Bad for the Brain

Technology, technology, technology....Science, nerds, geeks, IT, virtual reality.....Sometimes it seems there is nothing else to life and the world we live in, and many people seem to think that's perfectly okay. However, technology is not the same thing

Babette’s Feast

1987 was not so long ago, but technological development has unleashed such rapid change that the Danish film, Babette's Feast, seems to depict an era so far removed from the contemporary world as to be as likely as a

High Life

Some of the best neo-Luddite films were made in the 1980's, but maybe the best film about the neo-Luddite worldview was made about the 1980's. High Life tells a tale of young men dissatisfied with the rise of the

Fight Club

Fight Club may be the most important film of the second half of the twentieth century. Granted, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton give it blockbuster status, and Helena Bohnam Carter adds the credibility without which this film might otherwise

Office Space

The ugliness and inescapability of life in our contemporary age of mediocrity, ennui, dissatisfaction, annoyance, and overcrowding is expressed with comic brilliance in Office Space. While films like Fight Club sustain the raw human emotion that our modern world

American Beauty

Pain. That seems to be the underlying theme of all pop culture artifacts. Songs, books, films, pastimes--they all seem to involve pain.... The pain of loss, of want, of need, of frustration, of deprivation, of injustice, of betrayal--all these

His Clouds Are Made from Cornstarch

In collaboration with Groowinky.com, Luddite Online will begin providing access to original films and reflections about the growing atmosphere of depersonalized, nihilistic, tech-heavy absurdity as the corporate takeover of planet Earth continues apace, unchecked, unregulated, and with apparently no end

The Hands of a Pusher

Sideshow Chicken

Appalachian Music

The Smithsonian Institute has released the Classic Appalachian Blues, which was recognized as the best album in its genre in 2010. The Smithsonian site has uploaded some free samples and has a purchase link. Of course, Appalachian music is still being

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry (1926-) is one of the most influential figures in all of rock-and-roll. An unofficial Internet history of rock'n'roll reminds us that although rock-and-roll is mostly associated with parties and good times, its roots include the tragedy of human slavery.

Robert Johnson

There may be no better representative of The Blues musical tradition that Robert Johnson (1911-1938). Born poor in Mississippi, his posthumous fame has had an unlikely influence on musicians as far-reaching ad The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. So

Miles Davis Quintet Live

Miles Davis (1926-1991) is one of the most influential, accomplished, and well-respected men in the field of professional music composition and performance. Born in Illinois, he was a graduate of Julliard Music School and is credited with influencing the

Baroque Music

The following video, from Patreon.com combines the elements of Baroque and Chamber music. A valuable and enjoyable celebration of past musical traditions, this performance proves that works of art from history are still relevant and necessary. Our lives lack the

The Four Seasons, Antonio Vivaldi

The Four Seasons may be the most famous Baroque composition. Composed by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), this piece is composed of four main parts--one each for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Bold for it's time, Vivaldi's "musical description" attempted to violate

Journey to the End of the Night – Céline

Written by Louis-Ferdinand Céline and first published in 1932, this novel is regarded by many as the best expression of 20th Century consciousness and culture. For the author, this was both a blessing and a curse. Journey to the

Moby Dick – Melville

Written in 1851 by Herman Melville, Moby Dick is regarded by many as the great American novel. Movies provide a great chance to escape the trap of modernity and see the word in a way our daily lives don't allow. Many of

The Holy Bible

Demographically, some have cited atheism as the fastest growing ideology in contemporary America. This may settle the question for many people why there is such a rampant growth of consumerism and higher crime and imprisonment rates than at

Pessimism

Pessimism is unnatural. I was recently discussing business opportunities with a local colleague who also owns and operates a small business. Unfortunately, we were unable to come to any agreement or establish any kind of productive relationship. I

Revisionist History and Cultural Cleansing

Finger-pointing and "The Blame Game" are the status quo, to some degree: determining guilt is often no easy task and is the reason every nation has its established method of determining how to apply legal remedies to crime. Revisionist

Deus Ex Machina: Literally!

Deus ex machina is a Latin phrase meaning "God from the machine," and has until recently been used almost exclusively to discuss literature. When a complicated plot in a novel or short story runs up against a seemingly

Counter-intelligence, Hackers, etc.

The White House says Russia is behind a cyber-attack that breached the White House computer system. Edward Snowden is in Russia because he says the White House spies on everyone and knows everything. Everyone wants to live in

Really….That’s not funny anymore…

What is so sad about the abuse of technology is not only how people have been dehumanized and reduced to button-pushing, pill-swallowing, automatons indoctrinated into a somnambulant state of compliant consumerism; nor the tragic consequences of people who

Devo!

Although there is a debate, it is fairly one-sided. There is no debate that the unasked for, unregulated, unsupervised, uncontrolled, and incomprehensibly rapid pace of technological change being forced on the world has caused irreparable and undeniably harmful

Author: ludditeonline