__ Rants & Raves __
__ Nonprofit Motive? __
"Venture philanthropy" ("Nonprofit Motive," Wired 7.09, page 110) is a clever handle, but it ignores the fundamental difference between for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises. Venture capital is driven by the market's reward for risk-taking, and greater risks generally mean greater returns. But in the philanthropic sector, there is no mechanism - no market - that rewards risks. And as your article rightly recognizes, there is also no system for evaluating social benefit or return on investment. So the twin engines of venture capitalism, risk and return, simply do not port to the philanthropic world.
As a 20-year veteran of the not-for-profit sector, I am frustrated by our conservatism in that arena, in contrast to the explosive vitality of the new economy. Until there are mechanisms that reward risk in social ventures, analogous to profits, "venture philanthropy" will be another hollow moniker.
__ Eric Siegel
esiegel@nyhallsci.org __
We were shocked by the quote in "Nonprofit Motive" asserting that the World Wildlife Fund is a philanthropy fund with high overhead. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Several independent sources have monitored WWF's track record on contribution usage and found it exemplary. Specifically, for every dollar spent by WWF this past year, 87 cents went directly to conservation programs, and only 13 cents went to administrative costs.
The WWF prides itself on its collaborative, field-based approach to conservation, focused on bringing innovative solutions to local communities. We feel accountable to our donors - whether individual or corporate - and continually update them on our performance.
Working in more than 100 countries, the WWF is dedicated to preserving life on earth as efficiently as possible and is consistently succeeding in that commitment. What organization can deliver a better return on investment than that?
__ Deborah S. Hechinger
Senior Vice President
World Wildlife Fund __
Checkbook giving isn't enough. Imagine the positive repercussions if Silicon Valley venture capitalists and CEOs contributed their time, experience, and enthusiasm - even just one hour per month.
__ Christian LesStrang
Tucson, Arizona __
__ Hack Journalism __
Help me understand what is ethical about posting security holes on a Web site ("White Hat Hacker," Wired 7.09, page 76). That's like some bored locksmith prying at everyone's doors and windows and then announcing on prime-time radio which houses are vulnerable.
__ Curt Cloninger
curt@lab404.com __
Why do you misuse the word hacker, giving the impression that it means "security breaker"? I am a hacker - that is to say, I enjoy playing with computers - but I don't do that kind of thing. You know the difference, yet you continue to use hacker pejoratively. You owe us an apology.
__ Paul Johnson
baloo@ursine.dyndns.org __
__ Scene and Herd __
Risto Linturi's observations in "Just Say Nokia" (Wired 7.09, page 134) were terrific. However, people are not herd animals. Reindeer and caribou are herd animals. Humans are pack animals, like wolves and rats.
__ Brian D'Amato
bdamato@inch.com __
__ Airplane Reading __
I thoroughly enjoyed "Life Sucks and Then You Fly" (Wired 7.08, page 156). I'm an employee of one of those air carriers - a company whose name is synonymous with flying anywhere at a moment's notice for no apparent reason - and the story read like a fine novel.
__ Mark Hughes
mwhughes@fedex.com __
__ Zero Sum __
Can you imagine how ultraprosperity will change the lives of kids ("The Roaring Zeros," Wired 7.09, page 150)? Had my parents been able to call my cell phone, I might not have had a curfew. Many of my friends now run Web-design companies. Soon we won't ask each other "Whaddya wanna do when ya grow up?" because we'll already be doing it.
__ Jeff Harden
jharden@stdntpop.lmu.edu __
While I assume that "The Roaring Zeros" was more or less meant as brain candy, one point in particular defied logic: the assertion - in "Pure Green" - that as consumption increases over the next 20 years, the environment will become cleaner. This is ridiculous. Automobile use, air travel, and the pollution they cause are all on the rise. There is no way to reconcile rampant growth with a cleaner environment. Economists must learn to subtract, or we're all dead.
__ Brad Clawsie
bjc@yahoo.com __
Which "material dimensions" is George Gilder referring to when he states that today's poor live better than the upper-middle class did in 1950 ("Prophets of Boom," Wired 7.09, page 156)? Such an insensitive and questionable statement requires evidence to support it.
__ Blake Baxter
blakebaxter@earthlink.net __
Free markets don't necessarily mean free speech, as Kevin Kelly asserts in "The Roaring Zeros." Look at the repression in Singapore and South Korea.
__ Tom Weathington
Nashville, Tennessee __
__ Cache Economy __
Having just left the music business, where I worked for both independent and major labels, I have nothing but disgust for the overpaid, creatively void, and clueless people it supports ("It's Playback Time!" Wired 7.08, page 122). I hated seeing so many talented artists miss their chance because of politics and petty attitudes within this industry, where marketing teams think a sticker and a spot in the listening booth constitute a brilliant marketing plan. Everyone knows it's mostly about how much you grease the radio stations anyway.
I support MP3 and any other tools that help artists get their music heard. It is about time the labels got a kick in the rear.
__ Kym Davis
kymhifi@aol.com __
How can Wired write about music and the Internet without discussing the main actors - the musicians?
__ Tristan Zand
z_bassist@hotmail.com __
If I can crack the dongle protections on $1,000-plus software, I'm damn well going to crack whatever the hell the recording industry comes up with to copy-protect a $12 CD. They want to make it play only 1,000 times? I'll just change one of those 1s into a 0 and be on my merry, unlimited way.
The foolish attempts of the industry are a moot point, anyway. The software is already out there. With a CD and Audio Catalyst, we're distributing MP3 files in minutes.
__ Norman Henderson
Santa Clara, California __
In response to John Chao's argument that record companies are needed to filter out musical "drivel" ("For the Record," Wired 7.09, page 36), that would occur via standard market forces. In fact, the demise of record companies would give radio stations the freedom to play talented unpromoted and underpromoted artists. If anyone should be scared of MP3, it's the no-talent bands that depend on the promotional campaigns of major record labels to sell albums.
__ Phil Edwards
a_lifetime_on_the_hips@hotmail.com __
__ Sterling Reporting __
Bruce Sterling's articles for Wired just keep getting better. He has the singular ability to deeply interest me in topics I could've sworn were banal and irrelevant. "One Nation, Invisible" (Wired 7.08, page 92) is a classic example. For better or worse, Sterling's nonfiction is to his fiction what Burt Bacharach's songwriting is to his singing.
__ Curt Cloninger
curt@lab404.com __
Although Bruce Sterling makes a sincere effort to present the issue without bias, the fact that his sources support or belong to the Turkish regime makes the article an echo of their views.
For example, the article suggests that with the Turkish Cypriots representing a Muslim minority, the Greek Orthodox Republic of Cyprus carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Atrocities did happen on both sides, but the Turkish government sent troops to expel all Greek Cypriots from the northern part of Cyprus. And though the 500 Greek Cypriots remaining in the north have no rights whatsoever, this fact isn't mentioned.
I am Greek Cypriot, and, since coming to the United States, I've made many Turkish Cypriot friends. Such Greek/Turkish socializing is prevented in Cyprus, where the leadership does not want the two populations to discover how much they have in common.
__ Demetrios Avraamides
Los Angeles __
__ Pro Provocateur __
Despite my better instincts, I found Warren St. John's portrayal of John Brockman ("Agent Provocateur," Wired 7.09, page 98) oddly endearing. Underneath Brockman's seemingly self-serving bravado, he is doing all IT professionals an enormous favor. He is an abrasive irritant in the world of the old guard. He is the champion of our common cause - efficiency through technology.
__ E. Kelly Hansen
khansen@suntzu.net __
__ Berlin Wail __
In "Freed Form" (Wired 7.09, page 168), Aaron Betsky marvels at the dome of the new Reichstag, praising the way it funnels light into the parliamentary chamber and acts as a local solar-power generator. Tourists benefit from this energy-efficient design as well, as they climb the spiral metal ramp, sweating, thirsty, and carefully avoiding the hot metal banister.
__ Jennifer Nerissa Davis and Peter Imhof
schwiebuss@mail.telda.net __
__ Marine Studies __
In "Making Waves" (Wired 7.08, page 146), Tom Lochtefeld states that "there's no study, no body of work, no literature on the phenomenon that we had to deal with."
Has he ever heard of the US Marine Corps? In the '50s and '60s the Marines - including the late William Lunn and many others - did extensive surf studies in California. Coming ashore through the surf is how those guys do their jobs, so they need to know all they can about the "phenomenon."
__ Jack Willoughby
wofat@hiwaay.net __
__ Stock Schlock __
I've noticed that Wired has developed a disturbing preoccupation with money. As pervasive as technology is right now, it certainly follows that it is having a huge impact on the world economy and that a lot of money is moving around. But I read Wired to see what's happening, what's coming, and how it affects people. I want to learn about new gadgets and about culture and counterculture, read interviews with up-and-coming people, and get behind-the-scenes looks at companies with compelling tales to tell, not just stock prices and strategies for making them higher.
__ Tyson Boucher
bouchert@europa.com __
__ Undo __
Perpetration: The correct name of a new media company mentioned in "Inside Encoding.com" (Wired 7.08, page 138) is PayForView.com. ... The The: The domain for Thomas L. Friedman's latest book (Read Me, Wired 7.08, page 171) is lexusandtheolivetree.com. ... Bitstream: The peak transfer rate of VST's 14GB FireWire Hard Drive (Fetish, Wired 7.09, page 60) is 15 megabytes per second.
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Email: rants@wiredmag.com
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