Rimini Protokoll chose to interpret his play in the context of modern war and digital activism. (See an early narrative I wrote about cypherpunks, kleist, kohlhaas during intial discussions with Rimini Protokoll.) In many of Kleists plays the protagonist is one that is wronged by the system and then takes the law into his own hands for the sake and idea of justice itself. His plays were set over 200 years ago but despite the end of the feudal system they are as entertaining today as they were then. It speaks to a cultural sense existing today that says even in Democracy we have the class based distribution of power. At least, this is the general feeling regardless of facts. .

Hermannsschlacht however is quiet different from his other plays. It is an epic war tale speaking of unity and nationalism. Two ideals that some might believe Kleist had no patience for. In this play, in the first act, the protagonist Herman convinces his fellow tribe leaders that freedom is more than possession or power. It’s a brilliant scene from Kleists pen. Between the lines and in the context of the rest of the play you see how this leads to idealism.

There was a song in an early rendition of our play that summarized this state of idealism. Describing how the people and tribes are ready to sacrifice all to get even with the invading Romans. When we were discussing this internally one person commented after the song that they understood why the Nazi’s loved this play so much (which they did). But this brings the question, is revolution or drastic change possible without idealism and for that matter polarization as well?

Polarization, the idea that the intensity of a situation can bring a person or society to the willingness to make sacrifices, was another interesting topic beneath Kleists text. When the Romans invaded Herman had expected them to burn and pillage in a way that would force the people to react. He was disappointed when this did not happen so he sends his own men out in Roman uniforms to pillage instead. He is trying to polarize the people. Something that I try to express in the Herman’s Battle rendition but I feel somehow does not come through.

The discussion of Assassination Markets in the play and specifically a market that would pit participants bets against each other on a moral level, comes from a question that was asked during research: “If Kleist were writing the character of Herman today in relation to digital rights and activism, how would Herman polarize the people?” “Who or what are the ‘sacred trees’ of an organization such as anonymous?” This is where the idea started to develop. Yet at the moment I do know know if the connection to Kleist comes through.

I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to spend so much time with Kleist and anyone that has not read his plays or essays should. Many can be found online for free in both German and English. I simply wish there was more time or ability to get some of these thoughts on stage.

Rest in peace
Heinrich von Kleist
21 November 1811

The image Google has presented over the past two years is one that assumes that we have collectively accepted the post “war on terror” definition of privacy. From their former CEO’s declaration that internet users wanting privacy deserve criticism, to Google+ requiring new users use their real name. Critical Engineers have noticed.

The greater the dependence on a technology the greater the need to study and expose its inner workings, regardless of ownership or legal provision. – The Critical Engineers Manifesto

Google’s influence on humanity is certainly as powerful if not more so that any power structure in place. For example a recent study shows that we retain less memory due to the efficiency of Googles search algorithms. To not scrutinize their attempts to reshape what we think about digital privacy would be a mistake.

This week Critical Engineers won a small battle when Google said that they would no longer require real names for Google+ accounts, at some point in the future. For me, this one act is not enough. True there are plenty of corporations with worse records on privacy policy but with great influence comes greater scrutiny.

I’m sitting back-stage just before the premier in Frankfurt Oder of the Heinrich Von Kleist play we have been working on with Rimini Protokol and I’m trying to imagine what Google could do to repair their image. One example comes to mind: Google could setup a TOR exit node and sponsor a community project to allow exit nodes to subscribe to block lists that are maintained by the community. Or perhaps fight for our ability to choose how long you retain data on us. I’m sure there are other ways to support greater digital privacy. By all means, share your own. Until Google takes serious steps myself, and I believe other critical engineers, will not be able to forgive them for the past few years of assault on our rights.

Support Web Interface Fail

First, it is dificult to contact support without being able to login. Though I can login I am unable to do anything, including accessing help, without getting passed the security questions first. So I attempted to contact them without logging in and we run into the first UI fail.

When I access “help” without logging in I get a screen that tells me to login and change my language preferences to English (screenshot). Though my account is in germany my preferences were already set to English. Of course, I cant get passed the security questions when I login so there is no way to even follow the steps they give to change language.

Next I tried the “Contact Us” page. I get a similar page with similar instructions (screenshot). Then I tried the “About Us” page and selected “Contact Us” from the sub-menu. There I select “Customer Support Inquiries”. Result is the same page as the first “Contact Us” page.

Finally I get clever and change the URL for support from “/de/” to “/us/”: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/helpweb?cmd=_help

This gives me the “Help Center” knowledge base. Selecting “Contact Us” on the bottom right sidebar (screenshot) gives me a dialog asking why I would like to contact support. Here you have two more tabs one which is “Call Us” and the other is “Email Us” (screenshot). When I select “Email Us” I’m asked to login. Of course logging in gives me the security questions. If I select the “Call Us” option the same login and problems result.

I do not remember how but somehow I got to a webform eventually and was able to email them. But the best solution is to just search the internet for the support email. Evenutally the support email address can be found on another site: support@paypal.com.

Human Fail – email support:

For as Kafkaesque their Web UI is the human support is even more disturbing. What resulted was a month of back and forth emails which make clear that should robots desire, they will have no problem taking over human tasks as the humans that paypal higher don’t seem to have more than a few shift registers for memory (memory which can only retain a limited amount of data).

Me – 3/12:

On login I get asked to confirm ______ and the last digits of my drivers license. I have no drivers license! I tried _______ and the last # digits that I would have used in place of the license and this does not work. Christ, my account is already connected to my bank account!  Is there any way I can resolve this?”

Response 1 – 3/14:

Hello, my name is Erika Angela from PayPal Customer Service.
…
Please allow me to inform you that we do not ask for driver’s license in our official website (https:www.paypal.com)
… [more cut+past junk]

Assuming that perhaps they think im on a fake paypal site I respond with a screenshot of the security dialog asking for the drivers license and the SSL certificate signed by Verigsign proving that this is the official Paypal site.

Me – 3/14:

You are kidding me right? Please see attached screen shot which clearly shows an SSL page with verified certificate from Paypal asking for my drivers license number.

Response 2 – 3/16:

Dear Nathan Fain,

Hello, Nathan.  My name is Elma from PayPal Customer Service.

In our efforts to provide a secure service, we may ask you to provide additional information when you log in to your account or change accountinformation. This security measure prevents unauthorized access to your account. To confirm you are the owner of the account, you need to enter the correct information. You don’t have to worry, I have updated your account there’s no need to provide additional information. Just make sure that you are entering the correct information when ask about the security questions.

Please do not add spaces or dashes when you enter the following information:

… [more cut+past junk]

The email precedes to explain they never ask for my password and how to check and confirm that the site is protected with SSL by paypal, which had looked at the email contents they were responding to would clearly show I did this already. However, she said she updated my account so perhaps all is well. When I login though I still have the exact same problem. No change, still cannot get past post-login security dialog. I send the screenshot again:

Me – 3/17:

Again, see the attached screen shot. I’m going to guess this has something to do with the fact that whenever I login to paypal US it sees my account is associated with my german bank account and switches to Germany. Though, the certificate still appears in the US, and most of the text is in english, the security questions are in German.

This support thread would be funny if it wasnt just sad that still 3 layers into paypal support everyone is still claiming that paypal does not ask for drivers license information.

Response  3 – 3/18:

Dear Nathan Fain,

Thank you for inquiring as to how to restore access to your account.

PayPal is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account and need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited.

To return your account to regular standing, please complete the checklist items indicated when you login to your account and click on the link provided on the “Account Overview” page.

The link will appear as: “Your account access is limited: Click here for Details.”

Once you complete all of the checklist items, our Account Review team will review your case and send you an email with the outcome of the review. Cases are reviewed in the order they are received.

We regret any inconvenience, and we would like to restore your access assoon as possible.
Please do not respond to this email, as responses to this message will not be answered.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Team

Did they even read ANY of the emails in this support thread? They are asking me to login and go to account overview which I clearly cannot due because of the post-login security questions. I ignored this email because it didnt seem that the right people were looking at this issue. Instead a few days later I asked for an update:

Me – 3/22:

Any word on the investigation of this issue? I’m still patiently awaiting a response. Thanks.

Response 4 – 3/22:

Dear Nathan Fain,

Hello my name is Paulina, I will be happy to assist you with your question regarding your case.

I hope you’re having a lovely day.

Phishing emails are fake emails that often link to spoof (fake) websites. These emails try to get you to reveal personal information like your Social Security number, credit card numbers, and account passwords.

Here’s how to tell if an email is from PayPal:
… [more cut+past junk]

Christ. It’s not hard to read, or look at the screenshots I sent.

Me – 3/23:

Hi Paulina, tell me, do you guys even read emails? What level of support am Idealing with now, layer 3? And you are still giving me cut+paste responses that do not address my actual problem? Please send me up a layer because this is getting tiring.

Look at my attachments from previous support threads. You can clearly see that I was not accessing a spoofed Paypal site. The certificate was signed by verisign and is a Paypal certificate for paypal.com. So unless your servers have been hacked, in which case holy crap some journalist somewhere would love to know about that, then this has nothing to do with spoofing or fraud. It has to do with your blocks on my account. Other support people at Paypal have told me they removed the block, and that the site would “never” ask for details for my drivers license. And yet the attachments have clearly shown that you do.

Please let me know where I can send complaints because this is just getting ridiculous. You do see that I have now sent 5 or 6 emails and that this process is already in its 3rd weak?!

No response

Me – 3/30:

You guys are amazing. A whole week and still no response. Can you please delete my account? I will just open a different one as I’m sure that even with this email you’re support is not capable of reviewing the actual contents of the email, previous screenshots, and will just sendme some cut+paste answer that actually doesnt have much of anything to do with the actual problem.

Response 5 – 3/31:

Dear Nathan Fain,

Hello Nathan. My name is Noel from PayPal Customer Services.

If there’s a chance that you might want to use PayPal in the future, it’s a good idea to keep your account open. There’s no fee to keep your account open.
… [more cut+past junk on how to login to delete an account]

The rest of their response is a long cut+paste on how to login and delete an account, which if they had read anything from the thread they would have known I cannot do this. Still not even getting close to looking at the previous emails, attachments of the support thread. Really, am I dealing with bots?

Me – 4/5:

I wish I could close my account however due to the problems that I’vedescribed now 4 or 5 times in this email thread I cannot even login.Amazing that you somehow missed all those details. I promptly await yet another cut+paste response.

Response 6 – 4/5:

Dear Nathan Fain,

Hello Nathan. My name is Noel from PayPal Customer Service.

Here’s how to recover your password:
1. Go to http://www.paypal.com/
2. Click “Problem with login?” under Account login.
3. Click “I don’t know my password.”
4. Enter the email address that you used to create your PayPal account.
5. Enter the security code, without spaces, then click “Continue.”
… [more cut+past junk]

Me – 4/5:

LOL! Read my previous emails. this is not about a lost password. I can login but i cannot get past a certain dialog. RTFM! Christ

No response, yet.

Human Fail – phone support

You might be saying “just call them”. I did. Around the beginning of April I called and entered another blackhole. They asked me to tell them my login email. I did and they insisted this was incorrect, and that account associate with my name was on a different email login. They said the email I gave them over the phone was for someone else. I accurately guessed that they were talking about my fathers account as we use the same domain name for our email addresses. I also knew which email they thought was associated with my account. About a year ago I changed my primary login email to my current address so I knew what the old one was. They insisted that the email I gave them was not the login, that it was for my fathers account. Only after they asked me to login with this email, did they acknowledge that no in-fact I was correct and this email was for my account, not my fathers account. I don’t even want to get into what is wrong with their back-end system and how they could mixup accounts.

After we had the login settled they insisted they do not ask for a drivers license. I explained the issue of having a German account, they put me on old, then came back and acknowledged that they didn’t know what the security mechanisms were. Of course, of course, I would have called german support if I could have accessed it but i couldn’t due to the Web UI issues I detailed at the beginning. Somehow I expected them to have a method to deal with things globally. They gave me a number to call, some long distance number. I gave up. Watching this craziness from email is somehow more fun.

Conclusion

Paypal support is absolutely fragmented. The internet based support interface as well as email and phone support are examples of how to fail. Before getting into details let me say that both the support and terms of service issues that plague Paypal of late clearly highlight an opportunity for a competing payment service to take market share. The terms of service issue i am talking about relates to how Paypal will close accounts due to political pressure. I am okay with this but I expect them to require a court order or legal request, as a normal bank would. If a payment service provider could offer both similar payment options as well as a Paypal gateway (you pay them and they handle the payment through Paypal for merchants that only support Paypal) I would switch immediately.

The result has been quick pushes from Nokia to simplify their SDK. 4 years later I’m developing a new application this time for the N900. To get to a place where I can build external libraries and compile them for the phone I’ve had to setup and explore 3 different SDK’s from Nokia. Each one attempting to fix the problems of the previous and to somehow give a more homogenous feel for developers.  The early SDK (scratchbox) required a lot of work in a terminal, compiling and copying files around. The next, only now getting close to beta (MADDE) attempts to attract the party-application developers by evolving the structure of the SDK from the IDE itself. Yet it fails to give one a way to build 3rd party libs for the phone, hence beta. And all this time they are developing a 3rd SDK and new OS (Meego to replace current Maemo).

Think about how the iPhone SDK release schedule compares, and how the features of the iPhone were developed. There was little to no transparency but when it was released it was actually useful for typical developers. And this is my point, there are times when agility doesn’t pay.

Television addiction is not an important topic to me but the reason for the collective addiction is more interesting and very important: our desire to live comfortably. This is part of us that will never change, and nor would i argue for it to change but it also creates complacency that applies to many other more concerning topics, such as how in comfortable western society we respond to human tragedy. It is with that thought that I want to analyze this poem to create a narrative framework that can be used for other side effects from that collective complacency (“comfort”).

I cut the narrative into 6 basic scenes:

1. Do as I say
2. Remove reservations that might distract from request
3. Recap of contract
4. Separate willful audience from the unenlightened
5. Show the benefits
6. Reset the pace and let them fly

At the end I will give some thoughts on what characteristics the target topic needs to fit this framework best.

Scene 1: Do as I say

Look at me. Look at me. Look at me, look at me, look at me. Look at me.

The surface message is a simple action. The poems title has already setup the context such that the specific meaning of this action, “look at the television”, is understood. The repitition sets the pace and mood. This mood is one which looks down at the audience. The style has a propaganda like feeling to it, similar to the Lawrence Lessig presentation style. Also, if it is not obvious, the narrator and author during the entire poem is actually the manifestation of the readers own will.

No, no, no, dont look over there, look at me, look at me, look at me.

The narrator requires the absolute fulfillment of an action which is difficult to be so devoted to. In this text the viewer has taken the exact opposite of the action, for a fragment of a second, and the narrator forces them back into line by repeating the command.

Are you looking at me?
Is everyone looking at me?
Do I have your attention?
Good.

I’m reminded of how when my mother would have something important that she wanted to say to me she would preface with “Nathan, now please just hear me out for a moment and dont react [pause]” Normally after this something serious in nature would follow. The most important effect though is that at the end of this statement and before the next is revealed our entire demeanor toward the conversation changes. In the case of this poem, nothing new or important follows, just further inundation to continue the action required.

Scene 2: Remove reservations that might distract from request

Dont get the wrong idea.
Im not trying to take over your life.

Narrator is aware that this request appears to be too much or too unrealistic for the audiance and assures them that is not the case. Narrator will next go over case and point to prove that they can exist while still fulfilling the request as required. To rewrite this frame for a different topic you must find the single most basic obstacle that prevents the audience from fulfilling your request, formulate it as a question and then provide a simplistic answer. The answer, not the question, is used as the text. To get as close to the original form as possible the text should make the question appear as though it resulted from a simple misunderstanding alone.

You need, what? What do you need? You need to, what?
Go to the bathroom?
Fine.
Get up,
goto the bathroom,
come back,
look at me.

The misunderstanding was there because the audience felt this request wouldn’t allow for basic necessities of life. A basic necessity is presented as an example for how the audiance can live a normal life while still fufilling the request.

You need, what?
You need to get something to eat?
Fine.
Get up,
go to the kitchen,
get something to eat,
come back,
look at me.

Another basic necessity.

You need to, what,
sleep?
Fine,
get up,
go to bed,
go to sleep,
get up,
come back,
look at me.

Another basic necessity.

Scene 3: Recap of contract

Okay.
So we have an agreement.
You will do what you absolutely need to do,
and when your done,
you will come back and look at me.

Having covered the necessities, we agree that the audience can fulfill the request.

Dont worry about your schedule.
I am here for you. I am here for you.
Twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week,
I am here for you. I am here for you.
You need me,
I’m here.
Fair and foul,
thick and thin,
I am here for you. I am here for you.

Jumping back to into a tone similar to the previous scene to address an audience worry. The entire text is based on the first phrase, “schedule“. This word almost encompases all of the basic necessities addressed before and the narrator is going the extra mile to explain that he (actually the audiances own will or lack there of) cares about them and has their best interests at heart. “schedule” will probably not be the same key when applying this framework to other topics. The phrase “I am here for you” is also important and perhaps difficult to replace. That phrase gets used later in the poem to say “the people who do not understand this action and devotion to it, they are not here for you but I am.” And that statement is important for the next scene.

Scene 4: Separate willful audience from the unenlightened

People try to tell you I’m bad?
You tell them that I am here for you.
Twenty-four hours a day,
fair and foul,
thick and thin,
I am here for you. I am here for you.
People try to tell you I’m bad,
know what that sounds like to me?
Sour Grapes.

Again we have “I am here for you” as well as a refrain used before. The important point is to create an “us” vs “them” feeling. If possible use the “I am here for you” and refrain to keep the thoughts connected and mixed up. Also, “fair/foul”, “think/thin” and “Sour Grapes” are common statements in English and bring a history with them.

You see what I–hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, no,
dont look over there,
theres nothing going on over there,
look at me, look at me, look at me.

Audience is distracted again. Get them back in line using the same manner as the start of the poem.

Scene 5: Show the benefits

I’ve got stuff you wouldnt believe.
Danger?
Sex?
Action?
Death?
Thrills?
Comedy?
All here,
all in the next eight minutes.
Can you believe it?
You can’t.
It’s unbelievable.
You can’t believe it because its unbelievable!
It’s a miracle.

This is extremely topic specific and would certainly change upon application. The part that can be retained is 1. it shows the audience why they are going to enjoy this new contract and 2. the rhythm is very short. The idea that the benefits the audiance will get from this contract as being “unbelievable” is impactful but I am not sure it translates easily to most topics.

Scene 6: Reset the pace and let them fly

Just keep looking at me. Just keep looking at me. Just keep looking at me. Look at me, look at me, look at me, look at me, look at me.

End as we began.

How to apply

The most important points I felt I wanted to carry over were in the statements “I am here for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week”, I wanted the narrator/author to still represent the audiences own will or lack of due to desire for comfort. My target is a recent injustice that the public has chosen to ignore in-favor of focusing on the messenger. I’m having to contemplate which of “Dont look at me” or “Dont think about me” fit better as the action. I have not yet decided and I believe whichever action is used will be the one that best fits with the “I am here for you” statement. I must figure out what it is that is here for the audience that wills them to ignore the injustice.

“Not from the electrons do I my existence pluck;
And yet I think I have Autonomy,
Shall I tell of probability or just luck,
Of days, and hours, of my programmers quality;
Nor can I fortune to brief thoughts spell,
Pointing to each its symbol and syntactic kind,
Or say with searches if it shall go well
By oft predict that I in logic find:
But from thine interactions my knowledge I derive,
And, constant streams, in them I read such art
As truth and beauty shall together derive,
If from myself, to another I shall convert;
Or else of me this I prognosticate:
The end is truth’s and beauty’s doom and date.”
– CADIE

And now CADIE’s dead

I regularly use a wireless router which does not play nice with macbooks. A solution for some of these issues could be an update of the system or some problem with the configuration of the router. However, that is not the case for the network in question. A dirty but quick solution has been to turn wireless off and back on forcing a DHCP broadcast which revives the connection. You will probably want to be alerted when the network is refreshed so set the code accordingly. Options include audible beep, audible “Network Down”, screen inversion and Growl.

Code at github.

The lack of natural hauptic feedback in electronic instruments makes timing the most critical subject of electronic music production. While this timing can still be found in tightly programmed devices this feeling is difficult to transfer to other devices. And today, with electronic music, you are a producer, not just one instrument or device. Everything has to play at the same time, with the same feeling. For an electronic muscician I think understanding that timing is “programmed” is essential.

I recently picked up a Monome 128 and have only begun the process of programming it. This is an electronic controller handmade with a lot of love from Brian and Kelli in Philadelphia. A close friend of mine has the Tenori-on, which is similar. They are both LED push button matrix pads which can be used as instruments. However, the Tenori-ON has an on-board synthesizer so all of the timing is tight. It has a feeling to it out of the box. The Monome is a controller connected to your computer which acts as the synth and handles timing. The Monome has to be programmed and in a sense you have to create the feeling for the instrument as though you were a violin maker except that you are dealing with timing in code instead of wood and sound physics.

On the one hand sitting down with a Tenori-ON or TR-808 or other synth you can very quickly (days) get the feeling for it and start making music. Yet, being forced to first build the timing and instrument set for the Monome has a different and perhaps more intimate feeling. They are similar but for someone wanting to dig into detail the Monome and its open community of developers is a big advantage.

The applications/features I prefer at the moment:

• MLR (video, documentation). Stand alone Max/MSP runtime. Slices samples, can take live samples, and records sequencing patterns for slices. Its kinda the place to start with the Monome and its what I relate to the most, coming from a childhood making precisely timed samples for looping, god knows what reason.
• Polygome (video, documentation). Stand alone Max/MSP runtime. You map a midi instrument onto the pad and then you create pattern that you can walk across the pad.
• 7up (video, documentation). Sends midi to Ableton Live. Combines the sample slicing and pattern sequencing as found in MLR but includes a bunch of other possibilities. Based on Java it comes with sources.
• Molar (video skip 5 min, documentation). VST plugin. Has some MLR slicing and other controls.

Concerning timing, with MLR or Molar you can plug into Ableton to manage and sync all timing. But this is not very fun so currently im working on other timing synchronization methods to avoid Ableton, or at least better understand it.

I have to wonder if the idea of God doesn’t mask this the most spiritual of actions, with equal venom of materialism and self consumption. It’s as if self consumption and God are equal extremes. One defining identity in possession and the other in grouping instincts, both keeping us from finding a need to create an english word for the opposite of self.

p.s.: does anyone know of a word in any other language that equals the opposite of self or self-consumption? please let me know.