The Black is Back

February 23, 2005 11:58 AM

Robot Wisdom is back.
posted by portage (27 comments total)

Wierd, I looked at the defunct site just a week ago or so because I was looking for something (I forget what), and there had been no change. It's nice to see it again.
posted by OmieWise at 12:01 PM on February 23, 2005

Now all he needs to add is a feed that I can find and use.
posted by riffola at 12:06 PM on February 23, 2005

Oh happy day!

riffola, did you just ask for a state-of-the-art web design feature from Robot Wisdom? What are you thinking?
posted by mr_roboto at 12:13 PM on February 23, 2005

I guess he got tired of eating locusts and wild honey.
posted by sonofsamiam at 12:14 PM on February 23, 2005

Sorry if I missed it, but where did Jorn disappear to?
posted by Keith Talent at 12:15 PM on February 23, 2005

That's great news. Good links, minimal commentary. I hope he changes the background color. And tones down the anti-Jew, anti-Israel rants. I'm psyched to check his page regularly again.
posted by Turtle at 12:45 PM on February 23, 2005

Sorry if I missed it, but where did Jorn disappear to?

Under a bridge in the desert. And I'm not being snarky.
posted by ewagoner at 12:45 PM on February 23, 2005

riffola, did you just ask for a state-of-the-art web design feature from Robot Wisdom? What are you thinking?

Oops you're right, my mistake, I blame that on the euphoria of having a really good site back.
posted by riffola at 12:54 PM on February 23, 2005

hi, portage!
posted by gleuschk at 12:54 PM on February 23, 2005

Great news! Jorn's site was always my favorite (well maybe except for MetaFilter).
posted by caddis at 12:56 PM on February 23, 2005

where did Jorn disappear to?

The Jorn Barger Wikipedia entry has all the information you need on Jorn, that's not already on his web site (though no mention of a bridge...).
posted by Turtle at 1:36 PM on February 23, 2005

[ this is good ]...




...[ except for the antisemitic bits ]
posted by everichon at 1:36 PM on February 23, 2005

hurray !
posted by Substrata at 1:53 PM on February 23, 2005

riffola, I guess you can ask the FeedPalooza guy.
posted by vacapinta at 2:33 PM on February 23, 2005

MeFi previously discussed Jorn going messing.
posted by Nelson at 2:38 PM on February 23, 2005

That's great news. Good links, minimal commentary. I hope he ... tones down the anti-Jew, anti-Israel rants.

[ this is good ]...
...[ except for the antisemitic bits ]


Well, heck -- you gotta take the bad with the good, right?

Sheesh.
posted by guanxi at 3:11 PM on February 23, 2005

This guy is like the Rip Van Winkle of weblogs, he headed out on walkabout a couple of years ago and has returned to a whole new world. A world where everyone and his brother has a weblog and half of those weblogs have sideblogs of links with newsfeeds. His little planet has turned into a whole stinking blogosphere.

I visited Robot Wisdom for the nostalgia, but looking over the content I don't see anything I can't get elsewhere -- in a more attractive package and without the anti-Semetic baggage.
posted by cedar at 3:55 PM on February 23, 2005

I don't know cedar, his new content looks just as appealing as his old. He has a knack for finding the quirky and interesting bits in the news, especially science and politics, and sometimes literature. He once had the finest blog on the internets. My guess is that his high quality link generation will continue, especially seeing what he just put up.

The thing about personal blogs like Jorn's, is that the people who most appreciate them have similar sensibilities, at least in some areas. I have been known to attack anti-semites with some rabidity, yet I still love Jorn and what he posts. He is eloquent, erudite, and has an eye for the off-beat interesting stories I like. The internets are better for his return. By all means if you do not like his stuff stay away, but I celebrate his return. I have visited robotwisdom every week or two in vain hopes of its rebirth and now my prayers are answered. Hooray.
posted by caddis at 5:49 PM on February 23, 2005

This is great. I hope Jorn stays awhile. I am very happy. Thanks for the alert, portage!
posted by halonine at 7:11 PM on February 23, 2005

Anti-Israeli-Policy != Anti-Semitic
posted by krebby at 7:15 PM on February 23, 2005

Glad to have him back - Jorn is the ultimate original.

portage, good to see you here on MeFi, too - I always enjoyed your blog, and I was wondering where you'd got off to - so it's a good reunion day all around! Two favorites resurfacing, yay!
posted by madamjujujive at 9:19 PM on February 23, 2005

I agree, krebby, but my recollection of his writing is he doesn't bother much with the distinction.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:41 PM on February 23, 2005

Jorn has always turned me on to amazing links - from cool science to angry politics - that I didn't find elsewhere. The fact that there are a gazillion new bloggers since he last posted doesn't change a thing, I'll bet. He just fucking has the knack.

You can't argue with the knack.
posted by mediareport at 10:40 PM on February 23, 2005

All the Kottke talk brought me back, way back, when Robot Wisdom was my first bite of the day. Then came the diatribes, and the silence, and I only recently stopped checking for updates on a weekly basis. Like y2karl and matteo have recently done, jorn led me to some new corners of the web way ahead of anyone else. Good news indeed.
posted by TomSophieIvy at 11:09 PM on February 23, 2005

krebby
Anti-Israeli-Policy != Anti-Semitic

Agreed, but to followup on i_am_joe's_spleen's observation, Jorn is not merely anti-Israeli policy. Here are some choice posts from his blog:

Judaism doesn't approve nuking-all-gentiles... does it? (WorldTrib via Drudge)
http://www.robotwisdom.com/log2002m07.html

Is Judaism a religion of hate? (AP-USA)
http://www.robotwisdom.com/~jorn/log2001m11.html

Graphs of Israel's violent ongoing thefts (Don't fight Judaism's bigoted racewar)
http://www.robotwisdom.com/log2001m10.html

Is Judaism simply a religion of lawless racists? (UK Times via Drudge)
http://www.robotwisdom.com/log2001m03.html

We have to draw the line somewhere, no matter how otherwise brilliant he seems (I once read Robot Wisdom, too). Someone who posts commentary this digusting should not be getting good reviews and links.

I hesitate to even post the words here, as quotes.
posted by guanxi at 7:37 AM on February 24, 2005

He's a smart guy and can find interesting links but somehow all this is thrown out the window when it comes to Israel and Judaism. This ancient thread shows how utterly stupid (many of the points are so easy to counter it's hard to imagine how he could not know the answer) his thinking is concerning this and it also shows a disingenuous and cowardly nature as to its wording by attempting to hide behind questions, not assertions. It's fascinating and chilling to see how hate can poision a mind, especially one formerly devoted to mapping the mind through AI, which is how I originally found his site.

Since, he really doesn't interact anymore outside his headlines, that I'm aware of, it is hard to determine where his current views lie. Maybe he's sobered up, but I wouldn't count on it without overwhelming evidence from him.
posted by john at 11:45 AM on February 24, 2005

Still with the Joyce fixation...
posted by NortonDC at 6:03 PM on February 24, 2005