As a content creator, a web-builder, a small business owner,and copyright holder, I am totally and entirely against SOPA and PIPA. These are poorly-written bills that would have a chilling effect on the internet, American businesses, internet freedoms, and demonstrates that the writers of this bill and the politicians they inveigled into sponsoring it neither understand the internet and how it works and that they do not care.

I design and build websites, and have done so since 1993. These bills are being touted as job-savers, when in reality they are also job-killers. The people who design and build the web and the tools you use to communicate, to share, to explore, to learn, to complain, to find people, to look up, and to get things done will be impacted if their businesses have to shut down or dramatically retool. The people who host websites, who build spam-killers, who make sure the internet still connects to everywhere, who make sure the internet operates will be impacted. Business costs will go up, many businesses will close, and those costs will be passed onto you. Innovation will be stifled; companies like twitter, facebook, google, and more would have a much harder time being founded and run in a SOPA/PIPA world. This bill would kill more jobs than it would allegedly save. This bill is being driven by Hollywood's desire to kill online piracy, but they are using a an anvil to kill a termite. It's the wrong tool and has too much collateral damage.

I am someone whose content has been stolen, reused without permission, and used to benefit the thieves financially, professionally, or by reputation. I care deeply about intellectual property and the rights of the creator. This bill is bad for me, for the Internet, for America, and for the world. It removes protections for service providers, and protections for people accused of copyright violations. It would cause the price of internet services to rise sharply, popular websites to be adversely affected or shut down, and irrevocably damage the most powerful tool to emerge in my lifetime. Plus, this bill is tremendously anti-American, and it baffles me that so many politicians on both sides of the aisle would support it.

You can see if your congress members support PIPA or SOPA. The list isn't complete, but it's a start.

Also, Happy New Year!

Hello & Welcome

I am an artist/antique dealer/designer based near the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I've been online since 1986, and building the web since 1993. (If there's any term that will mark me as an old-timer it has to be "building the web." Ask me about horseless carriages some time). There is a lot of content archived on this website - digital books and odd little widgets, huge swaths of text and pretty pictures, rants and raves and everything in between, and a variety of projects of all ilks.

Explore a bit. Look around. See what's here. The most recent stuff is up at the top, but there's a lot down below the surface.

Come See Me

If you want to talk art & jewelry, my next (art) show is the first Saturday in February, at the Nelson Artisan's Market at the Rockfish Valley Community Center, just off 151, between Afton and Nellysford, VA. However, you can always drop me an email and we'll talk about classes, commissions, and possibilties.

If you want to talk about antiques, I'm usually at the Factory Antique Mall in Verona, VA on Tuesday afternoons, and my schedule at Tuckahoe Antique Mall is much more nebulous. I try to be there on Thursday or Friday afternoons, but I've been dreadfully inconsistant all fall. I'm more than happy to meet you at either place during open hours; we can arrange a time if you would like. I also am happy to keep my eye out for things you are interested in. I recently found one customer a Joel Myers-designed Blenko decanter, and another one a specific chinese checkers board.