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Trademarks are poor misunderstood things. Way back when, trademarks were called hallmarks, makers’ marks, earmarks and brands. Illiteracy and innumeracy are widespread in our societies. Statistical and anecdotal information suggests it is becoming yet more widespread. It’s tempting to blame the Internet or educators, but really you need look no further than traditional media and business if you’re looking for the cause. Today at our local shopping centre, we were accosted by a fund-raising team for the Paralympics. On seeing the fund-raising booth, my companion mentioned that only the most able of disabled people are fit to compete in the Paralympics. Your lack of disability, combined with your sporting potential, predicts how well you will do in the Paralympics. Of course, thinking about the Paralympics brought us to the topic of the mainstream Olympics, of which the Winter flavour is imminent. What does the Olympics say to us? It says,”We prize physical achievement over all else. If you cannot achieve physically, you are a LOSER!” To paraphrase a piece of advertising that was publicised in Australia for the 2008 Beijing Olympics: physical prowess is the pinnacle of mankind’s perfection! Now, the idea behind the Olympics hasn’t changed much from ancient times. Physical ability was highly prized then, too, and was used originally to determine which young woman would become the priestess for the goddess Hera in the festival of the Olympics. Much as we like to think that philosophy and erudition were also highly thought of then, there were few (if any) festivals held in their honour. Religion? Physical ability? Yup, you can have festivals for those, and that’s all that most people are interested in, apparently. Academics? Smarts? Keep it to yourself, you geeky weirdo! A close friend of mine pointed out that your average athlete, let’s call him “fast-meat-guy”, would not be in a position to save us from cholera or smallpox. Who can save us? Perhaps “weedy-geek-man” isn’t so bad after all. As another excellent friend of mine pointed out,”Why should I support the jocks who beat me up in school?” It’s not that I think that the Olympics should be discontinued, only that it would be nice to see similar effort put into celebrating intellectual pursuits as well. According to a press release from The Australian Sex Party (who would, I daresay, like everyone to just plain loosen up a little)… well, we’re going to be talking about some adult material. Let’s put that after the fold. The “Spirit” rover on Mars was designed to last just 90 days in some of the harshest conditions we’ve ever dumped equipment into. After 2,213 days Spirit has finally had to be declared as a stationary research station, and is expected to maybe last a few more months until the accretion of sand prevents it getting power from its solar panels. From some perspectives, every gadget, tool, and device has a narrative; a story of how it fits (or fails to fit) into your hand, pocket, purse, shed and/or life. What I find interesting is the narrative shift in the last few years to gadgets whose computing power must be continually paid for. I have an interesting observation. If the Australian Classification Board or the Australian Communications and Media Authority tell me that something might offend me… well, they’ve got a 100% miss-rate so far. On the other hand, if I want to be offended, I just have to watch a commercial-break on television or (in a pinch) go out and look at a few billboards. You know, those things that they’ve generally okayed as being acceptable. 
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