What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains...

Another interesting article - and one which takes pains to put the Luddites back into their right context!

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/12/the-shallows-what-the-internet-is-doing-to-our-bra.html

:)

C

Luddite Website

Check out the following for more news about the Luddite Bicentenary celebrations:

www.luddites200.org.uk

C

The Struggle Of The Luddite Remains...

Here's yet another website that actually gives an accurate definition of the word 'luddite'.

http://gizmodo.com/5837029/heres-where-the-word-luddite-really-comes-from

So, why isn't there something more substantial to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the uprising?

Rage Against The Machine

Another excellent post on the true meaning behind Luddism, this time from Down Under. Some interesting stats, too!

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2736426.html

Don't Forget

I understand that today is an important anniversary.

"The first incident during the years of the most intense Luddite activity, 1811-13, was the 11 March 1811 attack upon wide knitting frames in a shop in the Nottinghamshire village of Arnold, following a peaceful gathering of framework knitters near the Exchange Hall at Nottingham. In the preceding month, framework knitters, also called stockingers, had broken into shops and removed jack wires from wide knitting frames, rendering them useless without inflicting great violence upon the owners or incurring risk to the stockingers themselves; the 11 March attack was the first in which frames were actually smashed and the name 'Ludd' was used. The grievances consisted, first, of the use of wide stocking frames to produce large amounts of cheap, shoddy stocking material that was cut and sewn into stockings rather than completely fashioned (knit in one piece without seams) and, second, of the employment of 'colts', workers who had not completed the seven-year apprenticeship required by law."

Lest we forget...

Bicentenary Commemoration

As I mentioned last time, we are soon approaching the 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprisings, and I understand firm plans are already being made to celebrate the occasion in Huddersfield. More events throughout England are doubtless to follow. My growing interest in this topic is probably a sign that I need to plan a trip to the area too, to see some history! More later...

Can tha' keep a Secret?

Here's a good blog to refer to, concerning the forthcoming 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprisings:

http://northernvoicesmag.blogspot.com/2010/04/can-tha-keep-secret.html

Robots Want Your Job

The more I hear about where future technology is leading us, the less I see the bright future painted to us when I was growing up; a future where technology was our friend, and was designed to ease our burdens. There would still be a place for man, in charge of the technology, while we humans lived more fulfilling lives.

How wrong we were. The main benefits are felt by the entrepreneurs. As the following article explains:

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/investing-strategy/2009/10/28/robots-want-your-job.aspx

Now do you see why I'm gaining some sympathy with the Luddites?

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Going Back To Basics

Another good blog entry, revealing the truth behind Luddism. The word is spreading...

http://www.flixya.com/post/tiddao/1752166/Back_To_Home_Business#


:)

True Luddism

Another great post, in the true spirit of Luddism.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/if-you-are-reading-this-post-you-are-not-a-luddite.ars

:)

A Kindred Spirit

As part of my emerging 'Luddite' tendencies, I have taken to doing a regular search of websites throughout the world for inspiration. I'm suppose I'm looking for a modern-day Ned Ludd! Most of the time I find folk who use the term 'Luddite' in the contemporary way - referring to a person who rejects technology in every way. That's not quite how I see the world. As you can probably tell...

However, today I stumbled across an article on a website that I can identify with - this is more like it.

http://tothecenter.com/news.php?readmore=11313

More later.

Who Was Ned Ludd?

Ned Ludd is the person from whom Luddites took their name. He lived in the Eighteenth Century and is famous for breaking up some machinery in a fit of rage. (I'm having some sympathy with the poor fellow now; especially after wrestling with some twenty-first century machinery fairly recently!) Actually, because of the unreliability of records at that time, there is little actual proof of Ludd's existence, although by reputation he is believed that he came from the village of Anstey, just outside Leicester. The incident in question supposedly took place in 1779, where Ludd broke two large stocking frames in the village.

Ludd's wider reputation stems from the early Nineteenth Century, where his actions became the inspiration for 'Captain Ludd' (also known as 'King Ludd' or 'General Ludd') who became the Luddites' imagined leader and founder in the 1810s. His signature appears on a 'workers' manifesto' of the time. A reasonable step - in a situation where wrecking machines could lead to heavy penalties or even execution, the use of a pseudonym would be understandable. And so our hero's lasting reputation is born...