Letters to the Editor: Meowboard, Terrifying Statues, and More

Do you ever dream about your inbox? I'm embarrassed to say I have. Sometimes it's a work stress dream, and sometimes it's about finally getting that response I've been waiting on for weeks.

But I haven't had one of those in a while because my inbox is obviously also where I collect the emails for our Letters to the Editor section (letters@motherboard.tv).

They've been a pleasure to read lately, so many thanks to Motherboard readers, who turned our inboxes from dumping grounds for Indiegogo pitches and phishing schemes to treasures troves of interesting questions, thoughtful responses to our stories, and hilarious anecdotes.

Keep them coming.

RE: A Loud Sound Just Shut Down a Bank's Data Center for 10 Hours

Andrada,

I read the article on the ING bank data center fallout and was wondering why they would release such expensive gas in a test, when in most data centers the firing pins in the gas cylinders that store the gas are rendered inoperable during a planned test of the system. The actual firing of the gas is monitored at a control panel by a tech without release of gas.

Thanks

Frank

Hi Frank,

That's a great question!

As far as my sources told me, ING had some issues with the AC in the data center a few weeks ago. So they wanted to thoroughly test all the systems, in spite of the higher costs.

It looks like they had some test gas cylinders prepared for the drill, and they did not deploy their whole system. However, they had extremely bad luck.

The damaged data center was their main and largest in Romania, and they had put in a lot of effort into it.

Although unpleasant for ING (and I'm one of their customers :) ), I think it's important to talk about such issues, to raise awareness and prevent other similar incidents from happening.

Thank for the question and keep up the good work!

Best,

Andrada, Motherboard Contributor

RE: Abolish Bottled Water

Hi,

I read your article just now and it has compelling evidence to support the ban of bottled water. However, I am from a small town where bottled water, right now, is essential. My mother is a 66 year old retiree and she has to use bottled water for everything. This town is Flint, Michigan. Are you aware of the water crisis there? So, in all seriousness and sincerity what do you think would be an alternative option for water for those residents? I do understand that bottled water is not a necessity in most places but in Flint, it's all they have.

Thank you for your time.

Camille S Wallace

Hi Camille,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful email. I'm definitely aware of Flint and we have some similar problems up here in Canada—many of our First Nations communities have been relying on bottled water from companies like Nestle for years, because the water around them isn't potable.

I would never suggest that people should be cut off from a lifeline when they need it. Portable water that can be distributed when needed is always going to be a necessity in emergencies, I'm just not sure that corporations should be the ones to provide it and make a buck along the way. I'm obviously imagining some pretty massive changes where a government would be willing to step up and provide bottled water when needed, perhaps even through a government-owned company, instead of this necessary help coming from companies that also sell billions of bottles of water elsewhere for a profit.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Cheers,

Jordan Pearson, Motherboard Staff Writer

Jordan,

Thanks so much for your clarification. I also agree that companies should not be making money off a situation that puts people's human rights up for grabs. The government should most certainly be responsible in this aspect if the local state governments cannot take on the role or refuse to. I'm was not aware of this water crisis also taking place in Canada. I am appalled. I like your train of thought and it seems there needs to be new policies in place that prevent the gouging of people in peril. Thank you, again for your time and insights.

All the best,

Camille

RE: Twenty Years Ago, Trolling Was Repeatedly Posting 'Meow' in Usenet Groups

Dear Meowboard,

I just read this article by Roisin Kiberd, but I don't tweet so I can't reach her directly. Please let her know that I am the one who cross-posted Matt Bruce's original invasion post from afkmn over to atbnb. I also actively incited and participated in the Great Meow War.

By the way, most of us on atbnb were in our late 20s / early 30s, not college kids. College kids are too stupid to play those games. Just look at Matt and Mark and Chuck and the rest of the HIVy League players at the time.

Also, can she please tell Matt Bruce and Mark Staloff that I'm not sorry?

Meow,

Keith

RE:Why Do Statues of Humans Terrify Me? An Investigation

I just wanted to thank you for the article. I, too am afraid of statues and thought I was alone. After reading your article, I now know what the trigger was. The words, statue looking at and judging brought back the memory of my Catholic cousin leaving me in the church with a huge statue of Jesus Christ on a cross while she went to the rectory to retrieve something. I was 14, but I was scared out of my senses. I was never forced as a child or involved in religion until recently. I practice Buddhism and feel guilty that the statues, which some are ginormous, scare me out of my wits. Well, long story short, now I know where the fear originated and hopefully I can overcome it.

Thanks again.

LP

RE: It Makes No Sense That Word Processors Are Still Designed for the Printed Page

Hello, after reading the article "It Makes No Sense…", dated 8/22, I was struck by what we have lost. I spent the entirety of my career in IT, and moved into management in 1991. There were still a lot of people who composed their resumes on Selectric typewriters back then, even technicians. What struck me when I thought about it, was how much I could know about a job applicant before even reading the substance of their resume.

As you know, it wasn't easy back then to format a document. It required knowledge and careful calculation for margins, headers, footers, centering, etc. There were no spellcheckers, there were no grammar fixers – I could determine basic language skills, visual acuity, mathematical skills, understanding of format, and attention to detail without even reading their resume. Today, one could rank poor in all of those categories and still produce a nice looking resume.

I also battle with Microsoft Word, and I'm unsure what is the best solution. I'm dictating this with Dragon software. The one standout advantage I find with Dragon is that it focuses my mind on getting the words and the writing from my brain and onto whatever.

David Mills

RE: People Are Going Nuts Over a Livestream of a Tiny Town Square

I grew up in Jackson and needless to say I miss it. I have a story to share about that intersection, (to bad there was no live streaming back in 1975). A couple of my friends and I were in a Law Enforcement Explorer Scout Post, we got to ride along with some of the Jackson Police officers so playing pranks was something we got away with.

One busy summer night we got a toilet from a plumber friend a roll of TP and a newspaper and placed them dead center in the middle of that intersection. As people were crossing the intersection on foot they would stop sit down on the toilet grab the newspaper or roll ofTB and take pictures of each other. We sat under the that elk arch and laughed till we cried. Then someone who was drunk fell over it, the back came off and broke. Now you have cars and people trying to avoid this little mess we created. We ran into the park to get a garbage can when we came back there was a police car and one of Jackson's finest, lights on, trunk open and he was carrying the bottom part of the toilet to his patrol car. He had been down at the local coffee shop when our scout leader got the call. Of course all the cops in town knew who had done it so that's why he got the call that "there was Sh#!@y job he had to take care of in the main intersection of town."

Well we took care of the broken pieces but he told us "this is one of the most humiliating things that he ever had to do while on duty." He also told us "we'd better go home for the night or he might just put us in jail." Yes I miss the Old Jackson Hole!

Colleen

RE: Everything I Brought With Me on a 1,200-Mile River Canoe Trip

Hi Brian, hi Motherboard,

I really dug your piece detailing the gear you brought. I really like reading gear lists on top of the underlying piece, whether it's for hiking, bike touring, kayaking, or whatever other adventure. It feels to me as though some of the excitement of adventure and imagination comes from the stuff. I can read about some of your lived experiences, but I think I connect much more with the bemused frustration at carrying 4 cans of deet and taking that weight penalty. Or the connection you get with certain bits of gear while you're out there and you get to intimately know everything about it, from the way you have to hold it when it's wet to the quickest way to pack it in or set it up—whether it's a tent or a stove or a pocket knife.

Gear lists alone aren't worth much since each person's needs are different, but when it's well-thought-out and printed alongside an excellent article like "Why I Canoed," it just makes the whole experience that much more real to me. So thanks for the experience.

Cheers,

Erich Snow

RE: A 'Memory Hacker' Explains How to Plant False Memories in People's Minds

I read your piece on Motherboard, and wanted to dispute a portion of what Miss Shaw contends - that we do not have memories from before we are about 2 1/2 years old.

I specifically recall being an infant, playing with a Chicago Style faucet over my grandmother's kitchen sink. It was a ceramic double-basin affair, with the faucet directly behind the divider between the two basins. I remember swinging it back and forth in both hands - I remember it was so huge, I could barely wrap my fingers around it. A few years back, I was talking with my mother and mentioned the memory - she told me I had to have been under 6-months old when that happened, because that was when she lived with her mother. She had forgotten about that until I mentioned it to her.

Around the same time I recall crawling around on my hands and knees with my head down on the red shag carpet in my grandmothers living room. I remember enjoying doing this. During that same conversation with my mother she told me I was "always a weird kid" and told me I would do the crawling thing I just described. I told her I remember that, and asked her if she knew why I did it? She was surprised that I remembered, but she could never figure it out. The answer was simple, though - and I also directly remember this: I enjoyed the static electricity that built up in my hair.

There are other examples of things I recall at such an early age, some of which I wish I *could* forget. The fact that I recall them when the people who were around me at the time could not should be sufficient to demonstrate that Miss Shaw's assertion ("…our brains aren't developed enough to store memories…") is at least somewhat inaccurate.

If you've a mind to, I would like you to pass this email along to Miss Shaw. I realize that I am most likely an outlier in this regard, but (to me) it seems like bad science to assert that something doesn't happen when in actuality it *rarely* happens. Perhaps through a discussion with her we might see the facts re-examined concerning infant brain development.

And regardless, thank you for the informative article. I found it enlightening.

Regards,

Jake