Back before we all had cell phones, it was not as easy to keep in touch or get info to a friend. This was especially true if your friends moved frequently or lived in squats.

People used all sorts of methods to get around this: pagers, inexpensive voicemail services, notes on doors, etc..

Around here, we also had Merlin. Merlin was a fixture in the neighborhood, he lived in front of the Con-Ed substation on Avenue A. Everyone knew Merlin and Merlin knew everyone. More than once as I walked by him and said hi, he would stop me to relay a message from a friend.

15 years ago this week, I walked by as he was being loaded into an ambulance. He had not looked healthy for a while. I ran into Blackout Books where some meeting was going on and gathered a crew to go back and gather his belongings off the sidewalk so when he got out of the hospital he'd still have his things.

I forget if it was that night or a day later that Merlin died.

Every year since, someone puts up a memorial on the anniversary of his death. Today's photos are of this year's memorial. Most of the flowers had already blown away by the time I got there.

Some coverage of Merlin from other places:

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/21/nyregion/neihborhood-report-east-villa...

http://neithermorenorless.blogspot.com/2006/08/merlin-remembered.html

http://evgrieve.com/2011/08/flashback-august-1996-two-week-tribute.html

The idea for this little rant comes from Jenna. I've been trying to expand on it for a couple weeks now and this is not as together as I'd like -- but either I post it now or it will linger half-done forever.

The past couple of weeks the internet has been all abuzz about some high profile data thefts. Depending on what circles you travel in, you might have only heard of one of them.

At one end of the story, we have Rupert Murdoch. Big time media mogul and manipulator of politics in far too many countries, Rupert's problems have been widely covered (well, in most media outlets not owned by him).

The other side of our tale is Aaron Swartz, 24 year old technology innovator and activist. Aaron is possibly most well known for the invention of the RSS xml syndication standard. You know those blog feeds that are everywhere these days? Well, when Aaron was 13 he wrote the standard that is still in use by all of us.

About the only thing that Aaron and Rupert share in common is they are both in trouble because they are being accused of stealing data.

Rupert most likely stole data from many people to enrich himself and his corporation -- his organization clearly acted without regard for who was hurt in the process. Aaron most likely stole data from one very large corporation to share it for free with many people -- and there's a possibility that what he did was part of a valid research project.

While Rupert can bribe politicians and governments, Aaron has no such clout.

Rupert is still walking around free and un-indited -- Aaron has been charged with numerous felonies, even though the company he is accused of stealing from feels that this issue has been resolved and is not worthy of prosecution.

What is the lesson to be learned from these two overlapping stories? Those with wealth and power can get away with anything and those who's actions reject corporate power will feel the full force of the law.

---
Today's photo: