Blackmoor Vituperative

You may not know the name Kathy Sierra. She wrote one of my favorite Java books, Head First Java (I’ve bought every edition of it that’s been printed). She is also a reasonably popular blogger on technical matters such as usability and “creating passionate users”. Well, for reasons which mystify me (evil always mystifies me), she has been receiving death threats and has therefore cancelled her appearance at a major conference. She may not appear in public again, at least not any time soon.

There is a common perception that the world is more violent, more crazy than it ever has been before. Anyone who reads history knows that this is not true. What is true is that our borders are wider, our news net is cast wider, than ever before. Tragedies that used to reach only to the next county are now broadcast across the world. It also means that when we join this wider world, we are exposed to not only the worst people in our neighborhood, but the worst people in our society.

Click the link and go read her site. It just makes me sad.