Rubicon

Rubi Con is a yearly conference held in the Detroit area in which all facets of the information technology world, (those trying to get in, and those trying to keep you out) call a truce and get together to share information.

As both the hackers and the professionals trade off information with each other, they become better at what they do, and as such, make it more difficult for the "opposing side" to keep you at bay.

The conference, 2003 being the fifth year, is typically held over the first weekend in April. Presentations being early on the Friday afternoon, and run non-stop until the closing ceremonies Sunday afternoon.

For more information, http://www.rubi-con.org/root.html

I've listened to this song ALOT and I think I've come to appreciate it's meaning, which is very deep and emotional. I think what Ronan Harris is talking about is his personal journey through life (consisting of deep contemplation, etc.) and his realizations about human nature, and how he has "come so far, that I cannot return" and that "nothing I can do that I have not done." He feels that he has reached a crux of realizations, and he cannot make any further progress towards 'enlightenment' (or whatever you would like to call the goal of our journey to understanding). He "cannot hear the words by which (he) guides".

He is faced with all these conflicting realizations and ideas that he cannot reconcile, and a dearth of general philosophical ideas that are tearing him apart. Thus, he is faced with a lack of guide, and a constant feeling that he's been here before.

That's the best I can explain it in words. I think I've had a similar crisis as the one expounded in this song, and I can really feel Ronan's pain and anguish here. It's a rocky road for those who choose to reconcile philosophies and find the truth within, but it's not an entirely lonely existence.

Ru"bi*con (?), n. Anc. geog.

A small river which separated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the province alloted to Julius Caesar.

⇒ By leading an army across this river, contrary to the prohibition of the civil government at Rome, Caesar precipitated the civil war which resulted in the death of Pompey and the overthrow of the senate; hence, the phrase to pass or cross the Rubicon signifies to take the decisive step by which one is committed to a hazardous enterprise from which there is no retreat.

© Webster 1913.