Archive for August, 2010
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Top 10 Things That We Don’t Need Top 10 Lists Of
[ 5 Comments ]Posted on August 11, 2010 by admin in Technology
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010We’re generating more information every two days than we did in all of human history prior to 2003. Unfortunately almost all of it is YouTube clips, stupid top ten lists, infographics, and crap content created by underpaid hacks writing linkbait for content farms to generate AdSense revenue.
You may have read the other day that although it took all of human history up until 2003 to generate five exabytes of information, that much is now created every two days. I can tell you where all that data resides. It’s comprised mainly of YouTube clips of teenage boys igniting their farts, self-referential personal blog posts about why the blogger hasn’t blogged for a while, incomprehensible infographics, overwrought and not-very-funny flowcharts, and useless top ten lists of things that don’t warrant top ten lists. Below is our contribution to this steaming heap of useless data that guarantees that of the 2646 web pages you view this month (infographic here), approximately 2645 of them will be of no lasting value to the human race. Read the rest of this entry »
Confused By All The Google/Verizon Network Neutrality Talk?
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on August 10, 2010 by admin in Technology
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010Don’t be. It’s simple. What Google and Verizon are trying to do is comparable to Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone supporting free and open competition of horseless carriages while guaranteeing themselves protected monopolies to make cars.
Confused by all the talk from Google and Verizon about their plans for protecting net neutrality? Don’t be. All the jargon, press releases, and proposals thrown around by both companies are classic strategies. Confuse the public with a flurry of conflicting hints, public statements and denials while doing your best to control the actions of the agency that might regulate you. The nutshell version of what these two companies are trying to do with the internet and wireless broadband access could be likened to Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone supporting free and open competition of horseless carriages while giving themselves protected monopolies of the yet-to-be defined automobile market. It’s dirty. But would you expect anything else from either company during economic times like this? And don’t get me going on the Google “don’t be evil” thing. We joked back in 2008 that Google’s got you covered top to bottom . And the irony of the words you’re about to read being surrounded by Google ads is not lost on me. But here’s the scary truth: if Facebook’s deceiptful privacy practices and attitude have caused you to be angry or concerned, Google’s attitude should trouble you exponentially more. Most recently, Google’s Eric Schmidt was quoted in this article as saying (in reference to the massive amounts of data compiled about you) that “The only way to manage this is true transparency and no anonymity. In a world of asynchronous threats, it is too dangerous for there not to be some way to identify you. We need a verified name service for people. Governments will demand it ” (emphasis mine). This is in line with his December 2009 remark that “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” Which may be true. But do you want a company like Google or Verizon to be the ones making these decisions? If this cavalier attitude doesn’t trouble you, and if – like many people – you have a Gmail account and use any of Google’s many free tools, try the following, if you haven’t already. Go to your Google Dashboard and see what they’ve been tracking. If you’re a light user of Gmail who just logs in and out to check mail, you’ll see little of interest here. But if you stay logged into your Google accounts all the time, you might be a little disturbed by how much information about you is compiled in one place. And now Google not only wants to know what you HAVE done, they think they can predict what you WILL do. By the way, if they’re so good at predicting the future, this begs the question: how did they not know that Facebook would kick their ass so bad on social networking? Read the rest of this entry »
This Link May Be Subject To Copyright
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on August 9, 2010 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Monday, August 9th, 2010Why we’re instituting a “Don’t Link, Don’t Share” policy. Please do not view, link to, or share these links.
As we mentioned last week, there’s something funny about the way some people develop a sense of ownership when sharing a link, to the extent that “decent” people will add a “via” credit when re-sharing the link. This is especially funny given that the web is, when all is said and done, NOTHING BUT A SERIES OF LINKS. It’s also amusing that this kind of “link valor” still exists at a time when all you find at the top of most Google search results are Scraper Sites. Obviously, some people not only don’t care who’s link they’re sharing, they don’t particularly care who’s content they’re sharing. Which is why I’m going to have to point out that this brief article and the links within it are subject to copyright. So please do not share them. You may review our detailed terms of service and linking policy here. Actually, that’s Ticketmaster UK’s legal page, but we like the way they phrased things. So just replace “Ticketmaster” with “Dissociated Press” wherever it’s appropriate. And especially mind the bit that says “”You also agree not to deep-link to the site for any purpose, unless specifically authorised by Ticketmaster Dissociated Press to do so.” And if you think we’re crazy for instituting these policies, check out this collection of sites that ban you from linking to them. If a policy’s good enough for Jimmy Choo, it’s good enough for us. So on with de linking… Read the rest of this entry »
No Tax Cuts For The Rich Until They Buy More Stuff
[ Comments Off ]Posted on August 8, 2010 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Sunday, August 8th, 2010In fact, if more of them don’t get on board with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates’ GivingPledge.org idea, maybe we should just eat them.
 When you look at the numbers it’s a no-brainer. |
I find it a little difficult to stomach that there’s any kind of debate about extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich. With a stalled economy, 2.5 trillion in debt still laying around from when we “fixed” it, a 16.5% unemployment rate, and 1 in 8 Americans actually struggling to eat, what kind of psychology makes it possible for someone who already has hundreds of times more than they need to sit by the pool fretting about whether or not they’re losing the tax breaks they probably didn’t deserve in the first place? Even Timothy Geithner thinks that we should let them expire. And while the wealthiest are figuring out how to adjust their budget, they better figure out how to spend some money, because their tightwad behavior is wrecking any hope for a recovery that we have. In fact, I’ve got a better idea. Well, it’s actually Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffet’s idea too, but like you probably did, I thought of this a long time ago. How about they just GIVE ALL THAT EXTRA MONEY AWAY? That GivingPledge.org site is even inspiring Dicks named Larry to get off his yacht long enough to get on board. It’s a great idea, because the money pledged doesn’t go to a specific cause or charity, and the person pledging doesn’t really have to do anything, they just have to say they will, which inspires a lot of dialogue, and therefore, inevitably, guilt. Which eventually is bound to result in some actual philanthropy. If more wealthy people can’t get the hang of this, I say we eat them. How about you?
Why 7 Year Old Julie Murphy Should Go To Jail
[ Comments Off ]Posted on August 7, 2010 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Saturday, August 7th, 2010Lemonade stands have recently become an excellent symbol for everything that’s wrong with America.
Back in July, Terry Savage of the Chicago Sun-Times posted this amusing piece about little girls that were (brace yourself) GIVING AWAY lemonade and candy bars at their lemonade stand in some unidentified “upscale neighborhood”. The gist of what he was saying was summed up well in the sidebar of the piece, which read: “Three girls giving away free lemonade isn’t cute, it’s indicative of the lack of economic responsibility we’re passing on to future generations“. Which I personally disagreed with in many ways; if these were children of today’s nouveau riche who have little sense of how their wealth obligates them to a certain amount social responsibility and leadership-by-example, then the kids were actually teaching their ignorant yuppy parents a lesson in sharing your excess for the good of the community that helped make you wealthy. There’s nothing wrong with being rich, but historically in America, those who have possessed the most enduring wealth have always understood the importance of giving back some of the prosperity they enjoy. All of which may lead you to believe that I’m some sort of socialist hippy tree hugger that would support the recent goings on in Portland, Oregon, in which the local health department shut down poor little 7-year-old Julie Murphy’s lemonade stand (sending her home crying), because it was operating without proper permits. Well, Oregon being Oregon, the public outcry forced the health department to reverse their decision, and now we have former accused criminal Murphy saying she’s not bitter about the whole thing. Not bitter? This is like Karl Rove saying he’s not bitter about the failed subpoenas against him when he hid behind executive privilege in the Bush era. No, I think Julie Murphy and her mom should go to jail. They were not only violating public health laws, there’s a good chance they were violating child labor laws as well. Who knows what – if anything – little Julie Murphy was getting paid, or if appropriate taxes were being levied against the lemonade stand’s gross revenue or the staff’s income. And the local health department bowing to public sentiment is yet another example of what’s wrong with America today. Good governing is based on reasoned public discourse and letting knowledgeable leaders present sensible options to the public to vote on, not knee-jerk regulatory reactions to public sentiment. If you don’t already doubt the wisdom of the crowd theory, just ponder American Idol, YouTube, MySpace, Yahoo Answers, or read this piece by Fark.com‘s creator to see where this kind of “wisdom” takes us. Letting these lawbreakers continue to operate unregulated sets a horrible precedent. Soon you’ll have companies like British Petroleum setting up oil rigs without proper permits, manning them with children, and claiming that it was the kids’ idea and that they saw nothing wrong with paying children the several hundred dollars a day a typical rig worker gets paid. Read the rest of this entry »