What does that mean, anyway?
Contact: me -at- wrathofblog -dot- com
Contact: me -at- wrathofblog -dot- com
(via wendy macnaughton: January 25, 2012 - pt. 2)
Coffee Shop Thoughts
Wrath of Blog
“ I find it ironic that so many Americans would so quickly come to trust for-profit companies - companies that must under the law hold the interests of its shareholders above all else - over their democratically-elected government to regulate the Internet. ”
The SOPA-PIPA Saga - Freedom of Speech vs. Net Neutrality | Stanford Center for Internet and Society
I find it more disturbing than ironic that people implicitly and explicitly trust these companies, especially given evidence to the contrary, but fair point.
People who care about the democratic process should worry about the effectiveness by which companies like Google and Wikipedia appear to have leveraged their reputation as unbiased authorities of information to shape and mold public opinions. If they have the will and means to mobilize opinion, what is not to prevent them from discriminating their content in line with their corporate interests?
As we’ve seen with Google’s actions in social search lately, there’s nothing to prevent them from discriminating their content, and in fact, that seems to be an acceptable corporate goal to maximize profit.
Continuing:
While I cheer on the defeat of SOPA-PIPA, … I also have no false hopes that my interests on the Net can be best guaranteed by the likes of Google or Wikipedia or Facebook.
Well, at least there’s one guy out there who has thought all this through.
Tennessee Anti-Bullying Law Change Could Allow Students To Speak Out Against Gays For Religious Reasons
Oh dear god. These people are actually serious about doing this. How can people think that hiding hate speech behind religion is a good idea?
(via The Huffington Post)
There’s absolutely no way that this ends well. What a shameful thing.
Wat — Destroy All Software Talks
A video of programming humor to begin the morning. I really should have seen the end of this coming :D
How does Ravelry make money?
OK, OK - also. Not ALL Internet companies are dicks in need of morality lessons. The very smart, nice folks at Ravelry are some of my favorite entrepreneurs/coder/people. I’m not the only person who loves them, their fan base is ginormous. I wish more internet companies were customer-oriented, ethical and innovative.
(via Words cannot describe. - mlkshk)
Just for a break from the cynicism and pissy-ness of this morning’s posts.
Obama's speech sets tone for Congress, campaign
Populism, right. I’ll believe it when I see it.
/cynicism
FAQ: Google’s new privacy policy - The Washington Post
Given how anti-Facebook I am for similar “integrated” information collection and use policies, I don’t really think I can exempt Google when they do the same dumb anti-privacy things.
It was easy not to use Facebook. I don’t miss it, ever. It was a pointless waste of time.
Google, though - I use their applications for productivity. Getting myself untangled from Google is going to be a bitch.
Fuck internet companies. Seems like the lot of them need Ethics 101.
Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off: The Food Network Craps Out
Guy Fieri is a man who is permanently in the process of jumping the shark (seriously, have you watched his shows? seen his hair?), and now he’s hosting a show in which the entire Food Network is jumping the shark also. Rachael Ray needs to stop monetizing herself.
This is a testament to bad reality shows (is there another kind?), unnecessary “celebrities” no one remembers, and air time that would be far, far more interesting and worthwhile if it were nothing but a horrific beeping noise and static.
Newt Gingrich: History’s Greatest Team (all by himself)
Note to self: Do not be a historian like Gingrich. His Ph.D. isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
The link that talks about his inept slaughtering of the history of Cordoba is also good.
