Over on my Apple Reporter site, I’m running another contest. This time I’m looking for a logo design for the blog. Read more here.
Now Listening: Neighbor’s Lawnmower, Pounding Gnomes From Allergy Sinus Headache
Tags: apple reporter, apple contest, logo contest, apple logo, mac contest
Via Digg: Full Satirical Article Here
[Tongue In Cheek] AT&T chief Ed Whitacre handed the keys over to his replacement Randall Stephenson yesterday, but not before giving a rousing pep talk to fellow executives in the company’s San Antonio board room.
Excerpt:
“There’s a problem. It’s called Net Neutrality,” Whitacre told the heirs to AT&T’s telecommunications empire. “Well, frankly, we say to hell with that. We’re gonna put up some toll booths and start charging admission.”This statement echoes those made in the press by Whitacre and Stephenson over the last two years.
(note: video removed due to messing up my blog design. why, oh why does word press not just ACCEPT you tube, already???)
Go to Save The Internet for more information on how you can join the fight for Network Neutrality.
See my past posts on Network Neutrality here.
Now Listening: Amy Winehouse Back To Black
Tags: Net Neutrality, NEtwork Neutrality, Save The Internet, AT&T, Cingular, ASsshattery
Technorati Tags: Net Neutrality, NEtwork Neutrality, Save The Internet, AT&T, Cingular, ASsshattery
There is hope on the horizon for us die-hard smokers who are only quitting because we have to, not because we want to:
The eCigarette! I would so buy this right now if it were available here, to at least try it!
* side note: For those of you who look forward to the lung cancer years but want a more considerate way to smoke, there is the Smoking Jacket. Which I am not enamored of.
Now Listening: The Astronaut’s Wife on the DVD
Tags: ecigarette, quit smoking, cigarette, smoking jacket, secondhand smoke, lung cancer
A while back I blogged about Kathy Sierra and the way she was taunted online, even threatened. I am not even going to link to the original post, because it was a knee-jerk “poor thing” response. I took her side in the original controversy, but as time passes, I find myself more and more on the opposite side of the argument (click here for the better way to look at the Kathy Sierra controversy, written by Cyndy). What has happened is that bloggers everywhere are using the Kathy Sierra controversy as a springboard for such asinine ideas as a Bloggers Code of Conduct (censorship, plain and simple, and curtailing of free speech. I won’t be signing that any time this century). Other bloggers are forgetting the basic unwritten rules of personal blogging because of the Kathy Sierra brouhaha, and thinking it’s no big deal to ignore the rules then to get bent out of shape when they catch flak for it.
What are the basic rules of personal blogging?
Don’t give out personal information online, especially about your friends, loved ones, and children. Make up a nickname for the people you know in real life and stick to it, so that trolls and other malcontents can’t find them in real life and do them harm. It’s why I call my honey “honey” and remain vague on the names of family members and close friends – keeping it to first name or nickname only.
The more you share, the easier to make into a target you are. Just because you think you are hard to find (“I only list my county name, not my town.” “I just described my son or daughter’s school, I didn’t give the name.” “How can people find out about me and where I live by my telling the name of my doctor online?” etc) doesn’t mean you are hard to find.
Ignore the trolls, and make sure your friends ignore the trolls. If you can’t keep your friends under control, and they put you in danger, there isn’t much you can do but ride it out and lose the so-called friend who was so willing (or so stupid) to put you and your children in danger.
Make sure your online photos and videos don’t have identifiers in them (your house number, street signs, school frontage, your license plate number, etc). This includes not blogging about your commute with photos and other identifying information that could lead the bad guys direct to your door.
Host your own blog on a web server, using either a free platform like WordPress or a paid one like MovableType. That’s how you can gain the ability to ban trolls and control IP addresses and spam in a way that hosted sites like Blogger can’t do. If you have a low budget and need cheap hosting, I recommend my web host. They rock, and are less than $4 bucks a month for unlimited bandwidth and server space. Click here for HostDepartment.
Don’t include personal information on your domain registration (real home address, real name, real phone number, etc.). The only thing that has to be real on the domain registration is your email.
Don’t blog about work. If you do blog about work, you may get fired. If that happens, you will just have to suck it up. There is no labor law recourse for “blogging about the job” or using company time “blogging on the job”.
Make Flickr photos of your children part of your private photo collection that only your Flickr friends and family can see.
If you use social networking for business and for personal friend finding, and you have kids or engage in non-businesslike behavior, you may want to open a separate account for your business Id that isn’t linked to your personal one. Especially if you lead a double life as a binge-drinking, coke snorting, pot toking, nekkid cam whore or something. You know, in case it looks bad for business.
Don’t engage in flame wars in the comments on other blogs. This is part of ignoring the trolls mentioned above, but I felt the need to spell it out for the Sofa Kings out there. Newsflash for the internet noobs: changing your name in the comments, signing up under different names on sites like Digg to leave comments, etc? Doesn’t work. The internet tracks you by IP address, dumbass. If you use the same computer, house, router, etc? They know that all of these “mystery” commenters are you. And if someone you are friends with has broken the rules of blogging on their blog, the internet baddies can then find that person by searching for you, the commenting Sofa King. Don’t put your friends in that kind of dangerous position by being that kind of hotheaded asshole.
Use GIMP, Seashore or Photoshop to blur identifying information out of pictures, like license plates, ultrasound names, house numbers, etc.
Don’t allow anonymous commenters. Ever. Require a name and valid email. It’s for your own protection. If you lose a few commenters because of this policy, too bad. Write more and get new ones.
Don’t engage in personal attacks on other bloggers. If they engage you… ignore them. What? I’ve said that already? Tough. That one is well worth repeating over and over again.
Long story short, don’t be a Sofa King about the way you handle the internet. Following a few simple rules can help keep you and your children safe online, and keep your business businesslike. You don’t need a silly “blogger code of conduct” to tell you how to act or censor your words and the words of others! You just need common sense. You can still blog like you have diarrhea of the mouth if you want to, just keep the personal stuff vague and in check, and curb your hot-headed friends and blogfriends – their tempers can get you in trouble just like too much info can get you in trouble.
Do I break some of these rules? One, mainly – I link everything. I’m a freelancer, and I’ve been freelancing long enough that my clients are already aware of my political views, religious views, etc, so they also know I am professional when it comes to work. I’ve built a rapport over many years with them. Before I freelanced full time, I worked in an office and tended bar, and this blog was hosted on Blogger and much, much tamer and less blatant about my viewpoints.
/rant off
On a side note, someone took one of my favorite 80s songs by The The, Armageddon Days, and set it to images of current events. Awesome. Hard to believe an 80s song applies so well today. Enjoy!
Now Listening: Check My Mog – iTunes is Running today
Tags: the the, armageddon days, blogger code of conduct, kathy sierra, rules of personal blogging
Technorati Tags: the the, armageddon days, blogger code of conduct, kathy sierra, rules of personal blogging
I can’t improve on the succinct article from the Wired blog on this day of technological spying on our citizens. Please click here and read their full article: “Today Is Wiretap The Internet Day”.
It’s worth noting that the new requirements don’t alter the legal standards for law enforcement to win court orders for internet wiretaps. Fans of CALEA expansion argue that it therefore won’t increase the number of Americans under surveillance.
That’s wrong, of course. Making surveillance easier and faster gives law enforcement agencies of all stripes more reason to eschew old-fashioned police work in favor of spying. The telephone CALEA compliance deadline was in 2002, and since then the amount of court-ordered surveillance has nearly doubled from 2,586 applications granted that year, to 4,015 orders in 2006.
Now Listening: Bill Maher Rerun from 5/11/07
Tags: Internet Surveillance, Homeland Security, Patriot Act, Illegal Spying, FBI, Big Brother
Technorati Tags: Internet Surveillance, Homeland Security, Patriot Act, Illegal Spying, FBI, Big Brother
Today on my Apple Reporter blog, I wrote an op-ed piece on The Cult of Apple. Go, check it out, and let me know if you think I should go into witness protection for this one.
Article here.
Tags: The Cult of Apple
So in today’s news, The Homeland Security Department has decided to try and get it’s hands on the master key to the entire Internet universe. What is the master key? The quick and simple way to explain it it that this is the signing key that controls DNS all the way back to the root server for any account. I would say definitely not to that request, but it isn’t something that will come to a vote, so it’s up to the internet powers that be to stand their ground here. It pains me to think of one governmental department having total access to the Internet as a whole, especially in this time of growing paranoia and persecution, not to mention our current war-hungry administration still being in office.
Think of the damage this could do! Not only to the internet itself – that would be bad enough – but to our relations with others? I am working on the assumption that at some level we still car about the way we relate to the rest of the world and to out citizens, but I could be wrong. If you, like me, do not want the Internet handled by the same people who brought us the Patriot Act and Presidential Signing Statements, among others things, then read this article and contact the powers that be to let them know how you feel.
Now Listening: The Nails
Whether the RIAA, MPAA and other gatekeeper organizations are ready for the changes in how media is delivered or not, media delivery is changing. In a fantastic example of embracing the new way to experience media, Al Gore has started a new television channel called Current TV. In this channel he combines a full television and web experience by showing short videos both on the cable channel and online.
He is quoted as saying his channel offers television programming you can “snack on”. Each video is around 3 – 8 minutes long. Some of the videos are professionally done, though many are amateur video reminiscent of web sites like YouTube. The target audience for this channel is in the 18 – 34 year old age group. Gore’s new channel is not the only one to merge television and Internet these days. More importantly, videos are not the only way to experience a merging of web and television.
Just look at most television shows now, especially reality shows like American Idol, and you’ll often see scrolling text messages and chat at the bottom of the screen. There will periodically by a flash of a web site address where you can enter contests online related to the show, or find out more about the episode and characters at the moment you’re watching. Shows like Lost and Heroes have broadened their audience base and increased loyalty by offering expanded content online. They both have continued the story line on the web site, offering background and other information on the plot and characters.
How will the Internet, downloads, wireless networking and interactive audience experience change how you watch television? TiVo and DVR technology has already expanded the possibilities of your viewing choices – in my opinion the internet can only make it even better.
Find video online by searching at beeline.tv and wwitv.com, for starters, or go to the end of this article for a quick list of up and comers.
Now Listening: Smashing Pumpkins Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness
“…But never leave the stream of warm impermanence“
There are a few changes in where you can read my writing.
My association with Suite 101 has ended, and I am currently working on moving that content elsewhere. For the next few days if there was an article, blog, biography or book review you enjoyed you should still be able to find it at Suite 101 under American Fiction, however; hopefully the move will be complete soon and I can let you know the new address to read my work. Meanwhile, I will leave the link in the sidebar until the content is moved to make it easier for you.
I have a new location that I have contracted to write for, called HubPages. I am writing articles on consumer technology concentrating on Apple products and various gaming systems, mobile phones, and other gadgets. The pay scale for HubPages is based in part on activity and in part on ad revenue. The more views of my reviews, the better I will do there, obviously. To that end, I will be linking to any new HubPages I have written in the sidebar here to make it easier for you to find them. Please feel free to share your knowledge, discuss differing points of view end debate product merits in the comment section to be found at the bottom of each HubPage. If you would like to write for HubPages as well, click this link.
I also have been tapped to write about Apple products for 451 Press. It’s a new venture with more articles every day. Stay tuned!
Now listening: David Bowie Changes
He got tired of watching me try to type one handed, so he bought me iListen. iListen is a software made by MacSpeech that allows you to type with your voice. It's pretty cool. It took me about 2.5 hours to train it to 80 percent accuracy. it is still learning every time I speak, and I estimate it is already up to 87 percent accuracy. I am using it to write this post. The software cost 149 dollars at the Apple Store in the mall, or you can pay a little more and get your own copy here . You can also buy it for 134 dollars through the Amazon page link in the sidebar. Visit Epinions and read my review of this product here .
Now listening: The Specials Ghost town
