Internet
Change
Where does it come from? Does it flow from the top or seep up from the bottom? Is it measured by pieces of legislation, or societal benchmarks, or events, or hearts and minds? What causes it? Anger? Hope? Desperation? Fear? You could answer yes to any of these and be right. The fact is that change is a very amorphous concept. It's difficult to define because there are so many types. We've all noticed how Democratic presidential candidates are falling over themselves to prove how much they can bring. They're doing it because it's the message we want to hear; otherwise, they'd emphasize other things, like John Kerry dwelled on Vietnam and George W. Bush constantly tried to scare us. In other words, our demand for change is driving the narrative of this election. This very desire is significant in itself. What's equally significant is how we express it.
No matter what happens with the nomination, we can take comfort how far we've come as an electorate. The incessant fearmongering and lying of the Bush administration didn't numb and dumb the American people into submission; we rebelled, recognized evil when we saw it and are now trying to fix our mistake. We're using new and evolving tools at our disposal, most notably the Internet, which I'd argue has turned from background noise into a driving force.
Weekend Open Thread
Rudy Giuliani is an asshole. (other possible descriptions: "opportunist," "jerk", "slimeball", "shill", "tool", "misleader", "manipulator", "dog", "politician", and "Republican". Feel free to quote me on that!
The search for the real armed robber now begins. Or, OJ just wants his jersey back?
Decades of no government, armed unrest and a new wave of civil war = malnutrition crisis for children and mothers in Somalia.
The infamous Soviet "Doomsday Device" nuclear holocaust machine...is still online, armed and ready. Dear Russia ---- fuck you.
Japan launches lunar orbiter, aiming to land astronaut by 2020.
China emerges as global leader in cyberwarfare.
Alberto Gonzales over and out. *sheds little tear...not.
War with Iran still a threat. I don't think we will, but who the hell knows. Oh yeah. BUSH does. ...so it goes.
Happy weekend.
Rupert Murdoch selling MySpace?
This article reminds me of 19th century imperialism-- everybody wants a stake in Africa... er, I mean, the Internet.
News Corp honcho Rupert Murdoch has offered to swap the wildly popular social networking site MySpace in exchange for a stake in portal-in-flux Yahoo. Murdoch reportedly approached Yahoo with the offer of giving the portal ownership of MySpace in exchange for a 30 percent ownership stake of the combined Yahoo-MySpace.
Petition for Free National Wireless Network
Please sign.
Background:
The federal government is on the verge of turning over a huge portion of our public airwaves to companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast--who will use them for private enrichment instead of the public good.
These newly available airwaves are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize Internet access -- beaming high-speed signals to every park bench, coffee shop, workplace, and home in America at more affordable prices than current Internet service. Phone and cable companies don't want this competition to their Internet service--they'd rather purchase the airwaves at auction and sit on them.
Introduction
First off, an apology to Lose the Label, especially Jake and Grant. I helped kick off the second round of LtL website development late last year but the change in semester and a load of new activities has severely hampered my ability to work on the website. But, I'm working on changing that, or at least devoting a few hours to write for our frontpage.
Who am I?
How Internet is Changing the Media
A few days ago, we were talking about how the media is influenced by its audiences. This article reminded me of that, but also sheds light on how the Internet is heavily impacting the industry.
"The transformation facing journalism is epochal," according to a new media study. The annual State of the News Media report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism says that news outlets are likely to lower their ambitions as a fragmented market — including the Internet — leaves them with fewer resources.
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