Mumblings
Incoherent babble that doesn't deserve a forum but gets one anyways in this networked age.
Random Stuff
Published 21 December 2004.
So in response to my previous post, I talked with a few people and found torrents as a good alternative to Suprnova. This is good and makes me happy again.
In other news I learned how fortunate I was to have internet connections and a charge card this holiday season. I decided to go to the mall with one of my friends and help him shop for some of his gifts. I think that after the whole ordeal all I really wanted for Christmas was a nap.
Here is the lesson I took from my journey: Malls suck. Plain and simple, they offer one of the worst experiences shopping that I could ever imagine during the holidays and I like to shop too.
I was very happy that all of my shopping took place from this very chair instead of the chairless Nordstrom or Borders.
In other news I learned how fortunate I was to have internet connections and a charge card this holiday season. I decided to go to the mall with one of my friends and help him shop for some of his gifts. I think that after the whole ordeal all I really wanted for Christmas was a nap.
Here is the lesson I took from my journey: Malls suck. Plain and simple, they offer one of the worst experiences shopping that I could ever imagine during the holidays and I like to shop too.
I was very happy that all of my shopping took place from this very chair instead of the chairless Nordstrom or Borders.
The third fall of P2P?
Published 19 December 2004.
So today I was about to go and illegally pirate another movie off of superimposing when I found that it was closed. It looks like the MPAA has attacked both superimposing and several eDonkey sites bringing us back to the days when Napster was in court and KaZaA was siding with the record companies. Shor considers BitTorrent to be a smaller threat to the MPAA than Napster or KaZaA was to the record industry.
For a net-idiot like me, suprnova was a boon because of it's simple operation. Unfortunately such a centralized setup lead to it's downfall. What's needed is a much more decentralized network that hijacks an already existing system to give it a core integrity.
What about Google? Will there be a day when I can make a search such as "Pulp Fiction" + ".torrent" and find a small server that is hosting Quentin Tarantino movie torrent links for a day or two at a time? If it is technically possible, such a setup would prevent MPAA from shutting down the centralization of the service since google doesn't intend to allow users to share files.
For a net-idiot like me, suprnova was a boon because of it's simple operation. Unfortunately such a centralized setup lead to it's downfall. What's needed is a much more decentralized network that hijacks an already existing system to give it a core integrity.
What about Google? Will there be a day when I can make a search such as "Pulp Fiction" + ".torrent" and find a small server that is hosting Quentin Tarantino movie torrent links for a day or two at a time? If it is technically possible, such a setup would prevent MPAA from shutting down the centralization of the service since google doesn't intend to allow users to share files.
The rise of Blogs
Published 13 December 2004.
Many “real” journalists in the News media argue that bloggers aren’t really journalists since they have no ethical code dealing with the release of sources and truthfulness of the reporting like business bound journalists have. They argue that blogs are wide open to false sources since there is little regulation by other journalists, “real” or otherwise. Bloggers who report current events regularly in their journals tend to be highly opinionated individuals who do not leave their opinions at the door before writing their articles. Thus, these critics argue that bloggers aren’t real journalists and shouldn’t be treated like them.
This question makes us ask what really are journalists? To some extent journalists are simply reporters of information; however, today they have become professionals with ethical codes and guidelines. This second version of journalist is the one that bloggers are excluded from. Yet there is an assumption made on the part of these journalists and those who support their position, that only through a professional framework can information be safely conveyed. Yet the events of modern times would show this assumption to be false.
With the rise of Generation-X into adulthood, many daily newspapers have been struggling to survive. This new generation, growing up in a world of twenty-four hour news channels and, later, Google News, failed to pick up the habits of reading the paper daily that was essential to maintain newspaper readership. While Gen-X’s parents were still reading their papers, Gen-X was moving toward a much less habitual way of getting their news. Responding, the paper business has moved toward smaller, free newspapers distributed sometimes only weekly and funded by advertising costs alone. These newspapers tend to be more radical in their political orientation since they no longer have to appeal to a consistent readership and generally are supported by a much smaller audience.
At the same time, the networks are quickly being outstripped in their news services which air for only four or five hours a day. Twenty-Four hour news channel’s greater accessibility and flashier characters draw more watchers and slowly sap away audiences from the national stations. Fox News’s consistent slant on programs such as The O’Riley Factor and CNN’s Robert Novak’s dangerous release of CIA operative’s identity show the lack of journalistic ethics in these programs.
Even so, the major networks themselves have also shown their weaknesses. “CBS admits that it was duped by airing forged documents that claimed that, in 1972 a young George W. Bush did not fulfill his military obligations and was helped by his powerful family and political connections,” Jeffrey Dvorkin writes. What is extremely important is that what broke this story were the blogs and bloggers who saw the accusation and decided to go on their own and check it out. Then, using their website as a new pulpit, the Bloggers quickly spread the news like colonial minutemen.
As mainstream media moves more and more to unregulated sources like Rush Limbaugh and the Daily Show, journalists can claim less and less of a professional ethical guideline. While this might be a tragic loss, there is still little that mainstream media can do to correct the problem in the wake of strict deregulation of media businesses. Instead, readers should turn to blogs and formulaic news feeders such as Google News or Blogdex to see what issues are “hot.”
For those that argue that bloggers have no regulation, not only have current events shown that the alternatives aren’t any more regulated but, also, the professional media outlets carry with them the perception of definitive knowledge that does not activate in readers, the fact checking impulses that blogs do because of their limited scope. The very fact that I can quickly link you up to a myriad of other news services and connect you back to the web itself means that blogs themselves offer much greater fact checking capacity than regular news services today.
This question makes us ask what really are journalists? To some extent journalists are simply reporters of information; however, today they have become professionals with ethical codes and guidelines. This second version of journalist is the one that bloggers are excluded from. Yet there is an assumption made on the part of these journalists and those who support their position, that only through a professional framework can information be safely conveyed. Yet the events of modern times would show this assumption to be false.
With the rise of Generation-X into adulthood, many daily newspapers have been struggling to survive. This new generation, growing up in a world of twenty-four hour news channels and, later, Google News, failed to pick up the habits of reading the paper daily that was essential to maintain newspaper readership. While Gen-X’s parents were still reading their papers, Gen-X was moving toward a much less habitual way of getting their news. Responding, the paper business has moved toward smaller, free newspapers distributed sometimes only weekly and funded by advertising costs alone. These newspapers tend to be more radical in their political orientation since they no longer have to appeal to a consistent readership and generally are supported by a much smaller audience.
At the same time, the networks are quickly being outstripped in their news services which air for only four or five hours a day. Twenty-Four hour news channel’s greater accessibility and flashier characters draw more watchers and slowly sap away audiences from the national stations. Fox News’s consistent slant on programs such as The O’Riley Factor and CNN’s Robert Novak’s dangerous release of CIA operative’s identity show the lack of journalistic ethics in these programs.
Even so, the major networks themselves have also shown their weaknesses. “CBS admits that it was duped by airing forged documents that claimed that, in 1972 a young George W. Bush did not fulfill his military obligations and was helped by his powerful family and political connections,” Jeffrey Dvorkin writes. What is extremely important is that what broke this story were the blogs and bloggers who saw the accusation and decided to go on their own and check it out. Then, using their website as a new pulpit, the Bloggers quickly spread the news like colonial minutemen.
As mainstream media moves more and more to unregulated sources like Rush Limbaugh and the Daily Show, journalists can claim less and less of a professional ethical guideline. While this might be a tragic loss, there is still little that mainstream media can do to correct the problem in the wake of strict deregulation of media businesses. Instead, readers should turn to blogs and formulaic news feeders such as Google News or Blogdex to see what issues are “hot.”
For those that argue that bloggers have no regulation, not only have current events shown that the alternatives aren’t any more regulated but, also, the professional media outlets carry with them the perception of definitive knowledge that does not activate in readers, the fact checking impulses that blogs do because of their limited scope. The very fact that I can quickly link you up to a myriad of other news services and connect you back to the web itself means that blogs themselves offer much greater fact checking capacity than regular news services today.
A CSI Investigation
Published 12 December 2004.
Location: Residential Home
Probable Crime: double homicide,Breaking and Entering, Minor Theft, Vandalism, Disorderly Conduct.
Evidence Gathered: Figure 1, Figure 2, Write-Up.
Figure 1: Body 1, Pumkin Cheesecake. Cause of death: Stabbing, mutilation, cannibalism.
Figure 2: Body 2, Yule Log Cake. Cause of death: Stabbing, mutilation, cannibalism.
Write-Up:
received notice of disorderly conduct occurring in the street outside the residence. At arrival several suspects fled and have yet to be apprehended. House was filled with coffee and wine glasses and partially consumed alcohol. Bodies discovered in Dining room but instruments of consumption discovered all over the first floor.
Probable Crime: double homicide,Breaking and Entering, Minor Theft, Vandalism, Disorderly Conduct.
Evidence Gathered: Figure 1, Figure 2, Write-Up.
Figure 1: Body 1, Pumkin Cheesecake. Cause of death: Stabbing, mutilation, cannibalism.
Figure 2: Body 2, Yule Log Cake. Cause of death: Stabbing, mutilation, cannibalism.
Write-Up:
received notice of disorderly conduct occurring in the street outside the residence. At arrival several suspects fled and have yet to be apprehended. House was filled with coffee and wine glasses and partially consumed alcohol. Bodies discovered in Dining room but instruments of consumption discovered all over the first floor.
About:
The author lives in Portland, OR and is attending college in his birthcity at the University of Chicago. He is currently reading: Us and Them; The Tipping Point To uncover more, click.
