ON THE SHORES OF A MUDDY RIVER

[Oil Spill In Dalian, China — The Big Picture, Boston.com]

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:44:01 +0100

[Oil Spill In Dalian, China — The Big Picture, Boston.com]

"On its present course, I think the future looks less like central London, and more like downtown..."

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:49:19 +0100

“On its present course, I think the future looks less like central London, and more like downtown Lagos.”

- Clayton Cubitt

This kind of odd compromise is hardly unprecedented with the Chinese. Taiwan and China avoid war by both claiming to be the legitimate rulers of mainland China, a fiction that has persisted for more than 50 years, even as Taiwan is, in nearly all respects, its own country. But if Taiwan ever does decide to publicly say it is its own country, that’s ground for a Chinese invasion.

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:30:21 +0100

This kind of odd compromise is hardly unprecedented with the Chinese. Taiwan and China avoid war by both claiming to be the legitimate rulers of mainland China, a fiction that has persisted for more than 50 years, even as Taiwan is, in nearly all respects, its own country. But if Taiwan ever does decide to publicly say it is its own country, that’s ground for a Chinese invasion.:

[Wired Magazine — Analysis: Google and China Agree on a Fiction]

"Login is (not) a verb"

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:45:17 +0100

"Login is (not) a verb":

Idiocy angers me. The only thing that angers me more is idiocy dressed up as self-righteous pseudo-intellectualism written by people with poor language skills.

To wit: ‘login’ is a verb. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that following the Germanic tradition (English being a Germanic languge) of that (super annoying, but quite useful) thing known as a ‘seperable prefix’ verb, ‘login’ is used much the same way. The author of this little piece tries to prove their point by attempting to conjugate the whole word, rather than the root. ‘Log’ is a verb, and conjugates perfectly. Adding the suffix ‘-in’ (derived from the preposition, no longer needing an object and now a part of the compound word) we get forms like ‘I login’ (or ‘I log in’). Also, ‘I logged in’, ‘I was logged in,’ etc. Much the same way modern German describes phone calls with the verb anrufen: ‘Ich rufe an,’ ‘ihr ruft an,’ etc., with the infinitive form always being ‘anrufen.’ Same with ‘to login.’

The same goes for all the other ‘non-verbs’ that get called out (http://notaverb.com/). ‘I checked out,’ ‘I was cut off,’ ‘we picked up,’ ‘the whole place was locked down,’ etc., etc. If the nerdrage here is against common verb-proposition pairings being combined into compound words (or seperable-affix verbs), then that’s moronic prescriptivism, and ignores one of the nicer features of Germanic languages as a whole (also, cf. ‘nevertheless,’ ‘inasmuch’).

These men ... qualify as model citizens and family men. They dress nicely, they coach little league teams and they are good neighbors. But make no mistake. They're the worst sort of people. They're the type of men who are ready with a smile and a handshake the one moment but stand ready at the next to commit murder. These are men who hide their murderous tendencies in the loftiest of language, appealing to the highest tendencies in moral philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment, all in a vain attempt to deny the fact that they're violently wringing the life out of those they have power over when they could prevent it with a wave of the hand.

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:54:00 +0100

These men ... qualify as model citizens and family men. They dress nicely, they coach little league teams and they are good neighbors. But make no mistake. They're the worst sort of people. They're the type of men who are ready with a smile and a handshake the one moment but stand ready at the next to commit murder. These are men who hide their murderous tendencies in the loftiest of language, appealing to the highest tendencies in moral philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment, all in a vain attempt to deny the fact that they're violently wringing the life out of those they have power over when they could prevent it with a wave of the hand.

[via]

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:45:50 +0100

[via]

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:03:14 +0100

[via]

BP, Coast Guard Officers Block Journalists From Filming Oil-Covered Beach

Thu, 20 May 2010 09:53:58 +0100

BP, Coast Guard Officers Block Journalists From Filming Oil-Covered Beach:

defendneworleans:

Emerging reports are raising the question of just how much of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill journalists are able to document.

When CBS tried to film a beach with heavy oil on the shore in South Pass, Louisiana, a boat of BP contractors, and two Coast Guard officers, told them to turn around, or be arrested.

“This is BP’s rules, it’s not ours,” someone aboard the boat said. Coast Guard officials told CBS that they’re looking into it.

As the Coast Guard is a branch of the Armed Forces, it brings into question how closely the government and BP are working together to keep details of the disaster in the dark.

Furthermore, this may not be the sole incident of its kind. According to Mother Nature Network’s Karl Burkhart, his contacts in Louisiana have given him unconfirmed reports of equipment being turned away or confiscated.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

claytoncubitt: “JSG Boggs is an artist who refuses to sell his...

Wed, 19 May 2010 10:10:22 +0100

claytoncubitt:

“JSG Boggs is an artist who refuses to sell his art. Instead, he buys things with it. Since 1984, Boggs has made art that resembles currency. He doesn’t try to pass it off as actual bills, but instead tries to convince the “seller” of the piece’s intrinsic worth. Due to the apparent similarities between official currency and Boggs’ own creations, the Secret Service often seizes his work. There have been several trials brought against Boggs, but so far he has not been convicted of counterfeiting.” -PBS profile and interview

“He spends his “Boggs notes” only for their face value. If he draws a $100 bill, he exchanges it for $100 worth of goods. He then sells any change he gets, the receipt, and sometimes the goods he purchased as his “artwork.” If an art collector wants a Boggs note, he must track it down himself. Boggs will tell a collector where he spent the note, but he does not sell them directly.” -Wiki: JSG Boggs

See also: ‘Boggs: A Comedy of Values’ by Lawrence Weschler

And lastly: Selected Moments in the History of Economic Art

Typically more efficient than those around them, operatives had to strike a balance to ensure they did not end up running the organisations they were trying to destroy.

Mon, 17 May 2010 01:03:23 +0100

Typically more efficient than those around them, operatives had to strike a balance to ensure they did not end up running the organisations they were trying to destroy.:

Somewhere in Beaconsfield, GK Chesterton is giggling in his grave. [“Cat Among the Radicals” — Sydney Morning Herald]

The Redneck Manifesto

Sun, 16 May 2010 18:04:00 +0100

The Redneck Manifesto:

“The cultural grease drippings of the 1960s will no longer be applicable in the twenty-first century. But class politics will. Anti-industrialism will. Redneck rural individualism, once thought to be a sure sign of mental retardation, will seem wise in the face of seething overpopulation. There are a lot of first-class philosophers hiding in the hills, too smart ever to come down into the city. Exit the white liberal. Enter the redneck. The avant-garde is the Old Guard. The East Village is a dead zone. San Francisco is a bombed-out crater. The Left Bank has slipped into the river. Bohemia is scorched earth. But the hills are still standing. Up, up, ye mighty trailer park. The hills are alive with the sound of muskets. A stink rises from America like steamin’ horse manure wafting through the cornfields. Can you smell it, my friend? A rebel yell echoes from the hills and into the greenish glens. Can you hear it, my friend? The shit’s gonna rise one day. The trash is only starting to strike back. The fog lifts. The sun burns through the clouds. The necks slowly sizzle to red.” -Jim Goad, 1997

Law and Order cancelled

Sat, 15 May 2010 19:08:07 +0100

Law and Order cancelled:

Booooo.

Star Trek XI in all its glory. Mmhmm.

Wed, 05 May 2010 22:05:00 +0100

Star Trek XI in all its glory. Mmhmm.

blogwell: thedailywhat: Early Bird Special: Scenes from a...

Tue, 04 May 2010 21:30:22 +0100

blogwell:

thedailywhat:

Early Bird Special: Scenes from a Nashville submerged, by photographer Michael Deppisch.

Help those affected by donating to the Red Cross in Middle Tennessee.

[mashable.]

I often hear people talking about Facebook as though they were some sort of monopoly or public trust. Well, they aren't. They owe us nothing. They can do whatever they want, within the bounds of the laws. Furthermore, their long-term success is by no means guaranteed - have we all forgotten MySpace? Oh, right, we have. Regardless of the hype, the fact remains that Sergei Brin or Bill Gates or Warren Buffett could personally acquire a majority stake in Facebook without even straining their bank account. And Facebook's revenue remains more or less a rounding error for more established tech companies.

Tue, 04 May 2010 17:33:30 +0100

I often hear people talking about Facebook as though they were some sort of monopoly or public trust. Well, they aren't. They owe us nothing. They can do whatever they want, within the bounds of the laws. Furthermore, their long-term success is by no means guaranteed - have we all forgotten MySpace? Oh, right, we have. Regardless of the hype, the fact remains that Sergei Brin or Bill Gates or Warren Buffett could personally acquire a majority stake in Facebook without even straining their bank account. And Facebook's revenue remains more or less a rounding error for more established tech companies.:

[Gizmodo — “Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook”]

Nashville under water Kieth Gallagher [Nashville Flood 2010 —...

Mon, 03 May 2010 18:09:21 +0100

Nashville under water Kieth Gallagher
[Nashville Flood 2010 — Presidentraygun’s Flickr photostream]

The complete Calvin & Hobbes, online, searchable by dialogue

Mon, 03 May 2010 15:41:55 +0100

The complete Calvin & Hobbes, online, searchable by dialogue

"I think the most important thing we can do is to treat Americans as citizent and not consumers...."

Sat, 01 May 2010 15:28:00 +0100

“I think the most important thing we can do is to treat Americans as citizent and not consumers. … You cannot fight a war in a democratic way without undermining the success of the war, and if you don’t fight it in a democratic way you undermine democracy itself.”

- Bill Moyers

BP oil spill ruins their livelihoods, Gulf fishermen sign up as cheap labor for BP oil cleanup

Sat, 01 May 2010 00:59:49 +0100

BP oil spill ruins their livelihoods, Gulf fishermen sign up as cheap labor for BP oil cleanup:

claytoncubitt:

“Either the seafood industry or the oil industry — that’s the only jobs down here, so I guess I’m trying to move from seafood to oil today,” said Bernel Prout, 55, a fisherman and Venice native.” (via defendneworleans)

See also: BP CEO earns $3k/hour last year, workers are being offered $10/hour to clean up BP spill

Also also: I guess BP’s “Beyond Petroleum” rebranding should now be changed to “Begreased Pelicans.”

And: #rebrandBP

In these crazy mixed-up times, it’s important to remember...

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:04:36 +0100

In these crazy mixed-up times, it’s important to remember why copright exists in the first place.

knowyourmeme:

How To Challenge a Wrongful YouTube Takedown Through Fair Use

We’ve been tracking the Hitler Downfall meme and have become very concerned about the recent slate of YouTube takedowns by Constantin Films.

In talking to many of the creators of the Downfall meme videos, we discovered that many of them were unaware of their rights and protections under Fair Use.

To this end, we’ve created a short video that explains why we think that these videos are transformative works, why they should be protected under the Fair Use doctrine and what creators can do to challenge these unfair takedowns.

For additional information on Fair Use and your rights as content creator online, check out the following resources:

eff.org: A Guide to YouTube Removals

Center for Social Media: Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video

The Stanford Center for Internet and Society’s Fair Use Project

Big thanks to Pat Aufderheide of the Center for Social Media and Elizabeth Stark of the Open Video Alliance for their valuable assistance on this.