Back and Forth

Stop Laughing at Me!

Do you ever picture Bill Gates laughing when you have to go back and “fix” and otherwise perfectly semantically built layout to make it work in Internet Explorer?

I realized tonight that I do, and that it’s one specific scene that comes to mind, this one:

I’m not entirely sure what Steve has to do with anything, but certainly there’s some evil he’s perpetrated recently that was worth a chuckle.

The Power of the Internet

Whether it’s organizing Westboro Baptist Church counter protests or the constant harassment of Justin Bieber, it’s becoming evident that the internet sub-culture is having a growing impact on the world.

Today we learned the company that owns Reddit, Conde Nast, has taken a stance against profiting on ads placed by groups that support California’s Prop. 19. As a backlash, Reddit readers are submitting images, text and stories in mass promoting the new bill and subsequently voting to increase their popularity (and as a result, visibility). I can only imagine how much more pro-marijuana imagery and content there is now than if they had let the ads run; though, now the press is free.

The internet generation is growing up, and it’s only a matter of time before we are in a position to use this unity and intelligence as a force for positive change (oh, and the occasional prank).

Pre-Written Letters of Protest – The Easy Way Out

I’ve been keeping up with the hoopla surrounding Net Neutrality since the issue first arose years ago. This post is not about net neutrality, but rather, identifying a sociopolitical stigma that is on the rise: the cookie cutter protest letter. You’ve seen them before, the sign your name to the letter we already wrote and send it to your local politicians…letter.

Now, the folks at savetheinternet.com have their very own “sign and submit” to protect the free internet. The fault is not necessarily theirs and they are certainly working toward a noble cause but one has to ask, if you can’t be bothered to write a letter in your own words, expressing your own feelings on a subject why should some one be bothered to read it?

There was a time when people gave more of themselves than 5 minutes of their time for what was right.

This is in no way meant to diminish the efforts of the Save the Internet team or any other group supporting social and financial morality. Rather, I hope to encourage all people to not accept complacency, to not be afraid to speak out, in your own words, and start fighting injustice with all the effort it deserves.

It Just Keeps Getting Worse for Net Neutrality

Apparently 74 Democrats signed a letter to the FCC to show their support of the major internet providers. Apparently they forgot to add in the letter how much money each of them received from the telecom lobbyists. When will policy be affected by morality and not money?

Anyway, here is the letter in full with some great notes by the folks at savetheinternet.com:

http://www.savetheinternet.com/node/30594