Lately, with the lack of love on a few other blogs, I have taken to wandering a few news sites like Wired and Slashdot and the newer upstart Digg. I think I’m going to try to keep doing that.
Usually my online reading outside of my VIP blogs is limited to a couple of news sites (also linked in the sidebar). That gets very depressing. Especially with the blunt and child-like manipulation common in politics and the mainstream media. It just gets… so tired. You spend every waking moment not devoted to your own nuclear life frustrated with the apparent gullibility of the rest of the world. The sad, sad short-sightedness, the tunnel vision and the greed. The apathy about all of it.
Well, when I’m not fed up with it I’m as guilty of apathy as most. Maybe not most. Several. I think I’m a little more vocal than the majority, and probably more informed than many. I just think we’d all be so much happier if I were in charge.
I could certainly be doing more to help. I don’t really volunteer. My most altruistic act in the past six months or so was to take an hour to help a little old lady find her way home. And I bike to work all the time, so my daily piece of litter has fallen far behind schedule. When I’m not at work I’m just glad to be home, spending time with Maigen if she’s home and working on photos if she’s not. That’s no excuse for not volunteering somewhere. There’s really is no excuse. But that’s all I have energy for these days. 70-hour work weeks will do that to you.
Anyway, when I’m at work burning DVDs or consolidating edit sessions or any other task that takes babysitting but not undivided attention I do take a few minutes to wander the web. That’s the time that I will be re-routing into aggressively learning ProTools once I get my hands on Dave’s workbooks. For now I wander and enjoy the luxury. The news sites are perfect. I read an article and go back to work. I retain almost none of it but I am entertained and intellectually stimulated to think in new and exciting directions. So there.
And it’s been great. I still get distracted by Harper’s laughable head-up-your-ass myopic conservativism and Martin’s nice-guy-at-the-wheel-of-a-boatload-of-monkeys flailing and Leyton’s lack of aggression… but I’m learning about all sorts of fun things going on all over the planet. And what’s more interesting is the depth of insight I’m acquiring about the world as it is, rather than the sound bite version through a telescope you get from the mainstream media.
This is what they mean by the revolutionary freedom of the world wide web, then. Censorship notwithstanding you can get so many more angles on a story. You can go years into the backstory too, and figure out how we got here. And you can come at a story from the side, looking into the contributing factors. Look what it’s done for Michael Moore’s career. And look how ignorant it shows Ann Coulter to be.
I know this would be a lot more interesting to read if I gave a couple examples, wouldn’t it. I’m rambling, and while it’s mildly interesting it’s not very engaging. How about some interesting and informative links, completely off-topic?
I’ve had a link to Mozilla’s Firefox browser in my sidebar for ever, and since day one I’ve been a hardcore fan. Using IE just seems… right up there on the sketchy scale with using AOL. Rocketboom interviews New Yorkers on the subject. Yes, it’s obviously close to a university campus, but still.
David Byrne gets a warning from the RIAA for playing too much Missy. Yes, really. It’s a short read that hillariously illustrates just how far behind the times the RIAA is.
And how’s this for picking at a scab and making it worse? A school in the States has crossed the line and put a camera in the boys’ washroom, but the school isn’t the one in trouble. Next they’ll be setting up metal detectors at the front doors. Umm…
You saw this one coming: BellSouth wants to control your access to the Internet and make you pay more for the privilege . Watch me flock to sign up with them. Here I go! Flocking!
More encouragingly, Europe continues surging ahead in useful, intelligent robotic technology. What interests me here is the tangential reference to why Europe is so much more successful than the US: plain ol’ teamwork. It’s an idea that has been on my mind for a while. With the US economically strong-arming the rest of the planet, the rest of us are left with no alternative but to work together. Strangely, it’s working.
Mazda pays its employees to walk to work. That’s something.
I could go on and on, and I like that. It’s good to read about some good. I don’t wear blinders but I’m a firm believer in the occasional escapist jaunt. It’s what makes a soul a soul.
something I read once upon a time. about anne coulter. it was funny, if bizarre.
clicky
COMMENT:
Ok Mister. I just want to send you a small package of Christmas goods and call you on Christmas eve; but if you do not want to send me the information that I am requesting, you will force me to send over Vinney the cement guy. You know how much he likes others to swim with the fish and all.
By the way, good on you with the day time job.
PS: Say hello to the better half.
CST Bob
All right, all right already. I’m emailing this very second. =)
From Wired “Sturdy and slobber-resistant, the PetCell isn’t just for dogs. PetsMobility’s parent company, On4 Communications, is simultaneously rolling out models for kids, the elderly and outdoor sports fanatics who enjoy snowboarding and kayaking.”
This is the first I’ve heard of slobber resistant equipment for the elderly……
I guess we can gauge the success of Europe by looking at all the fruits of this “teamwork”. Hmmmm, let’s see….. we have the disintegrating European Union and the massive unemployment rates (more than 10% in Germany!) Oh… we can’t forget the Paris riots! Geez DJ, just because you wish something were true, doesn’t make it so. European stagnation is a fact. How does this make Europe “so much more successful than the US”?
Did you read the article, TT? Pretty simple- they cooperate. And if by stagnate you mean unprecedented levels of cooperation and communication then I guess you’re right. Where the US routes research funding into military application the EU is developing useful and benevolent technology for peace. $500 *billion* in the US compared to less than one percent of that in Europe, and look who has the toys to show for it. I don’t see how I can be more clear.
Hi DJ, hope you don’t mind me posting, I’m a long time lurker, but Buddyboy’s ‘selective’ understanding of Europe needs correcting. I hope eyou don’t mind my $0.02.
The fruits of European teamwork are plain to see – the EU is the fastest growing and one of the most successful multi-national organisation in the world. Nations (even non-European ones) are beating down the doors to join up with the co-operative union, it is hardly disintegrating, it has just expanded to embrace virtually all of Eastern Europe and the next wave of expansion is likely to include Turkey and many former Soviet republics. People are so willing to join and participate in the EU that even old adversaries like Turkey and Greece have entered into deep diplomatic discussions to resolve issues between them as part of the application process.
The ‘failures’ you indentify are national rather than pan-European issues. Employment rates across Europe are rising, only in France and Germany where inflexible labour laws ensure that people hold on to their jobs for much longer than elsewhere in the world., resulting in fewer job openings being available.
The Paris riots were caused by the inaction of the French government to integrate immigrants in a way that other European nations have. Again, the problem stems from antiquated French policy that hasn’t changed since the 50s and is a national rather than a European issue. Europe is more and more about accepting difference and integration, which is why Turkey is now moving towards EU membership.
Europe is much more successful than the US because European nations like Norway, Sweden, Belgium etc. have higher human development levels than the US, have economies that invest more in development and research than the US, have fewer people living beneath the poverty line, lower crime levels, better human rights levels, more transparent systems of democracy, better social welfare levels, low levels of military spending, higher levels of foreign aid donations, lower pollution levels, better environmental policy etc. etc.
It’s taking time, but the EU is very gradually getting there.
(Of course the successes of the EU aren’t to the US’s tastes, given the frequent trade wars the US stirs up with the EU over tariffs and the attempts by Mr Bush to form a similar, rival free-trade area with South America, which thankfully the majority of SOuth Americans rejected as another vehicle for bullying US foreign policy.)
European stagnation is about as much a fact as US foreign policy is about spreading democracy :D
*does a quick round of intros*
Adrian, this is my friend RJ from England. RJ, this is Adrian.
You may all return to (once again) proving Buddyboy wrong.
PS: “What HAVE YOU DONE, Marion!? Everyone knows, Marion. Oh… everyone knows about your little Christmas secret.”
Oh! An English bloke. Well that makes sense…
A pleasure to make your online acquaintance, RJ. Thanks J (and yes, Marion is washing the dishes and staring out the window with theme music vibrating all around her and the tree and her family).
And yes, B-boy. RJ is an English chap. Who believes in the EU, evidently. What does that say to you?