“When we asked what the rationale was, we were told, `We don’t have to give you a rationale.‘”
–Peter Silverman on the discussion that ensued when
“Silverman Helps” was brought to an end by Rogers management
Rogers has been steadily building a media empire the likes of Clearchannel or Newscorp in the US. With that growth seems to be the ever-increasing “corporatism” that I noted in my post over on vox (http://nitemayr.vox.com/library/post/what-corporations-sometimes-are-like.html). That is to say the culture becomes very insular and profit focused, forsaking tangible goodwill for monetized good-something.
“We have more user-generated content than ever,” argued Haggarty. “We’re not any less committed to defending the consumer. We’re reviewing and relooking at everything. This is all just a part of the process.”
–Jamie Haggerty
As if user-generated equals actual parcipitation. I could pull a bunch of youtube video and call it user generated too. CityTV and Much built a great deal of their cache on the backs of the kids and soccer moms that seemed to orbit the Queen and John studio in waxing and waning numbers, it appears that the Rogers folks are looking to turn that culture into a “Good Morning America” type culture where they set the hours for participation from the audience. The death of “Speakers Corner” and “Silverman Helps” seem to be setting that path ahead with increasing clarity.
CityTV under Moses Znaimer was community-focused and accessible. It remains to be seen what the Red and White of Rogers will do to the nigh-institution of City.
Quotes pulled from this article at “The Toronto Star”:
Horn told the dispatcher that he doesn’t know the neighbors well, unlike those living on the other side of his home. “I can assure you if it had been their house, I would have already done something, because I know them very well,” he said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/17/national/main3517564.shtml?source=mostpop_story
It looks like Old Joe Horn had shooting someone on his mind long before he called 911. The guy walked out into the street and shot two guys that were robbing his neighbour.
The author of the law that allows Texans to kill in order to protect themselves had some comments on Joe’s actions:
But the legislator who authored the “castle doctrine” bill told the Chronicle it was never intended to apply to a neighbor’s property, to prompt a “‘Law West of the Pecos’ mentality or action,” said Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth. “You’re supposed to be able to defend your own home, your own family, in your house, your place of business or your motor vehicle.”
This throws a spanner into the works for Joe. He’s a murderer at this point; never mind that. Some folks love a good “honor killin'”
“Finally, someone who has the guts to do the right thing and protect himself. It appears the bad guys approached the wrong fellow and paid with their life”
“The dispatcher stated to Mr. Horn that no property is worth the life of another. True enough and somebody should have said the same to the two burglars.”
“Cry me a river… the criminals were exterminated. Don”t steel other peoples property and you might live another day.you dare to call it Vigilante… its called Justis Thank the framers of the Constitution for the 2nd ammendment and thank the Texas legislature for correct laws that protect law abiding citizens against the scum of the earth. Death to common criminal!”
(spelling and punctuation preserved)
I wasn’t there and I don’t have a gun on hand most days. Sure, I’ve been unnerved by folks, unnerved enough to kill? I don’t know. I’ve certainly shooed away my share of dumpster-diving meth-heads from my back yard, all without waving a gun. During a robbery, when the cops are already on the way? Take some pictures of the guys as they escape then get out of sight. That’s what insurance is for.
If there was a threat of physical violence on me and mine, I have no idea what would happen. One would hope that they would be level-headed enough to threaten the guys into submission or wound them into cowing.
Good old Joe has some hard days ahead. I wish his neighbor well, and hope that Joe never mistakes him for a robber.
I’ve never found it difficult to put pen to paper when I have something to say. Inspiration moves me easily and I can just fire out the words until my ideas are spent. This comes in handy when I’m writing for fun or creating a knowledge-management entry or just documenting my work.
Converting the raw work into something I can sell, that has proven to be troublesome. It’s not the words that are failing me, it’s arranging them with pictures for a vanity work that is killing me. I sit down to it, fire up the software then get about 5 pages in and decide that I’m not getting anywhere, half because the picture system is so cumbersome and half because I lose the inspiration that got me there in the first place.
I’m using booksmart, has anyone had any experience with it? Is there a better system?
Have you ever made a vanity book?
According to the May 1, 2008 CCC inventory
report there are only 24.1 million bushels of wheat in inventory, so
after this sale there will be only 2.7 million bushels of wheat left
the entire CCC inventory,†warned Matlack. “Our concern is not that we
are using the remainder of our strategic grain reserves for
humanitarian relief. AAM fully supports the action and all humanitarian
food relief. Our concern is that the U.S. has nothing else in our
emergency food pantry. There is no cheese, no butter, no dry milk
powder, no grains or anything else left in reserve. The only thing
left in the entire CCC inventory will be 2.7 million bushels of wheat
which is about enough wheat to make 1â„2 of a loaf of bread for each of
the 300 million people in America.â€
source: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/wid2a.pdf
source of quote: http://www.standeyo.com/NEWS/08_Food_Water/080606.no.grain.reserves.html
Things look dire in this article, but they may not be as bad as all that. The source article certainly makes it sound more dire than I hope it is. I don’t trust the source implicitly.
That’s a big laugh, originally uploaded by NiteMayr.
See, it wasn’t murder, my mum is alive and well in this later picture.
Here she shares a big laugh at Judith’s expense.
I bet your Mum isn’t as big a laugh-er as mine is. I Bet.
Full Body Scanners Installed In 10 US Airports
Where are the threats? Where are the terrorists? Where is the danger? Is there ANYONE on /. that knows where the proven irrefutable answers are?
These scanners are not necessary in any other country. Not even those that have actual terrorist living there (according to bushco). What is the real reason for these scanners?
I’m betting that it is to acclimatize the populace to intrusive searches for ‘security’ reasons.
I had the distinct fortune to fly on a private plane recently. It was not large, but it was just for me and Jen.
I didn’t even have to produce ID.
Now, I wasn’t crossing any borders, but I also didn’t have to go through any form of security or get asked any questions about my bags either. I *WAS* going on a plane that *COULD* be used for terrorism, but no one cared to even perform the basic anti-terrorism or security checks that we are forced to endure when we board a large passenger plane.
I flew out of Person International, before anyone thinks I was flying from some out of the way airfield run by Scorpio and Co.
So, what do I think was going on? Put simply, security checks are for the poor and the “masses”.
If one was a terrorist, one could simply use a private jet to perform my nefarious deeds with planes. Considering how wealthy at least one Terrorist is; this doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility.
Look, I’m all for asking people to leave their weapons in locked suitcases, but lets assure people that their cases won’t be opened and ransacked by underpaid unmonitored tsa (or not) employees after they leave the care of the customer.
I’m fine with x-rays and so on, but let’s not get crazy. Airport security has already veered into, totally insane, and the practice of ignoring it in the case of private planes is just insulting to the rest of the world.
What do you think?
Bill C-61 – Circumvention = 1,000,000 fine or 5-year jail term
Published by NiteMayr on June 16, 2008There has been a bit of happy-talk about Bill C-61 in the news, but I think the spin has been mostly negative, however I missed the penalties here and wanted to highlight them for you. A Million dollar fine is somewhere near $9,999,500 away from the penalties that we have been told about in the news, which makes this Bill all the more insidious. It tries to target “actual pirates” but allows for so much more trouble for end users.
What happens if circumvention is trivial, like removing a bit of tape? Are there tests for circumvention, like if the producer of the material puts too little effort into anti-copying mechanisms, can they be treated as null and void? Can already known circumventions be treated as legal as they are widely known? Who decides what circumvention is? What if the product is used in a new way that the producer simply does not like? I remember how horrified some exec staff could get when customers used Symantec products in unexpected ways (read unsupported ways). Could those customers be liable for circumvention?
Further reading is really what this bill needs, hopefully our MPs will look this over and just bow to publci pressure to abandon it; failing that perhaps the Conservatives will find their rail ready for a swift ride out of Ottawa if it is proven that they are cowing to corporate pressure from south of the border.
For more information about this subject; I recommend you keep up with news about Canadian Copyright over at Digital Copyright Canada