I can almost picture the two nimrods behind the wheel. Remember the guy from Groundhog Day?
I’ve got a problem with anonymous
I made a mistake yesterday. I posted the email address of someone who had commented –anonymously– on an earlier post. When commenting on a Typepad blog, you’re prompted for an email address with a note that it will not be published. Since I rarely comment on my own blog, I failed to notice that assurance. So I deleted the comment and the email address.
But that’s the last time. If you’re not willing to back your opinions up with your name, shut the fuck up.
Is there ever a time and place for anonymity? Probably. Reporting child abuse. A break-in at the Watergate. Maybe a few others. But if we don’t know who you are, why should we believe anything you write or say?
In this recent incident, a man was protesting what he thought was unfair treatment by Missouri Farm Bureau. The commenter was basically saying the guy was wrong. But how do we know it wasn’t someone from Farm Bureau commenting anonymously? We don’t.
I’m a little better with “Name withheld by request.” If I know who you are and –for reasons I consider appropriate– I can make the call to withhold your name.
Step up, or step off.
Radio owners waiting out “this Internet thing”
“As an advertising medium, the Internet is already larger than radio. It will approach $34 billion this year and is on a trajectory to overtake newspaper advertising within five years. In virtually all markets, the largest local Web site (typically run by a newspaper company) is now grossing more ad revenue than the largest radio station in that market. In some markets, the largest site is grossing more than the largest cluster of stations.”
“Your radio reps have a bounty on their heads. We survey more than 3,000 local Web sites every year about their revenues, expenses, number of salespeople and other revenue-related topics. The ones with the greatest market share and revenue have an interesting characteristic in common: a star-performing “former radio rep” on the sales staff. The word has spread that radio salespeople know how to sell the Internet, and newspaper and TV Web site managers have been recruiting them left and right. Radio reps know how to cold-call, how to generate new business, and how to sell reach and frequency. That’s a perfect match for Internet sales.” — Gordon Borrell, writing in Inside Radio
George Orwell: Every movement scrutinized
“There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.” –
– George Orwell (1984)
Open letter to Congress, the Pentagon and leaders of the free world
We need your help. We need your help to stop George W. Bush from starting a war with Iran. George W. Bush no longer represents the will of the American people. 77% of Americans disapprove of Bush’s job performance and do NOT support attacking Iran. But it’s been a long time since Bush cared what the American people think.
You could say we have the kind of leadership we deserve and you’d be right. Even if you believe –as I do– that Bush and his cronies stole the 2000 election, we allowed the vote to be close enough for him to get away with it. We know we fucked up and a lot of us are trying to rectify our mistake.
But it now seems clear that George Bush plans to launch some sort of military strike against Iran before he leaves office. Dick Cheney has been conspicuously absent for months, working on this disastrous scheme.
As embarrassing as it is to admit, we –the American people– can’t stop our president because it’s been a long time since he cared what we thought.
But maybe you can buy us some time. We just need keep him in check until November. Assuming McCain doesn’t win. In that event, America –and Iran– are fucked.
Our congress probably doesn’t have the balls or the votes to stop this madness. Our generals and admirals –with a few exceptions– will put their careers ahead of their country. So it’s up to the rest of the world to stop Bush.
We just need a little time to clean up the mess that is the Bush administration.
PS: I’m hoping for some six-degrees thing here. J-Walk gives me a link.One of his readers emails it to a friend in Germany. She knows the woman that cleans the home of German Chancellor Angela Merkel…. and so forth. It could happen.
The O-Bama Face
We’re all familiar with the O-face. Now, there’s the O-Bama Face:
The O-Bama Face (n.): the expression made by an Obama supporter when the inspired oration and possibility of a Commander In Chief Obama becomes just too much to take.
drop.io – Simple private exchange
Drop.io is a website where you can create “simple private exchange points” called “drops.” The service has no email sign-up and no “accounts.” Each drop is private, and only as accessible as you choose to deliberately make it. Create multiple drops, add any type of media, and share or subscribe as you want.”
You can share audio or video with friends and family; teachers can share notes and record lectures; work groups can share resources and feedback.
This basically a free, anonymous FTP server. But most folks don’t have access to FTP servers and drop.io is much easier to use. I’ve dropped a short (5 sec) video at drop.io/smaysdropspot if you care to see how this works.[Thanks, David for the tip.io]
Poor Man’s Steadicam – Take 3
My friend Jamie seems to be getting much better results from the Poor Man’s Steadicam, so I have to conclude I haven’t mastered the tool yet. In the short video above, notice how smoothly they come down the stairs and even when Jamie starts jogging, the shot remains very steady. Well done, Jamie and Anonymous Cameraman.
“They’re not talking to you”
“Who would want to be a publisher with only a dozen readers? It’s also easy to see why the audience for most user-generated content is so small, filled as it is with narrow, spelling-challenged observations about going to the mall and pick out clothes. And it’s easy to deride this sort of thing as self-absorbed publishing — why would anyone put such drivel out in public? It’s simple. They’re not talking to you. We misread these seemingly inane posts because we’re so unused to seeing written material in public that isn’t intended for us.”
From Clay Shirky’s “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations” This is a fascinating book that takes an academic –but easy to read– look at social networking and how it’s changing society.
Marantz PMD620
“Oh, you shouldn’t have!” I shrieked, as I opened yesterday’s birthday present. The only way Barb could have known I wanted the Marantz PMD620 Professional Handheld Field Recorder is… I told her.
I’ve been using the larger PMD660 for a year to two but found that a nice home with Jamie. So far I like almost everything I’ve seen and heard about the 620. The built-in mics are just so-so but I’ll plug in an external mic for most work.
The size is what appealed to me. About the size of a deck of cards. And the display is easier for me to read than with the previous model. Download this short MP3 file if you want to hear what it sounds like. I’m using a Heil PR-20 mic.