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Monday, June 10, 2002 |
Why I don't read the local newspaper anymore. I was just reading the San Jose Mercury News. The lead article on the front page is something about autism on the rise. Now, this is a very interesting article, but is it really more important than India vs. Pakistan? Is it more important than learning that Reagan broke the law when investigating "subversive" elements at UC Berkley? OK, let's head over to the business section. Oh, great, I learned that Larry Ellison's worth went up $700 million last year because of his stock options. Is this really relevant to someone who makes less than $100,000 (as most of the San Jose Mercury News' readers do)? I think the lead story's headline should be: "you're getting fucked while your boss is making more money than God himself got paid last year." I didn't used to feel this way. I remember covering labor rallies at San Jose State and surrounds (and protests) and thinking "you're all wrong, management isn't out to mess with you" but then I see wave after wave of layoffs (even at Oracle) while the boss makes obscene amounts of money. And no one seems to stand up and say "this is wrong." Why doesn't Ellison donate his stock gains from last year to employees? After all, if the company has to layoff people, it's his fault for not seeing that and preparing the company in advance for it. But, that's not the American way. It's our way to take and take and take and never give. Screw the little guy. The fact that they are out on the street is their own damn fault, not mine. I got my money the old fashioned way. I earned it. Bullshit. No one "earns" $700 million dollars. You can't tell me that Ellison did 7000 times more than I did last year for society. Maybe he did 7 times more. Maybe 70 times more. But 7000? Give me a freaking break. The system is totally messed up and no one is willing to stand up and say "this is wrong." And people wonder why I don't subscribe to the local newspaper anymore. Give me news that a middle-class working stiff would be interested in and tell us how we're getting stepped on by our corporate and government leaders (and I know we are, I've done enough sitting in city council meetings to know that. I just can't afford to do that anymore). [Scobleizer Radio Weblog]
9:17:28 AM 
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Aspiring musicians need a distribution channel
From MyFreePress.com: Folk singer David Grossman is one of thousands of musicians cheering the return of Garageband.com, a Web site that showcases songs of up-and-coming and going-nowhere acts through free downloads and streaming, peer reviews and rankings.
"The people who are complaining about (free downloads), they're backward," Grossman said. "They would see the wheel as a threat, and say 'What's going to happen to sandal companies when the wheel comes out?' I think (the Internet) is a huge opportunity for artists."
This is something that my friend Ched should find interesting. It looks like what Mp3.com was doing. I'll check it out as well... [Ernie the Attorney]
8:59:58 AM
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If you haven't viewed: Triumph, the insult dog's review of Star War's fans, you are missing out. It is the funniest 5 minutes I have seen in a long while. Here is a link to lots of his videos I recommend his JLo interaction: Priceless. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
8:15:21 AM
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The goal of the Peekabooty Project is to create a product that can bypass the nation-wide censorship of the World Wide Web practiced by many countries.
7:52:12 AM
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Nude clothes.  These "nude clothes" are a couture version of the oversized beach-tees with silk-screened muscle-torsos and bikini-bosoms, the direct descendent of the John-Hughes-movie-rebel tuxedo-tee. Link Discuss (Thanks, Steve!)
[Boing Boing Blog]
7:49:56 AM
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Unwilling proctors for Turing Tests. An idea spawned by the Dyson talk: Kurzweil wants computers to think themselves smart. You write a piece of software than generates a million possibly intelligent instances, run them all in parallel, choose the most intelligent, use them as start-points for another million, repeat as necessary. The sticking point: how do you evaluate the most successful of each generation?
Answer: You point the software at IRC channels, have it impersonate human participants. A meta-process waits for someone to ask, "Goddammit, are you a bot?" whereupon you terminate the process. Millions of human IRC participants become unwilling proctors for a series of Turing Tests. Discuss [Boing Boing Blog]
7:47:33 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Clarence Westberg.
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This is my blogchalk:
United States, Minnesota, Bloomington, West, English, Clarence, Male, 51-55.
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