Posts Tagged ‘blogs’

If you’re into downloading music, movies and software from the internet, chances are you’ve heard of BitTorrent technology (if you haven’t you need to get with the times – read the Wikipedia entry, then download a Torrent client and enjoy).

If so, then you know that Torrents are one of the easiest and most popular ways to download and share files over the internet. As our world becomes increasingly connected and we turn to the online world for our entertainment,  issues surrounding file sharing will become equally important.

While I think that eventually we’ll have a much larger selection of streaming, high-quality media and that we don’t need to download as much using things like torrents, TorrentFreak is still a great look at what is important right now and will provide some great examples of how free file sharing can benefit content creators.

Some recommended recent posts are “Five File-Sharing Predictions for 2009” and their series about the most pirated TV shows and movies of 2008.

Check them out at TorrentFreak.com or watch their online tv show, Torrentfreak.tv (most recent episode embedded below)

Do you use Torrents to download files, either legally or illegally?

Are there any other blogs or websites you think I should be checking out?

For more in this series, check out other blogs that I think you should probably be reading.

For a related article, check out this one about aXXo, one of the most prolific film pirates in the world.

-Parker

If you’re like me, chances are you’ve got a big list of blogs in your RSS reader and don’t venture out beyond that to regularly read other blogs as much as you should. You get comfortable with the same authors and the same ideas. We’ve done posts here before where the BlogCampaigning authors update their blog rolls and write about why they’re reading what they are. Similarly, Over the next few weeks I’m going to highlight a few of my favorite blogs that fall a bit outside the regular ol’ social media and PR frame.

One of those blogs is Future Perfect, written by the amusingly-named Jan Chipchase.

Jan works for Nokia Design to develop new applications that if he does his job right, “you’ll be using in the 3 to 15 years from now.” From what I can tell, a great deal of his work involves travelling around the world and looking at the way people in different societies use objects. Fortunately for us, Jan shares his insights via photos and short observations on his blog. I like reading it because he is based in Tokyo, and a lot of his posts focus on that city (I lived in the Tokyo suburbs from 2004-2005).

On the about page of Future Perfect, Jan writes:

“Pushing technologies on society without thinking through their consequences is at least naive, at worst dangerous, though typically it, and IMHO the people that do it are just boring. Future perfect is a pause for reflection in our planet’s seemingly headlong rush to churn out more, faster, smaller and cheaper.

Somewhere along the way we get to shape what the future looks like.“

I highly recomend that you have a look at his blog and subscribe to it, even for just a few weeks, to see if he challenges your idea of how we use objects in the everyday world.

Jan Chipchase – Future Perfect

-Parker

Cheers to Honda for strapping on some waders and stepping into the social media stream by sponsoring a few sections on BoingBoing.

Despite all the haters (read the comments), I support the move by Doctorow et. al. to allow a big corporate sponsor like that on their site. These people spend  hours and hours of their time working on the blog and as fun as it is, someone has to pay the bills eventually. If I had to chose between corporate sponsorship or a paid subscription to any of my favorite blogs

I’m pretty sure that eventually we will see this same business model applied to other forms of media. (I mean, BMW seemed to get it a few years ago…what don’t the major studios understand?)

Oh, and its also a great chance for Honda to listen to what the world is saying about them in the comment forums and an equally great chance for them to personally respond.

-Parker

I came across an interesting article by German political scientist Franz Walter who makes an interesting observation about the German Greens and their lack of innovation and the accompanying reluctancy to use technology to further their cause on the website of the German newsmagazine the Spiegel.

As Walter explains, the German Greens currently have nothing to worry about. questions of ecology arrived in the middle of society: Health, climate change, nourishment, these are all topics the middle-classes don’t like to fool around with. Ecological imperatives move the minds of the bourgeoisie to the profit of the Greens who kept a rather low profile recently. Nevertheless, they’d reach about 10% at a federal election.

At the same time though the Greens don’t give the impression that they play an inspiring role in questions of environmentalism, that they are the head of new sensibilities by way of supplying original concepts; rather the cameras always show the same faces of a remarkably saturated political circle: while the party seemed a bit shrill in the early years, they have become a political sleeping pill.

If the party stays as dull it soon might have to face strong charismatic competition. Walter cites several examples from all over Europe, in countries with different political cultures and demographics. In France the journalist and TV-show host Nicolas Hulot made almost one million French sign his “Pacte écologique” on the internet. Amongst them was Nicolas Sarkozy who, once becoming president adopted parts of the manifesto for his vision of a green France. In Iceland a journalist, Ómar Ragnarsson, and an author of kid’s books, Andri Snaer Magnason, accomplished the prevention of the construction of a dam – again with the help of the internet. In Italy the actor Giuseppe Grillo, sometimes referred to as Italy’s Michael Moore, was able to mobilize ten of thousands to protest against Silvio Berlusconi through his enormously successful blog.

Then of course there’s the web-supported eco-populism of Al Gore, Leonardo Di Caprio and even Arnold Schwarzenegger; their staged environmentalism is another indicator of a trend towards an eco-charisma perpetuated by the media.

What is interesting about this comment is that Walter explicitly mentions blogs as a tool for the advancement of progressive politics and the dissemination of ideas. Interestingly enough there’s neither a blog on the Green’s official website nor on the websites of their chairpersons; all one can find is a (recently closed) forum, which, quite frankly, is pretty embarrassing for a party that formed itself out of a grassroots’ movement.

The even more interesting question to ask is why there seems to be such a reluctancy to utilize modern technology to advance the party’s cause and enliven it. Is it the schizophrenic attitude the Greens have towards technology? Is it due to whatever elements in German society that cause an unease with technology?
Whatever it is, they better figure it out quickly. Otherwise, as Walter points out, it won’t be the current chairpersons leading an innovative eco-movement but the host of some popular game show who’s going to become head of the do-gooders.

-Jens

One of my favorite Norwegian bloggers, Jill/txt, led me to an interesting post over at TechPresident today about Ron Paul’s recent successful fundraising campaign organized through blogs and social networks. Paul’s supporters raised over 4 million dollar in one day, and according to TechPresident, “this is the first successful application of a fundraising tactic that beats email or an online-exclusive announcement”.

Read how Paul made this possible and how it will affect political fundraising in the future over at TechPresident.

-Espen

Last spring, two hours after he used his Des Moines Register blog to ridicule a suggestion by a Hillary Clinton aide that she skip the Iowa caucuses, David Yepsen’s phone rang.”Senator, why are you calling me?” the veteran political reporter asked.

It was the former first lady.

“I read your blog,” said Clinton, who quoted from his posting while insisting that of course she wasn’t going to skip Iowa.

Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, Friday October 26, 2007

Howard Kurtz looked at how the “mushrooming number of political blogs on newspaper and magazine Web sites has altered the terrain of the 2008 election” in his excellent article Mainstream Blogs Open Floodgates for Political Coverage in Washington Post, this Friday.

In the article, Kurtz reviews how the creation and blooming of the political blogs on newspaper and magazine websites has changed the news cycle, and how this affects both political reporters and campaign strategists. Today, compared to Election 2004, “…journalists and political strategists find themselves sparring more and more over smaller and smaller items on shorter and shorter deadlines”, says Kurtz.

Whilst campaign officials have learned to take advantage of the speed and the information mobility that blogs present, “leaking favorable tidbits—a new poll result or television ad—and quickly disputing negative items”, journalists find themselves struggling with “the constant pressure to update blogs, thereby drawing more Web traffic, leaves less time for reporting and reflection”, argues Kurtz. “In the pre-Internet age, campaign officials routinely slipped reporters negative information about opponents, sometimes over drinks at the local watering hole. But they had to wait at least until the next morning for it to be published. That process now unfolds around the clock”. Many of the political advisors that Kurtz talk to in his article argue that they take even the briefest blog items serious because the information mobility blogs present is so great the within an hour a story could be everywhere.

The political communication is becoming a whole new ball game both for political officials and journalists. Kurtz article demonstrates just that, and I recommend you take time to read his piece.

-Espen

The Entertainment Software Association, representing the interests of of U.S. video game publishers, launched an updated website for its Video Games Voters Network in order to “increase the recruitment, education, and mobilization of video game players across the country.” The press release (via gamepolitics.com) explains:

The response to the VGVN is overwhelming and dramatic―over 100,000 members, generating thousands upon thousands of letters defending video games. It’s impressive. Ordinary Americans’ passion for computer and video games is driving a desire to be counted and speak out. They are a political force that not only votes, but actively makes their voices heard in Washington, DC and in state legislatures across the country.Politicians who think easy political points can be scored at the First Amendment’s expense have to know that such efforts will be aggressively opposed. VGVN and the ESA would rather work in a collaborative and productive partnership to educate caregivers about how to ensure the games their children enjoy are parent-approved. 

The site includes a nice over-the-top trailer complete in first-they-came-for-the-movies-but-I didn’t say-anything-style and also links to a Myspace profile – check basic social media.

While the whole approach is an applaudable effort there are some issues though.While I don’t necessarily see the interests of publishers and consumers as mutually exclusive (coming from a country with a ridiculous gaming legislature and all) I’m inclined to agree with gamepolitic’s view on the missing personal component. This could have been achieved by, you guessed it, an additional blog. Not only could it have been used to give updates on recent successes of the campaign to encourage more user involvement, but also to facilitate closer connections and to humanize the whole undertaking.

Furthermore what is missing is a regularly updated overview of lawmakers and their stand on videogame related issues so you know what your representative is up to.

Also the whole approach of giving users the possibility to send already formulated emails is debatable. Not only does it add it to the impersonal nature of the campaign but the emails might simply be seen as spam. As the Australian Federal Minister for the Environment, Malcom Turnbull explained in connection with Get Up! which uses the same method: “When you get 1000 emails, all in exactly the same form, it’s not exactly as persuasive as a bunch of emails people have written to independently express themselves.” On the other hand: This procedure also allows people who don’t have the time to research all the right contacts to eloquently express their genuine concern.

What I really asked myself though was: When is there going to be a German version?

–Jens

From: Jens Schroeder
Subject: Greetings from New Zealand
To: Espen, Parker

Hi guys,greetings from New Zealand. I’m having an awesome time here – despite freezing my a** off. Coming from Germany I should actually be able to withstand minus five degrees but I guess living in tropical conditions for the last two years kind of affected my ability to adapt to cold weather. Also: when I moved to Australia I never thought that I was going to be confronted with anything resembling ice or snow, accordingly I only possess light clothing and three token sweaters. My answer to that problem lay in the “onion principle” aka layering – when I went jet-boating in Queenstown I was wearing two t-shirts, two sweaters and two jackets. I found a bit hard to breathe, but I’d choose health over dignity any time.

Today I arrived in Christchurch again after a wonderful trip through the breathtaking scenery of the South Island: Snow covered mountains, rainforests, fjords, glaciers, all of almost incomprehensible beauty. Check the photos on Facebook: Pt1 & Pt2!

Since I didn’t want to carry it around all the time and was moving a lot I didn’t want to take my laptop with me. So after a long day of sightseeing instead of seeking entertainment and news from the internets I, rather extensively, watched TV. Something which I haven’t done for ages. The result: I feel about 20% more stupid than before. I feel like a victim of CNN’s agenda setting, since I have to passively absorb their programs without being able to countercheck their reports or consult a variety of opinions with the help of the extensive resources the internet has to offer. In short: I just don’t feel empowered.I retain some empowerment respectively the ability to avoid Nicole Ritchie related news through my iPod. I loaded some documentaries on there before I left, one of them being “God’s Next Army”, which deals with the Patrick Henry College, the supposed Harvard for the Christian Right. Watching this made me think that one of the reasons American conservatives have issues utilizing blogs for the purposes is the influence of these people – the main problem being that the bible is taken literally by Evangelical powers as if enlightenment never happened: basically not much of a difference to Islamic dogmatism with strong undertones of theocratic fascism. Now, the underlying principle of blogs is (ideally!) the concept of exchange and negotiation in a public sphere, a spirit of debate that leads to better outcomes, Espen’s thesis being a case in point. However, if you’re on a divine mission and take a dogmatic stand that doesn’t allow for any negotiation and use debates to impress your view on your opponents instead of reaching for a greater good, this principle gets disrupted (yeah, yeah, I know… sounds pretty idealistic and unworldly, but I think you get the point. And since not all Republicans are adherents of this kind of Christianity but good old conservatives there are probably other issues, such as demographics, that complicate the adaptation to new technology).

Well, it seems that American conservatives aren’t the only ones having trouble utilizing new ways of reaching the electorate. Even though John Howard released a speech on global warming on Youtube, the Liberal’s Myspace presence still seems to have some issues – the main reason being John Howard refusing to create his own profile page because he doesn’t want to lend his identity to a commercial organisation (which is, quite frankly, pretty ironic since the privatization of public services his party supported he lend much of Australia’s identity to commercial organisations). Writes The Age:

Mr Howard’s office today added a video on climate change to YouTube, but at the time of writing it had not been added to the party’s MySpace page.”They [the Liberal party] are not using their profile as effectively as they should be,” said MySpace spokesman Darain Faraz.”If you go on their profile it still says they’ve got 8 friends, and we know that they’ve had a lot more requests than that. It would be great if they started using it in the same way that other political parties have.”The office of the Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, has been busily adding friends to Mr Rudd’s profile since Thursday. It listed 6058 friends as of this morning.The leader of the Greens, Bob Brown, has also embraced Impact, and his profile lists 182 friends.Labor politicians outnumber Liberals by more than two-to-one on Impact.The Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the Workplace Relations Minister, Joe Hockey, are the only Liberal profiles being regularly updated with approved friends and comments.   

Espen, maybe you should come back to Australia and become a consultant for the Liberal’s internet matters.
Anyways, I gotta go, I already spend ages in this internet café. At least all this typing kept my fingers warm.

Talk to you soon!
Jens

Two great blogs that I’ve come across in the past few days:

My friend Jim has just launched his first blog, T Zero, and it’s all about Toronto.

And I’ve also just checked out Katie’s blog, The Al Party. I’m not really into politics, but this is some good reading.

-Parker

If someone asked you to freely associate things with Japan you’d probably think of futuristic high-tech, bullet trains, cyberpunk, anime and all the fancy gadgets we always seem to get years later. But of all countries it’s Japan that campaign wise is still stuck in the middle-ages:

It’s a first for Japanese politicians — and perhaps illegal. In his bid for re-election, upper house member Kan Suzuki has opened a virtual office in Second Life. He plans to use SL to discuss policy and field questions. Hence, the problem. Japan’s fifty year-old Public Office Election limits election campaigns to using only postcards and pamphlets. See, they didn’t have Second Life fifty years ago. But! Even recently officials have ruled that web pages cannot be created or updated during campaigns. Suzuki’s campaign is venturing into uncharted territory for Japanese politics, which is still based on white gloves and campaign vans.

Makes me wonder how they handle blogs of politically interested citizens who follow the campaigns and publicly exchange their views with others – would updating their blogs during campaigning be illegal as well? Could campaigns pay people to pretend to be independent while they support their agenda? Has Japan heard of astroturfing?-Jens