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Around the Horn · by Rafi Kam
I havent been on top of my links game recently. I’ve been busy with starting a new job and moving into a new home this week.
A couple things I should address though….
Davey D had this rant on Net Neutrality that was effective in getting widely passed around but really distorts the issue in a strange way. Of course people will get behind the cause of telco’s trying to shut down the internet… too bad that’s a distortion of what this is all about. Davey says “It’s too bad that many of us found this issue ‘too complicated’ and ‘too overwhelming’ and hence directed our attention to Ludacris and Ice Cube’s beef with Oprah. This is the feedback I got after stories ran on my website as well as AllHipHop.”
But this shit is complicated. I’ve been following internet issues for ten years now and make a living as a web programmer and this issue confuses me to no end so why should we expect rappers and the general public to know off the bat where they stand on it. Artificially simplifying the situation by misrepresenting it may help rally people towards your political agenda but it is not responsible journalism. Being told what your stance should be does not mean you have any better understanding of the issue.
Check out Liz Strauss’ Net Neutrality page. She blogs everyday with a sensible roundup of Net Neutrality news and opinions, providing a digestible and more balanced take on the issue. I’d like to assure Davey D’s readers that it’s not just them, even with Liz’s page to help out this still is complicated and overwhelming.
In other news about making something very complicated easier to digest, Brian at CopyBlogger talks about how to get people using RSS feeds. Copyblogger is a good blog to look through if you run a website or blog. I incorporated some of his ideas on how to get more blog subscribers and, especially in conjunction with agent b blast-advertising the store on MySpace comments last week, it helped raise our count by nearly 50% (from in the 140s a few weeks ago to 209 yesterday) . Now I’m reprinting Brian’s RSS tutorial. Bless this age of sharing/stealing ideas.
Speaking of taking other people’s ideas… Chartreuse, who has staked out a permanent spot in my mind as a great guy to steal ideas from, says in this interview when asked what he reads online, that aside from sites in his blogroll he only reads the blogs of “folks who comment on [his] site.”
I don’t believe him on the “only” part but as for subscribing to any commenter’s blog this is such a “well duh! how could i not be doing that” moment for me. Of course you should make that connection with your best customers. So yeah that’s the new policy in place. If you comment at or link to any of our material from now on I will most definitely be subscribing to your feed. If you want to guarantee that I’m subscribed to your blog, comment on any Oh Word material. I already went back and subscribed to a bunch of prior commenters blogs but if you want to make sure I didn’t miss yours, feel free to comment here.
I was amused and a bit overwhelmed by Clyde’s relentless covering of the Jay-Z / Cristal story. In case you missed it (and you probably did), Clyde spent all of last week dedicating ten fucking posts to this topic. The eight post was a synopsis of the prior seven and it kicked off with the line “I’ll post more on this topic if circumstances warrant.” Really? No fooling?
Winning the prize for unintentional hilarity, Clyde then went on to chastize those who may be blowing up this event to mean more than it really is. The whole thing reminded me of that old SNL episode where they keep interrupting for further news coverage on the Buckwheat shooting. With just a little bit more funny this could have been elevated to sublime parody. Maybe some fake news titles would have helped… “Cristal Knocked”, “That Yellow Bottle You’re Drinking Aint Cris (uhh)”
Pitchfork today reports that Portishead is making like Eminem from 5 years ago by getting at easy target Moby. They also express mild disdain for acts like Gorillaz who may have bit their sound. That hardly seems fair after ten years absence though. Like when my 4 year old son leaves the room to play elsewhere and the channel is changed from his kiddie shows yet he comes in yelling. You leave the room, you lose your say of what happens there. Now I’m gonna tell you like I tell my son, eat your oatmeal cookies and be quiet Portishead.
Finally two doozies from the blog of High-Level-Blogger Noah Chase. Noah brings word of a Pirate political party starting in the U.S. with an emphasis on reforming copyright law and protecting the privacy of individuals from shadowy organizations like telcos and the government…. “Where do I sign up” is indeed the question. By the way this concept apparently first took form in Sweden says Wikipedia.
Noah also wants to create the new slanguistics with the term getting 419’d for getting conned or maybe for specifically being a victim of identity theft. He links to this crazy article from Fortune depicting a 3rd world Fagin with a network of virtual pickpockets. A vision of global computer crime from the other end of the wire. It’s so cyberpunk – hot drek chummer.
Until next time….
Comments for "Around the Horn"
Ironically the fact you tied both Moby and net neutrality into the same article really got my attention, because so far the only thing I’ve seen ABOUT net neutrality is an infomercial/movie Moby did where he runs around with a microphone trying to talk to people about net neutrality and being ignored. He gets so frustrated he actually tackles somebody, sits on their chest and then procedes to lecture them on it, then repeatedly gives out a phone number to “Call Congress.” If you haven’t seen it you should check it out, and if you have I’d like to know if you think he too is over-simplifying the issue.
— DJ Flash Jun 21, 09:31 PM
I encourage the Gorillaz because it keeps Dangermouse busy with what he’s good at (pop over beats) and away from what he’s hit and miss at (MF Doom beats)
I won’t lie though, I’m wondering what Portishead will come up with now that Trip-hop is the most uncool genre on earth.
— Sach Jun 21, 09:46 PM
Flash, I love it man. You are like the internet celebrity that stalks back!
I’ll look up the Moby clip… but a tv spot meant to raise curiosity in limited time is very different from a pages long rant filled with misinformation. The internet is not on the verge of being shut down by telco’s. Any discussion of government regulation as a cure should also be worried about the potential downside. Where will the money for improving u.s. broadband pipes coming from? And so on…
Just issues that need to be raised.
— Rafi Jun 21, 10:36 PM
As a programmer myself, I’m also conflicted on the issue of net neutrality. For a pretty thorough discussion of the pros and cons of the whole situation, you should check this out—> http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=375064
As someone who makes a living off of the internet, I don’t want to see telcos doing anything to limit access. Yet, as a believer in the whole system of capitalism, I’m having trouble supporting something that would force the telcos to provide services that would put themselves out of business.
— jones Jun 22, 01:45 AM
What can I say Rafi, I like the site. And thanks for the link Jones, I’ll check out the thread. It seems like all of us have a stake in this issue, although I won’t go so far as to claim “as a programmer” since I intentionally changed majors from computer science to journalism in college.
BTW the whole idea you could call me an “internet celebrity” fucks with my head – I’m just a guy with some websites. I’d say that makes you as much of an internet celebrity as me. Incidentally did you design the rotating graphics for the homepage? My favorites so far are the Nintendo cartridge and the one that resembles the old Loud Records logo. (It’s Tha Liks baby, it’s Tha Liks.)
— DJ Flash Jun 22, 02:26 AM
Guy with some websites that happened to be some of the most prominent rap-related websites on the internets from the mid-90s to 2001. I’d say context-specific internet celebrity.
agent b did the mastheads, as well as almost all of our other graphics (the wu-peanuts, the shirts, etc.)
— David Jun 22, 02:47 AM
The irony is I may have been a lot more prominent in 2001, but I’m much happier being non-prominent in 2006 – I make a better living now than I ever did back then. ;) Agent B does good shit, I should holla at him about designing some CafePress merch if he’s open to new clients.
— DJ Flash Jun 22, 03:51 AM