Posts Tagged ‘Internet’
Were you, by chance, surfing the Internet yesterday?
Did you notice a small tremor on the Web?
Well, there was a tremor… a legal tremor… And that tremor could send shockwaves through the Internet in the years to come.
The legal shockwave in question concerns the large Internet provider Comcast. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was punishing Comcast for blocking users’ access to BitTorrent, a file sharing website. (You know, for swapping movies, music and the like.) Comcast complained to the courts and won. Their victory has broad implications. …read more.
This weekend featured the launch of the iPad. There are people breathlessly saying this new device is the future of reading…
But Wait! People have a pretty bad record when it comes to predicting the future. In fact, we’ve found a funny collection of clips that showcase a few of those goofy predictions.
The clip above comes from the 1930s and includes some wacky fashion predictions of the year 2000. Too bad we never saw their dreams of electric headlights to help women find honest men… or containers for coins, keys, or candy for cuties. (Say what!?)
Thanks to Wikicommons.
What’s white, expensive, and everywhere? How much does a winter wonderland cost?
The death of a legend. Charlie Wilson, former US Representative, dies after leading a movie-worthy life.
USDemocrazy, now 100x faster. Google plans to test superfast internet.
SHOCKING NEWS!!! OBAMA DOESN’T TWEET!
That’s right! We’ve learned all those messages on your Twitter feed from the President are really written by his staff. But don’t worry…all US Democrazy tweets are entirely written by us (at least until we can afford a staff).
Now that that is taken care of…. lets talk about the important news, like the comments President Obama made during his current visit to China (No offense to Tweeters but I am limited only 140 characters on stories related to Twitter).
The actual news is that Obama announced he is opposed to China’s “Great Firewall”. This firewall blocks Internet traffic such as Youtube and Twitter reaching Chinese citizens.
We at USDemocrazy usually think of pirates as scruffy seafaring scoundrels sailing the seven seas in silly hats. So we were quite surprised to learn that Pirates now have their own political party in Sweden! (and it is not a Boarding party)
This came to our attention because these politically savy pirates are now members of the European Parliament.
But these aren’t your average pillage-loving pirates, these pirates are anti-pillage purists (say that 5 times fast)!
These pirates are against the pillaging of people’s privacy rights on the Internet. Their three platforms are “to fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system, and ensure that citizens’ rights to privacy are respected”(CNET).
Being one of the 18 seats representing Sweden doesn’t seem like much now but wait! These pirates are one of many “green” or newer liberal parties taking the EU by storm. Countries like Germany, France, Italy, and Belgium were infested by these new parties in the recent elections (Washington Post). Well maybe not infested like bugs or anything but they did manage to creep into the Parliament.
Due to the REALLY low voter turnout (about 43.5 percent of 375 million eligible) the fringe parties of the political realm were in higher demand. There are two possible explanations:
“With strict proportional representation enforced by the EU, the fringes suddenly become accessible to voters who might otherwise vote for more conventional parties and candidates. And with incredibly low turnout, only the most committed of voters are casting their ballots – perhaps those who are committed to parties farther from the center than would be the case in national balloting.” FiveThirtyEight
In the end, we here at USDemocrazy are happy to see some pirates in power… silly hats and all. Arg ye matey!
SOUND THE ALARM! AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK! FROM THE INTERNET! (And it’s not from pesky blogs like US Democrazy.)
Hackers have been breaking into very important computers at very important places around the US (remember the movie WarGames?).
The US electrical grid was invaded by hackers who left malicious malware programs behind. Hackers have unsuccessfully (thanks to quality security software) probed NYPD computers.
Even the Pentagon, an assumed cyber stronghold, has been penetrated with hackers stealing information on America’s newest jet, the Joint Strike Fighter.
America is not the only one in the cyber cross-hairs. The Dalai Lama, spiritual head of the Buddhist faith, as well as other good folks around the world have been hacked.
But don’t worry, America! Our computer guys, gals, and geeks are gearing up to fight back. The Department of Homeland security is looking to hire White Hats (hackers on the side of the law) to combat cyber assaults.
To successfully fight back we need to know our enemy, right? Evidence shows that many hackers are from China (the attacks often include pro-China slogans and target pro-Tibet and Taiwan groups).
Is this a secret Chinese government plot to weaken America?
Some say no. More likely it is individuals typing away in a darkened room (like us here at USDemocrazy).
They could be anyone from nationalist code crackers to nerds armed with computer skills and spare time (that sounds familiar), to people with fast Internet connections and a penchant for politics (sounds very familiar) and folks with a poor understanding of humor (wait, I think they’re talking about us).
We are hoping the Internet hackers don’t invade our computers in search of valuable information. Should they succeed, the only treasure they will find is a treasure trove of bad jokes.
Toadacide! Australia begins a war on toads?
What are you looking at me for? China denies web spies.
I’ll pay for that. Obama pays for his own furniture?
22
Own your words!
by ForeverPlaid
News
Newspapers of the good, old-fashioned variety. Courtesy of the author.
You know, the readers and commenters of USDemocrazy have things pretty darn good. Yes, you get to read OUR AWESOME CONTENT, but also, we let you post your thoughts to our site anonymously!
Now what if we told you that anonymous posting could be a thing of the past?
We noticed a little discussion going on about this topic over at the NPR blog, The Two-Way. Those guys started a discussion there on how sometimes, anonymous comments lower the standard of dialog on a certain topic, on a blog, online newspaper, or elsewhere. They continue: