China’s ruling party has decided that it is not a “friend” to social media.

News reports are coming in that the notoriously strict censors in China are going to crank it up a notch.

Their targets: Micro-bloggers and social media devotees.

This will be a big job. The Guardian reports

The number of registered users on domestic services reached 195 million by the end of June, triple the figure of six months earlier, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre.

Will the great firewall of China succeed?  The cartoon above has its own take. (cartoon by KAL)

Thanks to Politico!

Goin’ down, down, down, down: US credit rating down-graded.  For the first time.  EVER.

“The Rent is Too Damn High“… or is it?

Comcast takes steps to close the digital divide?

Pleading guilty to…Facebook spam.

And what would be a better way to start off your weekend than a video of a mariachi band and a dancing whale?

A whale of a tale. Citing harassment by activists, Japanese call off whaling season early.

Where we’re going we don’t need internet? Rural America is only 60% connected to high speed internet.

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:

If the subject of a story is particularly controversial, the comment thread that follows can be, and often is, filled with ad hominem attacks, insults and profanity.

This kind of dubious activity on the comment section of one newspaper’s website in particular, The Buffalo News, who will soon be requiring commenters to leave their name and town along with their words (hopefully) of insight. The news editor, Margaret Sullivan, has hopes for this change:

The aim of publishing reader comments, all along, has been to have a free-flowing discussion of stimulating and worthwhile ideas — something of a virtual village square.

Now that people’s names will be attached to their ideas, we’re hoping that aim, finally, will be achieved.

There are obviously two sides to this issue: one side says that removing the anonymity of commenters would also remove the candid and frank discussion that many people crave; the other side wants to make sure that the newspaper maintains integrity of its image.

In the first camp, this post at techdirt.com argues,

Techdirt gets a lot of comments, including the occasional unfriendly one from a jerk. Sometimes this jerk is anonymous — but if they’re a jerk, it doesn’t much matter if they’re anonymous or using their real name.

However, Rem Rieder writing for the American Journalism Review, insists that comments should be of the same caliber of letters to the editor in the print edition, which require people to stand naked by their words with their name:

The practice of allowing anonymous comments on online news sites has always been problematic. For years newspapers have insisted that letters to the editor be accompanied by the actual name of the actual person who wrote them. The thinking was that if you want to make some bold statements, you ought to be willing to take responsibility for them.

When discourse gets messy, we’re wondering if it’s the fault of the anonymity, or is it just humanity in general? Will Arnold X from Buffalo care who thinks his comments are racist when commenting on a newspaper article in Los Angeles?

It will be interesting to see who follows suit in this changeover from anonymous to public. It just makes you wonder: Would you censor your comments if you knew people could see your name?

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.

Comcast, or another broadband provider, can now “restrict consumers’  ability to access certain kinds of Internet content.”  Do you watch videos on Hulu.com or using Google’s YouTube service? What if Comcast or others charged you to view these sites? Or charged you you for being a heavy web surfer? It could now happen!

Some web giants are against the ruling. Google, Microsoft, and other big producers of Web content have argued that such controls or pricing policies would thwart innovation and customer choice.

Wired magazine also adds:

A broadband company could, for instance, ink a deal with Microsoft to transfer all attempts to reach Google.com to Bing.com. The only recourse a user would have, under the ruling, would be to switch to a different provider — assuming, of course, they had an alternative to switch to.

We are not happy with this approach to the web… But what do you think?

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!?)

This clip is from 1969 and predicts the powers and capabilities of the Internet. Some of it comes pretty close to the reality we see today, but the language used is totally funny. Plus, the Internet is so commonplace today that it’s interesting to see it talked about in such alien language as if it was a mystical invention.

With all of the advances in the past decade in gaming, this clip is sure to make you laugh. The outdated system and the video game graphics are funny, but we really love the futuristic sounds and awesome 3D graphics, a characteristic of the future in the 80s.

This last clip isn’t from the past, but is a satirical look at past predictions of the future. Do you think things have ended up closer to this reality? This short film took the top award at the New York Comedy Film Festival and is an interesting commentary on life in the “future.”

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.

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.

How effective will Obama be at breaking down China’s firewall?  Well, currently China is restricting his contact with the public to a level greater than previous Presidents have received.

Also, tearing down the firewall is probably not Obama’s primary goal.

John Watkins, Jr. hopes Obama focuses on

open markets, energy and climate change, military ties, currency, and yes, those touchy issues of Taiwan, Tibet, and China’s treatment of its own people.

What will the actual focus be?  A Financial Times video about the President’s visit suspects this visit is to build friendships not firm agreements.

Keep an eye out for more news from Obama’s trip to the Far East as he meets again with Chinese President Hu today.

Oh yeah, about the President not Tweeting himself.  I think Nicole Ferraro, blogging for Internet Evolution, puts it best about the Presidents use of his Twitter account:

Thank you, Mr. President, for not taking even a millisecond out of your day to post an update on Twitter, and instead focusing on governing.

What do you folks in cyberspace think about Obama’s trip to China? Please let us know in 140 characters or less…in Haiku if possible.

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.