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• « Thursday « March 31, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03312005}
     2. {08:08:03 AM}

     content

     1. Only you can save television

         

        (The Long Tail blog)

         
     2. "We're ending one era and entering another where the rules are sure to be different.The best example of that is television, which is in the sweet spot of all Long Tail forces. So today, let me make one of those exceptions by explaining why TV is the first place to look for Long Tail opportunities. Here's why..."
        There's a bazillion hours of television content out there, very little of which is original, by the way, but you can only consume it one second at a time, like spoonfuls from an ocean. If you watched TV every second for the rest of your life, if everyone did, we'd all only consume of fraction of what's available. And yet, ten years from now, you may have a craving for that long-forgotten episode of "Diff'rent Strokes"... but it's not available. In the end, if media companies continue to run the TV business as usual, they're going to lose. Dinosaurs, they are. I think I'm starting to understand. Like Long Tail's Chris Anderson says, "Bottom line: TV is begging to be reinvented."

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 08:08:03 AM
     3. "We're ending one era and entering another where the rules are sure to be different.The best example of that is television, which is in the sweet spot of all Long Tail forces. So today, let me make one of those exceptions by explaining why TV is the first..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. television
     3. business
     4. tags:
     5. cyberculture
     6. long+tail

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03312005}
     2. {12:22:59 AM}

     content

     1. Bush Family Sign

         

        (The Presurfer blog)

         
     2. Presurfer sez: "Recently I came across some pictures of the presidential Bush family. It struck me they all showed the same sign. What is that? Do they have a secret sign and what does it mean?"
        Either it's the "Hook Em Horns" sign from the University of Texas -- but Dubya didn't attend UT, did he? -- I know, I know, with his clumsy speaking manner, it's hard to imagine him having attended any kind of serious school, yet miraculously, he's got a Harvard MBA -- there's hope for mediocre students everywhere; you don't need Affirmative Action, just some father who can pull a few strings, make a few calls. If not the UT hand sign, or some weird kismet with Ozzy Osbourne, then it's some cryptic but brazen homage to whichever satanic deity the family sold its soul to, in return for inexplicable global power being granted to such an unaccomplished "leader." Given the direction that things are headed, I think it's the latter. We'll be landing in the first ring of Hell shortly, please return your seats to their full, upright position

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 12:22:59 AM
     3. Presurfer sez: "Recently I came across some pictures of the presidential Bush famil..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. humor
     3. politics
     4. tags:
     5. satanic
     6. bush+family
     7. ozzy

     type

   

• « Wednesday « March 30, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03302005}
     2. {08:52:35 PM}

     content

     1. South Park: Chef Aid

         

        (TV Tome)

         
     2. Capitalist Records hires Johnny Cochran, who uses the Chewbacca defense, the same defense that he used in the Simpson trial. "It does not make sense." Chef's found guilty and is fined $2 million or he must spend 4 years in jail. Chef plans to raise the $2 million dollars to hire Johnnie Cochran for himself. The boys appeal to Chef's friends in the music business to try raising the money and Chef prostitutes himself. When they fall short of the goal, Chef is put into jail. The boys start "Chef Aid", and all of Chef's rock friends pitch in. Moved by the music, Johnnie Cochran agrees to take on Chef's case, free of charge.
        When you're lampooned on "South Park" you've reached icon status. Johnnie Cochran, warts and all.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 08:52:35 PM
     3. Capitalist Records hires Johnny Cochran, who uses the Chewbacca defense, the same defense that he used in the Simpson trial. "It does not make sense." Chef's found guilty and is fined $2 million or he must spend 4 years in jail. Chef plans to raise the $2..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. people
     3. culture
     4. tags:
     5. law
     6. johnnie+cochran
     7. oj+trial

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03302005}
     2. {11:04:58 PM}

     content

     1. Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., Trial Lawyer

         

        (New York Times)

         
     2. Before the Simpson case, Mr. Cochran was best known for bringing police brutality cases on behalf of black clients and for representing celebrities in trouble...n the trial's aftermath, Mr. Cochran's name became a sort of shorthand, but one that meant different things in different contexts. To some, it stood for legal acumen. To others, a masterly rapport with the jury. To still others, the vexing roles of money and race in the justice system.
        Johnnie Cochran, warts and all. (Registration required, or just bugmenot)

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 11:04:58 PM
     3. Before the Simpson case, Mr. Cochran was best known for bringing police brutality cases on behalf of black clients and for representing celebrities in trouble...n the trial's aftermath, Mr. Cochran's name became a sort of shorthand, but one that meant dif..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. law
     3. black people

     type

   

• « Tuesday « March 29, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03292005}
     2. {09:16:50 PM}

     content

     1. Big Mac Pimpin'?

         

        (mtv.com)

         
     2. Mickey D's Enlisting MCs To Rap About Burgers. McDonald's has partnered with the marketing firm Maven Strategies in a plan to recruit hip-hop artists to mention the fast food chain's signature burger for pay, according to Advertising Age magazine's Web site.
        Advertisers, and their minstrels, er, pitchmen, are stepping so far over the line that the term "sell-out" is beginning to lose all meaning. But then again, take an "artist" (loose, loose term there) like Busta Rhymes: has that phool ever stood for anything ... except making a buck? Rappers have been spitting product placements forever, so why not get paid for it? Just so I'm clear -- we're not talking about art, we're talking commerce. Music is an effective gateway into a buyer's subconscious thought processes. It's all only about da bennies, right? But, man, what an empty world we live in. Everything for a burger and a buck. No other meaningful purpose. Utterly. Devoid.
        
        b/w: hiphopmusic.com blog

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 09:16:50 PM
     3. Mickey D's Enlisting MCs To Rap About Burgers. McDonald's has partnered with the marketing firm Maven Strategies in a plan to recruit hip-hop artists to mention the fast food chain's signature burger for pay, according to Advertising Age magazine's Web s..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. marketing and advertising
     3. business
     4. tags:
     5. sellout
     6. hip-hop
     7. busta%20rhymes
     8. mcdonalds
     9. bigmac

     type

   

• « Monday « March 28, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03282005}
     2. {05:14:03 PM}

     content

     1. Will Truth Rise Again?

         

        (MediaChannel.org)

         
     2. Today, we live in two worlds of news and information. One is "fact based," the other "faith-based." In the former, we cling to a world of objective reporting and verifiable evidence even as we know how facts are skewed by media outlets with undisclosed agendas; in the latter, we only acknowledge facts that support our opinions and often don't let facts get in the way of a "good argument"... you can't trust what you first hear or how it is spun... This is going on every day. Incomplete stores, tilted accounts, distorted news. It's not just that some journalists today are on the government payroll. The rot in our corporate media goes deeper. Much deeper.
        Propaganda, thy name is: "mainstream media." But I have this gut feeling that most people really don't want to hear the truth about things. Filtered "truth" is much easier to digest, even as a world of lies crumbles all around you.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 05:14:03 PM
     3. Today, we live in two worlds of news and information. One is "fact based," the other "faith-based." In the former, we cling to a world of objective reporting and verifiable evidence even as we know how facts are skewed by media outlets with undisclosed ag..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. news and media
     3. propaganda
     4. tags:
     5. spin
     6. newsspeak

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03282005}
     2. {06:10:37 AM}

     content

     1. It doesn't get any better than this

         

        (CBS SportsLine.com)

         
     2. Admit it. You spent Sunday asking your neighbor, "Did you see those games yesterday?" Just when you were coming down after the Illinois high and Louisville almost getting Pittsnogled, here came Kentucky's Patrick Sparks with the shot of his life. A top-of-the-key 3 that seemed to take an eternity to drop through the net tied it 75-75 at the end of regulation, eventually leading to the first double-OT regional final in 39 years.
        I'll admit it. This was the best weekend of college hoops I can remember, and I don't even like any of the teams. As a Pac-10 guy, I was hoping 'Zona would represent, but it looks like Illinois has a little magic. Oh yeah, and in the women's bracket, my Stanford Cardinal blew out the defending champs!

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 06:10:37 AM
     3. Admit it. You spent Sunday asking your neighbor, "Did you see those games yesterday?" Just when you were coming down after the Illinois high and Louisville almost getting Pittsnogled, here came Kentucky's Patrick Sparks with the shot of his life. A top-o..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. colleges and universities
     3. sports
     4. tags:
     5. ncaa
     6. marchmadness
     7. hoops
     8. tournament

     type

  3. datetime

     1. {03282005}
     2. {05:28:52 AM}

     content

     1. Behind the curtain

         

        (BrandShift blog)

         
     2. Branding pundit Jennifer Rice: "My definition of a brand is an idea in the minds of your customers... and that idea is formed by what you say and what you do... the blogosphere is shining a bright light on the gap between how a company presents itself and who a company 'really is.' Social technologies like blogs and community forums are forcing us to completely rethink the traditional tenets of brand management."
        You can spin, but you can't hide.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 05:28:52 AM
     3. Branding pundit Jennifer Rice: "My definition of a brand is an idea in the minds of your customers... and that idea is formed by what you say and what you do... the blogosphere is shining a bright light on the gap between how a company presents itself and..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. cyberculture
     3. business
     4. tags:
     5. branding

     type

  4. datetime

     1. {03282005}
     2. {05:09:25 AM}

     content

     1. Black, Asian women with degree outearn white women

         

        (The Seattle Times)

         
     2. Black and Asian women with bachelor's degrees earn slightly more than similarly educated white women, and white men with four-year degrees make more than anyone else...R egardless of race or gender, a college graduate on average earned more than $51,000, compared with $28,000 for someone with only a high-school diploma or an equivalent degree.
        Your overpriced degree may have some value after all.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 05:09:25 AM
     3. Black and Asian women with bachelor's degrees earn slightly more than similarly educated white women, and white men with four-year degrees make more than anyone else...R egardless of race or gender, a college graduate on average earned more than $51,000,..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. economics
     3. education
     4. tags:
     5. jobs
     6. employement

     type

   

• « Friday « March 25, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03252005}
     2. {07:00:51 PM}

     content

     1. Sex, not money, buys happiness, study says

         

        (AZCentral.com)

         
     2. Increasing sex frequency from once a month to at least once a week provides as much happiness as a $50,000-a-year raise
        Apparently, it's better to get laid than get paid! Is it too much to ask for more of both?
        
        b/w: sla (nsfw)

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 07:00:51 PM
     3. Increasing sex frequency from once a month to at least once a week provides as much happiness as a $50,000-a-year raise..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. sexuality
     3. culture
     4. tags:
     5. sex
     6. money
     7. happiness
     8. pyschology

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03252005}
     2. {11:06:20 AM}

     content

     1. {GRAPHICJUNKIES}

         
     2. "Graphic Junkies is a site maintained by an active law enforcement officer in the state of Georgia. I work in the South West Atlanta area. All of the photographs on this site were taken by me while on duty."
        Why not? One interesting thing I found in looking through these pix is the number of shots of gang graffiti; these must have significant meaning to a cop on the beat, like doppler radar to a weatherman.
        
        b/w: Design Observer

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 11:06:20 AM
     3. "Graphic Junkies is a site maintained by an active law enforcement officer in the state of Georgia. I work in the South West Atlanta area. All of the photographs on this site were taken by me while on duty."..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. photojournalism
     3. internet

     type

   

• « Thursday « March 24, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03242005}
     2. {04:20:56 PM}

     content

     1. Book 4 (of 50): don't think of an elephant!

         
     2. 1. 
        2. 
        3. 
        4. 
        5. 
        6. [ c|b ].rating: 4.3/5 stars (86%)
     3. don't think of an elephant! The sub-title to this brief collection says it all: know your values and frame the debate. Far from being "compassionate," the conservatives who now control the United States -- and who are really just a small elite in number -- have gained this power by getting poor and middle-class people to vote against their own economic and social interests.

        How do they do it? They use language that appeals, in fundamentally dishonest but extremely effective ways, to people's deeply held, perhaps even subconscious, moral values. Until progressives, whose values truly reflect what America's ideal is all about, learn how to "reframe" political discourse, not use the enemy's terms, and appeal, honestly, to people's values, we're in for ugly, mean-spirited times.

        The conservative agenda uses the language of family and compassion, but it's false, because at its core, theirs is an essentially sociopathic, and somewhat fascist agenda that's really about giving free reign to corporations to plunder the planet in search of massive profits for a small cabal of people, and the control and suppression of the many by a hand-selected few. The fact that their language is basically well-crafted double talk exposes their weakness; they can be defeated with ideas and strategy.

        This book is a great intro for learning to think about how to develop and express ideas that can help us turn things around. We need to get back to a country that offers fairness, freedom and opportunity for everyone. Those are essential American values. Not fear-mongering, turning your back on those in need, and handing out favors to the rich, while denying support to everyone else. It will be a long, hard fight. Dress appropriately.

        NOTE: This is the fourth book in my quest to read at least 50 this year; I'm falling off the pace due to other commitments, but I will get there by the end of 2005!

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 04:20:56 PM
     3. don't think of an elephant! The sub-title to this brief collection says it all: know your values and frame the debate. Far from being "compassionate," the conserv..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. books
     3. politics

     type

   

• « Wednesday « March 23, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03232005}
     2. {07:35:59 AM}

     content

     1. Will Smith's Larry Elder/Wendy Williams Dis Record

         

        (hiphopmusic.com blog)

         
     2. Will Smith, entertainment royalty ... dissing people in a battle rap? The world is turning upside down, upside down!

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 07:35:59 AM
     3. Will Smith, entertainment royalty ... dissing people in a battle rap? The world is turning upside down, upside down!..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. music
     3. entertainment

     type

   

• « Tuesday « March 22, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03222005}
     2. {10:57:32 AM}

     content

     1. comics creator

         
     2. Create a comic to send by e-mail ... stayed tuned.
        
        b/w: generator blog

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 10:57:32 AM
     3. Create a comic to send by e-mail ... stayed tuned...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. comics and animation
     3. internet

     type

   

• « Monday « March 21, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03212005}
     2. {03:12:01 PM}

     content

     1. Toward a Unified Theory of Black America

         

        (The New York Times)

         
     2. Roland G. Fryer Jr. is 27 years old and he is an assistant professor of economics at Harvard and he is black. Yes, 27 is young to be any kind of professor anywhere. But after what might charitably be called a slow start in the scholarly life, Fryer has been in a big hurry to catch up. He was in fact only 25 when he went on the job market, gaining offers from -- well, just about everywhere.
        Bruthas routinely gain notice when they can slam dunk, or spit rhymes, but we rarely see one get heralded for pure mental skill; it's not that those kind of men don't exist, that's just the way this society works. All part of the plan. Fryer is certainly being positioned as one to watch, so let's see what he comes up with, and hope some of it is concrete and actionable. We need ideas, lots of good ideas. (Registration required, or just bugmenot.)
        
        b/w: cobb

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 03:12:01 PM
     3. Roland G. Fryer Jr. is 27 years old and he is an assistant professor of economics at Harvard and he is black. Yes, 27 is young to be any kind of professor anywhere. But after what might charitably be called a slow start in the scholarly life, Fryer has be..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. economics
     3. black people

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03212005}
     2. {07:19:32 AM}

     content

     1. Police think bus may have been driven to cocaine transactions

         

        (SFGate.com)

         
     2. A driver for San Francisco's Municipal Railway has been snared in an investigation into whether he was using his city bus as a delivery vehicle for drugs.
        The driver may walk for lack of evidence, but the next time my Muni express bus doesn't show up -- which happens often -- maybe it's because the driver had a "special delivery."

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 07:19:32 AM
     3. A driver for San Francisco's Municipal Railway has been snared in an investigation into whether he was using his city bus as a delivery vehicle for drugs...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. crime
     3. news

     type

  3. datetime

     1. {03212005}
     2. {06:58:05 AM}

     content

     1. X-celling Over Men

         

        (The New York Times - Op-Ed)

         
     2. The researchers learned that a whopping 15 percent - 200 to 300 - of the genes on the second X chromosome in women, thought to be submissive and inert, lolling about on an evolutionary Victorian fainting couch, are active, giving women a significant increase in gene expression over men. This means men's generalizations about women are correct, too. Women are inscrutable, changeable, crafty, idiosyncratic, a different species.
        Ah hah! (Registration required, or just bugmenot).

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 06:58:05 AM
     3. The researchers learned that a whopping 15 percent - 200 to 300 - of the genes on the second X chromosome in women, thought to be submissive and inert, lolling about on an evolutionary Victorian fainting couch, are active, giving women a significant incre..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. biology
     3. gender issues

     type

   

• « Friday « March 18, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03182005}
     2. {06:02:58 PM}

     content

     1. How to Make Money Off Your Blog

         

        (Sensual Liberation Army)

         
     2. While high-profile bloggers get writeups in Wired for quitting their day jobs to make their living offa beggin' their audience for alms, sex bloggers have quietly been making money - real money - for years.
        A How-to guide for the audacious and shameless, for real.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 06:02:58 PM
     3. While high-profile bloggers get writeups in Wired for quitting their day jobs to make their living offa beggin' their audience for alms, sex bloggers have quietly been making money - real money - for years...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. sexuality
     3. internet

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03182005}
     2. {06:57:09 AM}

     content

     1. You are Hurting Us

         

        (Burningbird, plus others (remix))

         
     2. You also want to be the center of one discussion that, oddly enough, doesn't center around you: being a weblogger who is not a male, or is not white, or both. You're boring the f*ck out of the rest of the universe. But "I don't read any women bloggers"...unless she's pretty and she talks about sex. And that's because apparently Nostradamus predicted white male blogging.
        Hello. Hello? Echo. Echo.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 06:57:09 AM
     3. You also want to be the center of one discussion that, oddly enough, doesn't center around you: being a weblogger who is not a male, or is not white, or both. You're boring the f*c..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. weblogs
     3. internet

     type

   

• « Thursday « March 17, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03172005}
     2. {06:58:31 AM}

     content

     1. SXSW: Blogging While Black Panel

         

        (Full Circle Community blog)

         
     2. Panel transcript.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 06:58:31 AM
     3. Panel transcript...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. weblogs
     3. black people

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03172005}
     2. {11:35:31 PM}

     content

     1. The Mathematics of Racism in China

         

        (the black China hand)

         
     2. "China is no place for most black people..."
        Which begs the rhetorical question, little brother: what, then is the upshot of deliberately spending a third of your life in a place that's no place for you? If you're American Black, well, warts and all, that's where you were born, so it's your country, whether you like it or not. Time is precious, and if it's not spent on nourishing activities, then it's wasted on toxic ones. What is the motivation to choose to willingly go to a place where being shunned and avoided is the rule and not the exception, and where there is no community to which you call your own? Inquiring brothers want to know.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 11:35:31 PM
     3. "China is no place for most black people..."..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. racism
     3. black people

     type

  3. datetime

     1. {03172005}
     2. {11:22:10 AM}

     content

     1. Yahoo! 360°

         
     2. Looks like the social-networking-digital-lifestyle-aggregation waters are starting to heat up.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 11:22:10 AM
     3. Looks like the social-networking-digital-lifestyle-aggregation waters are starting to heat up...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. internet
     3. society

     type

   

• « Wednesday « March 16, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03162005}
     2. {09:55:27 PM}

     content

     1. ::guimp:: world's smallest website

         
     2. It's really tiny ... about 18 x 18 pixels
        
        b/w: Flash Insider

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 09:55:27 PM
     3. It's really tiny ... about 18 x 18 pixels..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. world wide web
     3. internet

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03162005}
     2. {09:24:49 PM}

     content

     1. Baseball Prospectus

         
     2. It's spring training for fantasy baseball headz too, steroids or not! — join my ESPN league

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 09:24:49 PM
     3. It's spring training for fantasy baseball headz too, steroids or not! — join my ESPN league..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. sports
     3. reference

     type

  3. datetime

     1. {03162005}
     2. {07:25:12 AM}

     content

     1. Dead-end jobs in Delhi

         

        (News.com)

         
     2. It turns out, though, that the Indians actually working the phones and computers see their jobs as less promising.
        Rule Number 1: You get what you pay for.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 07:25:12 AM
     3. It turns out, though, that the Indians actually working the phones and computers see their jobs as less promising...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. economics
     3. business

     type

  4. datetime

     1. {03162005}
     2. {03:10:18 AM}

     content

     1. How to Sell Your Book, CD, or DVD on Amazon

         

        (Kevin Kelly Cool Tools)

         
     2. It's no secret, but here is what I have learned in the last few years about how to get your book, CD or DVD listed on Amazon... but still: This is not a way to make money; this is a way to distribute your message.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 03:10:18 AM
     3. It's no secret, but here is what I have learned in the last few years about how to get your book, CD or DVD listed on Amazon... but still: This is not a way to make money; this is a way to distribute your message...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. books
     3. internet

     type

   

• « Tuesday « March 15, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03152005}
     2. {06:09:31 PM}

     content

     1. Attention Deficit (remix)

         
     2. Keith Jenkins, Black male, WaPo Editor: "Today, I work in a newsroom with Asian-American, African-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American, and Indian-American journalists, as well as many journalist born and raised in other countries...you get the picture. It has taken 'Mainstream Media' a very long time to get to this point of inclusion - which, in reality, is just about reflecting the true nature of American and world culture both in what we report and how we report it. There is still a long way to go, but much progress has already be made. My fear is that the overwelmingly white and male American blogosphere, hell bent (in some quarters) on replacing the current ranks of professional journalists with themselves, will return us to a day where the dialogue about issues was a predominantly white-only one."
        Steve Levy, white male Newsweek columnist, asks, "Since anyone can write a Weblog, why is the blogosphere dominated by white males?" Good question, and while we're at it, although it might not be related, but since any experienced executive, and there are hundreds of thousands who are non-White and non-male, can run a company, how come the Fortune 500 is dominated by white male CEOs?

        Rebecca McKinnon, white female former TV reporter, asks, "So how do we get more diverse voices into the blogosphere? I'd like to hear more suggestions from non-white as well as non-American bloggers." Would she ask this question if more of those white male bloggers paid attention to her? But then, linking is like a digital form of knockin' boots and some guys don't link, but if they did, would they like her in the morning?

        Jeff Jarvis, white male media pundit and bloggeur provacateur, says, "I'm white. I'm male. I blog. You got a problem with that? Tough." There's a nice, open, constructive attitude, but he follows up that lead-in with a painfully long post, which reads like a rationalization, something or other about reading Iraqi and Bahraini Muslim blogs makes him more diverse. OK.

        Halley Suitt, white female writer: "It's all too often -- white, male, American bloggers -- who get our attention." Well, you are the boss of you; maybe you should direct your attention elsewhere.

        Dave Winer, white male software developer and alleged blowhard, says, "Apparently Nostradamus predicted white male blogging." Yeah, that helps. Thanks. Please fix RSS 2.0 and shut up already!

        But if only people would look harder, they'd find bloggers (which I like to call "writers") like, Michael Bowen, aka Cobb, Black male technology professional: "I hereby submit Cobb for the consideration of all A-List Bloggers as the Head Negro in Blogs." Of course, this is tongue-in-check humor at its most sublime. Cobb just wants to be the H.N.I.C of Blogging, but he often has interesting or provocative things to say, if only more people would pay attention.

        The first thing that comes to my mind is: people are really overestimating the importance and impact of weblogs. And mainstream media is not going to be replaced by weblogs. Or, maybe I'm not getting it. People seem to think that because the Web has a potentially global reach that all the world wants to (or can) read what they have to write. Do these people realize that a so-called New York Times "best-seller" only has to sell around 40,000 copies? Even a top-selling book has a tiny impact in terms of actual reach, Oprah's Book Club notwithstanding. In fact, in the book world, there's a creeping fear that there's too many books and not enough readers. Not only are people overestimating the blogosphere's reach, they're overestimating literacy and Internet adoption rates. According to UNESCO, 20% of all adults in the world are illiterate. And less than 20% of the world's population has ever touched the Internet. The best-connected, most literate people are in countries -- guess what -- where you'll find lots of white males. So, there are billions of people out there who can barely read, and many more who've ever even heard of the Net, let alone weblogs. What do they care?

        I think I know what's really going on here: it's high school, all over again, but in reverse. Today's so-called 'A-List' bloggers were the "freaks and geeks" in high school. Now that they've somehow become "popular," there's no way they're going to give that up, because they know, as soon as one of the real cool kids gets in, the whole place (aka "the blogosphere") will get overrun, and once again, they'll be marginalized. So to answer the Newsweek reporter's question: the reason why blogging is dominated by some white males is because they where the ones who were dominated -- or ignored -- during those all-important teenage years, and payback's a bitch, well, actually, not a bitch, since women aren't really welcome, just, well, tough! Unfortunately for them, though, the cool kids still don't care.

        
        Related:
        Blogging while black (Technorati)

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     1. 
     2. 06:09:31 PM
     3. Keith Jenkins, Black male, WaPo Editor: "Today, I work in a newsroom with Asian-American, African-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American, and Indian-American journalists, as well as many journalist born and raised in other countries...you get the pi..."
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     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. weblogs
     3. internet

     type

   

• « Monday « March 14, 2005

  1. datetime

     1. {03142005}
     2. {06:12:07 PM}

     content

     1. Thug Radio

         

        (AlterNet)

         
     2. Emmis and Clear Channel are the corporate muscle beneath hip-hop's skin; their hip-hop stations are notably dubbed "urban radio," which Chuck D says is "a perfect term because it actually escapes the notion of black ownership." The term first originated when black stations wanted to bring in white advertising, says hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang. Now, he says, it's been donned by white stations "using black music and culture to get street cred and in turn to drive the rest of the music industry."
        Exploitation has become so much more sophisticated these days. Promoters used to just make money on the music. Now they can profit on personal disputes of the artists as well. Hey, we all have folks we don't like. Can you imagine someone making cash over the fact that you don't like someone? The phunny thing I found in this story is that there is an organized coalition of protesters who held a rally in frigid Union Square Park last Friday [and] are part of a burgeoning opposition to corporate control of hip-hop radio. People will stand outside in the cold and protest over hip-hop radio; but their schools are falling apart, and their jobs opportunities are being shipped overseas: no protest. Now that is getting your priorities in order.

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     1. 
     2. 06:12:07 PM
     3. Emmis and Clear Channel are the corporate muscle beneath hip-hop's skin; their hip-hop stations are notably dubbed "urban radio," which Chuck D says is "a perfect term because it actually escapes the notion of black ownership." The term first originated w..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. propaganda
     3. entertainment

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {03142005}
     2. {07:38:49 AM}

     content

     1. Yes, Virginia, Democratic women are better in bed

         

        (Capitol Hill Blue)

         
     2. Google "Democrats make better lovers" and you get 296 299 citations. Try the same with "Republicans make better lovers" and you get just three four.
        Since appealing to social and economic self-interest doesn't seem to be working for the Dems, why not try the sex angle? That always works.
        
        b/w: grabbe

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