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09 Aug 2010 10:15

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World: Should the poor in India have a right to food? It’s a big debate

As important as this debate may be – between vouchers and a distribution system – it’s worth pointing out that the logistics shouldn’t get in the way of helping this guy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 12:04

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Culture: The Yes Men say “Yes, man!” to Bittorrent distribution of their film

  • The Yes Men are being sued over this action, and see P2P as the best and only way this material will get seen. They’re calling for it to be copied as far and wide as possible …
  • A note from VODO • Regarding The Yes Men’s use of their Bittorrent distribution service to get their latest movie, “The Yes Men Fix the World,” out to the rest of the world. Why the need for Bittorrent? Because they pretended to be members of the Chamber of Commerce, as per their status as well-known culture jammers. And the lawsuit is creating legal headaches for them – which VODO will help them get around. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2010 22:56

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Tech: Facebook as news source: The danger of getting news from friends

  • Facebook is a unique and wonderful artery to our friends’ lives and interests. But if we define our reading by our friends’ libraries, we will all find what we already expected rather than what we need to know.
  • Atlantic writer Derek Thompson • Regarding recent reports that Facebook has become a primary source of finding news for many people. He brings up a good point, one that news like this only emphasizes: With the change in journalism to something suggested to us by friends, all cookies instead of a well-balanced meal, we end up limiting our information to what we want to know rather than what we need to know. And, considering how often it shows up in politics already, that’s pretty dangerous. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

03 Aug 2009 09:20

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Biz, Politics: Columnist: Netflix is killing human interaction, makes you lazy

  • Beyond the mail delays and the botched orders, the lack of human interaction is the big problem with Netflix and its cyber-ilk.
  • Richard Corliss • In an opinion piece on Netflix, and why he doesn’t like it. Despite its huge success (two billion discs served over a decade), it feels hollow and imperfect to him. He specifically brings up the loss of his local video store, Kim’s Video, which closed earlier this year. But more than anything, he criticizes how it makes people shut-ins: “So, O.K., soon there will be no more waiting for DVDs. But it’ll come at a price. You’ll be what the online corporate culture wants you to be: a passive, inert receptacle for its products.” Ouch! • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2009 17:20

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Culture: Numbers that don’t favor the filmmakers at Sundance

  • 118 feature-length dramas and documentaries will show
  • one of last year’s big Sundance hits (“Slumdog Millionaire”) was a hit at the box office source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
 
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