Monday, July 21, 2014

Mission Statement



Weird Al is truly a genius.  No, really.  He’s smart, funny, and he has released videos from his album, “Mandatory Fun” for the last 8 days, basically rewriting what marketing should look like in the first quarter of the 21st century. 

The Wall Street Journal’s, “Speakeasy” section kicked off his last video in an article by Eric R. Danton which can be found right here: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/07/21/weird-al-yankovic-wraps-8-days-of-videos-with-mission-statement-exclusive/.

The joy of this song is the irony.  As per the article (and Weird Al), “I wanted to do a song about all the ridiculous double-speak and meaningless buzzwords that I’ve been hearing in office environments my entire life,” Yankovic says by e-mail. “I just thought it would be ironic to juxtapose that with the song stylings of CSN, whose music pretty much symbolizes the antithesis of corporate America.”

Amen.



God bless you, Mr. Yankovic.  God bless you.




Monday, July 14, 2014

Tell the FCC Your Feelings About Net Neutrality




So, do you like the internet?  Do you like the concept of the exchange of ideas, communication, education, and business online?  Do you like Netflix or any other streaming service?  Would you like to pay more for that than you already do? 

“What?”

Yes, that’s what will happen if the FCC says, “No” to Net Neutrality.  Expect your internet provider to create multi-tiered system for the flow of information.  Expect that your streaming & download speed will slow unless you pay a premium.

“That won’t happen.”

Really?  Tom Wheeler, the Chairman of the FCC, was a lobbyist for the telecom industry before he, “took control of the body that regulates the telecom industry.”  Yeah, that’s not biased in the least. 

Here is your chance to tell the FCC what you think about that. 

“HOW?”

Click on this link to Adam Clark Estes article on Gizmodo, entitled, “How to Yell at the FCC About Net Neutrality… Sort Of”: http://gizmodo.com/how-to-yell-at-the-fcc-about-how-much-you-hate-its-net-1576943170/1604730099/+ace?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow   

It is an excellent, to the point article.  The FCC will be accepting these submissions until midnight of July 15; although, they will still accept them until September 10th.  I can’t tell you what to say but I can tell you what I said.  It went something like this…

An internet without Net Neutrality is an internet in the control of a handful of corporations that will do nothing but exploit the users.  This would be, most certainly, a monopoly.  Making a tiered system for the flow of bandwidth hurts everyone – ultimately even those who would profit by letting this atrocity happen.  A free and open internet fosters growth and communication.  By imposing a ‘closed internet’ we would be entering an electronic telecom feudal system, lorded over by third parties whose only purpose is to abuse the net for their own gains.  The potential for censorship, oppression, exploitation, by the restrictions that our new electronic telecom keepers deem fit is far too high a price to pay.

Please say, “Yes” to Net Neutrality.  Keep the net open.  Keep the net free.  Do the right thing.

Thank you.

Gentle Reader, if you are so inclined, take the time and tell the FCC what you think about Net Neutrality.  Time is fleeting and you have a right to be heard.

“I fight for the User.” – TRON (...also, Evil Chicken)