USA

Slipping under the radar, in a 19-0 vote, Internet Censorship passes swimmingly.

No one is talking about this. Is it because no one knows, or because no one cares?

US Agencies and officials can file court orders for domain registrars to pull domains, and web hosts to shut down any websites that are considered to have pirate content. This isn't just going to affect US websites, this bill allows them to shut down any website anywhere in the world. As you can imagine, some other countries aren't quite OK with this.

My question is: Why are we?

This is literally only the beginning. Internet Censorship is now allowed, and don't think that it won't get worse before it gets better. Corporations such as Disney have backed this bill (no wonder it passed), and now can go after these pirate web sites.

I'm very interested to see reactions on this (because I've heard NOTHING from ANYONE yet), and I'm scared to see where this will go.

Once in a while, we here at the Daily Awesome have mentioned the RIAA or MPAA and their inability to find an appropriate party to point their fingers toward (because apparently they don't have mirrors). So we end up with grandma's sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars for downloading music... when they don't even own a computer.

How did we get to this point? Why is the music industry choking on its own bile as it desperately tries to climb up the greasy slide back toward the top?

I think the main reasons are a failure to adapt, greed, and believing that those at the top always know what's best... always thinking the top is infallible. Oh, and please don't forget the biggest reason: they put out shitty music.

Also, their business model is quite literally extortion. They force bands (at this point, I should really just call them entertainers) into these ridiculous contracts that rape them of their music and out of the mega money that comes from selling music. They also forced fans of a particular song or three to buy an entire shitty album just to own those few good songs.

It's also the bands' faults, though. I mean, as a band, you want to have your own CD, right? It's the dream! To have a CD with your band's name on it, to have a booklet with lyrics, liner notes, and thank yous.

I think we need to stop thinking of music in terms of albums. That's the first step. The entire market needs to shift. But that hurts the great money making. It's much easier to complain and whine that people downloading music are killing the industry when in truth, it's shitty business practices (and shitty music) that's killing the industry.

Maynard James Keenan of Tool has said that he's no longer thinking in terms of albums, but instead in terms of releasing a couple songs at a time. I think that he understands the current climate far better than most. Really, this is what all bands should adopt. If you write a few really good songs, release them and sell them yourself. Then, you won't have to worry about all the nonsense that comes with record companies.

Unfortunately, this model works best for bands who already have a lot of money, because... obviously, you wouldn't make nearly as much from selling those songs as you do entire CD's. Still, if you think about it, the bands aren't making their money from CD sales anyway. It's touring that makes them all the money. It's touring that really makes or breaks a band.

So until we're ready to let go of what a band is, or how music should be released, we're just going to have to sift through the shit.

I suppose... at least there's iTunes.

Honestly, I've tried to wait this one out. I've tried to avoid saying anything about this TSA nonsense. At first, it was hard to disseminate the truth from the nonsense stories of standard Internet whack jobs.

This, however, is insanity. That whole "rights" thing... apparently, it's OK for it to get totally fucked. I don't even know where to start.

I'll just start with this: A CBS poll shows that eighty-one percent of respondents are OK with the airport scanners.

So in summary: No, we have not learned that trading our freedoms away for supposed safety is a bad idea. We're just so fragile. Please protect us, Mr. Government, but don't you DARE TRY TO GIVE US HEALTHCARE! (Yeah, I had to slip that in there, sorry.)

Well, what's the big deal anyway? Scanners sound good, right? I mean, we'd be able to stop people trying to blow some shit up. That's awesome.

Apparently not. There are so many front page stories right now about groping, sexual harassment (such as one woman being mocked as her breasts were exposed), three year olds being patted down... I could go on, but if I do, I'm afraid the bile won't stay down.

The good news is that people are fighting back. Lawsuits are pouring in as people's rights are decimated by the TSA. Inappropriate conduct should be punished, and the excuse "we're told to do it" will not fly. It's bullshit and it's unconstitutional. They are pushing their supposed power around and getting away with it. Images have surfaced here and there, and it's obvious that the TSA employees are posting theses images on the Internet with no regard to anyone's safety.

Did you know that a full body scan photo can easily be manipulated (by inverting the color) thereby rendering an actual image of the person in question? So basically, they can easily grab nude images of people. It's already been done, and can be found on the seedier and less seedy places around the web.

By the way, did I mention that the TSA will not allow you to fly if you decline the security proceedings?

So if you're flying, either enjoy being manhandled, or stfu and move on.

It's only a matter of time before the revolt against the TSA hits full swing.

Not to make today Facebook Day or anything, but I just read another interesting article regarding Facebook's new email integration.

It looks like there are quite a few things to not like about Facebook's new email integration.

First of all, it's not email. It's an integration to email, but it is not email. Basically, if I sent you an email, it would start a conversation in your messages box with me. Then if I send you a second email with a different subject, it would still combine that with the already created conversation. Subjects become meaningless.

But that's not all. Worse is that Facebook doesn't care about your privacy (see my previous post). So go ahead, throw all your emails to your Facebook account and watch them gather and sell your information.

Facebook sucks.

I'm sure you're not surprised. I know I'm not. Facebook doesn't care about privacy. I know people who've been affected by Facebook's notorious updates that change all of the privacy settings in place. I'm one of them.

At this point, I figure that I've had the account for so long, I might as well keep it. I know better than to share truly private information. I refuse to play any (and I mean ANY) of the stupid games such as Steal-Your-Information-Ville (aka Farmville) or Mafia nonsense or whatever bullshit the kids these days are playing.

Still, the article's speculation on whether Zuckerman is misguided or is operating out of malice is interesting. Is it that he doesn't care, or that he cares and is invigorated by the power?

Honestly, it doesn't matter. Facebook, because of its popularity, seems to garner a certain amount of trust from its users. I remember recently the phone number sharing fiasco.

The only safety is to either not use it, or to be extremely judicious about what you share. However, the problem arises in other people.

Anyone can post an image of you pulling a huge bong load. Is it fair? No. Other people are in control of your privacy. It's unsettling, but it's the world we live in. Make good choices, be careful, and keep the bong and the camera in separate rooms.