YouTube has been everyone’s favorite soap box for quite some time now. For anyone who lives in a country where TV programs are just painful to watch, YouTube is such a lifesaver. Not only is it a great source of information and misinformation, it’s also a practical platform for citizen journalism. It has been so effective in its instant gratification, and so convincing in its democracy, that we almost forget that our worshiped soap box is still controlled by a corporation that has its own interest to look out for. Not every video is treated equal. Sure, it can’t prevent you from getting on the soap box, but it can give you a defect megaphone; it can’t tell the pedestrians to go away, but it can employ warm bodies to pose as bystanders to block you from view.
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Popularity: 51%
March 21st, 2008
Posted by
em8chel <<
a site for sore eyes, geek pride >>
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UPDATE (05/23/08)
I tried to leave a comment on xenutv2 but kept getting an error message.
UPDATE (05/22/08)
Last week I asked Google and YouTube press support (and another Google employee) whether their Scientology channel was paid. The channel was listed in the “Sponsors” section of the site, for one thing, and Scientology has been seen spending many advertising dollars with Google in AdSense campaigns. One reason why I asked was that the page included a link to Scientology.org without “nofollow” – which would make it a paid link, which would be against Google’s own webmaster guidelines…
UPDATE (05/21/08)
It seems that YouTube has one set of rules for The Church of Scientology and another set for Scientology’s critics…
UPDATE (03/28/08)
This screenshot was taken yesterday. A search on video.google.com for “scientology” came up with nothing. Hit the search button, the same thing. Hit the search button, the same thing again. The search finally found the videos I was looking for the 4th time I hit the search button.
UPDATE (03/24/08): watch how all videos critical of Scientology are frozen (with one mysterious exception of the second segment of “The S Files”, which YouTube held hostage for some 29 hours after the upload before releasing it online), while all non-Scientology related videos play just fine.
UPDATE (03/16/08): Scientology has relaunched its websites and uploaded its own self-produced videos of propaganda and deception. Interesting coincidence?
screenshot 1:(click on the pictures to see them in original size):This is just a one time thing that happened last month. Technical glitch on YouTube? I had no problems searching other key words though.
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Popularity: 95%
March 14th, 2008
Posted by
em8chel <<
bruising my religion, party like it's 1984 >>
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Got 20 minutes to spare? My friend Shaunessy sent me this link which I just have to share with everyone:
The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard
If the video on the linked page takes too long to load, just click ‘keep reading’. Enjoy!
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Popularity: 47%
January 11th, 2008
Posted by
em8chel <<
be nice to the Earth my friends live there, geek pride >>
Discuss
Have a look at this ad from Intel.
I followed some of the discussions in the blog community and tried hard to believe this is not racist. I can’t.
Responses claiming this is not racist:
- If you think this is racist, you are a racist because you are not color blind.
- There are no women in the ad; is this sexist?
- Those blacks are not bowing to the white guy; they’re in the ready position in a sprint race
- This is just an advertisement; why read anything into it?
- The black athletes represents performance. The fastest sprinters are almost always black.
- It’s not intentionally racist, just poor taste.
- Political Correctness sucks.
- If those athletes were all white, wouldn’t it be more racist?
- Would it still be racist if it were an Asian guy being the boss instead?
- Not racist at all; just stereotypical.
Some interesting arguments and questions there. Let’s go through them one by one.
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Popularity: 58%
August 4th, 2007
Posted by
em8chel <<
close encounter of the slurred kind, the unwearable proudness of being (Asian) >>
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Previously on LinuxTag Comes to Springfield: Part I and Part II
The following evening at the Simpsons’. The family is watching TV when a newsflash cuts in.
Brockman: This is Kent Brockman, we interrupt Paris in Prison: the Reality Show to bring you this breaking news. LinuxTag received a bomb threat in writing this afternoon. A bomb would be placed at the LinuxTag fair should LinuxTag refuse to revoke Mr. Schaeuble’s patronage. Drastic means or empty threat? Arnie Pie talks to Mr. Schaeuble:
Camera cuts to Arnie in the Sky, together with Schaeuble flying in a helicopter.
Schaeuble: (singing to the tune of Don’t Cha) Doncha wish your Minister was tough like me? Doncha wish your Minister was strict like me? (stops singing) Jawohl, what do I tell you people? Terrorists are here, there, and everywhere! Only by bugging your phones and reading your email can we snuff out these criminals! Please, my dearest American friends, do yourself a favor, do world peace a favor, download and install this Federal Trojan, made in Germany!
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Popularity: 82%
June 29th, 2007
Posted by
em8chel <<
geek pride, rejected episodes from The Simpsons >>
Discuss
Previously on LinuxTag Comes to Springsfield (Part I)
3 days later. The Simpsons are having breakfast when the door bell rings. Homer goes to get the door. It’s the mailman.
Homer: What do you want.
Mailman: What does it look like?
Homer: You selling insurance?
Mailman: I got a registered letter for Lisa Simpson.
Homer: Registered letter. Must be important.
Mailman: Whatever.
Homer: Can I read it before giving it to her?
Mailman: Like I care.
Homer: Do you have a registered letter for me?
Mailman: No.
Homer: Why not.
Mailman: Dunno.
Homer: Why are you so snappish.
Mailman: You’re annoying the hell outta me!
Homer: (shocked and offended) I never want to see you again! (slams the door and cries all the way back to the kitchen)
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Popularity: 82%
June 15th, 2007
Posted by
em8chel <<
geek pride, my pet penguin, rejected episodes from The Simpsons >>
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