Rupert Murdoch to block Google searches

The Guardian reports that NewsCorp CEO Rupert Murdoch may try to block The Wall Street Journal and some of his other e-newspapers from appearing in Google News. Murdoch states that Google is a “kletomanic parasite” for using NewsCorp content on their news feed. People who use the very free Google News have access to  full articles from the Wall Street Journal, something that is not even capable on the WSJ website (you only get the first paragraph on the site). Of course, NewsCorp is not pleased about this since you must subscribe to the site for content.

So they’re losing money, they want people to pay for their content online and Google provides a way in for free. Murdoch is very keen on getting people to pay (literally) for access so this comes as no surprise. Murdoch says he want to block Google and non-subscribed users all together with a wall that goes “all the way to the ceiling”. Well, that’s great to hear on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Such news is so significant when it comes to traditional media outlets (and their CEOs) not understanding or being able to read a new generation and a new medium’s users. They have very little idea what we like, what we want and how we want to access it.  It shows how out of touch billionaire media moguls truly are. A corporation is trying to block the outside world (ok, the non-paying world) from viewing it’s content. Google uses the “fair use” rule when justifying why they are allowed to legally aggregate news from a series of websites. Fair use basically says that if it’s on the internet, Google has the right to use it in their search results.

Hey, Rupert, while you were playing tennis in the Hamptons did you ever learn about internet piracy and how people will NOT want to pay for things? No? I didn’t think so. That’s why you bought Myspace in it’s dying years for 500 million dollars.

Bobby Johnson, November 9th, The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/09/murdoch-google

Coming soon to a computer screen near you…

There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is…Hulu. “The online video service Hulu added a long-overdue feature last week: A ‘coming soon’ page designed to give the site’s millions of users a heads-up about when they’ll be able to watch the next new episode of ‘Fringe’ or ‘Parks and Recreation’ in their Web browsers. Ever since it launched in 2007, as a joint offering by News Corp. and NBC Universal, the site has been remarkable for its way of enhancing the channel-surfing experience with some of the added frills of Web surfing. Got a favorite show coming up? You can now get Hulu to send you an e-mail reminder.”

Isn’t technology a beautiful thing? I’d like to think that for some part, it makes us less dependent and adapts itself to us. And in this case, it can only make things better for us. Now pretend that I am an American, living in the good old U.S.A. and that I actually have access to this beautiful piece of technology, how could I not use it? If there’s internet and a need for it, consumers will definately want in on this product and why wouldn’t they? It lets you access what you want, when you want and it’s free! It can’t get much better than that, now can it? Until now, where they’ve added a ‘coming soon’ section where you are able to see what’s in store for you in the coming weeks! Crazy right? The computer seems to be more and more like the television and honestly, I’m finding it not to be such a bad thing, at least when it comes to this. So bring it, the more content online, the more I’ll be able to watch on my time, when I want, and this, I want!

Musgrove, Mike, November 08, 2009, The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110604756.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

Pro-Rape Facebook group gets shut down

Facebook recently shut down a group dedicated to anti-consent and pro-rape which made by “elite” (frat boys) males from the University of Syndey. The group existed for a few months before finally being shut down by the New South Wales police sex crimes unit. The group has been deemed described as “grooming perpetrators of sexual violence” since the message is so openly hateful, offensive, misogynistic and repulsive to name a few.

It’s so disturbing to know that there’s a group of men out there who have the capability to join together in a public group to support their twisted views on rape. This is one of the bad parts of Facebook. It’s so large that it’s hard to monitor everything constantly and since users generate their own content, it can’t possibly all be controlled by the moderators and site filters. Not all of the networking site is this messed up but on occasion, all it takes is a few frat boys to make you think twice about the use of the website. Hopefully this can be used as a learning experience and will not influence more young men into thinking it’s ok to rape women.

Granted, just because there is a pro rape group does not mean we can judge the rest of society and say every male in university is anti-consent. University students are sheltered/cocooned from the rest of society, in a sense. They stay amongst their smal group of friends, operate in their own spaces and have a similar group mentality. They make their own rules for what they think is appropriate and are often heavily influenced by their friends and not the outside world. There’s  a lot of partying and binge drinking involve in university so it’s no surprised a group of morons, I mean students, got together and made this group.

Ruth Pollard, November 9th, Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/elite-college-students-proud-of-prorape-facebook-page-20091108-i3js.html

Do iPhones make us socially retarded?

That’s what this article is claiming and to some I extent I agree with. According to what’s been written, they’re saying that, “With their instant Internet accessibility, seemingly endless software applications, and ability to play music and videos, smartphones are a technophile’s delight. But the technology is also encountering something of a backlash, as people begin to implement bans and exert anti-smart phone peer pressure on users who commit social faux pas. …at a time when technology seems to be advancing faster than people’s notions of etiquette around it, he says, it can be difficult to determine what is socially acceptable or not.”

Now here’s the difficult part about technology that changes and evolves faster than the blink of an eye, how are we supposed to react to it all without it compromising how we interact with everyone? We are bombarded with ads telling us we need “x” product, to access the internet the quickest, to have 100 applications (half of which we’ll never use, but hey, there’s an app for it) or we’ll be total losers. I am ashamed to say that it’s happened to me on more than one occasion where I spent more time on my phone checking up on Facebook or my emails instead of talking to the people around me. And what scares me even more are the younger generations that literally live off their cellphones texting to one another. I fear we may have created a monster and won’t be able to stop it before it’s too late and the future generations lose all common sense and become addicts to the technology we created to make our lives a little more enjoyable.

Leung, Wendy, October 18, 2009, The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/personal-tech/smartphones-the-ultimate-conversation-killer/article1327702/

Foursquare

by Rachel Croft

As far as social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter are concerned, the question commonly asked is “What are you doing?” Right now though, the new social-networking website Foursquare is changing that question to “Where are you now?”

Foursquare is a combination of Friend-Finder, GPS and a City Guide and is a cell phone application that alerts your friends on your current location, whether it be at an art gallery or at the local bar so that they can drop in and say hello. Emily Woolf, a strategic planner in Brooklyn uses the application when she wants to meet her friends for a drink, using Foursquare instead of text-messaging:

At this point, I don’t even bother texting or calling my friends. I just check Foursquare to see if they’re nearby and go meet them.

Foursquare, which is only seven months old has about 60,000 users so far in 31 cities in the United States, 3 cities in Europe and 3 in Canada. Foursquare allows users to choose who is able to see their current location, giving it a more intimate feel as opposed to Facebook and Twitter which are turning more into a business community.

What makes Foursquare so appealing is the features that award you points and badges depending on how often they go out and which places they visit. If a user frequents a restaurant several times a week, they can become the “mayor” of that location.

The business model of Foursquare is still in the works, like what types of rewards users will be given (like a free cup of coffee for visiting a coffee shop a certain number of times in a week), but it’s certainly going to be a hit for the Gadgetiers and Kool Kids. A social-networking application like this could increase face-to-face communication among peers, as opposed to websites like Facebook which can often deprive it.  It’s still going to be a while before the application is available for more Canadian cities, but many are excited for its arrival!

Wortham, Jenna. “Face-to-face Socializing Starts With a Mobile Post“. The New York Times, Oct 19th 2009.

Helping Grandpa Get His Tech On

by Rachel Croft

And you always thought that you grandparents would stick to snail mail and cassette tapes. This isn’t the case anymore with technological devices and websites becoming more user friendly for older generations. Soon you might see Grandma using iChat or Skype for keeping in touch with her favourite grandchild (hint: you!).

While Microsoft’s Windows may seem too daunting for an elderly person to use, Big Screen Live might make this experience easier.  The company simplifies the normal Windows interface making it easier to send and receive e-mails, sharing photos, shopping and playing games online.  Apple’s system preferences can also be altered to change the background colour, audio alerts and keyboard functions.

When it comes to video chatting, iChat and Skype are among the top programs being used by elders to keep in touch with family and friends.  Elders also have cell phones available to them like the Jitterbug with louder audio functions and a simplified keypads and add ons like having an operator to dial their phone calls for them and 24 hour voice access to a nurse.

These are only a few among the several programs and technologies that are more friendly to those who are not so hip-and-with-it with all of the gadgets out there. Pretty soon you’ll wake up and open your Facebook page to a friend request from your grandparents!

Grandpa’s Facebook creeping you!

Taub, Eric A. “Helping Grandpa Get His Tech On“, The New York Times. Oct 28th 2009.

To tablet or not to tablet? That is the question.

According to this article, Apple and Windows are planning on revolutionizing the world of PCs forever with the future plans of their versions of the previously known tablets that have been around for the last two decades. But why do this now, as it seems the modern cellphone and PCs can do what a tablet can and more? The article states that, “In these visions, tablets will save the newspaper and book publishing industries, present another way to watch television and movies, play video games, and offer a visually rich way to enjoy the Web and the expanding world of mobile applications. …You can thank Moore’s Law and the immutable advance of technology for that. Integrated microchips now combine wireless connectivity and support for features like multimedia, GPS functions and rich graphics. They are also more energy-efficient.”

From what I’ve read on tablets, this is one of the few ventures that both companies have yet to really concur. I just don’t know what the tablet will be able to offer that the cellphone and PCs do. I guess it’s something we’ll just have to wait and see what they come up with, as I’m always interested in new gadgets that will make my life easier. We’ll see.

Stone, Brad, Vance, Ashlee, October 04, 2009, The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/technology/05tablet.html?_r=1&scp=48&sq=October%206,%20technology&st=cse