Male Vs. Female: Techy Dark Side

I've spent the last few days doing some "digg"ing and fetching up all sorts of interesting news stories and vidz. And I've talked to all my tech-loving, "geeky" male friends. I've listened to them explain renegotiating hardware space in creative new ways to emphasis usage. I've listened to efficiency in an industry i've recently begun to realize is the "only" industry, very soon. Everything I need as far as basic communications in my life; the bank, my friends, local businesses, mechanics, etc. I can access through the internet. It's this unbelievable resource. And I find it completely disconcerting suddenly that all the people I know who are "in the know" with programming, computers and technology in general, are men. (Wealthy men, by chance and positioning, but that's a whole different article.)And I was possessed suddenly to understand why that is? Hmmmm... Oh. Yeah. It's because while my brother's mind was free to peruse the internet at his leisure and come to understand the math and science that he's expected to be better at, I was encouraged to write and study literature, as a means of creative expression. All of these were set in place structures that function all over our society. Women are thought to be less intelligent in the fields of math and science. Its silly, and it's oppressive. I initially succeeded equally well in grade school era testing in both sections. I'm not saying that I necessarily suffer from a persuaded ideology as a sole means of my leaning towards a more liberal arts education. It's my nature as a writer, too. But I feel like I'm behind five years now because of the waste of all the time I had to spend through childhood and adulthood fighting off being a chesty blond and suffering the stigma attached to that, and dealing with it, because I have to mentally process everything and assign it a ranking of importance in accordance with my currently functioning personal ideological system. I'm not kidding. I really process things through in this series of logical analysis and I devote a lot of energy and time to such things, it helps me see things from opposing sides to be more compassionate ( I know, I'm ridiculous) So much time wasted on "female" issues. I had to learn to clean and cook, I alone of my techy friends knows that the top sheet on a bed should be upside down for optimum turn-down prettiness. Why do I know that, I never remember expressing an interest in knowing that? And then suddenly, my mind, all minds, seemed these relatively small spaces, like initial memory in all computers made before 2005, and suddenly all my space used up in home economics and tampon brand effectiveness is a waste of an important resource for learning about the future, succeeding in the job market and effectively utilizing and managing the technology that will completely effect my life, no matter what. I've been walking around feeing oppressed and angry about this for three days. And now I'm utterly convinced that I'm going to need to find out all I can about blogging, the internet, the video and news liberation movements, the conspiracy theories, the political arena, from the deep dirty trenches of my generation's interest ratings I'm going to be an active force in a techy's arena.
Bring it on , boys.
"Anything you can do I can do better."

the last social taboo?

A woman describes how hellish motherhood actually is. I found this article really interesting because it appealed to the non-maternal woman in me. Then I posted to digg. It just occurred to me know how silly that was. Digg is a culture of geek tech kids, who are mostly male. This got way fewer diggs than it deserved. I don't want to go alternative and establish a female techy digg site, in fact, I'm sure there already is one. I just wish it weren't the case that women are missing from the underground internet news phenomenon, even the entire internet phenomenon in general.

this is the article | digg story

Agh!

This movie discusses the political takeover of the media. It's my ideological nightmare and I really want to change this.

I remember the days when I fancied myself a liberal. I believed I'd assembled the facts and put together a system of beliefs and ethics which would provide a framework for my personal functional ideology. That meant a bleeding heart, tree hugging, vegetarian with socialist tendencies. What was I thinking? "Fiscal conservative" seemed repugnant to me, like money was more valuable than the health of other humans lives. That isn't true at all. Conservatives CONSERVE. They don't abuse resources. I value human life just as much as I ever did. I value each and every person with a compassion and a bleeding heart to match any well meaning leftist. I still think the same things in life are important, I haven't become money hungry. I've become simplistic in my needs and wants, donated half my clothes and kitchen supplies, and cleansed my life of excess. I still value freedom and happiness. I want everyone to be as free to make their own decisions as possible. That's how I care about people. It's not my goals that have changed, it's my understanding of what it takes to achieve my goals. The issues have shifted. I'm dreaming bigger. I don't want to watch money be spent frivolously and taxes increased in a spiral of economic decline. No one does. But Money is power, and fixing the economy eliminates the tug of war battle for the funds necessary to run inessential public services. Its through this that I begin to understand how similar the Dems and Reps really are. The confines of my mind, the structures in place to assist me in making decisions are burst wide open. My brain has never been more open to new interpretations. I was completely wrong in my political ideology. I want to know how wrong I am about everything else. I'm excited to rediscover my world.

What is the internet? Is it a marketplace, a "world phenomenon" or an economic good?

It's the next stage of media, the outlet of expression and information. It is technically a public good. It's a public good!!!! We're getting this relatively cheap source of information, news, organization, entertainment. Our generation is growing up with this tool to accumulate knowledge, to further creativity, to develop artistically and intellectually. The internet spawns true ingenuity. Everyone can participate. We have user guided encyclopedias! People are learning from each other in profound ways, accessing the information needed to make informed decisions. Essentially, the users are still wielding control, and as far as forging new territory goes, we're doing a damn fine job. Ron Paul FTW!
This fabulous public good is under threat of attack. With Mainstream News presenting overwhelming bias and appeasing corrupt politicians, the internet must maintain it's open content, open sourced freedom.
The internet is not owned by anyone. It's airwaves, it's not a physical thing. As it is a public good, our government acts in the interest of the public by licensing it out to companies who control it's broadcast. It's really a fascinating legal study.....
Anyway, the gameplan for these broadcast companies and other corporations is to "privatize" the industry. That means that the internet will be completely profit driven. No neutrality.
You know how you have a million decisions to make regarding your cable TV? I mean, I don't know because I don't have a TV, but I'm sure most people do. Anyway, those cable packages are market driven, offering you channels based on advertising and profits, excluding that which doesn't make money. As a source of news, the internet would be as useless as the mainstream media has become. Where is factual, neutral information going to come from? Publius? When is this infringing upon free speech? Sure, you can speak, there just is conveniently no outlet for you to do it. Oops, Sorry.

So, keep the internet free and public , support net neutrality!


And, remember. Even now, those broadcasters are already affecting the internet you see and have access to. Support Federal Regulations to restrict the control over internet access or the internet could be taken over by these "digital landlords."

Music Industry

Since purchasing an IPod two years ago, white ear buds have been in my ears probably half of that time, 12 hours of every 24, roughly 9,000 hours of music play time. If it weren’t for technological advancements those days of losing yourself in music would have been impossible. I would have had less than half of the enjoyment and none of the obsession that music provides. I am not alone. Music is an all encompassing industry, so broad and appealing and deep that its roots cannot be uncovered. Why then, does the music industry seem to be so weary of the ever advancing technological approach to music appreciation?

Exemplified by the revolutionary idea of Radiohead to release it’s album for the price “whatever you think it’s worth” on their website in late 2007, people are forced to consider what they’re willing to pay for music. And truthfully, it isn’t a high amount. But should it be? Here it comes, the economic truths I’ve unveiled about the digitizing of the music industry.

Uh Oh

The Costs

Make no mistake. These are dynamic times for the Music Industry. “The record industry's main product, the CD, which in 2006 accounted for over 80% of total global sales, is rapidly fading away,” says a recent Economist article about record sale projections. While music executives in public continue to boast about the advancements and recovery just around the corner, the amount of physical albums being sold is rapidly declining. And we knew that. The CD, frankly, is trying to join its friends the cassette tape and the 8 track in the land of the obscure and the obsolete. (Take no notice of the fact that I didn’t mention vinyl records, I have a music aficionado’s soft spot for those big, bold discs.) The replacement for the c.d. is historically, a logical conclusion to our technological development. And a beautiful digital file; tiny, cheap, moveable, shareable. Essentially, this is the medium of music that existed first in the nightmares of record label execs, before it ever hit the not-shelves of cyber space.

Music Rocks

The Change

Ah, cyberspace. Free music, free movies, freedom. Ignoring (for just a second, I promise) the ethical implications of free music, it exists as a substantial market of people. Unfortunately the legal digital music download (and by that I mean the one that charges people, kids) isn’t the growing field of profit the record companies hoped it would be. While digital music downloads are on the rise, its revenue is nothing like the glory days of the c.d., and with the ingenuity of those torrent leaching teens, it doesn’t seem that it will ever be so profitable. A sad truth, indeed.

CD Sales Growth

Year	% Profit
2002	-8.9
2003	-7.1
2004	2.8
2005	-8.0
2006	-12.8

“Revenues at the four major labels (Warner, EMI, Sony BMG, and Universal) have been on a slow decline throughout the decade…Is the downturn due to people not paying for music, though? Hardly; it's due in large part to people not paying for CDs.” (Anderson N. , A brave new world: the music biz at the dawn of 2008, 2008)

With such negative prospects, one would assume the death warrants of these multi billion dollars companies have been signed. The implications are astronomically bad. They’ve overproduced and over shipped c.d. and the huge decline in their sale has led retailers to reduce the space for CDs in general. And yes, a death warrant has been signed. But it’s the CD that is doomed, not the music industry. With the same sense of creativity and ingenuity of those bartering music brats online, the industry may survive to exploit us another day.

The Future

Free is the direction music is headed, regardless of the claims to shut down info sharing. How can you get something free and have someone still make money? I’ll give you a hint. Think Television. You got it, advertising. Advertising funded streaming sites are the new money makers, such as Imeem. People get to listen to music for free, unless they count the mental strife of watching flashing lights coercing you to “click here” as a cost. Which I not only count but also think should be a tax write-off. Ingenuity again rears its gadfly head in the future of big business music: To match the genius of Radiohead’s label free music release comes a deal between Universal Records and Nokia. They are releasing phones that allow you download (assumingly, Universal Records music) all the music you want to your phone and your PC and keep it. FREE. Instead of charging consumers for the music directly, they take a cut of the phone sales.

Paid-for download services will continue and ad-supported music will become more widespread, but subsidized services where people do not pay directly for music will become by far the most popular, he says. For the recorded-music industry this is a leap into the unknown (Economist, 2008)

A leap into the unknown is the concluding argument for every field of study today. Technology is recreating our world: Our medicine, our tra1/23/2008nsportation and our governments (electronic voting, are people nuts?)Music is being shaped into something new and indefinable, a scary thing if you run a company off of investments, surely, but thoroughly exciting otherwise. Music is made of technology now as wholly as it will be run by it. My friend, an amateur D.J., pushed a few buttons on a Mac laptop the other night to create some of the best, most inspiring sounds I’ve ever heard. I don’t profess to know a lot about how electronic music is being made, but I know I’m in love with it and its ability to capture and express the new feelings and experiences technology is providing. So is the music industry dead? Looking at it through purely economical standpoint, the less resourceful record labels will struggle to stay afloat without an influx of new ideas. Maybe they should hire some of those copyright hacking ruffians and set up some think tanks? Seriously, though, with the internet providing an outlet for expression and a venue for new artists, record labels and the cutthroat business truly may be done for, but the feeling I get from my research isn’t one of doom, just likely decline. With Billions already collected by these labels, and the celebrity and live performance aspects of the industry growing ever more popular, don’t blame me if I don’t feel too sorry for them.

I already forgot my URL!

Torrents and Bandwidth and Blogging, Oh My!
To Open, this is how I got my new and improved blogging start:
I was at Austin's watching "A" Daily Show, because Stewarts knocked "the" out until the writer's return, I suppose. Some idiotic guest rambles some Bush excuses which I refute with my incredible depth and knowledge and Fermin says "You should blog."
And here I am, ready to tackle pertinent issues and create some sort of resume' inclusive tracking of my writing prowess and creative ability, etc. etc. I guess.
I've got to go read about China's blocked websites! They just blocked www.informationliberation.com, everyone should check that site out. I'm about to go look at greatfirewallofchina.org; Oh Blocked.
No, seriously, I'm all about going on a conspiracy theory rant and establishing my arduously multi-syllabic vocab, but I've got to watch documentaries. Ciao!