LemurZone News

Monday, August 05, 2002

what's hot what's not

The kind folks at Merriam Webster Online provide this definition of the word Vote;

a usually formal expression of opinion or will in response to a proposed decision

Voting is easy, you do it hundreds of times a day. From voting on a pair of socks to wear with your jeans, to your reading these words, you make decisions that require you to vote. In the case of the web it is a much more casual decision and therein lies the greatest failure of the wired generation.

We do not get out of our chairs in front of our computers and walk into the voting booths in our local, state and national elections and make a more formal expression of our opinion.

You don't have a problem emailing somebody half a world away, why is there a problem emailing your representitive, whose decisions can ruin your day?

DRM is not about big music, big movies or commercial radio. It is about our right to survive online.
You have the right to connect to the Internet and go where you want.
You have the right to make decisions on the material you access.
You have the right to engage in dialog with people who live across the world.

These are your current rights. You will not have them long.

You have the opportunity to be heard.
You have the opportunity to publish your thoughts.
You have the opportunity to be ignored, poked fun at, and have folks disagree with what you think.
You have the opportunity to make the world a bit better than it was yesterday.

The entertainment industry wants to play with us. They want to colonize the internet. They want to change your personal computer. They want to enslave you.

Oh Yes. it is really that bad.

Janis Ian offers a solution.

FALLOUT - a follow up to The Internet Debacle
read here - go there
Source: Janis Ian

The only way that you will ever get a response is to apply a stimulus. A crude but graphic example goes like this: The OUCH that is a response to a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Politicians by their very nature are herd animals. Good politicians can smell a trend and get in front to give the appearance of leadership. They respond to stimulus. In order of impact we currently have MONEY, VOTES and principles as stimuli.

Money is winning. Abstentions as a form of protest has brought us to this point. As individuals we only have votes. This year bring two friends with you to the voting booth.

The Rogue Librarian has a piece about web standards on the Library Journal website.

Why Web Standards Matter
read here - go there
Source: Library Journal

Shelley Powers
Some folks can work with technology, some folks can write, very few can do both. Shelley does.

p i x e l v i e w - Shelley Powers
read here - go there