Amazon Vs Amazon

When you see the word "Amazon", what's the first thing that springs to mind – the world's biggest forest, the longest river or the largest internet retailer – and which do you consider most important?

These questions have risen to the fore in an arcane, but hugely important, debate about how to redraw the boundaries of the internet. Brazil and Peru have lodged objections to a bid made by the US e-commerce giant for a prime new piece of cyberspace: ".amazon".

The Seattle-based company has applied for its brand to be a top-level domain name (currently .com), but the South American governments argue this would prevent the use of this internet address for environmental protection, the promotion of indigenous rights and other public interest uses.

Along with dozens of other disputed claims to names including ".patagonia" and ".shangrila", the issue cuts to the heart of debates about the purpose and governance of the internet.

READ MORE HERE...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/25/amazon-domain-name-battle-brazil

How Google Collects Data About You and the Internet

When do we get barcodes on our foreheads?

Excerpt: 

Google’s unstoppable data collection machine

There are many different aspects of Google’s data collection. The IP addresses requests are made from are logged, cookies are used for settings and tracking purposes, and if you are logged into your Google account, what you do on Google-owned sites can often be coupled to you personally, not just your computer.

In short, if you use Google services, Google will know what you’re searching for, what websites you visit, what news and blog posts you read, and more. As Google adds more services and its presence gets increasingly widespread, the so-called Googlization (a term coined by John Batelle and Alex Salkever in 2003) of almost everything continues.

The information you give to any single one of Google’s services wouldn’t be much to huff about. The really interesting dilemma comes when you use multiple Google services, and these days, who doesn’t?
Try using the Internet for a week without touching a single one of Google’s services. This means no YouTube, no Gmail, no Google Docs, no clicking on Feedburner links, no Google search, and so on. Strictly, you’d even have to skip services that Google partner with, so, sorry, no Twitter either.

This increasing Googlization is probably why some people won’t want to use Google’s Chrome OS, which will be strongly coupled with multiple Google services and most likely give Google an unprecedented amount of data about your habits.

READ MORE HERE....
http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/01/08/how-google-collects-data-about-you-and-the-internet/

Ten Prominent Websites Protest SOPA and PIPA

I really hope they quash this bill...they are definitely laying the groundwork for Internet censorship....

Thousands of websites went black or obscured their homepages on Wednesday to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), two controversial bills designed to crack down on web piracy. Critics of the bills — which are backed by Hollywood, the recording industry, and major media companies, including Time Warner, the parent of TIME — say they are too broad and could lead to Internet censorship.  Last month, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he was “shocked that our lawmakers would contemplate such measures that would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world.

Read More...
http://business.time.com/2012/01/18/ten-prominent-websites-protesting-sopa-and-pipa/#ixzz1jrE7bYBU

"Anonymous" Vows to Take Down Facebook and Fox News on Nov 5th

 Here are three stories that exemplify the new digital world that now envelops us...Times have sure changed.

Anonymous says it will take down Facebook on Nov. 5

Hacktivist group Anonymous said that it will target Facebook for a takedown on Nov. 5, aka Guy Fawkes Day.
Those claiming to be members of the group uploaded a video to YouTube in mid-July announcing the operation, which was spotted by Rosie Gray of The Village Voice on Tuesday.
Why is the group targeting Facebook? The video message is most critical of Facebook’s privacy policies, saying the site does not provide its users with enough choice or transparency.

Read more here...
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/faster-forward/post/anonymous-says-it-will-take-down-facebook-on-nov-5/2011/08/09/gIQAfWMX6I_blog.html

Anonymous Vows to Destroy Fox News Website on Nov. 5th

The group said it is targeting the network for what it called biased news coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests occurring in cities across the country.
The network's "continued right-wing, conservative propaganda against the occupations" is the group's catalyst for its intention of "destroying the Fox News Web site," a digitally generated voice on the video explains. "Since they will not stop belittling the occupiers, we will simply shut them down."

Read more here: 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20125628-83/anonymous-threatens-fox-news-web-site-over-occupy-coverage/

Also, this is a very interesting story as well...

Hacker leaks 90,000 passwords as a warning to 'naive' Swedes

 Sweden has suffered its worst-ever data leak after an anonymous hacker hijacked the Twitter account of a prominent MP and released details of more than 90,000 private email accounts.

The anonymous hacker said he had masterminded the biggest internet breach in Sweden's history to remind people to change their passwords more often.
He said: "I dumped this information to let people know that they handle their information wrongly.  Expressen journalist Micke Ölander said on Thursday the affair wasn't an example of political skulduggery but was merely a wake-up call not to use the same password for all accounts.

"It's a story about the possible naivety of Swedish internet users who log into their bank account and the New York Times web pages using the same password," he said.
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/27/sweden-hacking-twitter-hijack

US Covert Operation Creates "Shadow" Internet Systems for Dissidents

  

“We’re going to build a separate infrastructure where the technology is nearly impossible to shut down, to control, or to track...The implication is that this disempowers central authorities from infringing on people’s fundamental human right to communicate.”

The Obama administration is leading a global effort to deploy “shadow” Internet and mobile phone systems that dissidents can use to undermine repressive governments that seek to silence them by censoring or shutting down telecommunications networks.  

The effort includes secretive projects to create independent cellphone networks inside foreign countries, as well as one operation out of a spy novel in a fifth-floor shop on L Street in Washington, where a group of young entrepreneurs who look as if they could be in a garage band are fitting deceptively innocent-looking hardware into a prototype “Internet in a suitcase.” 

Read More here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/world/12internet.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

And Don't forget that in June 2011 the United Nations considered "Internet Access" a Human Right...

http://ajarnmike.blogspot.com/2011/06/un-considers-internet-access-human.html

The Oatmeal

Haven't laughed this much in awhile, simply hilarious...


Sure I'd Love to Help You Move Apartments
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/moving

The Four Seasons of Vancouver/Seattle Weather
http://theoatmeal.com/blog/seattle_weather

The Crap We Put Up With Getting On and Off an Airplane
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/airplane

7 Things You Really Don't Need to Take a Photo of...
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/photos

Why Working at Home is Both Awesome and Horrible
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home 

Why I'd Rather be Punched in the Testicles Than Call Customer Service
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/customer_service

Minor Differences Part 1, 2, and 3
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/minor_differences

UN Considers Internet Access a Human Right

Finally, the United Nations has granted the Internet a proper status in human society...

Internet access is a human right, according to a United Nations report released on Friday.
"Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all states," said the report from Frank La Rue, a special rapporteur to the United Nations, who wrote the document "on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression."
La Rue said in his report that access to the Internet is particularly important during times of political unrest, as demonstrated by the recent "Arab Spring" uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, among other countries.
From the report:
The Special Rapporteur believes that the Internet is one of the most powerful instruments of the 21st century for...

Read more here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/06/united-nations-report-internet-access-is-a-human-right.html

The Future of Internet

Get the answers from a survey of more than 800 experts...

http://www.slideshare.net/PewInternet/future-of-internet-iv-aaas

Here's some good quotes from the experts...
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1499/google-does-it-make-us-stupid-experts-stakeholders-mostly-say-no

or see full PDF report here...

http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Presentations/2010/Feb/2010%20-%20021910%20AAAS%20-%20pdf%20Future%20of%20Internet%20IV.pdf

And here is the original Atlantic Monthly article by Nicholas Carr...
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

Fist Fight on a Transit Bus makes Internet history

On February 16, 2010, two guys got in a fight on a bus in Oakland. Another passenger caught it on video. Results: One bloody nose, and instant internet history.

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/02/19/epic-beard-man/

And a couple of other Youtube greats...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_H9ua7G8RY&NR=1&feature=fvwp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3tRwwgXoMw&feature=related

The Funniest Facebook Mistakes of All Time

Ever complained about your boss to your boss? Told your son you're getting divorced through a wall post? Lied about your grandma dying only to be called out by your own electronic trail? If not, you're lucky and you're obviously not using Facebook enough.

Check out more here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/08/the-funniest-facebook-sna_n_383847.html

An invention that could change the internet forever

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/an-invention-that-could-change-the-internet-for-ever-1678109.html

http://www.wolframalpha.com/index.html