Today's Mighty Oak


Apparently, The New York Times is no longer getting approval for quotes.

I agree, I did not know that previously they got approval.  And I can see how that could easily create an endless loop of revision between Journalists and those in PR.

And I can appreciate from the PR side of things, having to get quotes approved.  But more importantly, I can appreciate the journalists not having to get approval, so they can actually report what they are told, not a fabricated, dishonest PR-speak quote.



Google has blocked access to the inflammatory video that has sparked riots and protests throughout the middle east, to the middle east.

They did acknowledge that it does not necessarily fit the companies definition of hate speech, but their hope is to help quell the violence in the middle east.

It’s a tough line, and of course, made even more so by country borders: there is guaranteed free speech (with some exceptions of course) the U.S.  The video was made in America, uploaded to an American website, but publicly available around the world.

I do have to applaud Google, and of course, they are following their own company protocol. although granted, once something is outon the Internet, I don’t know how successful they will be denying all access to it.



An interesting article about the continuation of the digitization of our society and how businesses sometimes lump all consumers together as ‘users’ instead of actually listening to them.

The momentum of technological growth is too strong for us to prevent it from defining our future. Like it or not, our future world will largely be digital.

Check it out here.



The Stranger has a cool article about the Chicago Manual of Style.  I’m more prone to use AP, since that’s what I was trained in, in both college and professional experience.  But it’s still fun to see writers write about the style guides they use.

Check it out here.



So, here’s what’s going on with SOPA/PIPA, from the PR Breakfast Club:

Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who heads the House Judiciary Committee, expects his panel to resume consideration of the House bill in February. Even President Barack Obama has not exactly killed it.

Rep. Smith will most likely adjust the House bill so it can get an consensus. The same will be done in the Senate. And since President Obama has received campaign donations from Hollywood and the internet industries, according to the Washington Post,  he will try to find a way to satisfy both sides of the coin.

But what did we learn from the dark?  Joho fills us in:

First, This is our Internet. We built it. We built it for us, not for you. We get to turn off the lights, not you.

Second, we are better custodians of culture than are culture’s merchants because we understand that culture is what we have in common. We feel pain every time something is held back from this Commons.

Third, just as we can make someone famous rather than having to passively accept the celebrities you foist upon us, we can make an idea politically potent. Going dark was the self-assertion with which political engagement begins.

Fourth, there’s a growing “we” on the Internet. It is not as inclusive as we think, it’s far more diverse than we imagine, and it’s far less egalitarian than we should demand. But so was the “we” in “We the People.” The individual acts of darkness are the start of the We we need to nurture.

Even my own little protest had a little impact, which I was thankful for.  I love the fourth point above, about the ‘We’ of the Internet.  Maybe it’s a step closer to online equality and an information utopia.

Slog weighs in on the economics of SOPA/PIPA here.

And I’ll close out with a quote shared by Clintus by MG Seigler:

The best way to combat piracy is to remove barriers, not put up new ones



Jotting down a quick note, let’s see if I can explain this.

The power of the web comes from the hyperlink, connecting ideas and people.  The second iteration of the web was focused on user-created content.  I’ve been trying to figure out what will classify the next iteration of the web, thinking about how we would interact with the infrastructure of the Internet.

But maybe it’s not how we interact with it, not how we will use it for fun and pleasure, but instead, how we will use it for true information gathering.

Using this structure only because of the commonality of “Web 2.0”

  • Web 1.0: The hyperlink
  • Web 2.0: The upload
  • Web 3.0: The tag

Just a thought, that’s not well written, but just a thought for now.



Joho once again comments, the Net is a place.  Not just a medium, or a space, but a place:

It is a weird place in which proximity is determined by interest, rather than a space in which interests are kept apart by distances. It is a place in which nearness defeats distance. It is a place, not just a space, because spaces are empty but places are saturated with meaning: Place is space that has been made to matter to us. The Internet is a place.



eBooks are becoming more expensive, which, I hope will reverse itself soon.  I think it may take some time, as the author suggests, but I think it will become more of a gap between prices for e-versions and printed version of the same book.

The second point, is about reading more on a tablet.  On my hacked tablet (Nook Color running Cyanogen Mod 7), I love reading larger pieces, especially Slate and articles from the Post Gazette.  I’m hoping the upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich will allow me to install a couple other sources as well.

Either way, check it out here.



An art installation “sees” you walking down the street, scans your face, and pulls up what may be your Facebook and Twitter feeds, photos and even talks to you in what it thinks your voice will sound like.  All of this from information we freely put online.

Check out the Slog piece here.

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