Thought for the day

-- Badtux the Thoughtful Penguin

Google bein' evil again

Google is sponsoring CPAC so they can hang out with birthers, neo-nazis, racists, and general evil folk. They'll feel right at home, I'm sure, given Google's new slogan: "Be Evil".

-- Badtux the Snarky Penguin

SOPA, piracy, and the lunacy of copyright hoarders

This explanation from down in the comments on this article is awesome on top of awesome:

Let me address your question as a content provider whose products (DVDs) are heavily pirated, who at one time was a computer games programmer whose games were heavily pirated.

I used to get very upset about piracy, and spent a lot of time and effort fighting it. But I eventually realized that it didn't cost me much money in the long run.

The reason is simple: thieves don't buy. If they can't get it for free, they won't buy it. They do not represent lost sales.

The real target shouldn't be individual infringers (stealing for their own use) but bootleggers; those that steal to sell to others. Because those guys are actually costing you money. Alas, usually it is not cost-effective to sue them.

Technological fixes like cutting off their DNS are pointless; there are multiple examples in recent history of technological arms-race failures (copy protection wars, for example). It becomes a giant game of whack-a-mole, similar to the problems with fighting bootleggers on eBay... sure, you can get the auction taken down, but another one pops right up again.

The only long-term solution is to make the product cheap and as easy as possible to get.

Amen on that last one. Look, I was one of the early Napster users back in the day. I used Napster (and its successors) not because I was interested in stealing, but, rather, because it was the only way I could get digital downloads of music I was interested in. Once everything became available via iTunes and Amazon mp3, I quit using those services because the industry was now providing me with what I wanted: music that didn't take up space in my tiny cluttered apartment (since it lived on my hard drive).

The music videos that I showcase here? I've bought most of those songs on iTunes. It's easy, takes a few seconds to find in iTunes, then a single click and 99 cents later I have a song to share with my iDevices so I can hear my music anywhere. So now here's the MPAA whining that movies are being pirated and thus they should be allowed to take down any site anywhere based on just a simple complaint... uhm. Look. If I could buy a movie via iTunes for $9.99, or an episode of a TV show for 99 cents, like I can buy an album or song on iTunes, I'd probably do so. But I *can't*. Meaning, if I want to buy a movie I end up having to go to a retailer web site, select physical media, and wait (since most of what I want isn't in any retail store locally). Bah humbug on that, I'll just rent it from Redbox(which has a machine across the street from me in a drugstore) if it's a recent release or Blockbuster-by-mail if I gotta actually get outta my seat and do something. I'm a busy penguin. I just don't have *time* for that BS.

-- Badtux the Reality-based Penguin

What Google thinks about me:

What Google thinks about me (click the link to see what Google thinks about *you*):

Your categories

Below you can review the interests and inferred demographics that Google has associated with your cookie. You can remove or edit these at any time.

• Arts & Entertainment - Music & Audio - Rock Music - Indie & Alternative Music
• Arts & Entertainment - Music & Audio - Urban & Hip-Hop - Rap & Hip-Hop
• Autos & Vehicles - Vehicle Brands - Jeep
• Computers & Electronics
• World Localities - North America - USA - Rocky Mountains - Colorado

Your demographics

We infer your age and gender based on the websites you've visited. You can remove or edit these at any time.

Age: 35-44
Gender: Male

Okay, they got my gender right, but: I detest hip-hop music, I've never even *visited* Colorado, and that is *not* my age bracket.

Sorry, Google, but You Suck.

- Badtux the Snarky Penguin

Google's new slogan...

BE EVIL. Not only are they going to invade your privacy in a massive way, but they are not going to allow you to opt out of this invasion of your privacy -- which, I might add, means they will be violating a new law soon to be passed in the EU to give you the right to be forgotten (i.e., in the EU it shall shortly be *illegal* to not give an opt-out option).

And that's not the only way they've been evil lately. Their stance against freedom of speech in the matter of the Google+ social network is well-known. As an experiment, a researcher used a privacy relay tool often used by people who live in repressive countries and created a Google account. This privacy relay tool routed his Internet requests through a server in France (he didn't choose the exit server, that was chosen by the privacy relay tool in question), at which point he was using Google's French servers. He told Google that he was a male born in 1957 who lived in Iran, and for the telephone number gave the phone number of the Iranian embassy in America (note that he's using Google's French servers from a French IP address to do all this). Then he attempted to sign up for Google Plus with a pseudonym that would protect him from being killed by his government if he were truly an Iranian attempting to set up an account where he and his fellow dissidents could communicate with each other. The results were... err... see for yourself (click on the picture for full size, and the language was reset to English before the snapshot because I'm sure you don't want to read French):

Yep, Google is against Freedom.

Evil. Just sayin'.

-- Badtux the Freedom-lovin' Penguin

Google: Still evil.

Google + is notorious for not allowing pseudonyms. Today, Google said they'll allow some pseudonyms. But only under very specific circumstances.

They don't get it. Using your real name on the Internet is fine if all you're doing is sharing recipes with your grandkids. But if you're engaging in political discussion on the Internet, using your real name can be dangerous to your health and safety. In repressive fascist regimes, using your real name on the Internet and espousing politics that are not sanctioned by the heads of the fascist brownshirts can result in your child's cat being cruely murdered, your car windows smashed and tires slashed, or even being shot and killed.

It's as if they want to shut up all us political types. Evil. Simply evil. That is all.

-- Badtux the Pseudonymous Penguin

National Pork Board thinks unicorns are real

That's the only conclusion I can reach, given that they sent a cease and desist to ThinkGeek over this product that was introduced on April 1, 2010:

Stupidity. It's the other white meat :). (As vs. sparkly reddish unicorn meat, that is).

Besides... canned? As one of the commenters on the above news article points out: by Heliophilos June 21, 2010 4:54 PM PDT Canned? That's disgusting!!! I will only buy grass-fed, free range, and fresh. Canned, ick!

Might as well eat Spam, at least you won't poop sparkles afterwards :).

-- Badtux the Amused Penguin

If it's Tuesday....

... it must be time for another speech by Preznit Obama proclaiming that he's Mr. Commander Guy and that the devastation on the Gulf Coast isn't really *that* bad, why, the redfish even come pre-oiled so you don't need to oil your pan anymore!

No action, of course. But the Preznit does give pretty speech, yo. Why, if BP keeps misbehaving they better watch out, because... because... Preznit Commander Guy will give another speech about it! The horror, oh the horror! Why, I'm sure the corporate thugs at BP are just a'shudderin' in their wingtip shoes about that possibility, yessiree...

-- Badtux the Snarky Penguin

Sigh, another asshole company speaks

Subway's lawyers tell rest of world to stop using the word "footlong" because they have it trademarked.

And I have a footlong schlong, Subway. Trademark that, why doncha? Right up your collective lawyer's ass, preferably.

-- Badtux the Rude (and well endowed?) Penguin