I was browsing through imgur and saw the following image that tells a really heart-warming story. It seems that a user named [HarpoonIPA] on the Grimrock.net forums made a post asking if old-school dungeon-crawler style buttons might be included in the game. The responding dev [Petri] made note that they did not have a UI like that currently set up but, made sure to ask his customer why he wanted such an old-school control scheme. [HarpoonIPA] responded noting that he had a disability and stated that he used a mouth stick to control games. The old-school control style made it easier for him to play. So what did [Petri] do? He immediately implemented an entirely new UI option for one, single user.

This is game development done right. This man listened to his one customer that had a modest request and took it upon himself to make that customer happy. I am truly inspired by this. I wish this company nothing but the best of luck and will be purchasing their game purely based on this story alone. I tried to contact the developers of the game, but unfortunately their site is down at the moment. Presumably due to the torrent of attention I am sure it must be getting. If I am able to get in touch with for comments I will update this post.

Read below for the discussion as it took place between the user and the dev.

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If you are not already familiar, www.whitehouse.gov now allows any US citizen 13 years or older to create an online petition for pretty much anything in the hopes of drawing the attention of the President. As far as I have seen this has been much less a tool for the people and more a method of placation but, perhaps I am wrong.

Our Certain Doom

I should preface by saying that it is not clear whether this petition is just an inflammatory joke posting, or the real deal. Poe’s law is in full effect on this, but just for fun, I’m gonna take this one to be real. On to the stupid shit. It seems that on November 24th someone created a petition regarding the new hit videogame, Skyrim. Specifically, the person is claiming that it is widely known that videogames are destroying the moral fabric of society, are physically deadly to teens, encourage homosexuality, promote violent behaviour and are destroying the “Christian foundations on which this nation was built”. Well, one can only hope. I mean if you’ve played Skyrim then you have obviously by now watched the scene where the giant clubs another one repeatedly, forcibly bends him over one of his Mammoths and, rapes his ass unmercifully while simultaneously chanting Satanic rites and reading “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins, right? No. You haven’t and, sadly neither have I. I think we should petition the game’s creators to put that in the game somewhere.

Please, enjoy for a moment the full text of the petition:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Immediately Ban the Deadly Videogame Known as “SkyRim” for The Safety of America’s Youths.

Whereas videogaming has proven to cause social, ethical and health problems in people of all ages,

Whereas sexual perversion and homosexuality are threatening to destroy the Christian foundations on which this nation was built,

Whereas a new video game has just been created that far exceeds any others in the psychological and spiritual damage it does to teens,

We, the American people, today ask you,

1) To enact an immediate ban on the videogame known as “SkyRim” produced by Blizzard Entertainment.

2) To seize and destroy all copies already in public hands and erase its presence on the internet.

3) To prosecute the players of “SkyRim” to the fullest extent of the law.

4) To create a national database of videogame avatars and “screen names” so that teenagers can be better monitored.

Homophobia and Lack of Evidence

So, allow me to begin tearing this fear-mongering, baseless, homophobic shit apart. To begin, this man’s entire premise is false. There are no conclusive studies linking videogames specifically to increased violent behavior or homosexuality. There are plenty that attempt to suggest it but, their results have as yet not been replicated. A solid example of this and, one that is used regularly by right wing pundits is the study “Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature” by Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2001). In this study, the researchers claim the following:

“Research on exposure to television and movie violence suggests that playing violent video games will increase aggressive behavior. A metaanalytic review of the video-game research literature reveals that violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults.Experimental and nonexperimental studies with males and females in laboratory and field settings support this conclusion. Analyses also reveal that exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings. Playing violent video games also decreases prosocial behavior.”

As I stated previously the results of this study and many other similar studies have simply not been replicated in lab or public settings. As of 2010 the American Psychological Association was quoted as stating “Bad effects depend on certain personality traits; games can offer learning opportunities for others” regarding violence in videogames. I am unsure as to the source of the petition creators information but I would certainly hope to see some supporting research in a petition intended to reach the President of the United States of America. This isn’t the fucking PTA, you aren’t going to make your point with hyperbolic statements and conjecture.

Now let’s take a look at how this game supposedly promotes homosexuality and, how that is “… threatening to destroy the Christian foundations on which this nation was built”. The petition claims that Skyrim promotes this type of sexual behavior and that this is in itself a bad and destructive thing. So from the jump here, we are meant to understand that being gay is bad and that videogames are teaching teens to have sex with members of the same sex and, that this is an attempt to destroy Christianity in America. If it’s not clear by now I support gay marriage and I would consider anyone who feels to the contrary to be a bigoted and hateful person. As for the game itself, Skyrim allows a player character to marry an in-game character of the same sex, that is all. There are no depictions of sex between the player character and other characters at all. So not only is this claim bigoted, it is also without evidence. I will grant that the logical next step after marriage is sex but, if the argument is that by implying the act, the game has encouraged it, then I would have to disagree. It is safe to assume that most people know that homosexual sex acts occur between people but, this knowledge does not incite the act in those people. Knowledge of something or even seeing something occur does not predestine a person to do that same thing later.

Poor Research

Finally, on to my last issue with this petition; the citing of Blizzard Entertainment as the producer of Skyrim. This is quite possibly the best piece of evidence to suggest that this is a hoax petition as Skyrim is produced by Bethesda Softworks which is owned by Zenimax Media Inc. It has no direct relation to Blizzard Entertainment. If this petition is real and meant to be taken seriously I should hope that the creator would have been smart enough to point his finger at the people that he wanted punished. However, this is also written by a seemingly homophobic and clearly irate person so, perhaps it’s best that I not assume them to be rational or capable of researching their own viewpoints. Again, Poe’s Law is strong with this one.

Truth or Fiction?

It is tough to say whether this is the real deal or not but then such is the way with many similar posts on the internet. The reality of the fiery hatred, racism, sexism, fear-mongering and, flat-out lies of many religious nuts on the internet will always be hard to distinguish from the posts meant to incense and anger people for the enjoyment of the originator (i.e. trolling). There is much argument about whether this petition actually originated from a post on the religious fear parody site, Christwire or not. This has not been proven but I can certainly see the possibility. If it is indeed parody then I applaud them for helping draw attention to the absurdities of religious extremism, if it is real then please re-read my previous statement.

References: 

Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science, 12, 353-359

“Violent Video Games May Increase Aggression in Some But Not Others, Says New Research”. apa.org. American Psychological Association. Retrieved 28 November 2011.

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I’m neither for or against the “Occupy” movement, but I am definitely a supporter of the US Constitution which guarantees:

…the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances…

Yesterday, police at UC Davis demonstrated that they don’t value that particular edict established by the people when they turned a can of riot control pepper spray on a peaceful group of students sitting on the ground. The entire event was captured on video and in photos.

The man responsible for the attack on these citizens is UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike.

Take a look:

Here is a second angle on that event:

As Xeni Jardin from BoingBoing put it:

In the video above, you see a police officer [Update: UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike] walk down a line of those young people seated quietly on the ground in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, and spray them all with pepper spray at very close range. He is clearing a path for fellow officers to walk through and arrest more students, but it’s as if he’s dousing a row of bugs with insecticide.

What I find most egregious is that after spraying the students, the police still had to handcuff, arrest, and move them. None appeared to be resisting in any way, and I’m sure there are lawyers lining up to represent them in what is sure to be a huge wave of lawsuits.

Also of note, the UC Davis professor who helped organize the protest is calling for the resignation of the Chancellor of the University. In his words, here’s why:

Police used batons to try to push the students apart. Those they could separate, they arrested, kneeling on their bodies and pushing their heads into the ground. Those they could not separate, they pepper-sprayed directly in the face, holding these students as they did so. When students covered their eyes with their clothing, police forced open their mouths and pepper-sprayed down their throats. Several of these students were hospitalized. Others are seriously injured. One of them, forty-five minutes after being pepper-sprayed down his throat, was still coughing up blood.

I have no problem with the police doing their job. If they need to clear the path, they have the power to do so. But they forget that their power is derived from the people, and we want to see it executed judiciously. There is case law which suggests these actions were in no way appropriate.

Here is a significant Ninth Circuit case regarding the constitutionality of pepper spraying peaceful protesters:

HEADWATERS FOREST DEFENSE v. COUNTY OF HUMBOLDT:
Characterizing the protestors’ activities as “active resistance” is contrary to the facts of the case, viewing them, as we must, in the light most favorable to the protestors:  the protestors were sitting peacefully, were easily moved by the police, and did not threaten or harm the officers. In sum, it would be clear to a reasonable officer that it was excessive to use pepper spray against the nonviolent protestors under these circumstances.

Here is a California law directly related to deployment of this kind of weapon:

California Penal Code Section 12403.7 (a) (8)
(g) Any person who uses tear gas or tear gas weapons except in self-defense is guilty of a public offense and is punishable byimprisonment in a state prison for 16 months, or two or three years or in a county jail not to exceed one year or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment, except that, if the use is against a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, engaged in the performance of his or her official duties and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer, the offense is punishable by imprisonment in a state prison for 16 months or two or three years or by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment.

Thanks to Steve Garfield for bringing this to my attention, and Louise Macabitas for the photo.

What do you think about this?

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Robert,

I read an article today that referenced a comment you made at the Android Open conference. From what I am hearing you said something to the effect that you envision a day when the DVD section of Best Buy stores might be replaced with a section dedicated to Arduino development boards and homebrew electronics. That Best Buy, one of the largest retailers in the country might actually start selling easily accessible technology that allows the user to create and learn something. I must admit that when I think of Best Buy I think of camcorders, MP3 players, cell phones, tablets and TVs. And the over-simplified image that I have of the customer base is largely uninformed consumers who have little interest in how their devices work. I will be the first to tell you that this is my nerd bias and that while it may be right to some degree it is certainly not true of all of them. After all, I shop at Best Buy too.

I have a feeling that this statement was mostly a pipe dream of yours but let me tell you sir that it is a great one. Most visions of the future start out as pipe dreams; wild-eyed, crazy dreams that probably won’t work but just might. Ideas that have the capacity to make a real impact. I know that I am getting awfully grandiose here, but hear me out. As a boy, (young nerdling?) I was obsessed with electronics. I would take apart everything I saw from the time that I could hold a screwdriver; unfortunately I had no idea what I was doing so the object was usually useless after that. After enough tinkering, a little bit of reading, and a lot of breaking things I started to understand the world around me more. My interest in electronics made me want to understand basic math more so that I could work with more complex circuits, it made me more interested in physics and chemistry because I needed to know why and how these things functioned. And I learned a lot about the kind of person I wanted to be because I realized that there is always another question to be asked, and another puzzle to solve.

I did not come from a particularly wealthy family so-to-speak, so most of my parts and components came from the dumpsters and curbs of houses near our apartment. I kept these things in what was supposed to be a toy box, these were my toys. Eventually I realized that I needed raw components and quality tools to move further with my understanding, but I lacked the money that I needed. I would ride my bike to the shopping center near my home and window shop at Radio Shack and this nifty bulk electronics reseller. Around this time I started to receive a modest allowance from my mom which I would save up to buy comic books, tools, and electronics kits from these stores. I would stay up into the late hours of the night (very often on school nights) working on these kits or tinkering with the electronics that I had amassed in my toy box from dumpster diving. I learned so much and so quickly thanks to those kits.

Fast forward 18 years and Radio Shack looks almost completely different with only a tiny fraction of the once staggering selection of components and kits they used to sell. And the used electronics shop, with its tote tubs full of old motherboards, discarded memory, and odd bits of tech, is gone. Luckily for guys like me, there has been an amazing boom recently with maker/DIY culture, companies like Spark Fun, Adafruit, and Make Magazine have kept the tradition of tinkering alive, albeit online. One of the most successful products that companies like this sell is the Arduino. I have to say that if 8 year old me had access to something like this; I would never have left my room. Hell I probably would have stayed a virgin into my twenties!

What I am saying to you sir is this. This concept could completely fail. It could end up making almost no money. Maybe there isn’t enough public interest to support such a drastic leap for Best Buy. But what it could do is inspire a whole new generation and even the current one to learn about how their world works, and even to improve upon it. It could give so many people easy access to knowledge. It could drastically improve the image that the average and niche consumer alike have of Best Buy. And it could make a lot of money. I initially read that article and didn’t think twice about it, but then I started to think about what that idea could do and I got very excited. I hope that I haven’t sounded over-zealous or too nostalgic here sir, I just want you to know that you have a great idea and I think you should run with it.

Sincerely,

Leland Flynn

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Today I got this random call from God-knows-who claiming to be a PR agent looking for “people in my industry”. Here is Google Voice’s translation of the message:

Steve. Hello. Just give me this is Riley (815) 633-3375 and I’m calling it’s fox news and ABC News are looking to do an interview and I need someone in your industry and I did happen to come across your name and number, see if you’d be interested in being in on Fox News at ABC, but we don’t work for the of the stations. But we are, P R firm and we charge $900. If you choose to do the story in at a it doesn’t hear that you don’t pay. Please call me today (815) 633-3375.

The translation is terrible, but the point is that this was a random cold call from someone who clearly didn’t even know who I was offering to get me on TV news. And if you ever, ever get a call like this you should NOT do it. Let’s talk about why…

The Voice Mail

Spammy PR Agency Call

Reasons this is a Bad, Bad Idea

• If you’re really worthy of being on the news as an expert, you don’t need to pay someone to make it happen! Just call your local station affiliates and get in contact with the news editor. Let them know your qualifications and volunteer to be an expert when they need one on your topic.
• A 1-2 minute appearance on a local news affiliate won’t do anything to improve your image or reputation! Trust me. I have been on the news as an expert, and its fun to do and they are nice people, but it delivers exactly ZERO in the way of exposure, web site traffic, twitter followers, etc.
• Its highly unethical. News stations should be vetting their experts. If they find out you’re paying to be on TV they won’t have it. They might occasionally PAY an expert to be on TV, but it doesn’t work the other way around.
• If you want to spend $900, invest in a Mac Mini, a nice webcam, and a little microphone, and start a podcast instead! You’ll get way more bang for the buck.

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I’ve been impressed at how well behaved people have been regarding the death of Steve Jobs. While I knew a great many of us, especially those in the tech industry, would be affected and take the event to heart, I also expected the usual array of trolls to come out and shoot down the importance of Steve Jobs with little regard to his impact.

By now, we’ve all had a chance to think, read and hear about how Steve, and Apple, have impacted life as we know it. They brought us devices that changed the way we interacted, worked and socialized. They found the balance to walk the fine line between beauty, simplicity and functionality, while making devices so intuitive that a 2 year old can pick one up and make it work.

Countless businesses have been built on what Apple started and entire industries changed because of Jobs vision.

But I think that is only half of the story as to why so many people are so taken back by the loss of Steve Jobs.

So for the few dissenting voices, or those who think we’re making too big of a deal about this, I’d like to put into context why his loss is so significant right now.

We live the age of Arthur Andersen, Bernie Ebbers and Bernie Madoff. When companies lay off people by the 10′s of thousands while CEO’s take multi-million dollar bonuses.

We’re inundated by stories of Enron, Lehman Brothers and politicians who vilify corporations while accepting their campaign donations.

Let’s face it, our view of Corporate America is disenchanted at best and downright hated at worst.

Then there was Steve and Apple.

While I’m not so naive to believe that Apple has never done anything questionable, or ruthless (which is often business by it’s very nature), they were in the business of improving our lives through technology and did so in a way most of us have come to strongly appreciate. They gave us devices we love and helped make technology what it should be, a compliment to our lives, not a means to overcomplicate it.

Apple isn’t alone, there are other great companies out there and surely others will rise. But Apple was the shining example and most importantly, gave us something to look forward to.

Apple isn’t perfect, nothing ever is. But in a time when Corporate America is riddled with scandal, distrust and can’t seem to get it right, Apple did, and it was Steve’s vision that got them there.

My business exists largely because of Apple. Everyone I work with at  Livid Lobster (parent company of GeekBeat.tv) is here because of Apple.

How did Apple affect your life?

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There are many things that can be taken away from a person – possessions, freedom, health, happiness, even dignity. But there are some things no one can take from you, like knowledge, courage, friendship, and love.

Remember that when you find you’re focusing attention on things that are fleeting, and try investing in things that can’t be devalued.

Have a great day!

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On September 11, 2001, Madeleine Cunningham was employed as an auditor with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.  Their offices were located on the 86th and 87th floors of the south tower of World Trade Center 2. Thirty-nine of her co-workers perished on that terrifying day and she could have been one of them, however Madeleine had bittersweet fortune of not being in the office. This is just one of so many stories that happened on that historically tragic day.

Last Minute Changes – Out of Office on September 11

Madeleine and her 9-year-old daughter, Catherine were visiting the Philippines to see family,  in particular her father who was in an accident and broke numerous bones in his frail body. They left for the Philippines in June 2001 with plans to come back to New York before Labor Day, in time for Catherine to start school.  In late August, preparing to come home, Madeleine’s father had now become very ill and was again hospitalized.  Her father was sick and her daughter needed to get back to New York to start the school year. She was in a bind. What was she to do?  She decided it would be best to stay with her father and found a way for Catherine to do her missed school work and send it back via FAX.  She notified the airlines to change her flight, returning in mid to late September.

September 11, 2001 –  9:03 AM

At  9:03 AM United Airlines Flight 1175 crashes into the south tower of World Trade Center 2, which collapses at 9:59 AM.  Everyone vividly recalls where they were when they first saw the news on that tragic day. Madeleine was safe at her parents’ home. Her brother called and told her to watch CNN. Her first thoughts when she saw the towers collapse: “Oh my God, what happened to my co-workers?”.  She was lucky not to be in the office that day.  Had she not made changes to travel, she would have been on the 86th floor of World Trade Center 2.  She didn’t have office contact information and wasn’t able to communicate with anyone from her office.  It was a long tragic day for her and the rest of the world.  Lucky to be alive and wondering what could have been.

Father Hospitalized and Passes Away

She told her father news of the attack while he was in the hospital.  The hospital didn’t have a television and he wasn’t able to see the devastation.  He wasn’t feeling well, yet he was glad that she was safe with family. He understood his daughter could have been in that building. She was lucky to be alive, yet her father’s prognosis was not looking good. On September 25, 2001 her father passed away of natural causes.

Memories of Co-workers

Thirty-nine of her co-workers perished and only one body was found from their office. Search and rescue teams recovered the body of Chow Lam on the roof of the adjacent Deutsche Bank building. Mr. Lam’s office was located right next to a window. Reports indicate the impact from the second plane threw him from his office window and sent him falling to his demise on the roof of the Deutsche Bank Building. Mr. Lam’s wife felt fortunate, at least they had his body.  Other grieving families did not have a body nor complete closure.

Rose Riso was the fire warden of the floor and she took the responsibilities of the role seriously.  She saw the plane hit Tower 1. She had a keen sense and told her co-workers that smoke from the first tower would spread to Tower 2.  She told people to get out of the building. Some listened and some didn’t.  Little did they know Tower 2 would be attacked next. Numerous co-workers lives were saved because they listened to Rosie. Ms. Riso did not make it out of the building.

Return Home after September 11

Madeleine came home in early October and the world was changed.  All personal possessions left in her office were obviously gone. A very small price to pay, she was alive and well. She and co-workers that survived were never the same. The first three months after the attack were the most difficult. Work days were long and slow.  They would be at work yet their minds were somewhere else. One-on-one counseling was available to those in need. So many people had stories to tell.  So many brave men and women died and made tremendous sacrifices, and we will never know their story.  Many of her friends said her father saved her life. Madeleine’s father died and she was able to tell her story. 

Do you have a September 11 story to tell? We’d love to have you share it below.

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Have you ever had one of those friends who you take to the movie theatre with you for the first time, and they kind of interrupt the movie at the very beginning by talking? But you figure it’s an isolated incident so you answer them, laugh at their joke, and just shrug it off.

But then they do it again, and again, and again…

After a while, even though you love this person, you’re ready to strangle them? Well, that is kind of what Guy Kawasaki is becoming to me. Let me explain…

So, What’s The Problem?

Yesterday was my birthday, August 13th. It was also a Saturday. Every once in a while I like to check in on Google+ to see what is going on with the people in my Circles. Currently I’ve got about 200 people that I’m keeping an eye on and really want to see their updates.

Every time I log in to take a look, all I see is Guy Kawasaki and his Origami butterfly! Seriously, I mean virtually all day long he is right on the top of the screen.

Now, I don’t really “know” Guy. I think we’ve met once or twice at a convention or something. He probably doesn’t know my name, and he definitely doesn’t “know” me. So this post isn’t likely to matter to him one way or another (well, except it’s free publicity), but I do actually enjoy several of his posts.

Still, the volume of his sharing is… what is the right word? Large? Massive? Overwhelming? Overkill? Inconsiderate? Insulting? Infuriating? (Notice how the more I think about it, the worse the descriptor becomes? I wonder what the psychology of that is…)

Guy Kawasaki’s Post Frequency

Take a look at just Guy Kawasaki’s Google+ post distribution from yesterday:

• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:18 AM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:19 AM – Public
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:23 AM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 1:18 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:36 AM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:45 AM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 1:17 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 11:06 AM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 11:19 AM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 1:17 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 12:20 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 12:41 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 4:46 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 4:59 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 5:32 PM (edited)
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 5:31 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:07 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:11 PM
• Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:30 PM (edited)

(By the way, random question: why are 50% of the posts Edited?)

What Am I To Think?

I can’t understand the logic behind this sort of activity level on any social networking platform (a place where people interact), so I’ve got all these questions rolling through my brain:

• Just a couple of hours ago Guy posted the following:
  

  Every day a few people on Google+ proclaim that my posts contain random, stupid links to stuff they don’t care about. One might ask why they continue to keep me in a circle, but that’s too logical.
  Just to show that I don’t give a shiitake if they don’t like my posts…

  Well, I don’t have a problem with the type of content contained in the posts. Personally, as my readers know, I like variety. But honestly, you’re telling me you really don’t give a shit if I – or anyone else – follows you?

• Has he not considered the annoyance factor of being that guy that just hogs all of the attention, all of the time? Or does he think that everything he has to share is just that valuable?
• Is it a situation where he wants to be the one and only source of news that people get?
• Does he just think of himself as a brand so there’s no real “Guy” to follow, but merely the concept of a social media machine, dressed in Guy clothing?
• Is it simply that this behavior works to get on lots of lists and build large numbers of followers, and he knows it so he’s just doing what works?
• Is it really Guy who is posting all of this, or does he have other people doing it on his behalf? I mean take a look. He was all over Google+ from 8am – 4:30pm Pacific time on a Saturday. And this is a married guy with several kids. Is he really sitting at home all day on a Saturday sending out these messages?
• Are new followers just so easy to come by that he doesn’t care about churn whatsoever because there is an endless stream of people to more than replace those who can’t take it and leave?

On the same day those 25 posts were made, there were about 50 more over on his Twitter feed – which I unfollowed long ago because it’s clearly no longer his voice and instead just an automated stream of tweets from an account that literally follows over 300,000 people.

By the way, Robert Scoble who has a reputation for high post frequency, is mild by comparison. Yesterday he only posted 3 times, and on normal days it’s maybe 10. And people continuously jump all over him, so why is Guy getting a free pass?

What’s The Solution

I know I’m picking on Guy a bit here, but I think he’s wise enough to appreciate that I’m trying to openly and honestly discuss a concern and find a solution. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t really want anyone feeling frustrated or upset in any way when it comes to him personally. And although I’m calling Guy out as an example, there are several other people who do the same thing, and the number is only going to increase.

So, am I the only one here? I mean should I just unfollow as Guy himself suggests? Or should there actually be some social media etiquette with regards to filling up people’s streams? Is it up to the social networks themselves to give us tools to fix this problem? And, by the way, do you even care if the person who you are following is the one actually posting things, or if they have a proxy doing it for them?

I actually want to keep up with some of these folks, but their attitude seems to be take ALL of it, or take nothing. Why isn’t there a happy medium where I only see the most important things they have to personally share?

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That title may be upsetting to some but it gets my basic point across. We live in a world, not just the “first world” where our lives and destinies rely on our ability to communicate with each other. If you distill this concept, it’s really always been that way. Our ability to directly communicate via language, our concepts, thoughts, and emotions to one another was and is a defining factor in why we are the dominant species on the planet. It binds us, separates us and enables us to enact great feats. In short, communication IS our way of life.

Currently, the most widespread form of communication between people is the Internet. This covers a very broad spectrum of methods from actually speaking to each other via services like Skype and Google Voice to the use of social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or Google Plus. In order to take part, to really have a voice that can be heard amongst the din in our worldwide conversations, one must have access to the Internet. I would argue that one must have unfettered access. That is, service that’s not throttled, shaped, blocked or filtered. To block a user from access to specific data is to limit their ability to speak and understand. This violates a basic human right free and open speech.

How the UN Defines Human Rights

Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights as written by the UN states:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

This would seem to state implicitly to me that no one recognized as a person under law should be deprived of their ability to communicate. The statement “… through any media and regardless of frontiers” does, very clearly cover the Internet. So if we are following these as a basic concept of Human Rights, logic dictates that unfettered Internet access must be available to all persons under law.

Government Censorship and Free Speech Restrictions

Currently governments around the world, in my case the US are considering enabling DNS blacklists. Previously in the US there was a bill known as COICA (Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act) that would have allowed our government the ability to deem any website (with great ambiguity) as infringing upon the law and would allow that the registrar of said domain be ordered to suspend operation of the domain. This would effectively block the site from most people as they would have no ready method of access.

The site would still exist on the net but would be unreachable by hosts affected. COICA was killed in the Senate after having never received a full Senate vote. Unfortunately it has now been resurrected as the Protect IP Act. All of this is being done in the name of anti-piracy. It is intended to protect corporate entities from “theft”. I can understand the argument for protecting copyrights, but this law would give our government too broad a control over what we can and cannot consume or say on the Internet.

This discussion of Internet censorship is where the new battle for our right to free speech will be waged. I urge anyone who has not at least skimmed the Protect IP Act to give it a read through. It is rather unsettling.

Global Censorship and Corporate Controls

The US is of course not the only country that is considering action like this and there are already quite a few that are in worse violation of this human right. The most obvious of these would be China. At the beginning of this year the Egyptian government virtually shut down Internet access in their country when civil unrest boiled over and revolution broke out. The intent was to stop any undesirable information from entering or leaving the country. I’m not going to step into tin foil hat territory and tell you that the US government is going to shut down our Internet access in the event of unrest, what I am saying is that it is a possibility and something that we should be wary of.

Even more recently AT&T has decided that it is going to stop providing unlimited data to its customers who paid for said service. More specifically it is going to throttle the connection speeds of its users who consume the most data. They will still technically have access but at a considerably slower rate than what their original plan dictated. The myriad of other legal questions this raises aside, this would violate Article 19 of the previously mentioned declaration of human rights. It would limit the rate at which a person can communicate on a service that they pay for.

We’ve seen similar censorship with ISP’s shutting off the connections of users utilizing the BitTorrent protocol. If a person steals something in this country, we don’t take the use of their hands other than to restrain them while in custody of the authorities. ISP’s in this situation are acting as judge and jury. They may own the service but they should have no legal authority to dictate our right to use.

I’d like to end by saying that I think this is one of the most important discussions of our time. Here and now is where we will define our rights to communication for our future. What do you think? Are you worried about access to your favorite sites disappearing? Are you concerned about your own ability to say what you want to say? Or do you even think it’s an issue? Let us know in the comments below!

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You probably arrived at this page because someone wanted you to know:

Chances are you:

1. Were rude, mean or nasty to someone on Facebook or Twitter
2. Left a scathing comment on someone’s blog post
3. Generally acted in a socially unacceptable manner

…for no good reason.

Other things you should probably know (even though I know – you already know it all):

• You caught an error in a blog post. CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a GENIUS you are! I only spent a few hours writing a story with 100 points, but you found one that was wrong. WOW! I’m so glad you made a federal case out of it, because now we’re so much more enlightened.
• Even though this is only a personal blog for entertainment purposes of course I should be held to the same standards as CNN, right?
• Its a good thing that instead of dropping a comment with a correction you decided to [Tweet / Facebook / Blog] a scathing diatribe. (Sorry, that big word means rant.) I mean, if you had been nice about it there is NO WAY it would have worked, right?
• I’m really, really glad you chose to add value by using an anonymous account! The anonymous@gmail.com email address is a nice touch. As is the non-descript Twitter ID, combined with a lack of personally identifying info. Admirable!

The Douchebag Hall of Fame

Occasionally I’ll feature a special douchebag here. If you’ve got a story to share of someone who was rude, mean and nasty to you online feel free to share and maybe I’ll add them here too. But you have to document WHY they deserve it.

n8d on Twitter

Our first Douchebag, and the one who inspired this post today, is n8d on Twitter. Here’s why:

• I compiled a bunch of news stories as I was learning about the Japanese Earthquake (complete with reference links), and posted them to help people kind of catch up without having to do all the work I had to do.
• n8d found a single inaccuracy and decided to Tweet to the world as well as leave two nasty comments (deleted for good measure). As if the inaccuracy couldn’t have been corrected. I mean, like I chiseled it into a tablet of stone, right?
• Of course this person uses a non-identifiable handle, gmail address, no link to a website, etc.

So, CONGRATULATIONS n8d! You’re Douchebag number 1. Your mother must be so proud.

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TSA Full Body Scanner

“We Don’t Save The Photos.” Really?!?

Despite promises that these full body scanning systems will not save naked photos of you, recently it was discovered that 35,000 photos of naked citizens were being stored by the U.S. Marshal’s Service (another Federal agency) and over 100 of those photos were leaked.

In response to this, the TSA posted on their official site:

Myth: TSA Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) images can be stored on the AIT machines located in our airports.
Fact: Completely false – TSA’s machines should not be confused with the recent stories about the U.S. Marshals Service. The machines used by TSA at our airports cannot store, print or transmit images. They simply don’t have that ability.

Note the claim that the images are not transmitted? Yet they’ve also told us that the images are transmitted to another location where a different TSA agent is viewing them. So which of their two stories are we to believe?

They are also being extremely specific when they say the LOCAL machines at the airports don’t store images. I’m willing to bet images are being stored in a central system somewhere, just not LOCALLY. Considering that the TSA is also certainly tapped into every flight manifest, it doesn’t take much work to start matching up images with travelers so they can build a database of what every man, woman and child in the US looks like in their birthday suit.

Remember, it only takes ONE employee with access to take home millions of scans on a portable drive to ruin your day. And these things happen all the time.

So What? How Detailed Could The Images Be?

Well, you tell me what you think. Here is a scan that was simply inverted to show you what’s possible. The TSA technology is MUCH higher resolution than this.

In fact, in England, use of full-body scanners is considered a violation of child pornography laws, and the machines are banned for children under 18.

What if You Opt Out of the Body Scanner?

Well, I’ll tell you since the TSA doesn’t. I’ve opted out about 90% of the time, unless I’m in a huge hurry – and even then it didn’t always help.

When you opt out of a body scan you are placed into a separate line where you wait for the next available TSA agent to come get you and do a screening. In literally every case except one when I did this I had a TSA agent with a very bad attitude come get me. (More about that in a minute.)

• The agent will ask you where your items are that went through the metal detector and then carry all of them over to a table. You are not allowed to touch your stuff or help carry it. You stand there and wait.
• Next, the agent will tell you what they are about to do and describe how they are going to frisk you using the front of their hand in places that are not sensitive, and the back in other places.
• They they have you hold your arms to the side and begin to frisk you. When they get to your genitals they absolutely go all the way there – every time. YES, you will have their hands on your junk. (Hopefully you enjoy that kind of thing.)

For females who go through the screening process, they will use the back of their hands to rub completely around the outside of your breasts. The bad news is, you will be fondled. The good news is that it doesn’t cost you a dime to get felt up!

By the way, Dave Barry had similar experiences with the TSA you can read about here, and here’s a little video about the new pat down procedures:

Lets say that you decide to forgo the manhandling and breeze through the body scanner! Well, 50% of the time when I’ve done that I still get dragged aside for the probe! Damn! This tells me that you might as well not even bother and move straight on to the anal probe.

Why do All the TSA Agents Have Bad Attitudes?

I don’t know if dealing with so many people every day makes you numb or what, but 90% of the TSA agents that I’ve interacted with treat me like cattle. This lack of treating people with respect and dignity comes from the top. If the executive leadership demanded it, it would filter down. But clearly they do not.

Here is an example of how unreasonable TSA agents can be:

I’ve had several screeners come up to me and ask questions in accusatory and demeaning ways, and when I respond in a similar fashion they act as though I have no right to question them or attempt to retain some shred of human dignity. I’ve also experienced what can only be described as threats and intimidation.

One agent went so far as to attempt to “stare me down” when he overheard me speaking to a travel partner saying that I didn’t believe this made us any safer.

What Else is the TSA Wasting Money On?

I’ve got two words for you – behavior detection. Did you know the TSA has 3,000 agents deployed in airports across the country at an annual cost of $200,000,000 trained in “behavior detection”. Yet they’ve never apprehended a single terrorist.

Oh, and the GAO released a report that said at least 16 individuals later accused of involvement in terrorist plots flew 23 different times through U.S. airports since 2004. Yet none were stopped by TSA behavior detection officers working at those airports. None.

The bottom line is, the TSA spends $6.3 BILLION per year, has 60,000 employees, and has does not seem to have made us safer. Their argument might be that TSA run programs prevent people from even trying… but security existed in the airports for decades prior to the TSA and the results were no different.

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Is there a World Record for the number of times something has been ReTweeted? I have no idea. But you know what? There should be!

Just a few minutes ago I put out a tweet in an attempt to set a new World ReTweet Record! Is this rediculous? Of course! And it isn’t even close to being the last time I do something rediculous!!! But come on folks, you gotta admit it’s also a little cool. Well, maybe not cool. But funny. No? At least you’ll give me pathetic! So would ya do me this one little favor and pitch in with a retweet?

If you’re following me on Twitter you should have seen the World Record Retweet attempt go out already, so you can handle it from there. But if it makes it any easier, just click on the following link to preload Twitter into a new browser window with the ReTweet ready to GO! We aims to please!

By the way, there is no expiration date on this World Record attempt! So if you EVER read this article or see the ReTweets a flyin, please help out and toss one in! In fact, there isn’t a limit as to how many you can contribute either. So go hog wild!

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Ok a friend, who at this moment shall be nameless, but maybe not after I win this, bet me that if I were to open up a discussion on the blog here asking for questions for my interview tomorrow with Nina Hartley (yes, the legendary porn star) at South by Southwest that I would get some that even I would be too embarrassed to ask.

I told him that was preposterous! Nothing scares John P!

The problem with statements like that is they lead you right into these stupid bets that guys make. So yes, this is a REAL bet. And yes, I must ask Nina Hartley any question that you put in the comments below. However, there are two rules to protect me. After all, my mother is going to watch this video!

• No vulgarity. I won’t say curse words or be crude.
• No talking about body parts for the sake of just talking about them. You have to ask REAL questions!

Actually, now I wish I was able to come up with more rules for this little bet, but alas that was all I could think of at the time it was formed. So, there you have it.

Anyway, I’m not really worried about it. I don’t think anyone can come up with a legitimate question that I would be embarrassed to ask Nina. I mean, they’re only questions… right?

Oh, there was one other tiny little stipulation to the bet. It’s no big deal really because no one is going to win. But if I’m too embarrassed to actually ask the question I must publicly admit it and give credit to each person during the video interview. (He freakin made me even put that last part in italics. Whatever….)

Caio!

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Ahhh, this is a strange story. It begins as the tale of a “church” in Amarillo that wants to get rid of a swingers club. But after peering a little deeper it seems evident to me that the religious group in this case is really just the thin disguise for a hate group led by their “pastor” David Grisham,”…a security guard at nuclear-weapons facility Pantex who moonlights as a pastor.”

By the end of this story you are going to be wondering if you want David Grisham guarding the nation’s nuclear weapons facility. More importantly you are going to wonder how many of the people running that facility are just like David Grisham! But I digress…

The “church” is called Repent Amarillo, and it comes complete with a military style website modeled after the US Army, and a hate map of all of their current targets including not only sex establishments but businesses, churches, masonic lodges, Islamic centers, Buddhist temples….

In their own words:

“…we cannot stand by and watch 67,000 of our neighbors walking through the gates of hell.”

So they intend to target and harass anyone who does not believe as they do until they either drive them out of Amarillo or force them to capitulate. Ruining lives, and stripping people of their constitutional right to freedom of religion. You know, whatever it takes to save you from yourself! (Or run you out of town if you don’t come around eventually.)

Here is a short video covering the tactics employed by Repent Amarillo:

And here is a nice little sit-down with David Grisham. He will dazzle you wish his ability to recall a quote from the bible! And it’s a good thing that he explains to us that the fact there is a church on every corner is no reason to feel spiritually safe!

I love the way he really gets stuck on the “sexual morality” issue. I mean, coming from a guy who has been married four times, and in his own words admits:

“I was a sexual sinner before I got saved. I got saved seven years ago. Prior to that‚ yeah, I’ve been to strip joints and porn shops. I’ve done all kinds of things” he says. “We understand the destructive power of sin firsthand. We’ve lived it. We’ve walked in those shoes.” These days he’s celebrating Repent’s victory over the swinger’s club. “We felt it was like the tip of the spear for sexual immorality for the devil in Amarillo,” he says. “So we went after that specifically, and we exposed it so it would wither and die. And it has.”

I love it when someone has partied enough for a lifetime and really, really lived it up till they get it all out of their system, and THEN decide they are going to prevent anyone else from doing what they just did!

By the way, I do have a small question. If these psychos are doing all of this in the name of Jesus and love, can someone explain the purpose of harassing people, making them miserable, causing them to lose their jobs, etc? I mean really, where in the bible did Jesus say, “I am the light, the way, and if you don’t follow me then my minions will make your life a living hell! Until you die and go to the real one…” I guess all that stuff about just ignoring non-believers and moving on was a bunch of crap, right?

Anyway, if you want to chime in and try to help the folks in Lubbock you can join a facebook group called Amarillo Citizens Against Repent Amarillo. Even if you aren’t from Amarillo just knowing there is external support could provide encouragement to those who are stuck there feeling like they have no one on their side.

In my opinion, it is pathetic that Repent Amarillo enjoys the very freedom that comes from being an American only to abuse it in order to disrupt the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of those around them. And the more they continue to push, the greater the likelihood that violence will erupt. And when it does, God help Amarillo.

You can read more about this issue from The Texas Observer. And by the way, just because these guys are freaks doesn’t mean they represent Texas. It’s a big state. And 99% of us would gladly kick their asses and not think twice about it.

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There is nothing that can fill the hole in one’s heart that comes from the loss of a loved one. The pain is profound, and immeasurably deep. Sometimes the loved one is a human, and sometimes not. I can tell you from experience that the pain pays no mind to species.

Today, for the second time, we experience this deepest sense of loss with the passing of our “little girl” Lexi, and when she died, a piece of me went with her. It’s been nine months since we lost her younger sister Sandy, though I swear it seems like three. Now our house is empty and quiet.

Everyone I know who has animals love them. But it takes a very special dog to be loved by people outside their own family. Lexi was one of those special companions. She was not the kind of dog who jumped on people, or sniffed you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable. She didn’t lick you, or demand attention. In fact, I don’t recall a single time she really did anything wrong. She was just a beautiful, graceful and gentle creature who would greet everyone at the door with a wagging tail and an open heart.

Lexi taught me the true meaning of unconditional love. For nearly 15 years every single time I walked in the house she was at the door to greet me. If I had a bad day, or was in a rotten mood, all I had to do was call her name and she was at my side in seconds. There was never a single time that she didn’t want to be with me, she was never once mad at me, and I know there is nothing she wouldn’t have done for me.

I suppose I’ll keep the rest of the story to myself. Those who knew Lexi will remember her fondly as a dog that truly had no equal. Unfortunately old age caught up with her and she succumbed to illness very rapidly and completely unexpectedly. I’m just sorry that we didn’t have time to let friends and family know in advance so they could see her one last time.

Lexi loved everyone. And in return, we all loved her back.

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You guys have heard me drone on and on about my hatred of Spammers. I really mean it when I say I want to shoot them. Like with a real gun. In Texas. (Yee-haw)

Anyway, some people seem to think that they are not spammers as long as they leave a nice sounding comment along with their spammy “made-for-adwords” website link. And I guess they even think it’s ok for them to use different names on different comments… and different spammy MFA website links.

Another Spammy Example

In fact, here is an example of someone who used 4 different domains and two different names when leaving comments. Of course, they didn’t take into account the fact that they have the same damn IP address on every comment (all of which have now been deleted).

Oh, by the way, normally I would feel bad about putting someone’s name or email address up in an image, but since I don’t believe the names are real anyway, I have no sympathy.

By the way, before anyone points out to me that we could be dealing with multiple different people behind some sort of proxy server, let me point out that:

• This doesn’t explain away the same URL with two different names…
• I verified all this in Woopra too.

Why This Is So Very Wrong

The thing is, comments existing here ON MY BLOG for only one purpose. To facilitate discussion between people. But those who come here using fake names and linking to spammy blogs are clearly, clearly, clearly only doing so to attempt to sucker other people in clicking through to THEIR sites in the hopes of making money off of them.

There are many people out there advising bloggers to go and leave comments on other, more popular bloggers, websites. And this is not really bad advice – as long as it’s taken properly! The goal is NOT to fill popular blogs with spammy comment links! (The whole God-damn world is not about siphoning cash from your fellow man!) The goal is to try and develop some sort of a relationship with that person so that you can get them to take an interest in what you are doing and occasionally link to your material or offer assistance in some other way.

But there are so many people who just don’t get it… And to illustrate this point, right now there are about 14,250 bonafied comments on this blog, while Akismet has caught 440,000 spam comments. Over 97% of the comments left are spam! And in order to make sure that real readers want to participate in a site’s conversations, you better delete the hell out of anything that looks fishy. I do.

Bottom line: if you can’t walk up to me in public and introduce yourself with your real name, and have me know something about you personally from the link you left on my site, then your comment is suspect. In fact, I do not want any link from you unless IT TELLS ME EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE! And for God’s sake, I even spell that out clearly in the rules, which you spammers just don’t bother to take seriously.

So shape up, or kiss off.

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AcciTweeting is what happens when you meant to send an SMS to someone, but instead you send a public Tweet. Like for example, I follow my wife @Hollypoz on Twitter. I also get SMS notifications when she tweets. Sometimes I want to send a quick SMS to her, but the last thing from her in my phone actually came from Twitter!

Do you see where this is going?

So, I respond to Twitter as if I was SMSing her, and Voila! The world has my private SMS! :-) Ever happened to you?

PS – AcciTweeting is a spin off of AcciDialing. That is when you already called someone, but you somehow accidentally call them back and don’t know it, and then they have to listen to whatever you are doing while saying, “Hello? Hello!!!” Aaron Phillips taught me that one. He loved to accidial me.

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Well folks, in about two weeks, on January 30th at 4pm, I’ll be giving a complete lecture on basically everything I know about how to have a successful blog. I’m going to deal with the topics of revenue generation, social media integration, analytics and measurement, and God only knows what else! It’ll probably be like a 1.5 hour lecture, so be prepared.

Now there are a lot of local folks who are always asking me for help and advice with your Websites. This is your chance to not only get a very hefty bit of information out of me, but to meet other people who are also interested in the same thing. So, be at this event because as you all know, I don’t have time to do this sort of thing very often. Also, the event is already overbooked so you need to register FAST in order to have a shot at getting in.

As embarrassing as it is, here is the description for the event:

We’re starting off 2010 with a bang! Dallas’ most famous, colorful, and high-profile blogger, John P. will be presenting an informative and entertaining talk on how to Make More Money with WordPress, Social Media and Analytics.

John P. is the CEO of iFusion Labs, the company that brings you Woopra, host of the popular Wealth Nation podcast, former Chief Marketing Officer for Layered Tech, and the founder of HTMLHelp.com. He’s also the lead organizer of WordCamp Dallas and likely the most prolific WordCamp videographer on the planet. His personal blog, One Man’s Blog, receives 10-20,000 visitors each day and he is an outspoken advocate of helping others to achieve similar success.

PS — Keep your evening open for the famous DFWWP “networking” afterparty at Sherlock’s Pub and catch up with all your WordPress friends and colleagues.

The lecture will be held at the Art Institute of Dallas, who so generously supports the local WordPress meetup group. We REALLY appreciate it! And by the way have you noticed that sponsoring events like this bring a LOT of exposure and attention? Just think of all the new people who stop by and visit the Art Institute who might never have otherwise done so.

Now here is the kicker! If you are going to come, you MUST register for the event on MeetUp.com!

The problem is, the space was filled up a couple days after it was announced and there is already a waiting list. Do NOT let that discourage you. Tony told me that he will try to find a way to take care of everyone who registers, so get your name on the list ASAP so that you can be accommodated! I’m sure that if the list goes over about 125, people are not going to be able to be invited. So HURRY… and please don’t grab a seat if you aren’t going to be there as others will miss out.

Again, it’s at 4pm in Dallas at the Art Institute. And afterward we’ll go over across the street and do a little socializing at Sherlock’s Pub.

The address is:
The Art Institute of Dallas
8080 Park Lane
Dallas, TX 75231
214-692-8080

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Kieran Daly wrote an article called Passenger creates big debate at American – I mean big! a couple of weeks ago. The story originated as a result of the following photograph taken by a flight attendant aboard her flight while the plane was boarding.

Now anyone who has to do a lot of traveling can empathize with the guy in the middle seat here who is stuck by this morbidly obese person. God knows I’ve had experiences where a huge person has spilled over onto me, and frankly I don’t want another person touching me for even a second, much less hours on a long crowded flight.

Now, I find it completely unacceptable that the gate agent didn’t stop this man before boarding and tell him that he simply isn’t going to fit on this airplane – but I can understand why they didn’t do it. No one wants to be placed in the situation of telling someone they are too fat to fly. But clearly, the evidence we see in this photo is that this man is not going to fit in a single seat no matter what they do.

So tell me this:

• How is this guy going to affect traffic flow in some sort of emergency situation?
• What do you think his fellow passengers are thinking?
• Is it fair that AA charges small passengers money to check a bag when this guy weighs more than a small person plus their bag?
• Do you think this guy could even fit in the lavatory?

So the real question is: Should the FAA actually step in and provide some standard guidelines for how fat you can actually be and still get on each type of plane? Personally, I think so since the airlines (except for Southwest) are apparently too scared to actually do something about it without big brother leading the way.

Oh, and it’s not an isolated event. This happens every single day…

By the way, if something like this happens to you, head over to Elliott.org and look up the airline’s contact details on the right side of the page and complain like hell! They should reimburse you as the most basic starter.

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