Tag Archives: censorship

GNC-2011-11-12 #722 CES 2012 Support Needed



Ok for the business folks out there that need some extra exposure. I have a ridiculous deal for you, get heard and seen on this show through the dates below.. Pony up to the bar and help support the Support staff for CES 2012. All moneys earned will go towards those team members support cost for the show.

Support my Show Sponsor: 5 Best Godaddy Promo Codes
$0.01 GoDaddy coupon for a New domain name cjcfs3geek
$1.99 a month Economy Hosting with a free domain name. Promo Code: cjcgeek1h
$2.99 a month Managed WordPress Hosting with free Domain name. Promo Code: cjcgeek1w
Support the show by becoming a Geek News Central Insider

Subscribe Today: Audio | Video | Mobile Video | iTunes | Zune
Download the Show File

Follow me on Google+
Follow @geeknews on Twitter
Geek News Central Facebook Page
Purchase GNC gear from the Ohana Store!
Show Hotline 24/7 1-619-342-7365 or e-mail geeknews@gmail.com

Listener Links:
Krispy Kreme Recipie.

Links to articles covered in this Podcast on the GNC Show Notes Page [Click Here]

Credits:
Jack Ellis – Executive Producer
Mike Baine – Associate Producer


GNC-2011-11-14 #721 CES Ramp Up!



Great to be back in Hawaii and in the Studio. The hard work begins over the next 6 weeks in getting ready for CES 2012. For the first time ever we are going to ask for additional listener / viewer support in helping us for CES 2012. We have produced 1000’s of videos for you and the operation has grown to the point that we want to take care of our support team in a bigger way. I have set a fund raising goal of $5000.00 and hope you will support our endeavor with a $25.00/$50.00/$100.00 donation which will 100% be used to pay our support crew.

Support my Show Sponsor: 5 Best Godaddy Promo Codes
$0.01 GoDaddy coupon for a New domain name cjcfs3geek
$1.99 a month Economy Hosting with a free domain name. Promo Code: cjcgeek1h
$2.99 a month Managed WordPress Hosting with free Domain name. Promo Code: cjcgeek1w
Support the show by becoming a Geek News Central Insider

Subscribe Today: Audio | Video | Mobile Video | iTunes | Zune
Download the Show File

Follow me on Google+
Follow @geeknews on Twitter
Geek News Central Facebook Page
Purchase GNC gear from the Ohana Store!
Show Hotline 24/7 1-619-342-7365 or e-mail geeknews@gmail.com

Listener Links:
Couple must Give Facebook Password to each Other!
Kindle Fire Review.
Holiday Photo Tips.
NASA Time Lapse Earth!
Intel Announces 4004 Processor 40yrs ago!

Links to articles covered in this Podcast on the GNC Show Notes Page [Click Here]

Credits:
Jack Ellis – Executive Producer
Mike Baine – Associate Producer


GNC-2010-09-07 #608 What Camera?



Congrats to our Roku Winner from Washington DC. Set your calendars because this Saturday, for the first time in 6 years, I launch a new show. The tentative name is “The Morning Tech Show” I will have guests on with me. This is your chance to submit discussion topics for in depth analysis of topics in the Tech World. The show will start with three hosts and expand as we get it rolling. This is part of the initiative to expand the Geek News Central Brand. On todays show, I cover the Set Top Box Conference and a metric ton of tech news and tidbits plus some fun stuff. For a three day weekend there was plenty of news!

These companies keep the lights on here at GNC your support is appreciated!
Sponsor: Save money at GoDaddy using my Promo Codes significant Cash Savings.
Sponsor: Visit gotomeeting.com, click the try it free button & use promo code: Podcast.
Sponsor: Infusionsoft, the leader in marketing automation software for small businesses.

Subscribe Today: Audio | Video | iTunes | Zune
Download the Show File

Follow @geeknews on Twitter
My Facebook Profile
Podcast Facebook Page
My YouTube Channel
Visit the Ohana Store for GNC Gear!
Streams Justin.tv / Ustream.TV
To Comment on show call 1-619-342-7365 or e-mail geeknews@gmail.com

Insider / Ohana Links:
Ways to watch the NFL.

The Geek’s Show Links:
Sobriety Key for your Car.
Craiglist Censorship?
Regulating Free Speech?
Jumping the Shark.
Shop in Stores, Buy Online?
AR Drone Helicopter.
Free iPad Scams.
Death of Newspapers?
SXSW Interactive Pricing.
Canadian to be ISS Commander.
Did you work on Labor Day?
Scaling your Business with Technology.
Only in Japan.
Sony Demo’s Google TV.
Duke Nukem Forever 13 years late.
Fake Twitter Post ends in Suspension.
EX HP CEO to Oracle?
ACTA Treaty pushes DRM.
Largest Google Search Advertisers.
Space Death Spiral.
Commodore to make a comeback?
Sony PS hack now in the Wild!
Ryan Air CEO wants 1 Pilot in Cockpit?
Five Firefox Add On’s.
Next Doctor On Wheels?
Apple Airplay.
Wonder where your Amazon order is?

Send in your stories to geeknews@gmail.com and be sure to provide a link to your websites!


Google vs China



If you are a business working in a countries whose policy you disagree with, do you follow those policies and try to change them from the inside, or do you leave . If you remain in the country there is no guarantee that you will have any impact on policy, but there is a small chance. If you leave and you are alone in walking out then your impact will be strictly symbolic. That is the problem with Google’s decision to close down their search engine in China. Microsoft and Yahoo have steadfastly followed Chinese guidelines on censorship and there is no indication they are following Google’s lead. In fact both companies, especially Microsoft have been extremely quiet on the subject.

Let’s be clear Google decision alone will have little impact on China in the end. However that doesn’t make it the wrong decision on Google’s part. Someone has to be the first to stand up and say no, when things are not right. Sergey Brin, the cofounder of Google knows this better then most. He spent his first six years under Soviet rule and is aware how totalitarianism works. An article in the Wall Street Journal confirmed what I had thought, that their decision had a lot to do with his early life in the Soviet Union and how his family was treated. It appears that at least one company Go Daddy is following Google’s lead, announcing today that they are no longer selling cn domain names. They decided this after the Chinese government asked for information about the those who were registering the domains.

Hopefully, more companies will follow Google’s and Go Daddy’s lead. I can’t think of anytime in history, where a company has impacted a country’s policy by remaining in the country. If a company works in a country they are required to follow the lows of that country. However, the boycott of South Africa, protesting apartheid clearly did have an impact overtime. Hopefully other companies will follow Google’s and Go Daddy’s lead in China. Lets face it though Google has enough money that they can afford to make a decision like this, most companies can’t afford to ignore the Chinese market. As long as remaining in China has a positive impact on a company’s bottom line very few companies will follow Google’s or Go Daddy’s lead. Do you think Google and Go Daddy made the right decision or not


Censorship in the Era of Social Media



If you take pictures and store them online you are probably using Flickr. For most people it’s the perfect option, it’s free or low cost. They post pictures, for their friends and family to see and there are no problems. However, when things go wrong or there is a problem, especially in the area of censorship Flickr often reacts arbitrarily and with weak customer service response.

Does Flickr have the right to have a censorship policy, yes they are a private company they can set up what ever rules they want. In some countries they are required to by law. Now you may argue that they should either fight those laws or not do business in those countries. However Flickr decided to do business in those countries and is required to follow the laws of those countries.   By uploading pictures to Flickr you have agreed to abide by their policies.

Flickr does have what they call “community standards” when it comes to censorship. If you scan down to the bottom of the Flickr welcome page you can find it under their community guidelines

“Do moderate your content.

You need to take responsibility for ensuring that what you upload is appropriately flagged. If your judgment proves to be poor, we’ll moderate your account to match appropriate ratings for safe search and/or content type and send you a warning.”

“Don’t forget the children.

Take the opportunity to filter your content responsibly. If you would hesitate to show your photos or videos to a child, your mum, or Uncle Bob, that means it needs to be filtered. So, ask yourself that question as you upload your content and moderate accordingly. If you don’t, it’s likely that one of two things will happen. Your account will be reviewed then either moderated or terminated by Flickr staff.”

What happens though when you believe you have abided by their policies and your pictures are restricted or worst you account is banned. This has happened to a couple of photographers I follow on Friendfeed and now Google Buzz, Thomas Hawk and Violet Blue. The reasons were not given, their accounts were simply listed as restricted, and an email was sent to them.  The email only stated that the account was restricted, that is all. Neither Violet Blue or Thomas Hawk went out of their way to violate Flickr’s policy and in Violet case she was very careful to self censor her pictures. When, they uploaded the pictures they did so thinking that they are perfectly fine, only to have Flickr restrict their accounts. In their eyes their photos had past the Uncle Bob or mom test, however Flickr decided differently and they have the final say.

Although Flickr has the final say, what they decide is not without consequences. The biggest difference today , then even five years ago is the ability of the user to push back, when they consider themselves misused. Five years ago if they restricted your account or worst your account was banned, the most you could do was complain to your few friends and write emails. Today, when the same thing happens the information can be sent out on the social media web and is seen by thousands of potential customers. It is hardly ever good business practice to have customers who have a large bull horn, who believe they have been misused.

Should you use Flickr, I would say yes , for most people it works great, but beware of the pitfalls. Do not use them as the sole place to store your photos. This is true of any photo site. For the photos that are really important to you, you should have at least three copies, the originals, a local backup and finally on line.   If you have a Google account and are participating in the Buzz community you can read about Violet Blue’s run in with Flickr, by searching for Violet Blue in Buzz.


Want to censor something then be quiet.



I was reading a story about a bit torrent site concerning some data that some people did not want made public. I won’t mention the site since it would defeat the purpose of this post because I don’t want the data seen either. I see things like this all the time and not just online. some group decides that a website has content that may not be suitable for, well, anyone. So they make a big deal and get lots of publicity. Guess what happens then? The website blows up since the word is out. By complaining about content these groups draw attention to the very thing they don’t want anyone else to see. Some obscure site that 500 people may stumble across turns viral and 100,000 people see it. The same thing happens with CD’s (these things are what music used to be played on). Some group decides that society cannot survive the release of a violent or sex laden music CD so they boycott Walmart and make a bunch of noise. All this does is create interest in the very thing they wish to oppose. When I was in school I remember a couple of rap albums that got all kinds of criticism for their content. Ice Tea & The 2 Live Crew was constantly in the news. I actually bought the Ice Tea cassette (square thing with rolled up film like tape that played music). I probably never would have known who Ice Tea was if not for the helpful protesters. So if you want something to be silenced then keep your own mouth closed.

I believe in the First Amendment whole heartedly. I know that in order for my speech to be free I have to give that right to others. Popular speech does not need protecting. Unpopular speech does. I can choose to not listen to things I don’t like or stay away from people who say things that I find awful.