Elbows Music Blog Community

Ugh. I'm not even surprised.

i swear to god im gonna start using Yahoo!... no, no im not... :/

when will people realize that google was never an idealistic company? their plan from the beginning was to be as evil as people think they're gonna be now, and they've been that evil since the beginning. why else would they have to proclaim loudly "don't be evil" ad infinitum?

i don't doubt that they're nice dudes to talk to. but just look at the way they collect and control information — sometimes in kinda sneaky ways. and they are able to do it by cultivating nigh-indispensable services (gmail, google maps, youtube) not for the purpose of providing a great product, but for the purpose of scraping as much data about users as possible.

do they have nefarious plans for all that data? probably not. at least not anytime soon. but the way they go about doing it and the fact that no one does — or can — police this is worrisome. but google pretends that it's looking out for you, like a big brother. except they're just big brother.

all that to say that i still use google services all the time. i don't necessarily care about google knowing a lot about me (squashed, on the other hand, might have something to say about this), but the fact remains that google is pretty deceptive about it all in a trojan horse kind of way and many people refuse to see it because google couldn't be evil. could they?

@Jason - Like Sean I have no doubt that the Google founders are decent guys - they have spearheaded bringing the internet front and centre and they have created some great services like search and GMail and Maps, but they do have shareholders and shareholders are out for money. I don't have a problem with that per se and they don't hide that fact, but it is their complete about face on net neutrality is what has got my shackles up.

Yes it may be good for Youtube to get premium bandwidth, but as soon as you create tiers you make competition and siruption in that market more difficult because you are not starting on a level playing field and to even compete you would need to sort out being on that top tier as a service provider. This means that the consolidated backbone providers like Verizon will have a stranglehold on every internet service that tries to come to market. If Google gets that deal done, then they win and Verizon win so I can see why they would do it - it is just that everyone else, including innovation, loses. Google has never been one to shy away from innovators in the online space before (they have bought plenty of them and the market rapidly evolved and improved because of that), but in that deal they are directly screwing them.

Come on Jason... you know you want to share insider info with us, I will almost certainly not buy/sell shares on the basis of it ;)

I don't think Google has evil plans for all that data and they are transparent with it as you say, but I can't believe Google will have released all those great services if they hadn't thought that they would be able to use all the data they collect from them for a profit. That isn't a bad thing, and as they are transparent about it I don't have any issues with it - but Google isn't a public service so we can't expect anything else of them.

This net neutrality thing is a whole different ball game however...

fair & balanced

http://tv.gawker.com/5609826/keith-olbermann-goes-after-google-and-verizon-ending-net-neutrality

this is a great thread. that's all I can add at this point.

That's just it... none of this is new..



All this does is make it an "Official monopoly".



Could you look me in the face and tell me the internet has yet to be monopolized prior to this?



If you have a great money making idea for a website, it will be much more difficult to start up... the days of no start up cost on the internet will be virtually gone.



With 3rd party influence (money),This could lead to "Censorship of Media" (blocking or editing sites like http://wikileaks.org/) or "Biased Propaganda" (Which could be deadly during elections.)



The news on television and the radio has been practicing this for quite awhile... I'm sorry, but I personally don't feel threatened if gay people get married. Even if I did, it should never be your lead story when a $162 million quarter loss for Chrysler has become common acceptance, there is STILL an ungodly amount of oil in the gulf of mexico, and 5 years down the line New Orleans hasn't been properly taken care of. It's just filtering through all the garbage.



Same bullshit, different medium.

This is I what I think I have to say to google if they are reading.



Don't do it man. There is certain thing as a company you don't do. If you are restaurant, you don't spit or drug the food you serve. If you are a bank, you don't cook your book and move around people's money without authorization.  Those activities goes against the basic functionality of said organization.



Google is an information searching corporation. In public mind, you are suppose to give "correct" search. You can have ugly costumer service, inept web designer, shitty user generated content or bumbling CEO, but as long as you are good at being a search engine, the money will keep coming in from secondary activities.



What you are proposing, is basically altering the information landscape, fundamental functioning of internet, and create a "real" information filter for easy money. Who is going to trust you as a search engine when using cellphone if you do that?  How did Bing go after they get cought tweaking search result?



You lost public trust online, you are gone in the blink of an eye. People will move on to alternative. How long did Yahoo last after their result quality went down and dishing out shitty commercial pages for search result? How successful is microsoft in search business? Apple?



You really think your big data centers are so precious and can't be replaced by new generation of fast optic processors by some scrappy outfit in the next decade? They are just energy gobbling scrap silicon if you ask me.



This  I think how you will end if you do the verizon deal. You will lose information for next generation search engine. It takes high quality information to output good search. And the best information is still "human activity/inputed information", you won't get that if you lost trust by the most knowledgable users online.  Only dumb people will use your search engine.



And when next generation search engine that relies on social networking/volunteer expert opinion come in, You will be nothing but Yahoo/altavista of yesteryear. Crude return, only good for party fun.  While the next generation search engine is teaming with by smartest/most knowledgeable people happily punching in information. It will return insanely accurate informaition by several order of magnitude. People go where the trustworthy sites are. You lose trust, you are nothing but digital noise in large information ether.



What will you do if government come in and demanding you & verizon to censor this and that?, because you made thhat Faustian bargain? Then your search information is even less accurate and thrustworthy. Even Baidu will be better alternative than you are after the idiot in DC done with their demands.



Making money? Think harder there are millions scheme to make money. Current set up of cellphone isn't all that, they are dying technology only propped up by legacy laws, completely detached from reality of technological progress.



Frankly, I think, you, google is just damned lazy and lacking imagination when it comes to next generation communication device. "SEARCH HARDER" (hey, now that's one use for your search engine while it still works.)



And if you go on with that verizon deal, may thousand digital plague rain down upon you just like the big record labels.  You will be filled with ghost of AOL-ers, myspace users, lady Ga Ga fans and viagra spams. You will believe your own bullshit. Facebooks will finally buy you and put you on their page plug-in. And Murdoch will declare you as the future of mass media while Newt Gingrich will sing you praise. Paywall !



 *chuckle*



You know my curse is good.

On the basis of name awesomeness alone, I am now switching from Google to Duck Duck Go. Can't imagine that they would ever transition from being Good Duck Duck Go to Evil Duck Duck Go.

Had to try out Duck Duck Go, and I actually kinda like it

First post!  I'll step right into the fracas.

Perhaps it's quite the opposite of stagnation.  Comcast started controlling traffic from BitTorrent.  The FCC sided with the pro Net neutrality, open-Internet folks and ruled that Comcast could not do that.  But earlier this year the FCC ruling was overturned by a Federal Court which said the FCC didn't have authority to enforce Net neutrality.

That's stagnation.  Now re-enter corporate giants Google and Verizon. I don't like or agree with everything they have proposed but then again it's a proposal.  They have effectively "unstagnated" a "stagnated" issue. They've opened up dialog, fired up the yeasayers and neasayers. They put the issue front line and center.

It is naive to think that influential corporate giants,like Google and Verizon, will not have a proposed framework on Net neutrality.

Anyways, the issue won't be decided by them. They just got things moving for discussion and hopefully resolution. In the end it's up to us (the public) and the people who we have elected as government representatives to decide this issue. 

 

Tim, I wouldn't have said that they had either, not on the face of it anyway.  But when any company focusses their efforts on legally hindering competition rather than on innovation, a direction both Google and Apple really do seem to be moving in of late, then it is from a historical perspective a near-perfectly reliable indicator that their innovation has pretty much run its course.  I look at a lot of their recent products and it doesn't necessarily look like a sensible statement, but generally if you're litgating, you ain't inventing and you have become the problem, not the solution.  This holds true so consistently throughout history that it seems unlikely to have changed in this case.

it is just that they still try and defend that decision as if it is good for us the consumer and how they've done us a favour

that's been my problem with them since the beginning. i'm glad other folks are starting to feel the same way.

Dewi, you better not be a counter spin sock puppet. lol Nothing gets my goat than a PR sock puppet.



And, yes. I am unplugging my google account one by one. filling it with junk or moving it to inactive status.. and switching to alternative services. Thank gawd, been moving out of blogspot years ago. Google is turning kinda creepy.



PS. no. Apple/iPhone won't keep growing because they are not big enough to compete in hardware level. (current iPhone v.4 is 2 generation behind already)

What happened to our google v. apple thread? Oh well. iPhone is cool, got a nice display, but being stuck on AT&T and with android being generally fantastic, highly customizable & supported, as well as offering so many options now from slide out keyboards, to larger almost tablet like phones, to tiny cheap ones, to fun interfaces, and all the apps you'll ever think you might possible want to maybe need, it's going to be just like the old PC days of yore when Apple made that tiny screen PC and then Windows made a pretty GUI too and spread out to every phone, er, I mean, computer maker out there.

Add the douche factor with Apple these days and it's seems like it's just a matter of time.

Honestly... My iPod is for music, it's got a kabilion gigs or something. I don't use the phone for music, at all, so I can't tell ya.

Yeah this is good, get some momentum behind it.  Don't be fooled on this one though, cause backing by the House Dems is a good political move too.  November elections coming up and the Dems don't want to lose control of the Senate.  Maybe we'll hear from Barack himself on this one.  He's all over the first Ammendment stuff lately especially in regards to the Ground Zero Mosque debate.   But something tells me that might of backfired on him.  Wonder if and when the GOP will weigh in on this?  May actually turn out good for us little guys....

That's really good stuff.  Looks like anyone can respond, US or UK folks?  Some really keen questions asked on that form.  Will definitely throw my two quid in.  ;-)

Lulz - RIAA trying to get some mileage out of the "controversial" Google/Verizon Net neutrality plan.  Jump on the pile guys.

RIAA: U.S. Copyright Law 'Isn't Working"   -  Wow, these guys are geniuses

"RIAA President Cary Sherman said the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act contains loopholes that allow broadband providers and Web companies to turn a blind eye to customers' unlawful activities without suffering any legal consequences."

Wow that's pretty good Sherman, it only took you like 12 years to figure that out

"In response to a question from CNET, Sherman said it may be necessary for the U.S. Congress to enact a new law formalizing agreements with intermediaries such as broadband providers, Web hosts, payment processors, and search engines."

"The RIAA would strongly prefer informal agreements inked with intermediaries, Sherman said: "We're working on [discussions with broadband providers], and we'd like to extend that kind of relationship--not just to ISPs, but [also to] search engines, payment processors, advertisers."

Wow I'm impressed, very Orwellian of you Sherman

And the finale, the closing statement.  A startling, comical, Duh comment:

"And, he suggested, it (Google) could do far more: "If you enter in 'Beyonce MP3,' chances are, the first thing you'll see is illegal sites."

And if you enter in 'ignoramus boneheads', the first thing you'll see is a RIAA Wiki site with Sherman's picture on it

Lulz

And on it goes

Not sure who "Merz" is but I think it's a good idea for anyone who uses the internet to weigh in on this subject (Net Neutrality, RIAA) especially music bloggers.  There are some sharp people out there who have been blogging for quite awhile that should have an opinion on this.  Plus the more attention brought to the subject through Senators, Governors, local politicians the better.  I am not patting myself on the back but I've contacted all in my state and put my two cents in. Plus filled out the OFCOM survey Tim pointed out.  Maybe it will get circular filed but at least I can say I tried. 

It's funny, I was following someone on twitter today who, of course, is not following me.  Anyways, it was a tweet a minute, all about themselves, how smart they are and how they know so much about 90's videos (as an example).  Actually, it wasn't funny, it really leaned more on the pathetic side.  The point is they could be tweeting something useful, heck even spreading the word to support Net neutrality for example.  Instead they were tweeting their ego, nasty.  I digress....

I'm guilty of having my sarcastic moments (see post above) but I do know that I've tried to do positive things too.  I get some comfort from that.

As an example, I would think (and hope) that a guy with these "self promoted" wonderful, external accolades, below, would be a perfect person to express his opinion and even get the word out via his very popular website.  But then again...

Culture Bully is a music blog that began as a lowly blogspot in April of 2005. Since then, Culture Bully has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, Idolator, Star Tribune, BoingBoing, and Comedy Central amongst a variety of other websites and publications. The site has been based out of locations all over North America including Iowa, Minnesota, Alberta, and Tennessee—where Culture Bully is presently located. Past contributors to the site include Kyle “Guante” Myhre, Jon Behm, Josh Keller, Erik Thompson, Ryan Buege, Adam Bubolz, and Tim Althaus, in addition to a series of musicians, comedians & other guests.

Over the past few years Culture Bully has received a variety of accolades from a number of online and print sources—here are what a few have had to say:

“Since 2005, Culture Bully has been considered one of the leading online authorities on new music.” — eLearners (Mindshare Awards, 2010)

Featured as one of the “Top journalistic start-ups of the 2000s.” — MN Daily

“This Minneapolis-based blog does a great job of covering it all.” — Associated Content (The Five Best Music Blogs, 2009)

Featured as the “Best Local Blog.” — Vita.mn (2009) (print magazine jpeg)

“They push the envelope and get away with it.” — Murray Newlands (Top 10 Music Blogs, 2009)

“Of all the blogs the Twin Cities has to offer—and there are a ton of good ones—none is more professionally executed than the music site Culture Bully… It’s rare to see a homegrown blog blossom into a genuine local treasure, but Culture Bully has done just that.” — City Pages (Best Local Blog, 2009)

“Culture Bully is the most realized satellite in the local blogosphere.” — MN Daily

“This is the type of site that other bloggers look up to… They simply have their shit down, there’s really no other way to put it.” — Popsense (The Definitive List of Best Blogs, 2008)

Noted as one of the “Best Blogs of 2007 That You (Maybe) Aren’t Reading” — Fimoculous

“Thousands of people write about music and upload songs every day. We have found the best places to hear and download new music…” — Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (Best Music Blogs, 2008) (jpeg)

Featured as one of the “Best Homegrown Blogs” — Metro Magazine (2008) (cover | article)

About the author: Chris DeLine is just some white dude who takes care of Culture Bully. If you’re looking to contact him, you can do so by either emailing Chris here or dropping him a line through Twitter. For some reason, in 2010 the UK’s Daily Mirror called Chris a “top music blogger.” Then again, that very same publication might or might not have also previously called Batboy “one of the most groundbreaking discoveries in the history of mankind.” Just sayin’… If you’d like to take a look at some of the posts Chris has put together for the site, dial 9 now. If you’d like to find out a little bit more about him, here are a few interviews he’s done: Green Light Go (2010), Hypebot (2010), Detour Magazine (2007) & Minnesota Reads (2008) & Rift Magazine (2009). In the event that none of that stuff does the trick and you’d rather check out some of his goings-on elsewhere, feel free to browse this fairly complete list of Chris’ contributions to other publications/sites here.

I actually don't tend to spout my political or legal opinions on TBW - I don't think it's the right outlet.
That is what Twitter and Techdirt are for :)

there is a very old net neutrality thread. wow, this thing will never resolve. it goes in wave. A new large corp initiative come in every other quarters. I think this thread was started during ATT effort trying to take over the planet.





what's the list so far



ATT

News Corp

comcast

Verizon

Google



http://elbo.ws/vanilla/comments.php?DiscussionID=288&page=3#Item_23

Something I didn't think about earlier that TBW got me thinking about (and may have said up there, but my brain is still processing it), the wired internet is very finite, right? Only so many people are even allowed access to all the cables in the ground or on the poles or in the satellites above our heads that attach to my house, right?

Government regulates all that, I assume, so I change my mind.... Government should have a say in how it's being used and how much is being charged for it. The only problem I see is when the government dictates something that, again, limits my ability to watch porn and "borrow" music.

Then I'll be mad.