Reblogging SFB’s reblog of me, because T U M B L C E P T I O N Also: Seeking to protect a “line between information source and activism” presupposes that there is such a thing as objective reporting. I do not believe there is: Objectivity is impossible, as human beings are inherently subjective—honesty and transparency are as close as anyone can get. Given that, I don’t find a bit of so-called “activism” irresponsible. The whole point is to show the population at large what a world with a censored Internet would look like. It’s basically a “starve the beast” tactic, and reporting on the blackout—when you’re as popular as something like SFB, at least—strikes me as more like giving the beast a tiny taste of what it isn’t getting, which means it’s both participatory and contradictory. It’s like an amuse-bouche of protest. This humble blog is nowhere near popular enough to register any change on the meter (except in the Netherlands, because they are handsome and intelligent), so I plan to continue shouting into the void tomorrow. I will, however, post only SOPA/PIPA or blackout related things. (With Reddit and BoingBoing down, I’ll have to do something with all that extra free time.) shortformblog: awesomebrainpowers: Not to trivialize an incredibly important issue, but I foresee an off-the-charts spike in office productivity tomorrow. Sadly, the websites that track that kind of thing will have gone dark, so no-one will ever know. tpmmedia: A lot of major websites are “going dark” on January 18 in protest over the internet bill SOPA, and this timeline shows you how the campaign has ramped up in the last week. Google is even planning a special doodle about SOPA tomorrow. (via TPM) We’re on the fence about going dark. We’d rather cover the phenomenon and inform people about it than disappear entirely. I asked inothernews about this, and his thought was this: “I think that if it affects us directly in our ability to deliver information to our audiences, then we have no choice but to participate.” However, to us, it seems like it breaks the line between information source and activism; we’d rather tell people about the activists than play that role ourselves. What do you all think? — Ernie @ SFB
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Reblogging SFB’s reblog of me, because T U M B L C E P T I O N

Also:

  1. Seeking to protect a “line between information source and activism” presupposes that there is such a thing as objective reporting. I do not believe there is: Objectivity is impossible, as human beings are inherently subjective—honesty and transparency are as close as anyone can get. Given that, I don’t find a bit of so-called “activism” irresponsible.
  2. The whole point is to show the population at large what a world with a censored Internet would look like. It’s basically a “starve the beast” tactic, and reporting on the blackout—when you’re as popular as something like SFB, at least—strikes me as more like giving the beast a tiny taste of what it isn’t getting, which means it’s both participatory and contradictory. It’s like an amuse-bouche of protest.
  3. This humble blog is nowhere near popular enough to register any change on the meter (except in the Netherlands, because they are handsome and intelligent), so I plan to continue shouting into the void tomorrow. I will, however, post only SOPA/PIPA or blackout related things. (With Reddit and BoingBoing down, I’ll have to do something with all that extra free time.)

shortformblog:

awesomebrainpowers:

Not to trivialize an incredibly important issue, but I foresee an off-the-charts spike in office productivity tomorrow. Sadly, the websites that track that kind of thing will have gone dark, so no-one will ever know.

tpmmedia:

A lot of major websites are “going dark” on January 18 in protest over the internet bill SOPA, and this timeline shows you how the campaign has ramped up in the last week. Google is even planning a special doodle about SOPA tomorrow. (via TPM)

We’re on the fence about going dark. We’d rather cover the phenomenon and inform people about it than disappear entirely. I asked inothernews about this, and his thought was this: “I think that if it affects us directly in our ability to deliver information to our audiences, then we have no choice but to participate.” However, to us, it seems like it breaks the line between information source and activism; we’d rather tell people about the activists than play that role ourselves. What do you all think? — Ernie @ SFB

(via shortformblog)

Source: livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com

In the last month and for reasons completely unknown to me, this blog has become oddly popular in the Netherlands. I’m not sure why (for who can claim to truly know the mysterious ways of the Dutch?), but in all the world, you Nederlanders have the most love for ABP per capita. In particular, I wold like to extend a warm “Aangenaam kennis te maken” to the extremely talented and attractive peoples of Hilversum and Alphen aan den Rijn, who clearly know how to party. I’m not sure what’s going on with Groningen and Limburg—the only two provinces who haven’t paid a visit in the last month—though. Those guys could learn a thing or two from their more westerly cousins. I was going to insult them in Dutch, but I don’t speak Dutch, so the best I could come up with was “Mijn luchtkussenboot zit vol paling”, which means “My hovercraft is full of eels”. And that isn’t true (my hovercraft has been eel-free since 2008), but beggars/choosers etc etc. (I have too much fun with Google Analytics.)
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In the last month and for reasons completely unknown to me, this blog has become oddly popular in the Netherlands. I’m not sure why (for who can claim to truly know the mysterious ways of the Dutch?), but in all the world, you Nederlanders have the most love for ABP per capita.

In particular, I wold like to extend a warm “Aangenaam kennis te maken” to the extremely talented and attractive peoples of Hilversum and Alphen aan den Rijn, who clearly know how to party.

I’m not sure what’s going on with Groningen and Limburg—the only two provinces who haven’t paid a visit in the last month—though. Those guys could learn a thing or two from their more westerly cousins.

I was going to insult them in Dutch, but I don’t speak Dutch, so the best I could come up with was “Mijn luchtkussenboot zit vol paling”, which means “My hovercraft is full of eels”. And that isn’t true (my hovercraft has been eel-free since 2008), but beggars/choosers etc etc.

(I have too much fun with Google Analytics.)