Sad State of News on the Internet

It really is a shame how most news organizations are adopting the “catchy or dramatic title” on their articles to pull in web traffic. Case in point:

Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations. Source: Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

Last time I checked, intercepting video would not have been considered hacking, the definition from Wikipedia: re-configuring or re-programming of a system to function in ways not facilitated by the owner, administrator, or designer. I probably would’ve read the article had it been titled “Insurgents intercepting video from US Drones” or something more accurate, all this did was piss me off. It’s no wonder I use news aggregators instead of going straight to news sites themselves.

Posted by Jimmy Daniels Posted in: Annoying Websites, Current Events, Linking Strategies, Soapbox No Comments » December 2009

Civility 101

I just read this post by David Pogue called Whatever Happened to Online Etiquette? and I have to say I agree and disagree. While people certainly are rude and aholes when they are “anonymous”, such as posting on digg or driving their automobile, this has been around since before the internet started. If you have ever been on a bulletin board before the internet, or any of the first forums on the internet, you know people can be dickheads because they are. Every time you turn around someone is getting mad at someone because they ask a newbie question, soopid noob, newbie, search for it noob, etc, etc, that is why I have never started a forum, although I am once again considering it. Forums can be great sources for information, but the can also get pretty ugly and un-welcoming.

Why can’t we all just get along? I’ve always felt that if the people who started being rude to new people years ago, would have just been nicer, it probably wouldn’t be as bad online as it is now. Instead of yelling at someone who asked a question that had already been answered, why not welcome them and point them in the right direction and welcome them to the site? Everyone has a “blonde” moment at one time or the other, especially if they are new to something, like asking for help online. Check out this part of Pogue’s post,

685 diggs. “AWESOME astronomy poem.” (posted by MetsFan 3 days ago)
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.
Before long, the people’s feedback begins, like this:
by baddude on 12/11/06
What’s yr problem, moron. You already said it’s a star, why would you then wonder what it is. Get a clue, or a life.
by neverland2 on 12/11/06
Dugg down as inaccurate. Stars do not twinkle. It’s the shifting atmosphere that causes an apparent twinkle. Or were you stoned all through science class?
by mrobe on 12/11/06
yo neverland2–It’s a poem, idiot. Nobody’s claiming that stars twinkle. Ever heard of poetic license?
Honestly, the intellectual level of you people is right up there with a gnat’s.
…and so on.

Hehe, seen it happen many times. I will agree with him about parents not teaching their kids how to treat others, and it is going to get worse, as people have less and less to prevent them from doing something, like being disciplined at school, i.e. the spanking they took away, or being spanked by their parents, they will get worse and worse. As has been said by some radio personalities, we are the nation of the offended and the more society allows people to get away with, the worse people will be.

Posted by Jimmy Daniels Posted in: Soapbox No Comments » December 2006

Microsoft Releasing Video Site

Looks like Microsoft is jumping on the user created video site bandwagon, ala Youtube, with Soapbox at MSN video. Techcrunch has some info on it, but he also said no one has answered any of the emails he has sent and he doesn’t expect them to until next week.

There aren’t many details yet, but LiveSide is saying this will be a MSN, not Live.com product, and will eventually be launched at soapbox.msn.com. The feature set includes:

Upload videos in almost any format—like from your video or digital camera (maximum file size is currently 100MB)
Tag and categorize your videos to make it easy for other people to find them
Watch original videos and browse for new ones at the same time
Set up your own personal RSS feeds for videos you’re interested in
Use your Windows Live Spaces profile with Soapbox on MSN Video
Embed a video on your Web site or blog

More info will probably be available next week. Screenshot is also on the Techcrunch site.

Posted by Jimmy Daniels Posted in: MSN, Soapbox, Web 2.0, YouTube No Comments » September 2006