Stupidity rules, ok?

Wireless in the city of brotherly love

2005-12-08T12:17:00.000+01:00

There is a question here about whether the competition is fair when the government has advantages of borrowing money, owning and perhaps giving away real estate access, regulating and taxing us. If you are in a position where you can regulate and tax your competitor, it certainly gives you an advantage. That is a whole fairness question that I think ought to be worked through and thought about.

Eric Rabe of American ISP giant Verizon cries unfair as Philadelphia sets up a low cost wireless internet covering the entire city in a joint venture between the public and private sectors. Providing internet access for $10 or $20 depending on income didn’t come to the liking of the giants used to charge $45-60. The actions aimed at bridging the digital divide in American society have set the wheels of legislative manipulation in motion; the ISP industry have managed to buy politicians and pass laws banning local government from making internet generally accessible. Unlike many American cities the good people of Verizon “think the market has done a good job of addressing the issue [digital divide and public internet access] already”. So the reason the ISP industry’s trying to ban other cities from doing what Philly just did is because they don’t want the cities to waste their money? What? Something’s wrong here. That doesn’t sound like the Capital I know!

Stupidity rules the fair competition-mongers, ok?

A mug’s game

2005-12-03T23:41:00.000+01:00

After a court ruling in Australia file sharing network/platform Kazaa’s been ordered to add filter to their services. Certain buzzwords or certain might not be the right word since the list of buzzword contains 3,000 items will now be filtered out when using their search engine. The courts and the rights industry alike believe that making searching on the Kazaa network all but impossible will stop or at least make a dent in the flows of sharing. The question we all are asking ourselves is - who are the biggest fools? The devious bastards who try to equate individual words with copyrighted material (and de facto claiming ownership of the words themselves) or the mugs still using Kazaa? It’s a close call but I would have to go with option number two. The first ones are at least trying to do something the other ones are just sitting there. Ah, for fuck’s sake, just change file sharing program!

Sigh, sigh, sigh! Stupidity rules, ok?

There’s a riot going on

2005-11-02T18:24:00.000+01:00

For a sixth consecutive night the suburbs of Paris were shaken by riots. The French police crack down on criminal youth gangs in the suburbs took a turn from bad to worse as two youngsters were electrocuted while they tried to escape from the clutches of the police. Riots sparked as locals took to the streets of the suburb of Clichy the night after the youths’ deaths, angered by the behaviour of the authorities. The police, being the police, admitted no blame but promised that an investigation would be launched once things cooled down. In the mean time they put the blame solely on what they labelled as thugs and criminal elements (considering the numbers of rioters the police obviously view the suburbs as nests of these anti-social elements). The fact that the suburbs of Paris are predominantly immigrant made the police’s no less surprising. But instead of cooling down, the riots of Clichy have spread to other suburbs and a massive series of copycat riots have raged the last nights (it seems as if multiplication does produce powerful numbers after all).

The attempts to label the populace of the suburbs as criminals only reinforce the fact that stupidity rules the police, ok?

Get stereotyped or die tryin’

2005-10-30T17:10:00.000+01:00

On the poster of the fairy tale depiction (sorry, that’s true story based on really real events) of hip hop mumbler 50 Cent’s super rough ghetto life, Get rich or die tryin’, the rapper’s portrayed with a gun in one hand and a microphone in the other. It didn’t take long for various protest groups to start crying their hearts out; the poster, nevermind the film now, they claimed, promotes “gang violence, criminal behaviour and gang affiliation”. Why you might ask? The gun, the mic and the fact that 50 Cent, unlike say Schwarzenegger, is black. Of course they didn’t say the part about 50 Cent being black. Oh God no, that could be perceived as racist. The fact remains, there is no problem showing off guns on movie posters as long as the hand holding them are not racially stereotyped as criminals and “bad influences” on the kids. Leaders of the campaign against the poster thanked Paramount for showing “corporate responsibility”, Paramount thanked them for the free publicity and the rest of us thank the protesters for ... ehm ... I don’t know, unknowingly upholding a racial double standard, maybe?

Ey, forget about it ... stupidity rules yet again, ok?

The downward spiral

2005-10-06T19:00:00.000+02:00

The business community and especially the advertisement sector have always looked upon football with jealousy in their eyes. Football possesses a highly desirable quality, one that all companies look for, loyalty. Fans of clubs are loyal; they stick with the club through thick and thin, hell and high water. The love of a club might be like a marriage from heaven (undying passion and an incredible sense of belonging) and hell (continual betrayal and relentless disappointment), but divorce has never been an option. With the emergence of modern football this loyalty have been put in question, the senseless greed of the clubs’ management (like charging half a weeks’ pay to see a game with your kids) have distorted the relationship between club and fan to a straight commodity based on. Modern football has, in many ways, transformed the fan to a customer and football to an entertainment commodity among many others. And unsurprisingly the loyalty is fading. In order to combat this decline of loyalty the business men of the club boards have turned to the ad agencies for help, trying to relight the flame of loyalty through shrewd advertisement. The full circle of modern football is nothing but a continuation down the downward spiral that takes football to constant new lows.

Stupidity rules the football executives, ok?

Business leaders of the world, unite!

2005-10-05T11:54:00.000+02:00

It was a coming together of the top of the pops; leaders of some of the world’s mightiest software, entertainment and pharmaceutical companies stood up, side by side, proclaiming that they had joined forces in the never-ending war against piracy. Without getting their story straight even for the initial press coverage they claimed that the fight against piracy is essential for the survival of business (their businesses of course), the economy (because they suffer) and society as a whole (they being indispensable to us). The double tongued Eric Nicoli, EMI chairman and co-chairman of the new organisation BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy), first claimed that anything can now be perfectly copied anywhere in the world and then countered by saying that piracy is dangerous, it cost lives, because it is not as good as their own original products. This was especially true when it came to medicine, car parts, toys and food (unsurprisingly four fields all represented at the meeting by leading companies). Dangerous to whom, one might wonder. Certainly not to the millions surviving on generic or counterfeited pharmaceuticals or food additives throughout the developing world. Hypocrisy always has a foul smell; and when it is, as in this case, powered by greed the stench becomes even worse.

Stupidity rules the greedy, ok?

The copy morons strikes again

2005-10-04T11:51:00.000+02:00

The copy morons (anyone got a better name for them please let us know) once again show their utter lack of understanding for the processes of creativity. The latest victim of their campaign against … eh … art is self taught British painter Jack Vittriano. For once it isn’t the right industry banging its collective head against the wall; no, this time it’s the art critics of all people. So why do they batter against this artist? Well, they feel he doesn’t quite live up to their standard of uniqueness and originality. You see, some of his paintings are based on (or copies of if you like) a textbook on how to paint. He have never hide the fact, never denied it. Art is, among other things, rearrangement and retelling and that is just what he does. But this is obviously a no-no for the copy morons of the art critics. Why? Who knows? One would assume that they should know better …

I know, it’s a bit like saying that the sky is blue but stupidity really rules morons, ok?

The minority rules

2005-09-21T10:08:00.000+02:00

The British comedy crew, sorry, that’s advertisement watchdog - Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) – have just ordered an ad campaign for Sin City to be removed. Exactly what authority the ASA holds is unclear but obviously they are in a position to issue bans. So why did they do it? Well, Sin City ran this interactive campaign where you could watch clips from the film at bus stops etc. and out of 486,000+ viewings the ASA received one (uno, um, un, en, ein, jedno, 1) compliant about the content. That is all it takes, someone somewhere gets offended and then the ASA steps in, desperate to justify their own existence by condemning most anything. And of course they did it for the children. Always for the children.

Sigh, it never ends, now does it? Stupidity rules the moralists, ok?

Trouble at the playground

2005-09-19T21:14:00.000+02:00

Two armed men get in a shoot out with the police and get arrested. Sounds strange, weird or even remotely unclear? Not really, now does it? Well, the British government likes to think so, because when this happened they just don’t seem to understand – why are they in jail? Why? Not because the reasons stated, no, there must be some underlining political reason. Because, you see, it all has taken place in Iraq – a place the British evidently see as their own playground.

For what must be obvious for all - stupidity rules, ok?

What's a little fascism between friends anyway?

2005-09-15T12:06:00.000+02:00

All BAE Systems' employees are required to act with honesty, integrity and fairness. We will not tolerate bribery or other attempts to improperly influence the decisions of customers or suppliers. We are committed to conduct our business to the highest ethical standards. We comply with the law in all countries where we operate.

This is the statement issued by British arms dealer BAE when it was made public that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was on their secret payroll. By means of hidden offshore accounts in the Caymans and secret "slush funds" the BAE paid over £1m to Pinochet, who is still a major player in the Chilean military with lots of important connections. So why did the BAE pay the old fascist? But be sure, it wasn't bribes of any kind. No no, BAE is a good and moral company. And so are the external parties they pay. Come on, what's a little fascism between friends anyway?

Stupidity rules corporate morality, ok?

The old beats the obsolete

2005-09-13T10:06:00.000+02:00

"Victory! Victory! Victory at last!" cries the IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industries) as the Australian court deliver the verdict in the industry's case against Kazaa. The court have found that Kazaa is used for, hold on to your hats now boys and girls, share copyrighted files! Believing that they just beat a leading actor on the "filesharing scene" the rights industry is now dreaming of meadows of gold and green. In their attempt to stop sharing they have missed the fact that most people already switched from costly (and ineffective) systems like Kazaa to the likes of BitTorrent. The armies of the right industry are still chasing after the shadows of the old, the reflections of themselves; still incapable to keep up with the pack they hunt down the weak strays who themselves haven't kept up. The old is feeding on the obsolete, and they call it a victory.

Stupidity rules the rights industry, ok?

Green Street moralist

2005-08-27T10:41:00.000+02:00

There’s been some controversy concerning the film Green Street, which tells the story of an American student (that’s Frodo’s part) coming to London and meeting some well dressed men with a special interest in football. Or to cut it short, it’s about football hooligans. The thing that differs this film from other hooligan films (Football Factory, I.D. etc.) is the strong connection to football and the club, in this case West Ham United. The film makers were allowed to shoot at Upton Park during a match. And the club knew exactly what the film was about – the high concentration of young men wearing Stone Island, CP Company, Aquascutum, Lacoste and vintage Adidas pretty much gave it away. And after seeing the film the club felt happy about the end result. Sir Robin Wales, mayor of Newham (the home of West Ham), on the other hand, hasn’t seen the film. But that doesn’t stop the man from being strongly apposed to it. Claiming that it’s going to destroy the good name of Green Street, attract the wrong crowd to Newham and the film makers are only in it for the money. One would think that he should wait until he’s seen the film before denouncing it, but then again, sound reasoning has never been the strong side of moral outrage.

We’ve heard it all before, stupidity rules the moralists, ok?

Digital non-stop erotic cabaret, part 2

2005-08-17T15:37:00.000+02:00

When delaying the triple x project the US government wanted the Icann to "ensure the best interests of the Internet community as a whole are fully considered." It sounds good (it usually does, doesn't it?), but since the government changed it’s mind in the eleventh hour after strong lobbying by a small but organized group of people and activists these words take on another meaning. This formulation projects the idea that pornography is something foreign and alien to the "Internet community" (whatever that is) and not an integral part of it. By internalizing internet while at the same time placing porn firmly on the outside a distinction is made between flows of "good" and "bad" information, between them and us. "We" must decide whether or not the porn industry should be allowed on the internet; like there is any question that adult content already constitute a major part of it (estimates show that 4-10% of all traffic is adult material and 20% of all surfers have visited porn sites the last month). Is the government taking in the concerns of the internet as a whole or those of noisy campaigner claiming to protect the children?

Stupidity rules populism, ok?

Digital non-stop erotic cabaret, part 1

2005-08-17T12:31:00.000+02:00

In June this year Icann green lighted the project to create a virtual red light district on the internet by establishing the .xxx-domain. The plan was to make the domain a home for porn sites. And surprise, surprise, the moral outrage did not wait. Right wing religious groups teamed up net privacy campaigner who in their turn teamed up with net veterans of all kinds – the lobbying against this “obscenity” had just begun. It’s socially unreasonable, it’s legitimizing the porn industry, ensuring easier profits for pornographer, flooding our homes with filth – these were some of the views aired. And the US government, which still holds sway over the Icann, listened and the green light turned red. Maybe, just maybe, if we all hold hands and close our eyes really, really hard this time all the smut peddlers on the internet will just go away and people will stop wanting porn. Ok, on three now everybody – grab hands and close your eyes – one, two, three…

Sigh, stupidity rules moral indignation, ok?

Turning every principle on its ear

2005-08-15T08:55:00.000+02:00

Google’s ambitious project to digitalize five of the world’s greatest libraries has been put on hold after the US publishing industry – the Association of American Publishers (AAP) - started to complain. Like always they’ve raised concerns over copyright issues, and like always they rather bury their heads in their hands, repeating in complete despair: “this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening”, than embrace the possibilities of digitalization. Unable to comprehend the benefits (yes, profits to be made not only the general benefits in terms of accessibility to knowledge and culture) they keep on clinging to the old. They keep sing the song of the nay-men (think Disney-like musical piece) : “It’s wrong! It’s bad! It’s got to stop! It’s turning the world on its ear!”

Stupidity certainly rules the copyright industry, ok?

Return of the blame game

2005-08-10T14:25:00.000+02:00

When companies fail to produce profits or live up to market expectations the blame game often kicks in; it’s the world market’s fault, it’s the union, the lack of government support, the taxes, the foreign competition, the war, the terror, it’s the economy. Hey man, it’s the damn weather’s fault, I tell you! Oh well, you get the point. The blame game - the shifting of focus from the incompetence of the board to whatever scapegoat they can come up with. A good example of this is the video rental chain Blockbuster; when their largely out-dated business model (acting middleman between the consumer and the film industry) is running the numbers into the red they start blaming Hollywood for not producing enough hits. It’s Hollywood’s fault that people don’t want to pay insane prices for services they don’t really need. Yeah, that’s right. Keep fooling yourself.

Once again, stupidity rules the blame game, ok?

Grand theft idea

2005-08-06T14:08:00.000+02:00

I felt violated, like somebody had broken into my head.

Filled with resentment and bitterness after seeing fellow author Dan Brown raking up millions with his international bestseller The Da Vinci Code, Lewis Perdue decided to take him to court on charges of plagiarism. Lewis had written a similar book a few years before Brown and felt entitled some of Brown’s millions. Lewis’ book, The Da Vinci Legacy, was based upon the same basic ideas about the Holy Grail and stuff. Lewis claimed that he came up with these ideas and therefore owned them. The judge thought otherwise, the ideas were too general and for that reason unprotectable. Maybe Lewis should have kept his ideas to himself if he didn’t want anyone to “steal” them, it’s impossible not to when he puts them on display like that. Or maybe he should go cry to his mommy instead.

Stupidity rules, ok?

Do it yourself, corporate style

2005-08-04T20:12:00.000+02:00

It’s kind of horrible when nobody have anything nice to say about the fruits of your creative labouring. Sony Pictures knows all about this, all to well. But the people at Sony had a plan, “Let’s do it ourselves!” they said. If nobody would write good reviews of their films they would write them themselves. Or at least they wrote some good quotes for the posters and ads. A classic case of problem/solution, wouldn’t you say? Well, not everybody liked this creative solution; Sony got sued and they lost. And being a baby about it, Sony refused to take responsibility for their actions and instead singled out two employees to act fall guys and scapegoats.

Stupidity rules the corporations, ok?

A zillion trillion billion dollars

2005-08-01T17:41:00.000+02:00

In another vain attempt to stamp out internet piracy the FBI launched a world-wide operation with the catchy name Operation Site Down. (They must employ someone to come up with all these names, right?) For a second time around they went for what they believe to be the root of file sharing, the warez groups, hoping that if the root is destroyed the tree above will wither and die. There are off course a couple problems with this approach; they are so obvious that it’s almost rude to point them out. First of all, warez groups are pretty much like the head of the hydra, cut one off and seven will take it’s place; secondly (and boy, this is a big one) there is no one root system, the whole tree analogy is flawed from start to finished, think weed or mushrooms instead, and rain instead of well. We could go on but what’s the point? Oh that’s right, after the raid was done the FBI proudly proclaimed that they had seized computers with $100 million worth of “stolen” immaterial goods. $100 million, why not 200, or 300? The value of multiplied and copied goods is just made up anyway so why not go big? I mean really, really big, like a zillion trillion billion. Sometimes I wonder if I’m a millionaire too?

Except the obvious stupidity of trying to stop the ocean waves, stupidity really, really rules the valorisation process of multiplied computer bytes, ok?

No drinking and no sex

2005-07-29T15:00:00.000+02:00

When Capital takes upon itself to regulate its contents and practices it always takes the moral high road. And it travels this road dressed in the chastity belt of barely updated Victorian sexual moral. Yes, it proclaims, women are weak and they need protection both from the men they arouse and from their own needs and desires. In advertisements for example there must be no link between women’s drinking and sex, slams the Committee of Advertising Practice in their latest effort to turn the clock back. Women are according to CAP unable to control themselves, should they spot an attractive man in a bar: “We consider that the advert is in danger of implying that the drink may bring sexual/social success, because the man in question looks quite attractive and desirable to the girls.” Oh, I see, drinking and sex are bad for women. Hands on the covers now, girls!

Without a doubt, stupidity rules Capital’s self-regulation, ok?

With friends like these

2005-07-25T13:37:00.000+02:00

After the recent suicide bombings in London the British police force have started implementing a new anti-terrorist policy - the shoot-to-kill-in-order-to-protect policy. The objective is to neutralize the suicide bombers before they get a chance to detonate. Reasonable? Well this policy assumes that the police can identify the bombers beforehand. And this is the problem; the recent attacks showed us that the bombers could be pretty much anyone and no one, they are invisible. So whom is the policy going to target? They will most likely keep on targeting working men from minority groups, men like Jean Charles de Menezes. Fausto Soares, a friend of Mr Menezes, pretty much summed it all up: "We are all terrified about the bombs, but now we are terrified of the police as well." Police Chief Sir Ian Blair on the other hand confirmed that the police will continue the implementation of their new policy and that more innocents might be killed at the hands of the police. You know, it makes you wonder; with friends like these, who needs enemies?

Stupidity rules the police, ok?

Boohoo goes the cry-baby

2005-07-21T18:03:00.000+02:00

I think he went for the money. The answer is if he didn't want to come to a club like ours, which is a great club, then he went to West Ham for more money.

Bolton boss and obvious self-diluting whiner Sam Allardyce went to the press crying about why Israeli ace Yossi Benayoun snubbed his team. Bolton, a great team? Yeah right, keep telling yourself that. Keep fooling yourself. But the fact remains, who can refuse the opportunity of putting on the claret and blue shirt and play for the pride of London.

Stupidity rules good ol’ Sammy boy, ok?

Do you believe in magic?

2005-07-11T19:04:00.000+02:00

After US government officials closed down yet another BitTorrent tracker Dan Glickman of the MPAA stated that this was: "bad news for internet movie thieves and good news for preserving the magic of the movies". At first glance you might believe that he be right. But once you start thinking about it you realize - what magic is he talking about? Not the magic of the people; creating endless number out of nothing, giving it freely and instantly to anyone how wants it or needs it. That, my friend, is the modern day equivalent of water into wine. That is magic of the truest kind. What Glickman is talking about are the cheap parlour tricks of the business world, the oldest ones in the illusionists’ handbook – making people pay for what they already have. And people keep falling for it…

Quite frankly, stupidity rules the suckers, ok?

The sound of inevitability

2005-07-02T13:17:00.000+02:00

Consumers have an awareness of the scale of the problem and cost, but don't take onboard industry concerns or government messages. The researchers found that people did not equate downloading a game with the idea of shoplifting the disc from a shop. People are more accepting of it, even if they didn't engage it in themselves. They don't see it as a great problem on a social or economic level. They just don't see it as theft. They just see it as inevitable, particularly as new technologies become available.

Dr. Jo Bryce commented her findings in the study about people’s views on internet piracy, Fake Nation. Like most of us already knew, nobody shares the anti-pirates views on the matter. Michael Rawlinson, an ELSPA fat cat, came to the logical conclusion; if the people got the wrong ideas and views it’s up to the government to make them change their minds. Re-education camps anyone?

Here’s a gun, there’s your foot; stupidity rules, ok?

Complete control

2005-07-02T10:24:00.000+02:00

One of the great illusions of our day is "the freedom of the internet". It is upheld both by net libertarians and control advocates alike; one side striving towards less meddling, prying and regulations, the other wanting to monitor in the name of security, property and morality. Internet is either being too controlled or not controlled enough; it should be returned to its “original” free state or at last placed under supervision. But internet isn’t free, it never was. How could it be? The 13 root computers are still managing and directing traffic, and they are controlled by the US government alone. The factual plug can be pulled, entire domains cut off. No freedom, only illusion. But as a myth free internet holds a greater power than it possibly could gain though the strengths of actual freedom. Myth creates movement, it makes our hearts beat harder and our blood boil, and it turns internet into a world of subversives, pirates and smut-peddlers. Perception is far more important in this case than the truth of the matter; complete control is only a mask, a believed state of stability. And it comes crumbling at the speed of myth. Internet remains free as long as we believe it to be. Pulling the plug is not an option. It never was.

Stupidity rules they who lack faith, ok?

Alone against of the world

2005-07-01T22:55:00.000+02:00

Did you notice it? The massive dip in internet traffic today when “piracy haven” Sweden finally outlawed the downloading of copyrighted files. Well, no, off course not. All systems are still Go! – working five by five. Leading Swedish anti-piracy spokesman Henrik Pontén (Antipiratbyrån) had his excuses lined up and waiting, blaming everyone from the Justice Minister to the data protection agency to the “criminal” public. “The forces that are fighting to keep this illegal behaviour are incredibly strong.” Forces? What forces? Maybe he’s been watching Star Wars and meant to say that the Force is strong with them. Ah, I don’t know. He felt alone and utterly forsaken though... Public Enemy pretty much summed up the whole non-issue the best: “Give it up, give it up, give it up yo \ Give it up, give it up, gotta give it up \ yeah, you gots ta give it up now”. Not the sharing, silly, just the trying to stop the rain from falling. Law or no law, it's just not going to happen.

Stupidity continuously rules the anti-pirates, ok?

Birds of a feather

2005-06-09T16:22:00.000+02:00

The internet has profited many people but it also has brought many problems, such as sex, violence and feudal superstitions and other harmful information that has seriously poisoned people's spirits.
- The Chinese Ministry of Information Industry

This is just a paedophile's dream because you have children uploading pictures, giving out details of their everyday life because it's an online journal.
- Dr Rachel O'Connell, Central Lancashire University Cyberspace Research Unit

The best treatment for Internet porn addiction is prevention, which entails parents exercising control over the Internet habits of their teens and making the teen aware that he is being monitored.
- Victoria Carrington, M.D., The Village Family Magazine

Sigh, stupidity rules internet-phobia, ok?

Euphemisms and double standards

2005-06-09T11:20:00.000+02:00

Picture this: The police break up a black market "business", confiscate the contraband present there and arrest the people running the market. It’s not exactly sci-fi, it happens from time to time. The government is cracking down on crime, making the streets safe and all that. This criminal regime has destroyed and stolen the properties of people who are trying to make an honest living through informal trading, describing the events in this manner would probably brand you as somewhat bias (if not a complete loon). Well, not if it all took place in a place like Zimbabwe. Because in Zimbabwe the government is BAD and there are no real criminals, only political opposition. Ok, ok, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that the press thrives on putting up double standards; differentiating between the foreign and the domestic, between them and us. But come on, how liberal can you get? Even the journalists turned campaigners must know a bottom low!

Yet again, stupidity rules the liberals, ok?

The dangers of downloading

2005-06-08T16:46:00.000+02:00

They’re quite funny, those anti-pirates. You must give them that; they have a sense of humour. Although it might be somewhat involuntary they still are… funny. In a latest offensive the British Phonographic Industry try to convince parents of the dangers their children face online, on the p2p-networks, when filesharing. They never really explain what the dangers of downloading are but they do argue that there are dangers. Real dangers, really real and scary dangers, internet is basically a dangerous place. Don’t let your kids go there, not alone anyway. They might just bring home exactly everything they want see, hear, play or work with. For free. Oh, that’s scary. So very, very scary.

Stupidity rules the fearmongers, ok?

Automatons and battery farms

2005-06-07T16:35:00.000+02:00

More than anything; corporate use of new information technology within the work process bring us stumbling toward a society of control. The ever-present old dreams of complete control as envisioned by Taylor and implemented by Ford never quite left the managers’ minds, not their subconscious anyway. Today, as they are fuelled by the power of microcomputers and wireless connections, these dreams become all too real. Equipping the workers with these instruments not only creates the likelihood of easier work and more efficiency and effectiveness, for worker and manager alike, it also illuminates the workplace; removing all dark spaces as it, like an all seeing eye, monitors everything always. Invisibility is no longer a possibility. No one can hide in the light of digitalized modernity. In their rejection of this new technology (and there is always rejection), trade unionists and academics take a purely ethical, humanist stance, playing the dehumanizing card once more (The workers are taking orders from computers! They’re turning the workplace into battery farms!). And off course they end up demanding a more humanized work. In a situation were they should neither fear nor hope they fall into despair, dumbstruck by future shock.

Stupidity rules the humanists, ok?

A joke taken too far

2005-06-05T13:11:00.000+02:00

There is something strange and somewhat disturbing about the Indian government’s vision on how the country should be perceived and experienced. It’s for the future, it’s for the children, they argue. And how can one object? It’s the oldest trick in the book, the children. Unquestionably India’s got a major problem with smoking; people are dying by the thousands, every day. What’s the government’s solution? A ban making illegal to smoke in public (not smoking in general just in public) followed up by banning the portrayal of smoking in movies and television (old and new; foreign and domestic). Rather than going after the producers and distributors or any of those guys, they target the smokers and censoring of the arts. What’s a little bit of censorship after all? Perception, image, surface – that’s what counts!

Stupidity rules the policy makers, ok?

Oxymoron or just plain moron

2005-05-28T10:27:00.000+02:00

Ox-y-mo-ron
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
Mo-ron
1. A stupid person; a dolt. 2. A person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

A combination of the both – Boycott Liberalism. The name pretty much says it all, if you haven’t realized that you’re actually a liberal at heart after brainstorming this idea; well, then you’re just another right wing moron. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Stupidity rules yet again, ok?

If we can’t dance it’s not our…

2005-05-22T21:04:00.000+02:00

They appear like an army gathering its strength, already 10,000 strong. They have taken to the streets of India, the union for Indian showgirls (Bharatiya Bar Girls Union) refuse to go silent into the night. Refuse to let their livelihood be robbed from them. Yet again the moralists of the world have taken means to outlaw all they deem immoral. The bar girls are being sacrificed on the altars of morality, driven into the hands of pimps as they no longer can perform their trade. Do the moralists care? Not notably, the appearance of the clean and moral city is everything. If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution! Emma Goldman once said. And if I can’t watch them dance it's not mine either. Victory for the bar girls!

Like a broken record, repeating itself over and over again; stupidity rules the moralists, ok?

The Jedi masters of not-getting-it

2005-05-22T12:19:00.000+02:00

So the saga is finally complete. Critique of Revenge of the Sith has been mostly positive and rightfully so. Let’s just say that the film delivers, big time. One thing that the critics unanimously agreed upon was the woodenness of the acting and dialog. Well, duh! It’s a pastiche on old swashbuckling matinee adventures; woodenness and cheesiness comes with the territory. But film critics breed on French art films, 70’s alternative Hollywood and the neurotic relationships from Woody Allen movies, unsurprisingly miss this quite obvious fact. No amount of cleverness and witty remarks (like Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian: If Princess Diana had gone to the Dark Side, she would have looked a lot like this.) can hide the fact they just don’t get it. Opera, not realism, stupid! But off course, this is what happens when you send a pretentious wannabe to do a geek’s job.

Stupidity rules the critics, ok?

Don’t feed the trolls

2005-05-16T21:47:00.000+02:00

You probably heard of them, there is no real reason for it but I bet you have. Heard of them that is – The Westboro Baptist Church. Better know for their catchy web address godhatesfags.com. They figure quite heavily in the press. Journalists (of all kinds but especially the liberal ones) kind of like to get outraged by their… well… fucked up theology. I’m not sure if their ideas qualify as theology though. Never mind. They have crazy ideas, they hate homosexuals, they condone gay bashing, and so on and so on. The thing is that they are about 50 people, two families of inbreed idiots. They live in a state of perpetual Deliverance. Why bother, why get outraged? Every kid on the internet knows the correct way to handle retards like this – you just don’t feed the trolls.

Stupidity rules the liberal’s outrage, ok?

Having it both ways

2005-05-15T13:39:00.000+02:00

Increasing the uses of the Power family is important for IBM, because it gives us the advantages of a high-performance processor and high-volume economics. This is one reason we’ve opened Power’s technical specifications through our Power Everywhere and Power.org initiatives. We are building a broader ecosystem of innovation around Power, reflecting the fact that innovation today is an increasingly collaborative process — and not only in software. (Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM CEO, IBM Annual Report 2004)

In 2004, IBM received 3,248 U.S. patents from the USPTO. This is the twelfth consecutive year that IBM has received more US patents than any other company in the world. (IBM Intellectual Property and Licensing)

3,000+ patents in one year! I guess IBM’s building ecosystems of innovation like a city planners builds parks; controlled, restricted, a pale reflecting of nature, an illusion of the free. Oh well, talking the talk doesn’t assume that they are walking the walk.

Stupidity rules the business talk, ok?

It’s what you wear that counts

2005-05-15T12:49:00.000+02:00

British shopping mall Bluewater just recently started to enforce a ban on hooded sweaters on their grounds, off course not selling them, just wearing them. They argued that hoods are intimidating, a sign of the culture of crime, and subsequently that they scare paying customers away. “It’s not where you’re from but what you wear that counts”, suddenly the words of Tim Burgess take a new and frightening meaning. The ban coincided with the latest outburst of moral rage from Tory-in-disguise Tony Blair – this time on what he calls the culture of disrespect. It’s like listening to echoes from the past, the same words that every generation of public figures use to sway the people – youth of today is lost, drowning in a cesspool of their own making. Cursing, alcohol, drugs, sex, violence, crime; ever heard all this before? We can spell it all in two words – antisocial behaviour. Politicians and businessmen alike are trying their hardest to blame the youth for Britain’s problems, and like always they use is the language of morality. It’s like the clock got turned back to 1977 and the emergence of punk is at hand. Only problem today is that the youth isn’t that bad as they are believed to be, they are basically law abiding conformists. Minor problem, when a scapegoat is needed, blame your neighbour’s kids.

No more is needed to be said; stupidity rules, ok?

Replacing Vader

2005-05-13T10:23:00.000+02:00

When George Lucas revisited the original trilogy back in 1997 a lot of things were improved; technical bits like sound and picture got sharper and clearer, the scale of the films got larger, it was now the case of two armies fighting each other not just a couple of squads on each side. But as we all know a lot of things got kind of destroyed too; like the muppet show musical in Jabba’s palace. Why Lucas, why? Unfortunately the revisiting didn’t stop back in 1997, when the trilogy got its long awaited DVD-release in the fall of 2004, some minor changes was made so that the trilogy got “better” continuity with the new trilogy; new voice-overs, slight digital changes, mostly stuff like that. Most of the changes are so small that you hardly notice them but that is not the case of the end sequence in Episode VI – you know, when Anakin appears in his ghost form next to Obi Wan and Yoda. Problem Sebastian Shaw – solution Hayden Christiansen? Exactly why Lucas replaced the older Anakin, the one that had fallen into the dark only rise back into the light, redeemed and with his destiny fulfilled, with pre-Darth Vader Hayden Christiansen I guess I’ll just never understand. Clearly too much independence doesn’t go well with meddlesome minds.

Stupidity sadly rules the constant revisiting, ok?

From India with love

2005-05-08T16:31:00.000+02:00

After the emergence of home video in the 70s Pakistan had to draft up some copyright law in order to comply with the international community. And at least on paper Pakistan followed international standards regarding the protection of intellectual property, with one great exception though: India! The old archenemy India was completely exempt from the copyright laws. Copying of Indian intellectual property was rather encouraged by the generals in charge as it was looked upon as a great form of industrial sabotage. Industrial copying as an economic weapon, a continuation of the war by more clandestine means; it’s hard to tell the effect of this unofficial policy in terms of economic damage. But it had a very real side effect; the exemption from the copyright laws meant that the Pakistani video market was being overrun by Indian film, and the Pakistani embraced them fully. Indian culture started to eat its way into the heart and soul of the Pakistani people; language, ideas, music, style and more were taken from the pirated films. And like an unstoppable virus it ate its way into all corners of Pakistani society – from the privacy of your own home to the mosque. Not quite what the generals had planned. But, hey you know, best laid plans and all that…

Stupidity rules the hawks, ok?

A frappuccino and the Boss to go, please

2005-05-06T12:47:00.000+02:00

Bruce Springsteen’s new album Devils and Dust is a little bit too much to bear for the meek ears of the coffee drinking public the coffee shop chain Starbucks recently decided and pulled the record from their 4,400 or so coffee stores. The Boss’ contemplations upon modern America are way too adult and explicit for the company’s ideas of social responsibility. Or maybe they just want to clear the “filth” from music and culture too. "Two hundred dollars straight in, two-fifty up the ass," she smiled and said. Not exactly the sunshine-and-flowers vision of corporate America that Starbucks want to sell… No great loss for the Boss though, the album still debuted at number one. But the moralists at Starbucks stand firm, if you want to build a better America there are no shortcuts; you have to do it one record at the time.

Yet again, stupidity rules the moralist’s cause, ok?

The Führer has left the building

2005-05-06T02:00:00.000+02:00

The marriage of Hitler to Eva Braun took place on the 23 April. When I learned about it, it was immediately clear to me that this signified the end of the Third Reich, for if Hitler had believed a continuation of it possible, he would never have taken this step. Now, with death facing him, he wishes to thank this woman for her self-sacrificing loyalty by giving her his name. After all, she was still young and had voluntarily stayed with him in order to share his fate. On the afternoon of the 28 April the marriage was performed. This incident was of little importance to us; at any rate, we saw nothing unusual in it, for Eva Braun was a completely colourless personality. When she was with a crowd of stenographers, she was in no way conspicuous among them. For example, the fact that Hitler had poisoned his wolfhound somehow affected us more. The dog received in Hitler’s presence a large dose of the poison with which later others were also poisoned. He was very fond of the dog, and took his death very much to heart. (Erna Flegal, Hitler’s nurse in the bunker, interviewed by the CIA, November 1945)

It’s impossible to pinpoint exactly what it is, the bitterness, the resentment, or unchecked admiration, but stupidity obviously rules… something, ok?

Lightning strikes not once but twice

2005-05-05T18:32:00.000+02:00

Oasis are currently trying to resurrect their deader than dead career by sounding like fellow music archaeologists Soundtrack of Our Lives. Whatever happened here? Did the Beatles-catalogue suddenly dry up? And how it sounds? Boring as fuck! While on the other island; boyband Westlife failed in their attempt to trademark their name. They failed not because trademarking is ridiculous and passé but because the “west” part of their name is already owned by German tobacco giants West. Oh what tragedy, how will the poor Irish lads survive this setback?

Quite clearly, stupidity rules not once but twice, ok?

Gabba gabba hey, that was the first of May

2005-05-01T23:46:00.000+02:00

Pathetic and retarded slogans and rhymes? Check! No pun intended to The Ramones, they have shown us time and time again that sounding stupid and being stupid are two entirely different things. But I guess they are kind of an exception to the rule. Oh well, today truly was the first May. The Workers’ day. The people’s day. ¡Un pueblo unido jamás será vencido! The international proletariat gathed once more en masse on the streets of our cities to show the ruling bourgeoisie that... Zzz... oh, sorry, must have nodded of a bit. Where was I? That’s right; empty word, ancient rituals, delusions of grandeur. Don’t worry I’ll get to the one about Little Red Riding Hood as soon as I’m done here with this fairy tale.

Now more than ever, stupidity rules the left, ok?

The end of days

2005-04-30T10:33:00.000+02:00

In times of great upheaval and strife, when society stands at the gateway of profound and utter change, the end of days always tend to be imminent. And they say we live in such times. Well, that would explain the multitude of apocalyptic visions (both fictional and scientific) surfacing today. In darker days of old the end of days always meant the end of the old world and the coming of the new. The end was like springtime with it’s promises of pastures of green and meadows of gold. But that was before the enlightenment refined through the industrial processes of modernity blinded us all by it’s perpetual light. Today it all just ends there. Out of variables, continuation is futile, do not compute.

Stupidity rules the modern mind, ok?

Idle hands are the devil’s playthings

2005-04-29T13:59:00.000+02:00

The brand new “Family Entertainment and Copyright Act” sets the new standard in the losing battle against copyright infringement. Bringing a camcorder to the movies can now result in up to three years in jail. In the battle for preservation and enlargement of copyright all forms of intrusion (sampling, remixing, reediting, reusing etc) are deemed illegal unless given permission by the rights holder. Unless, the new law states, unless you have a moralist agenda. Then you can infringe all you like, and even profit while doing it. Can’t you hear it? The sweat lies the devil is spreading; the false comfort of having it both ways. Compromise truly is the devil talking.

Stupidity rules the moralists, ok?

The worst of two worlds

2005-04-28T19:10:00.000+02:00

You might have been so unlucky as to actually witness it first hand; the new abomination spawned from some of untalented hacks in fashion industry. The combination of the absolute worst of two worlds has created a monster of bad taste; casual-esque plaid on the holiest of holies in the church of white trash-kitsch, the trucker cap. And they are coming out by the baker’s dozen, everybody’s doing them. Christmas tree casual wear with wannabe dim-witted tastelessness; can it get any sillier? But remember; only people with a severely challenged style sense and the fashion retards will be caught dead in these caps. Mock at sight!

Fashion rules fashion people, and stupidity rules the tacky, ok?

It wasn’t me

2005-04-28T13:33:00.000+02:00

American soldiers kills Italian agent on rescue mission in Iraq. I reckon you heard about it when it happened. It was quite the deal. Some time has passed now and the confusion of the situation is more distant, well it should be more distant anyway. But still the blame gets shifted around; the only thing the Italian and American reports can agree on is that it wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t me! Like it really matters, like it’s important. People die the most stupid death, get over it! Had they read Murphy’s laws of combat they would have known that anything that can go wrong will. That’s just war. Shit happens. Live with it.

But no, stupidity rules the blame game, ok?

It’s fake, it’s fake, it must be fake

2005-04-27T11:01:00.000+02:00

Pro wrestling isn’t real they say, the non-believers. It’s all fake. How could it not be? Just look at it, it’s plain to see; body slams, choke holds, cripplers, pedigrees, clotheslines, drop kicks, face slams, cross faces, figure fours. How can it be for real? The broken spines, necks, ribs, arms, legs, the dislocated shoulders and the cut open faces, that’s not real. The lifetime dependencies on painkillers, steroids and other chemical cocktails, the increased death rates, and weakened health – that’s all bogus. Fake! Wrestling isn’t street fighting, that’s absolutely true. Fighting in pro wrestling is like fucking in porn, not really real (in the sense that’s maybe not the way you’d do it off camera) but sure as hell real enough.

Stupidity rules the non-believers, ok?

The case of the Ali Baba looters

2005-04-26T21:08:00.000+02:00

I've seen looting around the world and thought I knew the best looters in the world. The Iraqis excel at that.

Last year the former top U.S. weapons inspector David Kay tried to explain whatever happened with Iraq’s WMD before a Senate committee and this was his simple explanation. Not that the looter brought home the weapons, no, they had their pockets full of Ali Baba loot according to Kay. You know all the golden toilet seats and stuff. They just managed to destroy all traces of them while scouting for the goodies. And it was all organized too, straight from the top, and planned. Hell yeah, that’s it, organized and planned by the secret police. That’s why they’re gone! Of course, a big old conspiracy made them go away. Or maybe Kay just forgot to utter those two magic words: “Open, Sesame!”

Stupidity just plain rules, ok?

How the Martians attack your city!

2005-04-26T17:43:00.000+02:00

That was almost the front page of leading Swedish newspaper/tabloid Aftonbladet yesterday, but only almost. How file-shares are hunted in your city was the real one. The essence of the two is the same – fear (even though it more hilarious than scary). Is it happening? No. Is it likely that it’s going to take place? No. Don’t take our word for it, just listen to what chief prosecutor Lars Lundin said in answer their stupid question:
Q: Do you hunt file-shares actively?
A: No, we got our hands full with murder and manslaughter.

Stupidity rules the tabloids, ok?

Ever woke up feeling frustrated?

2005-04-26T17:20:00.000+02:00

When the oh-so-frustrated music industry ventures into online retailing it does so by charging even more, not less, than for a physical CD; using the most unusable of formats so heavily corrupted by DRM-restrictions that the files aren’t working. Play it on your iPod? Move it to another computer? Make a backup? Not if the bottleneck preserving industry gets a say! And still they complain that people file-share instead of using their legal options. But some people do use it; and unavoidably the sob-stories come rolling in. Frustrated costumers complain to a frustrated industry; man spends £40 on unplayable music, he feels cheated. Oh my god, if you got the possibility to download music, why pay for it? Feel cheated? No, feel stupid! You’ve just been had.

Oh well, stupidity obviously rules… both, ok?