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beware of this bird

twitterEvery blog, every social network talks about and uses twitter. I even wrote one of my final MBA papers on its overall strategy. It has taken communication into a new paradigm, possibly into a new form of consciousness. Long have we passed explaining to people who ask “What is it?”. Now we’re a bit pass the crossroads like everything else on the internet that gets sidetracked by money and porn, perhaps a metaphor for our own minds. These phenomena have begun to add to the noise and requires more discretion on our part to fully understand and use this valuable tool.

With that said, if you are new to the twitterverse, be wary of anything that has this bird logo or any variation of its kind. People are trying to manipulate and package your thoughts and simple words into something else, even if it be only finding more followers. In some regards this is so lame, the mad dash for noise and static. Dial in and fine tune who you communicate with. Get intimate. And the number one rule-

Don’t do automatic replies- talk as a human and not with the mask of technology.

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A Google Paper

Google is the utility company of our day. I wrote a paper on it that many have asked to read. Here it is, from fall 2008.

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Deepindub.org

A few years ago I ran into TakePillsDie.org. Andrew Cauthen’s music is loaded with experiments in drones, beats and ambients. Total driving music to get lost in. It will transport you a la Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada. He floored me in his prolific stature, it is overwhelming. I became inspired just as much by his practice and methods as his aural works. He has a whole world of links and knowledge buried in that site. Check it out. Be warned. He has come full circle in his methodology which is statement and brilliance enough. Before he had absolutely no advertising on his site. Now there is a little bit of porn advertising on there, though most of it is from suicide girls.

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I digress- the point of this post is deepindub.org. This is another netlabel which describes this movement in music right now.
According to Wikipedia a netlabel is-

A netlabel(also online label, web label or MP3 label)is a record label that distributes its music primarily through digital audio formats (mainly MP3 or Ogg Vorbis) over the Internet. While similar to traditional record labels in many respects, netlabels typically emphasize free distribution online, often under licenses that encourage works to be shared (e.g., Creative Commons licenses), and artists usually retain copyright. Most employ guerrilla marketingto promote their work; few netlabels earn money for participants.

Deepindub.org is my world right now. My ipod is maxed out. I have hours and hours of music to listen to. This is Basic Channel type stuff. Dubby future. Night time snow driving desolation to let go to. Big up to this crew from Italy. The world comes together in this transition.

I also love the lo fi computer animations. so random. so pure. so raw. so corny. so sexy. so punk.

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Stratfor

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One of the sites I use ZapReader for is Stratfor- Geopolitical Intelligence. According to their website:

Stratfor provides published intelligence and customized intelligence service for private individuals, global corporations, and divisions of the US and foreign governments around the world. Stratfor intelligence professionals routinely appear at conferences and as subject-matter experts in mainstream media.

They offer a free email of a sampling of their report which I signed up for. What is striking to me is the indepthness of the report. It shows how we are so misinformed, perhaps not even intentionally, as we absorb so much on websites, tv, and radio. There is so much information out there and we’ve been trained to go to one soundbite to the next.

In the first email that was sent to me it described the current conflict in Gaza:

The reaction from the Arab world has been mixed. On the one hand, a look at the so-called Arab street will reveal an angry scene of chanting protesters, burning flags and embassy attacks in protest of Israel’s actions. The principal Arab regimes, however, have either kept quiet or publicly condemned Hamas for the crisis — while privately often expressing their support for Israel’s bid to weaken the radical Palestinian group.

This lengthy article talks about the undercurrents of what is going on this conflict from a global perspective. It goes beyond Israel and Hamas, it is tied in with Egypt, Syria, and Saudia Arabia.  They connect the dots. Read up.

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