Ever wonder how the RIAA decides to sue grandmas on fixed incomes and seven-year-olds? The people over at BBSpot have put together a handy chart showing how that intricate magic, heavily tempered with reason and logic, happens:
Circuit City has always had a difficult time. It doesn’t have the everyman-machismo of Best Buy or the upscale electronics of a Fry’s. What it does have, however is a whole round of publicity due to layoffs - layoffs to the tune of 3,400 people, or 8 percent of the company’s workforce. But before you start feeling sorry for those pour souls who slog it day in and day out in the thankless retail industry check out this sweet deal Circuit City is offering them:
The laid-off workers, about 8 percent of the company’s total work force, would get a severance package and a chance to reapply for their former jobs, at lower pay, after a 10-week delay, the company said.
The news of the layoffs came as a surprise to Rachelle Gouled, who earned about $7.75 an hour working on the sales floor at a Circuit City in Roseville, Minn. She said 10 people were laid off Wednesday at her store.
…
“This strategy strikes me as being quite cold,” said Bernard Baumohl, executive director of The Economic Outlook Group. “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of Circuit City as a whole.”While other companies, such as Caterpillar Inc., have introduced two-tiered wage systems, where newer workers make less, firing workers and offering to rehire them at a lower wage is very rare.
Awesome - it’s a little early but I’m thinking employer of the year kudos may just be in order.
Ah, here I thought the virtual bordello was righting its ways by having companies like Coldwell Banker overprice imaginary property. Then the Dutch go and launch a city hall in game and the fine residents of Second Life don’t disappoint:
During a news conference in Second Life, two punk-like characters disrupted the presentation of a Zoetermeer city official, Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported Wednesday. One of the avatars stripped naked, according to the report.
“A city employee hurriedly removed the virtual rioter from city hall with a click on his mouse,” the paper reported.
Overall the news conference was very chaotic. Various avatars talked at the same time, making it impossible for the city official to respond to questions. After a few minutes, the event was ended, to be continued in the real world, the Algemeen Dagblad said.
Despite the disturbances, Zoetermeer officials are pleased because of all the publicity around the city’s Second Life presence. Zoetermeer invested about $33,000 in the virtual building, but got publicity worth multiple times that, it said.
So, a town pays $33,000 for pixels, has streakers cut their event short, and their community looks ridiculous. Sounds like a publicity win to me.
I’ve mentioned the free video player Democracy several times on this site. It’s a cool little application that supports a thicket of formats, has a built in BitTorrent client, can handle RSS enclosures, yadda, yadda, yadda.
And they need your help. They’ve just unveiled a new ‘Subscriber’ plan because, after all, even Ramen bills start to add up. They’re hoping to raise funds to keep the 501c3 organization (a non-profit) afloat. If you want to support great software and a noble cause check it out.
The posting has been a bit slow on Militant Geek. I’d love to say its because we’ve been hard at work sucking the creme off a boiling pot of geek irreverence. But mostly we’ve just been sucking - that, and having candlelight vigils for Lindsay Lohan. However, the increase in teenage alcohol related vehicle accidents can only mean one thing Spring is here! And with it comes time for the crack team of circus monkeys and I to get going on a new set of walk-a-wear for the season. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:
Sadly, that’s all a case of the corner’s finest could fathom. What are we missing?
Awesome. Hat tip: TechDirt
the University of Nebraska has told the RIAA that it can’t help them identify many of the students accused of file trading. The school’s system changes a computer’s IP address each time its turned on, and it only keeps this information for month. After that month, the school has no way of associating an IP address with a computer or its user. The RIAA is angry about this, and a spokesman for the group criticized the university for not understanding “the need to retain these records”. This is a ridiculous complaint. The university doesn’t have a need to retain these records, and there’s no reason it should do so out of some obligation to the RIAA. If there were any doubt that the university is really irritated by the RIAA’s requests, it has requested that the RIAA pay the university to reimburse its expenses from dealing with this (good luck with that).
Go Huskers!
Tony Walsh, from the excellent Clickable Culture blog, has word that debate of infinitesimally ridiculously proportions has erupted in Second Life. The cause? Who has the true right to do a virtual world ‘Next Top Model’ competition. As Tony points out:
When I first heard of the “SL Next Top Model” competition underway in Second Life, I immediately searched the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office database for existing trademarks under the “Next Top Model” banner, given the prominence of the America’s Next Top Model TV series. Unsurprisingly, there are 4 trademarks logged in the database under that name for services including “providing entertainment information concerning television program via global computer network.” I’m no lawyer, but I think there’s a good chance that the unauthorized Second Life “Next Top Model” competition infringes on the real one.
That hasn’t stopped the intellectual fireworks from popping:
Ms. Hoyer declined comment at this time, complaining that it was too late an hour for an interview. I did, however, get a few -very staggered- remarks from her.
Jada Hoyer: and I did not attempt to highjack anything
Tenshi Vielle: Alright, then why is your event, under the same name, separated by two single tildes, registered after the original groups were formed?
Tenshi Vielle: After the original idea was formed, etc?
Jada Hoyer: the original idea was Tara Banks
Jada Hoyer: lol
Tenshi Vielle: mm-hmmm… but I’m talking the SL edition
Tenshi Vielle: Did you bother to ask permission of Ms. Banks to use her name?
Tenshi Vielle: Did you contact Bankable Productions?
Jada Hoyer: I better take this babyphat outfit off huh
Tenshi Vielle: If it’s on your SL body, you may as well, it’s direct copyright infringment.
Tenshi Vielle: I just can’t fathom… I heard through the grapevine that you are “prepared to fight this” … how are you planning on fighting for something that isn’t even yours? … that you didn’t bother to get permission of the original parties, to use their name and idea? Did you even ATTEMPT an email to them?After that, Ms. Hoyer fell absolutely silent. I told her I would report her silence as a “decline to comment”. So, guys - you heard it - or didn’t hear it — Jada Hoyer declined to comment. She also, however, stated that I had to “come at” her “correct”, by which she meant that I must interview her in person. “What kind of reporter wouldn’t?” she asks. The kind that works in SL, honey.
Ms. Hoyer began pasting our IM conversation to her friends. How do I know this? She mistakenly pasted me another copy of our conversation. Brilliant move. “F*ck you,” is her parting shot.
Tony ends his piece by stating how rampant copyright infringement is within the world. He laments how it is only a matter of time before before the world gets Viacommed. We could only be so lucky.
Amanda “My Friends Say I’m Funny” Congdon is one of the online-only oddities that will be the butt of some obscure trivia game of the future. She rose to prominence by being a busty fish in a tiny, male-dominated pond and parleyed the buzz into a mediocre ABC show of the obvious. Apparently that gig pays rather poorly - as CNet reports she’s also doing ‘infotainment’ for that wacky cornerstone of entertainment excellence… DuPont? Shilling for a corporation has some in the traditional journalism industry (i.e. those who haven’t cut side deals with the companies they cover) chaffing:
…by working for ABC News, even as a video blogger, I think she has become part of the world of journalism.
And so her next comment does not do her justice: “Isn’t that what new media is all about? Breaking the rules? Setting our own? I see nothing wrong with doing commercials…As Sarah Silverman would say, ‘I’d do it again.’ In a heartbeat. Bring on the endorsements.”
That attitude is more one of someone intent on being a performer, not a journalist.
What? wait… Congdon as a performer? I think she better stay with her day job.
Just when I think there is some hope for geek culture to rise above the shallowness of lesser castes I come across a crapstorm of embedded video proportions:
Like the term Metrosexual (*shudder) this is just another buzzword used by commercial interests to get us to buy more crap. Whereas metrosexuals are urged to buy hair goop and natty clothing geeks are beer-bombed more of the kool-aide they’ve always fallen for: smaller, shinier, better, more. It’s time to break the cycle of addiction. You are not the gadgets that you use. You are a PERSON first and foremost, a consumer demographic second, third, or perhaps even twenty-seventh.
Besides, the terms Gear-Whore or Electro-Slut are so much more accurate.
A gem of reality imposed by istartedsomething.com. It illustrates just how ‘feature-rich’ the iPhone (due in June) is compared to already available smart phones:
