“What’s going on? Google has become the new ground zero for the ‘other’ culture war. Not the one between Ralph Reed and Timothy Leary, but the war between Silicon Valley and Hollywood; California’s cultural civil war. At stake are two different visions of what might best promote authorship in this country. One side trumpets the culture of authorial exposure, the other urges the culture of authorial control.” University of Virginia Law professor Tim Wu surveys the controversy over Google Print, and makes a cautious plea for writers and academics to get behind the project.
Tag: Internet
Alpha Fight.
“It’s a horrible precedent, allowing the subject of an entry determine what can and cannot be written about them. It would be one thing if the slanderous and innaccurate entries from one particularly psychotic fan were allowed to go through and remain in place, but the entire Wikipedia project has shown that self-policing is it’s greatest strength.” By way of LinkMachineGo, longtime and often-controversial comic writer-artist John Byrne goes to war over his Wikipedia entry. (Comparison of the two entries here.)
Free Fallin’.
By way of Boing Boing, a mannequin falls in perpetuity (with the occasional aid of your mouse.) Creepy, but also weirdly entrancing.
Frodo to Dylan in Four.
By way of Supercres, here’s a really neat time-killer: Omnipelagos, a.k.a. Six Degrees of Anything (on Wikipedia.)
If Blogs are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have blogs.
By way of Uncorked/Medley, a Federal Election Commissioner warns that political blogging may have to be regulated under the McCain-Feingold bill. Hmm. Well, obviously that wouldn’t work. But, I get the sense that Bradley Smith, a GOP anti-campaign-finance ringer, knows this, and is raising the black flag of Internet Regulation just to get the blogosphere up in arms over McCain-Feingold in particular and campaign finance regulation in general. Well, I’m not biting. Sure, the FEC needs a new direction when it comes to addressing the Internet, but I highly doubt Agent Smith here is the guy to provide it. Better someone who at least recognizes the utility of and need for comprehensive campaign finance reform.
The Battles Rage On(line).
“My dear McClellan: If you don’t want to use the Army I should like to borrow it for a while.” Good news for Civil War reenactors and military history enthusiasts: The Library of Congress, the Virginia Historical Society, and the Library of Virginia are posting over 2240 CW-era maps and charts online. (AP Story here.)