We don’t know how to build a general-purpose computer that is capable of running any program except for some program that we don’t like, is prohibited by law, or which loses us money. The closest approximation that we have to this is a computer with spyware: a computer on which remote parties set policies without the computer user’s knowledge, or over the objection of the computer’s owner. Digital rights management always converges on malware.

In an effort to stamp out piracy, we are stamping out legitimate fair-use rights, and accepting invasions of privacy by corporations in a way that also happens to dovetail nicely with the intelligence gathering goals of governments everywhere.

I don’t mean to sound too much like a conspiracy theory-loving whack job here. But the fact is that the same software that enables corporations to manage their intellectual property or make a profit on targeted advertising also makes it easier to spy on citizens. I’ll refer you to Evgeny Morozov’s enlightening, yet sobering book on this very subject, The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom (of which I have read about half thus far).

[h/t: Ben Ramsey]

Or “Why are Daily Mile‘s default avatars male?”

This is a pretty common — and I would guess, frequently wrong — assumption on the part of web site user interface designers. No, your users won’t all be male. Yes, many women and genderqueer people will be annoyed that you made such an assumption. No, “But we let people upload their own photo!” isn’t a defense.

It’s simple enough to use a gender-neutral avatar. Friendfeed uses a hand-drawn smiley face. Other sites use patterned avatars. You could even go the Mac OS X route and use clip art, chosen at random.

Design has an impact on your brand and the kind of community you wish to foster. Seeing a masculine avatar suggests to me that DailyMile.com — or at least the DailyMile.com team — is very a guy-centric, potentially macho place, with a blind spot around gender issues. That’s not such a favorable impression for a brand, and it’s not necessarily a community that I want to invest or take part in.

Worse still, there isn’t a way to change it — other than to upload a photo. (It doesn’t have to be of *you,* but a 4K one color JPG won’t work. A bourbon Manhattan photo, however, will . ) At the very least, give users an option.

The guide is simply a review of privacy policies, to the extent we’ve been able to find them, plus additional information we received directly from Adobe and the Internet Archive. We haven’t been able to do independent testing to verify how these e-book providers work in practice. Also, in discussing whether individuals are linked to their reading we have only addressed direct ways … as opposed to indirect ways ….

From the introduction to 2010: E-Book Buyer’s Guide to E-Book Privacy from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

One of the best outcomes from November’s Wave Protocol Summit was a proposal for Wave to enter the Apache Software Foundation’s incubator program. Apache has a fantastic reputation for fostering healthy open source communities that create great software. Last week, that proposal was accepted, and we’re spinning up the project infrastructure so that the community can continue to grow in the Apache way.

That’s news straight from the Google Wave Developer Blog.

[Via Mashable]

It seems the Baracka Flocka Flames controversy has heated up since the October 26 publication of Prez N the Hood: A Hip-Hop Parody Stirs Up Issues in the New York Times (video below; article requires log-in).

America’s foremost old cranky black man, Stanley Crouch, had nothing nice to say about Baracka Flocka Flames in his recent column for TheRoot.com. He dismissed the video as ‘minstrelsy.’

That shouldn’t surprise you, of course. According to Crouch, anything hip-hop — even if it’s satirical or in parody form — is What’s Wrong With Negroes. Rather than rebut Crouch myself, I will point you to Bomani Jones’ post Stanley Crouch, I think I’m on to you….

Now I am one who thinks Baracka Flocka Flames’ “Head of the State,” is f#cking hilarious, bordering on brilliant. Part of the humor for me is that I imagine the Obamas are Grade-A sh#t-talkers behind closed doors. You see glimpses of this sense of humor when President Obama speaks. You saw it when Michelle Obama was cracking on her husband’s dirty sock habits. So I can totally see Barack Obama making off color jokes along these lines for sheer sh#ts and giggles.* Plus, James Davis does a killer job of imitating Obama’s diction, making every utterance of “nigga,” downright funny. But that’s not the only humor I see inreason I love this piece.

“Head of the State,” for those who don’t closely follow hip-hop, is based on Waka Flocka Flame‘s “Hard in the Paint.”

Yeah.

Let’s just say that if Stanley Crouch titled his next column “Waka Flocka Flame is What’s Wrong With Negroes,” I will heartily co-sign. Waka Flocka Flame not only has a stupid-a## name, but he has also said he’s in it for the money, not the craft. And if we’re talking about topical content, <ebonics>this n*gga just stay ig’nant</ebonics>. This video, as Jones points out, fits much more closely with Crouch’s idea of minstrelsy, or the performance of stereotype for commercial gain.

“Head of the State” plays off the imagery and lyrics of “Hard in the Paint,” and by doing so, I think it becomes a multi-layered, satirical critique of class and race stereotypes and hip-hop video tropes.

Let’s think about this: Barack Obama was largely raised in Kansas. He not only attended college, but has degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law — two Ivy League universities. Michelle Obama is similarly educated. So the idea of BHO unironically thug posing and rapping about his “main bitch,” and having his “own SK” is absurd. It is completely, utterly, and absolutely absurd.

And that absurdity makes “Head of the State” uncomfortable for the thinking viewer.

My second and third reactions were “Wow, this is rife with stereotypes, innit?” and “Sh*t, the tea baggers will have a field day with this.” And I suspect much of the criticism of “Head of the State,” from Crouch and others is related to W.W.W.P.T. — “What Will White People Think?” As Jones wrote, the truth is that, for better or worse, the mass media is America’s only introduction to black people.

But if you believe it’s plausible that a middle-class raised, currently upper-class, highly-educated black man, particularly the president of the United States would be chilling on the front steps of an abandoned house in a dangerous neighborhood, smoking Newports and dancing with a bottle of Smirnoff while surrounded by persons of questionable repute, I must ask who clings more tightly to the black-man-as-thug stereotype — you or Baracka Flocka?

And that’s why I love this “Head of the State,” video. It sticks a finger square in the eye of fake thug rappers who pimp gangster imagery for profit. And it sticks a finger in the eye of those who see Ivy League educated black people in the White House and manage to reduce them — and by extension all of us — to a narrow, negative stereotype.

Related:

Jay Smooth’s Raw Footage “I Forgot He Was Black.”

*Okay, raise your hand if an inappropriate HNIC joke has crossed your mind January 20, 2009.

Those guys make money because they’re saying something that Fortune 500 companies and major investment banks like to hear. It’s ad copy about how Social Media empowers the little guy, and it’s simply not true. The big winners are the aggregators, the central nodes in the network, and those are all owned by the same people who own everything else, here in the Land of the Free™.

From Justin Boland’s Audible Hype piece The Top 5 Social Media Lies. Via @rafikam.

One reaction is to diversify: Hotmail instead of Gmail, MapQuest instead of Google Maps, AOL Instant Messenger instead of Google Chat ’ though that would mean losing the accumulated benefits of linked services. Another reasonable response is to focus efforts on improving our (new) media literacy so that we’re more mindful of how much even free stuff can still cost. If we don’t force ourselves to be aware of those trade-offs, we risk stumbling into an increasing dependence on yet one more company that’s too big to fail.

From Google Everywhere by Nancy Scola in The American Prospect.

Google pretty much runs my life right now, and considering this recent Buzz fuck-up, I’m not okay with that. Facebook’s handling of privacy and user data issues are precisely why I avoid it. Now that Google is trying to out Facebook Facebook, I might go in the same direction.

Trading privacy for convenience is not something I oppose. Hell, Amazon has an 11 year search and purchase history on me and does a pretty effective job of getting me to buy more stuff because of it.

I had few problems with GMail at first because the targeted advertising is automated. But I am not a fan of articulating every social connection I have in public. Yes I am on Twitter, but it is a mostly a mix of people I know, people I sort of know, and people I don’t know at all. My email connections are different because they contain information about connections to people that I have not otherwise articulated in public and connections that are very loose. That’s Buzz’ fatal flaw as far as I am concerned: it assumes a lot of things. Sometimes that’s good because it assumes incorrectly — it obfuscates. And sometimes that’s very bad.

That Google made Buzz opt-out shows either stupidity, callousness, or arrogance. Not cool with any of the above. It’s encouraging that they’ve since made it easy to opt out. But I think the original decision is a sign of the decision-making culture at Google. My advice is to use Google services carefully.

In a country where about one-third of the population regularly goes online, the internet gives women “a place to vent out our frustrations and our dreams,“ said Reem Asaad, 37, a professor of banking and finance in the Saudi port city of Jeddah who blogs at reemasaad.blogspot.com.

This reminds me of danah boyd‘s research into teenagers’s use of social sites such as Facebook and MySpace. She has suggested teens use these sites for identity formation and community connection in the way they used to do in malls, parking lots and other public spaces that we’ve collectively chased them out of. Given Saudi Arabia’s severe restrictions on women in public spaces, I think a similar phenomenon is happening here.

The interview begins with a look back at Johnson’s career and ends with some of her insights about social media marketing. For example:

Even more than social media, digital content gives consumers a platform to have a megaphone and talk about anything they want. But the truth is that they are talking about brands. I recently read that 20% of tweets are about brands. We see it now as people use tools like Brightkite and Foursquare to mention the restaurants they’re in on Twitter and other social networking sites. Are people going to be a friend with your brand? That’s the part that’s funny and fishy. But if brands make content that’s relevant to people’s interests and passions then it’s a win-win.

It’s weird seeing someone you know on a somewhat personal level getting some industry-wide recognition and praise. But Johnson has been in the game for awhile, so it’s well deserved.

Bonus? The accompanying photo was captured by another blog family member, Cecily. [Via j. brotherlove]

Now Stone has coined a new phrase: e-mail apnea. Stone first described e-mail apnea in a 2008 Huffington Post piece Just Breathe: Building the case for Email Apnea. Stone says e-mail apnea is a temporary absence or suspension of breathing, or shallow breathing, while doing email. From the piece:

I wanted to know – how widespread is “email apnea?” I observed others on computers and Blackberries: in their offices, their homes, at cafes — the vast majority of people held their breath, or breathed very shallowly, especially when responding to email. I watched people on cell phones, talking and walking, and noticed that most were mouth-breathing and hyperventilating. Consider also, that for many, posture while seated at a computer can contribute to restricted breathing.

According to Stone, our tendency to get emotionally anxious and hunch our shoulders and chest while in front of a screen has long-term physical consequences. Such a posture means we are engaging in shallow breathing, thereby triggering our fight or flight mechanisms. We’re in a constant state of low grade stress. As she asks in the HuffPo piece: Now I want to know: Is it only the Big Mac that makes us fat? Or, are we more obese and diabetic because of a combination of holding our breath off and on all day and then failing to move when our bodies have prepared us to do so?

In the Spark interview, Stone also talks about current and future technology-centric solutions that could change our behavior. How, for example, might office spaces be constructed to encourage stretching and movement. Might we have standing computer stations? Stone also cites the Wii Fit and the Toyota Prius dash display as gentle electronic nudges that encourage people to do things differently.

The entire episode is worth a listen. The first half of the show is an interview with Alain de Botton about the joys and sorrows of work. But skip to about 26:54 to hear the start of the interview with Linda Stone.

I learned this lesson the hard way. I blogged about my breakup that started in February 2007, here, on Vox, and on Yahoo! 360. This was shortly before SXSW 2007.

Blogging was cathartic for me. But it also put my ex on blast, and opened us both up to a lot of questions about why we were splitting. I distinctly remember having uncomfortable conversations at SXSW about what was happening, especially since most of my SXSW crew had met the ex at SXSW 2006. The ex was also drilled by his rather large circle of friends and acquaintances.

I even argued with the ex about whether and where I should blog — Vox was the community where my peoples played; Yahoo! 360 was where his friend’s stayed, though I was connected to his friends there. If I had to blog, he wanted to know, why did I have to blog there and not where my friends were?

It made an uncomfortable situation worse — more for him than for me (win!) — but I decided that I’d rethink being so public about relationships in the future.

Then came Twitter, which, thanks to its ambient intimacy, made staying involved in my friend’s lives a lot easier. Even though we were, in some cases, separated by 2,100+ miles and three time zones, we still had this wonderful sense of connection.

SXSW 2008, then, was markedly different. I didn’t need to catch up on what was happening with my friends. We could just enjoy some real-world face time. I felt my online friendships slowly melting into offline ones.

One friendship in particular had changed in a palpable way. After some Twitter conversations, surprising dreams, and a series of private-plurks, I found myself on a plane to Los Angeles for Labor Day Weekend.

First and foremost, our trip was about seeing each other and having fun as friends. We have always had an easy way with each other, and some of the absolute best times I’ve had since 2005 — the year we met at SXSW — have involved him.

But we also knew this was about a potential love thing shaped by, if not directly attributable, to Twitter and Plurk.

We both live our lives in the digital public, and are generally open about things. We also, however, have a sense of privacy and boundaries. This tension came out in weird ways, particularly around whether and what to tweet. Is it an innocent tweet, or a double-entendre? Do I mention our visit to Frederick’s of Hollywood? What about those hilarious one-liners that are almost too good not to share, but would reveal what we did and how?

Ultimately, we were both concerned with how things would be (mis)construed. And what kinds of intrusive questions would arise from those who know us, and those who think they know us?

And while I’m at it, what about us? I’m not sure I was ready to officially state what was up between us, even though our friends knew instinctively. What’s said offline and hinted at through a carefully-crafted, semi-private tweet is, still, in many ways, deniable. If things didn’t work out, the details would be obscured if not concealed.

But what’s expressed publicly and tagged with my name? That’s big. And brave. And Google-able. And cache-able. It’s a huge leap of faith in our friends, our acquaintances, and most of all, in whatever this is between us.

After using it for a few hours, I’m torn between loving Plurk’s take on the 140-character update and thinking there’s just too much interface. Plurk does some things beautifully — the Getting Started Guide — for example. And yet, when compared to the simpler Twitter interface, I can’t decide whether Plurk’s features are cool or superfluous.

How Plurk is different

Plurk takes the microblog post and contextualizes it by placing it on a scrolling timeline.

Within the timeline you can view your posts and your friends’ posts. Mousing over an entry reveals the post’s content. The timeline scrolls either with arrow buttons (visible on hover) or by dragging.

As with Pownce, Plurk’s developers have built conversations into the interface. You can post comments on any entry, unless the author has disabled them. Every Plurk post also has a permanent page with comments. I’m a big fan of the comments model. I think they’re far easier to follow than the unthreaded conversations on Twitter.

As with Twitter, Plurk posts are limited to 140 characters. URLs don’t appear to work against your character count. You can easily share Flickr and YouTube content by linking to the URL of the image or video.

Grammar nerds can also rejoice. Twitter’s web interface asks “What are you doing?” I usually feel compelled to answer with a grammatically correct sentence. Plurk lets you choose your verb. Clicking on the verb (they’re color-coded) highlights entries with similar verbs.

You can also add emoticons to your post, though adding “extra exclusive emoticons” requires “karma.”

Community through Karma

To encourage use and interaction, and to build audience, Plurk awards uses a rewards system that it calls “karma.” Tabulated daily, you earn karma by inviting friends and using the site. With karma, you get extra privileges, such as the ability to change your user name, choose another tier of illustrations, and customize your page.

Karma feels like a condescending pat on the head to me, but I see how it can encourage adoption.

Plurk and privacy

Plurk has more nuanced privacy controls than the leader in this space. Twitter’s privacy settings are an all or nothing proposition. Plurk, however, lets you restrict viewing to friends, friends of friends, or to yourself. Plurk (like Pownce) also offers a per-post privacy setting. Even if your profile is public, you can still restrict who sees a particular entry.

Plurk on the desktop

Unlike Twitter, which has Twitterrific, Twhirl (which can post to Pownce), and at least two Firefox extentions, there are no Plurk desktop clients just yet. According to the site, you can send posts from AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, GTalk or Jabber. But I received an error message when I tried to do so.

Bottom line

I think Plurk comes closes to getting the microblogging thing right. It’s more robust than Twitter with its privacy settings, per-post settings and timeline. And yet, the interface still feels clean and simple. Pownce has a more solid file-sharing platform, but Plurk’s interface seems to get out of the way, where Pownce gets in it.

I’d love to see Plurk release an API, a desktop client, and offer SMS integration. Part of what makes Twitter so kick-a** is that it’s not limited to the browser. You can send tweets on the go, or from a specialty app. If Plurk hopes to gain any traction, these additions are key.

What’s your take?

Related entries (Twitter-centric)

• Why I went private on Twitter
• Recommended: “The Big Juicy Twitter Guide”
• On Twitter-ing
• This is why, this is why, this is why I Tweet.
• Twitter meta: It does too have a point

So Joel wrote about it, and the comments went straight to typical. Which, of course, means I had to write the Standard Defense Post. The problem is that BoingBoing doesn’t guarantee prompt approval of comments unless you are a registered user and I am over the whole “Registering for Sites I Don’t Often Visit” thing. In other words, there’s a good chance my sh*t is and will forever be trapped in moderation hell. I’m reposting it here for your enjoyment.

I’m too lazy to create an account, especially since this will probably be one of three comments I will ever post here.

Anyhow: Darla Mack and Craig Nulan could not make it and were not on the panel. Cheryl Coward (www.cherylcoward.com) and I (Tiffany B. Brown, www.tiffanybbrown.com) filled in for them at the last minute.

That said @David Carroll: The question isn’t just why aren’t more black people blogging about tech. Actually, I’d argue that there are plenty of us doing just that. The better question — one I’m disappointed we didn’t ask — is Why do we assume that there are no black people blogging about tech?

That’s an issue of perception, geek culture, race, gender and class privilege. One illustrative point: why are Madden and NBA Live fans not conceived of as Gamer Geeks in the same way that players of Final Fantasy or WoW are?

The other point (And why does this even need explaining?) is that the people who are using the produts and tools aren’t involved in creating them. What constraints on people’s income, living situation, culture, etc. are we just completely missing out on because they’re not at the table?

No, that’s not specifically a black thing, but it is something that most people who are not some kind of minority (used in the sociological sense, not the numbers sense) tend not to get. And it’s those same issues that minorities tend to blog about.

In it, Middlebrook covers everything you would need to know before getting started with Twitter: etiquette, branding, tools, mashups, and promotion.

Related posts

• On Twitter-ing
• Twitter meta: It does too have a point
• Recommended: Social Networks Aren’t Products
• This is why, this is why, this is why I Tweet.