The past week or so at the day job has been ridiculous. Huge deadlines on a huge project that’s really too huge for the timeline it was scheduled for.
Of course, it does look like we’ll be close enough.
It also looks like it’s driving me utterly mad with stress.
So, the feed is a bit… odd. Because that’s how my brain is working (when my brain is working).
I’ll let you see for yourself.
Here’s the feed…
Today was a very long day at work.
There are another couple of days like that looming in the near future.
It really didn’t help that there was a lot more on my mind today than work.
I would have rather spent the day reading about politics and how Congress just dropped the ball on real campaign finance reform.
I would have rather had the time to really read and listen to all the personal stories of how lives changed 13 years ago.
I would have much rather gotten a nap at some point.
But, that’s not what was.
So, instead, I read a couple of articles, watched a couple of videos, and did the minimum non-work stuff needed to keep from going absolutely batty today.
Pretty much all of that is in the feed.
So, here you go.
Today was a big day in the fight for Net Neutrality.
It was another big push to fill the public comment boxes at the FCC with our very solid desire that the Internet remain open and accessible, regardless of what company gets it to your screen.
Cable companies and phone companies (like Comcast and Verizon) have been fighting tooth and nail–mostly by throwing tons of money at lobbyists and campaign funds–to make sure they can squeeze profit out of both sides of the transaction without providing any better (and, if the content producers don’t pay, considerably worse) service to their customers. Their customers who are already paying more for less than a lot of other countries that are wired.
This goes along with the impending decision on the merger of Comcast and Time Warner, the number one and number two cable broadband providers in the U.S. (Their main argument for the merger is: “No, really, it won’t change anything… it’s not like we’re in competition with one another anywhere.” Yeah. I think I see the problem.)
Legislated net neutrality isn’t a perfect solution. But, right now, it’s the only thing that will stop the current business practices that Netflix has been loudly fighting. Their traffic was more or less (unofficially) held for ransom. Users, who had paid both Netflix and Comcast already for access, were finding their films buffering or not loading at all. Fingers got pointed all over the place, but the facts have shown that the slowdown happened at the connection between Netflix and Comcast. A spot where, mysteriously, no other data streams were having any real problems.
Ultimately, Netflix paid. And then Verizon and Time Warner, seeing that the gambit worked, did exactly the same thing.
You can only imagine how much power that gives these transmission companies.
Especially if they, say, have a competing product. Like, maybe, OnDemand… which lets people (people who pay more to the cable company) to stream movies and television shows.
Anyway, there are a few stories in the feed that really lay things out well. Don’t just take my word for it… give them a read.
Speaking of the feed… here it is…
Wow… not a lot in the feed today, but of what there is a lot of it is pretty heavy.
Guess I’m making up for all that fluff the past week or so.
The most important story is an inside look at an abusive relationship. If nothing else, it should remind us all that how our minds work on the outside of such a situation isn’t at all the same as what’s going through the head of someone in the middle of the situation. We don’t have the wild emotional connection to the events, our internal defenses aren’t firing to try to compensate for the utter dissonance between what we experience and what we want–let alone everything in between.
It’s a bit rough to read, especially if you or someone you know has been in the thick of it.
There’s also an article about how D.C.’s traffic and parking laws–and how they’re enforced–appear to be much more driven by profit motive than public safety concerns. For those of us in the D.C. area who’ve ever had to drive–let alone park–in D.C., this is no surprise at all.
On an entertaining, though no less dark, side there’s the Captain Planet shorts that Funny or Die got Don Cheadle involved in a few years back. They answer the question: What if Captain Planet Was a Power Mad Super Bastard?
And, man, do they answer it well!
There’s also the Duck Tales opening done with real ducks. That should brighten things up a little… unless you’ve got at hing about ducks… in which case I really can’t help you (and I’m oh so sorry for that video of the hundreds of ducks walking down the road yesterday…)
Here’s the feed…
Why, yes, you continue to get a proliferation of fluff in the feed. But it’s good fluff!
At least I think it is.
Creative. Witty. So wrong it’s awesome.
It’s the stuff that helps alleviate the stress that my life has been lately.
But have no fear! There are also some gems of real content in there.
Interesting bits of science. Some very insightful comments on items. Actual world happenings that we should all be aware of.
Check it out, enjoy what you can, maybe jump in and participate in a conversation (even if you’re coming across this months later… don’t hesitate to comment, I’ll see it and it may get things moving on that post again).
Here’s the feed.