From the “WTF” file, comes the news that iPhone users in Australia who have jailbroken their phones are wide open to a new worm that upon finding an jailbroken iPhone that still has the default root password on it, changes the background to a picture of Rick Astley and then tries to copy itself to other jailbroken iPhones. This is apparently the second such hack in the last few days and comes after a hacker in Holland did a similar stunt. Instead Rickrolling the phone, the hacker asked for five Euros to “secure” the iPhones that he (or she) just hacked.

If you haven’t jailbroken your iPhone, you can rest easy. This worm won’t be able to affect you. But if you have jailbroken your iPhone, you might want to change root password on it just to be safe.

A self-propagating program that infects the Apple iPhone is discovered spreading amongst handsets in Australia…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: mobile phone accessories. The blog is also related to: mobile pay as you go phone.

A self-propagating program that infects the Apple iPhone is discovered spreading amongst handsets in Australia…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: 3 mobile. The blog is also related to: cheapest mobile phone.

So I last posted about my new glasses, and with this post it is time to say something:

I am a Tokio Hotel fan. Not as much as I was a year ago. But I’m still a fan, I just don’t like being a fan on-line.

It all happened last year at the EMAs. There was a huge thing between Tokio Hotel fans, and Rickrollers. Then there was huge thing between TH fans and fans of The Jonas Brothers. I have come to hate the majority of both.

I think the final straw came, when Tom hit that stalker. It’s not the fat that it happened, it’s the fact that I then commented on the news that both sides were wrong. The fact is, those stalkers were out of control, but when Tom lost control and hit one of them, he gave the what the wanted and just made it worse.

But I got replies saying that I wasn’t a true fan because I wasnt standing by them through the ordeal! They’re all a bunch of immature 13-15 years olds, and I’ve met some really nice fans, but I’m not going to put myself through having to deal with mindless girls like that.

Anyway, the huge coincidence about my glasses…I was on TokioHotelRocks and I saw this picture of Gustav:

His glasses are EXACTLY the same as mine (except a tad bigger?) and the fact that as far as I can tell, they aren’t BENCH, but a different brand. Hmmm, I just randomly noticed it!

Our Guest…

Remember to get tickets to see Jon Cooper’s show for Ignition at the Tristan Bates Theatre. You can check out the details for his two performances here and here. Also, please check out Jon’s blog, alternately known at Silent Working and Dirty Feed, and go back and listen to Silence in C Minor, the radio show produced by our very own Producer John and written by the Cooper.

Show notes…

• The other song from Rocky I was trying to think of was ‘Heart’s on Fire’ by John Cafferty. Listen to it here.
• To back Jon’s assertion, here’s the Rickrolling figures.
• Fisher Stevens was not in Wing Commander. But he was in Hackers. I think this makes Tommy right.
• Trailer for The Killing Room.
• Trailer for Fish Tank and my review on SoundScreen.
• The Vin Diesel Random Fact Generator.
• A turtle having an orgasm.

Remember to follow us on Twitter, check us out on Facebook, subscribe to us on iTunes and email us, all linked to on the right-hand side of this very page.

• A Google search for “lol cats” returns 21 million results.
• The people who create these images typically spell “you’re” as “UR,” eschew the vast majority of grammatical and spelling conventions, and for some insane reason have replaced the letter “S” with the letter “Z.”
• When they aren’t taking pictures of cats or torturing the English language, they’re busy Rickrolling the entire internet.
• And they can vote.

Let’s just call this Sharing Day. Doesn’t that sound nice?

I’ll go first. You may or may not know that there’s this big Rick Astley meme on the internet. Apparently his 80’s hit, “Never Gonna’ Give You Up” is like a cult favorite or something and gets attached to all kinds of things. They call it “Rickrolling”. I have no idea why. Do not ask me to explain the culture of the internet, I can not do it. So anyway, the other day K tells me that she found a new twist to this Rickrolling wherein they combine the song with another big song from the past. And this? Is the very weird yet oddly entertaining result:

Don’t you feel so educated and hip now?

Good.

So now you can return the favor, only with actually useful helpful advice instead of a bizarre internet meme. Here’s what I need:

Baby Shower Game Ideas.

Yes, I know I can search the internet and find numerous lists of games. But I’d rather ask you. For one thing, you can tell me which ones were actually fun and entertaining – and which were gawdawful and should never be played again. Also, there are parameters. See, the shower is for my sister-in-law who is married to my older brother. This is their first child, but most people at the shower have had kids for years and years. We’ve done a lot of cheesy shower games, is what I’m saying. No way, no how, are we playing the “Guess The Baby Food” game. Also “Random Things On A Tray” has been done a time or 300. Added to the fun is that this is sort of a “couples” shower. “Sort of” in that my Hubby and my sister’s husbands are not going, but my brother is. Apparently he doesn’t want to feel left out or something. So we can’t go off the deep end with the “girly” is my point.

Do people even still play games at showers?

I had this one idea, a sort of “Name That Tune.” There’s this company Rockabye Baby! that turns old classic rock songs into lullabies. Stuff like Queen, The Beetles, and Coldplay. So I thought, maybe it would be fun to play like 20 seconds of a song and have people try to name the tune. And then I could give a CD of the songs to the parents-to-be. Is that really weird? Would it be fun, or would everyone over 35 think I had lost my mind? (Everyone under 35 too for that matter?)

Anyway, that’s my one idea and I’m not exactly sure where to go with it… so tell me if it’s lame or whatever. And then tell me if you’ve ever played a game at a baby shower that wasn’t lame.

I’m feeling a little pressure here, to be all entertaining and FUN! and well, I’ve never been especially good at the party throwing thing. So, um, help?

The dialect survey begins tomorrow, and I’m on TEAM-NARUKO.

Let it be known that I’m going, albeit unwillingly, unwillingly, unwillingly. I now freely admit that deciding to take part in the survey was a monumentally stupid and idiotic idea which will now cause me to have no time whatsoever for anything useful and/or fun.

Also, no internet connection for three days.

Also, the creepy creepy sexist creep who acts like a total manwhore and treats people I respect like they’re bits and pieces of mouldy cheese? He’s going with us. GREAT. I actually genuinely hate him, I can’t help contorting my face in all sorts of unhappy grimaces whenever I see him.

Imagining what I could do to him one day, provided I had enough margarine, ants, creationist videos and a paper clip, eases the pain a little, but only just so.

Also, this is made of win. (No details so as not to spoil).

Anyway, I will be rather far away from civilisation the next three days (single crystaline tear).

Also: while in a karaoke bar, I jumped at the opportunity to rickroll everybody. However, my valiant efforts were not met with the expected groaning. I was v disappointed.

(There might have even be some applause, even *facepalm*)

From now on, I swear to only sing Britney. Bwah.

So once again presumption and a lack of good information have ignited a pending revolution, only to have it doused by the eventual “full story” coming out a day or so later. Not unlike #amazonfail before it, the building frenzy around the quickly spread belief that AT&T was trying to censor the internet cooled quickly once the facts of the matter emerged.

Official announcements were released today by both AT&T and 4Chan explaining that the whole situation was a result of a DDOS attack upon the latter, which was causing issues for customers of the former. An extreme measure was taken, thereby shutting off access to areas of 4Chan for all AT&T members, not just those affected.

Well, the battle has been called off, but what about the war? Well, for just a moment the issues of Net Neutrality and Content-control have been brought to the fore again – the latter being particularly pertinent here in Australasia. Some in Australia are calling their recent ‘Net filtering trial a success, and here in New Zealand the government is budgeting $150,000 to expand our filtering system beyond a quiet test. Whether this recent storm in a Twitter-cup will bring any genuine attention to these situations is yet to be seen, however.

As for AT&T, they are now turning from one angry speculative userbase to another – iPhone users who are being denied the official Google Voice iPhone app.

Meanwhile, a note at the end of the statement 4Chan released today signals big news due later this week. With one foray into mainstream web consciousness this week, one can only wonder just what is coming next…

Just another day in an increasingly technology-reliant world.

EDITED 4:47pm 29th July 09 NZT following haszari’s comment.

Holy %$&. Reports have been rolling in all morning that across the United States AT&T is blocking access to parts of 4Chan.

They clearly have no understanding of exactly what they’re dealing with. It’s not just a messageboard, or a website – it’s not just the porn, mischief, or trolling covered in the press. It’s home to a passionate, active & adept web-enabled community, who are capable of more than most people imagine.

Ironically, just last night I was reading an extraordinary short story by Bruce Sterling called Maneki Neko. At its centre is a network of individuals connected by smartphone-like devices who are capable of incredible interconnected acts of goodwill, as well as a near limitless combined power to wreak havoc on anyone who opposes “the net”.
I couldn’t help thinking how we have pretty much all the ingredients for this right now: iPhone + gift economy + groups like 4Chan.

The story left me wondering just what the group who were able to stack the Time 100 Poll, create LOLCats & Rickrolling, and tear apart the life of a dodgy computer repairman (among many, many other things) would be capable of as time goes on.

Like them or not, they set an example of the kind of crowdsourced action we’ll probably need for turning around our world in crisis.

For now, AT&T have made themselves a target, and we’ll soon see what retaliation is coming their way.

EDITED 4:50pm NZST

Do you experience the  urge to Rickroll?

Are you concerned that bubblegum pop nuisance-linking isn’t really in keeping with the gloomy year that the economy collapsed like a piss-drizzled souffle, a deadly yet comedic disease swept the globe and last bastion of stable marital harmony Katie and Pete imploded in a black hole of PR backstabbing and envy-the-blind nightclub pap shots of cheesewire thongs?

Don’t worry: you’re not alone.

The last time things were this shit was the early 1990s, and Nirvana’s grunge par excellence ruled the charts. Welcome then, to Recession Rolling, which can be achieved via the simple expedient of replacing your old, inappropriately cheery Rickroll links with this updated version: Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up.

Thanks to the Word Magazine’s excellent newsletter (sign up here) for pointing us at this and other cultural treasures.

Aprovechando la conmoción provocada por la muerte de Michael Jackson, de Farrah Fawcett e, incluso, de Vicente Ferrer, algunos están intentando pasar por el  patíbulo a los más variopintos personajes, como Britney Spears o Rick Astley. De hecho, desde hace unos minutos Rick Astley es el término más utilizado y buscado en Twitter.

Me hace especial gracia el tema de Rick Astley, porque entre todos consiguieron resucitarle hace unos años gracias a un meme que circuló en internet (rickrolling) y que alcanzó tanta popularidad que provocó su vuelta a los escenarios.

Para que luego duden del poder de Internet: ¡incluso sirve para matar y para resucitar a los artistas! Veremos si con esta -segunda- muerte fingida consigue un poco más de de óxigeno para -como diría aquél- volver a volver.

Como curiosidad, destacar el fenómeno twitter trend Trending Topics, que coloca casi instantáneamente en el primer lugar de las palabras más utilizadas en twitter el nombre de cualquier personaje famoso que muere, así como las hordas de usuarios que están atentos a estas palabras para indagar en el tema. ¿Morbo? A mí me parece un poco macabro, pero reconozco que tiene su parte cachonda, en especial en este caso

Officially tweeted…at last

The simple dictionary definition:

“Twitter” is a “microblogging/social networking platform that places a 140- character limit on each individual post/tweet.” However, this  would fail to encapsulate the power of this new omnipresent medium. Twitter can be viewed at as a “marketing tool, feedreader, tracking device, communication tool & news breaker” all rolled into one. Or, Twitter can be seen as a collective life stream of a community of which you are a member.  wow! feeling so exclusive and special.

Twitter is hard to describe specifically because it is a social utility with more possible uses than a Swiss Army knife. Here are 101 examples of how Twitter members regularly use the service.

Well, I won’t go there, but, believe me,there were 101 postings.  My favorite new word is ‘rickrolling”.

Tweet on.

What is a Rick Roll?
Millions have stumbled upon this Internet phenomenon. Find out what the rick roll is, why it’s happened, and where you will get rick roll’d the most.

To learn more about rick rolling, check out the article below:
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1804010/what_is_a_rick_roll.html

Rick Astley walked into an Athens, Georgia karaoke bar and sang his hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

Rick Astley walked into an Athens, Georgia karaoke bar and sang his hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

Um amigo meu me mandou uma coluna do David Pogue, comentarista de tecnologia do New York Times, na qual ele fala sobre a cultura da internet e o que é necessário para que você possa dizer que está por dentro dela. No artigo, ele indica dois sites: um que lista os 99 vídeos que você tem que ver, como trailer de “O Iluminado” que faz o filme parecer uma comédia romântica, e outro que lista as memes da internet cronologicamente. Ambos muito instrutivos. :] Ah, e por falar nisso, eu também nunca tinha ouvido falar de rickrolling. ;]

Greg Rutter’s Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You’re a Loser or Old or Something

Internet Meme Timeline

Rick Astley Talks about Moot

Rick Astley, the “Never Gonna Give you Up” singer, or the “Rickroll” dude as he’s most popularly known, writes about about Moot being Time’s most influential person.

Before I heard about moot — the mysterious 21-year-old creator of the influential Web message board 4chan.org, who just happened to win TIME.com’s online poll to determine the world’s most influential people — I used to think some young kid had stumbled across my video and thought it would be funny to send it to his mates, and it just kind of caught on. I suppose at first I was a little embarrassed by it. I always liken it to when people look through their photo albums or home videos from 20 years ago and think, Gosh, did I really wear that? 

The master himself

Drew is black and I am white. I am female and Drew is male. I am tall and Drew is EVEN TALLER. We’re both from the suburbs, but we’ll ignore that. The point is, Drew and I are about as different as two people can get without one of us being a pedophile or a foreigner or something. And when it comes to music, we run in very different circles. Drew’s iPod deals heavily in R&B, hip-hop, rap and soul; mine jumps between art school drop-outs and people my parents used to like. So for this week’s Diversity Training, we decided to swap songs.

The players: Claire. Drew. The entire history of music.

The rules: We each pick three songs and send them to each other without explaining our selections. Then we listen and critique accordingly. After the initial review, the song’s original selector will offer a final defense.

Song #1: “Young Americans” by David Bowie (selected by Claire)

Drew’s review: So I will admit of the songs presented, Bowie was the name I knew the most. “Lets Dance” is my shillz-nillz and I love dropping that at a party, however this seems to be from his earlier days. There’s an interesting feel to this record; it’s like Bowie is attempting to stretch into different genres from his Ziggy Stardust persona, and “Young Americans” takes a shot at American Soul. The record sounds like it was made by someone who has had American influences, but has never actually been to America making a record for America. The wonky sax sounds coupled with the background singers make it seem like the predecessor of the “Blue Eyed Soul” sound made popular by The Doobie Bros, Chicago and fellow Temple University Alums – Hall and Oates. What drew you to such a record? It sounds like something you just kind of absorbed while riding in car seat around the greater Chi-Town ‘burbs, while Janice was making a run to Marshall Fields…

Claire’s defense: Janice hates David Bowie, she thinks he’s a nancy. However, this song does remind me of a certain time in my life. It captures that brief period during adolescence when you want to be sophisticated and cool but still have no idea what it really means to be growing up. “Young Americans” is the way it feels to when you have your parents’ car for the night—nothing to do, nowhere to be, and no one to stop you from just taking off. So you roll down the minivan windows and speed through the subdivision and the biggest problem plaguing your timid little mind is whether or not he’s going to ask you to prom. He does, of course. If he didn’t, the song wouldn’t mean anything anymore and you’d probably pick something else.

Song #2: “Never Give You Up” by Raphael Saadiq feat. CJ Hilton & Stevie Wonder (selected by Drew)

Claire’s review: I saw this title and thought for a moment that I had been Rickrolled.

I don’t like songs that involve the word “girl.” Except, of course, the Beatles song that’s literally called “Girl,” but that’s only because the background vocals sound like the word “tit” repeated over and over again (no, really—listen again and check it out). I don’t find the term offensive or anything, it just makes me feel like I’m in an All-4-One video.

I like R&B and gospel, but stuff that falls into the “sexy soul” category — what I like to call foreplay music— makes me think of poorly lit living rooms and men who keep refilling your wine glass despite protests to the contrary. Do guys really listen to this kind of music on their own? Or is it just to get some? Mostly it sounds like something I’d hear played over the speaker system at Bloomingdales.

Drew’s defense: Duly noted on the aversion to the word “girl” in songs (along with your beef with high boots). Raphael Saadiq (Tony! Toni! Toné! fame) went completely true school on this album and recorded it all analog Motown style. I love the timeless soul element of this song. I know when that has been landed because my old man will dig the record, for I get my soul swagger from him. An already great song gets luxuriously audible when Stevie drops in a bangs out some sick harmonica action. Awesome record to me. To answer your question Clairington – yes, men do listen to this on their own. It’s a great alternative to the “bang bang hustle drug kill” material that dominates most rap music. Also every grown-ass man needs a good “cool out” soundtrack.

Song #3: “Shine A Light” by Wolf Parade (selected by Claire)

Drew’s review: I feel like I’m in college at some keg party where I’m the lone spade at the place but I came there with people I trust and usually have a good time with. Often those situations expose my ears to new types of music, and listening to this for the first time brought me back to that same exact feeling. Not something I’d personally listen to, but it wouldn’t ruin my stay at the party if the beer was flowing and the folks were cool. I can smell the damp concrete by the keg, trying not to get too much foam in the cup, looking around at other mellow revelers to see if I can find some chick to bridge the gap with, and if I do get lucky this song will come up again. All that to say, this definitely sounds like something of your actual age group and time period. You probably had some sort of experience(s) with this particular song and I’d love to hear them. It could be something as innocuous as just having a really good time at a party or concert, or could go all the way to someone you met while this was on…

Claire’s defense: Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary is probably my favorite album of the last five years. Every single song on it is good, and not in the way that, like, TV on the Radio or My Morning Jacket or Wilco are good. These songs aren’t the most complicated or innovative out there, they’re just dirty and raw and imperfect and that was how I felt when I first heard them. “Shine A Light” was the first song off the album that really struck me. I heard it in 2006 when I had a cute home and a cute boyfriend and a cute job and a cute puppy and everything was cute and perfect and adorable but I didn’t want it, I wanted something more. The song is stark and bleak and bare and honest and I really like the line about not sleeping ‘til it’s light. Our hearts beat time out very slowly. They’re waiting for something that never arrives. (I kept the puppy.)

Song #4: “Balmy Night” by Department of Eagles (selected by Drew)

Claire’s review: I’ve heard Department of Eagles before (I keep wanting them to be Flight of the Conchords knock-offs, but they’re not), but only because I used to work at a college radio station and this freak-folk is the kind of stuff the indie DJs used to play. Also, one of the members is in Grizzly Bear. The instrumentals drive this track (is that a banjo?) and although the warbling, go-nowhere voices give it a coll melancholy vibe, they don’t add much. There’s a lot going on here and I want them to shut up so I can listen to it. I feel as though it’s produced by a bunch of Brooklyn kids who have never actually been to the South but think they know what it’s like. This is one of those songs that I’d put on my iPod and then forget about until one day when it came up on shuffle and then I’d be pleasantly surprised to hear it again.

Drew’s defense: My man Tony Bones put me on to this one. Mr. Marrow is a dashing chap originally from England and has probably one of the most eclectic ears for music I know. Sometimes he loses me, and other times he gives me what I think is a true gem. This is truly an instrument-driven track, because I still don’t know twatdefuck the vocalist is saying. However this is some hauntingly beautiful music to me. The best usage of a banjo I’ve ever heard, an instrument which usually has adverse affects on me, ever since I saw “Deliverance” as a kid. Then they go into this classic reggae bass lilt towards the end but still keeps the hillbilly banjo angle, and they’re all from Brooklyn… I was drawn to it thinking about all the different possible genre influences on this song.

Song #5: “The Real Me” by The Who (selected by Claire)

Drew’s review: My man Ronzoni loved The Who as a kid, and since Hip-Hop wasn’t the dominant pop music form that it is today I got mildly exposed to a lot of these groups through friends who had older brothers. Alas, I don’t have much retention of it other than the names of the bands. This has a very retro feel, like something you listen to while riding around tripping off of something in a shag upholstered rape van with a fish shaped window in the back. I get the feeling this song is about some sort of inner conflict within the subject’s self about who he is. Looking for help from his doctor, his moms, and anyone else who would listen. Is this your cry for help song, Claire? Considering you prahlee weren’t even born when this song dropped I hope you weren’t relating to split personalities while scarfing zwieback in your playpen. If so I am troubled, your life is prahlee harder than Mazall’s, and all the hugs in the world can’t help that.

Claire’s defense: When I was a freshman in high school, I forwent my first major house party—with senior boys who would have talked to flirted with spiked my drink — to go see the Who. That is how much I loved them then, and how much I love them now. Sure, there was another house party the following weekend, with the same people and the same crap beer, but this was like 3 weeks into 9th grade, the very first high school party, and I got into a huge fight with my then-best friend who was furious at my social betrayal. This song is from the Quadrophenia album, which is a rock opera about the mods vs. rockers in 1960s England—not exactly a relatable topic, but the music is so profoundly awesome that it doesn’t matter. This isn’t my favorite Who song and Quadrophenia isn’t my favorite Who album (that would be Tommy), but last weekend I pulled a box of old CDs out from under my bed and this was one of the things that I transferred onto my laptop. I hadn’t heard it in about 5 years and it’s just as shazam! blammo! as I remember. And I love Zwieback, excellent reference.

Sidenote for our international viewers: a Quadrophenia stage show is opening in London

Song #6: “Compared To What (Live At Montreux)” by Les McCann & Eddie Harris (selected by Drew)

Claire’s review: So I have a really good friend named Tyler who is into jazz. He is so into jazz that he became a professional sax player and is currently the youngest board member of the Duke Ellington Society or something like that. Tyler is continually frustrated by the fact that when it comes to jazz, my ears don’t work. I can’t really tell one song from the other and although I enjoy live jazz, I don’t really sit around at home and listen to it just for kicks. That said, this song was exceedingly fun and I’m going to play it a lot in the next few days. Maybe cause it’s not strictly jazz. It seems a little funky. I’m not really sure who Les McCann and Eddie Harris are, but they’re okay by me. If this song were playing at a dinner party, I would put down my napkin of mini-quiches and goose liver paté long enough to listen. And if I heard it live, I’d go out and buy the record. Figuratively speaking, of course. No one buys records anymore, they just take stuff from the Internets.

Drew’s response: I’m really glad you liked this record. This is an all-time fave of mine. Growing up as a kid my dad worked two jobs so he wasn’t home as much, so I really enjoyed the time he was around because it usually involved a lot of great music blasting thru the house on a Sunday (since we didn’t go to church). I have to say my love for music (and great stereos) comes from my dad OG Big Dave. My first memory of this record is when Les McCann says “GODDAMNIT! Tryin’ to make it REAL COMPARED TO WHAT!” Hearing what was (at the time) the dirtiest word I ever heard on a song, I chuckled like any 5-year-old and my father smiled at me and said, “You liked that huh?” and I did. I lost touch with this record as I got older, but I was home from college one year and he had this bumpin’ and I was transported to that time as a kid but had a greater appreciation of this record. When I moved out of my parents’ home and was getting my domestic Sunday started, I always set it off with this song and I felt like I was home even though I was miles away. Along with its timeless message in its lyrics, this song has a timeless father-son bond as well.

Awwww. Ain’t that sweet.

[via dasistdasen]

THE COMIC

THE LONG DRAWN OUT EXPLANATION FOR THE COMIC

Alright, so everyone’s probably aware of the new iTunes switch that occured on January 6th, 2009…  But must people aren’t aware of the implications and meaning of this change…  As of now, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, the four biggest record companies hosted on iTunes’ store, have allowed their music to be sold by Apple, Inc. with no DRM rights.  (DRM stands for either Digital Rights Movement or Dicks Ruining Music, your choice.  And yes, I DID come up with that on the spot.) Basically, this now means that instead of all your tunes being 99 cents, now they can be anywhere from $0.69 to $1.29.  Notice the overall cost stayed the same for us mindless consumers?  Were we not supposed to notice?  I’m not sure how to answer that without using a double negative.  Anyway, the whole idea is that we don’t think the record companies are too thrilled with the new order of things since it means they make less money; instead of DRM-protected music being impossible to copy and give to friends or relatives or Belgians, (well, that’s not totally true…) DRM-free has no rights associated with it.  Copying it and giving it away is frowned upon, but it’s not considerably faster and easier to do than it was before.

That does not compute with most consumers, especially since Apple told us that liscencing would be removed from their music as of Jan. 6…  But dig into somewhat-publicly available (for legal reasons, otherwise they’d be in closely guarded vaults surrounded by dogs and killer rabbits with sharp pointy teeth) documents and note that our betraying and hateful liscences are still in fact clinging hopelessly to our beloved songs; while no lawsuits have sprung up yet, please image the following;

You send your buddy a song over Limewire (to shame!) and he receives it.  And then the FBI shows up at your door.  Wait, what?  It was one song and it was just to one person!  Well, actually iTunes doesn’t tell you anymore, but they add a little bit of info to the songs that give account information, e-mail, and perhaps even name information!  Basically, every time you toss a song onto a P2P network (Limewire, a torrent, etc.) you’re throwing your personal web-info out there.  Which means that not only the FBI and Apple can trace you, but so can h@xoRz (hackers…  I may use that term a lot in the future, so get used to it…) and bored teenagers that know a couple words in Javascript or Perl or something…

Of course, those same code-savvy people can also use their knowledge for good (good for us) and not evil (evil for us, not for iTunes or lawyers wearing black suits and bluetooths.) (Wait, is the plural of bluetooth still blueteeth, or is it bluetooths?) by helping us out and kindly removing that tag.  So the question of the day is; if iTunes knows we can get rid of their pesky tags, (which they must, since it’s really pretty simple, depending on the media) then why do they put them on? It seems like a trust issue.

Now, also for those who don’t know, Rickrolling is a new type of spam (that I HATE HATE HATE) in which the spammer claims to have a new and unreleased song on mp3 or a video of something people would want to see (often pron or Apple Inc. rumors) and when it’s viewed or played, it turns out to be Rick Astley’s music video of “Never Gonna Give You Up”.  Which isn’t even a very good song to begin with.  It’s part of a new line of waste-of-time-damnit-this-is-why-I-hate-people internet fads, which have sadly taken up Richard Dawkins’ term of ‘memes’.  Memetics, or the study of memes, was first thought up by Dawkins in his book whose name eludes me momentarily…  Throughout any references on this site, I will strongly voice my hatred towards pointless internet memes.  These include rickrolling or using the name Candlejack in a sentence, which according to internet-meme-perpetuators (who are all shmucks) will render you unable to complete the sentence successfully.  (BAM, I just did.  In your FREAKIN FACE!)

For more information or comments or non-internet-meme spam, please comment below.

Rickrolling Nets “Never Gonna Give You Up” Co-Writer £11; despite being viewed 154 million times, Pete Waterman says he received the paltry sum from YouTube. He’s now started a campaign for fairer deals for songwriters whose work shows up on the video-sharing site. (Telegraph)

Lost Generated 35.8 streams in March; Nielsen says 1.4 million unique viewers watched a combo of full episodes, clips and other short-form content. Overall, ABC.com served 176.9 million streams to 6.9 million uniques. (Variety)

YouTube Videos Show Domino’s Pizza Workers Doing Gross Stuff with the Food; clips show peppers and cheese being stuffed up a nose as well as a sponge being used, ummm, unsanitarily before being used to scrub a pot. (Consumerist) The perps were tracked down and according to a company email, will be fired.

Qik Cuts Costs for Mobile Travelers; Qik Roam is a pre-paid SIM card that lets users make calls, stream video, send email and browse the web in 134 countries while saving 60-80 percent on roaming and data charges. (VentureBeat)

Wrestlemania’s 25th Anniversary Brings Big Numbers; WWE.com scores record numbers with 2.7 million unique users and 2 million videos streamed in one day. (MediaWeek)

Film Production in LA Down 56 Percent in the First Quarter; though TV production is up over last year (there was a strike going on), commercial shoots are down, overall location film in Los Angeles is nearly stagnant at 0.7 percent year-over-year. (The Hollywood Reporter) Meanwhile, film production was up $205 million in Vancouver in 2008. (The Wrap)

Turner Exec: Broadcast Ad Rates Are Outdated; David Levy says broadcast networks are charging inflated rates based on performance from years ago, wants to create a marketplace that blends cable and broadcast into the upfront mix. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Visible Measures Powers Reporting for MySpace Videos; video measurement company to provide third-party analytics for the social network to share with advertisers and content partners. (release)

Meine erste re:publica – das war sie also. In den ersten beiden Tagen habe ich wie erwartet viele nette Leute wieder getroffen, einige getroffen die ich noch nicht persönlich kannte sondern nur vom Twittern oder Bloggen. Dies war für mich der Hauptzweck der Konferenz, und der wurde damit voll erfüllt. Dank Jens bin ich nun auch mit einem Poken ausgerüstet, er und Nicole erklärten netterweise die Basics. Ich finde es klasse und freue mich schon auf die nächste Konferenz – man braucht dann also bald keine Papier-Visitenkarten mehr

Wieder bei Twingly angekommen, habe ich das Ding gleich mal meinen Kollegen vorgestellt und vorgeschlagen, einen 12er-Pack zu ordern. In Schweden sind die Dinger nämlich noch nicht angekommen, aber das ist wohl nur eine Frage der Zeit. Die Reaktionen reichten von “Boah, sind die häßlich”, “Haben die sich den Namen gut überlegt?” und  “Coooool!” zu “Kann ich den mal auseinanderschrauben? Ich baue ihn dann auch wieder zusammen.” Da war es dann doch an der Zeit mein neues Gadget in den Tiefen meiner Handtasche in Sicherheit zu bringen.

Der erste Konferenztag war etwas langsam, was mir einerseits entgegen kam, da ich mit diesem unchristlich frühen Flug in Berlin ankam und um 3.30 MEZ aufstehen durfte. Andererseits hätte ich mir ein paar kontroversere Diskussionen gewünscht, beispielsweise bei “Blogs in Deutschland” und “Großstadtnomaden”. Das war bestimmt informativ für alle, die nicht so im Thema drin stecken, aber nicht so sehr für mich. Dennoch insgesamt war alles sehr gut gemacht und der Friedrichsstadtpalast gab für den ersten Tag eine sehr gute Bühne, wenn auch nicht immer mit WLAN – was aber irgendwie normal ist. Habe noch keine Konferenz erlebt, bei der sich einige hundert Leute gleichzeitig problemlos in dasselbe Netz einloggen konnten.

Hier ein Bild von der Bühne mit John Kelly von Morningside Analytics. Dies war nach der Keynote der erste Beitrag, dem ich zuhörte.

Er stellte mit “Mapping the global blogosphere” eine sehr interessante Analyse hinsichtlich der Zusammensetzung und Verknüpfung verschiedener Blogsphären vor. Darunter war die US-amerikanische, die iranische, die russische und auch die deutsche zu finden. Es wurde gezeigt, mit welchen Themen sich Blogger in den einzelnen Kreisen auseinandersetzen und auch wie sie sich untereinander vernetzen. Kellys Aussage zur deutschsprachigen Blogsphäre war, dass wir uns in einem Stadium befinden, in welchem sich auch die US-amerikanische befand, bevor sie sich zu der riesigen, diversen Blogwelt von heute entwickelte. In Deutschland dominieren dabei momentan eher noch technisch und politisch orientierte Blogs, wie man auch in Deutsche Blogcharts oder Twingly Top 100 sehen kann. Laut Kelly wird sich dies jedoch schnell weiterentwickeln, so dass in Deutschland heute noch kleinere Bereiche wie beispielsweise Crafts und Kunst oder andere persönliche Interessen zunehmend vertreten sein werden. Diese sind beispielsweise in Frankreich stark , wenn man Twingly Top 100 French glauben darf. Kellys Analyse basierte ausschließlich auf Daten, ohne weiteres Hintergrundwissen mit einzubeziehen. Dies war für einige Zuhörer ein Kritikpunkt. Ich finde dennoch, dass dies ein sehr interessanter Ansatz ist und werde versuchen, John Kelly noch einmal zu kontaktieren, beispielsweise um herauszufinden, welche Datenquellen dem Ganzen zu Grunde liegen. Vielleicht rückt er ja sogar seine Präsentation heraus

Am Nachmittag des 1. Tages ging es mit @50hz, @pottblog und @Katti Eis essen – Tipp von Pottblogger Jens. Wunderbar, erstes Eis in diesem Jahr, und das bei Sonne und ganz ohne Jacke. Zurück in Schweden sah das noch etwas anders aus. Kein Eis (Speiseeis, sonst schon) und wesentlich kälter.

Das Programm des  1. Tages schloss mit “re:search – Deutschland sucht”, einer Live-Gameshow, unter anderem präsentiert von Organisator @spreeblick . Hier wurde Rickrolling vom Feinsten im Karaokestil geboten, und das Nominieren der Kandidaten per Zuruf, ganz ohne Internet oder SMS zeigte, dass es auch immer noch ohne die modernen Hilfsmittel geht – auch wenn das nun wieder so nicht geplant war. Aber witzig wars .

Während einige sich dann noch zur Party mit Fettes Brot aufmachten, habe ich dann mal “Tschüß” gesagt, auf dem Weg ins Hotel noch etwas gegessen, noch etwas geguckt wie Deutschland mal wieder mit mehr Glück als Können gegen Wales gewann – und bin dann ins Bett geplumpst.

Tag 2 begann mit ausgiebigem Frühstück im Hotel und danach dem erstem re:publica Vortrag von Peter Schaar, dem Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragten. Spannender Vortrag, und der kann richtig reden, der Mann!
Da ich noch einen anderen Termin in Berlin hatte, war mein nächster Vortrag am Nachmittag - “Blogging in Africa – between powercut and political protest”. Kurz, knackig und informativ in englischer Sprache, präsentiert von Andrea Goetzke und Geraldine de Bastion. Hier ging es darum, dass in Afrika Mobilephones eine wesentlich größere Rolle spielen als Computer. Mobile Blogging, Microblogging und Facebook spielen eine große Rolle, um sich zu organisieren. Sei es um die Wahrheit über die Wahlen in Kenia zu verbreiten (Blogger als Kontra zu traditionellen, stattlich gesteuerten Medien) oder Facebook Groups in Ägypten, um gegen diverse Dinge zu protestieren. Blogger sind keineswegs machtlos. Die Menschen nutzen die neuen Wege gezielt um auf Mißstände aufmerksam zu machen und diese somit zu ändern. Gesetze gegen solche Bewegungen gibt es zwar, aber sie wurden bislang nicht angewandt, da keiner genau weiß, wie man dies angehen sollte. Es gibt also wider Erwarten große Freiheit für Blogger dort – und somit die Möglichkeit Einfluss zu nehmen. (Nachtrag 6. April: Mehr dazu auf Medienlese im Interview mit Geraldine de Bastion.)

Am Nachmittag zogen wir komplett in die Kalkscheune um. Das bedeutete, dass der Friedrichstadtpalast geschlossen wurde. Komplett, mit Garderobe, für die Abendveranstaltung. Da ich den größten Teil des Tages nicht dort war, wurde mein Köfferchen mit eingeschlossen. Nur dem Team der re:publica ist es zu verdanken, dass ich zusammen mit ein paar anderen mein Gepäck über den Bühneneingang wiederbekam. Puhh. Schwein gehabt, und nochmals großen Dank für den Einsatz!

Ansonsten hat es mich sehr gefreut, endlich einmal @myxococcus persönlich kennenzulernen, und nicht nur über Twingly sondern auch über seine Motorradtour in Italien zu schnacken. @sachark habe ich nach der OMD auch endlich einmal wiedergesehen, ebenso wie @oliverg und @tknuewer und viele andere. Wunderbar, einfach mal wieder mitten drin zu sein und nicht “irgendwo da oben im hohen Norden”.

Am Abend ging es dann doch wieder zurück nach Schweden – nach 2 wunderbaren, sonnigen Tagen in Berlin. Freue mich schon aufs nächste Mal – auf Berlin und auf die re:publica10.