Cold Turkey - Media Meditation #4

I read an article a while ago on Huffintonpost.com about Turkey lifting it's 2-year ban on YouTube.  This shocked me! I was completely unaware that Turkey had such a ban, or that any countries had a ban on such a powerful and influential social media tool like YouTube.

CNET also reported on this same issue:

"The ban has been removed," Yildirim said on Turkish TV news channel NTV, according to various media reports. "But we didn't get here easily, we have been through a lot in the process. I hope that they have also learned from this experience and the same thing will not happen again. YouTube will hopefully carry out its organization in Turkey within the limits of law in the future."

(read the rest of the article here)

I guess in one sense I have thought about bans like this in other countries, like China, but not one so close to European influence.  Apparently, the only reason the site was banned in the first place was because the Prime Minister did not approve of a few videos that poked fun at him.  Since those videos were removed, the country has been pushing for this ban to be lifted, and it finally has.  

Another interesting notion I've been considering recently (thanks to the HuffPost) is the concept of working from home.  

When I first entered college, I had absolutely no idea as to what direction I wanted to head in for my professional career.  I still don't have too much of a specific plan, but I have been intrigued lately about the idea of working from home and doing freelance design or writing work.

I read this article about a 60 year old man who lost his job as a real estate broker in 2008 at the height of the housing market crisis.  Instead of going out into the world to work for someone else again, he decided to sit down and pool together his skills and resources, and started making websites with the help of a startup web development company.

Since then, he has created over 12 successful sales websites.  It just goes to show how you can do anything online, and it makes me wonder what effect this concept will have on the corporate work structure of our world in a long-term sense.

(Courtesy of Google Images)

~~~ Update!! ~~ 

As of 12/12/10, YouTube has been banned YET AGAIN in Turkey. 

From PCMAG.COM: 

"The battle between YouTube and Turkish officials continued this week as Turkey reportedly unblocked and then re-blocked the Google-owned video site in the country over unflattering videos of the country's political leaders... On Tuesday night, a Turkish court banned YouTube again, this time over an old video purportedly showing former opposition leader Deniz Baykal in a hotel room with someone other than his wife."

Read the rest of the article here.

Project Censored 2011 - Western Lifestyle Continues Environmental Footprint

(Courtesy of Google Images)

Facts:

The Western lifestyle is unsustainable. Period. 

Travel and tourism are HUGE reasons our lifestyle is increasingly unsustainable - the energy consumption of these industries is through the roof!

The internet has come to be such an intrinsic part of our everyday life, yet is is the cause of MANY environmental problems, mainly extensive energy consumption

The West's energy consumption is said to be responsible for melting glaciers all over the world. 

I honestly do not believe this is a truly censored story.    It is old news. Nothing mentioned in the article was new to me.  I was aware of all issues involving the unneccessary and unrealistic amounts of energy that not only the WEST consumes, but also the ENTIRE WORLD.  

I found a great website that acts as a directory for the Top 35 Environmental Blogs.  

The introduction for the site presents itself as follows:

"There are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs dedicated to the environment on the Internet. That's really no surprise given that environmental conservation is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and has become especially pertinent in recent years due to concerns about global warming and mega-hit documentaries like Former US Vice President Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth."

There you have it! This is not a new issue or idea.  It's been presented to us again and again,  but to no avail.  

Also, I think this article has a lot more to do with energy consumption than anything else.  The title of the article should have presented this idea more than just referencing our "environmental footprint".  

(Courtesy of Google Images)

Of course there were copious amounts of related news searches in LexisNexis.  Because as I said, this really isn't much of a censored story.  If anything, it's a story that no one pays enough attention to, but definitely not censored.  I think perhaps it was just an attempt of the editors to briefly mention a topic that they are concerned about.  But giving a topic the illusion of secrecy really doesn't make it censored

Related Links:

  

Rich Canadians have bigger carbon footprint; Size matters. Study links national income, consumption

Carbon footprint campaign steps up; ENVIRONMENT: COSTS;  WWF launches online 'planet' calculator

New research points to higher than previously thought emissions

High environmental cost of Six Nations

The future of the Earth is in our hands;  Our Easter gift to the rest of the planet... an ecological debt that we'll never pay off 

The Internet has a Google-sized carbon footprint.

Snail Rail No More - Media Meditation #3

The future of transportation?:

MONORAILS (embed code did not work)

I recently read an article from the Huffington Post about California's quest to construct a system of high-speed passenger monorails.  

This plan, the first segment of which is expected to be completed by 2020, is a necessary step in our society’s evolution of transportation.  Rail transportation is hundreds of times more efficient than our other fuel-based methods of fuel-based travel.   If employed an a large-scale basis, it would significantly decrease pollution levels caused by fuel exhaust.  

(courtesy of Google Images)

The last paragraph of the article states:

"It's not only about fast trains; high-speed rail represents a fundamentally different way of operating a passenger rail system with trains, track, and stations that are digitally aware, interconnected and infused with intelligence. It promises to be one smart ride."

I think this is a reflection of where our society and the future of our technology is headed.  The same kind of statements can be seen with the newest models of cars that come out each year.  

Our need for speed in all areas of life is becoming kind of overwhelming. It's taking over our brains and the way we think.  Obviously the Internet and related media technologies have been the pioneers of fast-paced lifestyles.

A survey from AllAboutAuto.us recently revealed that more and more automobile owners want the internet in their vehicles!  

(Courtesy of Google Images)

In one way this technological shift is a good thing.  It is seamlessly integrating all of our technologies into a more smoothly operating system that allows us to communicate faster and more efficiently with one another, as well as the ability to share exponential amounts of information across broad networks of people and groups.  

But at the same time this constant interconnectedness could cause some serious changes in the way we operate as people.