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August 10, 2007

Pearl Jam vs Big Brother AT&T

During a Pearl Jam performance at Lollapalooza - a concert that was broadcast live via webcast - AT&T (one of the sponsors) muted Eddie Vedder as he sang some choice anti-President Bush lyrics. Viewers following on the web heard static during the lyrics, "George Bush, leave this world alone” and “George Bush find yourself another home”. Fortunately, we have sites like YouTube to expose these moments for what they are:

AT&T's response to the fallout: ”a major mistake by a webcast vendor and completely contrary to our policy." So much for "net-neutrality".

I guess despite his poor approval ratings, Bush still has clout with the major corporations. Visit Save the Internet Blog for more discussion about this unfortunate incident.

Posted by Jason at 8:45 AM

August 6, 2007

Rewind: The Birth of the Atomic Age

In 1945, the US dropped "fatman" and "little boy" -- the code names for two atomic bombs -- on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing over 70,000 people. Wired magazine has a nice piece recounting these events from 62 years ago today.

Having studied the development of the bombs in my history of science courses during university, I'm still amazed by the technical accomplishment. That being said, my amazement is easily overshadowed by the inhumane decision to drop these bombs on heavily populated cities. August 6th, 1945 continues to mark the best and worst of humankind.

Posted by Jason at 2:20 PM