Google Is Now Doing Evil

The "Googizon" deal that was just recently achieved is only an achievement for them, the moneymakers in this case. Google makes a lot of money annually, as well as Verizon, but does that give them a right to control traffic based on what they believe makes them money? No. They're the transmitters of the internet, not the content providers. This deal basically pushes the prioritization of content that suits their interests, whether a provider pays Googizon the money to earn the heightened bandwidth throttling, or a provider espouses ideals that are for the same interests that Googizon yearns for.

It is pretty clear now that Google, and Verizon especially, are only interested in the bottom line - money. But at what expense, Google? And by the way, this will only work for them in the short-term, because the improvisations they come up with to control traffic will be offset just like TV was for the longest time, with theft being a huge factor in television providers controlling the prices for abiding consumers. They're only going to shoot themselves in the foot in the long run, as the Internet Service Provider(ISP)s which, at least for a while, look out for the interests of the consumer because CUSTOMER KNOWS BEST AFTER ALL, and thus earn more income from interested clients. Competition is good in any case, but actively working against network neutrality undermines competition, which works against the consumers who want what the competition offers. Apologies for the run-on sentence previously.

Not to mention, on Google's twitter (more like 'twatter') profile, they said, last week, that they were not in talks with Verizon for this deal. So they either outright lied about it, or perhaps there was a huge amount of pressure from Verizon for Google to go with the deal (which means that Google is desperate, maybe?), perhaps showing that there's more companies out there who have bad intentions in mind than we consumers are generally aware of. Network Neutrality, a big issue going on for the LITTLE GUYS of the developed and digitally connected world, is in jeopardy because of these two giants and their dealings. Think about it, you want to visit HuffingtonPost.com, which sometimes espouses ideals that are not in favor of giant corporations seeking COMPLETE control of their markets (like any tyrannical government would), then Googizon would slow down the aforementioned website. Fox News (Faux Noise, more like it) would get priority throttling because they are not only in favor of giant corporations, but they are pretty much owned by corporate interests as well. Sounds good? For them, yes (at least in the short-term); for you and I, this is detrimental.

So many people are running businesses on the internet, often failing to meet a profit margin, but they still make necessary money for people. If network neutrality is undermined any further, one of the only bastions of freedom of speech and of societal empowerment (for EVERYONE with internet) will become gang territories of sorts, with the Internet Service Providers being the gang leaders. Segregation and sheer control of interests will ensue, and people will have to watch their step.

Thank you, Google. No really, thanks for showing everyone who looked at you as an objective, supportive internet entity that you are just like all of the bullies of the corporate world; greedy as can get. As a Blogger user, I'm not sure if I will remain here because of this development. Verizon has little or no cred. up here, but that doesn't mean I'm still not going against my interests by giving Google the propping up that my traffic brings to them. I'll consider deleting my account, but until then I need to figure out how I will carry out my (non-detrimental) interests elsewhere.

Peace to you all, and I hope you do what's right. Stick up for the interests of the consumer, for the internet is PUBLIC domain and not PRIVATE.

Victim Of Love - Update

I've written the first two lyrics just now, all within ten minutes. This has only happened a few times since I've made a hobby of writing song lyrics. I can already see how it would be perceived as dark, given the nature of the character I am still developing. The effort should pay off, big time.

Victim Of Love (Concept Album Overview/Synopsis)

This was just started tonight. The idea first popped in my head a few days ago, and I wanted to write it out, expand it into something romantically sinister, intimately dangerous. One of the most intriguing plot-lines I've ever read in literary history was the sycophantic relationship between (King) MacBeth & Lady MacBeth, of the ever famous cinematic play written by William Shakespeare. This storyline, in lyrical form, is inspired by that play. Of course, there's my own creations involved, and not some blind quest for power over a kingdom.

By the way, until I get a copyright on my concept albums already written (two are finished, two are still in the works, including this one), I will not put them up on here. This may seem hypocritical, given the fact that I've already posted well over one-hundred pieces, but at least they are protected, to a limited extent, by the Creative Commons license. However, I want full authority & ownership of my conceptual works. So at the most, I'll post a synopsis & a song-title list. That should proceed right...about...NOW:

Victim Of Love

Love is a shackling series of emotional responses, to attraction, to longing, to the fantastical realm of need. The wealth of possible actions, rational and irrational, determine the character of a person in love. What would it be like if someone were to feel a tingling sense of bloodthirst, serving the frontlines of love? Victims differ by cause, but is the man in my story truly a victim of love? Or is he a slave to it?

Lured By Wire

Entranced

Spinehooks

Grasping My Blood

A Heart Of Gold

Turned To Black

Masochism, Protection, & Perversion

Enemy To Friends

Marked

Duped

En la Negación

Victim Of Love

This is not a writer's block period

Things seem very slow 'round these parts because my focus is on other things, more pressing things. When circumstances work themselves out more in my favour, I'll pick the pace right back up. I didn't put up the lyrics yet because I want to get them copyrighted before putting them out there for everyone to see & possibly steal. So no, I'm not in a rut; this is not a writer's block period.

The Obscure Deletion Option

So just a half hour ago, I found a way to request for my account to be deleted. It is a link to a form on the site that is hidden in the Privacy FAQ section, obviously intended to be that way. Facebook makes their money from selling your information to various entities, sometimes with malicious intent, so by filling out the small form, I've effectively told them that I've had enough. Whether or not this will out & out remove any of my presence is a mystery, but I'm not going to dwell on it.

I am looking forward to an alternative that is in the works. It is an open-source, downloaded application in which you will control the traffic of any information you wish to share. It's called Diaspora (die-a-spor-ra). I don't want to be a shill for them or anything, but what I like about it is that you don't simply give information to any entity, you put it on yourself. Facebook does what it wants with your information because they provide the platform for you to do so with the website (in other words, sites like Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, and so on are "middle-men" in social networking). Diaspora, on the other hand, will provide you with the means to make a platform to share whatever information you please, based entirely out of your machine. I don't know the whole story about how this system will work, but I've watched a few videos of the guys explaining it, and I like what I've heard so far.

So with that, nobody should bother contacting me on that mess of a website that has even produced a new disorder called "Facebook Addiction Disorder", with a list of symptoms & treatments to boot!

- G

Observatory Rant On Blogger Update (UPDATED)

It's still ugly.

This shit needs a lot of improvement, but I've made some amends on my own just moments ago. I've adjusted the size of the right sidebar to accommodate the last.fm widget, for one. Links are also better on the eyes, at least for me anyway :P. Also, any album reviews with an image of the album cover(s) will be limited to 200px by width & height, anything higher than that won't be accepted. The background repeats, but I don't want it that way because it looks ridiculous. I want it to scroll with the users' input. Oh well. Progress has been made at least. Google should have put some oversight on this template designer. I forgot to mention before that the Designer preview section doesn't even work! Not for me at least. And maybe it isn't compatible with Firefox, simply enough. I don't know nor do I care, because I'm fine with viewing any changes by clicking View Blog. 

Concept Album Preview

    The man of many dreams, a mind of many fractures, awakens from a painfully induced slumber. He sees that the world he assumes was once his home is a ruin. A journey through that ruin, with all of its angles, oddities, and traumas, reveals something sinister beneath the veneer of decay & death he sees around him. Like with any network interface, the scattered pockets of his sanity show him, against his knowledge, that the world in which he's found himself is not what it seems to be. Is it simply a fantasy of a mind that is truly deranged? Or is it the other way around? That is what the listener is left to decipher in this journey through a man's mentally deteriorating quest to seek the truth in a place that welcomes death and abandonment before life and growth. This is Forget, Regret; Power, Devour.