Category: Geek Stuff

Coffee Talk #368: LulzSec — Internet Heroes or Anarchists?

Renowned hacker group LulzSec caused quite a stir when it announced its “Chinga La Migra” initiative on Twitter yesterday. Protesting Arizona Senate Bill 1070 — an anti-illegal immigration measure…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, your 2011 NBA draft analysis, Jim Riggleman’s job prospects, or receiving mystical jewelry from dying aliens, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Renowned hacker group LulzSec caused quite a stir when it announced its “Chinga La Migra” initiative on Twitter yesterday. Protesting Arizona Senate Bill 1070 — an anti-illegal immigration measure that encourages racial profiling — LulzSec is fighting the power by releasing classified documents on the Internet. Here’s an excerpt from the text accompanying the torrent:

We are releasing hundreds of private intelligence bulletins, training manuals, personal email correspondence, names, phone numbers, addresses and passwords belonging to Arizona law enforcement. We are targeting AZDPS specifically because we are against SB1070 and the racial profiling anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona.

Every week we plan on releasing more classified documents and embarassing personal details of military and law enforcement in an effort not just to reveal their racist and corrupt nature but to purposefully sabotage their efforts to terrorize communities fighting an unjust “war on drugs”.

Opinions on the group’s actions are split. Some are hailing LulzSec for using technology to protest a government that devotes too much attention to big-money issues and too little to social reform issues that impact citizens with little power. Others believe that this is a reckless act masquerading as a non-violent protest; the argument is that these leaked documents will lead to innocent law enforcers being harmed or killed.

I’ve been thinking about the issue for the last day and I’m still torn. On one hand, I love that these guys are using technology to make their voice heard. It’s easy to get the government’s attention when you have millions of lobbying dollars to pay off the right politicians (I’m looking at you Comcast, AT&T, etc.). Politicians are slow to act on issues that lack glamour and money like immigration reform.

On the other hand, I’d hate to see a low-ranking officer get killed because of a leaked document. I can’t imagine that everyone that works for the Arizona Department of Public Safety supports SB 1070.

I’d love to get your thoughts on the matter. What do you think of LulzSec’s actions? Are they Internet Robin Hoods or Internet anarchists? Are they fighting for people that can’t fight for themselves? Or are they misguided troublemakers?

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JK Rowling Announces Pottermore, Coming October 2011

JK Rowling has announced her plans for the web site Pottermore. The site will expand on the world of her Harry Potter books by offering new information, e-books, and interactive contests. The Leaky Cauldron has a long list of the site’s features. Here are a few:

  • Pottermore is an interactive new Web site and reading experience with more than 18,000 new words from J.K. Rowling: Much more to come.
  • JKR behind the scenes filming the video picture.
  • An online experience to read, interact with and share the Harry Potter stories. Exclusive writing from J.K. Rowling and more.
  • Pottermore will feature infromation J.K. Rowling has been “hoarding” for years about Harry Potter.
  • Pottermore will be the exclusive place to purchase the digital audio books and, at last, eBooks of the Harry Potter series.

I’m interested in Rowling’s additional stories and finally being able to purchase digital versions of the Harry Potter books, but a lot of the site’s other features aren’t my thing. And you? Are you interested in Pottermore? What features of the site excite you?

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Shaquille O’Neal Uses Tout + Twitter to Announce Retirement

In what must be labelled Retirement 2.0, Shaquille O’Neal announced his retirement using social media services Tout and Twitter. It was a very cool and very modern way to make such a big announcement. It used to be that athletes would contact an important journalist or an established news outlet to leak this kind of information. These days a lot of athletes — and their marketing teams — are taking advantage of social media services for a new kind of buzz that connects them with their fans more directly.

As for the player himself, Shaq was the most dominant center I’ve seen live. At his prime, his combination of speed and power were ridiculous. I’d rank him as the fourth-best center of all time behind Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

What do you boys and girls think of Shaq’s use of social media to announce his retirement? How will you remember him as a player? Where do you think he ranks among the all-time greats?

Amazon + Google + Zynga = Lady Gaga Superstardom

Do you remember when it was cool, modern, and edgy for recording artists to expand their reach using music videos? Compare that to what Lady Gaga is doing today. I’m impressed by how Gaga and her management team have used modern tech to make her an even bigger star. She’s promoting herself with Google Chrome and a version of Zynga’s FarmVille called GagaVille. Her new album, Born This Way, was the best thing that ever happened to Amazon’s Cloud Player service. It’s just progressive marketing and fan outreach.

Although I only like some of her music, I have a crazy amount of respect for Lady Gaga. I love the way she talks about her fans and supports the gay community. I love that she’s a fantastic role model for young people struggling with confidence and identity issues. And I love her modern multimedia onslaught! Paws up monsters!!!

Justin Leeper Talks Still Man Fights

Some of you know Justin Leeper as an old Game Informer editor. Some of you know him from his writing in the SmackDown vs. Raw videogame series. A few of you know him from his comments on this very site. Now you can meet Justin Leeper, author of Still Man Fights!

In this interview, Justin Leeper talks about Still Man Fights and how his experiences in gaming, pro-wrestling, stunt choreography, and writing came together in the book. Find out why people are saying that it’s great for A Game of Thrones Fans and how the book’s fight scenes are similar to combat in Infinity Blade.

Kindly check out the interview and if you dig what Justin has to say then please check out his book.

Ashton Kutcher and UberMedia Launch A.plus Twitter App

Celebrity nerd Ashton Kutcher has teamed up with UberMedia to launch a Twitter app call A.plus. The app runs on Adobe Air (Mac OS and Windows) and is available now. Even though geeks should hate him on paper, Kutcher is actually a pretty savvy tech enthusiast and investor. He’s also one of the most popular Twitter users in the world. I’m curious to see if his popularity will help this app take off.

I’m going to give A.plus a spin this week. It’ll be tough letting go of TweetDeck, but I’m always down to try something new and exciting. How about you? Any interest in A.plus?

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Amazon Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Paper Books

Amazon has announced that in less than four years, it is now selling more Kindle books than paper books — hardcover and paperback combined. While the e-book market is booming, the numbers are still surprising and impressive. Here are some factoids from Amazon’s press release:

  • Since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. This includes sales of hardcover and paperback books by Amazon where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.
  • So far in 2011, the tremendous growth of Kindle book sales, combined with the continued growth in Amazon’s print book sales, have resulted in the fastest year-over-year growth rate for Amazon’s U.S. books business, in both units and dollars, in over 10 years. This includes books in all formats, print and digital. Free books are excluded in the calculation of growth rates.
  • In the five weeks since its introduction, Kindle with Special Offers for only $114 is already the bestselling member of the Kindle family in the U.S.
  • Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.
  • Less than one year after introducing the UK Kindle Store, Amazon.co.uk is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books, even as hardcover sales continue to grow. Since April 1, Amazon.co.uk customers are purchasing Kindle books over hardcover books at a rate of more than 2 to 1.

Kindles are cheaper than ever before. Kindle software is available on millions of devices, spanning popular platforms like Windows PC, Mac OS, Android, iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Phone 7. It’s just faster and more convenient to buy a digital book rather than a paper one. That said, I’m still surprised by the popularity of Kindle books. How about you? Are you surprised that Amazon is selling more e-books than tree-killing books? Also, shouldn’t you buy a copy of Still Man Fights for Kindle?

Rediscovered Red-Crested Tree Rat is Really a Pokemon

The red-crested tree rat hasn’t been spotted since 1898, so scientists were thrilled to encounter one earlier this month. Too bad it’s nothing more than a frickin’ Pokemon! Just look at it. It’s obvious that this thing isn’t a “normal” creature. I’m also certain that it doesn’t call itself a red-crested tree rat. It surely has a cute Japanese-sounding name that it repeats over and over again.

Come on guys. Back me up on this one. Don’t you think this so-called red-crested tree rat is just a Pokemon?!?

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Comcast Blocking The Pirate Bay: A Sign of Things to Come?

Updated: According to TorrentFreak Internet service providers Comcast, Rogers, and Optus have started blocking The Pirate Bay. The site is used by millions of people to acquire pirated movies, television shows, and music tracks. Honestly, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner and that more ISPs haven’t blocked the site. Sure, people will cite free speech and net neutrality, but telecommunications companies tend to act first and deal with the consequences later.

Any of you use Comcast? Is your access to The Pirate Blocked? If so, are you going to change providers? For those of you not on Comcast, would you change ISPs if you didn’t have access to The Pirate Bay?

Update: Apparently this might be a problem with The Pirate Bay and not ISPs. Phew!

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Facebook Hired PR Agency to Slam Google

In an awesome bit of nerd warfare news, Facebook hired a PR agency to get negative articles written about Google. Considering the somewhat shady origins of The Facebook, aggressive and morally questionable tactics shouldn’t be too surprising. Still, it was a brazen move that was reckless at best and idiotic at worst. Here’s more from The Daily Beast’s Dan Lyons:

For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy. Burson even offered to help an influential blogger write a Google-bashing op-ed, which it promised it could place in outlets like The Washington Post, Politico, and The Huffington Post.

But who was the mysterious unnamed client? While fingers pointed at Apple and Microsoft, The Daily Beast discovered that it’s a company nobody suspected — Facebook.

There are several amusing things about this situation. First, I can’t believe that Facebook even did this. Did it really think that it wouldn’t come back to haunt the company? Considering the opinionated and informal nature of modern tech journalism, of course someone was going to rat out the PR flack and of course someone would connect the dots back to Facebook.

Secondly, I love that this story was written by Dan Lyons. Some of you know him as Fake Steve Jobs. That’s awesome.

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