Anonymity is the Enemy

I am restating some ideas already expressed by Seth Godin, David Kirkpatrick and Mark Zuckerburg, but I believe the current greatest enemy to online privacy, copyrighting, legal, libel, and simple self-governance, is the issue of user anonymity.

The motion of many organizations, including the social media leader, Facebook, is towards an internet that requires identification and validation of the user. The method currently used is very primitive: validation through registered email, placing verification code onto a personal website or blog, and early steps into universal profile connections such as Google's Friend Connect, OpenSocial, and Facebook Connect.

The leaders in this are obviously Google and Facebook, both racing to become “The Internet,” essentially being everywhere and touching everything, the most recent play by Facebook of putting the “Like” button everywhere. But here is where the move toward a user-identified web is affecting the world of online gaming:

Bye-bye trolls? Blizzard forums to use real names

July 7th, 2010 @ 12:49pm

By BARBARA ORTUTAY
AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Activision Blizzard Inc.'s move to require people to use their real names if they want to post messages in online forums for games is the latest sign that online anonymity is falling out of favor with many companies.

The upcoming change has upset many gamers who prize anonymity and don't necessarily want their gamer personas associated with their real identities.

Blizzard, the maker of "World of Warcraft," said Tuesday that the new rule will go into effect later this month. It will apply first to forums about the highly anticipated "StarCraft II," out July 27; other games are to follow.

Blizzard hopes that making people use their real names will cut down on nasty behavior in the forums and create a more positive environment. Players will have the option _ but not a requirement _ to display the name of their main game character alongside their real name.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said Blizzard is the latest company to require real identities. But he added businesses have "a lot of freedom" in doing so.

Facebook, the world's most popular online social network, asks users to sign up with their real names. The company tries to delete fake profiles it comes across. A growing number of blogs and news sites are also abandoning anonymity. The Buffalo News said last month it will start requiring commenters on its website to give their real names and the towns they live in, just as they would do in a printed letter to the editor...

Article continued here: http://bit.ly/beMaK4

Professionally Homemade

I found this amazing video of a guy biking through the song Prisoner of Society on Guitar Hero World Tour. (If that made no sense to you, then you need to take 3 and a half minutes and watch this video.)

For more on the video, you can read this guy's comment. As many of the nearly 1 million viewers noted, this video is good… a little TOO Good. Many YouTubers were immediately suspicious. Well, I first learned about the ad from Creativity.com, who was praising the work of Droga5, the agency that created it. So, yes, it was created by professional Ad Men. No, it was not shot by a group of GHWT loving kids in Indiana with a lot of free time on their hands, as we were deliberately meant to believe… but is that dishonest?

Another example is the band Boyce Avenue. The story is cliché and inspiring-- three brothers in Florida start recording cover songs on YouTube, quickly gather 3 million views and 1 million fans, then start recording their own stuff and now they are releasing multiple platinum-selling albums and going on a national tour. I saw the video. These guys are good… a little TOO Good. You be the judge.

The inventor of Murketing, Rob Walker points out that today’s consumers assert they are not influenced by the messaging of “the Man’s” corporate broadcast media nor the silver-coated brand imaging of Mad. Ave’s Ad Wizards. But all our consumer data reports that we are buying MORE than ever before and our purchasing is (even more) based on Branding and Perceived Value.

So, in conclusion, today’s consumers want to buy, they just don’t want to be sold to.

What this leaves us is companies manufacturing “Homemade” advertising. Professional advertisers and marketers are now turning their talents to making messaging that looks like it came from amateurs. That it was made by your peers. I add my own word to the marketing lexicon-

Promateurs. noun. def. - The ad agency that made Bike Hero, the recording label that created Boyce Avenue, the makers of LonelyGirl15, and others. Antonym – Amfessionals. def. – The makers of the Doritos Super Bowl commercials.

Heroes Season 3 = Season 1 Repeated

Ummm...

I kept thinking 1 thing as I watched the 2nd Episode of Season 3...

Have the writers already run out of ideas for powers?

I mean, we've got another guy that shoots fire, another guy that can miraculously heal, and another guy that can paint the future.

And About Monica's power... please see this article--> wwv.heroes.com/most-ridiculous-hero-power-ever-are-we-idiots?

I'm not alone in this sentiment.

A Heroes Authority, SmellyPirateHooker, said,

"Who is saying that the painter is just a rehash of season 1? This entire show is just a rehash of season 1. Someone time travels, sees a bleak future, and comes back to stop it and a painter makes absolute visions of the future that take all the suspense out of things. It's this show's MO."

I mean, come on, Tim Kring. You're what, 25 episodes into the series, and you're re-using powers like crazy?! To support this statement, I was forced to research and open up excel sheets. You jerks better appreciate this. Below, I present my findings...

Heroes Super-Power Repeats:

(Source: Wikipedia.org. Of course.)

Painting the Future: ·Isaac Mendez ·Usutu the African guy

Super Memory Skills:

·Charlie (who works at a Diner) ·Monica (who works at a Diner)

Pyrokinesis (Making Fire):

·Meredith (Claire's Mom) ·Flint (the Convict guy from Lvl 5)

(To distinguish these two, his is blue while hers is fire-colored)

Cellular Regeneration (Super Healing): ·Claire Bennet ·Adam Monroe

Telepathy: ·Matt Parkman ·And his Dad

Flying: ·Nathan Petrelli ·Claire's boyfriend, West

Collecting Other People's Powers: ·Peter Petrelli ·Sylar

And Now Let's Just be REALLY Honest...
Re-hashed Repeats of Already-Used Superhero Powers:

·The German Magnetic Guy = Magneto

·Claire and Kensei = Wolverine

·Parkman and his dad = Professor X

·Jesse the Convict = Banshee

·Claire's Mom = Human Torch

·Daphne = A female Flash

·Tracy Strauss = girl version of Ice Man

·Nathan Petrelli, West Rosen, & Niki Sanders = Are All Really Just Trying to Be Superman

Which reminds me of my un-published Season 2 take-away...

The only difference between Heroes in the Present and the Heroes in the Future = Hair Gel.

Hey Tim Kring, I got a great suggestion for your next Super Hero Power... How about when Mohinder gets angry, I mean REALLY angry, he grows larger, rips out of his shirt and gets super-strength! And he turns Green. --Shawn Butler

Bernanke Warns of Sinking US Economy

Meanwhile, the world of South American consumer goods is rocking out!



If your day was going at all bad, this will cheer you up.

The song Microdancing by Babasónicos of Argentina.

Happy and Awesome.

The Spanish Lyrics and their Translation (by Shawn)

Si te llevo de favor

If I like you and we go out

me prometes que esta vez

do you promise me that this time

no vas a arruinar la fiesta?

you are not going to ruin the celebration?

Apretados Tightened (or Tense)

Microdancing

No esperes nada de mí

Don't expect anything from me.
No esperes nada de mí

Apretados Microdancing

Si de onda te acompaño

If it happens that I acompany you

a salir esta vez

to go out this time

no me vas a dar vergüenza?

you are not going to make me embarassed?

Haciendo lo que más me gusta.

I'm doing what I like most.