Tag Archives: Big Business

#SOPA/PIPA vs #NDAA Part One: What is this protest really about?

Posted on 2012/01/18 15:23 pm by thepete

I've got a post that should go up at some point soon over at Mandommag.com about this same topic, but I thought I should go into a bit more detail.

So why all this hubbub about SOPA and PIPA when the bills have yet to pass either house of Congress? Where was all this hubbub when the NDAA of 2012 was passed? This is my main gripe about all these sites going dark today.  Which is a bigger threat? Stopping us from using the Internet the way we want or a violation of one of the most basic human rights our constitution guarantees?

Of course, SOPA/PIPA need to be protested, but there has been MUCH more of a net-wide freakout over these two unpassed laws than is required at this point in time.  Wouldn't humanity be better served by spending our energy and effort on protesting the more infringing law that is already on the books rather than laws that are three very large steps away from being laws?

Maybe we should ask ourselves why there is such a bigger outcry against SOPA/PIPA.  Is it just because these laws could give corporations the ability to effectively shut down some our favorite websites?  In the great scheme of things, that seems pretty minor.  What's your Internet freedom compared to your actual freedom?

So what is it, then? My only guess is that it's all for the money.  Think about all the money those sites will lose if they are blocked from American users.  Since they would be blocked Google would probably have trouble indexing them and if they had trouble indexing them, they'd have trouble putting targeted ads on their sites.  In theory those sites could go under entirely, robbing Google and other b2b service providers of a lot of income.  Of course, when you or I get detained indefinitely at a protest, that doesn't have any effect on these companies' bottom lines, so why should they care?

From Tumblr today. Really? The WHOLE Internet needs to be saved?

From Tumblr today. Really? The WHOLE Internet needs to be saved?

Maybe it's a stretch, but why else would such Internet powerhouses as Google, and Wikipedia care about a law being passed? They didn't seem to give a shit when a law was passed that would allow for the legal indefinite imprisonment of people. So, when human freedom is at risk, they're meh. But what gets these big guys motivated? Lost revenue. Then you see them marshaling their Internet forces and suddenly it's as though the entire Internet was at risk--literally, that's what Tumblr is saying today.

"SAVE THE INTERNET" any page on Tumblr reads right now.

It's as though the Internet always existed or as though we couldn't live without it.

Do I think SOPA/PIPA are worth protesting? Of course. Do I think it's a waste of resources because there's a bigger threat out there? Definitely.

I've plenty more to say about this.

Part Two coming tomorrow....

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Why @FedEx pissed me off today (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the @UPS Even More)

Posted on 2011/12/15 17:47 pm by thepete

Ugh. Can you believe it? I can. It seems like businesses really don't like doing their jobs. Funny, you'd think they'd understand that by properly training their employees and paying them well, the job will get done properly and everyone will be happy. But no, hiring people who understand how to read instructions on doorcode panels (or teaching them how to understand doorcode panel instructions) is too much effort for FedEx. When I called them, they said that another attempt would be made tomorrow before 7pm, despite the fact that it was supposed to be delivered today before 4:30. So, seeing as it was a driver-error and not a me-error or a sender-error, I asked them if they could deliver it by 4:30 tomorrow. They said they'd try. Then I got a call later on from FedEx confirming that what I asked was what they heard >_<

LONG LIVE UPS! I get stuff delivered via UPS and my regular delivery guy is AWESOME. He never has trouble getting in the front door of my building, he remembers my name (not so hard as it's on the label) and always seems friendly. I've never seen the same FedEx guy in a row--it's always someone new and one driver even admonished me for not having the doorcode on the shipping label. Like *I* sent it to myself or something.

I know this is all under the category of #FirstWorldProblems, but for me, it's more about truth-in-advertising. Don't lie to me and say you'll do something and then don't do it. Just tell me you're going to be lame so I don't have my schedule screwed up. It's fine, be as lame as you want--just TELL me. Why bother lying when we know you'll suck anyway, right?

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Underwhelming Announcements from #Apple (Along with serious misrepresentations, too)

Posted on 2011/10/04 15:22 pm by thepete
From my Tumblr:

“For another metric, we measure adoption. If you look at Windows 7, it took them about 20 weeks to reach 10% of their base. It took Lion 2 weeks. - Tim Cook”

Six million copies of Lion downloaded so far — 80 percent more than Snow Leopard - The Next Web (via thenextweb)

Sorry, kids, this was one of the many misrepresentations (lies, even) presented in today’s underwhelming Apple event.  Comparing Apple’s success to Microsoft’s is pretty much identical to comparing apples to oranges.  Why are the numbers above no significant? Because Apple charged a pitance for their single-versioned OS which was downloadable.  If Microsoft had such a system and chose to sell a single OS at $30/per, they’d reach higher saturation, too.  Instead, Apple did something entirely different and blamed Microsoft for not doing as well.“Yes, with the new ‘wheel’ from Apple, you can do so much more than you could with that old fashioned plank you drag around.  The guys who designed that thing were morons.”

Sure, it’s an improvement, and Apple’s system does move more product, but it’s hardly fair to compare.

But they pulled this crap all over the place.  It's like they were trying desperately to cover for the fact that they weren't announcing an iPhone 5.  Most of the numbers they presented were just utter bullshit, like those above.  At one point, they compared PC market growth to Mac market growth as though that meant something at all.  PCs are still everywhere.  It makes sense that their market growth is a paltry 4% since they're already owned by everyone.  Yes, Mac market share jumped 23% and that's nice, mildly impressive even, but the comparison to the PC market is just not a logical one.

They called the iPod Touch the number one handheld gaming system.  But that's a total fallacy.  The iPod Touch isn't a gaming system at all.  It's a convergence device.  It's like the Swiss Army Knife people claiming their knives are comparable to the butter knives in your silverware drawer.  And newsflash, I have yet to see Super Mario games show up on iOS.  When they do, maybe I'll think about retiring my DSi XL.

Is any of this type of behavior new? No.  But this time around it seems worse than usual to me.  Basically nothing in today's event made me want anything Apple is offering right now.  I couldn't care less about their entire line.  Well, I'd like an iPad 2, but only because iPlayer isn't available for Android.  But that had nothing to do with today's announcements and I'm not about to drop $400 just so I can use one app.

What really scares me is that there is so little actual innovation going on these days.  People will point to "Siri," Apple's new voice-recognition/command system available only on the iPhone 4S, but since when does anyone like to use voice commands?  Android has had similar features (not as built-up, obviously) for a while and I've never used it once.  Sure, some folks might like literally telling their phone what to do but I like the tactile experience.  I don't want to broadcast to everyone around me what I'm doing and I feel like speech requires more thought than just pressing buttons or touching icons.  I can be thinking about what I'm going to do while my fingers tap the icons on the screen, rather thing thinking of the right words to say to get the right app or info to pop up.

So, basically, Apple's "innovation" is something I don't think people really want.  It may seem like a cool bell/whistle, but really, it's nothing that innovative.  It's just another layer of interface.  Plus, who wants their requested information on that tiny screen?  I don't care how crystal clear the screen is, I still feel like I'm looking through a hole at the words I want to read.

Anyway, it's just more "fun" from the Apple Reality Distortion Field.

I still have three more questions for Apple:

1) Why does the iPhone 4S not support 4G networks?

2) Why no iPhone 5?

3) Why no plans to put out a midsized device, like a 7in tablet? (I already have a 10in netbook and you already sell a 10in Macbook Air, don't you?  Won't people who own those not want an iPad?).

Apple continues to make me shake my head.

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How to Liberate America

Posted on 2011/10/01 14:05 pm by thepete

How to Liberate America

It comes down to values and power. The fate of America turns on the outcome of a contest between forces aligned behind two competing economic systems with dramatically different values, structures, and agendas. One is the greed-driven, money-serving corporate-ruled Wall Street Economy that measures its success exclusively by the financial profits it generates for the already rich. It neither acknowledges nor accepts responsibility for the economic, social, environmental, and political devastation it leaves in its wake.

The other economy is comprised of the democratic, community-rooted, market-based life-serving Main Street economies that ordinary people are rebuilding across the nation and around the world. This emerging New Economy measures success by its contribution to securing adequate and meaningful livelihoods for everyone in a balanced relationship to nature.

Huh. Interesting take, but the first paragraph seems to be an “Incredible Hulk” version of the second paragraph since the second paragraph describes what the Western World was like for quite a while.

This is why I always take issue with people telling me I’m anti-corporate—I’m not. I just believe in moderation.  I’m 99% sure that if we go back in time with how corporations are run (not just to make as much money as possible, aka, not to the extreme) we’d see a return to the good old days of the American economy.  I think we need to regulate the shit out of corporations, passing laws that prohibit any outsourcing of ANY and ALL jobs, ban tax incentives for businesses completely, make it a jailable offense to hire illegal immigrants, force environmental and worker safety standards, require products be made with materials ONLY found inside the country and put caps on executive salaries.

Will this kill a lot of businesses in the US? Damn right it will. But only the assholes.  Good people who run businesses are already doing this sort of thing.  RIGHT?

Oh, you say you’re a good person who is running a business that would be killed by this draconian, sweeping changes? Well, good riddance then.  Because if you’re not caring about your workers, your customers, the environment, and you’re only in it for the money you can’t call yourself a good person.

We need to grow up and face the music.  Our economy is falling apart around our ears and we’re mostly pretending it isn’t.  Only sweeping changes like this will make a difference.  We need to pull back from the extreme we’ve let the corporations get to. 

Oh and the “emerging new economy” the original post refers to? I have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about.  Nothing “market-based” ever has a “balanced relationship to nature.”  We need to constantly ride the levels of regulation.  Sometimes we need a bit more and sometimes a bit less, but clearly, we need a LOT more right now as corporations are just a bunch of sociopathic Godzillas.

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Which Banks are Charging New Fees and Why Banks Shouldn't Charge at All

Posted on 2011/10/01 13:34 pm by thepete

I reblogged a post from Newsweek's Tumblr and added a bunch of commentary over on website666.com earlier today but thought it should be on my main blog, too, since money and banks are something that we all deal with.  The first bunch of text is from the Newsweek post, my commentary follows:

Bank of America: “A new $5 fee to replace debit cards took effect in September; a rush overnight order costs $20. Previously, both services were free.”

Chase: “In February, Chase introduced a new basic checking account with a $12 monthly fee, up from the previous $6. The fee is waived for customers who make direct deposits that total $500 a month or maintain a minimum balance of $1,500.”

Citibank: “Starting in December, Citi said it will raise the fee on its basic checking account to $10 a month, up from $8. Customers will have to maintain a balance of at least $1,500 or sign up for direct deposit and online bill pay to avoid the fee.”

Wells Fargo: “The bank also plans to test a $3 monthly debit card fee starting Oct. 14. The fee will be applied to checking accounts opened in Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. The fee would be in addition to the fees ranging from $5 to $30 that Wells Fargo already charges.”

It’s a real shame banks have completely lost sight of what they’re core job is: to take our money and loan it to other people with interest.  That interest is supposed to be how they make money.  They’re not supposed to charge us so they can make money off of our money.  It’s that sense of entitlement that the rich always accuse everyone else of having.  So blatantly hypocritical.

But not all banks are abusive like this.  I switched to an online bank which charges no fees period and, in fact, pays me interest. I’ve made 70¢ since I signed up in April. How much has your checking account made you?

The bank is called Ally.  They used to be GMAC but rebranded at some point.  They’ve been good to me so far.  It’s a huge pain in the ass to deposit money, though.  You have to mail a check in or do a wire transfer.  I have an account with Square and it still takes a week (or so) to see the money, though Square claims a “next-day payout” on their site.  I suppose I could transfer money from my Paypal account, but that would take 3 days still.

One of the nice things about Ally is that they refund all ATM fees.  Since they don’t have any ATMs, you’re going to get charged for using other banks’ ATMs but this bank will refund those fees at the end of the month.  So, there are alternatives to the BABs (Big Asshole Banks).

The sad thing is that I tried to go to a local bank—as in, a bank that only exists in the city I live in.  Sadly, they wouldn’t let me open an account because I didn’t have a state ID at the time.  This is a very odd requirement as Washington Mutual, a bank with ATMs all over the country, didn’t seem to mind my California ID when I opened my checking account with them back in 2008.  Of course, WaMu got swallowed whole by Chase, whom I left earlier this year because they added fees.

We’re facing a world that is less and less favorable for the individual.  But there are choices you can make that can save you money.  You just have to hunt for them.

Once again we see something else that Big Money is doing to harm little individuals.  Why do rich people think they're entitled to every last dime they can milk out of us?  Why do we not resent them for their greed?  Why isn't just surviving enough for these people?  For many of us, surviving is all we can do.

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My Take on the latest Facebook Mess (The one where it tracks you even if you're logged out)

Posted on 2011/09/26 12:46 pm by thepete

I posted a variant of this post earlier on Website666.com. Check it out if you want more context, but my commentary is more meaty here.

So, even if you log out, Facebook can still track you through the magic of cookies--those little "bread crumbs" that websites leave on your computer with info about your behavior on that site or other sites.

Well, this doesn't surprise me too much.  After all, every one of us should be aware that we're not Facebook's customers. Facebook's customers are advertisers.  We are Soylent Green fed to the advertisers--aka, what advertisers pay Facebook for is made of people. Our eyes, our traffic, our behavior patterns are what Facebook customers pay for.  This is how big brother really works.  It follows you where ever you go and knows whatever you do (online).  But it's not government watching your every move, trying to control you and manipulate you, it's big business.

If you don't mind having your every move tracked and exploited by Facebook, they'll be happy to provide you with a place to connect with friends and family and a place to post links, pictures and video that you can share with said friends and family and play really stupid, time-wasting games.

I hate to sound jaded, but I don't know if Facebook being all KGB on our asses is that big of a deal.  I mean, so what? We're being exploited.  So?  I mean, it's lame we don't get a bigger piece of Zuckerdouche's financial pie (we just get the services Facebook offers, which are easily found elsewhere), but in the end, what are we losing?

I'm not saying we're not losing anything, it's just that I'm honestly not sure what it is.

I know I don't like the feeling of being exploited, but capitalism already does that to us.  When we buy a $3 cup of coffee at Starbucks, we're not just paying a mark-up, we're paying a HUGE mark-up that has allowed Starbucks to expand around the world and its executives to get very rich.  I don't blame vendors for mark-ups to cover costs and salaries, but Starbucks (and many other companies) don't charge what they need to, they charge MUCH more.  How do you think Apple ended up with so much cash laying around?  Because they only charged you for what that iPhone in your pocket cost to make?  Hell no.

We're all being exploited every day.  Personally, I don't like it.  But what can I do? Capitalism is everywhere.

Ha! I almost typed "capitulationism" just then.  Well, I guess that sort of fits. :\

Speaking of business, buy my book, wouldja? Thanks!

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Earliest form of 911 Exploitation by the Media Came Just Days After

Posted on 2011/09/10 12:00 pm by thepete

I won't go on about this too much, but I remember right after 911 seeing the "911" issue of People Magazine.  I know it's a rag, but I was really surprised and shocked at what I saw inside of it.  I scanned in the parts that offended me the most and set up a web page detailing everything, including a pissed off email I sent to the editor at the time.  Check out this page here: thepete.com/disgustingpeople/

Please forgive the crappy design and layout--it was a time long before Flickr, blogging or even Web 2.0.

 

 

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The only way out of the vicious economic cycle is for government to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy — spending more in the short term in order to make up for the shortfall in consumer demand. This would create jobs, which will put money in peoples’ pockets, which they’d then spend, thereby persuading employers to do more hiring. The consequential job growth will also help reduce the long-term ratio of debt to GDP. It’s a win-win. This is not rocket science.

Posted on 2011/07/25 12:42 pm by thepete

The only way out of the vicious economic cycle is for government to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy — spending more in the short term in order to make up for the shortfall in consumer demand. This would create jobs, which will put money in peoples’ pockets, which they’d then spend, thereby persuading employers to do more hiring. The consequential job growth will also help reduce the long-term ratio of debt to GDP. It’s a win-win.

This is not rocket science.


Robert Reich, Vicious Cycles: Why Washington is About to Make the Jobs Crisis Worse (via underpaidgenius)

Actually, I disagree.  There’s a disconnect between what the government does and the actual job creation (notice how you almost never hear anyone talk about literally how a government encourages job creation?*).  The “job” cellphone call is dropped by corporations—the so-called “job creators.”  They seem to be in a fetal position, refusing to spend any of their profits on actually hiring people.  They’ve already got a shitload of money, so what can the government do to persuade them at this point? Nothing.

In short, we’re screwed until big business can start to understand their place in the American eco(nomic)system.

*The always interesting Planet Money podcast once talked about what governments can do to actually encourage job creation—which is not much. All they can do is “create an environment in which companies would want to invest” (I’m paraphrasing).  In other words, government has already done all it can do at this point.  It’s up to SOMEbody to make the first sacrifice and us workers have nothing left to sacrifice—big business, however…

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I’m torn between being gleeful in my typical anti-corporate, anti-culture homogenization, anti-box store way, and feeling bad that we’re losing hundreds of spaces where readers of all ages could find out about books.

Posted on 2011/07/25 12:04 pm by thepete

I’m torn between being gleeful in my typical anti-corporate, anti-culture homogenization, anti-box store way, and feeling bad that we’re losing hundreds of spaces where readers of all ages could find out about books.

Borders Nostalgia | Conversational Reading (via housingworksbookstore)

I’m not torn at all. When big business says there’s no money in books, I think our society is in big trouble.  Libraries can barely stay funded and book stores are closing left and right.

This is very scary.

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Big (Corporate) Brother: Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service -- Engadget

Posted on 2010/12/19 16:49 pm by thepete

Big (Corporate) Brother: Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service -- Engadget

thetechpete:

Imagine paying extra to visit Facebook. Imagine not being able to check your tweets with your smartphone while on the go.  Imagine wireless carriers charging us to do even more stuff that costs them little extra to do (like they already do with texting).  This is horrible and they’re thinking about considering it.

I remember back in the AOL days when AOL used to charge X amount of dollars for X amount of hours online. Ridiculous, right? Of course. Well, it seems like wireless carriers may be thinking about going backwards. In fact, in some ways, they already have with their $60/mo-for-1GB-style plans. Now they want to micromanage what they let us do on their connections.

This is ridiculous.  Please clock the link above and read more about this nightmarish scenario.

Posted this on my tech blog and thought that posting it here, too, would be a no-brainer. 

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