Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

Colleagues,

The group called “Nine Inch Nails” is coming to the Philippines for a concert. The Philippine news website Inquirer.net emailed the group’s lead Trent Reznor a few questions, published on the Inquirer website. What Reznor thinks of record label CEOs is an eye-opener for the public that is heavily being bombarded via “intellectual property rights” (and anti-”piracy”) campaigns that copyright benefits the artists. In reality, copyright is power by a handful of big media giants over the distribution of creative work done by artists. Copyright is power by a few media conglomerates over the artists and over the people.

Thanks to Danny E for the alert on the news article, pertinent section quoted below.

For more on the economics, politics and ideology of copyright, see http://www.copysouth.org/

Cheers!

Fatima

Q. You’ve been very vocal about the state of the record industry and how labels have been greedy about the whole business. How do you think it can be improved, if at all?

Trent Reznor: It’s a kind of Mafia-type run business .. They have systematically taken advantage of artists over the years from The Beatles onwards. You [the artists] do all the work, they loan you money to make records, then you pay them back and they own everything. To see that system collapse is an exciting thing. There isn’t a clear answer on what the right thing to do is right now, and as a musician you’re up against a pretty difficult scenario: most kids feel it’s OK to steal music, and do freely … The good news is that people are excited and interested in music …

As an artist it’s your job to capitalize on that. It means generally swallowing a bitter pill and saying, ‘Hey, people don’t want to buy music, so let me give it to you. I’ll find another way to make money but I want you on my side and hearing my music. So let’s get rid of this walled garden of having to pay to hear it, here it is, give it to your friends. Hey, try to come to our show if you can, or you can buy this T-shirt of ours if you like, and that will help us out. Or, here’s a nice version of our album that we put in a cool package for a premium price and we’re only selling a couple thousands of them.’

There are ways that you can monetize your business, but the traditional way of going to a record store and having to pay for it, those days are over. In the States, there aren’t any record stores left. The only place … is like a Best Buy where you go to buy a washing machine and there’s a tiny rack of DVDs and CDs. I think we’re in between business models right now …

I’m trying everything I can to contribute to when that next model does come up, whatever it might be, whether it’s subscriptions or whatever, where the artist is more fairly represented and has a say and is compensated, and you’re not paying for jets for record label CEOs … They’re in their last moments of death and I’m happy to see them go ’cause they’re all thieves and liars.

From this news report

PS. It’s interesting that Trent Reznor uses the term “stealing” when referring to sharing music (legally “copyright infringement”), but he does not make a moral judgment on “stealing music.” In many other places, the cultural context for sharing (and thus “stealing” and “copying”) can vary, and often sharing (as well as “stealing” and “copying”) are not seen as criminal; (the moral requirement for something to be called  “stealing” is quite high, and it is often ridiculous to steal a copy). This is especially true in places where the concept of private property either does not exist or is not important.

Hi Social networkers and ex-newspaper readers everywhere,

If the Guardian article “With friends like these …” is correct then Facebook (and perhaps other such organisations) should face very intense scrutiny from MI6 (etc.) and not be used by them (or others) even for “personal” use. See MI6 chief’s Facebook details cut

Indeed, if one wishes to seriously investigate the complexity of the problems we are now confronted with by the internet, then I can recommend an article (unfortunately in Dutch) “Nieuws for niks” (news for nothing) by Francisco van Jole in “de Volksrant” dated 27th June 2009.

The article starts off discussing the “Brinkman report” (by the Dutch ex-culture minister who promoted culture because it was “the oil that kept the export industry running”). His current report is now looking for solutions to the global demise of the (printed) news industry. The Brinkman report apparently wishes to introduce an “internet surcharge” (a bit like the BBC funding perhaps) to subsidise the (Dutch?) “print” media. According to the article, it seems that the internet model (both generally and specifically for “news”) doesn’t
really work commercially and yet the news media are being forced directly into that model, like it or not.

Basically, the few successful Internet companies parasite on the traditional news media (something that is still taboo under internet supporters). So the question (according to van Jole) is: Why can’t the internet model support a (hard) news system?

Apparently, Rupert Murdoch is (also) promoting the end of “free” internet use -which is perhaps slightly strange because 10-15 years ago he was promoting the idea that “paid” media were finished and that advertising would make everything free. Now it seems that his prediction has actually proven to be correct -however, the relevant “business model” seems entirely wrong. The reason apparently lies in the metastructure -because (nearly) all the (press) advertising has been sucked up by “free” advertising sites -which make their money through paid “banner” ads.

Indeed, at one point the journalist claims that Google’s strategy is more “colonisation” than business model (and Holland is an “advanced” country -so how much worse must it be in the less powerful “developing” countries?).

So the domain of the problem then shifts (once again). Because the essential banner ads only bring in money for very large scale (meta) sites (such as Facebook, Google, etc…). At this point, van Jole talks about the monopolisation of the internet/IT industry: One company for searching, one company for software, etc….. Apparently, even the Dutch market leader for “free” advertising (marktplaats.nl) is actually owned by US giant eBay. However, this (US) monopolisation process is clearly not limited to the internet -because almost every main street (or shopping mall) in almost every town (in almost every country -on almost every continent) is beginning to look like every other one.

Van Jole, then describes Google (in the words of Murdoch -which is perhaps itself rather ironic) as a “Digital Vampire” -because Google sucks out all the content from the traditional news media while refusing to contribute financially to the industry it relies upon. In the meantime, it (supposedly) has a 20 million turnover based on advertising. None of this is apparently ever given to those who actually produce the content that Google commercially exploits (according to van Jole).

Then we run into the flaw in the article (probably based on the above mentioned “professional blind spot”) because van Jole’s conclusion is that Google should become a giant “collecting society” for the printed media that it parasites on.

This might sound quite convincing, if the same author hadn’t just earlier written about the failure of the music and film industry (which indeed imposes and defends copyright issues so jealously worldwide) and yet is still facing decline. Apparently, the “paid” sector of the “commodified” (electronic?, digital?, broadband?) economy isn’t doing too well iether -despite the apparent early success of iTunes. (See Fatima’s post on “Nine Inch Nails”).

So, all in all, there really does seem to be something truely rotten in the metaphorical internet state of Denmark! Perhaps the Emperor really does have no cloths at all! For more insight in problems arising out of Copyright issues (the “paid” economy) in the developing world, caused by the problems of the developed world, do check out CopySouth copysouth.org . Indeed, one may suspect that the apparent need of the (US) industry to impose stringent copyright rules worldwide is actually having a disasterous effect on the industry itself (to say nothing about human culture) both in terms of financial income and creative ability.

The Internet is for all the Sharks!
Trevor Batten
July 18, 2009

I just realized that the flock of birds, the swallows, presents a beautiful picture of modern fascism. And the birds are all free:

Our Organization has the most legitimate hold on the concept of Freedom. You see, our critics and opponents need to regulate and guide the movement of their forces. We don’t need to do that. The multitude of people who know our Brand adhere to it in complete Freedom, so our staunchest supporters are those who value the most Freedom. They will never give up easily, and they will stomp down the dissidents among them, those who threaten their comfort - without our command, they will work long and hard - in total Freedom, because they fervently believe that our interests are their own.

In a number of occasions I have seen how the linking of “globalism” with “fascism” (and “imperialism”) clarify the complexity of problems that the world faces today. Perhaps it is useful to dissect this link.

How should I know if I am in the company of wolves in sheep’s clothing? Or perhaps sheep who believe they are wolves?

“Our commercial development, following the course of our territorial expansion, logically and inevitably, has expanded the vigor of our growth function internally, between the two oceans rather than externally upon either; but this inter-oceanic process having completed the subjugation of the obstacles to it, the energies of national growth became freed to operate upon new fields of activity… The extremities of the hardships to be endured, or the terrors or dangers to be confronted, do not enter into the national question of expansion at all [but rather] the outflow of national energy obeyed the laws implanted in the national organization as blindly and instinctively as do the swallows the laws of their migration.” (The Freedom, on The Philippines and Trade, in justifying US imperial expansion in the Philippines, 1898)

In my mind’s eye is the sunset reflected on the sea in Baclayon earlier this day. I have kept record of past sunsets, many of them. But not this season. The sea in the sunset rain must be quite a sight.

Isn’t that absolutely fantastic. Google Evangelist Vint Cerf says, “The Internet is for Everyone” and they’re all working really hard on getting the next billion people on the Internet. In developing countries like the Philippines, that’s really cool stuff and we’ve got our government working with NGOs and private sector, especially those really generous telcos, to get Internet access for everybody.

But we’re all evangelizing the great power of this Internet and Web thing because our people are so hungry for what’s out there - online. And it’s all free! And this really great democratizing new tactical and empowering thing called Web2.0 is just so cool. Facebook is booming in Turkey and Indonesia. YouTube’s audience has nearly doubled in India and Brazil. Fantastic!

Well, here’s what the Web2.0 industry really thinks of you hungry people:

Last year, Veoh, a video-sharing site operated from San Diego, decided to block its service from users in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, citing the dim prospects of making money and the high cost of delivering video there.

“I believe in free, open communications,” Dmitry Shapiro, the company’s chief executive, said. “But these people are so hungry for this content. They sit and they watch and watch and watch. The problem is they are eating up bandwidth, and it’s very difficult to derive revenue from it.”

“Whenever you have a lot of user-generated material, your bandwidth gets utilized in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, where bandwidth is expensive and ad rates are ridiculously low,” Mr. Volpi said. If Web companies “really want to make money, they would shut off all those countries.”

- From “In Developing Countries, Web Grows Without Profit”

And you’ve heard of “evangelism” too right? Like “Google Evangelist” or “Microsoft evangelist” or those “Internet Evangelists.” Isn’t that just amazing, the charisma of those people who really care about us. Here’s how it works:

“Mind share. Mind share is the most important concept in evangelism. To control mental output, you have to control mental input. You’re going to control what the developers write, the code they write. You have to control what they’re thinking, which means you have to control the input to their brain. The way you do that is by taking control of the channels by which the developers receive their information. And in that I’m including the marketing slime and the VPs and execs and so forth. Thus you control mind share, by controlling input.”

-”Power Evangelism” by James Plamondon, from (Plaintiff’s exhibit 2456) in Comes vs. Microsoft

And the lot of you Internet and IT professionals, you go to those conferences, those really big expensive prestigious events here you meet your favorite evangelists. They all love it, and here’s how they swing it at you:

Conferences. When you actually go to a conference, leverage the crap out of those. Always get some kind of a meeting room. We did these at the December PEC in 93. We had a bunch of meeting rooms set up and called our (independent software vendors) ISVs beforehand and arranged (at least I did) to pack the meeting rooms with ISV visits during the show, because developers coming to this location from all over the world, let’s leverage the hell out of that and meet with people who are so far away we don’t want to go there, OK? And it’s also an opportunity to just sort of put up a sign that says “The evangelist is In,” and if you want to talk to the evangelist, you know, schedule some time here. Those can be really random and a complete waste of time, but every now and then they can be really interesting. They can be companies that are up-and-coming. And, you know, they’re very interesting companies to work with. They’ll be a good source of quotes and magazine articles and stuff, but they won’t do a lot in the market, OK? But you never know about these guys unless you let them come to you. We are not all-knowing or all powerful. We cannot select everything as well as we might let them come to us.

But you can do even better. You even organize your own ICT road shows acoss the country, spreading love to everyone. It’s like that great “OneWebDay” event where we’re all “as one.” And it’s open for everyone, big players, small players, tiny payers, and all. It’s a level playing field -everyone’s welcome. In these road shows people come in and be amazed!

Road shows. Road shows are…DRG used to do this a lot. We’d put together a road show and do a twelve-city tour presenting the same all-base seminar over and over. We’ve shifted to a model more recently where we broadcast the road show content by satellite to theaters all over the world, and that works a lot better. So you pay $25 to go into the theater and sit in a darkened room with a whole bunch of other dweebs eating popcorn and watching Bill. It’s a tribal thing.

-”Power Evangelism” by James Plamondon, from (Plaintiff’s exhibit 2456) in Comes vs. Microsoft

And you think, well, we’re doing independent conferences, we don’t get that kind of thing, and we don’t just do this for big business, we do this for “the community.” Sure, of course, Big Brother loves you:

So at independent conferences, or rather those controlled by the enemy vendor, just gather information. At independent conferences, subvert them. Find the people who choose who goes on the agenda and who doesn’t. Send that person all the free software in the world they want. Find out if their kids are in school, find out what school they go to, send them free software; see what kind of car they drive, send them a little keyring with that car’s logo on it, you know. Anything, anything. Love those people. Just suck up to them so hard your face collapses. I mean, those people…those people are so valuable to you, it’s beyond belief, because they control who goes on that session or not.

-”Power Evangelism” by James Plamondon, from (Plaintiff’s exhibit 2456) in Comes vs. Microsoft

What about you folks who call yourselves “independent consultants.” You “independent” folks who got mind of your own. Sure, it’s all part of the evangelical system:

Consultants are really important. Consultants are independent evangelists. They’re people who are out there doing our job for us, or doing somebody else’s job against us, without even being paid for it. We don’t even have to pay ‘em nothing! This is great. We don’t even have to give them stock options. They must be on the bleeding edge in order to sell their services. The only reason you hire a consultant to do something is because you don’t know how, because consultants are, by definition, these expensive guys who help you go around and help you do something that you haven’t figured out how to do yet, get your projects started, and so on. So they have to be on the bleeding edge, which means they have to be in tight with Microsoft, or somebody else, or else they can’t do their job well. Sucking up to consultants pays off very well.

They also have the patina of objectivity: this very thin layer, they can say, I don’t work for Microsoft, I’m not just spouting the Microsoft party line, but…here’s the Microsoft party line, OK? So, a very thin appearance of objectivity. Contract programming houses are the same way. If you need some sample code written, or a book or an article, or anything like that, for God’s sake don’t write it yourself. Get them to do it, because then you can do something else, like getting somebody else to do part of your work for you.

It’s not only frees you up to do something else, it’s getting them to do something so that now they’re committed to it, right? They’ve written this book on OLE. They’ve learned a lot about OLE. If that doesn’t pay off for them, then they’re losing all that time, so it’s in their interest to stomp open.doc into the ground and to make OLE successful, right?

You want to get these people bought into stuff. You do that by throwing business their way. Consultants are one of the primary keys to effective evangelism.

-”Power Evangelism” by James Plamondon, from (Plaintiff’s exhibit 2456) in Comes vs. Microsoft

So you think - hey, I got nothing to do with these techie things. I’m just an Internet user, a “netizen” and a computer user; I’m just a consumer, and we consumers have got our rights too. Well, here’s what one of America’s most “prolific, provocative and brilliant judges, legal scholars and public intellectuals of all time” has to say about you users and consumers, especially in today’s economic crisis:

“A serious, protracted economic crisis can result in changes in consumer behavior that persist after the end of the crisis. A change in consumption, even in some sense involuntary, can be a learning experience. People make what they think will be merely temporary adjustments in their consumption behavior to reduce financial distress but may discover that they like elements of their new consumption pattern; and businesses too, which have reduced their newspaper (and other print-media) ad expenditures drastically. They may never go back.”

- From Judge Richard Posner on his proposal to toughen copyright law to make linking without permission illegal

Yep, that’s one great American mind, even that fantastic lawyer Lawrence Lessig who gave us Creative Commons said of Judge Posner, “There isn’t a federal judge I respect more, both as a judge and person.”

So, you hungry freeloading fans of Evangelist America, Big Brother loves you but don’t you think you got a mind of your own because the Evangelist knows how to make you pay!“Vint Cerf’s “The Internet is for Everyone” and what Evangelist America really thinks of you” By Fatima Lasay, ex-president of the (unincorporated) Internet Society-Philippines, 2009, and ex-member of the Internet Society.

I’ve finally found something good to do with the slow cooker (Trevor is the one who often use it). I made some Spanish-style sardines (tawilis) in olive oil. It turned out pretty good.

At 3PM I set the slow cooker to “auto”, then at 5PM set it to “high” and finally by 7PM set it back to “auto.” By 9PM it was ready.

The result was very soft tawilis with fairly soft heads and bones, but the central bone was still a bit tough - eatable but a bit tougher than your usual tinner sardines.

So perhaps next time what I should do is start with the “high” setting. What I’d like to have is a fairly firm fish with eatable soft bones.

So, two days later I started another batch of Spanish-style tawilis. We got the tawilis from Landmark Supermarket for about PhP90+ per kilo. I bought less than half a kilo, just about enough for us and to give to my mom.

The tawilis turned out slightly better than the last ones. This time, they were a bit more firm, although the heads and tails still had the tendency to fall off. Nevertheless, it was a success.

Afterwards, I immediately set off to make another batch, this time using dried herring (tuyo). I set the slow cooker to “auto” and kept it there for about 6 hours.

This time, I used corn oil. I also washed the tuyo with water to remove excess salt.

After six hours - Spanish-style tuyo in corn oil!

Today mom gave me some fresh salmon. I am hinking of making some salmon in brine with capers. Of course, I put the capers in after the fish is cooked, otherwise, I’d end up with disintegrated capers.

Spanish-syle ingredients are: olive oil (or corn oil), salt, pepper, red chillies (siling labuyo), vinegar (I used pinakurat original flavor), olives, laurel leaves, carrots, and optionally, cucumber, tomato and capers.