progressive politics and regressive entertainment. like peanut and butter.
April 7, 2012 2 Comments
Carrie Brownstein on WTF with Marc Maron:
There was a night where I was plugging everything in to charge and I felt like I have more Mac products than friends.
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Polentical: Quote of the Day: Gil Fronsdal
April 4, 2012 Leave a comment
When This American Life retracted its recent episode concerning poor working conditions in factories making Chinese products, I was worried that this would mean a larger dismissal of concerns when it comes to tech companies, including Apple, using cheap and exploited labor.
The issue may remain in the news, though, given the even more recent audit of the Foxconn factory which has helped Apple generate such awesome profit margin.
Assessors found cases of employees working longer hours and more days in a row than allowed by FLA standards and Chinese law. They uncovered inconsistent health and safety policies and instances of unfair pay for overtime work.
It’s hard for me not to connect this news to the other big splash that Apple made of late — its nearly one hundred billion dollar pile o’ cash.
February 4, 2012 9 Comments
So, while I’m on the subject of Google…I don’t have intricate statistics on who comes to this blog from where — let alone why — but WordPress does tell me which Google searches lead the unsuspecting to Polentical.
February 1, 2012 5 Comments
I strongly believe in a limited copyright law which ensure that authors can control their works and reap some profits for a decade or two. I’m wary when it stretches longer than that, because the nature of art involves appropriation and reshaping of shared images and stories. Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare…the western canon is built around authors retelling tales.
Piracy differs in that it’s the replication of a work, but Neil Gaiman approaches the issue from a practical point of view. He does not advocate giving up copyright, but he does speak eloquently about the advantages of having a free flow of art on the internet.
January 27, 2012 Leave a comment
Phil Simon’s advice to those bothered by Google’s new policies regarding the use and misuse of their users’ personal information is simple.
Finally, in point of fact you can opt out very simply: Don’t use Google products. I can’t think of a single Google product that has no substitute. Vote with your virtual feet. You can leave Google at any time.
The advice is simple, but also simplistic. Simon relies upon an unrealistic conception of the world as an open marketplace of goods and services, which it is not.
January 17, 2012 2 Comments
When I first visited the Google campus back in 2003 in order to visit friends who worked there — well, I’ll admit it, like everyone else I visited in order to partake of the free food. It was a terrific atmosphere, full of vim and vigor, and very very open. I was particularly struck by the omnipresent coolers full of Naked juice. It seemed like an enterprising Googler could take as much of these free offerings as desired, and perhaps start as second business as a Naked juice retailer.
