God I love the Internet. Here are my two main reasons, just for today. The first is a story on Google setting up a bloggers’ tent at the Democratic and Republican conventions next month, and it’s also a story on why I love Google. Not only are bloggers the pirates of the media world, they are raiding ships and simply put, taking no prisoners. The US is light years ahead of course, but imagine gaining this sort of legitimacy in the Middle East? Imagine public officials being tutored on blogging? In a country like Jordan? Hey, it could happen.
Google will be pampering bloggers and tutoring US policy makers at Democratic and Republican national conventions as Internet culture flexes growing political muscle.
The Internet giant is joining news-ranking website Digg and blogger groups to set up a “Big Tent” for media and delegates at the Democratic convention next week in the US state of Colorado. The 743-square-meter (8,000-square-foot) center will feature a public area with kiosks for uploading videos to Google-owned YouTube and demonstrations of services offered by the Mountain View, California, firm.
Google will also provide free massages and blended ice-and-fruit “smoothie” drinks. [source]
and…
Not only will bloggers have Internet access, workspaces and couches for napping in the “Big Tent” headquarters, they will be provided food and beverages, Google-sponsored massages, smoothies and a candy buffet. On the final night of the convention, Google is co-sponsoring a bash with Vanity Fair magazine for convention-goers and journalists that has become one of the hottest party invites. [source]
Google has also launched its voice recognition application to mark the occasion. Every word spoken by the candidate is registered and you can essentially enter a query term and let the video fast forward to the part of the speech where he says that term. Pretty cool.
The second story is actually a video that was taken by a Londoner upon being stopped-and-searched by a London Transport Police officer who was, to his credit, simply implementing section 44 of the Terrorism Act of 2000. Unbeknown to the officer, this Londoner got it all on, what I assume is his cell phone’s video camera. Next thing you know, it’s on the Internet and spreading through the blogosphere.
via: BoingBoing
Did they give you a smoothie and a massage when you were in the mukhabarat?
well we’re more of a coffee/tea kind of people and as for the massages…. 😀
that video is great. i wonder how he did it, and how the officer didn’t realize he was doing it. genius. pure genius.
Nice 🙂
Bloggers at conventions were all the hype during the last elections, but this is really cool!
As far as other reasons to love the internet, mapquest totally improved the quality of my life 10-fold!
It was America that created the seed that became the internet, and Google is American…. Cheers to America?