Centralized world power and Net censorship

Centralized world power and Freedom of Speech cannot coexist!

We live in a small world where the actual power structure is hidden and centralized. On the other hand, the Net is all about freedom of speech. Clearly, centralized power and the Net cannot coexist. It is obvious that centralized power is well entrenched so naturally it is the Net that has to back off. This backing off manifests itself in many ways such as malware, P2P clogging, complexity and cost of Internet access, sluggish roll-out, non standard components, obsolescence, information overload, lack of customization and so on.

But the most sinister factor is Google's dominance. The lack of competition allows Google to stick to its keyword centric syntactic strategy where it is able to censor websites much more easily. This SIGNAL vs NOISE kind of censorship is able to confuse even the most determined searchers. In any case, Google is more about Ads than about Search.

The only way to bypass such censorship seems to be to search on the basis of authors as opposed to keywords. This is the only way to keep the SIGNAL NOISE ratio from getting out of control. What is more worrying is not ideology, it is spin. This is the reason we should give up even on authors and follow only individual commenters. The logic is that authors are looking for numbers and only spins see propagation.

To follow individual commenters, we can click on their names, which is usually a link to their website or a page containing other comments made by them. We can also try and Google their name. Savvy commenters pick quirky (hopefully unique) screen names for this very purpose.

But never mind, here too, our rulers have found a way out: botnets. The common perception is that botnets are moronic spreaders of spam and some of the less moronic botnets even try and phish out our passwords. To a certain extent this is true because email is the purest form of addressability so our rulers need spam to dilute it. And also financial scams and economic hardship have forever been used to keep people under control. That such actions keep the insurance and security companies humming is welcome too.

In actual fact, botnets are highly sophisticated networks which are not only able to unceasingly dodge detection but also troll ALL forums and add to the NOISE everywhere. Even complex captchas are no deterrents to these sophisticated bots. It is amazing how many of the comments posted are actually from sophisticated trolls that never be exposed because these behave like human commenters and come from innocent IPs. Recent studies have confirmed that botnets use SEO techniques to capture search engine traffic on controversial keywords.

Moral of the story: Suspect anything and everything because PERCEPTION CONTROL is the biggest game in town.

Internet Censorship Alert

Internet Censorship Alert: Alex Jones exposes agenda to 'blacklist' dissenting sites (March 14, 2010) As I predicted, the Obama Administration is trying to shut down the Internet - at least the parts he doesn't like. Barack Obamas regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein has stated that he wants to ban conspiracy theories from the internet. Think about what this means - Every video, every website, every blog, every email, that exposes or just criticizes the government for any reason whatsoever could be labeled a "conspiracy" and taken down. Your home could be raided in the middle of the night, and you could be carted of to jail for criticizing the government. All they have to do is call it a "conspiracy theory". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqAWmBLFodE
Showing posts with label economic downturn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economic downturn. Show all posts

Saturday, October 18, 2008

78 Ways for Your Small Business to Save Money in this Economy

78 Ways for Your Small Business to Save Money in this Economy
Inside CRM
Oct 14, 2008

http://www.insidecrm.com/features/78-ways-save-economy-101408/

With the economy struggling, every business is trying to cut costs to make ends meet. Small businesses, which have fewer resources, especially feel the burn.

Not to fear. We’ve come up with a mega-list of ways to trim the fat off your enterprise so you don’t become a casualty of the latest economic downturn.

Technology
1. Go green!
2. Switch to open-source software.
3. Consider a smaller ISP.
4. Check out VoIP.
5. Get a cheaper business phone service.
6. Switch from a merchant account to an online payment service like Paypal.
7. Reduce the number of phone lines.
8. Look for cheap or free web hosting.
9. Buy recycled printer cartridges.
10. Reassess your phone plan.
11. Eliminate unnecessary lighting.
12. Turn off equipment when it's not being used.
13. Lighten up.
14. Time yourself.
15. If appropriate, use laptop computers.
16. Stop paying for software.
17. Do it online.
18. Share printers.

Overhead
19. Reduce your variable expenses.
20. Do house cleaning on your weekly unneeded expenses.
21. Get a freelancer.
22. Keep a close watch on energy consumption.
23. Sublet office space.
24. Keep it in the family.
25. Hire college students or interns for credit.

Office Items and Office Space
26. Take advantage of member rewards.
27. Plan shipping or mailings.
28. Don't pay retail.
29. Eliminate unnecessary paper waste.
30. Barter.
31. Free form it.
32. Buy used equipment.
33. Check out going-out-of-business sales.
34. Get creative and recycle.
35. Opt for industrial space over commercial office space.
36. Clean up your mailing list.
37. Use online coupons.

Advertising
38. Word-of-mouth marketing works.
39. Create an e-newsletter.
40. Use YouTube.
41. Place an ad on local television stations.
42. Communicate on online forums and message boards.
43. Start a blog.
44. Use email.
45. Get to know your neighbor businesses.
46. Get your clients to advertise for you.
47. Be a guest speaker.
48. Join trade associations.
49. Prune your mailing list.
50. Be an early bird.
51. Shop around for an overnight courier.
52. Piggyback your advertising.

Insurance and Finances
53. Re-evaluate your insurance coverage and policy costs.
54. Consider a four-day work week.
55. Bank on an early deposit.
56. Consider outsourcing your HR, benefits and payroll to an external provider.
57. Order your checks from a printing company.
58. Consider raising your deductibles.
59. Ask about cash management or sweep accounts.
60. Take a stand on property taxes.
61. Check up on your medical insurance.
62. Consider a PEO (Professional Employer Organization).
63. Try to bargin.
64. Time your payments.
65. Seek at least three bids on everything.
66. Commission your sales force.
67. Form a buying alliance.
68. Don't overlook crucial tax deductions.
69. Save by association.
70. Temp it out.
71. Get the best business credit-card deal.

Travel
72. Shop for discounted fares online.
73. Get your rental car through a discount broker.
74. Sharing is saving.
75. Go dutch.
76. Don't eat where you sleep.

Think Outside the Box
77. Get an "executive suite."
78. Don't scrimp on disaster-recovery planning.

This is just a start, but these tips will definitely help your business make ends meet during the economic crunch.
Posted by amolpatil2k at Saturday, October 18, 2008 0 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Bailouts will lead to rough economic ride

Bailouts will lead to rough economic ride
Ron Paul
Sep 23, 2008

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/23/paul.bailout/index.html

Many Americans today are asking themselves how the economy got to be in such a bad spot.

For years they thought the economy was booming, growth was up, job numbers and productivity were increasing. Yet now we find ourselves in what is shaping up to be one of the most severe economic downturns since the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, the government's preferred solution to the crisis is the very thing that got us into this mess in the first place: government intervention.

Ever since the 1930s, the federal government has involved itself deeply in housing policy and developed numerous programs to encourage homebuilding and homeownership.

Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to obtain a monopoly position in the mortgage market, especially the mortgage-backed securities market, because of the advantages bestowed upon them by the federal government.

Laws passed by Congress such as the Community Reinvestment Act required banks to make loans to previously underserved segments of their communities, thus forcing banks to lend to people who normally would be rejected as bad credit risks.

These governmental measures, combined with the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy, led to an unsustainable housing boom. The key measure by which the Fed caused this boom was through the manipulation of interest rates, and the open market operations that accompany this lowering.
Posted by amolpatil2k at Thursday, September 25, 2008 1 comments
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)