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Sunday, April 30, 2006

Google Stalker (Video)

This weird Halo video introduces Google the almighty evil stalker.

Google Profits From Parked Domains

Google is offering AdSense for parked domains for quite some time now. It’s certainly a shady business – don’t we all hate domain squatters and typo squatters for polluting the web? The Seattle Times did some analysis. [Via Digg.]

Colbert Speaks to Bush and Press (Video)

Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report managed to speak at the White House Correspondents Dinner yesterday. Main target of the satire was a biased press who stopped questioning government decisions, and press conferences where certain critical questions stay unanswered. Editor & Publisher comments, “As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling, and left immediately.” (Does anyone have a hi-quality version of this?) [Via Boing Boing.]

Update: There are better quality links at YouTube. [Thanks Andy.]

YouTube vs Google Video

Paul Boutin in Slate writes:

The guys behind YouTube hit the sweet spot. Most important, they made it head-slappingly easy to publish and play video clips by handling the tricky parts automatically. Given up on BitTorrent because it feels like launching a mission to Mars? If you’ve sent an e-mail attachment, you’ve got the tech skills to publish on YouTube. (...)

I think Google has failed to take off for the simple reason that it’s more annoying to use than YouTube. To begin with, you have to install Google’s special uploading application. When I tried to upload the same clips I’d posted to YouTube, Google’s app wouldn’t let me. I combed through the FAQ and found this: “While we also support other digital formats such as QuickTime, Windows Media, and RealVideo – submitting your files in these formats may significantly delay us from using them on Google Video.” Come on, guys. Whatever happened to “I’m Feeling Lucky?”

I agree Google’s desktop uploader (as only option) is lame. One thing Google Video got going for them though is the instant as-full-screen-as-it-gets feature. [Via Xeni.]

A Free School (Video)

The YouTube video “Voices from the New American Schoolhouse” shows a radical free school, Fairhaven School in Upper Marlboro, MD. Cory Doctorow says:

“Fairhaven appears to be a classical free-school, in which kids self-govern, design their own curriculum, and tutor their peers. I went to publicly funded schools like this from grade four to graduation, and they were the most important factor in the way I conduct my own adult life. Attending schools like this teaches many kids to run their own lives, blazing their own trail, inventing their own careers, and trying anything. Useful skills in a world where any job that can be described is likely to be outsourced.”

You can buy the DVD by contacting the school.

For an interesting read on the school system, see the Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto (the full text is available online).

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