The World ‘Shares’ as the Chief Cries February 10, 2012

I suppose you watch series and movies about teenagers and other heroes saving the environment. In real life, there are no Planeteers gifted with elemental powers, and there is no Captain Planet to save Gaia in destruction. This thought went through my head seeing a picture of a tribal chief break into tears after hearing a very grave news. Read through the short article below:

I have more respect for a Warrior that protects life—for us, for our children and grandchildren and future generations –than for a false civilization and their interests!
While newspapers and television talk about the lives of celebrities, …the chief of the Kayapo tribe received the worst news of his life: Dilma, ‘The new president of Brazil, has given approval to build a huge hydroelectric plant (the third largest in the world).
It is the death sentence for all the people near the river because the dam will flood 400,000 hectares of forest. More than 40,000 Indians will have to find another place to live. The natural habitat destruction, deforestation and the disappearance of many species is a fact. ‘
What moves me in my very bowels , making me ashamed of being part of Western culture, is the reaction of the chief of the Kayapo community when he learned of the decision—his gesture of dignity and helplessness before the advance of capitalist progress, modern predatory civilization that does not respect the differences …

But we know that a picture is worth a thousand words, showing the reality of the true price of our bourgeois “quality of life”. (posted by Gonzalo Cesar).

I got this news from Facebook and it’s been shared to many. I have searched online and I couldn’t find the original article in Spanish. I wanted to find out if this was true, but looking at the picture above, those tears were real enough to break my heart. My emotional  is our personal helplessness. Would sharing the news be enough to gain awareness? It will probably reach millions, but how many would dare to step out of their plates and do more than just sharing it in Facebook. Are there even those who are willing and capable of leaving their seats to do something about it? Just saying that there’s a big difference between spreading the word and acting on it.

We’re all helpless in our own way, and by financial handicaps, all those people willing to help can’t spearhead a campaign. Not that I am being one-sided. Again, I’ve gauged and weighed in two sides of the coin. I have read through the advantages of having that dam built over the amazon forest. It will surely help supply the power shortage that Brazil is struggling with. However, regardless of how beneficial a certain infrastructure can be, natural resources is always a priority. It’s a solution of power shortage versus the suffering of 40,000 Indians and millions of species existing in that 400,000 hectares of forest.

Sweet Revenge for Megaupload? January 20, 2012

Just want to share an article I read after posting my blog for today. Those hackers sure know how to do business.

Almost immediately after federal prosecutors shut down Megaupload.com on charges of violating piracy laws, Twitter and online forums exploded with chatter about revenge and retaliation.

Federal prosecutors shut down file-sharing service Megaupload.com on Jan. 19 for distributing illegal content in one of the largest online piracy crackdowns in Internet history and arrested four individuals.

Hours later, Websites belonging to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Copyright Office and several entertainment giants, including Universal Music, Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America, were knocked offline by Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and remained unavailable for the remainder of the day and evening.

Here’s the complete article.

Yeah well SOPA may not be the overall cause here, but I could probably say it’s one of those initiators for online copyrights. It’s gonna be a rough ride for us netizens once SOPA and PIPA takes action. Kudos to that hacker I must say. I’m not a supporter of SOPA and PIPA so anything that messes around the world wide web, should be careful. You never know, your site might be next.

 

 

 

Megaupload Shut Down and Kodak Files for Bankruptcy

Heard a couple of headlines that shook me off from my dreamy state this morning.

First, Megaupload has been shut down by the feds for violating piracy laws. (BBC News)

Megaupload, one of the internet’s largest file-sharing sites, has been shut down by officials in the US.

The site’s founders have been charged with violating piracy laws.

Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue. The firm says it was diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.

The news came a day after anti-piracy law protests, but investigators said they were ordered two weeks ago.

The US Justice Department said that Megaupload’s two co-founders Kim Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, and Mathias Ortmann were arrested in Auckland, New Zealand along with two other employees of the business at the request of US officials. It added that three other defendants were still at large.

 

Second, Kodak has already filed for bankruptcy after more than a century of serving the world of photography. Here’s a quick overview of the article from CNNMoney.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Eastman Kodak, the once mighty icon of the photography industry, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday.

Kodak’s (EK, Fortune 500) stock plunged 35% at the start of trading. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading within a few minutes after the opening bell.

http://ads.cnn.com/html.ng/site=cnn_money&cnn_money_position=220x200_ctr&cnn_money_rollup=business_news&cnn_money_section=quigo&page.allowcompete=no&params.styles=fs&page.allowcompete=yes&tile=1327025271081&page.allowcompete=yes&domId=274798

The company said it has obtained $950 million in financing from Citibank to maintain operations. The company said the credit facility is still subject to court approval.

Kodak said it has enough liquidity to continue operating during the bankruptcy process.

Kodak acknowledged, in its Chapter 11 filing, that it had more than 100,000 creditors, with debts totaling $6.75 billion.

Kodak company also said that it had assets of $5.1 billion, with properties in Rochester, N.Y., Windsor, Colo. and Weatherford, Okla.

Kodak’s top creditor is the Bank of New York Mellon (BK, Fortune 500) in its role as trustee for other bondholders, with claims of more than $650 million.

 

Even big companies can suddenly shut down just like that. I was even more surprised with Kodak. They were pioneers for films and the company has survived more than a century until now. Just sad that they weren’t able to go with the current digital trends. I can probably speculate that it all boils down to vision and leadership? I’m no entrepreneur, although I plan to be. Anyway, they should have already foreseen the upcoming trends. They can probably either compete with the current trends or set their own way back then. I guess it was the right decision. Kodak is outshone by Nikon, Canon and even Sony. During the past decade it was like they have already set out their own extinction in the field.

 

Currently more and more businesses are engaging themselves to the online industry. Service providers such as law firms, clinics, accounting firms and other fields are also into the world wide web. At some point, it adds credibility to the company or organization. Some would hire IT companies to do strategic IT alignment for them just to merge the business goals and technology for a more efficient production, which I think is a smart move. We are in the information age after all, but we are moving on with the Conceptual Age.

The Information Age is an era that began in the 90s decade where progress is based on how much knowledge and information we acquire. In the Conceptual Age on the other hand, gears toward innovation and creativity (idea came from Daniel Pink). This means that though information and labor may still have its place for progress, but to gain an edge, innovation should be incorporated. This is the reason why investing on technology is important. New ideas may come up anytime, but the vehicle for its execution might not be that simple.

Anyway, I have to go. Haven’t had lunch yet.

 

Dash Scribbler Pilot January 16, 2012

This morning I woke up extra early just to pick an outfit for work. I am not used to wearing skirts, but I might be forced to wear one today just for the sake of not being mistaken as an emo with my usual dark shirt, jeans and chucks. I had to fool my mind that I’m wearing jeans so I won’t be too conscious of my outfit. I went through my regular commute and since I was earlier than usual, I arrived in the office almost an hour early.

I was thinking of setting up an appointment with a Dentist but my schedule was quite unpredictable today. I had a lunch meeting with the whole team. The lunch was brief, but the meeting, well it lasted until my work shift ended. When I got back, I was so anxious, or more like excited to work on my fanfic. By the way, I’ve written a fanfic about my favorite anime series, Yuyu Hakusho. My absolute character crush is Kurama, who is originally a yoko and legendary bandit in the demon world. During one of his plots, he was terribly injured by hunters and out of desperation, he brought himself to the human world. He merged his soul with an unborn baby and was born as Shuichi Minamino.

Anyway, there should have been a great potential for his character development, and like any other Kurama fangirl, I’d like to see how he can be involved with a romantic relationship. Thus, I created a YYH fanfic that retells the story of Yuyu Hakusho. Same plots and everything, I just added some details which contains their offset time from their missions. I added just one new character who doesn’t exactly spoil the plot, but it’s safe to say that it did some justice not tampering with the original story at all and yet the existence of that character was somehow of significance to the original plot. In other words, with or without her, the story goes on.

Then again, new ideas might sprout from time to time, but surely, I won’t ruin Yoshihiro Togashi’s work by tweaking his already excellent plots. This fanfic is not intended to be shared to anyone. It’s just a creative outlet and its sole purpose is for personal entertainment.

So there you have it. I live in the corporate world by day, and a dash of scribbled imagination by night. Dash Scribbler in the house.