Sometimes winning requires missing out…..

Since Chat Roulette is flavour of the month right now, I could not resist doing a comic about it.

It seems EVERYONE is talking about it. The media are all over it, trying to dissect it’s good and bad points.
Parodies are popping up all over the place, youtube videos of chat roulette pranks are being posted as fast as people can make them, and images form webcams are posted everywhere.

Three of my favourites so far are:

> Jon Stewart Goes On Chatroulette

> The eye vagina (safe for work)

> Cat Roulette

It is a novelty that many have tried out and quickly realised that the anonymity and randomness of the connections that you get can enable them to be free (sometime far too free, I think) with their thoughts and bodies.
If nudity offfends, then Chat Roulette is NOT the place for you to be.

In fact, if you can go for 6 rounds without seeing a penis or some boobs, then you are probably doing something wrong.

If you need to, go and check it out here.

A hug can be the best motivational tool ever.

In this modern world, where connectivity options are more abundant than they have ever been before, it amazes me how alone we can still become.
People can actually became more isolated from society by utilising social networking, blogging tools and mobile communication apps.

I fear that Sci-Fi may actually be correctly predicting a future in which humanity operates and interacts totally via virtual, computer enhanced means. An environment where Virtual Reality is the only reality we know.
(think eXistenZ, The Matrix or MindWarp)

To combat this is a very simple thing – We just need to keep up human contact and not be so scared of it.

Yes, it is true these days that you need verbal and written permission, 3 forms of ID and an officially approved government licence to Hug a stranger, but so what?

Give it a go.
Hug someone and see what happens.
If nothing else, you and the other person will not be alone for a moment.

Kiss your IT geeks goodbye.

If you read tech news regularly, you will know that “The Cloud” is the next great destination for all of your treasured computer files.
If you are unsure what it is I will put it in simple terms here.
Basically, you put your files into a network of computers, rather than one single location, so that the data and applications can then be accessed remotely when you need it. When you here the term “The Cloud”, it actually refers to the internet.

This provides an immense amount of benefits, especially to businesses, as it means their data is securely held offsite from their physical offices. All the data is on a convenient, on-demand network, with access to a shared pool of computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released.
And soon, nearly anyone will be able to handle the uploads and downloads with infinite ease!
This is awesome and shows that we are living on the edge of a marvelous new future.

But I think we should stop and ask ourselves one question:
“What is to become of our Sys Admins and IT Managers?”

In the future, when we are all cloud computing and loving our lives, where will these people be?
If you don’t need them to help maintain server storage, find archived data files and make recommendations on what new hardware you need for the office, then what happens to them?

If these hardworking individuals are not needed to defrag a drive or resurrect a server, where will they fit in modern society?

Well, I will tell you – They will form roaming mobile LAN parties and create confusion on the streets by speaking l33t or Klingon to innocent pedestrians.

But we have a chance to stop this horrific vision of the future from coming true.
And it is such a very simple solution.
(No, it does not involve boycotting cloud computing or storage, because that stuff is going to be f#@king fantastic!)

The solution is this :
Tomorrow, when you see someone who works in IT, just walk up and give them a hug.
Keep in mind that you will need to hold on, so they know it is for real. About 15 seconds will be enough.

Sure, they may flinch now, but if we don’t start to heal the rift BEFORE it begins, then all is lost……..

Another reason not to put everything online.

There are just some ideas that should never be put into an online environment.

I think Scratch & Sniff is a perfect example of times when an idea in the real world really doesn’t need to have a digital version.

If you don’t believe me, take a wander through the People of Walmart site.

Other things that do not need to be online are:

- Anything to do with Snorks or Schmoo

- More youtube videos from Boxxy or Chris Crocker. (no way am I linking to those)

- Sites that advise you how to make clothing out of bacon.

Oh, and before you ask about it – Yes, Hypercolor DID make it’s way online, unfortunately.

It was just renamed “MYSPACE”…….

Aussie Comic Recommendations:

During the week, I became aware of this cool Aussie cool, created by Jen Breach and Trevor Wood.
It’s called Sawbones Online, and I suggest you check it out.

Also, you should take a look at a few of these aussie comics.
I will be posting many more of these in the future, but for now, go and take a look at these two strips:

Riverside – By Rhys McDonald

Showman? – By David Blumenstein

Freeze! The internet cops know what you did.

This comic has been inspired by many things that I have seen, read or experienced during my time on the interwebz.
Some of the behaviour and stupidity that online activity can bring out of people is absolutely mind-blowing.

A very recent example of this is the “Facebook Login” dramas on the ReadWriteWeb site.
If you do not know about this, you should take a look. Start with this article to give you the background on the story.

This is only one of many examples of users not reading things before acting, or just not understanding what they are doing online in the first place.

I personally feel that there should be a structured education program about the internet, usage and etiquette in our schools.
This education program should begin in the First grade and continue up until the end of High school.
The program should be GLOBAL, so that no-one misses out unnecessarily.

If we tried to implement something, then in a few year, perhaps we would not need sites like lamebook.com, or be seeing videos such as this one by Google, which asks a simple question: “What is a Browser?”

Perhaps we also need to explain to everyone at some point, that activities like those shown in this video, are not how the internet or computers work in the real world.

I feel that the media should run educational ads about how the internet works, for free.
Let’s face it, they are to blame for so much dis-information, it is their responsibility to try to help fix the problems.

Letting the internet make you appear like you care.

I learned a new word recently – “SLACTIVISM“. (ref)

Slacktivism (also written as slactivism) is a combination of the words Slacker and Activism. The word describes “feel-good” measures in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts also tend to require little personal effort from the slacktivist and are mainly online activities.

There are examples of slacktivism all over the internet, and once you become aware of the term they tend to be frustratingly easy to spot.
I use the word ‘frustrating’ here, as in my experience, I find that the biggest slacktivists are also the ones that tend to tell you about it as many times as possible.
It is the “look at me and how much I am doing to help, aren’t I great?” scenario.

Those who participate in “slacktivist” campaigns, relish in an illusion of having a meaningful impact on the world without demanding anything more than joining a Facebook group or changing your Twitter avatar to show a colour or a badge.

Recent examples of this include:

- adding your bra colour to Facebook to highlight breast cancer.
- making your twitter avatar green to support Iran
- blacking out your avatar to support anti-internet censorship
Even “Earth Hour” protests against non-government action against climate change has elements of slacktivism.

It is unfair to label ALL online activity as Slactivism, or indeed, to dismiss Slacktivism as totally useless.
There are situations where online activity & awareness has assisted in producing results.

My issue with all this is when I see people jump on the latest bandwagon, promote their activity to all their followers, but then promptly return to playing Farmville, or asking the lazyweb for recommendations on products.

Also, many people participate without actually understanding the issues involved.
I am sure you can all find someone who updated their Facebook status to their bra colour without realising what it was actually for.
I even know some men that did it, as it was just the latest meme going and they wanted to appear that they were part of it all.

Online protest or awareness campaigns do have merit and can help cause the desired effect. Even so, it is important to decide if the online medium is the right audience for the issues.

An example of this is the current Anti-Internet censorship filter campaign going on in Australia.
The participants in this are very active & are giving it a good go, which I applaud them for. They are standing up for what they believe in.

However, there is the chance this campaign may fail and I am not the only one who thinks so.
The campaign is being conducted online, and uses mechanisms that promote Slacktivist activities, in a negative way.
For example, this article “Why the anti-filter campaign is failing” supports this view.
It also raises one point that I personally feel is relevant. The article suggests that this campaign needs to target “the mass of reasonably-minded, moderate, everyday Australian voters that are needed to effectively influence the process.”

This means that having the campaign conducted ONLINE via Facebook, twitter, etc, where it targets supporters already aware of the issues involved, is somewhat wasted (ie: “preaching to the converted”).
The funny thing is that the ‘Stop Internet Censorship’ website states, as part of their Critical components of a campaign methods, that they should

“Target the audience that matters [Don't preach to the converted]“:   (found here)

As well, these same components state:

“Offline protests will not form part of any campaign run by Stop Internet Censorship”

I believe that to have any chance to succeed, the message needs to get offline and into print, radio or television to target the irregular internet users and influence their votes.
And I really WANT the campaign to succeed in every way possible.

But, at present, it comes across as just a big slacktivist group hug, after which everyone who did nothing more than black out their avatar and re-tweet some links & hashtags, will be the first to angrily tweet “We tried so hard! How could we have done any more?”

Well, the answer is easy and applies to any campaign. JUST DO MORE.
I would prefer to see those involved in any campaign, not matter what it is, actually trying to do something positive to compliment there online activities.

- Make a donation to the cause they want to support.
- Use all relevant types of media to support it.
- Write a letter to their relevant politician.
- Make a PERMANENT change to their daily activities or way of life, which helps the issue.
- Advise others of actual support mechanisms to help the cause.
- Take part in activites for the cause, which are online AND offline.

Now, do not misunderstand me here. I believe in the great and powerful beast that is the Internet, and I feel it should be harnessed and used where ever possible to change our lives for the better.

It is far too easy to sit back, click a link and think you have made a difference.
Next time you decide to support a cause, why not take a moment to think about what you are doing and determine if your activities will actually help?
Decide if you REALLY want to support the cause and effect change. Or is it all just for show?