REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Not party to propaganda

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 2, 2010 17:07
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VIEWED: 909
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Monday, February 1, 2010 8:24 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Several threads ago, Wulf asked for examples of how we are propagandized. With permission, here is a portion of a good friend's email. This person does not bow to propaganda in its myriad forms. I wanted you to see what it looks like from the trenches, from someone who is awake and aware. This follows a discussion about Apple and the (i)Pod People (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), apropos Apple's refusal to support non-Apple and free content, it's insistence on squeezing every last ounce out of DRM (which... among other things.. forbids you to read aloud to your friends!), and its ability to retroactively control/ delete content and applications which you have already purchased. The upshot was that we willingly... happily, even... sacrifice choice, free speech and independence for convenience.
Quote:

... I understand the pressures placed upon us to help our family and friends to be able to make use of the technical gadgets around us. It is impossible to educate them all to make use of alternatives. In my work I have to support the very things I am ranting against. Just as you must deal with the realities of your respective situation. It is just that I personally will not deal with these organizations. If someone asks me to help set up their apple I will do it but if they ask me to help them purchase one I will not assist. But this is a personal stand and as such it is just stubbornness since it has really very little effect on the situation. My activities within FSF and EFF are more meaningful. But I have become used to being the gadfly that refuses to see the emperors clothes but rather keep my eye on his knife. I am stuck in a windowless office. My door was the only one on the sixth, fifth and fourth floors of XXXXX not to get a new plac and paint job because I refused to sign on to the Chairman's desire to convert the student labs to Apples. They went ahead and did it any way. Now those sections of the labs are totally unusable since there is no way to interface the macs to the instruments they bought and the computational software they purchased will not run on macs. We spend more money on MS Office then we spend on the hardware I install. Yet we could just as easily run on Open Office. I have been called an obstructionist, yet I end up being the one to make things work. I have been called an ideologue, yet I am the one that is constantly looking for better ways of getting things done regardless of the manufacturer. I live in a world where brand names mean more then proven specifications. Where technical decisions are made by people that have absolutely no ability to differentiate between the items under consideration.

I met a doctor the other day when I went in to have a nerve conduction test done. I had a book with me called "Advanced Linux Programming", when he saw it he went "Wow you know Linux" I replied yes and he told me that he had been working in Africa and he found that the hospital's administrator there banned the use of proprietary systems because he felt that it was a means of denying the poor information. He ended up learning Linux and GNU and had the whole hospital computerized within a year. Those working with him were glad to have the documentation available so that they could learn how to continue his work. When he returned here he was amazed at how impossible it was to introduce anything but the status quo. He commented how the mentality here was totally oriented toward buying things instead of making and learning how to use things. Unless it had a price tag on it he could not persuade anyone to use it. Unless it had a trade name on it it was totally disregarded. I told him about my situation and how XXXX and I had installed fifteen computers in one of the labs and how they looked better and were much better then the purchased systems around them and the only comment we got was, "How come there is no name on the cases." Well we stuck Debian emblems on them and they suddenly were OK with the units, until one of them went and tried to buy a "Debian machine" because he liked the unit so much at work and found out that there was no such thing. At that point he wanted us to remove all the "Debian machines" and replace them with "legitimate computers". It is only with the help of the theoretical chemists, who all run Unix machines of one sort or another that we were able to keep the "Debian machines" in place.

I have paid a price for maintaining my integrity but it is has been truly worth it. It reminds me of a seen in "Doctor Zhivago" where a man on a train holds up his shackled hands and declares that he is the only free man on that train. I may not live to see it but meeting that doctor makes me feel that there are people in this world that will resist the forces trying to shackle all of us and hopefully they will prevail. That is if we do not all end up dying because of the stupidity of the west.




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Monday, February 1, 2010 9:55 AM

BYTEMITE


Well, okay, commercial propaganda and subliminal messaging, sure, though to better illustrate your point some references might have been a little more tell-tale.

Here, I found this, I don't know whether prisonplanet is a source Wulf likes, but it discusses propaganda.

I also add that one thing about this article is wrong: political pundits work much in the same way as the black-ops detailed later. Say a bunch of things people agree with, build up your credibility, then say something they they wouldn't normally have accepted but are now more receptive to. And it works. I look around and see examples of near brainwashing in regards to how much some people internalize the messages of political pundits. To downplay the effects of this is a case of serious negligence.

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=156939.
0


Remember, everyone on television, and maybe everyone in the whole wide verse is trying to sell you something. And just like you shouldn't go buy everything you see on the home shopping network, you have to THINK about what they're selling, what the cost is, and whether you really want it or not.

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Monday, February 1, 2010 11:33 AM

LITTLEBIRD


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM

I have paid a price for maintaining my integrity but it is has been truly worth it. It reminds me of a scene in "Doctor Zhivago" where a man on a train holds up his shackled hands and declares that he is the only free man on that train. I may not live to see it but meeting that doctor makes me feel that there are people in this world that will resist the forces trying to shackle all of us and hopefully they will prevail. That is if we do not all end up dying because of the stupidity of the west.






Oh yes, total agreement. My husband still runs Win 2K on his machine and it has not hurt his business one bit. We also drive an older make car. I was horrified at how many people fell for the 'cash for clunkers' program.

Another example would be using plastic bags for fruits and veggies at the grocery store. Many people bring their own bags, but then fill them up with the smaller plastic bags without even giving it a second thought.

We only use a cell phone when we are out on the road for emergencies. And what's this I pod thing I keep hearing about? :)

I could go on and on, but yes, you need to be very careful and really think about what you are buying and why.

Also, many people on this list have said this in a myriad of ways, but watch out for disinformation! It's usually tucked in nice and neat between lots of perfectly legit info. It's hard work to wade through all the crap being thrown at us these days, but if you want to really fight the system then try to 'stay awake' in all the details of your life.

I still miss many things, but it's worth the effort to keep at this.

Changed seen to scene in quote. :)




ETA to change Windows 98 to 2K. Husband raised his eyebrow over that one. Old timer backing out of tech discussion now. :)

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Monday, February 1, 2010 11:59 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:


Changed seen to scene in quote. :)



The Spelling Fairy approves this message! :)

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 4:08 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...


Quote:

Originally posted by SignyM:
... This follows a discussion about Apple and the (i)Pod People (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), apropos Apple's refusal to support non-Apple and free content, it's insistence on squeezing every last ounce out of DRM (which... among other things.. forbids you to read aloud to your friends!), and its ability to retroactively control/ delete content and applications which you have already purchased. The upshot was that we willingly... happily, even... sacrifice choice, free speech and independence for convenience.



I applaud Apple's refusal to carry anyone's crap software - shouldn't this be a story about how a large-ish corporation isn't being greedy and just going for sales?

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 6:37 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:



I applaud Apple's refusal to carry anyone's crap software - shouldn't this be a story about how a large-ish corporation isn't being greedy and just going for sales?



Anyone remember that OTHER big computer manufacturer out of Round Rock, Texas? Hint: I'm not talking about Dell.

For a while, Apple tried to follow the IBM model, letting other makers build components and even complete computers. The results were less than stellar, especially for Apple. PowerComputing just about put Apple out of business for good in the early 90s, and their computers were much cheaper than Apple's, in ever conceivable way (including, according to some, a tendency to not only overheat, but to actually burst into flames!)

So Apple pulled back, regrouped, brought Steve Jobs back into the company, cancelled all their licenses for other makers to make Apple "clones", and then reinvented themselves. And then they reinvented the music world with iTunes and the iPod.

Now, granted, you can complain about them not letting you use Joe Blow's garage-built software and/or processors, but that's like complaining that you hate your GM car 'cause they don't make it easy to swap in a Honda engine or run a BMW engine computer.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 6:48 AM

BYTEMITE


I can see both sides of the argument, really.

A computer or other electronic device that has been specifically assembled with parts from the same manufacturer, by that same manufacturer, then the compatibility can theoretically be more efficient.

On the other hand, some people out there like to build top of the line electronic computers from parts based on specifications and performance stats. The computer bursting into flames is just something to BRAG about.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 7:41 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
I can see both sides of the argument, really.

A computer or other electronic device that has been specifically assembled with parts from the same manufacturer, by that same manufacturer, then the compatibility can theoretically be more efficient.

On the other hand, some people out there like to build top of the line electronic computers from parts based on specifications and performance stats. The computer bursting into flames is just something to BRAG about.




All true. I think it would be NICE of Apple to open things up a li'l bit, on the caveat that this stuff IS NOT MADE NOR WARRANTED BY APPLE, and that if you use it and it burns your house down, that's on you. :) Or, back to the car analogy, I think it's pretty clear that if I drop a Chevy 350 small-block V8 in my Civic, neither of those companies is liable for what happens next. :)


And yeah, I *would* like to build my own top-of-the-line Mac out of off-the-shelf components (all Apple-approved, no doubt), without having to play by all of their rules about what drives I can have with what, etc.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 11:38 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


I agree with what most have said about Apple

Just wanted to add:

There are more and more of us who reuse those little plastic bags or recycle them, Little, my family among them. We reuse them until they're too dirty or torn to do so, then recycle them.

Takes time for these things to sink in; remember that cloth grocery bags are still pretty new in themselves.



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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 11:48 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


I'll get my geeky computer-friend to respond in depth. But the point is that there is better software... better music... better computers... out there. But people are so attuned to brand names, they will buy JUNK... and even worse, RESTRICTIVE junk... junk with DRM attached... and they will plunk down money for CRAP rather than get something better for free.

It's as if you slipped the collar off the dog and he still hung around the post where he was chained.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 4:28 PM

FREMDFIRMA



A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html

I still think Eric Flint said it best though...

Anyhows, once I have purchased a physical item, and brought it into my home, it's MINE! - I will do whatever the hell with it I please and couldn't give a fuck about the niceties, especially since I have about zero expectation of a corporation ever actually honoring a warranty anyways, especially for something that would cost more to ship back and forth in time, money and effort, than to simply replace, IF you can even find a way through the phone-tree hell to do so.

Eff that, I bought it, I own it, it's MINE, and I'll do what I like with it.

-F

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 5:07 PM

GINOBIFFARONI


Quote:

Originally posted by Niki2:
I agree with what most have said about Apple

Just wanted to add:

There are more and more of us who reuse those little plastic bags or recycle them, Little, my family among them. We reuse them until they're too dirty or torn to do so, then recycle them.

Takes time for these things to sink in; remember that cloth grocery bags are still pretty new in themselves.






Mine wind up full of dogshit




Either you Are with the terrorists, or ... you Are with the terrorists

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers.
What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow"

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