The Tory Party

Better than Free

At Kevin Kelly – The Technium

I had to read this article like I eat a protein bar — in small morsels, chewing carefully, and washed down with Diet Dr. Pepper. But it is freakin’ fascinating.

This super-distribution system has become the foundation of our economy and wealth. The instant reduplication of data, ideas, and media underpins all the major economic sectors in our economy, particularly those involved with exports — that is, those industries where the US has a competitive advantage. Our wealth sits upon a very large device that copies promiscuously and constantly.

Yet the previous round of wealth in this economy was built on selling precious copies, so the free flow of free copies tends to undermine the established order. If reproductions of our best efforts are free, how can we keep going? To put it simply, how does one make money selling free copies?

I have an answer. The simplest way I can put it is thus:

When copies are super abundant, they become worthless.
When copies are super abundant, stuff which can’t be copied becomes scarce and valuable.

When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.

Well, what can’t be copied?

Rahzel

A friend played this for me, like, five years ago, so again I am racking up the cutting-edge points.

There are live performances, but this is the one he played for me, and you need to experience this.

You might think, hey, that is a pretty good song. Okay. Interesting. But then you must understand THIS DUDE IS DOING ALL OF THE MUSIC OUT OF HIS MOUTH AT THE SAME TIME.

IS YOUR HEAD ASPLODE? Mine is.

This dude breaks it down in a tutorial, and understanding how it’s done makes it EVEN MORE AMAZING.

For peak head asplosion, go to 4:16 to see him do it in close-up.

LOVE MUSIC SCIENCE.

Zombie Apocalypse Quiz

It’s been a long time since there was a quiz. Here I am on the Internet when I should be going to bed — is it obvious?

Who Will You Be in the Zombie Apocalypse?

I am so strange.

The Count Censored

This video proves a lot about obscenity, offense and imagination. But mostly it makes me scream out loud with laughing:

Thanks to Random_Tangent and friends.

I Have An Opinion

I haven’t had much to say on the presidential race because I’m not keeping informed enough to say anything… you know… informed. Obama versus Clinton seems like a win-win to me — and a totally different set of choices than 2004’s Kerry/Edwards meh-meh. I

said I’d give up pretending to know what voters will do after 2004. I’ve given it up — but I still like to do it. I have a lot of vices like that.

And there’s McCain. I forgot about McCain like some people forgot about Dre. For months I was like, “The Republicans have nobody! Nobody! No one would elect any of these yahoos!” And a friend would say, “What about McCain?” And I’d be like, “Oh, yeah, McCain… I forgot about him.”

Mmm… How can I say this?

One, I’m a yellow dog Democrat. And I’m super jazzed to have two human candidates this year instead of yellow dogs. PLEASE RUN TOGETHER OKAY PLEASE I’LL MAKE T-SHIRTS THAT SAY “WELCOME TO THE O/C BITCH” OKAY?

Two, I like both Clinton and Obama better than McCain by a country mile. I’m just being real.

And, three, certainly if you point out that McCain is weak this or that, so I should rather staple my eyes closed than be okay with him being president, I totally feel you.

But I would sleep okay at night with McCain as president.

I’d almost like an alternate reality where McCain gets to be president for one week, just so he can go into the committees that are approving torture practices in American facilities, and BREAK SOME G-D- HEADS.

You know who’s a good person to uphold Geneva Convention? A FORMER FRICKIN’ POW.

If they televised it, I would watch it. I would scream at the screen like it was an action movie. I would be cheering and probably crying from the moment McCain walked in the door til he left.

And then I hope he’d hop a flight to Crawford, Texas and throw George W. over his knee and spank him ’til he cried.

That’s probably not a nice thing to hope. But I hope it.

But every other week ’til 2012 is all for the O/C.