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Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category

I’m not a huge sports fan, but I can get into futbol. One thing I always get from my soccer fan friends from Latin America and Spain is what a joke the U.S. team is. But what you expect from a country who thinks soccer is for sissies and only knows David Beckham for his modeling gigs. Sheesh.

So what was my surprise when I saw that the number one trending topic on Twitter was the word “Spain” and found that the world was tweeting this astonishing outcome in the FIFA Confederations Cup semifinals today: the U.S. mopped up the floor with Spain in a 2-0 win. For those of you who don’t know, Spain is the number one team in the world, and boasts some of the sport’s most talented athletes.

Spain went into this game with the confidence of the jock who always clobbers the wimpy kid and got clobbered themselves. But this isn’t just shocking to me; this is world soccer history: the U.S. today became the first team to beat Spain since 2006 and some experts are calling the victory the best performance since they defeated England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.

Might this help get some momentum moving in making soccer a more popular sport in the U.S.? I doubt it. I mean, how many of you had ever heard of the Confederations Cup before this? How many even care to know what it is? Yeah, I thought so. But it would be nice though!

In the end, Spain loses more than just a game (and their chance at the finals for this tournament): they lose face. As you might expect, Spain is devastated and fans are blaming the loss on the cockiness and overconfidence of their (nearly) invincible team.

Via / Twitter


Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez continues his quest to drive the population towards consumption of local goods and, like a good marketer, he’s telling his people to set down their Coca Cola and pick up a new grape juice product called Juvita. On Chavez’s weekly TV show this past weekend, the message rang like a late-night informercial: Juvita means eternal youth, Coke means evil. From Reuters TV transcripts:

“It is a soft drink that is healthy, nutritious, here it is, its called Juvita. To maintain eternal youth, Juvita. Drink Juvita. Be young eternally instead of drinking that soft drink that, I don’t know, coca, I don’t know, cola, I don’t know what. Drink Juvita. Let’s taste it to see, to stay young eternally. You fathers and the mothers, encourage all parents to drink Juvita.” CHAVEZ BEGINS TO DRINK FROM BOTTLE OF JUVITA SOFT DRINK, SAYING: “Let’s see. Ah, eternal youth. Drink Juvita. How tasty. Did you all try?”

Getting Latin Americans to put down Coca-Cola is a mission impossible. Kind of like getting people in América Latina to give up corn-based products. Not gonna happen. Read more…

downloading musicThe RIAA is at it again, trying to “teach people a lesson” about illegal file sharing — what they call “piracy” — through our judicial system. I guess they think the lesson is best taught by going after innocuous users of file-sharing sites like Kazaa, like Minnesota mother of 4 Jammie Thomas-Rasset, who has been saddled with a 1.92 million dollar fine for sharing 24 songs. That’s $80,000 per song.

Thomas-Rasset sat glumly with her chin in hand as she heard the jury’s finding of willful infringement, which increased the potential penalty. She raised her eyebrows in surprise when the jury’s penalty of $80,000 per song was read.

Outside the courtroom, she called the $1.92 million figure “kind of ridiculous” but expressed resignation over the decision.

“There’s no way they’re ever going to get that,” said Thomas-Rasset, a 32-year-old mother of four from the central Minnesota city of Brainerd. “I’m a mom, limited means, so I’m not going to worry about it now.”

Her attorney, Kiwi Camara, said he was surprised by the size of the judgment. He said it suggested that jurors didn’t believe Thomas-Rasset’s denials of illegal file-sharing, and that they were angry with her.

AP reports that the jury could have fined Thomas-Rasset up to $150,000 per song. So she got off easy then?

I find it interesing that a jury was so harsh with her. Did they not understand what the “crime” was? She had her music collection open for sharing with others, she didn’t kill any of the artists who recorded the music.

What kind of country do we live in when someone gets fined nearly 2 million dollars for that and others get away, literally, with murder?

Via / AP

Lessons in Swine Flu: How NOT to Wear a Facemask

9:21 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Colombia| Funny| Health| Internet| Latin America| society · Comments Off

11 Jun 2009

While most of the world media seems to be over its love affair with swine flu, in the world of viral video (no pun intended) it appears to still be thriving. Take this video from Colombia (where new cases of the flu are still appearing, including a death yesterday) that’s making its away around the Latin American web:

Not very effective.

This poor guy has since become a laughing stock. But to me what is really “interesting” is how after he puts the mask on, the journalist says “well, that’s one way”!

Via / CityTv.com.co

Don’t let the last post fool you. The pushback against the anti-Sotomayor messages and anti-Latino messages in general are coming strong from organizations in the form of websites, videos and kick ass images.

Take for example the art coming from Presente.org, seen here. Presente! also has a petition at their site urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to Confirm Judge Sotomayor.

Speaking of petitions, The National Council of la Raza, has set up a site along with a petition directed at Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to stop the racist/sexist speech against Sotomayor and Latinos overall.

Read more…

artcutiewltvIf there is a way to fuck things up, the Catholic Church will find it.

I’m not sure why the Catholic Church seems to think that their priests engaging in sexual intercourse is so horrible a thought it needs to be banned. The Church is getting desperate for new young folks to fill the ranks of the old men who made the mess the Church is in today, even as it steadily dismisses those new young folks in favor of upholding antiquated laws that really hold no meaning at all. From CNN:

Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-AY) will pursue the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida said in a written statement.

It was not immediately clear how long the process would take.

Cutie is sometimes called “Father Oprah” because of the advice he’s given in Spanish-language media.

He shocked the Catholic community when photographs of him embracing a bathing-suit-clad woman emerged this month.

Cutie admitted having a two-year relationship with the woman.
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She has not been publicly identified.

I’m no big fan of priests or of the Catholic Church, but this guy seems to be genuine and real. He seems to be in a committed relationship with one woman who is fully grown and fully consenting. An oddity for far to many priests in the Catholic Church.

Tell me again why *he* is leaving the church and not the pedophile that’s been moved from church to church for 40 years?

Does Venezuela Want to Ban the Internet?

6:56 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Internet| Venezuela · Comments Off

26 May 2009

chavez-conf-bests-04So is access to the internet a right or a luxury? Decree No. 6649 coming out of Venezuela seems to side with it as luxury.

The decree seeks to eliminate “luxuries” or “superfluous expenses” among the public expenditure, among which includes the Internet.

This seems to go against an earlier decree No. 825 from 2000 that said that internet access and use were a priority.

A campaign, Internet Prioritaria, has launched in response to the latest decree, with a goal of keeping the internet as a government priority.

Read more…

ppbxvifacebook200509You might think the Vatican would be busy lately, what with all the denouncing of sex crimes against children in Ireland they should be doing. But they don’t appear to be too busy to waste all of our time on dumb shit. One example is pope2you.net, a lame attempt to get younger people into the Pope’s fold.

You won’t get an email saying Pope Benedict added you as a friend and you can’t “poke” him or write on his wall, but the Vatican is still keen to use the networking site Facebook to woo young people back to church.

A new Vatican website, www.pope2you.net, has gone live, offering an application called “The pope meets you on Facebook,” and another allowing the faithful to see the Pope’s speeches and messages on their iPhones or iPods.

I can’t poke the Pope? How lame is that? How about kicking him in the shin with my pointy boots for what he said about condoms spreading AIDS? Joking aside, if the Vatican wants to appeal to “young believers”, why not learn how the technology works and really use it to its full potential? A favorite blog of mine, ReadWriteWeb, reports that they’ve tried out the app and its pretty much snoozeville:

The Facebook app, which is currently loading very slowly, is also not exactly the most groundbreaking app either. Facebook users will be able to send and receive 20 different virtual postcards of the Pope, with texts available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish (with Latin being conspicuously absent here). According to the app’s description, installing it will allow you to “Spread friendship with the Pope and become a witness of Christ in the world through the web.”

Sounds exhilarating.

What’s next? The Pope on Twitter?

Via /WashPo and ReadWriteWeb

The Digital Divide Continues

9:49 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Internet| race · 3 Comments

25 May 2009

bloggingThe term digital divide traditionally is used to talk about the haves versus the have nots when it comes to internet access. The digital divide has been analyzed from a race/ethnicity perspective and an age perspective. Pero the digital divide is more than just an access issue, it’s about keeping up with the leaps in technology. It’s not enough to have internet access, it has to be broadband access. It’s not enough to have a cell phone, it has to be a smart phone.

According to the Census Bureau, more than 40 percent of all homes are not connected to the Internet or use antiquated “dial-up” technology. Communities of color are disproportionately affected by the digital divide. According to a 2008 report by Free Press, a national media reform organization, only 40 percent of households of color subscribe to broadband, while 55 percent of white households are connected. The nation’s Latino population in particular fares among the worst, with only 35 percent having a broadband connection.

As high-speed Internet becomes increasingly expensive, middle- and low-income families are less able to afford it. According to the same Free Press report, only 35 percent of homes with less than $50,000 in annual income have broadband, while 76 percent of households earning more than $50,000 per year are connected in that manner. For many Latino communities living on the margins in Los Angeles, paying for pricey broadband service isn’t even a possibility.

Via / Colorlines

sanctuaryeye1Some of the most important work I have done in the past year has been working with other people on building movement through justice media. And while it is done out great love, not to become famous or even recognized as an “important voice” in a careerist sense, it’s nice to be recognized.

The Sanctuary (ProMigrant.Org) will be receiving an award that, in 2006, Hillary Rodham Clinton described as “the equivalent of the “Pulitzer Prize” for journalism (including New Media of course) in ethnic media!

Felicidades to the entire Sanctuary – Promigrant.org team y pa’lante siempre.


Hola!

VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.

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