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U.S. Latinos 20 Million Strong on the Internet

6:37 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Internet|Media|society|Tech · Comments Off

20 Apr 2009

$two-teens-with-online-math-tutor-full$ Gone are the days when marketers and businesses doubted whether U.S. Latinos would use the Internet en masse. Well, actually, they still doubt — but now they have some hard numbers to contend with. According to a new study by comScore, there are some 20 million Latinos online and that number is growing fast. Latinos as a user group are growing at a rate of close to 50% faster than the general population. MediaWeek reports:

In February of 2009 comScore found there to be 20.3 million U.S. Hispanic visitors on the Web, representing a surge of 5.8 percent versus February of 2008. During that same period of time the general Web population grew by 3.9 percent. A similar growth disparity was evident for engagement measures such as total minutes spent online and total page views, where Hispanics exhibited growth that was five times as fast as the general population.

While the numbers look really good, MediaWeek reports that Latinos still only make up 11% of the total online population due to late adoption of the Internet.

Via / MediaWeek

Amazon Fail Was Due to a Hacker or the French?

14 Apr 2009

amazon_fail Amazon says that it deleting the sales ranks of many many books that are marketed to or are about gays, lesbians, transpeople and or have the word “sex” in it was an error . Who or what caused the error is still out.

One theory is that a lone hacker is behind the mess.

Weev says he organized an army of off-shore computer users to make a bunch of fake Amazon accounts and flag all the gay and lesbian books they could as inappropriate. Also, he got several friends with high-trafficked websites to embed an iframe code that made their visitors automatically send the flags without their knowledge.

The issue with this theory is that some of the sales ranking deletions go all the way back to February.

There is also the theory that a French employee (blame the French!) misunderstood the term “adult”—which refers to porn stuff in Amazon’s system—with “erotic” and “sexuality.”

Regardless if it was a glitch, a hack, right wing organizing, or just bad decision making, Amazon.com has apparently removed the feature that lets users flag books as “inappropriate.”

Via / Gawker (I know, I’m ashamed I read that site too), Consumerist

Amazon Fail : Amazon Shows its Homophobic, Anti-Sex Side

13 Apr 2009

amazon-sucks After a full day of Easter activities yesterday, I came home to find that Amazon was hard at work, disappearing sales rankings from “adult” books. Amazon seems to have ~~interesting~~ fucked up way of deciding what is “adult” though, especially since the deleting of sales ranking and the blocking of the books from appearing in some searches, and appearing on some best-seller lists seems to target books dealing with gay, lesbian and trans themes, and no not all of them are even “dirty”. Take for example the following from Meta Writer who seems as of last night had compiled a list of the books affected :

The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students

http://www.amazon.com/Advocate-College-Guide-LGBT-Students/dp/155583857X/

No protagonist, but intended for LGBT college-bound students.
(Sales rank removed)

Robert Adrich Who’s Who in Gay and Lesbian History (amazon.ca)
(Sales rank removed)

Really these are offensive perhaps? Adult?

Here are some other books impacted: “Heather Has Two Mommies”, A Biography of Ellen Degeneres,

Oh just to show that they are equal opportunity haters and that Amazon doesn’t think disabled peeps should be getting down: “The Ultimate Guide to Sex And Disability” has been stripped of its sales ranking.

No se, some of it seems random and not unified pero it still feels dangerous especially since Playboy books and a book about porno guy Ron Jeremy still have their sales ranks up as do hateful books like “A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality”. Certain glbt films/dvds still have sales rankings.

Amazon is saying that the stripping of sales ranking, which impacts searchability and therefore accessibility is a “glitch”, one that has been going on since at least February according to some. More likely is that this is a result of some organized “pro-family” orgs who have been complaining to Amazon via flagging certain titles.

For more information follow #Amazonfail at Twitter

In the meantime you can contact Amazon executive customer service via email: ecr@amazon.com and the customer service phone number is 1-800-201-7575 if you wish to share your views with them.

There is also a petition up here.

Via / Jezabel, LA Times, Mark R. Probst, Smart bitches, Trashy books

Angie Zapata and Social Media

10 Apr 2009

Angie Zapata was a transgender woman who was brutally murdered in Colorado last year. Next week, her killer goes to trial, and an online campaign by ProgressNow Colorado is encouraging us to remember Angie’s life and death at this difficult time.

Light a Candle for Angie is a Facebook application designed to draw attention to the issue of hate crimes. If you are a Facebook member, why not join the iniative?

If you are a Twitter member, you can follow all of the activities around the online campaign by adding Justice for Angie, or searching #zapata for other online conversations around anti-hate activism in Angie’s name.

It’s refreshing to once again see social media sites being used for something more than just entertainment. These applications’ ability to bring people together also have great potential to harness the power of many to bring much needed attention to serious social issues such as hate crimes, which I hope will eventually bring about policy change.

Via / AngieZapata.com

Morning Bizarro: Billy Bob Thornton Goes Off (or IS off)

11:43 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bizarro|Celebrities|Internet|Music|Twitter · Comments Off

9 Apr 2009

The Twitter is buzzing this morning over a video of actor Billy Bob Thornton being interviewed about his musical career. Sounds pretty normal up until there, but the video is worth far more than any description I might be able to provide. Check it out (warning, this is extremely painful to watch):

My gut says this is a prank. Your thoughts? Is this just another Joaquin Phoenix-esque publicity stunt or is Billy Bob off his rocker?

Via / QTV on YouTube

Watching Obama’s Live Cast

11:37 am By la Macha · Internet|Obama|Politics · 5 Comments

26 Mar 2009

090224_obama1_brown Obama’s live cast is on right now–you can watch it here!

A highlight for me: Obama is talking about what it was like when Obama was in the hospital for the birth of his daughters!

Other great highlights: Obama is taking questions directly from people and from online participants (would the legalization of pot resurrect the U.S. economy?)–something I don’t think I’ve ever seen.

Many of the questions, I think Obama is glossing over–but I do think that he is showing a certain amount of accountability to us citizens that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

Are you listening/watching? What do you think?

The White House is Officially Open for Questions : Let’s Ask About Ending the Raids

7:44 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Internet|Politics · 2 Comments

26 Mar 2009

You have to give it to the Obama administration. The previous U.S. president wasn’t tapped into the power of the internet or rather the power people think they have on the internet. Obama’s most recent strategy is to “open the White House” to questions focused on the economy and to rate other questions up or down.

Now people may think that asking a question about immigration has nothing to do with the economy but even from the perspective of migrant haters it does. After all, wouldn’t the migrant haters say that immigrants are stealing jobs and all getting public assistance?

Pero seriously, think of the money being put into ICE workplace raids and immigrant detention and deportation. I already told you all about the big business that immigrants in prison bring.

Sometime this morning, the President will conduct an online town hall on the economy and answer some of the most popular questions live.

Sabado Morning Cafe Con Links

21 Mar 2009

The Bustelo machine is running and this is what Mala is reading:

Raven’s Eye is live: Women and trans folk of color ISSUES have been done to death, we want OUR LIVES.

Seriously, where is the Change? Another Workplace ICE Raid

From the City of Brotherly Love :Where is the love for free speech and for Mumia?

Tech and Human Rights Justice in Guatemala

Is Cuba Keeping It’s Citizens Prisoners?

Ay that wacky Hugo Chavez is at it again.

And El Salvador’s new President wants to help with U.S. immigration.

Now go outside! It’s a nice Spring day.

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