Im keeping this short and sweet.

Speaking about ACTA, EU commissioner Karel De Gucht said:



(as per http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAct ... ormat=HTML)

So yeah.
I mean, what else can you even say about that.

Heres where I saw it:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201206 ... week.shtml

Good luck, Europe. Sounds like you're going to need it.

First of all, Yes, I know this is a tech related site. Bear with me for a minute.

My band (yes, I play in a band, its called VERDE - www.greenface.net) recently signed up for a battle of the bands online contest (http://warped.battleofthebands.com/u/OfficialVerde). Unfortunatly, we are months late to the contest, so Ive been trying to push for our fans to vote for us because we really only have about 12 to 14 days to catch up to the top 4. (11 votes currently vs ~23,000 LOL)

So how does this relate to informationleak or technology?
Simple. (ish)

This effort has become an experiment in the role of social networking and the ability for like-minded people on the internet to come together as a whole for a specific purpose.

Online promotion and activism works, I know it does. Its been proven over and over. Anonymous, Reddit, Kickstarter, the Oatmeal, any Ron Paul related site , etc. There are many, many online groups that come together and get something done... even if its just spreading the word.

The big question becomes:
How does something become viral?
What are the statistics (if any) of a social media campaign?

Well, I guess Im about to find out.

Some metrics on similar studies involving ads vs buys indicate that about 1% of ad viewers click through, and from that percentage about 2-5% translate into sales.

... but what if you arent buying anything?

I dont think it matters. I think in this specific case of voting for a band you have several issues to overcome as follows:

1. Interest.
Seriously, how many people actually CARE if my band gets to play at Nassau Coliseum?
How does voting for my band benefit them in any way?

2. Follow through.
Even if there is interest, what percentage of people reached will follow through with signing up and voting?
Of those that do, what percentage will commit another level of promotion? (ex. like or share on FB, tweet, or even vote again - you can vote for 1 band 1x per day, so theoretically each person that has already voted could vote another 12 or 15 times if they wanted)

3. Effectiveness.
What garners more activity? Requesting activity from current fans, or simply getting the word out to as many as possible and hoping for activity?

Im hoping to address 1 and 2 by recording both audio and video of the show (if we win) and giving it out for free. I figure its the least the band could do and I think it would be fun/interesting to see what goes on and whats involved in doing a show at a venue of that magnitude. I think others may be interested as well.

Being that the bands music is really the only product it produces, thats all I have available to give back with. Its my hope that giving some sort of incentive through free songs/video IF we win addresses and increases both the interest AND the follow through of the campaign... As far as its effectiveness... thats another story.

Ideally, if we get between 100-200 votes per day and around 50 or so plays a day we should ride to the top page of the ernie ball/warped tour site and that alone may or may not generate more votes. Thats where the effectiveness comes in. Do random people (Im using the term random based on the genre the audience likes, as I am sure that not 100% of the visitors like Verdes style of music, and even those that do Im also sure a percentage would not like OUR music) exposed to the 'product' (presumably) in large numbers equate to a higher 'conversion' rate?

Thats what I aim to find out.
Will I be able to? I have no idea. Its honestly up to you.

If you would like to help Verde reach its goal or if nothing else help with this experiment please head over to www.greenface.net and vote/share/tweet and otherwise promote the campaign. Who knows, maybe you like the music.

Wish us luck!

PS - I know there are a lot of folks that read this that are capable of gaming this system. Please do not. Doing so, as tempting as it may be, will ultimately skew the results of this experiment. Thanks!

Links and such:
http://warped.battleofthebands.com/u/OfficialVerde
http://warped.battleofthebands.com/u/Of ... erde/votes
http://warped.battleofthebands.com/home.eb
http://warped.battleofthebands.com/info/venues.eb

Join us for a conference call!

Update: - hit up the IRC chan and skype/w us if you like!

We will be discussing all things InformationLeak-ish. The general idea is to get members to talk about InformationLeak and what direction the site and forums are headed, as well as general conversation.
Keep it civil, keep it awesome.

Virtual cake and refreshments will not be served. Accents from all over the globe are not so much obligatory - just unavoidable.

Details:
TeamSpeak3 server (72.29.71.119)
(need Teamspeak? No problem, its free! http://www.teamspeak.com)
May 11th (Friday) 3-?PM EST

Hope to hear from you then!

First SOPA, then PIPA, now CISPA.

I was going to make this a call to arms. A cry to wake up and do something.
Nah.
Maddox was right. All the movements in the world arent going to stop this from happening. Blacking out websites and whatever dont matter. Writing to your representatives doesnt matter. None of it matters, because they are just going to change the name, add a few amendments and ram it through one way or another.

But never fear! Obama has threatened to veto CISPA!
Yeah right. He did the same thing with the NDAA. Then he didnt. Again, excuse me for my lack of surprise.

So hey people, lucky for us elections are rolling around. Wouldnt it be nice if a bunch of people just voted out all of the representatives they feel arent representing them?
Again, fat chance. Doing something like that requires a few hours of online research and having to go outside and vote on the appointed day. Never gonna happen. People will spend thousands of hours playing a game or browsing facebook but they wont look up some bills that effect their lives directly and see how the people they elected to represent them voted on it.

Oh, did I mention this is only going to get worse and not better? Ever? Mainly because while everyone is angry and appalled enough to tweet about it no one is willing to go a few miles at most from their homes on a predetermined date and vote to remove the people they are so outraged at. So again, Im not shocked.

You make your bed people. Its time to lie in it.
UPDATE:
Who took what money:
http://sopatrack.com/bills/3523


UPDATE 2:
CISPA explained in infogram/comic form for all you folks too busy to read anything else. (see sentence 19)
http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/02/cispa-wtf/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Int ... ection_Act
http://intelligence.house.gov/bill/cybe ... n-act-2011
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... isions.ars
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201204 ... ssed.shtml
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... mments-bar
https://www.cdt.org/pr_statement/cdt-op ... ng-forward
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/v ... inst-cispa
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/e ... lance-bill
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/e ... ght-senate
https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/act ... n_KEY=8609
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h192
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll192.xml
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net ... =pass_sopa

Imagine if an internet provider had a "security first" mindset. Then imagine that it also engaged in practices like end-to-end encryption and limited logging. Then imagine it would also "challenge government surveillance demands of dubious legality or constitutionality."

Now imagine it cost ~$20/mo. Without data caps... and included encrypted email.

Now stop imagining, because its called the Calyx Institute.
The man who wants to get it up and running is named Nicholas Merrill.

Maybe you heard of him. He's the guy that fought tooth and nail against a letter that asked for confidential information without a warrant about a client of his when he was running a small ISP in NY.

Ok, look... I could write about this all day but there's really no point, honestly. If that little tidbit you read above sounded good, then take a few minutes and read the links posted below, and do your own research. If you are still as sold as I am, then donate some cash and lets get this thing going.

In a world where someone wants to create something that can ultimately benefit the internet connected population as a whole for the better and at the time of this writing the project has only gotten $55,844 - whereas make ane-paper bluetooth watch that can interact on a limited basis with your smartphone and raise over 3 million in a few days.

Sad imo.

Tell you what, lets meet in the middle.
Why dont you all drop some dough for the Calyx Institute and connect to your Pebbles securely?

If you think this is a good idea, spread the word and put your money where your mouth is.
I did. You should too.


Links as promised:
http://www.indiegogo.com/calyx
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57412 ... st-always/
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comm ... _put_your/
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/f ... st_person/
https://www.calyxinstitute.org/