Christopher Hedges

I-69 Are We There Yet radio documentary

Christopher C. Hedges — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:49:08 +0000

While those of us in Northwest Indiana aren’t necessarily paying attention to the southwest corner of Indiana, the story of how the southern portion of I-69 came to be is interesting, especially in light of the discussion concerning the Illiana Expressway in our region and the fact that funding came from the Indiana Toll Road lease.

Video: I-69, Are We There Yet.

Technorati Tags: Evansville, I-69, Indiana Toll Road lease, interstate, Mitch Daniels, southwest Indiana

Thoughts on cloud computing after the MegaUpload seizure

Christopher C. Hedges — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:16:44 +0000

I wrote the following in a comment on a blog post by Steve Dalton over at Golden Tech about constant change in information technology, but thought I’d share it here since it raises issues every internet user should consider.

The interaction between technology and law and the uncertainties the legislative process can create should be taken into consideration by cloud computing users.

Legislators are rushing to keep up with ever changing technology, and sometimes the effect is the introduction of sweeping legislation that could impact cloud computing and other data storage strategies, i.e. SOPA and PIPA.

I’m in favor of copyright and intellectual property protections, but worry about the chilling effects of SOPA and PIPA in relation to cloud based computing platforms when there is the potential innocent users could lose data stored on targeted servers during enforcement actions.

The recent seizure of MegaUpload and its servers used by 180 million registered users by the feds is a clear indication that users of cloud-based technologies must conduct due diligence to ensure that their providers are keeping up to date with changes in the legal arena, especially when those servers are available for anyone to use and potentially “contaminate” with content that could lead to an intellectual property action and seizure of all data — legitimate and illegitimate.

On a side note, MegaUpload shows the feds have the power to order complete site shutdowns and seizures even without SOPA and PIPA.

Maybe the solution for business owners is to implement private cloud-based technologies?

Technorati Tags: cloud computing, copyright, intellectual property, PIPA, SOPA

No more pink slime at McDonalds

Christopher C. Hedges — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:13:25 +0000

McDonald’s won’t use “pink slime” anymore.

Video: McDonald’s drops pink slime after chef Jaime Oliver decries use of the food additive

What is pink slime?

It’s a meat filler — discarded beef slices mixed with ammonium hydroxide, reports Time. The FDA approved use of pink slime in food.

Sounds yummy! Give me some pink slime on the side.

At least it wasn’t the green slime that certain game shows loved to rain down on contestants. But, that slime was made from oatmeal and/or cream of wheat and gelatin so it could have also worked as a nice meat filler.

Technorati Tags: chef, FDA, food additives, Jaime Oliver, McDonalds, pink slime

Online economy predicted to double by 2016

Christopher C. Hedges — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:30:27 +0000

Good news for the online economy. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that the online economy will double by 2016 in G20 nations.

Video: Online economy expected to double by 2016

More internet access, especially via portable devices and smart phones, will drive online economic growth.

Technorati Tags: economic growth, G20, online economy, smart phones