Facebook Name Analyzer

Fun name analyzer on Facebook. Sometimes the quizzes or analysis on the social networking site are lame, but this one is pretty fun. I can live with these results.

Cacography - Bad Writing - Spelling

I love this word because I'm a bad speller. Who knew such a perfect word existed?

cacography

PRONUNCIATION:

(kuh-KOG-ruh-fee)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Bad handwriting.
2. Incorrect spelling.

ETYMOLOGY:

From caco- (bad), from Greek kakos (bad) + -graphy (writing). Caco is ultimately from the Indo-European root kakka-/kaka- (to defecate) which also gave us poppycock, cacophony, and cucking stool. Opposites of today's word are calligraphy (beautiful handwriting) and orthography (correct spelling). A related word is cacology.

USAGE:

"Before I could think of quitting, my boss enlightened me on the virtues of my handwriting, which was sheer cacography: 'Your writing is in direct competition with the Harappan script that still had the hope of being deciphered in the distant future.'"
Vikram Kumar; Positions Very Vacant; The Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India); Apr 15, 2008.

"They [Nerds Inc.] have taken advantage of cacography in a novel way. ... They registered more than 90 of the most probable misspellings of popular Web addresses afforded by the QWERTY keyboard, for processing by typo.net."

Thomas W. Holcomb Jr.; Nerds Inc. Turns Typos Into On-Line Advertising; The New York Times; Jun 2, 1997.

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

If Media Were Any Good | The Smirking Chimp

If Media Were Any Good

by David Swanson | July 22, 2009 - 8:51am

A week ago, I published a report on 1,200 photos of U.S. torture that I have examined but the public at large has not seen. I talked about the photos on a few progressive radio shows. I received calls from some advocacy groups that have been trying for years to get hold of these photos. But I received not one single inquiry from the corporate media. Even most good blogs ignored this story despite a handful of prominent blogs promoting it. This started me thinking and fantasizing: what would the world look like if we had major media outlets that were worth more than a warm bucket of spit?

Imagine if the media monopolies were busted, a diversity of private outlets were free to compete, and public media were developed, including free substantive air time for election campaigns. Imagine media outlets with democratic accountability. Imagine media outlets that judged a story important if the majority of the public said so, and not if those in power said so.

The majority of the public favors single-payer healthcare. Corporate media outlets are crammed with endless, often pointless, stories about healthcare that never mention single-payer. On Friday a House committee passed an amendment to allow states to create single-payer healthcare systems, and have you heard about that from a single corporate media outlet? Another amendment now up for a vote would create single-payer at the national level. Heard that one mentioned? Our existing media outlets (whose lead blogs follow more than bloggers admit to themselves) decide what's important based on the preferences of a small number of powerful people. And the fact that these preferences almost always differ wildly from majority opinion does not lead to any rethinking of the acceptability of this approach in a democratic republic.

The same treatment is accorded other people around the world by the U.S. media. Over in Iraq (remember that place?) an important deadline is approaching in the treaty that Bush and Maliki made, and which Bush misleadingly called a status of forces agreement in order to not call it a treaty. The U.S. Senate never consented to this treaty, was never asked to, and never demanded the right. But the Iraqi Parliament, which represented a public whose media -- even in the midst of a living hell -- better informed it of the treaty's terms than ours did, approved the treaty. But the parliament approved the treaty only on the condition that the Iraqi people be able to vote it up or down in a vote to be held no later than July 2009. Heard anything about this lately? Check your calendar, and then check your newspaper. What gives? If you could bring slaughtered native Americans back to life they could tell you the violations of their treaties were not heavily covered in the white man's press. The June deadline to withdraw from Iraqi cities was met in part by redrawing boundaries. Can you imagine the outrage if a foreign force did such a thing while occupying the United States? Some actions are deemed outrageous and others unworthy of extensive discussion. Some articles are written with that obnoxious air of "objectivity" while other articles are not written.

A democratic communications system that worked for the people rather than those in power, advertisers, and corporate partners would identify politicians by party and state but also by amount of money accepted from the corporations relevant to the issue under consideration. All the endless articles and chatter about healthcare would look different with the dollar figures inserted. A democratic media outlet would forego fluff and filler to engage in useful functions such as tracking whether elected officials fulfill their campaign promises, something I've done here and the St Petersburg Times has done here.

Democratic (small d) media would be very different from Democratic or Republican or Bipartisan media. It would treat laws as mandatory, not subject to the whims of those in power. It would treat enforcement of laws against those in power as more important than their enforcement against everyone else. Such media would not cover resistance to a war without noting that the war was (if it was) illegal. Such media would not cover the prosecution of low-level soldiers for crimes they were ordered to commit, without investigating their superiors and asking why they had not been prosecuted. Such media would not quote nonsensical statements by those in power about possibly investigating whether crimes had been committed without noting (when it existed) the publicly available evidence that in fact crimes had almost certainly been committed. And if a former vice president appeared on a democratic show and brazenly confessed to felonies, the producers would invite the attorney general to view the tape on the air and respond to it.

If Media Were Any Good | The Smirking Chimp: "Imagine media outlets with democratic accountability. Imagine media outlets that judged a story important if the majority of the public said so, and not if those in power said so."

The points in this article are so undeniable. David Swanson mentions two things that always get my goat. The fact that:

• Lower level people are always taking the hit for higher level authorities who are in fact more guilty.


• Politicians brazenly admit to crimes and nothing happens to them. Or they pretend that something that did in fact happen, never did. Either by bald face lying or the sin of omission.

If only there were real, blind justice in the world....

Even better would be bulldog journalists to hold some feet to the fire until the truth and accountability will out.

Iran June 2009 Election Uprising Graphic Novel

Free downloadable political graphic novel, Persepolis 2.0: Iran's Post-Election Uprising: Hopes & Fears Revealed. All images repurposed from Marjane Satrapi's novel Persepolis.

Good memoir and peek into upper middle class Iranian culture, by the way.

Although images were created for Iran's 1979 Revolution, they apply to the aftermath of the June 2009 Iranian Election.

Since the Revolution in 1979, Iranians have coped with an increasingly repressive regime. Attempts for greater social and political freedoms have resulted in brutal crackdowns by the hardline government. The ensuing apathy and significant boycott of the 2005 presidential elections led to the election of the ultraconservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Four years later Iran has become increasingly alienated and its people more polarized than ever before. The campaign of former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Moussavi galvanized voters hoping for change, especially among the youth – two thirds of Iran’s population is younger than 32. On June 12th 85% of eligible voters cast their ballots and what happened next changed Iran forever.

Put together by two artists, spreadpersepolis@gmail.com. Shanghai-based, Iranian-born and Belgian-bred Payman and Sina.

Iran Protester, I Ran for My Life - Jamileh

Show support for democracy and free speech in Iran by making your Twitter icon green.

Below is the story of a young woman protester of the Friday, June 12, Iran Election. Apparently, the powers-that-be expected the population to buy that 39.2 million handwritten paper ballots in a country over half a million square miles could be tallied up in less than half a day.

How do you count almost 40 million handwritten paper ballots in a matter of hours and declare a winner? That's a key question in Iran's disputed presidential election.

International polling experts and Iran analysts said the speed of the vote count, coupled with a lack of detailed election data normally released by officials, was fueling suspicion around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide victory.

Weirdly enough, some Iranians weren't buying it and have taken to the streets in protest ever since the "official results" were announced.

Iranian Woman Protester 6-13-9

As with many social movements, the largest protester segment are students. It's not a bad thing since these are the folks with the time and energy to kick things off. When I marched against the Gulf War in the early 1990s, students and career activists made up the majority of protesters too.

As I mentioned in my Huffington Post comment:

The Iranian uprising reminds us that government or the state only have authority by the permission of the people. If the citizens think the trust has been broken because of vote or election fraud, it's their right to remind those in charge how tenuous their power really is. The Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regime can bust heads, shot and stab protesters all they want. It's up to the marchers and protesters who'll ultimately decide when they are satisfied, when it's over and when things will get back to normal.

Since I have no DirecTV service right now, I've been obsessively tracking the tweets from the street on Twazzup and Twitter. Clicking on the links has given me the chance to see some amazing pictures, great articles and moving videos. Iranian Green Revolution: Latest Eyewitness Reports on Iran Election Fallout blog is full of videos compiled from YouTube. My favorite may be the one where a young woman literally kicks a man (10 seconds) in uniform who is harassing and beating people whith his baton. The woman got beat too but at least she got her licks in. Her resistance in the face of political repression is very brave.

The biggest negative about American support on Twitter is when people pass on obvious disinformation in a misguided attempt to help. If you see a tweet that is the opposite of 95% of other tweets, such as "march for Tuesday canceled, stay home", then don't pass it on. The status quo party has many hackers on payroll to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt, FUD.

I've been a big technology fan my whole life but the democratization of communication that allows regular Iranians get their stories out to other regular people around the world, without any filters, makes me appreciate the Internet even more. The revolution may not be televised but it will be Social Networked. Going forward, there will be no such thing as a media blackout. That's a good thing.






Finally, on to the story....

---

Jamileh, a 25-year-old woman from Iran, describes her experience taking part in demonstrations against the recent election result that saw current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeat opposition hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi amid accusations of vote-rigging. Parisa describes how she returned home from a protest march, only to be disturbed by police who then arrested her brother.

The story of Jamileh

Friday June 19th 2009 by journalist Rajen Nair

I live in the city of Esfahan in Iran, a tourist place for worshippers of all major religions in the world. It has famous shrines such as the Friday Mosque, as well as Christian churches and Zoroastrian temples. The people here are peace-loving and deeply religious, but after the election result on June 12, the atmosphere here has become tense and scary.

For the past five days the city has seen huge demonstrations held by supporters of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi – and why not. Like millions of my fellow Iranians I had huge expectations from the outcome of this election. During the campaign the young electorate rallied their support towards Mousavi and, like many Iranians, I was expecting him to win the election. When the result came out, showing that Ahmadinejad had won by two thirds, I was in a state of shock and disbelief.

I voted for Mr Mousavi because I feel he is an enlightened person. I see him as a reformist who could help free our society from the dictatorship of Ahmadinejad. I must confess that women enjoy no freedom under Islamic Iran. The clergy expect us always to be covered with a Burqa and to wear gloves. They never allow us to mingle freely with boys. During wedding ceremonies, women are seated separately from the men.

I felt cheated when rumours spread that Ahmadinejad had won by rigging the election. Ask any youngster in the street and she or he would say that this election was rigged. I am very angry and so are young people of my generation. I can see this anger in people spreading everywhere and it is not just limited to cities.

I am glad that people are coming out in the streets demonstrating openly against Ahmadinejad's government without any fear. But I am saddened by the turn of events. One student belonging to Esfahan University lost his life in the demonstration. Innocent lives have been lost and Allah only knows how many more are going to get killed.

I took part in a demonstration and found that the protestors were generally peaceful. I noticed that it was the police guards that were unnecessarily provoking the protestors by wielding batons and using tear gas. So the demonstration sometimes turned violent though no fault of the protestors, but the police arrest protestors claiming rioting.

The recent events are extremely stressful and worrying for me. People are angry and I don’t think the government would be able to suppress this uprising. People are talking of a new revolution which will lead us to freedom and democracy. Every day people pour out into the streets in their thousands, to march and protest. At night people come out of their buildings onto their rooftops and shout: “Allahu Akbar.”

Our demand is that we do not want a partial recount, but a full recount of the election result to get to the truth. Life is normal no more . Ordinary citizens are scared to venture out into the street. Most shops pull down their shutters by 6pm, fearing violence between the demonstrators and police.

Yesterday evening I joined a demonstration at Hatim Nizar street, responding to the call given by our leader Mousavi to hold peaceful protests and march in memory of eight people killed. Most people wore black as we marched the streets silently, the majority of them were young boys and girls. After we walked a few yards I heard some commotion.

Suddenly people began running all over the place. There was confusion and panic. I could see people falling over each other. Baton-wielding police were charging us. I ran for my life using the opposite lanes and managed to reach home safely at night.

At around midnight I was rudely woken from my sleep. I heard the bell ringing repeatedly and banging on the door. No sooner had I opened the door than a few guards barged inside my flat, pushing me aside. They began questioning my 18-year-old brother and I.

They wanted to know whether we were supporters of Mousavi and had taken part in the rally. I lied and said we were not supporters of any political party, but they kept on pressing and were becoming rude and threatening. They refused to believe us. Then they arrested my brother and dragged him all the way down the street to the waiting police van. I kept pleading with them that my brother was innocent and to let him go.

My aged parents began wailing and neighbours gathered at our place. I had tears in my eyes, fearing what would happen to my brother.

Today, in the early hours of the morning, I visited the local police station. They say that my brother will not be freed until the investigation is over. Until then, I remain worried and fearful for his life. I pray to Allah that my brother is safe and will return back soon.

Helpful Twitter Job Search Links

Social Networking sites like Twitter and Facebook can be used for things other than goofing around and wasting time. Although taking stupid quizzes, checking out videos and other links are still fun.

If you are looking for web application or software development project management work like me or any job really, here are a few sites to help you look for work on the Twitter platform.

• WorkDigital: http://www.twitterjobsearch.com/


• Jobzing: http://www.jobzing.com/job-sites/job-search-engines.html


• How to: Find a Job on Twitter: http://mashable.com/2009/03/13/twitter-jobs/


• How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/a/socialmedia.htm


• Five Best Ways to Use Twitter for Your Job Search: http://www.thewisejobsearch.com/2009/05/five-best-ways-to-use-twitter-for-your.html

If you need help getting established on social networking sites and setting up a strategy for building your online brand, Inner Architect may be able to help. Susan Hanshaw and Dean Guadagni gave an excellent presentation, Using Social Media to Enhance the Project Management Experience, at PMI Silicon Valley last night. Great tips on how to get a lot out of existing sites like Twazzup.

Wheel of Marketing Misfortune

Wheel of Marketing Misfortune, originally uploaded by David Armano.

This wheel is so true. I don't think they are all so bad.

Flashturbation and Death by Big Idea are the biggest poxes on the web right now.

Twitter Mosaic 6-4-9

I love the Twitter mosaic. I haven't done one in a while so it's about time.

Get your twitter mosaic here.