Please be aware that this video, made by New York based comedy group Elephant Larry contains adult language that is often used to describe adult activities. And for the record, this is their second i-related video, check out the other one here: iPod Touch. Once again, be aware that there is some naughty, naughty language.

Musician Aimee Man made a comment about rapper/actor Ice-T on Twitter. He retaliated via Twitter, which sparked a short war of words among their respective followers. What was said isn’t important but this Tweet from Ice-T sums up the whole thing pretty well:

Once again. She made a comment.. I replied… She apologized. Peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FLTG. Mooooovin!

At the end of the day, it seems it’s not a big deal for either individual but it does bring into question how something like this happens. A Tweet from Aimee Mann might explain:

Plus, I do not like to hurt people’s feelings. I forget that twitter is not just me and four other dorky friends, ragging on TV stars

She has 9,070 followers but when using Twitter it sometime feels like nobody is paying attention to what you’re writing. Much like the way driving a car can give a false sense of separation from the outside world, it’s easy to forget that Tweeting about real people can catch up to you. Unless you have over 9,000 followers, in which case you need to know that even harmless Tweets can get you in trouble.

On the Nerdist Podcast Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park admitted to initially holding off on Twitter, letting other artists test the waters before he jumped in. It was probably a smart move. Many celebrities have given up Tweeting after being quite prolific, like Trent Reznor. Others like Larry David only managed to write a couple dozen Tweets before giving up. On one hand of the spectrum, you’ll have artists Tweeting their every thought and action, and on the other, there are artists whose Tweets are updates from a publicist. Really successful Twitters fall somewhere in between the two.

While Russia deals with the aftermath of its second terrorist attack in two days, I thought I might focus on some positive things about the country. My wife is from Russia, and I’ve spent a little time there. The thing I really love about the above video is it illustrates two characteristics that many Russians embody; ingenuity and a complete disregard for superfluous boundaries.

Complacency is a universal problem among humans, but I’ve noticed that most of the Russians I’ve met would fix a broken washing machine without considering calling a repairman. While in Russia, I saw an internet cafe’s grand opening and not so grand closing in a three week period. The reason? Russians won’t spend cash on something they can do at home for less money. Phrases often heard around my house include: “don’t waste that”, “save it”, “why waste your money”, “I’ll fix it” and my favorite, “let’s save money and drink in tonight.” As the picture below illustrates, Russians will solve a problem with what’s in front of them, not a trip to Target.

The debate over what to include in Texas history books rages on. People seem to want to break this down into a Republican VS Democrat thing, which it certainly is. But the heart of the matter is really an “experts vs everyone else” debate. Considering the prominence of sites like Wikipedia, this is an issue that should be near to everyone’s heart. Should the school board’s authority supercede that of historians and educators? Should the “wisdom of crowds” matter more than actual wisdom?

Both sides claim that they want more critical thinking, but really what they want is to decide who makes it into the history books and how they’re portrayed. But let’s say a student wants to actually think critically and do a little research on their own. Is it safe to say that if Thomas Jefferson is removed from Texas history books, the school library will also be gutted of any references to the man? It seems unlikely, but if they did, that student could turn to the internet. Will that student be able to use a school computer for his or her educational journey? Let’s take a look at Texas Ed. Code Ann. §§ 32.201 to -202, Texas Govt. Code Ann. § 441.1385 which:

Prohibits a public school or public library that provides a computer used for Internet access from eligibility for a Texas Infrastructure Fund loan or grant unless the school or library adopts an Internet safety policy protecting children from access to obscene materials.

Is Thomas Jefferson obscene? Who gets to make that decision, someone who’s studied the man or people who, for some reason, believe he is a dangerous communist?

While the 2010 census is beginning to find it’s way into Americans’ mailboxes the US Census Bureau has been hard at work incorporating modern tools into the process. However, the actual form is still a piece of paper that is physically mailed to citizens. But if the actual process of filling out the census is the same, it brings into question just how the Census Bureau is using things like social media. The official Twitter handle only has 3245 followers. The main page for the 2010 census is a multimedia experience filled with interactive maps, video and a blog written by director Robert M. Groves. A once over of site reveals that the Census Bureau is using these tools to essentially convince people that filling out the census form is not only safe but necessary. Considering recent outrage against the census itself, it’s not surprising that the Census Bureau is trying to reach out to as many people as possible. This approach might work on people who are already on board or on the fence, but is probably doing little to those who oppose it. Those people aren’t likely to follow the Census Bureau on Twitter or even take a look at their homepage. No, this is a job for the mainstream media and in this instance they are not pulling their weight. But as has been the case for years (some might say decades) the mainstream media does little more than report on the outcry against the census and not on the census itself.

Anyone looking to read Jesse Ventura’s latest entry in the Huffington Post found this instead:

Editor’s Note: The Huffington Post’s editorial policy, laid out in our blogger guidelines, prohibits the promotion and promulgation of conspiracy theories — including those about 9/11. As such, we have removed this post.

Jesse Venutra is known as many things; soldier, wrestler, actor, politician and author. In his most recent book, “American Conspiracies”, Ventura “tackles our governments biggest secrets”. So it’s no real surprise that despite the Huffington Post’s stance, Ventura wrote about conspiracy theories. You can read what he wrote here and decide just how inflammatory his comments really were.

The Huffington Post had to know what it was getting into when they brought Ventura on. Were they worried that they had a Glenn Beck on their hands?

I do not have a need “all the time” to take myself away from the oppressive facts of my life, however oppressive they may be, in order to go somewhere where I have control. I need to stay here and take control. Right now, for example, I cannot speak, but I am writing this. You lose some, you win some.
-Roger Ebert

Almost three years after losing his voice to thyroid cancer, Roger Ebert has debuted his new, electronic voice today on the Oprah Winfrey show. Many have commented that the quality and similarity to his original voice are impressive. But what’s more impressive is how he has maintained his status as one of the country’s most respected movie critics without the use of his voice. With the aid of tools like Twitter and his site on the Chicago Sun Times he’s maintained the profile and quality of writing he’s known for.

The below chart is a rough estimate of traffic to Roger Ebert’s site created by Quantcast. Note that the data being collected begins in April 0f 2007, 4 months before making his loss of speech public.

While there are some dips during health related inactivity, site traffic remains relatively high. His story is inspirational because it’s such a great reminder that the internet can not only include but cater to people traditionally left out of the conversation.

Recent news that a killer whale actually killed a trainer at SeaWorld today is spreading quickly. This situation brings up the validity of the old saying; “any press is good press.” One of the less obvious factors that makes this so damaging for SeaWorld is that people weren’t talking about it much until something went horribly wrong. The below chart, created by Trendistic, illustrates how many times SeaWorld was mentioned on Twitter, starting 7 days ago.

It’s barely mentioned at all, but of course as soon as tragedy hits, mentions skyrocket. SeaWorld has embraced certain aspects of social media. Its Twitter handle, RealShamu is currently protecting its Tweets (although that may have always been the case). There was also the issue of paying Julia Allison to essentially shill for them. Neither move seems to reflect much in the way of social media skills. It’s not easy for a company as large as SeaWorld to not only embrace social media but excel at it, but a situation like this calls for both.

Currently still online, Please Rob Me is raising a lot of questions about internet privacy and responsibility. Please Rob Me tracks Foursquare users who are announcing that they are not home and essentially broadcasts the results from an organized interface. It even goes so far as to draw attention to the time the announcement was made. The founders of the site have certainly made the point that it can be dangerous to write about yourself online, but many are justifiably angry.

There are cases of people being robbed after Tweeting that they would not be home at a certain time, so this isn’t some urban legend to be ignored. The privacy issues, however, can not be ignored either. Please Rob Me is collecting public information, changing the context in which it’s seen and amplifying the audience it reaches.

But when the line isn’t so clear, when it’s not so obviously hurtful, big decisions about privacy and public information are influenced by small groups of people all of the time. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s comment,

“A lot of companies would be trapped by the conventions and their legacies of what they’ve built, doing a privacy change – doing a privacy change for 350 million users is not the kind of thing that a lot of companies would do. But we viewed that as a really important thing, to always keep a beginner’s mind and what would we do if we were starting the company now and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we just went for it.”

gave real insight into the mindset of top decision makers at the largest social networking site in the world. His use of the phrase “we decided that these would be social norms” was especially frightening when looked at through an Orwellian lens; the norms are what we say they are.