Anyone else have thoughts about it?

Congratulations on the 100!

I’ve been listening to both of you guys independently for a few years now, but only just started listening to East Meets West a few episodes back. I like it because you guys are obviously two intellectuals who get along who talk about interesting things. For me, a weird high school student, that’s appealing.

I’ve got a few words about podcasting. I listen to 21 podcasts right now. Yeah, it’s a lot, but I actually feel like they supplement my (sometimes crappy, public) education. I listen to a slew of technology shows, which are usually for my entertainment, but I *do* get something out of them. Different than the TWiTs and Diggnations, there are educational shows like Security Now! and MacBreak Tech, which teach me things that no person in my small town could.

Besides the techie aspect, I receive a lot from the podcasts I listen to. I listen to the Financial Aid Podcast, which gives me information about saving money, economic news, and finding scholarships for when I get into a college next year. I listen to Grammar Girl’s podcast, something that I’m convinced helped my writing SAT score, and other shows about GTD (Getting Things Done) and other useful life practices. I also listen to shows about marketing, even though I hate advertising (I’m Ricky the ad-hater on BOL, by the way). I just think the information is very important.

The shows are entertaining. Take, let’s say, This American Life, for instance. It’s a repurposed radio show from Chicago Public Radio, for those who don’t know, and it’s one of the most thought provoking pieces of audio I’ve ever heard. Quickly, it’s become my favorite things to listen to.

Sure, this has deteriorated into me plugging shows I like, but I think my point is still valid. The independent media in podcasting is, in my experience, widely entertaining, educational, and inspiring. And yes, the corporate shows are sometimes great too – Buzz Out Loud is an example of this. For me, a student trying to get ahead, it’s a great alternative to television. So, to spite any advertising troubles, I hope the medium keeps flourishing.

Parts: One, two, three, four.

1. Barriers
2. Heartache V. Heartbreak
3. Incarnation Blues

I sent in an email asking if there was anything unwise about publicly posting SAT scores. Listen for the answer.

Procrastination is awful, and as I thought about it, I remembered an entertaining video about the topic from the amazing Ze Frank. Watch:

About 20% of my blog’s visitors use Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you were unaware, I have a seething hatred for Microsoft’s browser due to its complete disregard for web standards. Back in the old days, before IE7 premiered, IE was a security and feature nightmare. Now that it is ‘fixed’, I live with it. I still completely disrespect the application as a browser, but I wouldn’t ever stop you, my reader, from visiting Exposay.

To restore the balance, let’s learn how to block advertising in Firefox, our favorite web browser.

First, if you’re not using Firefox, download it here. Continuing on, visit this page on the Firefox Add-ons site, and install Adblock Plus. Adblock Plus will allow you to right click advertising on a web page and manually block pieces of advertising. However, that takes time. To solve this, visit this page on the Firefox Add-ons site to install the Adblock Filterset.G Updater, which automatically updates a trusted list of advertising servers to block. With those two extensions, you don’t have to do anything except enjoy the web the way it should be, without distraction.

There is a moral issue here, yes. Many websites need advertising to stay afloat, and I don’t doubt that. However, if you’re similar to me, disgusted by advertising to the point of wishing ill upon the product advertised, you’ll appreciate this. Furthermore, third-party advertising opens you up to a waste of bandwidth, loading slowdown, and diversion of attention. It’s your call.

My selections thus far have been Al Gore‘s, The Assault on Reason, and Barack Obama‘s, The Audacity of Hope. The two works shouldn’t be treated as a single unit by any stretch of the imagination; although I’m grouping them in this post, they’re vastly different in purpose, content, and style.

I very much prefer Gore’s book, an unapologetic assault of the Bush Administration’s deplorable and undemocratic actions, never resorting to ad hominem attacks. It’s an eclectic piece covering the revolution started by the printing press; the public forum and marketplace of ideas; the foundation of the United States; the importance of the filibuster; the danger of television; the process of votes becoming a commodity; the danger of signing statements; the revolution triggered by wikis, user generated content, and blogs; the climate crisis; net neutrality; and more. Al Gore is a spectacular intellectual, and I wish he was running for the Presidency. I respect him significantly.

One specific point Gore elaborates on is the “marketplace of ideas“, and how the free flow of information is the lifeblood of a democracy. He believes that the Internet will enable us to take back what the wealthy have bought, the media. This point really hit home with me. I don’t watch television, which isn’t to say that I don’t consume media. I do, and too much of it. I choose to listen and watch independent programs on the Internet that cater to my interests and let me give feedback. Usually, these content creators elicit and value one’s feedback, always changing to accommodate their specialized audience. While new media is a refreshing conversation, old media is a boring lecture. I highly recommend dumping the television habit in favor of a more rewarding medium.

The concept of sharing information and spreading democracy through the sharing of information, rather than the dropping of bombs, reminded me of the One Laptop per Child project. The MIT project plans to produce a fully-functional laptop for around $100 for use in lesser developed nations. Many people flame the project with the rhetoric that charity is a zero-sum activity. Rather than produce computers, money could be used to give people food or medication, they say. However, I believe that while one project tries to port technology to other markets, others could be producing such basic needs. How can I justify this? The laptops give Internet access. The Internet informs; it’s a direct combatant against ignorance and oppression. It was the printing press that enabled the protestant reformation, perhaps the Internet can enable (more) revolutions of its own.

Obama’s book is a lightweight in comparison, basically outlining his campaign for the 2008 Presidential Election. A New York Times review sums it up as this:

In a more perfect world, a graduate program complete with a doctoral thesis might be required of all those seeking the presidency. In certain ways, ”The Audacity of Hope” qualifies as Senator Barack Obama’s thesis submission.

Obama takes great pains to seem very personal, and his style is very friendly and human, contrasting to Gore’s stern distance. Barack Obama is obviously an intelligent man with impressive political views and would be an improvement over George Bush in office. Then again, who wouldn’t be? I first became interested in Barack Obama after his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I loved this excerpt from the speech, which inspired the book’s title:

In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism here — the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!

It was packed with some great one-liners, too. I love this one.

Values are faithfully applied to the facts before us, while ideology overrides whatever facts call theory into question.

I couldn’t help but be slightly fazed when Obama did chapters on his family and his religious stance, typical and christian, respectively. It’s not that I found anything he said particularly shocking, I just prefer matters like these as far away from politics as possible. I can’t fathom the relevance; then again, I’m not the American people. I’m not looking for someone I would consider a friend, I’m looking for someone who can enable me to have the best future possible through intelligent, calculated actions that do not undermine the future of the nation.

I don’t know which Democratic candidate I’m going to throw my support behind. I’ll be 18 years of age in November 2008. The prospect of finally being a participant in this concept I’ve studied for so long, Democracy, excites me. I remain hopeful.