Saturday, November 06, 2004

It was bound to happen. and it did.. It probably but just a matter of time till it happened, but I didnt want it to go unoticed. I got fined for my comments in a previous blog entry regarding opening night in the NBA. Im sure this fine for a blog entry is a first in professional sports, and in a lot of respects its amusing and will be fun for others to write and talk about, but it begs a bigger question. Do the customers and fans of the NBA or other leagues, feel it makes the league appear stronger , weaker or unaffected when a player, owner, coach, GM, executive publicly criticizes the league ? Are you as a consumer more likely to purchase, watch, recommend our products, or are you more likely to reduce your attachment and purchase of our products ? How does it affect how you interact with us ? Im curious want the blogosphere thinks about the topic thanks [Blog Maverick] Yeah, Mark. Nobody else would ever have thought to criticize the NBA for kicking off the season on election night except that you posted about it. It would otherwise have escaped everyone's notice. I think it makes some sense that the league tries to control outspokenness of owners and players. But it seems more legit to me to control it wrt to the product on the floor rather than wrt the decisions the leagues office makes about schedule and so on. Criticism that undercuts the legitimacy of the game is problematic (unless proven) in ways that criticism of sending a team to Mexico or China, or starting dates for play and so on, just are not. 10:21:23 PM    comment []

China Bolsters Iran in Dispute Over A-Fuel. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of China said that Beijing would oppose efforts aimed at referring the issue of Iran's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council. By By NAZILA FATHI. [NYT > International] 10:02:34 PM    comment []

Election-day footage from Michael Moore: Video the Vote Dave Pentecost is one of a number of volunteer filmmakers who worked with Michael Moore to document election day conditions at polling sites throughout Ohio. Background on the project in a previous BoingBoing post: Link. Dave sends BoingBoing this short movie comprised of excerpts from footage they captured on November 2, 2004. Much of it was apparently edited on laptops in the back of a bus. He says: "Our thanks to People for the American Way and Election Protection. My apologies to the Jayhawks for not clearing the music first. (I'm still waiting to hear back, their rights person is in transit, I'll do it next week). The decision to go ahead was mine. This was shot by a dedicated group of 20 volunteer filmmakers, but any faults in the editing or focus of this video are my responsibility. The organizers of the trip will release a longer selection of statements by voters who had problems voting." One BoingBoing reader suggests the short be known as Fahrenheit 59MB. Video (in 3 MB, 20MB, and 59MB streams and downloads): Link 1, Link 2, Link 3. (Hosting thanks: internetvetsfortruth.org and Sean Bonner + Jason DeFillippo. Thanks for the shrinkage, cowicide). [bOing bOing] 10:02:33 PM    comment []

Free Speech for Avatars! And…like…Now!. In a Session at The State of Play entitled Avatar Rights, Virtual Liberty, and Free Expression in Virtual Worlds, Peter Ludlow blasted the organized censorship policies of Stratics, while Fred Schauer of Harvard University suggested that the possibilities for free expression in virtual worlds should be used to explore alternative models of free speech. Jack Balkin of Yale maintained that government and the legal profession were going to insert themselves into game worlds whether game devs like it or not and that by offering to protect free speech game companies may be able to insulate themselves from certain kinds of legal liability. Streaming webcast of the talks can be found here. Discussion on Terra Nova here. Article by Daniel Terdiman in Wired Online is here. [The Second Life Herald] 3:26:24 PM    comment []

When Good Debt Turns Bad. The fact that spending went up while earnings were sluggish means a worrisome number of people are taking on more household debt. [NYT > Opinion] 8:06:05 AM    comment []

E-Vote Glitch Inflates Bush Total. Ohio is the state that put President Bush over the top on Tuesday. But now it appears that an e-voting glitch gave Bush nearly 4,000 extra votes in one Ohio county. There were problems elsewhere, too. [Wired News] 8:05:22 AM    comment []