Today, I was invited by my favourite band to go to their YouTube channel and view their latest video. I clicked the link in the email, and lo and behold, when I got to the site, I was informed that I am not allowed to view the video from my country.
This is something I don't understand. Clearly, there is not a copyright violation, since the band made it's video available to the public.
This particular incident is not the first time I've been frustrated by having content available, but not accessible. I would love to be able to download (for a fee from iTunes!) old episodes of Grey's Anatomy, or The Office that I missed. However, in Canada, all that is available is Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Something I have never considered before is that maybe something like the Internet, which is internationally accessible, should be internationally governed. Copyright laws should span borders, so there isn't conflict regarding who can access what.
Anyway... just food for thought. I am not a lawyer by any stretch of the imagination, so I have no expertise in this area, and I know it's complicated. I just want to be able to watch my Switchfoot video. :-(
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
The Paradox of the Crowd
In 1964, a young woman from Queens named Kitty Genovese was stabbed and killed while 38 neighbours watched from their windows.
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell mentions a study done by Bibb Latane and John Darley which found that the more eyewitnesses to an emergency, whether medical, fire or criminal, the less likely any one of them is to act. The reason is either that someone assumes someone else will do something, or the presence of so many witnesses has a numbing effect. People assume it isn't a significant problem because no one else is doing something.
I have long been baffled by charity organizations that do little more than "raise awareness." Tonight, as I was reading, I realized why. Is it possible that raising awareness can actually have the opposite of the intended effect? If I pass on a social issue to someone else, does that in effect reduce my passion to actually do something? I could easily get to thinking "well, I've told someone... that's something." But in reality, even if that someone tells someone else, the end result will be a lot of people knowing and assuming someone else is doing something.
I just finished reading The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. It is a great book in many respects, but the one part that frustrated me was that there were no suggested actions. In fact, Sachs makes the case that extreme poverty could be ended by taking back the tax cuts from the superrich. Well, whoop-di-do. That's not really something I can do.
If you've followed me thus far, I am issuing a challenge. Next time you are faced with a significant issue, be it poverty, declining donations to charitable organizations, or even an emergency... DO SOMETHING! Don't just assume that someone else will.
This week I had the opportunity to hear Craig Kielburger speak. He founded Free the Children when he was 12 years old. He did it because he saw a problem and wanted to do something. At the age of 25, he has now been awarded several honorary doctoral degrees and a number of other impressive awards, including the Order of Canada. Isn't that impressive? But all he did was do something when he saw a need, rather than assume someone else would.
It is those who do something who make history.
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell mentions a study done by Bibb Latane and John Darley which found that the more eyewitnesses to an emergency, whether medical, fire or criminal, the less likely any one of them is to act. The reason is either that someone assumes someone else will do something, or the presence of so many witnesses has a numbing effect. People assume it isn't a significant problem because no one else is doing something.
I have long been baffled by charity organizations that do little more than "raise awareness." Tonight, as I was reading, I realized why. Is it possible that raising awareness can actually have the opposite of the intended effect? If I pass on a social issue to someone else, does that in effect reduce my passion to actually do something? I could easily get to thinking "well, I've told someone... that's something." But in reality, even if that someone tells someone else, the end result will be a lot of people knowing and assuming someone else is doing something.
I just finished reading The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. It is a great book in many respects, but the one part that frustrated me was that there were no suggested actions. In fact, Sachs makes the case that extreme poverty could be ended by taking back the tax cuts from the superrich. Well, whoop-di-do. That's not really something I can do.
If you've followed me thus far, I am issuing a challenge. Next time you are faced with a significant issue, be it poverty, declining donations to charitable organizations, or even an emergency... DO SOMETHING! Don't just assume that someone else will.
This week I had the opportunity to hear Craig Kielburger speak. He founded Free the Children when he was 12 years old. He did it because he saw a problem and wanted to do something. At the age of 25, he has now been awarded several honorary doctoral degrees and a number of other impressive awards, including the Order of Canada. Isn't that impressive? But all he did was do something when he saw a need, rather than assume someone else would.
It is those who do something who make history.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Blessings
Tonight I was reminded that every once in a while (or maybe more often than that!), we need to step back and count our blessings. So here is a list of the blessings in my life:
- conversations... about books, about shoes, about travelling, about social justice, about the future... I love conversations that last for hours, with old friends and new friends
- roses... I love that Costco sells 2 dozen roses for a very reasonable price so that I don't feel guilty buying them for my dining room table
- small world coincidences... meeting new people who have connections with other people I know
- silver shoes and finding gorgeous blue dresses and silver clutches to match with them
- new possibilities and horizons that I never imagined... making connections with people on the other side of the world who can tell me about the realities of life I can only read about in books
- compliments... words of love from those who don't even realize that's exactly what I need
- conversations... about books, about shoes, about travelling, about social justice, about the future... I love conversations that last for hours, with old friends and new friends
- roses... I love that Costco sells 2 dozen roses for a very reasonable price so that I don't feel guilty buying them for my dining room table
- small world coincidences... meeting new people who have connections with other people I know
- silver shoes and finding gorgeous blue dresses and silver clutches to match with them
- new possibilities and horizons that I never imagined... making connections with people on the other side of the world who can tell me about the realities of life I can only read about in books
- compliments... words of love from those who don't even realize that's exactly what I need
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