Lofty Matters

Comcast has now agreed not to interfere with file sharing according to the latest development in this article. Comcast has done an “about face” and announced that it will treat all the various types of internet traffic the same.

Comcast has recently come under fire for allegedly secretly blocking some connections between file-sharing computers, in effect making themselves a “gatekeeper of the internet” of sorts.

Quote from Comcast: “This means that we will have to rapidly reconfigure our network management systems, but the outcome will be a traffic management technique that is more appropriate for today’s emerging Internet trends,” said Tony Werner, Comcast’s chief technology officer.

Comcast has been controlling the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, which together with the eDonkey protocol, accounts for about a third of all Internet traffic. Most of this traffic is illegal sharing of copyright-protected files. However file-sharing is also emerging as a low-cost way of distributing legal content — in particular, video.

Peer-to-peer file-sharing has become an enabler for legal content distribution.

Other major ISPs such as Verizon, AT&T, and Time Warner are currently experimenting with ways of managing traffic and limiting monthly downloads of their customers.

Florida is the latest state to apologize formally for slavery.

Both chambers of the Florida State Legislature adopted a resolution Wednesday expressing “profound regret for the shameful chapter in this state’s history.”

As seen in this CNN article, Florida’s resolution states that Florida sanctioned and enforced “African slavery in one of its most brutal and dehumanizing forms” between the years of 1822 and 1865 (the end of the American Civil War).

Florida is the sixth state now to formally apologize for it’s participation in slavery. The other five U.S. states that have apologized for slavery are Alabama, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia.

The resolution also “calls for healing and reconciliation among all residents of the state.”

Singer, songwriter Alisa Apps has a music video out called Confusion Masked. Why “masked” you ask? Well…Alisa is being censored once again by YouTube. So Alisa has created her “masked” version of Confusion so everyone can see exactly what it is that they aren’t seeing. Confusion Masked is blurred and has alluring graphics and text. This video makes you ask – Just what exactly are we not seeing?

So…who exactly is censoring Alisa Apps? The music industry? YouTube? Conservative YouTube users? I watched it and its definitely nothing over the top or shocking. Decide for yourself.