ARTS & FARCES internet

Censorship

John Brownlee, writing for Cult of Mac, reports that Apple is filtering outbound MobileMe email based on content. The filtering is being done without the knowledge (or notification) of the user. “It appears that in an overzealous attempt to discourage mass emailers from using MobileMe, Apple is simply refusing to send any outgoing email sent through their web app that triggers their anti-spam, mass email conditions… giving the appearance of political censorship,” writes Brownlee. Apple responded by saying that the filtering was not political. “Occasionally, MobileMe’s automated spam filters may block legitimate user emails by mistake,” Trudy Muller, an Apple spokeswoman told Brownlee. “If a customer feels that a legitimate email of theirs was blocked this way, we encourage them to get in touch and report the issue to MobileMe support.” But to report the issue, the customer would have to know her email has been censored. Apple’s address isn’t infinite loop for nothing.

ESRD

For every death from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the US, somewhere around US$69,000 in grant funds is generated. For every death from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) approximately US$570 in grant funds is generated. So reports Maryn McKenna, writing for Wired. Based on grant funds, antibiotic resistance must be a very low priority issue. Except it’s not. The World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and various medical journals have all said it’s a global health concern. This isn’t to say that HIV/AIDS research should be cut back to better fund antibiotic resistance. Not at all. It’s not an “or” logic or zero-sum situation (or at least, shouldn’t be). It’s an “and” logic situation: HIV/AIDS and antibiotic resistance.

Media

Everyone knows Joe Zawinul wrote “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!” for Cannonball Adderley. Except over the years I’ve come to believe it was written for Dean Magraw. I bet I’ve heard Magraw play the piece—in a wide variety of combinations from solo guitar to jazz trios and quartets to a jam band—more than 20 times. They’re all different, and the last one was always the best. Dean Magraw, one of the world’s finest guitarists, has spent the last two years in a battle with lymphoma and underwent a bone marrow transplant. He’s just now starting to play again and one of his first playing appearances was this past Tuesday at Saint Paul’s Black Dog Cafe. Long-time friend and musical co-conspirator Bruce Kurnow sat in on harmonica and Michael Bisonette provided percussion. Oh, what a special, transportational show it was. And yes, this last “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!” was indeed the best. Even better, Magraw will be playing at the Black Dog on the first Tuesday of every month at least through September with percussionist Davu Seru. Magraw plays next Friday and Saturday at the Artists’ Quarter with saxophonist Brandon Wozniak, drummer Kenny Horst, and bassist James Buckley.

What’s the answer for sustainable quality journalism? Nobody seems to know, but as Clay Shirky notes in a new essay, there are lots of ideas ranging from capitalizing on the new monogamous relationship between publishers and customers to philanthropy. “... people have never actually paid for news. We have, at most, helped pay for the things that paid for the news,” Shirky writes. As a result, there has never really been a news business outside the financial press; there was only the advertising business. Journalism traditionally has been mostly an accident. “But even in their worst days, newspapers supported the minority of journalists reporting actual news, for the minority of citizens who cared,” Shirky continues. “In return, the people who followed sports or celebrities, or clipped recipes and coupons, got to live in a town where the City Council was marginally less likely to be corrupt. Writing about the Dallas Cowboys in order to take money from Ford and give it to the guy on the City Desk never made much sense, but at least it worked.”

Publishing

Rupert Murdoch’s News International has announced the closure of its News of the World, a UK tabloid accused of hiring private investigators to hack into cell phones and the resulting cover-up. The Guardian has a timeline of the situation and published Nick Davies’s investigative piece in 2009, reporting that the 2005 hacking of Prince William’s voicemail was the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Earlier this week, the Guardian broke the story that News of the World had hacked the voicemail of a murdered girl. “Recent allegations of phone hacking and making payments to police with respect to the News of the World are deplorable and unacceptable,” said Murdoch in a statement. Um, it’s the phone hacking, corruption, and cover-up that are deplorable and unacceptable, Rupert, not the allegations.

Sustainability

In a stunning article, Scott Russell Sanders, writing for Orion, makes a case for our collectively and individually confusing financial wealth with real wealth as the cause of our deteriorating natural systems. We’ve come to treat the natural world—and our fellow humans—as commodities “subject to damage or destruction if enough money can be made from the transaction,” he writes.

Technology

One of the most surprising parts of Apple’s forthcoming iCloud service is iTunes Match, a feature that for US$25 per year scans your iTunes library and provides you with immediate access to up to 25,000 song matches in iCloud. Those song matches will be provided in unprotected 256Kbps AAC format. The question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Apple will cooperate with the record labels to discover pirated music. Chris Foresman, writing for Ars Techica, provides a disturbing answer: Maybe. Technically, this is certainly something Apple could do without problem. Apple “would not comment when asked if iTunes Match does any sort of analysis to determine if tracks are legitimate purchases or not,” writes Foresman. “This lack of denial leads us to believe that Apple is doing some kind of analysis along these lines for its own purposes. However, the company told Ars that it definitely does not share any iTunes Match information with third parties beyond aggregate information reported to record labels and music publishers for determining royalties.” But the information, if collected by Apple, could be subpoenaed.