Recently I read a provocative article from Mashable.com addressing the inherent nature of the internet, is it a right or a privilege? In the United States most people accept the internet as an unabridged source of information, not subject to any censorship or regulation. This is part of why the internet is considered an aid to democracy. This is also why parents don't let teenage boys have computers in their room. 

According to a reader poll from the Mashable.com article, a majority of readers agreed that the internet is a fundamental right. Considering that Mashable.com is an English language web site focused on western social media trends, it's not surprising that freedom of information is held in high value. Looking at the votes from middle eastern and Asian countries, Mashable.com points out that the voting trend is much more conservative. For example only 16% of Chinese and 13% of Turkish people who voted said the internet should exist without regulation. I feel like it's common for Americans to think of those countries full of people waiting to break out from under oppressive rule, but a (supposedly) independent vote like this reveals a much different ideology. 

Ultimately I think the internet, like other mediums of information, is a political tool. Every country's government will have control over their internet, but governments will use that control differently. Democratic governments will use that control to implement policies protecting freedom of information, and more constrictive forms of government will use that power to withhold information from the public or provide disinformation. 

If that provides any insight into how one's own country will handle information access, then I am left wondering how access is handled across borders. Will an American be able to find things on a Chinese based server that isn't available to the Chinese public? Either way there is still a lot of free access to the internet, which means you can still see my blog posts, even if I turn into a communist. ...which probably won't happen.

I have been tasked this week with providing some information about my out of class activities in J4806, Convergence Editing. I am currently working at Newsy.com, billed as a multi-perspective online news source. It's based right here in Columbia, has some incredible staff at its helm, and affords j-students the opportunity to work in an online start-up environment. 

There I have been editing videos since the start of the semester, but will soon transition to the Columbia Missourian. Editing at Newsy has been a great intro into the depths of Final Cut Pro video editing software. The complex and powerful tool is used by filmmakers worldwide and requires a lot of skill to master.

I have grown comfortable with the workflow, editing three stories in the time it used to take me to do one. While already familiar with FCP's environment, there are many things I've learned since being there. The neatest is chroma keying, also known as green-screening. We use that in every video to superimpose the anchor onto Newsy backgrounds for anchor on camera (AOC) shots. The most practical tool I've learned is simple in and out cuts. I have been aware of this easy way to cut video into the story, but never fully understood how they fit into the workflow. 

Here is a sad story I edited about the death of a killer whale trainer at Sea-World. 

When you're growing up, summer is what keeps you going through long winter school days. It's literally the stuff dreams are made of. And when it comes, the first day of summer, kids everywhere are overwhelmed by the feeling of freedom as they walk out of their schools, into a warm welcoming world filled with lazy days and late nights. 

Summers in Three Lakes, Wisconsin were filled with great things from friends to family, water skiing to golf-cart adventures, and nights spent at camp sites, an island, or a boat. 

On a colder winter day I'd like to share a good summer memory.

My friend Cam Cornet barefoots at sunrise on Long Lake after a night spent on the water.

Born into this world named Ramble is one unique way to start out life. Then again, a full band performing electronic hip-hop isn't exactly your bread and butter either. World, meet RJD2 - a young DJ transforming, mixing, and utterly destroying the boundaries between techno, hip-hop and rock.

The group's kingpin is RJD2 himself, known on paper in Philly as Ramble John Krohn. His unique name has everything and nothing to do with his music. Upon first listen, the notes search for footing in some genre; there are beats, riffs, and the shrill of synths, all stumbling together in an eclectic yet electric mix. But quite soon they gain traction, moving in step into a never-before-heard brand of rhythmic, edgy, rocky, and often sexy musical freak show. The word Random comes to mind when listening, only to be ousted when the chorus hits with precise riffs, hard hitting rhythms, and cool, calculated beats. 

Last Thursday night, RJD2 settled in Columbia's Blue Note for a live performance that no one could have predicted. Columbians have in their mind the likes of electronic performers such as Girl Talk, who has played here before. His style of "push a button and dance" on stage to a pre-mixed track is great for parties and motivational drinking, but when seen live it leaves much to the imagination. 

A RJD2 performance is an experience. Ramble's imagination was shinning as the lights lowered around a figure standing motionless on center stage, wearing a glossy plastic space-suit and black welding mask. A robot's voice appeared from the figure, his fingers worked a futuristic keyboard, and I stared on with a confused awe as the concert began. What happened next you'll see below. 

It's no surprise that February brings cold weather. It's also no surprise that being from the north, I pretend that Missouri's weather isn't cold. False. It isn't as cold, but 20 degrees is still cold for a road bike ride, especially when I don't have the cold-weather riding gear. Twenty degrees snow skiing counts as a warm day, but sitting about three-fourths of the way through a 40 mile ride I was definitely reminded that 20 degrees is NOT  a warm day for biking.

My post-ride activities generally include a good meal, shower, and maybe a nap. After a 20 degree ride it resembles the life of a newborn more than that of a college student. After weighing myself and rinsing my face I wrap myself in sweatpants, my warmest jacket, and all my bed's blankets, then enjoy a hot chocolate. The only part missing is the incubator and doctor's butt slap.

Now I know why Missourians hate the cold. I needed incubation because I hadn't dressed properly for the weather. This is a problem plaguing a significant portion of campus on a cold day; dressing for the cold includes any combination of jeans over sweatpants,  no fewer than three hoodies piled on at once, and those little knit mittens I wore as a six-year-old. Not only does this make you look like a Michelin man, you don't stand a chance at staying warm.

The key word is layering. And it's something that should be taught as emergency survival to Missourians and Texans alike.

Basically it works like this, keep the moisture off the skin, warmth next to it, and wind away from it. Thankfully the outdoorsy folks at REI put together a nice guide on how to layer, but I prefer the information from "Today's Hunter in Alaska." I think Sarah Palin wrote it. 

Stay Warm Kids!

A color blind man demonstrates how to effectively layer clothing to stay warm while shootin' stuff in da frigid north of Sarah Palin's motherland Sunday, Feb. 7, 2009 on the internet. It is widely known in da north that a key to layering successfully is not wearing any gloves.