The first week of every month, we recap what made waves in blogging and online videos for the previous month.
January 2012 did not disappoint with some sad and exciting blogs across the globe, sharing the world’s current events.
In politics, The United States legislation known as Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) garnered worldwide attention because they would essentially censor the internet in the U.S. The legislation was created in an effort to curb online piracy and was heavily backed by Hollywood and record companies. One popular Chinese blogger accused the United States of trying to build another ‘Great Wall’ likening it to the Great Firewall of China. Some of the world’s largest sites like Google, Facebook, Reddit, Wikipedia and Craigslist have publicly condemned the legislation, saying it would hurt innovation in the United States, along with jobs. After sites like Reddit and Wikipedia ‘went dark’ for 24-hours, and Google raising 4.5 million signatures against SOPA & PIPA, Congress has dropped both bills. Internet 1 – Congress 0.
In other political news, the Greek Economy is collapsing which has the rest of the European Union economies in unrest and may end in other European countries defaulting too.
Barely 48 hours after the SOPA and PIPA protests, the U.S. Justice Department took down the MegaUpload site, after a grand jury
served up indictments of conspiracy to commit racketeering, criminal copyright infringement and a slew of other charges. Way to make an example of online pirates, but that didn’t stop the global hacker group Anonymous from retaliating and taking down the U.S. DOJ site, along with several other government sites. Reports already coming out saying the shut down of MegaUpload won’t deter online piracy, and I tend to agree.
In celebrity news, Etta James died from complications of leukemia. The interwebz were mourning her death by celebrating her talent and tweeting video links to their favorite songs.
The man that made Penn State’s football so famous, Joe Paterno died from complications from cancer. This caused many bloggers to discuss whether his legacy at Penn State will be overshadowed by the recently allegations that have plagued Penn State.
For the last three years, one nationally known cook with a special affinity for butter, came clean about having Type II Diabetes. Paula Dean, who has worked her way into America’s arteries and waistlines has been battling Diabetes yet continued to cook her fat soaked dishes without care. She’s received a lot of criticism from fellow celebrity chefs and parents. My favorite post was from Digital Dads, What Paula Dean Did Wrong: Feeding America A Line of Bull.
In more hopeful, heartwarming (not your blood pressure type way) news, Amit Gupta has found a bone marrow donor. His odds were just 1-20,000 of a chance of being matched with a marrow donor but he used his social media network to drive registration and beat the odds. You can read about his status and the challenging road ahead on his Tumblr page.
In technology related news, the International Consumer Electronics Show was hosted in Las Vegas, with a few cool releases like the Lenovo YOGA. I love following the TechCrunch guys every year, they’ve got the best coverage and do it with sarcasm.
Apple also held a press conference on January 19th, with news of iBooks being released with higher education in mind. Apple is building partnerships with large publishers like Pearson and McGraw Hill to hopefully make iPads the new textbook for students. This interactive textbook concept on the iPad is pretty exciting and almost makes me want to take up a nutrition or accounting class again. Not.
In the world world of viral videos, the whole month was consumed by “Shit Girls Say,” where a cross-dressing guy makes fun of all the ridiculous things women say with an emphasis on repetition. I pray I’m not that annoying but I probably am. Oh well.
The best part was how it inspired about a hundred different versions of “Shit <insert gender/minority/city you live> Say” videos all over YouTube, here are some of my favorite spin off’s for Spanish Girls, Boston Guys and Brides.
Companies are also beginning to give teasers to their Superbowl ads including this one from VW, which I expect to receive as much praise as last year’s Star Wars themed commercial.
And drumroll please….my favorite YouTube video of the month will make you want to turn up your speakers, enjoy!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU6U-8LP1DY&w=560&h=315]
Shit Boston Guys (Massholes) Say
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3lqNqXZrg&w=560&h=315]
See you next month!
