Mar 26, 2014

Child Prodigy Problem

This video has been going around. There's many like it. young kid, shredding at guitar, piano or drums.  When I see these I wonder what inspired them to play. or who their favorite band is. or even if the kids know.  I always see these little kids shredding to metal or whatever and it seems like they're too young to know what they like or want and the parents force it upon them.



She looks happy but I just wonder if she knows anything else.

It also reminded me of a Swiss movie, Vitus about a piano prodigy who begins to feel the pressure from his parents to perform, but starts to become disinterested in piano. view trailer on youtube

 I have friends with kids who say they will never force what they like (skateboarding culture/music) on their kids.  The fear is that they, like Vitus, will end up hating it or being bored with it eventually and never really getting the joy of discovering those things on their own.

My parents were (still are) big sports fans. It was a big part of my childhood, but when I had the choice I wasn't interested in sports.  I leaned towards music and art.  Was this because playing sports was expected of me? Maybe it's why I resisted.  I really like baseball now and sort of regret not ever playing on a team as a kid.  So maybe parents should not force things on kids, but let them know what's out there.

This is the same way I feel about religion. Much like really technical and serious heavy metal music, I feel religion is to intense of a subject to force upon a child who isn't old enough to really make up their own mind.

Mar 6, 2014

Your internet sucks. Because they can. Money.

"So how did America fall behind? How did the country that literally invented the internet — and the home to world-leading tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Facebook, Google, and Cisco — fall behind so many others in download speeds?"



I just came across this piece on The Week, Why is American internet so slow?  And of course I read it because WTF is up with this shit? It's a good read. Nothing shocking or unknown but it basically comes down to money and profits just like everything else in this country.

We deregulated high-speed internet access 10 years ago and since then we've seen enormous consolidation and monopolies… Left to their own devices, companies that supply internet access will charge high prices, because they face neither competition nor oversight.
Anyway it sucks and the rest of the world is laughing at us while they surf at 70mbps .  For more check out the article here.  - THE WEEK: Why does American internet suck balls?