american black

Getting Black Kids Involved In the Video Game Industry

Everyone loves video games, even Black folks. But their are very few of us in the Video Game Industry.

Joseph Saulter, CEO of Entertainment Arts Research, is trying to change that with a new program.

Saulter is cofounding the Urban Video Game Academy in June. The free, five-week program in Baltimore will teach 50 African-American high-school students Game Programming 101. Shorter versions of the academy will launch in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The idea is not only to boost minorities' ranks in the industry, but to get gamers to look up from their screens and learn some math.

The UVGA brainchild icludes not only Joseph Saulter, [who is also professor of the game technology curriculum at American Intercontinental University (AiU)]; Mario Armstrong, TV and National Public Radio (NPR) digital technology guru; and Roderick Woodruff, president and co-founder of AAGAMER.com.

IT Goes After Minorities And Women

Microsoft Corp., the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and other thought leaders are joining forces to unveil IT-based solutions aimed at helping small to medium women- and minority-owned enterprises — the nation’s fastest growing business segment — realize their business potential.

A 2004 national study by the Urban Institute suggested that the U.S. economy could capture up to $200 billion in additional revenue if minority and women business owners did a better job of integrating technology into their everyday business practices.

“Obese-sized black lesbian” sues Apple

Everybody loves Apple. It has gotten to the point where one of my favorite bloggers has turned his site into another Apple worship blog. One of the advantages of being a contrarian is that when you end up being right you look like a genius. I have spent a lot of time complaining to music industry friends about Apple. What they are doing is not good for the music industry. Jobs is an egomaniac. And he doesn't like bloggers. Oh, and he hates lesbians...

Shaune Patterson worked as a human resources compensation consultant for Apple and alleges she was suspended for one month and then wrongfully fired, after she complained that her white counterparts, who were junior to her, were making higher salaries than she was.

Patterson alleges that the suspension came one day after she complained of racial discrimination.

Earlier this month, she also amended her original complaint to include claims of sexual orientation and genetic characteristic discrimination. Prior to her one-month suspension, Patterson alleges that one of Apple's managers wrote a memo describing her as a "rather obese-sized black lesbian".

Now I'm sure most Apple worshippers will laugh this off but I think they should take this lawsuit seriously. Why? Because Patterson's San Francisco-based lawyer, Waukeen McCoy was the lead plaintiffs' attorney in one of the largest US racial discrimination suits, Carroll v. Interstate Brands, which ended with a $133 million verdict.

Welcome to the New Age...Same As The Old Age

Wall Street has won. This is the age of greed and selfishness. As proof I offer you Lawrence Lessig's comments at a recent conference in South Africa on Copyrights.

I said that while I had no problem at all with people paying to listen to music, or novels, we had to be extremely sensitive to the way price might block the spread of knowledge. And that for academic and scientific work, the best model for producing and spreading knowledge might not be one that meters each use. Professors should be paid. But let that be their compensation, and let the knowledge they produce spread widely.

Yet there was a general view at the conference that this was wrong. That we hurt developing nations, for example, if we give them knowledge for free. They should have to pay for the truths we create. It weakens them, the argument went, if they can just take what we have discovered. Better to encourage their industry of science than to destroy it by simply spreading the truths that science here has created.

The rational of the majority at this conference baffles me. They have no problem passing out cell phones to African nations so foreign companies can profit but see no need for them to understand the technology they leaped-frogged over. It really pisses me off, but read some more of Lessig...

Black Man enters Search Engine Wars

BigClique.com is the newest major search engine to hit the World Wide Web, and it's hoping to make some waves.  www.BigClique.com offers something refreshingly different, it is the first major search engine developed and owned by a Black American. The search engine is available in 17 foreign languages.

I tried it out. The results came quickly, so I can't complain.  I'll still use Google but I'll definitely bookmark the site. You should, too. Plus,  Femi Olu, Founder and CEO of BigClique.com, looks like the kind of guy who would kick my ass if I didn't.

Contact:
BigClique.com
gRock Media Group
Femi Olu, Founder & CEO
410 Park Avenue, 15th Floor #460pmb
New York, NY 10022
Tel: 917.210.8387
Fax: 909.752.9710
http://www.bigclique.com

The AB 4 (expanded edition)

National Politics get people riled but local politics is where the fun is. One of the more interesting places right now is Miami. A few months ago Miami City Commissioner Art Teele was arrested and charged with two felonies. That meant he had to be replaced and instead of holding an election the rest of the Commisioners and the Mayor, decided to appoint someone. The reason they didn't want an election is because the Teele case was dead in the water and in an election Teele would more than likely run and win. After an exhaustive search that lasted roughly five minutes, Miami's city fathers found just the man to replace Art Teele: Jeffery Allen. But now Allen's problems are coming out...

The funniest guy in the blog universe is having a fight with fans of 13 year old JoJo.

Eight of ten Burundi Tutsi political parties have relented and accepted the new constitution, which gave it enough support to bring the constitution into force today. The Tutsis felt that there were not enough safeguards for Tutsi rights. However, the Tutsis, like everyone else, is tired of years of civil war and wants to "give peace a chance." At this point, the only real opposition to a new government, and elections, are the Hutu FNL rebels, who still have several hundred armed men operating south of the capital.

Via Micheal King: CNN/Netscape calls Bush "asshole" in pic name on website

BlackPundit is inspired by GWB's election to become intolerant of what others do in private..

And Debwire finds that there appears to be a connection between intelligence and how people voted:

Political IM messages

This is very interesting: AOL IM users in battleground states and in the Washington, D.C., metro area are receiving a new kind of campaign advertisement...

The November Fund, a 527 group largely funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that claims to be "dedicated to telling America the truth about trial lawyers and their efforts to stop legal reform," has begun delivering a 30-second video commercial to AIM users by pushing it out while they're connected. This is the first time analysts have seen this technique, which AOL calls "Buddy Video" in a national campaign.

"Our target is women aged 18 to 49," Karnes said. He said the ad is running during prime business hours so it will reach his audience while they're at work.

Karnes noted the growing popularity of AIM as a business communications tool. The ad, which bashes trial lawyers and vice presidential candidate John Edwards, is designed to run when the AIM client starts, and remain quiet but visible at other times...

2 things. The bashing of trial lawyers is a smokescreen. It's really just an effort to protect the conglomorates from big liability payments when their products destroy some child's future. It's hateful politics and takes away one of the truly effective ways non-rich people could get back at big business; a free lawyer.

Number 2- the use of IM video is brilliant.

Outsourcing, Doctors and how Jay-Z will save the Economy

We already know the hypocrisy of cheap labor conservatives. It's o.k. for Corporations to outsource work to foriegn countries but citizens can't outsource their pharmacy. And god knows they are going to raise hell about this...(via slashdot)

"Here's the summary from the most emailed article in The Washington Post today -- about an American who went to India for heart surgery, which he could never have afforded here. U.S.: $200,000 total cost ($50,000 deposit required) for heart operation. India: $10,000 total bill, including hospital, air fare, and a side trip to the Taj Mahal. And the Indian doctors are probably at least as good as those one is likely to get in the U.S.

From the article: 'Eager to cash in on the trend, posh private hospitals are beginning to offer services tailored for foreign patients, such as airport pickups, Internet-equipped private rooms and package deals that combine, for example, tummy-tuck surgery with several nights in a maharajah's palace...'"

Unlike most liberals I have no real problem with outsourcing. It's the age we live in. Companies shouldn't get tax cuts and incentives to outsource but their choice to do it shouldn't be taken away. Where I differ from cheap labor republicans on this issue is that I feel we private citizens should be able to outsource,too. If I can get good medical care (and a vacation!) cheaper in another country I should be able to. But mark my words, the Bush administration will fight this tooth and nail. Doctors will bitch and moan. You'll hear how dangerous it is, etc. Don't beleive the hype. This is a global economy. The same information is available all over the world. So are the same tools. Local doctors better work on their UVP (unique value proposition for you non-marketing guys!).

When I telll people this folks think I'm being silly but it's true. Knowledge is losing value. Everything anyone knows will soon be available everywhere. I could be up in the mountains and my partner cracks his head on a rock. In a few months I'll be able to take out my cell phone and watch a video of a doctor during brain surgery and just do what he does to save my friends life. Of course I may not have the same skills ( and will only be using a swiss army knife!) but it's possible that I could actually save him.

If I'm right then it raises some questions on how we do everything. What's the point of sending a kid to college? What are the new skills for the future? And how in the fuck is anyone gonna make any money?
Actually Jay-Z and P. Diddy answered that question for us long ago. They are perfect example of (in my opinion) our future economy. Though I'm sure there has been articles written about it but they picked up on it instictively.

The American economy is only going to be able to make real money by selling the invisible. A t-shirt may cost $0.90 to produce but if you add a Sean John logo to it's worth $90.00. In an age where everything is a commodity the rules change.

Doctors (and everyone else) are going to have to figure out what intangibles they are giving us the consumers to convince us not to follow the cheapest price. And they need to be figuring it out fast because because Indian doctors will be advertising soon. And a trip to the Taj Mahal sounds nice.