Technology+Culture+People // テクノロジーとか、人とか、文化とか。

»English Article (via: HubSpot) || »日本語の記事 (via: Ad Innovator)

Specifically, the average company that blogs has:

• 55% more visitors
• 97% more inbound links
• 434% more indexed pages

That’s quite a difference that a Blog can make. I wonder what methods were taken to retrieve these results…

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ブログを行っている企業は55%サイトトラフィックが多く、また434%、検索エンジンにインデックスされるページが多いことが分かった。また、外部から インクを張られること97%多く、検索インデックスページの増加と共に、検索結果で上部に上がりやすく、見つけられやすくなっている

こんなに違うものなのかー。どういう計算でこういう結論に行ったのかが気になる…。

A test to connect the three social media.

Here is the flow:

1. write a blog entry,
2. send the RSS feed to Twitter and make it automatically Twit,
3. connect Twitter and Facebook so that my Twit (the RSS feed) will be automatically updated as my Facebook status.

By doing this, everytime I post a new article on my WordPress blog, my Twitter and Facebook status will be automatically and simultaniously updated with a feed containing the title and the URL of my new blog entry.

I used twitter feed for step (2) and Twitter App on Facebook for step (3). Both of them being very popular tools. Geez, Yoshi, way to be on top of things… Ok, let’s hope this works.

UPDATE: 7/25/09 16:57pm: It worked!!

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Wordpress（ブログサービス）、Twitter、Facebook みっつのソーシャルメディアを繋げる試み。

ステップとして以下の三つがあります： (1)ブログを書く、(2)ブログのRSSフィードをTwitterに送って自動的につぶやかせる、(3)TwitterのつぶやきをFacebookのステータスに自動的に登録する。こうすることによって、僕が新しいブログ記事を書くたびに、TwitterとFacebookステータスが自動的にブログ記事のタイトルとURLが記載されたフィードにアップデートされます。

(2)は twitter feed というサービス、(3) にはFacebookの Twitter App をつかいました。成功すると色々楽になるなぁー。

7/25/09 16:57pm 更新：成功したー！やったー！

Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising

This is an article by the Huffington Post, and all online news source. There is also a Twitter network of journalists who are in Iran reporting the situation. This is a truly fascinating attempt, and start of a new era of journalism. Information arrives in almost realtime, the facts are reinforcing of the urgent situation, and such information can no longer be suppressed by violence, canceling press pass of major news sources, and immobilizing journalists in hotels. What’s even more fascinating is that the Iranian security forces are trying to crackdown on the internet access of active journalists, but new proxy servers are being continuously provided from elsewhere; the boarder-less and cloud-sourcing nature of the Internet is overwhelming the attempt to censor information.

I guess the next question is, how can we let more people be aware of this? I’ve seen numerous blog articles and notes written on facebook and other SNS, but thats probably not enough; at least to what I’m aware of, my parents, sister, friends do not know about this live blogging deal. Should CNN and BBC start live blogging and tweeting too? And the question following that is “how much control journalists truly have in changing the situation?” At some point action these people must stop protesting, authorities must stop relying on violence, and Iran has to change. And they all have to happen very soon.

死刑囚獄中ブログ || 産經新聞によるまとめ記事

こんなブログが今一部で話題を集めています。

興味深いブログが出てきたな、と率直に感じました。

「ブログ」というメディアは新聞やテレビと比較して一般消費者に「近い位置」にあるから、なおさら物議をかもしているのだと思う。僕は、この「物議」が大事だと思う。ある程度編集者の意図で抜粋されたりフォントが強調されているからバイアスは当然かかっているけど、今まで多く語られなかった死刑囚の実態と死刑制度そのものに関して、記事とコメント欄を通じて多くの人が意見を交換できるこのブログは、ジャーナリズムの観点からするととても大きな価値を秘めていると思う。

死刑賛成・反対に限らず、中には憎悪と偏見に満ちた意見もあるけど、的を得ている意見もある。確固たる「正解」が存在する問題は皆無に等しい。だからこそ、僕たちは様々な意見に触れ、自分一人の価値観が正しいと決めつけず、常に柔軟に「考え続ける」事が大事だと思う。

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さて、蛇足だけど、死刑そのものに関して僕の意見を少しだけ。。

僕の中には大きく二つの前提がある。一つは、死刑囚も一人間だと思っている事（これについては後述します）。もう一つは、少なくとも日本の刑罰の目的上死刑が必要不可欠ではない事である。前近代的社会での刑罰の目的は、大きく分けて次の３つがある：（１）犯罪の未然なる抑止と再犯の防止、（２）社会的規範の維持と表出、（３）被害者の感情的修復。これを見て分かるように、大前提として「死刑は必要不可欠な刑ではない」ことが明らかになる。（１）に関しては統計学的にそもそも証明できず、（２）は終身刑制度を本当の意味での「終身刑」にすれば解決するし、（３）は誰かが殺された時点で被害者家族やその周辺の人達の気持ちが元通りに戻る事は決して無く、加害者を死刑にして多少ましになる事さえ疑わしい。

以上を踏まえると、僕は死刑制度に完璧に賛成ができない。

ただ、反対かと言われれば、それも分からない。なぜなら僕は当事者ではないからだ。なぜ当事者でないとその判断ができないと考えるかというと、事件と関係ない第三者が何を言った所で、それは感情的な判断でしかなく、裁判員制度の導入で一般市民でも一人の人間の生死を左右できる今、僕らは感情だけでそれを判断するべきではないと考えるからだ。

例えば

凶悪殺人事件のニュースを見る　⇒　『酷い事件だ。犯人が憎い。死刑だ』

という思考の流れは、「あいつは嫌いだから殺していい」と本質的には同じで、それはとても自然だが、同時に野蛮な事だと思う。僕の最初の前提に帰結する事だが、「あいつは人殺しだから命を断てれてもよいはずだ」は単なる自己満足的差別意識であって、犯罪者が生物学的に人間である限りその人権は誰にも否定できないものであると僕は考える。

現代社会で、「死に値する行い」とはなんなのであろうか。

会社の先輩（勤務期間はかぶってないけど）で、

現在はメディアアーティストのエキソニモさん。

ちょっと前からCBCNetでブログの連載が始まったのですが、これが面白い！

ちょっとでもウェブを触ったことがある人だったら共感できるネタが

さりげないユーモアに包まれてつらつらと書かれています。

うーん、こんな流れるような、ミネラルウォーターみたいな、すーっとした

文章かけるようになりたいな！　まずは頭の中を整理する練習をしないと。。。

The Prisoner Blog (Japanese) ||  News Article (English)

This blog is currently causing a small issue in Japan.

» B A C K G O U N D

The entries are written by a Testuo Odajima who murdered four people in 2002. After several trials he was condemned death penalty three years ago, the same year that this blog started. The blog entries are excepts from Odajima’s diary, which are sent to, uploaded, and managed by Mitsunori Saito, a non-fiction writer. Saito, after receiving the diaries from Odajima, choose portions that seem relevant and uploads them online. Saito approached Odajima after his arrest to ask him to send diaries and letters so that those could later be compiled and published.  Odajima, in exchange for the letters, receives 20,000 Yen (about $200) each month as a “prepayment of publish royalty fee.” Odajima sends majority of the money to his wife and sons in the Philippines. Just to add on to this, there is no law in Japan that regulates the actions of the receiver of letters written by a prisoner.

» I S S U E

The core of the controversy resides in the fact that a prisoner who was condemned capital punishment is given a “voice” through a blog. In Japan majority of the public still supports death penalty, mainly because we Japanese have a victim-oriented perspective in viewing criminal cases (read this PDF document if you are interested in the cultural background). Seeing the comments on this blog, there are many people who consider murders as those who do not deserve the basic human rights;  who deserve to have their lives taken for the lives that they took (I do not completely agree with this).

Another issue is tied with the implementation of the “System of Lay Judges,” similar to the Jury System in the US, starting this year. Some specialists concern that these blogs could affect the Lay Judges’ preconception of murders in general, and therefore skewing their judgment.

» M Y  R E A C T I O N

I was very surprised, and perhaps glad to see this blog gathering the public attention mainly because of three reasons. First, it simply stirs discussion. Majority of the blog entries are consisted of diaries of Odajima, who seems to live and think “normally” just like any one of us. I think this has especially impacted the Japanese public. Some people reacted with anger, scolding Odajima for living normally “as though nothing had happened,” and others mentioned that criminals too are human beings who deserve to fulfill the remainder of their lives with serenity. Second, Odajima serves as a good example of a criminal that does not fit the stereotype of a mass murderer. Many of his entries are in fact written in a very solemn tone, and once in a while he metions his concerns about  his wife and two sons. Here again, the readers see that Odajima may not be so different from them. Through blogs, a media that is very public and closely distanced to the users, Odajima provides an opportunity for many of us to become freed from stereotypes and preconceptions of murderers who are, in many cases, underrepresented. We can see and discuss the issue in a new perspective. Third, through revealing the daily lives of Odajima, this blog gives context to what was only told through news paper and TV news. These media usually deliver the story from the consequence, which inevitably does not tell the whole story and therefore forces the viewers to form a skewed impression of the perpetrator. This blog seems like a wake-up call for those who justified capital punishment simply because of their preconceptions telling them that “all murders are evil.”

I am by no means justifying or defending the wrongdoings of a criminal or a murderer. To be honest, raised in a culture that has supported capital punishment for a long time, I am still mixed about my opinions regarding capital punishment. However, I still cannot deny the fact that prisoners who were condemned capital punishment too are humans, and that there is nothing gained by taking their lives.

To reach a better quality of decision making, we all have to free ourselves from stereotypes and preconceptions, rather than seeking avoidance to it.