The beginning………

“The Howling Earth was aptly named; that much was beyond dispute.  Why it howled, on the other hand, was a matter of very active discussion. 

The theologically-minded saw the hand of the Lord in everything that existed throughout the entirety of the Keywork that linked all the worlds of Heaven’s Fence into one great, vast, triangular whole. 

They claimed that the Howling Earth was the province of the eternally damned.  That there had been those who, throughout the lengthy and occasionally muddied history of the Fence, had sought to attain power that was on par with that of the creator Himself.

In punishment for their defiance, their souls had been exiled to the Howling Earth, there to serve as eternal example of what happened when one aspired for a station that was hopelessly beyond one’s reach.”

Awesome!

:D

By: April Camp
So.. publishing classified information on the front page of the New York Times is
 journalism, but on the Internet is.. terrorism?
 
Ask a few people how they feel about Julian Assange and you’re likely to get mixed results, but often the answer is, “well….I don’t know.”  People tend to side with absolutes, such as the law.  The idea being that a person broke the law, that’s wrong, and they must be punished.  In Assange’s case, though, no law was broken.  It’s as if Assange found an enormous gray line and he’s been waltzing up and down it since WikiLeaks launched. But is there a double standard that exists for publishers online than an esteemed newspaper such as the New York Times?

Read More

A popular technology news website obtained an early version of Apple’s newest Iphone before it was announced by the computer giant, paying $5,000 for the device that was lost by an Apple employee in March.

            The website, Gizmodo, posted a major story and in depth analysis of Apple’s latest Iphone in April, which gained loads of attention from consumers, mostly because Apple had not announced there was a new Iphone coming to the market anytime soon.  

            The phone had been lost by Gray Powell, a 27 year old Apple software engineer, while at a bar celebrating his birthday.  A man who had been sitting next to Powell picked it up and asked around the bar looking for its owner.  When no one claimed it, the man left the bar with the phone.

            It wasn’t until the next day he realized the phone he had found was not like any Apple Iphone on the market and didn’t know where to turn.  It is unclear how Gizmodo heard of the phone and came to purchase the device, but they did.

            Gizmodo openly bragged in their original article that the phone had been lost and they took it, purchasing the phone for a whopping $5,000 in order to announce Apple’s latest Iphone first.

 Gizmodo said, “we started to work on documenting it before returning it to Apple.”  Apple keeps their products under tight security to ensure there are no leaks and does not typically give any information about products before they are ready, but one can be sure that if Apple’s policy ever changes there won’t be any relationship with Gizmodo.

The way Gizmodo covered the unveiling of Apple’s new phone was absolutely unethical.  They knew the device was lost and made no effort to return it, rather paying a hefty sum just to get their hands on it.  Sure, it was handed over to Apple, but only after a complete disassembling.

   Did Gizmodo ever stop to think that essentially what they were doing is stealing?  John Herrman, a writer for Gizmodo, contacted Powell saying, “We have a device and we think that maybe you misplaced it at a bar and we would like to give it back.”  Herrman speaks as if he is doing the right thing by returning the device, but fails to mention that they had gone through everything on the phone, written an article showing pictures of the newest gadget, and the whole world was about to know what Apple refused to let anybody know. 

It is believed that Powell still works for Apple, but this situation could have ended badly with Powell out of work.  Gizmodo should not get in the habit of theft and should seriously consider its actions on this matter.

Hey Look I just recorded another song.  check it out if you want.

By: April Camp

By Day, Derek Russell, is a legal abstractor searching property titles for attorneys in Tupelo, Miss.  By night, he operates one of the most successful podcasts on the Internet.  The 25-year-old Mississippi native has written screenplays, several books, and may be responsible for a new Dukes of Hazzard series, which may have never been possible without the podcast that started it all.

            In a small corner of the southeast is a town mostly known for being home to the bulldogs of Mississippi State University, in May 2006, the town of Starkville became known for the Starkville’s House of El Podcast to many fans of the Smallville television series.

In a small apartment bearing white walls with a picture of Superman, four friends sit at a table.  Laptops and Microphones fill the table in front of them, each listens closely as they talk about the television series Smallville based on the character of Superman.

“A group of us would always get together to watch the show on a weekly basis,” Derek said, “being huge fans we always had discussions and arguments over what was going on.  We decided to take it to a medium that was relatively new at the time.”

Superman is more than a superhero to Derek, “I think it’s a very rich and deep mythos that transcends a lot of things in modern day life.  Everyone knows who Superman is whether they read comics or not.”

As a child he spent his time in stories pouring from the pages of comic books.  Superheroes saving the world were noble characters that the young imagination longed to be like.  Running about with a cape tightly fastened to the back of his shirt, Derek pretended to bear the curvaceous symbol on his chest of that character considered the most noble to all superheroes in his mind.

“Ask almost any kid on the street and they know what Superman stands for, or can identify the red “S” almost as easily as they can tell you their own name.”

The podcast was nothing more than a conversation about Superman and Smallville between Derek and his friends.  Every week they discuss what happened in the show and what it all meant for their beloved television series.  What began, as a recorded discussion became the number one Smallville Podcast. 

“After four years and 150 episodes, we get monthly downloads upwards of 300,000 subscribers from all over the world.” 

Having so many subscribers was quite a feat as it is not easy to get that kind of devotion.  Starkville’s House of El Podcast gained the attention of actors in the Smallville series.  Derek was invited to be a part of the season six DVD set for Smallville and gladly took the opportunity.  It was a year earlier, however, that Derek met the person who perhaps instigated a new project that may put him in a whole new arena.

The man is John Schneider, Clark Kent’s father, Jonathan on Smallville, but more known for his role as Bo Duke in the famous show Dukes of Hazzard.  “I’ve spent countless hours helping John with autograph lines hundreds of people deep, waiting hours to tell the actor what the show meant to them growing up.”

The Dukes of Hazzard will have more tales of adventure as Derek is writing them, though it won’t be on television, the imagery and excitement will live on in an unlikely format.

“I’ve noticed a trend in recent years of television or movie properties that seem to have found a new life in the pages of comics or graphic novels.  Shows that went off the air years ago still continue to entertain their fans weekly in a property that is relatively easy to produce compared to a television series that may not have had the ratings to sustain another season of a show.”

The Dukes of Hazzard comic series is still in preliminary stages.  Derek has scripted a few issues in hopes that it could run for 12 with a possible story arch.   For fans to truly appreciate the story Derek is writing, he is taking his time, searching for that artist that will create every detail with care to get it right. 

“We want it to look exactly like the show did, down to details of the General Lee, Hazzard County, and even Bo and Luke’s hair.  We’re going into great detail with the story to make sure everything fits well with the canon the show created so as to line everything up perfectly.”

Perhaps it is the classic tale that drives Derek, the stories that seem to never die for the people who enjoy them.  Wanting to keep these stories alive and appreciating the joy that comes from them.  A discussion about Superman has made Derek Russell famous in his own right; dedication has led him to his dreams.