Nashville, my previous city of residence (briefly), is totally hating on white spaces.

Ars Technica: “Hyperconnectivity” on the rise.

Every Week, Ben brings you the creative endeavors even Jim Morrison would try to set on fire.

This week: Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, internet?

“Now Ben,” you say. “Surely you’re not uncouth enough to suggest—in this liberated and forward-thinking forum, no less—that censorship could somehow be beneficial.” I invite you to discuss your body of work, then attack it using ridiculously out-of-context evidence, “When old media persists in ignoring the future, I must regrettably present A Case for Censorship…“

A rare day here on A Case for Censorship, as I call for the censorship of a call for censorship. Mark this event, kids. Someday you’ll be telling your enslaved mutant ant butlers all about it as they chirp wearily and continue to dust the hoverset, readying plans to crush your unprotected skull with their powerful mandibles.

Bob Costas hosts a well-thought-of sports newsmagazine on HBO called Costas Now. It’s usually pretty ace—presenting debates and reports on issues from the world of sport in a way that only an HBO show can. A couple weeks ago, however, the show took a break from heady topics like steroids, gambling and racism to basically declare that the internet is ruining sports.

The panel consisted of NFL wide receiver Braylon Edwards, newspaper columnist Buzz Bissinger and Deadspin founder Will Leitch. Edwards stuck to the traditionally noncommittal athlete persona, and Leitch gamely defended himself (and the internet) against a series of raving, nonsensical attacks in which Bissinger demonstrated a surprising lack of familiarity with language (and anatomy) by using the phrase “pisses the shit out of me.” The newspaper industry is supposed to be rife with colorful, creative cursing, but that just sounded awkward and lazy.

As the moderator, Costas attempted to keep the discussion civil, but joined Bissinger in only presenting content from Deadspin, which has always been dedicated to a humorous take on sports. Logic went off the rails when Costas read a few comments from the site. Comments! It’s obvious that these men have never been near the internet and, as Leitch later noted, most in the established media seem to hold a festering hatred for the wild, unregulated world of the web.

I would summarize the arguments of the three non-internet participants thusly:

a) all sports blogs are the same

b) all sports blogs are Deadspin

c) writing about sports from a fan’s perspective is not real sports analysis

d) writing about sports without access is not factual and

e) anything that makes athletes seem more human is bad for sports

Yes, blogs are all about fast, easy posting, and since when is every published outlet concerned only with respectable, fact-based reporting? I don’t recall an uproar over any tabloid false pregnancy stories or parodies in The Onion. ESPN.com and SI.com host *gasp* blogs and still manage to follow a responsible journalistic model, they just do it quicker and through a different medium. I’ll always go to those sites for facts (sometimes I’ll even read a newspaper, but only because it’s sitting in the lunchroom at work), just like I’ll always go to Deadspin for humorous sports analysis filtered through pop culture references, poop jokes and links to pictures of chicks taking off their tops at football games.

Does anyone else find it amusing that Bissinger was basically acting as a real-life version of a classic idiot troll commenter? Maybe Uncle Buzz actually loves Deadspin, blogs and the whole crazy thing and this was a piece of performance art that I just don’t get. Unless you can convince me of that (you can’t), the only merit I will take away from this sham is the delicious memory of Bob Costas saying “fuckface.”

Chronicle of Higher Ed: How It Does It: The RIAA Explains How It Catches Alleged Music Pirates. [via]

In the process, RIAA spokesperson Cara Duckworth admits that they can only detect the “offering” and not the actual downloading of illegal files.

ALA: 10 Most Challenged Books of 2007.

Bye, bye, privacy by proximity. The next generation of social networking looms near: Google’s Friend Connect goes live tonight.

Since I missed any midweek distractions last week, and because it’s Monday and you need a post-weekend (possibly-hungover) pick-me-up, here’s Gnarls Barkley’s new video for “Going On.” [via]

Our WikiWorld: Mike Caulfield deconstructs a recent WP writer’s bemoaning of the “cult of the amateur.” [via]

SDIF is back from it’s week-long, end of the semester related break. We’re still alive. How are you?

And, don’t worry, the White House apparently has that whole mysteriously losing e-mails thing under control.

Whew!

Slow posting again at the end of this week, as I am headed out to Ft. Wayne, IN to help out as the Brewcity Bruisers take on the Bomb Squad.

If you’re in the area, come on out!

Happy Weekending!