Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Miley Cyrus: The Queen of ... nothing


Tween sensation Miley Cyrus, who is reportedly training for street fighting for her non-Hannah Montana double agent role in her new movie "Undercover," recently took some time to comment on the internet phenomenon that is Rebecca Black.

"You shouldn't just be able to put a song on YouTube and go on tour," Cyrus said in an interview with The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

Black came to fame following the release of her music video "Friday," which has garnered more than 66 million views since its debut a month ago.

One must wonder if the starlet is envious of the 13-year-old pseudo-singer's insta-success, given her recent turmoils as of late. Cyrus' last album, Can't Be Tamed, has sold a meager 302,000 copies since its debut last summer. Her most recent venture, the 2010 film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel "The Last Song," was largely panned by critics.

But Cyrus' comments didn't stop there. The flop-friendly singer also took the opportunity to voice her unwanted thoughts on social networking.

"I do not tweet, I do not social network, I try to stay out of it," she said. "I complain enough about people knowing too much about my private life, so to go out there and exploit myself would be silly and hypocritical."

You know what's also hypocritical? Publicly criticizing a talentless tween star for rising to fame simply because she's - you guessed it - a talentless tween star.

And in regards to Cyrus' social networking dig, many have decided to use Twitter and Facebook for the same counter-intuitive reason that she mentioned: to maintain their privacy.

Social networks may appear invasive on the surface, but at their core they allow for a level of control and clarity over information that has never before existed. Perhaps if you had Twitter to explain your eyebrow-raising actions, Ms. Cyrus, you wouldn't have some of these problems. (Though let's be real here - who actually cares enough to invade her privacy these days anyway?)

If Stone Age-representative Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has the sense to create a Twitter account, you should too.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Google primed to take over the world


Well, almost.

Sales coming in from February 2011 show that Google's Android operating system - released in 2008 - has taken the lead in the mobile wars, boasting an impressive 31.2 percent market share. This compares to Research in Motion's Blackberry with 30.4 percent market share, and Apple's surprisingly low 24.7 percent third-place share.

Add this to the list of markets where Google continues to reign supreme. Needless to say, Google still dominates all searches on the internet, taking up 65.4 percent of online inquiries, with Microsoft trailing with a meager (but growing) 13.6 percent claim with its search engine Bing.

Of course, Google has also found success in other online ventures, namely their Gmail messaging systems and - you guessed it - Blogger.

As a result, the company, which has popularized itself to the point of being turned into a verb, sold a whopping $29.3 billion (yes, there's a "b" in the beginning) in ads last year.

Like so many other industries in today's world, it seems cyberland has found itself overtaken by one reigning company, joining the likes of Macy's and Rupert Murdoch (he's not technically a company, but he'd might as well be) as leading conglomerates.

What does it indicate, that the search engine company that once relied on the likes of Microsoft and Apple, has now become each respective companies' greatest competitor? Google is out for blood, and one can only imagine what the company's sales figures and market dominance will look like only a few years from now.

Is it a good thing that Google has become the mainstream, go-to source it is? What does it mean for society - or better yet, the internet? Unfortunately, these are two questions that can't be answered by just "googling it."

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Earthquake devastates island nation


As many of you know, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake tragically struck the nation of Japan on Friday, which was followed by a tsunami that has left an estimated 700 people dead, 600 missing and 1,500 injured. The quake was the largest recorded in Japan's history.

In the time since the initial quake occurred, more than 140 aftershock mini-quakes have been reported, some as powerful as a 6.2-magnitude quake. As a result, an estimated 2.5 million are reported to still be without electricity.

And with late-breaking news coming in that small traces of radiation have leaked into the atmosphere from overheated nuclear reactors (in addition to an explosion Saturday afternoon), it remains uncertain how events will unfold in the coming days.

Politically Pussified would like to encourage all able readers to give back in Japan's time of need. While most readers may be an ocean or more away and cultural opposites in some regards, we all live, breathe, and share this world together.

You are encouraged to donate to The American Red Cross by texting "redcross" to 90999 for a minimum of a $10 donation. All donations are welcomed and highly appreciated.