ARCHIVES ADVERTISING iTOONS INDEX TERMS EMAIL eSTORE SHOW HACK! LINKS PODCASTS KOMIX

cyberbarf

TRANSITIONS LETTER FROM THE PUB

This webzine has been continuously published since 2001. But a nearly cursed last month's edition almost scuttled that publishing streak.

The reasons were obvious to any long term computer jockey. Old software being discontinued or crapping out. The old iMac computer having odd screen issues. And the old internet service provider decides to call it quits for the mac OS.

This site is created on old Dreamweaver software. It is still reliable, easy to use but at this time unable to upgrade. I try not to upgrade software which heads toward cloud monthly licensing fees. The cloud is unreliable and a security risk. And I grew up buying hard copies of programs which is useful when a program crashes and you have to do a hard re-install.

But holding a tattered sail against the trade winds of technology advances is being harder and harder to maintain. It is now more probable than not that this site will have to change its production, platform and publishing cycles.

Most current web design programs use a blogger template. Yes, is blogging still a thing? High speed fat file upload speeds has given YouTube the edge in video for content creators. Even mainstream media sites are loading up on video, to the point of overwhelming browser memory and page loads. There is not an hour where I don't have to force quit a page that locks up on conflicting, slow video loads.

One option for cyberbarf is to upgrade the home Internet connection. But again, why give the cable company another fang in your wallet.

Another option is to upgrade the web design program to become portable (on a laptop) to publish on the go. However, one of the things that I tried to protect is having a complete archive on the site. It probably is the most underused feature of the site, but there is a history gene in my DNA. I would like to keep archiving the articles, cartoons and comics in one central location. But a change to a blogger format may lead to a loss of internal page links.

A third option would be abandon the current system and publishing philosophy to go straight blogging on something like Wordpress. It would mean that updates would no longer be a monthly publication, but an irregular daily, weekly, whenever posting schedule. Both types of publishing styles have their merits. The current monthly publication schedule is a hard deadline that has only been twice. It gives time to plan out all facets of the page: the cartoons, the articles and the ability to do research, and find some consistency in voice. To turn the site into a rolling blog could be easier to access, but could put the lazy procrastination gene into the forefront. There is no way I can do daily posts (I have a real, real world job). It is difficult to even think about set weekly deadlines because my schedule varies from week to week.

The last option is to pull back from publishing this cyberculture site. When our late tech guru, Rocky, said that I should take my written paper zine, The Real News, digital . . . I went overboard to start three web sites. I guess you can combine everything under one banner, but that would be confusing to loyal readers. None of the sites have been profit centers, but they were created for specific purposes - - - to continue writing and releasing the random electrons of my creative mind in lieu of deadly vices or therapy.

There comes a crossroad in every person's life. There are times when you have to give up something you like to do in order to focus on something more important or a highly priority. There are numerous other projects filling notebooks and sketchpads that I would like to tackle. I have tried to syndicate editorial cartoons through my pindermedia.com site. There are several novel ideas that I would like to finish. There is an incentive to change how I allocate my free time on creative ventures.

I go back and forth on what to do. I am a creature of habit, so drastic change is an overthinking process. It is not that I can handle drastic change (in a split second decision, I went across the globe to vacation in Seoul.) We will have to see where the cards fall.

But it is clear that something has to change. The technology has moved on to the state of near extinction. Why add additional burdens to try to keep the same old routine when the old routine is this close to martyrdom.

Do not be surprised that a month from now, cyberbarf as a site will be different. Different in format, font, style or look, but hopefully not different in content. I know I have loyal readers who have kept the site bookmarked in their lives. Information and entertainment is an important mission. I don't want to diminish that aspect of my life, but how I will apply myself will take some final soul searching.

I will finalize my research in the next few weeks. Until then, thanks for continuing to read and enjoy cyberbarf. And that you for your support.

FREELANCE CARTOONS, ILLUSTRATIONS

FOR

NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINE, ON-LINE

DO YOU CONTENT?

CHECK OUT

PINDERMEDIA.COM

iToons

cyberbarf

TWITTER STORM COMMENTARY

A federal court has ruled that President Trump's Twitter feed is a public policy forum so Trump cannot block commentators.

The ruling is controversial.

Critics of the president demand access to his account (and in turn his followers) to troll the commander-in-tweets. The critics claim that without access to the president's account (and the dialog) their free speech rights have been compromised by the blocks.

However, Twitter as well as other platforms like Facebook strongly state that they are not public spaces. They are private communication platforms. Twitter and Facebook are not publishers of content but the conduit for creators to publish their own words and pictures. This allows the platforms a safe harbor against liability for user content actions.

As a private communication network, Twitter created a Terms of Service contract with its users. It reserved to itself and to each individual user the right to block individuals from accessing the account of another person. People do not want to be stalked by ex's, flamed by racist groups, or be associated with stupid asses.

Under the Twitter TOS, Trump has a right to block any person from accessing his personal account.

But the court felt that since Trump's account is open to the public, the public should have an opportunity to comment on his tweets. But there is an illogical aspect to that position. For example, the New York Times is a publisher of a public newspaper and web site. However, any person does not have an absolute right to put their words in a NYT page. The Times editors control who has access to their pages. Many newspaper web sites have now eliminated the option for readers to post comments because of the inflammatory nature of trolls.

Likewise, a web site account has privacy settings for a reason. Platforms have been blasted for allowing access to account holders personal data. A user now is being educated about their service privacy settings. On some programs, people (especially celebrities) have private chat rooms and accounts were the public is not invited to join.

It is also a murky First Amendment question. The First Amendment protects citizens speech against government action to suppress it. Trump's Twitter account is in his name, started when he was a private person. The question is whether a change in status to president changed his private account into an official government account. And if so, so what?

A businessman cannot force the Food and Drug Administration to give him access to the FDA website so he can tout the alleged benefits of his new hair tonic miracle cure. A protest group does not have a right to access the Pentagon web servers to speak to the troops who are fighting overseas.

A private citizen does not have daily access to the president. A private citizen cannot show up at the White House press room and demand to ask a question to the president. A private citizen does not have the right to demand equal time from a news network after a Trump sound bite is played on the air. A private citizen does not have the right to the microphone after Trump speaks at photo op event. Nothing stops that citizen from being in the area, attempt to talk to the press, make a sign or protest - - - within reason.

Most municipalities have ordinance requirements for public protests. A person or group needs to get a permit for a march because the city has health, safety and welfare concerns if the protest itself could create a public conflict. A Twitter block is a means of avoiding or escalating public conflict. But supporters of the court ruling say that the digital space is different than a city park or street. The same concerns about potential violence is moot because Twitter only deals with words and not action.

Trump is not blocking anyone from using their own Twitter accounts to criticize him. The First Amendment gives every citizen the power of being a publisher of their own views but it does not give them access to other people's property. The other element of the First Amendment is the right of association. People have a right to associate with those people they want to be around without being forced to by government action. The courts cannot force a church to violate its religious doctrine to marry a gay couple if it violates its sacraments.

Blocking a person on a Twitter feed is not blocking that person from expressing their opinions. There are other means of a person to express their views on Trump. They can use their own Twitter feed. They can join a user group that shares their opinion. They can go out an protest in a public place. They can write letters to the White House or their Congressmen. The issue is whether a troll (in the opinion of an account holder) has a right to access the account holders followers.

Social commentators lament that American discourse continues to reach lower and lower levels of civility. Twitter is one of those areas of blame as people spout off without thinking about their comments. Political speech has become vile speech as the Internet has allowed factions to empower themselves in a march towards a narrow minded group think.

A real common sense solution to this issue is simple: have some adult in the White House take away Trump's Twitter account.

cyberbarf

THE WHETHER REPORT

cyberbarf

STATUS

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

Question: Whether a change of power in the U.S. midterm elections cause Trump's presidency to be a lamer luck duck?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

LADIES' JAMS

MULTIPLE STYLES-COLORS

$31.99

PINDERMEDIA.COM STORE!

PRICES TO SUBJECT TO CHANGE

PLEASE REVIEW E-STORE SITE FOR CURRENT SALES