Dear artists,
A year ago, in order to support the blackout against SOPA, I wrote a blog post explaining why I was pirating your work. A few hours later, the sudden closure of Megaupload gave an unexpected popularity to my text. In the weeks that followed, nearly 100,000 people read it not to mention the numerous translations.
With Flattr, I earned a total of €34.70 for that post and its French translation. If I had a €1 paywall, this post alone would worth €100,000. Even considering that only 10% of readers would pay, it would still be around €10,000. Not bad, isn't it?
But if I charged visitors, nobody would have read that text in the first place. It would never have become viral and I would not have earned a single euro. This seems obvious, isn't it? It is nevertheless exactly...
Lifestyle
Dear Fracking Industry,
I read an article in the Intercept recently that said you're looking to step up your social media game in order to reach millennials like me. That's really cool of you. And props on choosing Taco Bell as a twitter role model.
God, what I wouldn't do for a Grilled Stuft Nacho and Mountain Dew Sangrita Blast right now.
See, young people like me are so impressionable! I hear the words Taco Bell and it's like I instantly need a fiesta in my mouth. You would think we're Pavlov's dogs or something. All you have to do is keep associating a product with a hip, catchy slogan and were moths to the light.
Just keep repeating it over and over. Fracking is safe. Fracking is great. Flaming faucets are the most energy efficient way to reheat Taco Bell leftovers. Dick...
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Dear Janay,
The last few weeks have undoubtedly been difficult ones for you, and the last couple of days have probably been among the most trying of your life. I can imagine that you’re torn so many ways, and since I have never been in the position you’re in – have never experienced anything remotely like it – imagine is about all I can do. And speculate. I guess we all speculate. We can’t help it.
But you said something today that I just can’t let go. You said:
I love my husband. I support him. I want people to respect our privacy in this family matter.
I’m not going to tell you how to feel, and it probably seems like the whole damned world is up in your business. But – and I can not stress this enough – the events that have dominated the news since that ugly video broke...
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Dear Missionaries,
I like to tell people I’m a missionary convert, because I wear this genesis of my faith journey proudly like a badge of honor. I heard the story of Jesus from your lips, sang the songs of worship in your language, and prayed for the concerns in your heart. You taught me how to be Christian.
I learned from you lavish generosity and boundless love and affection. I also learned how to do Christmas. One day in my freshman year of high school, I asked my Chinese parents if we can find a Christmas tree – this was before Christmas became commercialized in Taiwan, so all I could find was a tacky, tiny, plastic tree, which I set up delightfully in the corner of our living room. I arranged neatly wrapped fake presents under my wannabe tree, and meticulously set up some...
2,280
Dear Tony,
First of all, let me start by stating that I truly admire what you’ve achieved. Your book, describing your path from LinkExchange to Zappos, from culture-by-accident to the deliberate creation of an awesome company based on culture, was an inspiration for us at GrantTree. The idea of optimising a company for employee happiness, as well as the knowledge that someone else had done this on a much larger scale than my cofounder and I, were invaluable guideposts on a road less travelled, towards cultures built upon openness and respect.
I also completely agree with where you’re trying to take Zappos. I believe that teal/open (or holacratic) cultures are a better way to operate, in many ways, with many advantages, at the very least for the people working there. I wholeheartedly...
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Dear Secretary Napolitano,
I am writing to you in the hopes that when you assume the presidency of the University of California you will make it a priority to address what I see as the most important crisis facing not only the UC system, but also the state of California. I call this problem the "Culture of Mediocrity." Let me explain.
While a graduate student at the University of California Santa Barbara over the previous three years I've graded roughly 500 midterms, 500 finals, and about 750 undergraduate student papers. Generally, I was told the median grade should be a "B-", although several professors I worked for did not have a curve and encouraged an average grade of a "B" or higher. At the end of each quarter, professors have the obligation to review the teaching assistants...
2,551
Dear John.
We are disappointed to learn of your unwanted touching of a cafe worker. We appreciate your apology to her and we understand that your actions were well-intentioned and not meant to offend or do the worker any harm.
You no doubt know that it’s never okay to touch someone without their permission. You probably think that you’ve never touched someone in such a way before. However, this incident shows that you have crossed the line. You will now be aware of the impact – the worker described how vulnerable and embarrassed she felt.
We don’t see this as an isolated case and the real story is not about you. Rather, the fact that our Prime Minister has joined the list of people outed for sexism highlights how much sexism is a part of our culture. And it starts at the top....
2,252
Dear Minister Perry:
Currently, the public school system has an estimated one in six students who struggle with learning. Some of those children are identified with intellectual delays and are provided special adaptations and supports. However, a significant number of students go unidentified and are often labelled as uncooperative or incapable, when, in fact, many have average or above average intelligence and struggles in school due to learning disabilities. Additionally, finding the supports necessary within the school system for a student with a diagnosed learning disability is a struggle for many Island students and their families.
The Learning Disabilities Association of Prince Edward Island advocates for the sustained classroom and resource teacher assignment, necessary...
2,688
Dear Bobby Shmurda,
I have danced to your song “Hot Nigga.” It’s on my iPod and I love when it plays. What does this mean? It means that I enjoy a catchy beat, a nice flow and even better, a fun dance to complement it. However, for a while, I didn’t know that you were rapping about murdering people. I was simply lured in by your beat, flow and dance alone. The lyrics were dissonance: mere noise that did not register in my mind. Though mainstream rap is often frowned upon, not all the time am I compelled to listen to politically conscious music like Common and Mos Def (though I adore them both, and also have them on my iPod). Sometimes I want to simply hear a beat, hear some words that flow and dance without digesting or internalizing the lyrics. However one day, when I was listening to...
2,653
Dear Mr Javid,
We've never met, but that's because I work in "culture" and you have spent most of your adult life so far in banking.
It's very difficult to see from your Wikipedia entry or from the kind of information put before us by Huffington Post how you are qualified to do this new job as culture minister.
My experience within the cultural field, whether as a writer, performer, broadcaster or keen consumer, is that this country is very ambivalent about "culture". That's to say, it's very convenient for politicians to make loud noises about the importance of this or that big cultural figure – Shakespeare, Beethoven and the like – but very difficult for them to acknowledge or support the thousands of ways all of us create and consume culture in small groups, locally and – more...
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