Techdirt. Stories filed under "humor"

Bhutan's Government: Gross National Happiness, Yes; Sense Of Humor, Not So Much

Glyn Moody — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:07:41 PST

Aside from its spectacular location up in the Himalayas, the Kingdom of Bhutan is probably best known for eschewing measurements of Gross Domestic Product in favor of Gross National Happiness:

Since 1971, the country has rejected GDP as the only way to measure progress. In its place, it has championed a new approach to development, which measures prosperity through formal principles of gross national happiness (GNH) and the spiritual, physical, social and environmental health of its citizens and natural environment.

Unfortunately, as Global Voices reports, it seems that humor is not included in the GNH: Rousing suspicions that Bhutan's government does not appreciate the humor of political satire blog Bhutanomics, the website was blocked on January 12, 2013 from a major internet service provider with no explanation or warning.

In less than one year of existence since launching in March 2012, the group blog has created ripples in Bhutan's political sphere with a series of satirical report cards for politicians and government officials, and as a popular open platform for anonymous government criticism and political analysis.
Blocks happen all the time, and for various reasons. Here's why the current one is worrying: Suspicions of censorship are heightened because Bhutanomics is only inaccessible on Druknet, the main ISP operated by state-owned Bhutan Telecom. It is still accessible through private ISPs like Tashi Cell and Samden.
Political humor is a tricky thing to pull off at the best of times, but it's especially difficult in a nation like Bhutan trying to preserve its ancient traditions while encouraging its people to embrace modernity in the form of online activity. Let's hope good sense prevails, and the happiness that humor can spread is added once more to the nation's store of Gross National Happiness.

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Official White House Position: We're Not Building A Death Star

Timothy Geigner — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:57:00 PST

About the only good advice I've ever given anyone about the way in which we spend our time on the interwebz was this: don't take any of it too seriously. Having a sense of humor is essential for getting through internet sites and forums, or else the cacophony of "Vote [insert election candidate de jour here]!", "Obama murdered my mom in Kenya as a child!", and all the other mindless shouts and incorrect facts you'll find on a nearly unlimited basis will drive you fully insane. We've talked before about how humor can help you utilize internet piracy to your own ends, for instance. Conversely, the lack of a sense of humor can also result in stupid legal fees.

And, it turns out, a sense of humor can apparently help a presidential administration deal with internet pranksters. Someone (we're looking at you, 4chan) thought it would be funny to start a "We the people" petition for the United States government to build a death star, and it gained enough signatures to require a response. And respond the administration certainly did, in a short essay titled "This isn't the petition response you're looking for."

"The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

-The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
-The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
-Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

And that's just the beginning. The essay goes on, with several more memorable quotes and a nod to the international space station as an actual space station the government has in part developed. Now, it would have been quite easy for the administration to ignore this particular petition, rules be damned. No one would have cried foul if they hadn't responded. But by responding, they endear themselves not only to the people who put forth this petition, but anyone reading the story about it as well. It's quite easy for us to talk about government as though it's just some big robotic thing. We forget that government is people, but lines like:

"Even though the United States doesn't have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, we've got two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and we're building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun."

...remind us of who we're dealing with. Kudos to our government for showing that they have a sense of humor and that they've hired at least one person who can make enough Star Wars references to placate fans like me. On the other hand, shame on that same government for taking the time to respond to this petition before responding to a plethora of others far more serious in nature.

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How Having A Good Sense Of Humor Helps Cope With Piracy And Succeed Despite It

Zachary Knight — Thu, 9 Aug 2012 13:08:06 PDT

Piracy is one of those things that is pervasive throughout video gaming. It has become a force of nature, a fact of life. While many companies attempt to fight piracy of their works through DRM or complaining loudly, others are taking a very different approach. Last year we posted a story about a company called tinyBuild that decided to embrace piracy rather than fight it. It released a special pirate themed version of its game on the Pirate Bay and saw a positive response from it. When discussing the move, tinyBuild stated, "I mean, some people are going to torrent it either way, we might as well make something funny out of it." By having a positive sense of humor in the face of piracy, one indie game developer was able to cope with it and succeed despite it.

This sense of humor is catching on too. Gamasutra highlights another indie dev, Paul Greasley, that, when faced with the realities of piracy, decided to approach it with a bit of tongue in cheek. The developers of the game Under the Ocean released the game under three different options. The first was early, cheap access to the game for $7. The second was a more feature rich and personalized version for $25. The third was a hat tip to piracy.

The Cockroach edition was actually not an attempt to cut down on piracy. It was just one of the liberties of being an indie developer, with nobody to answer to. The elephant in the room is that 90 percent+ of people are going to pirate your game on the PC (and ours is no exception, based on the traffic logs). We just thought it would be fun, and frankly honest, to point that out!

To further seal the deal, Paul had originally included a link to the Pirate Bay. Unfortunately, some wet blankets in the indie scene overreacted to the inclusion of the link. Those developers had claimed that the inclusion of the link was Paul condoning piracy, something he denies. So, to put out the fires and save his cred with those developers, he removed the link while leaving the rest of the option on the site.

It is quite interesting that he even included the link to begin with. Most developers, especially those from large studios, try to do their best to pretend that such sites don't exist in the off chance they accidentally convert a potential customer into a pirate. Including the link was a massive show of openness with fans. By showing that he knows what the competition is, he was showing fans that he understands what it takes to build up a loyal following.

We're going to be releasing a whole bunch of frequent updates, with lots of feature additions. If you want to stay up to date, buying it is much easier than pirating it. The users win, because it's DRM free and they get a bunch of cool new updates for Under the Ocean, and we win, because the updates get us new ways to promote the game outside our game forums.

Make a product people want and will talk about, make that product as good as you possibly can, and treat your customer base with respect.

By recognizing the reality of piracy, Paul was able to identify features and services that will build loyal fans, things like avoiding DRM and providing frequent updates, not just for the game but from himself. What this means for Paul and his game is that players get a great experience from someone who is open, human and honest and in return they will spend more money on his game.

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Unicorns And Leprechauns Aren't Real... But Trolls Are (And They Have Lawyers)

Mike Masnick — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:36:49 PST

A whole bunch of you have been sending in the silly story of Liberty Media's latest antics. As you may know, the porn producer has been crazy aggressive in going after file sharers, even going beyond the standard mass pre-settlement threat campaign, with a ridiculous amnesty offer to get people to pay $1,000 even if they haven't been accused of file sharing. Someone in Sweden, a guy named Ryan, apparently decided to taunt Liberty Media, sending an email to them "confessing" to regularly sharing Liberty Media works... along with mentioning the unicorns and leprechauns advising him. The whole thing was clearly a joke, but Liberty Media's parent company, Corbin Fisher, is apparently without much of a sense of humor and issued a subpoena to try to get the guy's info, claiming that they're taking his "confession" seriously. The guy says he's never shared or downloaded any Liberty Media stuff and isn't in the US anyway. Of course, Liberty is able to do this as a part of the discovery process, but do they really think this is going to go anywhere? I think, in the future, there should be some measure of how much of a sense of humor a company has, and people should learn to only deal with companies who can take a joke.

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Foursquare Offers New Badge Mocking TSA

Timothy Geigner — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:19:02 PST

As I've mentioned in the recent past, I think humor is an effective weapon in highlighting wrong doing. There's a long tradition of groups and individuals who have reacted to hardships of various degrees by using humor. Everything from Hitler to the debate on intellectual property has been covered.

So color me amused AND encouraged when I see that Foursquare (those quirky folks that help you "check in" to places) has released a new badge just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. It's called the Baggage Handler badge. During one of the country's busiest travel seasons, you can now "check in at any airport and include something like "TSA," "grope" or -- my personal favorite -- "Don't touch my junk, bro!" in your shout." You will then receive an unlock text letting you know that "you've had your baggage handled".

It's funny, to be sure, but I wonder if this won't have an even more profound effect. It's long been said that all tyranny needs in order to grow is the indifference of good people. I would imagine that, given the popularity of Foursquare and social media sites, this humorous take on the enhanced screening tactics of the TSA will only spotlight the issues and absurdity even more, perhaps engaging the interest of those otherwise indifferent people.

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There's Only So Many Ways To Combine Chords...

Mike Masnick — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:31:00 PST

The whole Coldplay/Joe Satriani copyright fight is pretty silly for a a variety of reasons. Yes, there are some similarities, but there's a ton of stuff in music that sounds the same. There's a great chapter in James Boyle's The Public Domain all about Ray Charles' song I Got A Woman, where Boyle goes back in time to show how Charles' song basically copies from a few others (in some cases rather blatantly) in order to effectively invent soul music. Then he moves forward and looks at how others have built off of Charle's song as well. You can read the whole chapter (and, indeed, the whole book) online. The chapter in question is Chapter 6: I Got a Mashup.

Then, of course, many folks have seen the comedian who points out how many songs are based on the same basic progression as Pachelbel's Canon in D:

Along those lines, reader Bill Squire has sent in this similar video about how many songs use the same basic chord progression as Journey's Don't Stop Believing: And yet, now some people are worried that one musician has come up with a similar song?

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