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This place is hard core. Just keep on plugging away even when it is -10F out.

I love these types of things…

Well, 2010, it was nice to know you. Here’s some of my favorite books, movies, and music from the past year:

Music

It was an all time low for me this year in terms of listening to new music. I think the combination of a lack of money and more important things keeping me busy (see: Sonja and Emilia, house) made for a slow year. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t enjoyed some great albums. In no particular order:

• The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
• Go – Jónsi
• This is Happening – LCD Soundsystem
• High Violet – The National
• Treats – Sleigh Bells
• Transference – Spoon

What made your list this year?

Movies

Ditto reasons above for not seeing many movies. I think we saw maybe two movies in the theater this year? Lots watched on Netflix, so this list is just some of the favorites that we watched in the past year:

• Inception
• Man On Wire
• District 9

Books

As an exception, I did read quite a few more books this year than normal. I’m proud of that, as it was one of my goals from last year.

Favorite non-fiction: Hamlet’s BlackBerry by William Powers. Basically a call to action for people to lead deeper, richer lives in an age of ever-shallower interactions with digital devices and media. Humans have, throughout recorded history, endured sweeping technological change that caused philosophers of the day to reconcile the positives and negatives of those changes. Mr. Powers draws parallels between the past and the present, arguing in some ways thatt we’ve seen this before and we have the tools to use technology positively. This is the great paradox of my career as well, encouraging people to use technology thoughtfully, to encourage deeper thinking and reflection.

Favorite fiction: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie was actually a “required” summer reading for work, but I enjoyed it immensely. Very funny and serious at the same time. I also enjoyed “Juliet, Naked” by Nick Hornby, though I pretty much like everything of his that I’ve read.

The corporations are winning…

Steve Wozniak to the FCC: Keep the Internet Free:

“We have very few government agencies that the populace views as looking out for them, the people. The FCC is one of these agencies that is still wearing a white hat. Not only is current action on Net Neutrality one of the most important times ever for the FCC, it’s probably the most momentous and watched action of any government agency in memorable times in terms of setting our perception of whether the government represents the wealthy powers or the average citizen, of whether the government is good or is bad. This decision is important far beyond the domain of the FCC itself.”

(Via Daring Fireball)

FCC: We Didn’t Impose Stricter Net Neutrality Regulations on Wireless Because Android Is Open: “

FCC statement:

Further, we recognize that there have been meaningful recent moves toward openness, including the introduction of open operating systems like Android. In addition, we anticipate soon seeing the effects on the market of the openness conditions we imposed on mobile providers that operate on upper 700 MHz C-Block spectrum, which includes Verizon Wireless, one of the largest mobile wireless carriers in the U.S.

In light of these considerations, we conclude it is appropriate to take measured steps at this time to protect the openness of the Internet when accessed through mobile broadband.

WTF? As Nilay Patel writes:

[I]t doesn’t matter how open your OS is when you’re stuck with a filtered and throttled connection, and it’s a pretty huge stretch to think Android’s openness (however you want to define it) has anything to do with network access itself.

(Via Daring Fireball.)

Mark it down as the day the internet (as we know it) died.

Obama FCC Caves On Net Neutrality:

“An anonymous reader writes ‘…the rule, which will be voted on during tomorrows FCC meeting, falls drastically short of earlier pledges by President Obama and the FCC Chairman to protect the free and open Internet. The rule is so riddled with loopholes that its become clear that this FCC chairman crafted it with the sole purpose of winning the endorsement of AT&T and cable lobbyists, and not defending the interests of the tens of millions of Internet users.”

(Via Slashdot)

Al Franken: The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time:

“Imagine if Comcast customers couldn’t watch Netflix, but were limited only to Comcast’s Video On Demand service. Imagine if a cable news network could get its website to load faster on your computer than your favorite local political blog. Imagine if big corporations with their own agenda could decide who wins or loses online. The Internet as we know it would cease to exist.

That’s why net neutrality is the most important free speech issue of our time. And that’s why, this Tuesday, when the FCC meets to discuss this badly flawed proposal, I’ll be watching. If they approve it as is, I’ll be outraged. And you should be, too.”