Between Two Blog Posts: Keeping the Presidency "fresh as heck" for kids

Today, President Barack Obama appeared on the internet humor talk show Between Two Ferns, starring Zach Galifianakis.  Critics have both praised and criticized Obama and his attempt to reach out to the youth of America to promote the Affordable Care Act.  But what I'm curious about is the presidency and it's constant battle for relevancy.  How are politics going to keep up with the exponentially expanding technological future of the general public?  Will candidates continue to experiment with new social medias and social tools online, or will they get scared and recess back into their comfort zones?  Recently, we have seen Barack Obama win two elections, with help from resources such as a personal YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and countless others.  During his current term, Obama has even used Google Plus hangouts to talk to unique individuals around the country.  Who is to say that, come 2016, our presidential candidates are vying for our attention using newer forms of social media. What if you could Snapchat the president?  It is of my belief that any future political figure looking to gain headway needs to look no further than the web.  I say that, at some point, we can even do away with traditional media outlets. Why go on Fox News or CNN on TV when you can livestream an interview from the comforts of your own office, and truly let your constituents talk to you and ask questions?  There's no reason for newspapers, magazines, or any other older media format either.

Now, do I think that this is going to happen anytime soon on as large of a scale that I am predicting it? No, not at all.  But I don't believe that politics can advance until it's key players do.  And for that, we need the World Wide Web

Mutiny on the Wide Web: The Bigger Picture Behind Music Piracy

Music piracy is taking millions of dollars in profits from major record labels annually, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  The death of the modern record industry means the death of an antiquated machine, whose monopoly on music has raised prices and lowered expectations.  Like many other media giants of its kind, the three major label groups, UMG, Sony, and Warner are beasts that cannot keep up with the pace of technology.  As a result, they take actions that are very reactionary and drastic in order to level the playing ground against the ever tech-savvy public.  Their influence expands to Congress, who does the same in order to favor them.  Things such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the more recent SOPA and PIPA are examples of this reactionary state.  The backlash to these bills, as well as the rising popularity of piracy, indicates, to me at least, that America is ready for change. More and more we see artists adopting a model of pay-what-you-want, with no minimum, and it seems to be working very well.  Just ask artists such as Jeff Rosenstock, of Bomb The Music Industry! and The Arrogant Sons of Bitches fame, or Radiohead, the indie rock giants from the UK.  And what people against piracy seem to ignore is two simple facts, that 1) the money saved on price-inflated music is spent in other facets of the economy and 2) that stats show that, despite the availability of free music being so easy, music sales are in fact going up.  I myself, an avid pirate and piracy advocate, have found myself buying more music than I ever would have before.  So let's bring an end to the dangerous monopoly that is major labels, and usher in the new user-friendly era of the internet and piracy.