West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Tha G-Spot => Topic started by: es-jay on December 16, 2008, 09:25:47 AM
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saw this interesting article over at Hip Hop is Read (http://www.hiphopisread.blogspot.com) and thought i best post it.
(http://www.blackbirdhome.com/img/graphics/proud_to_be_black.png)
You couldn't make this stuff up. Oh wait, they did. Web developers have recently unveiled Blackbird, a new web browser that caters to the African American community. Using a FUBU (For Us, By Us) model "Blackbird was developed by a team of African Americans to allow you to connect to what's going on in the African American community." At first glance, I was immediately struck with a cognitive dissonance of epic proportions. On the one hand, I empathize with and understand the development team's ambition: to create an accommodating experience for African American web users. But on the other hand, WHAT... THE... FUCK!?!?
Here are a few of my reactions to Blackbird, the (potentially) racist web browser:
#1: Even web browsers are segregated now? I can already imagine the racial undertones in advertising: "Try Blackbird. It's faster". Oh, wait, they've got these already:
(http://www.blackbirdhome.com/img/graphics/yeswecan.png)
Y'hear that? Yes we can... Get Blackbird? Oh my... Stereotyping at its finest.
#2: Isn't this browser a bit insulting to African Americans? It's as if to say that they can't surf the web like other people. Like somehow they need some additional help to search the internet. And to the African Americans who do lack the skills -- like many members of other communities -- to search the net, won't this browser only make them dependent on Blackbird? What happens if they need to use the internet at work, a library, or anywhere else? I can already imagine some cracka-ass KKK members deeming this new browser "web-affirmative action" or a form of "web-welfare".
#3: Blackbird offers a tool they call "Black Search" which essentially brings up search results that "tailor to African American interests". I installed the browser to test out this feature and the results are quite astounding. I typed in the following in the search box: "Bruce Springsteen". I figured "Hmm... How much 'whiter' can it get?" The second search result was the YouTube link to a Springsteen song titled "Dancing in the Dark". I suppose any search with the word "dark" gets bumped up in the results list. Next, I tried a search for "President Bush". I'm not kidding you here; the first result I got was for a video clip of "President Black Bush", a hilarious skit from Chappelle's Show. Finally, I did a search on "Karl Marx". I was astonished to find that none of my results had anything to do with "Karl Malone". But aside from that, the results weren't too reassuring. Amongst the top results, I found (1) a forum post on AllHipHop.com (very helpful...), (2) a link to a book being sold on Amazon.com which claims that Karl Marx was a racist (if you're wondering, the title of the book is simply "Karl Marx, racist"), and (3) an article titled "Barack Obama, Black Liberation Theology and Karl Marx". I was amused to say the least. Hey, Black Search, I've got some web-slang just for you: FAIL!!1!
#4: I can assure you that as time goes on, just like everything else that African Americans create, White people will latch on to it and claim it as their own. Just wait and see, soon enough a majority of Blackbird's users will be comprised of the "white teenager" demographic. Soon enough.
#5: The BK MC wasn't jokin'! I think he might even be a prophet! Blackbird puts a whole new spin on a particular bar from Talib Kweli's "Supreme, Supreme": "Getting information from the nigga-net/". :P
#6: What's next? Web browsers for Asians, Hispanics? What about a web browser for White people? Oh, wait, that's been taken care of at WhiteBirdBrowser.com (http://www.whitebirdbrowser.com/), clearly a spoof of Blackbird. The best part about White Bird is that it redirects you to Apple's Safari. lolz
I suppose we can all sleep soundly at night knowing that they didn't name it something like "Brozilla" instead.
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its gonna be like 80% white people using that
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its gonna be like 80% white people using that
Eminem Is Already In Game There
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Retarded
Seperation creates racism.
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probably made by a white guy lol ;D
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dumb shit, named after an amazing song tho!
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even that blackplanet.com shit i think is run by white people
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The default homepage is KFC's corporate website. Ain't that a bitch?
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lol....
yeah, it's pretty funny, but I'm gunna try it anyways :)
can't help it, I love being black and when I see a white person with Blackbird, I'm going to talk shit.... never said it was right, but that's what it is, take it or leave it.... :)
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Think i'll stick with Opera thanks.
Negros are secretly key logging my passwords i bet if i used that.
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Think i'll stick with Opera thanks.
Negros are secretly key logging my passwords i bet if i used that.
lol conspiracy ;D
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Think i'll stick with Opera thanks.
Negros are secretly key logging my passwords i bet if i used that.
Really, is Opera really that good?
I've actually become a diehard Fire Fox fan, but I've heard a lot about Opera, how is it?
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Yeaaaah, firefox for the win SONN!
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Opera is good shit has built-in torrent downloading i thought that was cool
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just noticed it's powered by Mozilla
(http://www.blackbirdhome.com/img/introducing_small.jpg)
http://www.blackbirdhome.com/about.html
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^great...now they just need a browser for white supremacy, and all will be good. ::)
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lol another funny thing is the company name 40A, Inc. any bet it stands for 40 A. and a Mule ;D
gotta love these cats
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Anybody that wastes their time downloading this browser has serious race issues.
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You know what, I read through the website, and it's actually not a bad idea.....
You know who is the most ignorant about Black/African history???? I'll give ya one guess, and it's not white people..... it's us.... Black People are notoriously ignorant of their own existance, this browser seems like it seeks to remedy that.....
I applaud them for trying, though I seriously doubt it will work...
and yes, White people should be able to have a browser geared towards them.... it's called Internet Explorer! 8)
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^ i'm sorry but that's some stupid shit.
if you have the internet already.........and need a web browser to REMIND you where you come from and who you are, they should just rename your browser Helmet Retard. Because that's what you would be.
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^ i'm sorry but that's some stupid shit.
if you have the internet already.........and need a web browser to REMIND you where you come from and who you are, they should just rename your browser Helmet Retard. Because that's what you would be.
it's not a question of needing a web browser to remind you where you come from.....
It's about someone trying a different method to teach you things you didn't know about where you come from.....
again, the average Black Person is not going to go looking up the name of the tribe their ancestors belonged to in Africa.... they just aren't.... but if that information was placed right in front of you, you'd be an idiot not to read it, right????
I think that's what they were trying to do with this browser....
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I'd only download it if it gave me a free membership to round and brown.com (http://www.roundandbrown.com/)
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^ i'm sorry but that's some stupid shit.
if you have the internet already.........and need a web browser to REMIND you where you come from and who you are, they should just rename your browser Helmet Retard. Because that's what you would be.
it's not a question of needing a web browser to remind you where you come from.....
It's about someone trying a different method to teach you things you didn't know about where you come from.....
again, the average Black Person is not going to go looking up the name of the tribe their ancestors belonged to in Africa.... they just aren't.... but if that information was placed right in front of you, you'd be an idiot not to read it, right????
I think that's what they were trying to do with this browser....
but with that said the same people who aren't going to be inclined to look up their tribe and shit aren't going to be the same people inclined to click on a link inside a browser though.
but even if they were to be inclined, how are they going to be ensured that the information is accurate. black people were just thrown on a boat, sold, and bred. i don't think kunta kept a family tree....or was allowed to for that matter.
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I primarily converted to Opera orignally when i first witnessed the Speed Dial feature be built into Opera.
Here take a look.
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7391/78247223jl6.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/78247223jl6.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img233/78247223jl6.jpg/1/)
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Anybody that wastes their time downloading this browser has serious race issues.
well laid out
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I primarily converted to Opera orignally when i first witnessed the Speed Dial feature be built into Opera.
Here take a look.
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7391/78247223jl6.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/78247223jl6.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img233/78247223jl6.jpg/1/)
doesn't Safari already do that?
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^ i'm sorry but that's some stupid shit.
if you have the internet already.........and need a web browser to REMIND you where you come from and who you are, they should just rename your browser Helmet Retard. Because that's what you would be.
it's not a question of needing a web browser to remind you where you come from.....
It's about someone trying a different method to teach you things you didn't know about where you come from.....
again, the average Black Person is not going to go looking up the name of the tribe their ancestors belonged to in Africa.... they just aren't.... but if that information was placed right in front of you, you'd be an idiot not to read it, right????
I think that's what they were trying to do with this browser....
but with that said the same people who aren't going to be inclined to look up their tribe and shit aren't going to be the same people inclined to click on a link inside a browser though.
but even if they were to be inclined, how are they going to be ensured that the information is accurate. black people were just thrown on a boat, sold, and bred. i don't think kunta kept a family tree....or was allowed to for that matter.
Kunta didn't, but his family left behind in Africa did.....
My aunt traced their side of the family's history back 12 generations, most of which was done on the internet....
The browser may be a little miss guided in it's marketing, but it's still a good and viable product... especially since it's based on Fire Fox.....