Laptops designed by 7 year olds

Genius.
Such clarity of vision, such style, this is the future.

Laptops designed by 7 year olds

Santori Time

Great 80's Japanese whiskey ads.
AltJapan

Beautifuly Dark Art

This is some of the fantastic work by Biddy Maroney, an Australian Illustrator hosted at Fantazmagloria.

Fantazmagloria.com

The Machine is using us.

A nice video explaining Web 2.0 and some of the implications.
Yes - I know its geeky - but since your connected to it, you may as well understand some of whats going on.

Another detailed, but much less amusing video here.

Thanx David

Very Amusing wedding pictures.

A great collection of wedding pictures you'd probably wish not to have.

Wedding Photos We'll All Remember

The Revolution will not be Televised

If you want to know how the world works, this is the documentary to watch.
A great fly on the wall view of Media Manipulation, the military at the beck and call of foreign powers, and the people getting off their asses & demanding change.

HUGO CHAVEZ ELECTED PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA IN 1998, IS A COLORFUL, UNPREDICTABLE FOLK HERO, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état.

The Revolution will not be Televised.

Trent Reznor and Saul Williams Show the Music Industry How to Release an Album Online

Journos and music fans from all corners fawned over Radiohead for their bold release strategy for In Rainbows. After breaking with the majors, Trent Reznor and his parter-in-crime Saul Williams are taking that strategy and stepping it up to the next level of awesome. Saul's new Trent-produced album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust is now available two ways: Free or $5.

Digital Downloads

Steampunk Laptop

What a beautiful, beautiful piece of kit.

Datamancer

Ahem - Datamancher appears to have exceeded his bandwidth, poor lad.
Steampunkworkshop.com has kindly set up a mirror here.

Blackwater Has Spies for Hire

First it became a brand name in security for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now it's taking on intelligence.

Washington Post

Canadian Study: Piracy Boosts CD Sales

University of London researchers, Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz surveyed a large group of Canadians to find out what the effect of piracy is on music sales. The results are surprising, at least, for the music industry.

Torrent Freak

Explorers surounded by Wolves.

British explorers on a polar expedition described their terror yesterday after coming face to face with a pack of bloodstained wolves.

Times Online

This reminds me of the excellent tho disturbing essay
"ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED BY HAVING MY ARMS RIPPED OFF BY A POLAR BEAR"
by ANDREW BARLOW

What if all drugs were legal?

A refreshingly lucid article on the pointlessness of Drug Wars.

Understandably, many Americans fear that with no drug laws, we would have hundreds of thousands of addicts, crack babies, children trying drugs, and other evils. But that's what we have now.

Let's assume the worst

If all drugs were legal, addicts would no longer pay black-market prices to criminals for drugs of questionable and dangerous origin. They would get drugs produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies and pay market prices. They would no longer die from buying toxic drugs, and they would no longer have to mug innocent people to support their habits.

populistamerica.com

Jammie Thomas: her story in her own words

Ive blogged about this before, and I'm so glad Ms. Thomas has had an opportunity to tell her side of the story.
The RIAA has been indiscriminately suing people for Copyright infringement, using some very dubious practices, and a high disregard for Judicial Process.

I was found liable of copyright infringement without the plaintiffs having to prove I downloaded anything, without having to prove I was aware of any file sharing taking place on my computer or within my home, without having to prove I owned a copy of KaZaa, without having to prove any files were shared with anyone from my computer and without having to prove who was on the computer the night of February 21, 2005.

Jamie Thomas p2pnet.net

MediaDefender Emails Disprove MPAA Claims

Brokep, one of the Pirate Bay founders told TorrentFreak earlier that they decided to file complaints because they want to make these big media companies aware of their own wrong doings: “I want them to take their crappy methods and stop their wrong-doing. They are going around accusing the pirate community for doing immoral stuff, when they do illegal stuff,” he said.

It will be interesting to see how this case develops. One thing is for sure, it will be hard for these media companies to deny their involvement with these emails as evidence.

Torrent Freak

Devices Enforce Cellular Silence, Sweet but Illegal

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2 — One afternoon in early September, an architect boarded his commuter train and became a cellphone vigilante. He sat down next to a 20-something woman who he said was “blabbing away” into her phone.

“She was using the word ‘like’ all the time. She sounded like a Valley Girl,” said the architect, Andrew, who declined to give his last name because what he did next was illegal.

Devices Enforce Cellular Silence, Sweet but Illegal

Most Consumers Clueless About Online Tracking

Online privacy is vastly overestimated, as ad networks and marketers track surfers, study reports.
Jaikumar Vijayan, Computerworld

Google Yahoo comparison

Have you ever doubted that good clean web design stands the test of time.
This should confirm those thoughts.

Comparison of Google/Yahoo front pages over time.

The Hard Disk youve been waiting for !

Only $3398!

A Nation of Sheep

A surprising piece on Fox news.
No, not surprising in its content, we know the US is losing the very freedoms it believes were given to it by god (!), but this is surprising as it was on Fox, a channel not normaly associated with dissent.

Judge Andrew Napolitano - A Nation of Sheep

Japanese boys pen spinning

Again, only Japan.

Cracking Windows passwords with Linux

I put this here as a reference.
I have a feeling it may well be needed.

Cracking Windows Passwords with Linux

Cognitive Fitness: 10 Debunked Myths

As some of us have long suspected, alot of people are not using their brains in an efficient manner.
Hopefully this article will clear up some loose ends.

Over the last year we have interviewed a number of leading brain health and fitness scientists and practitioners worldwide to learn about their research and thoughts, and have news to report.

Sharp Brains

Free Skull Font

Nice skull font.
‘Skull a day’ is giving a free font away!
SkullaDay - the font

This is a great site & you should check it out.
A new skull ‘thing’ every day.
Skull-a-day

The First Photograph

A great analysis & history of the first ever photograph.
Made in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce at his estate in Chalon-sur-Saône, France.

First ever photograph.

X-rayed things

Nice directory of x-rays of ordinary, and not so ordinary things.

X-Rayed things
sorry - in Japanese

Post Secret

Ive just re-discovered the very wonderful & disquieting Post Secret web site.
People are invited to post in thier secrets on handmade postcards. The result, a poigniant collection of thoughts & musings.

PostScret

4yr Old BBC Documentary on Bush stealing the elections

This appears to be doing the rounds again, Aired on Newsnight (British TV News show) its a (some what flippiant in my view) mini documentary on the shenanigins surrounding Bush's election.
I didnt relaise that Katherine Harris who presided over the Florida voting, had also been named as Bush's Florida campaign co-chair the year before.
What are these people thinking!


The Very Wonderful Greg Palast

Ron Paul Interview

A very lucid Ron Paul Interview.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You are somewhat of a sensation among young people in this country. They are -- you've broken all records for Web searches. You're on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, I guess more than just about any other candidate. With all due respect...

REP. RON PAUL: Be nice.

JUDY WOODRUFF: ... you're 72 years old, how do you explain it?

REP. RON PAUL: Young ideas, a fantastic idea about individual freedom and allowing people to do what they want and take care of their lives, their lives belong to them, and get the government off their backs, and offer them low taxes, and make sure I never mess around with the Internet. Don't tax the Internet, and don't regulate the Internet.

Ron Paul at PBS.org

P2P anonymity

P2P researchers: use a blocklist or you will be tracked!

The old cliché "You're not paranoid if they really are out to get you" turns out to apply quite nicely to the world of P2P file-sharing. A trio of intrepid researchers from the University of California-Riverside decided to see just how often a P2P user might be tracked by content owners. Their startling conclusion: "naive" users will exchange data with such "fake users" 100 percent of the time.

Ars Technica

Google Hacking made easy

Audio Raider uses the Google AJAX Search API to uncover open directories of music files. Not only is Audio Raider easier than trying to remember than complex Google strings, it filters out the spam results. While P2P is monitored, these directories are not. Download safely without the RIAA!

AudioRaider.com

Income inequality worst since 1920s, according to IRS data

The superrich are gobbling up an ever larger piece of the economic pie, and the poor are seeing their share of earnings shrink: new IRS data shows the top 1 percent of Americans are claiming a larger share of national income than at any time since before the Great Depression.

The Raw Story

How the U.S. Became Switchboard to the World

We know America has become a surveillance state, here is the reason why every other country should be worried too.

A lucky coincidence of economics is responsible for routing much of the world's Internet and telephone traffic through switching points in the United States, where, under legislation introduced this week, the U.S. National Security Agency will be free to continue tapping it.

How the U.S. Became Switchboard to the World

Vatican publish Templar documents

The Knights Templar are a fascinating group, if not only for the conspiracy theory, then for the insight they give into the thinking & politics of the time.

The publishing house said the new book includes the "Parchment of Chinon," a 1308 decision by (Pope) Clement (V) to save the Templars and their order. The document was misplaced for centuries in the archives and found again by researchers in 2001.

Templar article at BoingBoing

Sinister Funeral Service Advert

I would advise you not to read the small print.

Y wing Beats X wing!

I love these home brew rocketry events of geekdom & explosions combining Mans desire to explore/ blow stuff up.

[Video]

Best Quotes
Q- So whats the difference between the Y-Wing & the X-Wing
A- Less wings - less stuff to tear off

Remeber
- step one - get in the air -
- step two - come back

I love rocket science.

2 Great Photography Links

Heres a great pair of photography links for you.

Portraits of people walking through turnstiles

Americas young Hobos - (bit grim in places)

Major Act defecting from the Majors

Following on from my post about the Yahoo Music Exec telling the Majors to stuff DRM, we have news of Major Acts such as RadioHead & NIN being quite happy with no Record Company involvment.

DRM is an insidious technology that restricts your ability to do what you wish with the things you have bought. Some companies actually remove rights you had purchased when they ... er ... update you.

Lets hope that the Major Record companies (& other interest) learn from this debacle and realise that not treating your customers like criminals can be beneficial to business.

"Radiohead's management says that the free-download experiment is working out very well so far, driving an 11-fold traffic boost to the band's Web site and converting plenty of those hits into sales of premium boxed sets for £40 a pop."

Great round up of security tools

If your seriously concerned about security, or just a happy hacker, these (and the knowledge of how to use them) are your tools.

XP Security Tools

Band releases Album on Floppy

A UK band called Batch Totem has released a 74-minute album compressed down to fit on a 1.4MB, 3.5" floppy disk. Who need vinyl nostalgia?

[Link]

Thanx BoingBoing

Burma

The Guardian reports on Burmas Internet lockdown, & the terrible events going on there.

[Link]

Yahoo exec tells Majors to stuff DRM

Finaly, some one in the business stands up to the majors & tells them to stuff it!

I'm here to tell you today that I for one am no longer going to fall into this trap. If the licensing labels offer their content to Yahoo! put more barriers in front of the users, I'm not interested. Do what you feel you need to do for your business, I'll be polite, say thank you, and decline to sign. I won't let Yahoo! invest any more money in consumer inconvenience. I will tell Yahoo! to give the money they were going to give me to build awesome media applications to Yahoo! Mail or Answers or some other deserving endeavor. I personally don't have any more time to give and can't bear to see any more money spent on pathetic attempts for control instead of building consumer value. Life's too short. I want to delight consumers, not bum them out.

Yahoo Music to record execs: No more DRM, ever


UPDATE - Madonna also quits the majors
Music Industry Launches Four-Pronged Effort to Destroy Itself

Record Companies stiff woman over mp3s

The RIAA has won its court case against an American woman for making mp3s available across the net. (Kaazaa).

Copyright law is, as Berkeley law professor Pam Samuelson points out, way too verbose; it's now swollen to an unbelievable 200 pages long. It's complex, incomprehensible, designed to favor large copyright holders over defendants, and thoroughly out of touch with reality.

[Link]

Update - Juror aparently has never been on the Internet - Opens up questions about the trial.

Poigniant Video Essay on Population

Hes a very beautiful video short detailing world statiastics if our global villiage contained only 100 people.




[Link]

Gizmodo Readers' Computer Rig Poll

Geeky I know, but they are beuatiful.

[Link]

Insightful article on events in the US economy

Yes I know reading about financial matters is boring, but if you want to know whats really going on in the world, then study banking.
Its not Aliens, 911 Conspiricies or Secret World Orders, its just greed.

In fact, as far as some big banks and financial institutions were concerned, for a moment in time, the system was in a full-blown cardiac arrest. Liquidity, the flow of money—the lifeblood of today’s economic structure—came uncomfortably close to clotting up.

[Link]

Steal Colour Profiles from Old Masters

& then apply them to your own photos.
Great trick in Photoshop to improve the colour balance of your images.
I spotted this a few months ago, & Ive just had chance to use it.
Works a treat!

[Link]

Mac OS X overview

Found a great document at kernelthread.com dispelling myths & detailing the history and intricacies of the Mac OSX operating system.
I prefer not to get in to the argument about which is 'better', for me, its like guitars - if you want to sound like Eric Clapton, use a Fender Strat, like Jimi Page - use a Les Paul.
Use the right tool for the Job.
That said however, I dont have a Mac around the house, so keeping up with whats going on in there is a chore.

This document does not aim to regurgitate Marketing KoolAid, not that there's anything wrong with it™, but is intended primarily as an introduction to Mac OS X for those members of the technical community who are not familiar with it. You can think of it as a somewhat low-level taste of Apple's operating system.

(Steve Jobs founded NeXT based on BSD and brought it back to Apple - answered my question!)

[Link]

Paris get roasted

This is painful.
David Letterman has Paris Hilton on his show, and I would hazard a guess thats it wasnt him that invited her.
Always good to see her squirm.

Blackwater Has Made Almost $1 Trillion in Iraq Since 2004

This is galling.
Blackwater, a very large private security firm, who are also in the spotlight this week for their soldiers causing havoc in Iraq, have made a trillion out of this war so far.

The U.S. military is dependent on contractors in modern warfare, and their are undertones of animosity between the State and D.O.D. over who should be taking more blame over Blackwater. But what really struck me FTA: Since 2004, State has paid Blackwater $833,673,316, compared with Defense Department contracts of $101,219,261.

[Link]

Thanx Digg

Next Generation of engineers

Just hope & pray these guys dont come & live near you after getting their engineering degrees.


Nice Idea - For more of the funniest videos, click here

hehhe hhehe hehhehh h.....

Graveyard of Vehicles

I love these shots & videos of the rotting hulks of mans industrial excess.
Look out for the Dead Fighter Jets as far as the eye can see.
I wonder how much actual peace any of them have brought about.

[Link]

A most curious collection

A wonderful steampunk, collector, creator, obscure, spooky, eerie, medical, industrial, i so want some.

[Link]

Thanx BoingBoing

In-fact, BoingBoing are having a froth of steampunk today

Pirate Bay pwns Media Defender

Not that I fully condone Pirate Bay, but I condone less the actions of the American Media companies putting strangleholds on technology for their own ends.

Background - A few days ago - somebody - ahem - discovered a large portion of mail belonging to a company called Media Defender.
Media Defender are hired by the majors to disrupt P2P & other file sharing networks, and these mails detail the downright illegal methods of doing this.
Subsequently, the Pirate Bay has taken it upon themselves to (counter) sue Media Defender for their illegal activities in Sweden.

I have a feeling that this ain't over yet !

[Link]

Good Back Ground Article from Torrent Freak

Cory discuss' Piracy

Cory Doctrow now writing a tech column for 'the Guardian' UK newspaper.

Just as the industrial economy wasn't based on making it harder to get access to machines, the information economy won't be based on making it harder to get access to information. Indeed, the opposite seems to be true: the more IT we have, the easier it is to access any given piece of information — for better or for worse.

[Link]

Old KGB run New Russia

Didnt everyone see this comming? Russia, and the everyday Russians deserve so much better than elite mobsters trashing the country & its (remaining & outstanding) culture.

Virtually all key positions in Russian political life -- in government and the economy -- are controlled by the so-called "siloviki," a blanket term to describe the network of former and current state-security officers with personal ties to the Soviet-era KGB and its successor agencies.

The core of the siloviki group, led by former KGB officer and Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Vladimir Putin himself, comprises about 6,000 security-service alumni who entered the corridors of power during Putin's first term. Now, as Putin's second term winds down, their clout is virtually unassailable.

[Link]

Black Sabbath Cartoon

Well, I never knew this existed. If any one has any background to this cartoon & be most interested to know more.
I cant believe this was made for Childrens TV.
Cartoon Black Sabbath visit Hawaii ...

[Link]

George Carlin Clip

The very wonderful George Carlin explaining why white people should leave the Blues alone.

[Link]

Tim Berners Lee on One Web Day

Yes I know its geeky, but he IS right.

[Link]

Software for the Paranoid

Found this great article for optimising & securing your Windows PC. Great tips for Tor, Freenet etc...
WARNING ! - very very techy.

[Link]

Yes - the Government is watching you.

We all have our suspicions that the Government is nosing around our private affairs but getting definite proof of the existence of Echelon, Carnivore & Fylingdales is (obviously) difficult.
'The Register' has a lucid & informative article on the subject, piecing together the fragments to build up an overall picture.

[Link]

We're all a bunch of Monkeys!!!

Well ... some of us have been harping on about this for years.
A nice little video reminding us of our place in this world.

[Link]

US copyright database

Well - something to do with the theme of this blog. Apparently the US copyright database is copyrighted, and costs money to access.
That's really going to encourage innovation.

[Link]

10 Things I hate about your social network.

I really don't know how I survive on the Web.
All though I embrace the topology, I have a deep distrust of these new fangled gadgets.
This succinct post outlines some salient points.

[Link]

French Prints Show the Year 2000 (1910)

I espicialy like this one of an early Vid-Phone system.

[Link]

Flowchart: Is it f*cked up?

Finaly a template for my everyday working life.
Does any one have a version for relationships?

[Link]

One for UK Drivers

This will be understandable to any UK drivers.

[Link]

40 Unusual Websites

Undiscovered webservices that are original, rather unique, unusual, useful, free, and must-be bookmarked type.
Some usefull, if not obscure, tools here.

[Link]

SwingWing

Great mashup of an old toy (bizarre) advert and, er ... some more contemporary music.

Bonkers.

[Link]

Feed the Head

Intriguing flash animation - game type thing. Most curious.

[Link]

Harmony of the Spheres

Nice little documentary that ties up Pythagoras, harmonic structure, physics - well everything really.

[Link]

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers

Great dance routines

[Link]

Bed of Roses

Some fine ol' Country and Western.


[Link]

Clowns disrupt KKK rally

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

Ha ha ha hahahhh hehh hah ....

[Link]

Great Calvin Sketch

Calvin for President

[Link]

Very sweet knot

An extremely elegant & succinct Shoelace knot.

[Link]

Ah ... Ren & Stimpy - Log

"Its better than bad ...
its good ! "
[Link]

And Now ... Log for Girls
[Link]

Police evicted from Heathrow Peace Camp

Some nice footage of the police being peaceably, but forcibly ejected from the Peace Camp at Heathrow. Listen out for the police man on his radio towards the end. He is saying into the radio that his team has been attacked, tripped up by guide ropes, and repeatedly kicked, tho you can see plainly on the video that that didn't happen.

[Link]

As another classic example of fact distortion - the BBC has a mole who appeared on the News recently.
Check this exchange.
'Police are saying that there is a hardcore criminal element to the camp - did you see any evidence of that.
- Well, there are two sides of the camp, one side who believe that the world is genuinely under threat ... but the other side of the camp are people who also believe the world is under threat, but they believe the only way to change this is through direct action'

Hmmm... - since when has Gandhi's idea of direct peaceful protest been linked to 'hardcore criminal elements' , which to my mind conjures up images of toughened lifelong criminals & thugs, not caring & concerned citizens.

Well done Gareth Furby - why do suppose media are barred from the site, when they spout this kind of hyperbole.

[Link]

Madchester Documentary

What looks like a good documentary about Madchester & the indominatable Anthony "H" Wilson.

[Link]


Note to self - must find the other part of this.

Giant Little Girl Doll

A very large & haunting, but beautiful puppet.
A technical nightmare !

[Link]

More about those responsible here.
ElectricPig.net

Bill Bailey 'Part Troll' Live Show

This will probably get removed so catch it quick. Bill Bailey spouting forth. Look out for the Portishead do Zippitty De Do Dah sketch.

[Link]

How to deal with your artificial heart.

Thought provoking article about Peter Houghton, whos not sure how he feels about his Artificial heart.

"The real price of his tin heart, he says, was the shift in his spirit."


[Link]

CNBC's Cramer goes Crazy over Stock Market

I don't know these people or this show - but it seems to me this guy knows what hes talking about, albeit a little over passionately.
Interesting take on the recent Stock Market shenanigans.

[Link]

Ed Shaughnessy vs. Buddy Rich Drum Battle on Johnny Carson

Two outstanding drummers battle it out.

[Link]

US Cops provide lucid arguments for legalising drugs

A Civil Liberties Union movie about LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (more) ) . American cops talk about the problems prohibition of drugs cause, and call for a more sensible attitude.

[Link]

NASA Hacker tells all

Gary McKinnon, a UK citizen is under threat of extradition to the US & 60 years in a US Jail, for discovering US Govt. machines with blank passwords.
Allthough this clip has interesting information for UFO devotees, I find it a more interesting example of crap IT policies being shored up with 'knee-jerk' legislation.

[Link]

Door to Door Atheists

Australian filmmaker John Safran get one back at the Mormons who have been bothering him, buy going to Utah & knocking on their doors to preach Atheism.

[Link]

Another Douglas Adams Gem

The wonderful Douglas Adams on the origin of God.

[Link]

Organise your Inbox

A very good summary of Merlin D. Mann's email methodology.

Feeling swamped by email, interested in productivity (who is'nt?), then this is for you.

[Link]

Reefer Insanity: Never Trust the Media on Pot

A very lucid breakdown on the recurrent hysteria in the media about marijuana use.

"Second -- and this is where virtually all of the coverage falls flat -- if marijuana produces what seems like such a large jump in risk for schizophrenia, have schizophrenia rates increased in line with marijuana use rates? A quick search of Medline shows that this is not the case"

Stick that in your pipe & smoke it!

[Link]

VBS.TV

"Rescuing you from television's deathlike grip"

Some American guys run a magazine & make video shorts about a whole range of topics.
Allthough the production values are high, Im not sure anyone has actually been to journalism school. This give a refreshingly candid insight into some major world issues.

[Link]

Kin Dza Dza

What can I say.
Russian, 1986, Sci-fi, Comedy (allthough I wasn't sure at first).
Its been described as an "advanced cyberpunk film" also "the most famous film that nobody has ever heard of".

If you like European cinema, Russian humour, off the wall comedy mixed in with a little social commentary then this is for you.

Enjoy...

[Link]

Faith Atlas

Map of world Religions & their popularity.
Some surprises here.

[Link]

Military Air Drop Bloopers

I do like a good Blooper reel

[Link]

Kat William Pastes a Popstar

This is a bit rich - even for my tastes.
WARNING - Not safe for work - infact - not safe fullstop.

[Link]

NerdPorn

At last - a sensible attitude to Porn.

[Link]

Jack Black on Millionaire Comedy Edition

The very wonderful Jack Black

[Link]

This Film is Not Yet Rated

If you have any interest in Intellectual Property & Copyright Law, then this film is a must see. A look at the inner workings of the MPAA - the people who decide what is healthy for you to watch.

[Link]

And for a quick follow up.

[Link]

Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

Amusing (or disturbing - depending on your point of view) mashup of US preachers & US metal.

[Link]

I understand everything about the funk!

Hmmm.
Tuesday 17th July 12:30

then spilt the beer.
[Link]

Last member of Clan turns down $5bn

I think this guy might be my hero.

"There are sacred sites, there are burial sites and there are other special places out there which are my responsibility to look after," Mr Lee told the Herald.

"I'm not interested in white people offering me this or that … it doesn't mean a thing.

"I'm not interested in money. I've got a job; I can buy tucker; I can go fishing and hunting. That's all that matters to me."

[Link]

Video Interview with The Pirate Bay

An interesting & coherent interview with Brokep, a founder member of The Pirate Bay.

[Link]

Big Bottoms

Big Bottom performed by Spinal Tap and everyone backstage who had a bass guitar.

[Link]

& just for a reality check, Keith Richards being a badass.

[Link]

Pirates of the Constitution

Ha ha ha ... brilliantly done.

[Link]

1960s Japanese Youth Movement

This may explain alot.

[Link]

& to see what it has become.

[Link]

Dont get me wrong - I love Japanese culture ... but from afar I think.

Searching the Darknet

Ever since the early days of Fravia and Searchlores Ive understood that the power of the net is the ability to search it.
Its been a while since ive seen an article on searching that references methods other than Google.

[Link]

For those that wish to explore further - there is video of a talk & relevant papers on the web ... I shall leave you to seek these yourself. The lecture was delivered by 'Fravia' at a 'Conference in Montreal (Recon, June 2005)'

Locate any GPS phone

This is unbelievable. You can track anyone via their cell phone by using the "satellite positioning system." Just type in the phone number with the area code and click "start search." Check this out!

[Link]

found via IWasJustCurious

Statistical World Clock

A rather superb clock that displays world information.

[Link]

Show us your desktop

Some nice collections & tips of other peoples workspaces over at Lifehacker.


Show us your iGoogle

Show us your Firefox

Show us your desktop - or at least - the Lifehacker desktop category.

Background to Paris Hilton Media Negotiations

Behind the scenes phone calls & jumpy media.
[Link]

Just as Juicy
[Link]
The above seems to want you to register.
Users may find this link interesting
Bug Me Not


Both Links via PerezHilton

Indepth Cheney Analysis

The venerable Washington Post has a 3 part in depth analysis of Cheney & his shenanigans.
[Link]

Glastonbury Backgrounder

Some of the earliest footage Ive seen.
[Link]

This is probably much closer to the modern experience.
[Link]

I kinda like this guy
[Link]

& this lot seem a nice bunch.
[Link]

And here is a link to a previous Glastonbury post of mine.
[Link]

More, this time from the great Robert Llewellyn
[Link]

Getting a response from the police.

This appeals to my distorted sense of humor

"Going to bed the other night, I noticed people in my shed stealing things. I phoned the police.."

[Link]

Portrait of the Modern Terrorist

Thought provoking article on the hysteria surrounding 'the Terrorist Threat'

[Link]

Johnny Depp - Japanese TV

need I say more.

[Link]

Interview with Ubuntu Founder

Rather fantastic & in depth discussion with the founder of the Ubuntu Foundation.

[Link]

George Bush Loses Watch

George finds adoring fans in Albania,
However, some adoring fan finds his watch.

[Link]

Google Street View

The Good news - Google maps has a 'Streeet View' Feature, now you can take virtual car journeys.
Bad news - its only for a couple of US cities, and its restricted to US browsers.
Good News - a hole has been found.

[Link]

Advanced Firefox tips

some extremely cool Firefox Tips

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Important British Copyright Issue

It would seem a number of MPs have taken it upon temselves to sign an an Early Day Motion calling for extension to current copyright protection.
Which is a shame as the Gower Report & the EU have already mulled it over and recommend keeping the current terms.

Simply put
Current UK copyright law permits you rights over your creation for 50 years.
After that , the work enters the public domain.
The theory being that 50 years should be adequate for you & your family to profit from the work, but after that it becomes in the public interest to have the work freely available.
A case can be made for extensions in certain cases, however, what is being proposed here is a blanket, retrospective extension up to 95 years.
The problem with a blanket ban is that only a few works benefit. 90% percent of old material will languish on unsafe storage mediums, & eventualy be lost to future generations.
I agree that in the light of modern communications major reforms of copyright are required, but these reforms need to be balanced between benefits to the artist AND the larger communtiy, not rushed through by lobbyist pressure on MPs that are blatently ignorant of all current thinking on this matter.

[Link]

A good Backgrounder at Wired

EU Slams the Idea

Sleepy Tunes

A concert hall in Tokyo is providing comfy beds & ice cream!

Now thats the way to enjoy classical music.

[Link]

For those of you with a classical bent, and enjoy the most excellent GTD system, may I recommend Ottos Baroque Station.
... Makes those coding hours fly by.

Japanese Butterfly Magician

Rather fantastic piece of traditional Japanese magic.

[Link]

Frank Zappa on Crossfire

Strangely dated, yet frightningly relevant. Frank Zappa gives some old duffers a run for their money during a censorship debate.

[Link]

URGENT! Europeans! Last chance to save Europe from worst copyright law in the world!

EFF's Danny O'Brien writes with this urgent message for Europeans:

IPRED2, the insane EU plan to criminalise almost all copyright violation (meaning that rightsholders could pressure the police to prosecute companies they don't like - eg a Euro-YouTube on the taxpayer's dime, and even join police investigation teams as "experts" to assist looting and destroying business competitors), will be voted on on April 25th.

EFF has been running a campaign against it at CopyCrime; they've worked with FFII, Europe's biggest consumer group and the EU librarian's association to file amendments that might fix it. Even the UK government has now thrown its weight behind the coalition's amendments.

But EU citizens still need to stand up and tell their MEPs to vote for the amendments.

If you're in Europe, your elected representatives are probably on a train right now to Strasbourg and preparing their voting lists for a vote ON WEDNESDAY.

Make sure when they reach their Strasbourg offices, they have hundreds of messages telling them to "Support the Librarians', Consumers' and Innovators' Coalition Amendments to IPRED2".

You can find your MEP here. If you have more than one MEP, go through the list. If you know they're eurosceptics, point out that IPRED2 would give the EU new powers to create criminal law. If they're euro-socialists, tell them Segolene Royal doesn't like it. If they're pro-business, point out that the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law hates it.

Copycrime has more details. Don't let them turn you into a copyfighting criminal.

Link
(Thanks, Danny!)

Full Size Whale

beautiful flash widget of huge whale photograph.
[Link]

Glastonbury Backgrounder

With all the current fuss about the Glastobury Festival, I thought it appropriate to post this old but good backgrounder on the political shenanigans going on behind the profitable media front.

Ive been going to the Glastonbury Festival for nearly 25 years now (as of 2007) and Ive seen some remarkable changes. Not all I expected from an organisation that would appear to support anti-globalisation & the promotion of Peace.

Believe me, as an insider, this article only touches the surface.

[Link]

Tim Berners-Lee on the Semantic Web

'The inventor of the World Wide Web explains how the Semantic Web works and how it will transform how we use and understand data.' (MIT Technology Review article).
via Disinformation

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Cute Alert

Too cute,
tho some would say its Otter Nonsense.
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Great Quote from Hunter S Thompson

"The music business is a dark, plastic hallway
where pimps and thieves run free,
and good men die like dogs.
There's also a negative side."
- Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005)

so so true!

[Link]

Panorama - How to poison a spy

Panorama pieces together the events surrounding Litvinenko.
[Link]

BBC Mortgaged to the Yanks

A very informative piece on the economic background between the Second World War a& the Marshall Plan

Britain has finally paid off the debt to the US for this period.
[Link]

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

A Gizmodo Tech Writer gives a scathing invective on the state of the 'Early Adopters' & the tech Industry that feeds them.

"And you guys just ate it up. Kept buying shitty phones and broken media devices green and dripping with DRM. You broke the site, clogging up the pipe like retarded salmon, to read the latest announcements of the most trivial jerk-off products, completely ignoring the stories about technology actually making a difference to real human beings, because you wanted a new chromed robot turd to put in your pocket to impress your friends and make you forget for just a few minutes, blood coursing as you tremblingly cut through the blister pack, that your life is utterly void of any lasting purpose."

[Link]

Best Comment from the Boards


" I feel so dirty now. :( "
.... i4ni

Kersal Massive

Thank you Mr. Bliar, for after 10 years of rule you have produced this...
[Link]

Than you the Internet, for after 10 years of Open source Protocols, freedom to parody & user generated content you have produced this...
Remixes
KERSAL MASSIVE VS. KRAFTWERK
Kersal Massive Rap Remix
Kersal Massive vs Dr Dre
Kersal Without A Pause
M3G4 massife Kersal
Kwurzel Massive
Gerbil Massive

Wikipedia entry on Kersal ... is this the smallest Wikipedia entry ever? Notice there are no discussion entries!
Wikipedia
Broughton/Kersal FireService

Google search history and privacy

Following on from my Machine is Using Us post here is an informative essay on Google's tracking of your searches. I dont know if this happens with all users, but as I also have a Gmail account, Im getting well tracked.
I'm not to sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, yes, its usefull to go back to something I was searching for last year, on the other, with so much stuff that Google offers now, hacking a Google account would bring a wealth of information on the target.

[Link]

BBC techies talk DRM

Concise and insightful rant about the current attitudes at the BBC.
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PirateBay's OscarTorrents - download the Oscars

"You haven't beaten us, so why not join us? Think of a new business model that doesn't involve overpriced pieces of plastic and skanky cinemas hawking cheap carbohydrates while relying on $6/hr projectionists who can't keep a film in focus -- not to mention insulting your audiences by (to pick a few examples) surveilling us with nightvision glasses, searching bags, 30 minutes of commercials and bombarding us with ridiculous anti-piracy propaganda. Take a look at yourselves. Is it really any wonder we're winning?"

My sentiments exactly.

[Link]

BOFH

As usual, the BOFH provides the best insight to recent technological advances.

"You should go to Vista."

"So you like Vista?"

"Not really, no. I run a Vista simulator."

"Virtual Server?" the Boss asks.

"Nah, I just turned on all the flashy crap in XP, changed the background image, took some memory out of my box and clocked down the CPU. Then broke Media player. Works like a charm."

[Link]

The Machine is Us/ing Us

A very thought provoking piece about the future of Web 2.0. Every time you click, the machine learns something about you. The Question is - whos watching the machine?

[Link]

dubstep

Well - 'dubstep' has gotta hold on me.
Id heard about this new form of music, based in the UK - but only recently heard it.

Its very me.

Lots of very fat beats, break business & general darkness.

I warn you, you need large speakers, turned up full.

Get a load of this.

SUBFM.com radio
SensiMedia.net

and a short
BBC documentary

Kintaro Walks Japan

A very sweet, if not a little naive amateur documentary of a 6 foot US teen walking the length of the Japanese Islands.

[Link]

Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers

Personally I think this is a very well executed piece of work.
All though released in 2003, it is still fresh in its treatment of some very major issues, represented in a way to keep the 15 second attention slot filled.
It is multi-lingual, and sadly the versions listed here give you a choice between French, Spanish or German subtitles for the non English parts.
However - please remember that as with a lot of these works, this IS copyrighted content & really shouldn't be on GoogleVideo at all.
The full package can be purchased here, with a license for public viewing.

[Link]

Alexander Litvinenko Documentary

A very interesting & moving documentary about Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoned Russian asylum seeker.
This is all a very sad state of affairs, and seems (as usual) to have powerful corrupt politicians, secret services and shadowy organisations operating outside of International Law at its root.

[Link]

Atheist Anger

To keep with my policy of posting it as & when you find it I include this little gem.

TAKE NOTE
Only to be watched if
a) you 'get' Dawkins
b) youve been drinking
[Link]

& seeing that we're having an aethist tip this month,
Douglas Adams - yes the man behind the 'Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy' rants forth (brilliantly) about Atheism. Radio Show
[Link]


njoi ppl

3 brilliant Dawkins links for you.

Dawkins on BBC
Dawkins & Jonathan Miller
Dawkins on the Colbert Report.

Letter to my MP about a new ID harvester.

There is currently an email circular doing the rounds regarding 192.com and the fact they are offering the personal details of UK citizens for money.

After typing in your name you see a list of all people currently living at your address. The system then offers you the option to buy credits for more information such as Business & Director reports, Historical Electoral Roll, and, I would imagine, all available contact details.

Atached to this email is a form that appears to give you the option to have your details removed.
The form requests that you fax it back to a premium rate number.
0906 ** ** ***

This is followed by the disclaimer:

"i-CD cannot accept liability or be held responsible for any
failure to correct or remove your detail as requested above."

which, I imagine absolves them from the responsibiltiy of doing anything but making money out of my personal details.

Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell said:

"There is no part of people's lives which is free from snooping. State intervention and control expands every day. It is time we put a halt to this."

This is a Corporate National ID Database by stealth & is indicitive of how the Corporations would like to introduce ID cards. By stealth.

The days of the telephone book (originaly a goverment service)are long gone.
In this Information Age, my details are a commodity to others, and an essential part of my Identity and Freedoms.

At no time was I contacted about this service, & they do have my contact details. In fact a large part of my precious time is spent defeating & avoiding this harvesting of my data.

It is well documented that only small amounts of information, with some clever Social Engineering, can yeild staggering profits for unethical business' & criminals, rendering decent citizens feeling abused, in debt, or worse.

This information is available from other sources, but to encourage abuse, and then offer me salvation at a fee, from the same company, is an affront to the very freedoms we tell young men are worth fighting for.

Tell your MP about this -
http://www.writetothem.com

And remove yourself from future mailings.
www.mpsonline.org.uk

and Ol'faithfull
www.no2id.net/

English Pronunciation

A marvelous (but long) poem satirising odd English pronunciation.

Try repeating it out loud

Lawrence Lessig @ 23C3 conference

The very super Lawrence Lessig coherently discussing Copyright, DRM & the Culture of Code.
If you have any interest in how the corporations are trying to control the media around us, and disallow us any creative re-interpretation of the world around us, this is the guy to watch.

Check it out here

Ok ... so this is a bit high brow - I had to watch it twice myself. The first 45 mins deal with the Creative Commons licence and is hard going, but the last half really clinches it.

Here are some background links to get you up to speed.
Lessig in 2002
EFF.org
Wikipedia Copyfight Article