Wikileaks has published the secret list of sites blocked by Australia's state-sponsored parental filter -- a list that the government plans to expand to the entire Australian Internet, making it the basis for a new Great Firewall of Australia. The list is compiled in secret and is not readily inspected or appealed, and the officials who maintain it have secretly expanded its mandate so that "half of the sites on the list are not related to child porn and include a slew of online poker sites, YouTube links, regular gay and straight porn sites, Wikipedia entries, euthanasia sites, websites of fringe religions such as satanic sites, fetish sites, Christian sites, the website of a tour operator and even a Queensland dentist."
Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, dug up the blacklist after ACMA added several Wikileaks pages to the list following the site's publication of the Danish blacklist.
He said secret censorship systems were "invariably corrupted", pointing to the Thailand censorship list, which was originally billed as a mechanism to prevent child pornography but contained more than 1200 sites classified as criticising the royal family.
"In January the Thai system was used to censor Australia reportage about the imprisoned Australian writer Harry Nicolaides," he said.
"The Australian democracy must not be permitted to sleep with this loaded gun. This week saw Australia joining China and the United Arab Emirates as the only countries censoring Wikileaks."
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Michael Cera/Jersey Shore *OFFICIAL* MTV Youth In Revolt Promos
Michael Cera visits the cast of the " Jersey Shore. " Hilarity is promised to ensue watching this clip.
Pirate Bay Loses A Lawsuit; Entertainment Industry Loses An Opportunity
Well, the verdict has come down in the trial against The Pirate Bay in Sweden, and it appears The Pirate Bay has been found guilty and each of the defendants has been sentenced to a year in jail and told to pay $3.6 million in damages (less than a third of what the entertainment industry asked for). There will be appeals, of course, so this particular ruling isn't entirely meaningful, even if it's quite disappointing. The trial did certainly include plenty of theatrics, but the core question was an important one: should a site that is, effectively, a search engine, be liable for the content that is linked from that search engine, given that it hosted no infringing works itself. It is in many ways, the same question that was raised in the US in the Grokster case, where the Supreme Court sided with the entertainment industry. It looks like this initial ruling is similar, and that's troubling for the same reasons. The idea that a toolmaker can be liable for the actions of its users should trouble everyone -- especially when the tools have plenty of legitimate uses as well.
But, of course, what happened post Grokster should give you an indication of what will happen here: basically, the entertainment industry will gleefully declare victory, and make statements about how this is a major victory against "piracy." But, in actuality, the exact opposite of that will occur. Unauthorized file sharing continues (or even increases) and it becomes that much more difficult for the legacy industries to win back customers and embrace these new, useful and efficient tools of distribution and promotion. It's a classic case of winning the battle and losing the war. The ultimate problem, of course, is that the entertainment industry still (amazingly) thinks this is a legal issue, not a business model one. It can win as many legal battles as it wants, but in thinking it's a legal issue, it will never recognize how its business models need to change.
The folks behind The Pirate Bay insist that the site will live on and the verdict means nothing, but it may create an inconvenience for users of the site -- especially if other nations use this as yet another excuse to ban the site. The folks this will hurt the most are those content creators who actually do value The Pirate Bay -- such as best selling author Paulo Coehlo, who found that "pirating" his own book helped him tremendously, and who recently spoke out about what a useful tool The Pirate Bay has been. It's a shame that because some big lumbering companies are unable to change their business models that they get to use the legal system to disrupt and annoy those who have figured it out.
In the meantime, one amusing bit that came out as this story was breaking... one of the defendants, Peter "brokep" Sunde, was informed about the verdict early, and joked that: "It used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release." So... does that mean whoever leaked the verdict is guilty of piracy?
But, of course, what happened post Grokster should give you an indication of what will happen here: basically, the entertainment industry will gleefully declare victory, and make statements about how this is a major victory against "piracy." But, in actuality, the exact opposite of that will occur. Unauthorized file sharing continues (or even increases) and it becomes that much more difficult for the legacy industries to win back customers and embrace these new, useful and efficient tools of distribution and promotion. It's a classic case of winning the battle and losing the war. The ultimate problem, of course, is that the entertainment industry still (amazingly) thinks this is a legal issue, not a business model one. It can win as many legal battles as it wants, but in thinking it's a legal issue, it will never recognize how its business models need to change.
The folks behind The Pirate Bay insist that the site will live on and the verdict means nothing, but it may create an inconvenience for users of the site -- especially if other nations use this as yet another excuse to ban the site. The folks this will hurt the most are those content creators who actually do value The Pirate Bay -- such as best selling author Paulo Coehlo, who found that "pirating" his own book helped him tremendously, and who recently spoke out about what a useful tool The Pirate Bay has been. It's a shame that because some big lumbering companies are unable to change their business models that they get to use the legal system to disrupt and annoy those who have figured it out.
In the meantime, one amusing bit that came out as this story was breaking... one of the defendants, Peter "brokep" Sunde, was informed about the verdict early, and joked that: "It used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release." So... does that mean whoever leaked the verdict is guilty of piracy?
Making classic games, in the 21st Century
I think classic titles such as Metroid should be left in the closet as they have already been perfected. There was an 8-bit release of MegaMan released and it was amazing. But adding 3-D graphics to a classic is just not right.
Monday, September 13, 2010
How to Make a Lego Snow Trooper Mini Figure
Here we have an incredibly in-depth tutorial on how to make a " Legao Snow Trooper. " It's not as easy as you would think.
Battle of The Immortals - Fallen Darkness [BOI Gameplay Guide]
A great tutorial for an instance in " Battle of the Immortals. " - This tut shows how to do a three man rush with Area of Effect pets in a medium level instance. This video explains everything there is to know about the instance, and all the mechanics surrounding this instance. Have fun watching !
Battle of The Immortals - Lava Heights Elite [BOI Gameplay Guide]
Another great instance tutorial in " Battle of the Immortals. " Once again, this is a high level instance, but is still great to watch, and have you prepared for when you are ready to take on this instance.
Battle of The Immortals - Pyramid Hallucination [BOI Gameplay Guide]
This instance is mainly aimed for the higher level players ( around 85+ ) but is still a good instance tutorial to watch, and be prepared for when you run through for the first time.
Battle of The Immortals - World Tree Garden [BOI Gameplay Guide]
Another great instance tutorial for " Battle of the Immortals. " - Check it out.
Battle of The Immortals - Pit of Reckoning [BOI Gameplay Guide]
Not only am I into old school games, but I also enjoy playing MMORPG's. This one is " Battle of the Immortals. " Made by the company " Perfect World Entertainment. " Take a few minutes to check this video out and sign up to play the game.
I get no benefit from you signing up. Just spreading the word about a great game.
BP Spills Coffee
No doubt you have seen this before, and I'm definitely too late in posting this, but it's still hilarious months onwards.
This describes how British Petroleum deals with the oil spill down to a " T. " - Hilarty is ensured during this clip.
Hip Hop + Violin
This piece of music is amazing. It manages to take the worst genre of music, and seemingly does the impossible and makes it sounds amazing.
Lindsay's dance moves are also a hit, the way she moves, and performs is extra-ordinary.
It does not matter if you don't like either classical, or hip-hop music. You will love this.
Lindsay's dance moves are also a hit, the way she moves, and performs is extra-ordinary.
It does not matter if you don't like either classical, or hip-hop music. You will love this.
Song of Time on Ocarina
Sifting through a few youtube videos, I stumbled upon this master piece. It's perfect in every way, shape and form.
With this clip you'll be taken back to one of Zelda's most famous pieces that have ever been composed and is by far the most easily recognized composition.
Visiting Vintage Stock
There is nothing that I love more than being able to be taken back to the past, and re-live my most favoured child-hood memories. I am 99% positive that I am not the only adult that still has their old Nintendo still in the closest, and makes love to it every now and again.
Here is a walk-through of the franchise known as " Vintage Stock. " - I enjoyed watching this clip.
Here is a walk-through of the franchise known as " Vintage Stock. " - I enjoyed watching this clip.
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