Michael Geist has a great article and graphics on the current copyright lobbying, and how it originates with only a few players, and by referencing the same documents makes it appear like there is a large consensus. The reality is that the CRIA and CDMPA are behind almost all of the documents. With each report referencing the other reports, it appears to give extra weight to the reports as being from many sources. This is like linking all your web pages to each other to improve your Google rank. Lobby groups need to be disbanded and outlawed.
Copyright Reform and the CRIA Games
June 24th, 2009Finally, Two Girls in a Lightsaber Strip-Fight!
April 9th, 2009Javascript error: DebugNextPageMI is null
February 18th, 2009I found this problem when working with updates to my Firefox installation. When searching through the internet for a fix, a lot of people suggested a plugin problem, but not the plugin in question. In my case, the problem was caused by the Zend Toolbar 2.x being active in Firefox Add-ons. To try this on your machine, follow the steps below to reproduce the problem, then hopefully disabling the Zend Toolbar will correct your error too.
Steps to Reproduce:
1. View/Toolbars/Customize
2. Move Back, Home, Reload, Address Bar and search bar to main menu
3. Restart browser, use something like PHPMyAdmin to prompt with a date box to select a date for MySQL field.
4. Javascript error: DebugNextPageMI is null is displayed.
Actual Results:
Error box occurs with error: DebugNextPageMI is Null. Closing box allows
window to continue to open.
Expected Results:
New window should open without error.
Fanboys Set to be Released in February 6, 2009
November 4th, 2008I Love this Case!
October 15th, 2008Now, here is a Case Mod I want.
Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow
September 30th, 2008According to an article on NASA’s website the Mars Lander has detecting falling snow that is vaporizing before hitting the ground. Canadian researchers are behind the experiment and equipment used to determine this.
From the article:
PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.
A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars has detected snow from clouds about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the spacecraft’s landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground.
“Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars,” said Jim Whiteway, of York University, Toronto, lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix. “We’ll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground.”
RIAA Lying Again
September 24th, 2008The RIAA has constantly said that they are suing file sharers to raise awareness of the piracy issue, and not to seek financial benefits.
The group has said on numerous occasions that its legal campaign against P2P users isn’t about making money—indeed, an industry executive testified during the Jammie Thomas trial that the lawsuits are a money-losing proposition. Instead, the suits are meant, among other things, as a deterrent to copyright infringement and to teach P2P users a lesson.
There is a good article covering the story and the actions of the RIAA.
Bell Mobility now looking to screw customers
September 24th, 2008An internal memo at Bell Mobility has been leaked. In this memo, Bell Mobility is considering interfering with the phone’s GPS receiver to prevent it from being that accurate, unless you subscribe to the service provided by Bell Mobility for GPS use on its phones.
From the Article:
Users of free GPS mapping applications (such as Google Maps or even the included Blackberry Maps application by RIM) will see the time required to establish a GPS lock increase to 2-10 minutes, up from the typical 15-20 seconds usually experienced. Additionally, there is some speculation that the resolution of GPS data will also be reduced to a 1-2.5km range as opposed to the existing 10-25m accuracy currently provided — not exactly useful when trying to find the location for your next meeting downtown in an unfamiliar city.
Time to break up Bell Canada
August 1st, 2008Bell Canada is at it again. The CBC is reporting that Bell Canada is preparing to limit the downloads of the ISPs that purchase wholesale internet service from them. This would restrict the bandwidth they can use, and almost ensure there is no way to differentiate the services.
Bell Canada Inc. is moving to impose download limits on customers of independent internet providers, an act the smaller firms say is designed to eliminate broadband competition and prevent the introduction of new television services.
One of the ISP’s that we all know: TekSavvy
Rocky Gaudreault, president of TekSavvy, said Bell’s proposal was unacceptable because it would eliminate the last way in which the smaller wholesale ISPs can differentiate their services.
It is time that the the Internet backbone connections in Canada were leveled away from business and made available for a common fee to everyone. Bell would lose their lines, and Rogers would lose the cable infrastructure. For a reasonable fee and profit, companies could then lease these lines and provide services to Canadians. You could get your choice of cable provider, not be forced into one by where you live.
If you want DSL internet, then pick a supplier that is leasing the space and go with their services. Let the free market economy determine who wins. Do not allow the providers of the service to own the underlining infrastructure. Bell’s telephone lines were mostly pushed out when they were controlled as a Crown Corporation, but Rogers has built their own. Pay them a reasonable fee, or split the service from the main company into a new carrier, one for cable, one for copper telephone lines, and set the profits at a reasonable level and have an upper price cap. They can complete for market dominance by lowering prices to see who provides services on which technology. Expanding the offerings would also be included and can have reasonable rates of return built in.
It is time to return the Internet and the access to it to Canadians.
Water on Mars is confirmed
July 31st, 2008It has finally happened, the Mars Phoenix rover has confirmed the existence of water on Mars.
“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”
