Blog Archives
Take a Couple of Minutes to Protect Your Rights
If you haven’t heard about ACTA, you’ve obviously been cut off from the world with no interaction whatsoever. However if this is the case, let me clarify: ACTA, in essence, will censor the Internet, and will prohibit many websites such as Megaupload.com (which has already been shut down, FYI) and will not allow you to exercise your basic human right to view the internet without governmental interference. If you do truly care about your rights, please sign this petition on the official White House website that tells government officials that the people do not wish to be censored.
It honestly takes a couple of minutes of your time, and I promise you that down the road that one e-signature will be worth your weight in gold when you are allowed to exercise your rights freely.
I also have a few other links that I will be posting below, which all relate to Anonymous or your rights in some way. Anonymous fights for your rights, which are more valuable than anything else, because you cannot enjoy life without them.
If you’re unsure of who Anonymous is, then I, once agian, assume that you’ve been living somewhere in a dark cave that has no access to the outside world (only a joke). Here is a WikiLink that roughly explains what Anonymous is. I also recommend that you scavenge for more Youtube videos and perform more Google searches, while the law still allows it…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)
Very true and reliable source for Anonymous news:
http://youranonnews.tumblr.com/
Video showing that Anonymous (and the people) are a force to be reckoned with:
Dear PIPA and ACTA, I Hate You
Piracy is an enormous problem, without a doubt. So I’m just going to jump into things right off the bat and begin by stating something that I haven’t heard anyone say so far regarding PIPA and ACTA: There are numerous other problems that are exponentially worse. Sure, piracy is a crime, but if it gets “omitted,” will that change the world for the better? I can, off of the top of my head, dish out a list of better causes that drops to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
1. Solve world hunger
2. Shelter the homeless
3. Solve global warming issues
4. Stop aids
5. Stop breast cancer
6. Stop any disease
7. Increase literacy rates
8. Stop oil starvation
9. Population control
10. Solve poor/rich distribution of wealth
This, I will not deceive you, is a list conjured from a pile of rubbish I thought up in thirty seconds. Although all of the above can be debated widely, the point is nonetheless clear: THERE ARE NUMEROUS AMOUNTS OF GREATER PROBLEMS THAN PIRACY!
Now, let me begin with the comparisons. There is a vast array of countries that prohibit piracy, and America is one of them (obviously). Now, my question to you, the reader, is “what is the only major country that piracy is not frowned upon?” Allow me to give you a hint or two: It’s a world superpower, it’s located in Asia, and over 95% of the goods sold in America derive from there. That’s right, you’ve guessed it! China!
Amazingly, real copies of things are harder to find than burnt ones! If one were to walk into a video store and attempt to browse their selection, you could find any movie without a doubt. Why? Because everything is burned, my good friend! Every movie you could possibly imagine, burned on a previously blank DVD that is now titled with a sharpie. Same goes for video games, programs, and just about any other form of data. What’s more amazing is that if the price is put into equivalent of the United States economy, the average movie would only cost you a whopping fifty cents! That’s right, the latest and greatest for only half of a dollar. Prices vary depending on how big the file is and how difficult it was to burn; still, the most expensive piece of data (if applied to our economy, once again) would be no more than five dollars.
Now, could you even possibly imagine how excellent it would be if you were only asked to dish out fifty cents for the newest blockbuster hit? Well I’d say that you don’t need to pirate whatsoever, because data doesn’t cost ridiculous amounts. Doesn’t it chafe you at least the tiniest bit knowing that a Chinese citizen only spends eight minutes out of his minimum-wage paycheck to purchase the newest release while you work for three plus hours to buy the “original” copy of that same exact movie? I assume it does. And the list doesn’t end there! Xbox 360 games, PS3 games, PC games, all programs, operating systems, and just about anything else you can imagine, all for under five dollars.
China, considered to be one of the most communist and controlled countries on Earth, condones piracy while America, said to be one of the freest and most prosperous countries in the world, does not? My fellow reader, if there is one thing I ask of you it is that you at least consider the possibility of betrayal by the American system and that you will also consider making a stand for yourself.
Long live free-world.
There’s Nothing Like The First
Have you ever read a book or watched a movie that had a truly deep effect on you? I’m sure everyone has, and I’m also sure that everyone says the same thing to themselves after reading or viewing it: “I wish I could be experiencing this for the first time again.”
We, as people, feel attached to feelings and experiences over anything else. You watch your favorite movie, and the one thing you’d want more than anything is to watch it again for the first time. It’s clearly logical that you can only watch something once for the first time. It’s a sad truth.
My favorite movie is Fight Club, and every single time I watch it, I wish I could be watching it for the first time. If you’ve ever repeated something that you’ve enjoyed, you desperately wish that you were experiencing it from the very beginning. And although there is no possible way to make it like the primaries and remembering it, there are some actions to take so that what you’ve done lasts a lifetime.
Remembrance. Don’t forget what it felt like by making some form of personal goals, beliefs, or life lessons that you’ve set or gained from your specific encounter. With Fight Club, for example, there are many quotes and dogmas that I take into account when I go about my daily routines, my normal life. Let what you have gained from your experience change you for better or for worse, because you might regret it if you don’t.
Let’s not forget about basic life experiences, though. Often times, we observe something that is nature at its most random, and will most likely never occur again before your eyes or ears. It can be anything from a god coming down from the heavens and talking to you, or something as simple as an eagle diving down and snatching a squirrel in your presence.
Although I highly doubt anyone has seen a god, that is of minimal importance. What is relevant is whether the observer truly believes that he was lying in his god’s presence and what sort of impact it had on him. From this, he may gain certain principles and opinions that will most likely shape the rest of his life according to what had happened to him; same goes for the smaller stuff. Just as well with the eagle snatching the squirrel, one may expand this minimal observation and press certain ideologies to his life. He might say, “The world might be more vicious than I thought;” In correlation, it might confirm certain speculations involving previous encounters: “The world is vicious, just like I guessed before.”
Every little thing that one does can have the biggest impact on him. It’s all about perception—the way one sees things. Each thing can simply be defined by how it appears or what it obviously means, or that same thing can have a deep philosophical meaning to which one can learn a life lesson from. It’s a big world, even in its tiniest specs.
Internet – How it affects us.
In the past 20 years, the internet has changed the common man’s life in more ways than previously imagined. Earlier restricted only for communications between Military Agencies and Research Organisations, today we see avid internet-users of all age-groups throughout the world. This exponential growth is in itself a testament to the success and popularity of the internet.
Recent years have seen a huge jump in terms of the amount of services accessible on the internet. We are also seeing a majority of companies reaching out to their customers through the internet. The internet has helped us achieve feats in many sectors which were earlier thought to be impossible. Who would have thought that you could talk to a friend sitting in another country at the touch of a button? Or packaging companies could deliver international parcels within the accuracy of the hour? Or socialize with our friends even without leaving the house? The list is endless. The internet is a tool for development – both personal and industrial.
The internet’s impact on a person’s life is not superficial. It affects the lifestyle and behavior of individuals to their very core. This can have both – a positive as well as negative impact on the users of the internet. I have tried my best to explain these impacts under the following points:
- Kids and Teenagers
- Internet access in every household has led to a surge in the number of kids and teenagers who use the internet. No longer do kids need their grandma to help them learn the alphabet or the numbers – they can do it on their own, at the touch of a button – not only do they see the alphabet, but pre-recorded voice even pronounces it for them. No longer do children need books with sketches on them – the internet is filled with interactive websites which respond to each touch of the user. I think that soon the internet would be a more popular way of teaching kids as it preserves the spirit of the book and combines it with interactivity of the web – animations, videos, links, etc.
- Internet is now an in-separable part of many teenager’s lives. Not only does it eliminate the need of encyclopedias or dictionaries, it enhances the education experience. Since we are looking at the impact of internet as a whole, it would be foolish not to talk about non-educational experiences. The internet acts as a socializing hub – sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, GMail, Hotmail are the new rage among teens. Emails have obliterated the letters. Waiting for a friend’s reply for a week is only heard in bedtime stories of our parents. Virtual “Walls” have replaced verbal communication. Instead of sitting with friends and marveling at old photographs, we now upload it on “FaceBook” and wait for the critics to comment on it, wait for the number of “likes” to increase. Not that this a bad thing – infact, throughout history many people have either opposed development or favored it. I fall in the latter category. But in trying to keep up with all the status updates, notifications, comments, tweets, emails and what-not, most children are wasting their constructive time on not-so-important-in-the-long-run activities.
What do you think? How has the internet affected you? Has it changed you in some way or the other? Tell me about it. Comment 🙂
PS. I’ll be adding more categories in different posts about how I think the internet has affected other sections of the population. This post marks my comeback to the Underground. *The Original iPhone Exploiter – Soon coming up with OS 4.0 unlock jailbreak for 2G (old/new), 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4*
We are the Change in this Small World
Over the past few months, lots of people have come across this blog and said what they needed to say here, which include stories, questions, flames, spam, comments, more questions, sarcastic comments, humorous posts, and thanks.
When this blog started back in April 2007, I didn’t think much of anything really. When I finished college and started working, I had more time to really fine tune the blog, and setup some personal goals article wise. I have hit perhaps 60% of what I wanted to write personally, and then with the addition of Voltaire we were able to increase our viewership even more!
Firefox and The New World Record!
Well, as of today, June 2nd, 2008, Mozilla has set a new Guiness world record for most software downloads in 24 hours. Today, Guiness sent the official confirmation that Firefox 3 did indeed set a world record. According to the Mozilla Blog: “ From 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008, 8,002,530 people downloaded Firefox 3!” As most of us know, Mozilla’s servers were overloaded with downloads the first few hours, but things picked up from there.
As of now, Firefox is being used by more than 180 million people in over 230 countries. Firefox definately is a quality product, so IE users, get on the band wagon before the mob comes to burn your house!
[Misc. Monday] If World War II Was an RTS…
Hey everyone. I was trawling the web and by chance, I found a funny army joke.
So, what would’ve happened if WWII really had been a real time strategy? Check it out! (Warning: You might need to brush up on your WWII info when reading)
—————-
If World War Two had been an online Real Ttime Strategy game, the chat room traffic would have gone something like this.
*Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: **** Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler[AoE]: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got **** to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: stfu
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do **** til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k?
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler[AoE]: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bullsh1t u fags im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler[AoE]: wtf
Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler[AoE]: thats bullsh1t u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler[AoE]: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler[AoE]: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: WTF u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler[AoE]: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: haha
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o **** i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler[AoE]: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right ***** im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh sh1t help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler[AoE]: WTF eisenhower hax hes killing all my sh1t
Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny~tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun cocksocker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler[AoE]: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler[AoE]: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler[AoE] has been eliminated.*
benny~tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler[AoE]: WTF i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler[AoE] has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: WTF my teammates are n00bs
benny~tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this sh1t im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: sh1t now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoyl****!
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bull**** u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for ****
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny~tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny~tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny~tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all fags
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o sh1t!
*paTTon has left the game.*