Tag Archives: Geek

SOPA, PIPA Internet censorship and other crappy things.

Posted on by
Reply

http://sopastrike.com/

Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18th, my site, along with thousands of others will be going dark in protest of the legislation the US is attempting to pass. They claim it’s to stop copyright infringement. The reality is, it’s just censorship. Of all the times I’ve seen screaming about censorship on the internet over the years, this is the time to scream, kids. Private companies can censor you on their playground if they want. THIS is the U.S. Federal government censoring you… THIS is the one that is illegal!

As an American Citizen, I am furious at this attempt, and rock solid in my belief that this legislation is not only unnecessary, but ineffectual, unconstitutional, and based on the false premise that internet “piracy” is harmful to the U.S. and world economies.

As a citizen of the Internet for more than fifteen years, I am furious. The Internet cannot be under the jurisdiction of any one nation and remain the free marketplace of ideas, art, information and social interaction it wants to be. For years, we have tut-tutted at China and other nations for censoring the internet… and now the US wants to do the same, with the major difference being that vast numbers of services that are now part of the infrastructure of the internet itself are based in US Jurisdictions.

This is the problem. We need to get the Internet out of the jurisdiction of any one nation.

Perhaps Google should consider moving its corporate headquarters to Antarctica? Or maybe buy a small island in the Pacific?  Queen Elizabeth, will you sell St. Barts to the Internet if we put enough money in your paypal account? Or maybe we could buy out Haiti and the Dominican Republic together, or Nigeria… free the web, stop hunger and bring peace to a nation, in a single blow!

I don’t know.

But what I do know is that nobody should have the right to decide for everybody. Go dark.

http://sopastrike.com/ 

 

We Are SO Breaking Up.

Posted on by
Reply
Amazon and I have a long and (hopefully mutually) cozy relationship.  I’m pretty sure they were my first steady etailer.  I can navigate their cluttered site with the same ease that I can find the precise lipstick I’m after in the bottom of my purse. Familiarity has never bred contempt… just the occasional irritation. Only rarely have they failed me, and then usually in matters of international shipping. They hosted my wishlist for years, and my wedding registry (and no, I have not forgotten the less-than-enthusiastic response to that) and sent birthday gifts to my little brother for me.

But their new Kindle Lending Library they have cast a decided chill over our relationship. One not likely to go away unless they recant their offenses.

Dont get me wrong. I love books. I love the Internet. I love gadgets and gizmos and shiny machines that go PING! So eReader? Yeah, natural thing. I didnt think I’d fall as deeply in love as I did, but there it is. And Kindle was there. But Kindle… well, Kindle didnt want me to talk to other booksellers, or even speak their languages, not even ePub. It had to be Kindle, and only Kindle.

Now, Im a brand loyal kinda gal. Really. Ask Western Digital, or Hellmann’s Mayonaise. They can vouch for the faithfullness of my love. I even brought them to Canada with me. But I cant be forced into that kind of loyalty. It doesnt mean I dont love you, I just need my space. So with a touch of regret I bought the Sony Touch reader, and have been waving the flag for these little flatpacked libraries ever since. I wont go further than the corner store without mine.

The thing is, I have an older, deeper, steadier love than Amazon. Continue reading →

Sometimes im so smart I astound myself.

Posted on by
Reply

Ok, so Ive had an install of Linux running for a bit now. I’ve been running Kubuntu inside WinBlows as a Wubi install, basically to see if it’s something I can easily get the hang of. I like this OS, it’s not as complicated as Linux used to seem, since Kubuntu and its older brother Ubuntu come with a prepackaged GUI*. Mom, if you’re reading this, give it a try, it’s cool.

So I figure it’s time to make another move ahead and install WoW to the linux virtual drive now that im comfy with using my other basic apps over there. Except, well, WoW is large. Fucking huge actually. And I set up with a fairly modest virtual drivespace. So I dink around with things trying to expand my virtual disk space. But it isnt working right for some reason. I must be missing something.

Finally I see theres another disk showing. I assume the virtual drive finally set up. I tell Kubuntu to move itself over there. Except… err.. that was my storage drive. *wince* In a fit of pique, I uninstall Kubuntu. Paitence is my middle name I tell you. Fortunately, almost everything is backed up across the network with the exception of a few days worth of spam and some music thats safely stored on my IPod.

Sadly, I cant really let go of windows altogether, since I’ll still need the Adobe Creative suite if the graphics work ever picks up again. I cant really switch to an Open suite, as Lee uses it, and I have to be compatable. So untill Adobe gets the stick out of it’s ass and does something other than say “It’s Windows Software. Deal with it.” Im kinda stuck dual booting.

So now im downloading an iso of the newest Kubuntu release. I’m off to look at how to get dual booting set up on a partitioned drive.

*GUI is the pretty thing with the boxes and buttons that makes Windows go. On these installs it makes Linux go too. With some exceptions. Much like using Win 3.1 where some things simply had to be done from the command line. Yes, im a TechnoGranny who remembers using Win 3.1. Shut up.

I miss blogging.

Posted on by
Reply

I dont write here much anymore. Well done, Dawn, you win today’s Captain Obvious badge.

Part of it is work. I used to be able to blog from the old office. Commenting on my life, the world and the people around me… An almost constant stream of consciousness log of whatever caught my fancy.

I cant do that at my current job… probably wouldn’t be able to even if I had access. The pace is all wrong for it. Before I had hours of slow time, now it’s a heavy enough that I doubt I’d be able to string more than a few sentences together. Then, when I get home, im tired of talking, tired of thinking, just looking for a little quiet, if only in the recesses of my own mind.

Add to that this… disconnectedness.

Like today. I loaded onto my trusty iPod one of my oddball music play lists. An old one, I used to keep burned to cd before, for listening to on the way to work. It’s a crazy mix of old upbeat pop tunes. In the mix is this old tune most folks would only remember as ‘that song, from that Melanie Griffith movie”. Used to be, that listening to that, while weaving through the city streets, I’d feel connected. A tiny cog in the huge machine that I lived and worked and played in, but yes, a cog that helped, in some small way, to make that machine run. I dont get that feeling here.

Even after all these years, my heart beats to a different rhythm than the one that surrounds me here. Sometimes I still feel it pulling at me.

There was hope in it too, because there was always the chance that one could break through the ceiling into managment. Get out of the grind. Make some real money. Make a difference. Not here. Not in this job, maybe not in this city.

Back home, folks rooted for the underdog, not to win the lottery, but to make it to the executive suite by working your ass off. It feels like in this town, you’re expected to work your ass off and just STAY in the rank and file. Never have ambition to get further, never want to. Maybe it’s just the mentality at this particular company, but part of me wants to think that this is how Canadians think, if only because i’m surrounded by it. Maybe that’s not fair, but it feels like that, a lot. I dont mind being dispensible, I mind being wasted. Right now, I dont know if I’m being wasted, I just feel like this is some kind of treadmill that I’m never going to get off of. No way to get up.

I dont mind giving my time and energy and nervous system to a job, but I need to feel like I could possibly get somewhere. I dont feel that here, I just feel like im being punished for going at my work in the spirit intended, rather than the letter. Dead End, despite the recruiting hype.

MOAR TOYS!

Posted on by
1

This will make my third bento box set.

No, I’ve not gone wapanese. really. These things are ridiculously practical really. They let me use up the leftovers, keep eating healthier, since I tend to pack a respectable amount of veggies and avoid fast food.

AND I use almost NO disposable packaging. I even have a Sigg bottle for my desk that I refill from the filtered water cooler, so Im not using PET bottles either.

Lee says I need a new hobby.

(So dont tell him I need the matching spork for this set still.)

 

 

LibraryThing

Posted on by
Reply

YAY, Im signed up on LibraryThing as dsafire. Currently keying in ISBNs, which is probably good practice, and is arguably almost as fast as having a scanner anyway.

Starting with the paperbacks, since that case is stacked four “shelves” deep mostly. And because this case is in the bedroom, so is less available for casual browsing.

:D

Honestly, Ive gotten to the point where I cant keep track anymore. I managed for years, but either my memory is slipping or the Library really HAS gotten out of control.

ETA: After 195 titles, im tired. And thats just the fantasy and sci-fi titles in standard paperback, and a couple of the trades. Owdustyow.

must… have… books…

Posted on by
Reply

Im a serious book person. Anyone who knows me, knows this. My shelves constantly overflow with volumes, all of which I can honestly state that I have read at least once. Many of them I’ve read multiple times. Some I’ve had to actually replace after wearing them out- and a number of those were hardcover editions. Im not a collector, Im a reader!

Being a book person is however an expensive proposition. In my world, new books count as a necessity, like the power and grocery bills, and I budgeted for it accordingly. Until my marriage, I never blinked at dropping $200 in a bookstore. Sure I’d avoid bookshops… I tried to stay away unless I knew something was due out. Or at least avoided the sci-fi, fantasy and biography sections if I did go in with friends. Still. Spendy habit.

You’d think I’d love libraries, wouldnt you?

Actually I hate them.

Continue reading →

Happy New Year

Posted on by
Reply

After yesterday’s big whine post i find Im a good bit more functional today.

Despite this, im not going to do the big year-end roundup thing. Im just not in the mood. But I will wish you all a happy new year, and bestow this simple kitchen-witch’s blessings upon you.

Today i’ve been watching “Steal this film” and it’s sequel, “Steal this film II” via google video. Some interesting points are made regarding Pirate Culture in the second, and IMHO, II is worth the watching. Definitely not the defiant propagandist attitude I expected from these guys, and I am left pleasantly surprised.

I came in through this site, which lists online documentaries on a number of subjects. Worth a flip through, especially for folks like me who tend to move twards the keyboard for entertainment rather than the idiot box. Passive entertainment, but not mind numbing. Me likes.