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Yes, I have neglected this blog of late. A few more posts will be appearing in the near future.

oooooooooooooo exciting.

Freedom and Liberty - actually defending them:

Net censorship already having a chilling effect

For the full story and associated links:

Net censorship already having a chilling effect

Before the Government’s mandatory filter is even in place, the potential chilling effect of even the current net censorship regime was felt today when Whirlpool’s hosting provider received a take-down notice from ACMA because of a page that links to a another site on the current ACMA blacklist. Given the steep penalties, up to $11,000 per day, it’s hard to fault the host and Whirlpool for taking this seriously and complying.

It may come as a surprise to a few that Australia’s internet is already censored like this. Under the current scheme, when ACMA receives a complaint about a website, they determine whether it should be prohibited by subjecting it to analysis under the Classification Board’s classification regime. Material that would be refused classification, rated X-18+, or rated R-18+ (when not age-protected) is added to a blacklist provided to filter vendors. When offending material is hosted in Australia, however, ACMA has the power to compel the site or its hosts to remove the offending pages. More information on the current blacklist can be found in EFA’s summary.

Of course, the current regime turns out to be merely the tip of the iceberg as the system expands and we move into the era of mandatory filtering conducted by ISPs against all Australian internet users.

The page linked to on Whirlpool, which can be found here (warning: graphic content) is itself controversial, as it is from an anti-abortion web site. This demonstrates not only that the blacklist targets a wider range of material than child abuse (where the Minister’s rhetoric has been focused) but also that the lines between art, obscenity and political speech are not as bright and clear as politicians would have us imagine. The initial complaint that caused the site to be blacklisted was made by a Whirlpool user, and discussion there was clearly within a political context - a discussion of censorship itself. Because of the high penalties, web and forum hosts are going to rush to comply even when they might have a case that the material was incorrectly classified, taken out of context, or was merely a link and does not constitute prohibited material. Viewing or possession RC content is not in itself illegal unless the content falls afoul of some other statute, such as those governing child-abuse material.

Despite the Minster’s (ridiculous) assertions that he means well and we should take it on faith that the filter will be effective and benign, this latest episode demonstrates how serious run-ins with the censors can be, that it does not only happen to purveyors of the ‘filth’ politicians rail against. These sorts of incidents will multiply as mandatory filtering is introduced, more controversial content is prohibited, and mirroring, linking and circumvention become common.

Hopefully ACMA’s heavy-handed action will also demonstrate the futility of censoring a medium where web pages spring up by the thousands every second and information is copied at a furious pace.

Another hilarious episode of... 'Why I am an Athiest'...

Indian toddler marries dog to stop tiger attack

Posted Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:49pm AEDT

A group of Indian tribals have married off a toddler to a female dog in eastern India in a bid to prevent his predicted death at the hands of a tiger, according to a report.

The ceremony at a Hindu temple in Orissa state's Jajpur district was conducted with all the rituals observed at traditional weddings, including a dowry for the bride.

The dog sported two silver rings and a silver chain, the UNI news agency reported.

Parents of the groom, one-year-old Sangula, were advised to arrange the marriage when they noticed a tooth growing from their infant son's upper gum, which is considered a bad omen.

Community elders believed the growth would lead to the boy being killed in a tiger attack - a fate preventable, according to tribal tradition, by marrying a dog.

Sanrumula Munda, Sangula's father, said the ceremony would not prevent him from marrying properly when he comes of age.

Superstition is still a potent force in tribal and remote communities of India.

Lets hope the marriage is valid without 'consummation'.

Count the Wow. Twice. In the same list.

Microsoft lists 100 reasons to be speechless at windows vista (don't ask what I was looking at today). They provided a handy list from 1 to 100.

Vista is so good, with some features so innovative and great, they just have to be listed twice. While I only spotted 1 double up, I wasn't exactly looking. See the below screenshots about their amazing remote control technology (...wait, I use a remote on my XP laptop... and the remote itself has been around since, what, the 60's, 70's??):



Actually Microsoft couldn't even get this right, hard to be speechless or surprised to discover that Microsoft thinks we are all stupid (or that they are stupid). Everybody knows it is only the rest of the 99% of users who are stupid.