Any old irony

Modded Again

I write this moments after posting a comment on Comment is Free. I shall reproduce it here as I doubt it will get published any time soon.

Dear CiF Mods,

I posted links to four photos that I own the copyright to and are licensed under a very liberal method that actively encourages people to download and use in any way they choose and what happens? You censor my post. I’m sure that in a discussion about copyright issues this has an irony that is not lost on most readers.

So, dear Mods, was it because some of the content contained mildly satirical criticism of Lady Mandelson? Too many links? Is it because I is black? I’d love to know.

By the way, before you deleted my post over 3,500 people got to see and/or download the images so it was all a bit of a stable/horse/bolt situation anyway. Rather like Mandy’s disconnection policy. Oh look, bonus irony.

Even more ironic is that there are plenty of comments on this article that actively explain how to circumvent Her Ladyship’s new policy and avoid the long arm of her law. It really does make me wonder why my post got removed.

A question too for Lady Mandy’s special friend David Geffen. Is that a politician in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?

Supreme scum

From The Register:

UK Supremes turn down McKinnon hearing

The newly-established UK Supreme Court has refused Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon leave to appeal to the court against his extradition to the US.

The legal setback follows failed appeals to the House of Lords and European Court of Human Rights last year. In July two senior judges rejected judicial reviews into the handling of McKinnon’s case by the Crown Prosecution Service and Home Office.

Full story at The Register.

Gary’s campaign site.

Dear UK Supreme Court,

I hope you bought a very large supply of lubricant as the entire country is now bending over and ready to be raped by our so-called allies in the USA. This is a dark day for justice.

Yours,

Johnny Lilburne.

BBC Wildlife Finder

BBC Wildlife Finder

BBC puts wildlife footage online

Clips from 30 series made available on BBC website with introduction by David Attenborough

Chimpanzees ambushing and eating colobus monkeys, great white sharks leaping clean out of the ocean to catch their prey and the first footage of an entire snow leopard hunt are just some of the wonders of nature made available by the BBC as it opens up its vast archive of wildlife footage online today.

But not if you’re outside of the UK. Auntie, why do you do this?

Fuck the BBC’s geolocation prohibition. Now where did I leave that proxy server with the UK exit point?

Full article in The Guardian.

Dear Lily…

“It’d blatantly be a major fail
if they patented the major scale”

Utter genius. How to prick a hypocrite’s bubble in a couple of minutes; Dan Bull tears Lily Allen a new one.

Dan Bull at MySpace.

Sent to the naughty corner

Sent to the naughty corner by the moderators at CiF

“Yet I fear such a paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” – Thomas Jefferson

The Mod Squad

All I said was…

Bono, Kissinger, Brown and Ehud Barak all in the same room at the same time in New York. Where’s a hijacked airliner when you need one?

Comment is free but a sense of humour is obviously an extra the Grauniad can’t afford.

A politican that gets the Internet

Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party)

Internet service providers have won the backing of colleagues around the world in their loathing for a man apparently set on hindering the infrastructure he is supposed to enhance. The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy recently won formal recognition for his unpopularity in the industry as Internet Villain of the Year. Some individuals felt strongly enough about the issue that last week they attacked the websites of both the minister and the Prime Minister. Computer users, particularly the more tech-savvy—and a special mention must go to the Whirlpool website forums for fostering real debate of the issue—hold the minister as an object of contempt and ridicule, particularly for his bumbling attempt to impose controls over the medium which is ultimately setting the world free. The internet delivers power to the world’s people. It is an ally of all who cherish freedom, individual liberty and true democracy. That is why it is the enemy of authoritarian rulers in countries such as China, Burma and Iran—and, it seems, of the Australian Labor Party.

Read the rest at OpenAustralia

At last

Alan Turing Memorial Plaque

The Prime Minister has apologised for the “appalling” persecution of World War II code breaker Alan Turing.

Gordon Brown’s words of contrition came in response to a petition on the No 10 website calling for a posthumous government apology to the wartime hero and computing pioneer. The petition has received thousands of signatures in recent weeks, gathering the support of celebrities including writer Ian McEwan and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

Read further at El Reg.

Plaque image source.

Richard Rothwell RIP

Richard Rothwell, dedicated campaigner for Free Software and liberty.

Stop Blair!

“We, European citizens of all origins and of all political persuasions, wish to express our total opposition to the nomination of Tony Blair to the Presidency of the European Council.”

Read more at Stop Blair!

The Birth of the Levellers

Bugger, I missed this one. Seagreen Society sums things up perfectly.

Happy birthday, Levellers everywhere.

Just sex and nothing else

Just sex and nothing else

All the highlights from the Confederations Cup in South Africa – just sex and nothing else. EPG textual malfunction.

Moderated

moderated

“To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.” – Aleister Crowley

Levellers

The Levellers' Memorial Plaque

Levellers.

Blackout Europe

Internet access is not conditional

Everyone who owns a website has an interest in defending the free use of Internet… so has everyone who uses Google or Skype… everyone who expresses their opinions freely, does research of any kind, whether for personal health problems or academic study … everyone who shops online…who dates online…socialises online… listens to music…watches video…

The internet as we know it is at risk because of proposed new EU rules going through end of April. Under the proposed new rules, broadband providers will be legally able to limit the number of websites you can look at, and to tell you whether or not you are allowed to use particular services. It will be dressed up as ‘new consumer options’ which people can choose from. People will be offered TV-like packages – with a limited number of options for you to access.

Read the full text at BlackoutEurope and then tell your friends and family about it.