As I Drift Off - Talking bollocks (sporadically) since 2008
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June 27, 2010

The Social Network

I'm intrigued by Fincher's latest following this teaser.

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Internet   Movies  
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June 14, 2010

And here we go again...

iPhone 4 preorders start tomorrow. All the unclarity of non-U.S. pricing seems to be very un-Apple though.

And then of course we have this to contend with:

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Tech  
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May 4, 2010

Ah, that old dog attacking the postman excuse...

Fail indeed.

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Humour  
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May 3, 2010

Google Acquires BumpTop

For a reported US$35-40m apparently. I have to question why though. This is not the future of computing. At least I hope not, as the last thing I need is for my computer to start looking like my desk,  i.e. messy.

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Tech  
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April 19, 2010

Biggest Apple Leak In Recent Memory?

Gizmodo is reporting further today on a purportedly leaked next generation iPhone that was discovered in a bar in San Jose. They suspect it has been out in the wild with an Apple employee for testing and left behind by accident (alcohol has that effect!). The images and video are very convincing and I'd frankly be surprised if it wasn't at this point.

Interestingly John Gruber is reporting that this phone may not have been lost and that Apple considers it stolen though. Makes you wonder what hot water Gizmodo may find themselves in if true, as John goes on to say that Gizmodo purchased the phone and knows a bit more regarding its acquisition than they're letting on.

Either way I'm sure Steve is beyond mad at this point!

~ SirFFW

               
Click here to download:
Biggest_Apple_Leak_In_Recent_M.zip (304 KB)

Filed under  //   Tech  
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April 17, 2010

Worst Cable Mess Ever?

"A network cable is unplugged"
Fuck...

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Tech  
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April 14, 2010

The Digital Economy Bill & Lobbying Transparency

One of the big issues that I was unable to write about during my recent internet disconnection was amusingly enough to do with internet disconnection. Unfortunately though it wasn't just some technical difficulty, this was instead the draconian measures proposed as part of the government's Digital Economy Bill, also known as the DEBill. Despite the lack of internet I was actively taking part in the protest against the fast tracking of the bill which was very well managed by the Open Rights Group and 38Degrees.

Despite the overwhelming protest against the contents of the bill, open letters and personal pleas to MP's to debate and scrutinise the flawed legislation in the House of Commons fully, I watched on as did so many as our so-called elected representatives passed the legislation in a mere 7.5 hours over two nights. Most MP's didn't even bother to show up. Only 40 did and in some sections of the "debate" as little as 15 could be seen in the chamber. Debillitated has the full stats for you. In the end a number of MP's could be bothered to turn up for the final vote and it was passed anyway.

What was quite clear is that the music industries lobbyists were all over this particular bill and I can only wonder how much they have spent to get this law passed. You'd quite right to therefore question whether any of the political parties do in fact represent the public and their concerns or whether corporate lobbying is just the next big scandal just waiting to bring British politics into disrepute yet again after the expenses saga.

It's quite clear that we have to demand greater transparency in politics and accountable decision-making. 38Degrees is now campaigning for lobbying transparency and I'd urge as many people as possible to support this campaign so that further repeats of this DEBill mess do not occur. Candidates are currently scrambling ahead of the general election on May 6th. Now is the time to make our thoughts known so I would encourage you to write to your local candidates through the 38Degrees page and ask them to sign the pledge for lobbying transparency.

At the moment, we don't have a right to know who is lobbying the government or how much money they're spending. That's why we need to make it compulsory for lobbyists to open up their activities by introducing a public, mandatory register of lobbyists. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have made commitments to tackle lobbying links in Westminster, but so far the Conservatives have said they will let lobbyists regulate themselves, which won't do enough to sort out the system. Let David Cameron know this isn't acceptable too.

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Internet   Politics  
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April 10, 2010

How Music Works

Urgh, it's been a while since I updated. This has been mainly due to lack of time and then a really shitty experience with BT who were completely incompetent when trying to fix their communications network which disconnected me from the internet for nearly 2 weeks. At this point in time I would just like to say fuck BT and their monopolistic stranglehold on wholesale communications infrastructure which leads to their shitty service.

Lots of stuff to write about and I'll probably do some new posts over the weekend but for now let's calm the mood and see how music works...

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Internet   Music  
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March 19, 2010

Are The Net Police Coming for You?

DJ and presenter Jo Whiley looks at how a proposed new UK law targeting millions of illegal downloaders could mean home broadband use may never be the same again.

Panorama also got the position of all 3 main political parties.

The Government's policy is set out on the Digital Britain website.

The Conservative's statement is as follows:
We will ensure that Britain has the most favourable intellectual framework in the world for innovators and high tech businesses. We recognise the need to tackle digital piracy and make it possible for people to buy and sell digital intellectual property online. That is why we broadly support the measures included in the Digital Economy Bill. However it is vital that any anti-piracy measures promote new business models rather than holding innovation back.

The Liberal Democrat's statement is as follows:
The Liberal Democrats support the creative industries, are concerned about the financial implications of illegal downloading of copyright material and recognise the importance of protecting intellectual property. However, we have opposed - and helped defeat - government proposals (contained in Clause 17 of the original Digital Economy Bill) to have almost unfettered power to act against copyright infringement.
Liberal Democrats, in the Lords, have significantly altered the government's original proposals relating to illegal person to person file sharing. As a result, no action to introduce "technical measures" (whether temporary account suspension, throttling or whatever) can be introduced until;
  1. there is an explicit assumption of innocence
  2. soft measures (letter writing) have been used
  3. an evaluation of their effectiveness has been undertaken
  4. an evaluation of the need for and likely effectiveness of technical measures has been undertaken
  5. consultation has taken place
  6. proposed legislation is brought before parliament for decision
  7. until proved guilty
Lib Dems hope that temporary account suspension as a very last resort will not be required. We hope that the relevant creative industries (music, film and video games) will work more vigorously to develop new business models which will make it easier and more affordable for people to legally access their products and that combined with "soft measures" and effective advertising campaigns against illegal downloading further action will not be required.

We would not support the introduction of temporary account suspension (TAS) unless all the measures outlined above (including the development of new business models by the creative industries) demonstrate that a significant problem continues to exist, that TAS is the only available solution and that appropriate judicial procedures are in place to ensure that people remain innocent until proved guilty.

Liberal Democrats have agreed at their Spring Conference to establish a working party to address these issues. With at least a year before there will be any attempt to introduce "technical measures", this will provide an opportunity for the party to consider the outcome of research into the effectiveness of the early stages of the implementation of the legislation in the Digital Economy Bill.

This is a far from perfect assessment of all the issues but as a 30 minute piece on prime time television it does at least raise awareness of this issue before it is passed into law. The Government want this passed before the general election so if you feel strongly about it do something now! Tell your local MP's that this is an issue for you and will influence your vote in the forthcoming election. The MP's may get money thrown at them by the media industries to support their parties but without our votes they have nothing.

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Internet   Music   War On Govt  
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March 7, 2010

Holy Ground

Just a quick note to highlight that Temporary Residence announced the pre-order for MONO's new live album and DVD last week.

 "Holy Ground: NYC Live With The Wordless Music Orchestra" will be released on 15th April in both CD+DVD and 3xLP+DVD offerings. The DVD contains a complete recording of the 90 minute 10 year anniversary show performed last May in New York. You get the same show on the CD and LP's recorded and mixed by producer Matt Bayles. The CD version does unfortunately cut the song Follow The Map due to size constraints but the vinyl set is the one to go for anyway. Limited to 3,000 copies, it comes packaged in a heavyweight triple-gatefold jacket with 2 further limited colour variations available limited to just 500 copies each. Version 1 will have clear/transparent red/opaque red/black mix and version 2 will have clear/transparent blue/opaque blue/black mix.

You can pre-order this now from Temporary Residence (North America / Worldwide), Conspiracy (Europe), or Human Highway (Japan - CD+DVD only). The CD+DVD will cost you US$12 and the 3xLP+DVD only US$25 from Temporary Residence.

~ SirFFW

Filed under  //   Music  
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