Posts made by raphjd

Now if only I could find a conversion chart for things in other countries.

In the US, you have various types of cream, but which ones do they match in the UK?  Which of the 20 or so types of UK brown sugar is the basic American brown sugar?

Yet other nations that claim to be gay friendly will still give them Billions a year in aid money.

That sounds great.

I've been looking for eating pumpkins, but so far the stores only have the super hard carving ones. 

I delete that crap and put my own message in there explaining why it was rejected.

First of all, I agree with you, approval can take awful long and when something is wrong you get a disapproval message which don't tell the exact reason.

The message should include the reason why it was rejected.

• unless the ratio is already above Power User limit and going skywards > 10 or so

A ratio that high is a bit abusive, unless they are a "power uploader".

I understand that, but that's not what I meant.

The files are there, even though I deleted them.

When you delete a file, it should disappear from the hard drive screen and show up in the recycling bin.  In my case, the files are still showing on my hard drive and not in the recycling bin.

In the 5 years since the article was written, a lot has changed in regards to privacy and search engines.

Laws have been written to prevent many of the abuses and possible future abuses.  Fines have been levied, databases destroyed in a attempt to keep our privacy protected.

Of course most of the new laws are like the stalking and Peeping Tom laws.  They never could think a step ahead, they are always 10 steps behind.

Obama is a worthless piece of shit.  Oh, and did I forget complete liar?!

His Justice Dept compared gay marriage to child fucking, incest and bestiality.

He claims that he must fully enforce DA,DT because it's the law.  Yet he ignores laws he doesn't like.

hXXp://www.queerty.com/anyone-furious-over-obamas-selective-ignoring-of-laws-that-arent-dadt-20090810/

If you look at the list of people that downloaded a torrent, you will see that some people are listed many, many times.

I remember 1 torrent where the uploader was the only one listed as snatching {finished downloading} the torrent and he was listed nearly 200 times. He had just changed from one client to another and suddenly this happened.  Once he switched to uTorrent {per my recommendation} he quit having the problem.

hXXp://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=1703

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has publicly slammed deputy Leader of the Labour party, Harriet Harman, for failing to address his concerns about the Equality Bill.

Two months ago, Tatchell formally addressed three main aspects of the forthcoming legislation - harassment clause exclusions, protections for gender reassignment and faith school exemption – in a letter to Harman's office.

Yet, despite reminders and an additional response request from PinkPaper.com, the questions remain unanswered.

"The government is ignoring all requests to explain why its Equality Bill explicitly denies lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people protection against harassment," he said.

"Protection is offered on the grounds of race, gender and disability, but not on the grounds of sexual orientation or transgender identity. Why are we excluded? It is time Labour gave us an explanation.

"I wrote to the Minister for Women & Equalities, Harriet Harman, nearly two months ago. Despite reminders, she has failed to offer any answers. Her stonewalling is disrespectful and disappointing. It is an insult to the whole lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to refuse to explain why we are excluded from this legislation.

"These exclusions are not accidental omissions. They are explicitly written into the Equality Bill."

At the time of going to press, Harman's office failed to comment.

This is from the Labour party that claims to be the only party that cares about GLBTs.

You may have read some of my rants on Labour and their bullshit civil unions.

hXXp://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=1704

America's Equality Forum organisation is requesting that Alan Turing be posthumously knighted for his efforts during World War II.

"Alan Turing is one of the most important figures of the 20th century," Malcolm Lazin, executive director of Equality Forum, told Advocate.com. "Despite his exceptional accomplishments, homophobia castrated him and led to his suicide. More than an apology is required. Alan Turing deserves to be posthumously knighted by the Queen."

Having cracked the German enigma code, he was instrumental in ending the second world war early. Despite this, British government chemically castrated him because of his homosexuality.

The new plea comes just weeks after Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologised on the government's behalf. "While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him," Brown said.

He said Turing deserved recognition for his contribution to humankind.

In the statement he said: "So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan's work I am very proud to say: we're sorry, you deserved so much better."

hXXp://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=1708

New HIV test detects virus in one month of infection

Terrence Higgins Trust has begun to offer a new type of rapid result HIV test which can detect the virus just four weeks after the date of infection.

Terrence Higgins Trust has begun to offer a new type of rapid result HIV test which can detect the virus just four weeks after the date of infection.

Previous tests were only reliable three months after exposure to the virus.

The finger prick blood test will be used at THT’s Fastest clinics and results are normally available in approximately 20 minutes. If the test result is positive, staff would always advise another test is taken, just to confirm the diagnosis.

Dr Michael Brady, Medical Director at THT said: “If you’re worried you’ve been exposed to HIV waiting three months for an accurate test result can be agonising.  Technology has now moved on, so we’re able to offer reliable tests earlier. If you think you’ve been at risk or you’re in a high risk group you should consider getting a test. It’s quick, confidential and could put your mind at rest.”

Groups at highest risk of HIV in the UK are Africans and gay men.  Over a quarter of people with HIV don’t know they have it and almost a third of people are diagnosed late, potentially putting their health at risk. Increased testing for HIV is essential to improve these statistics.

hXXp://www.zeropaid.com/news/87058/french-parliament-adopts-final-three-strikes-bill/

Now only judge can order Internet disconnection, but accused still not need be present and have no ability to present or dispute evidence.

The French Parliament has given its final approval to a “three-strikes” bill that will allow authorities to disconnect illegal file-sharers from the Internet after the National Assembly approved it 258-131, a day after the Senate approved it 285-225.

First proposed back in June of last year, the “Creation and Internet” law was later successfully passed before being ruled unconstitutional by the country’s Constitutional Council for the use of the Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Oeuvres et la Protection des droits sur Internet (HADOPI), a new govt agency whose task it would be to sanction those accused of illegal file-sharing.

It concluded that under the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man only a judge should have the power to disconnect individuals from the Internet, arguing that the Internet is essential for the “free communication of thoughts” and therefore full civic participation in a democracy. To curtail basic freedoms will hence require a trial and judge’s order rather than that of a dedicated body (HADOPI).

The new bill, dubbed HADOPI 2, satisfies those concerns by now allowing a judge to make the “third-strike” decision of either disconnecting an Internet user, a fine of up to 300,000 euros ($415,000USD), or a two-year jail sentence.

The problem with HADOPI 2 is that the accused need not be present nor can he submit or dispute evidence when the judge determines whether or not disconnection is warranted. This means that the whole process can occur entirely without the accused ever knowing. That is, until they wake up one morning and find themselves unable to connect to the Internet. This is an obvious violation of basic human rights under which the guarantee of a fair and free trial means having access to the court itself and to all relevant evidence for and against the accused.

“HADOPI 2 is supposed to give Internet users guarantees but it is just a spruced up version of the bill that was rejected by the Constitutional Council,” said Reporters Without Borders . “A new version submitted just days after the original’s rejection, emergency debates, accelerated procedures – everything is being done to deny legislators the time to properly debate a bill that threatens the right to Internet access, a right recognised as fundamental by the European Parliament.”

They also point out that HADOPI 2 doesn’t specify what investigative methods must be used and what kind of evidence must be collected.

“If it is an algorithm, there is every reason to fear it will be poor at distinguishing legal from illegal online activity,” it adds. “A detailed but innocent email exchange with a friend about a movie, for example, could be picked up by the algorithm. Similarly, how do you prove the innocence of someone whose IP address is hijacked for the purposes of illegal downloading, and no trace is left?”

Another interesting point is the fact that HADOPI 2 applies the odd punishment of restricting freedom of expression and communication for ostensibly having abused it. Of what other crimes where freedom of expression and communication are abused, i.e. slander, libel, do we make restrictions in a similar fashion?

The bill now only requires the signature of President Sarkozy to become law – although it could yet face another legal challenge from the Constitutional Council.

Stay tuned.

[email protected]

That is disgraceful.

hXXp://www.zeropaid.com/news/87071/court-spotify-link-makes-pirate-bay-appeal-judge-biased/

Swedish Appeals Court rules lay judge has conflict of interest being that he works for Spotify, a legal P2P music streaming service partly owned by the record companies suing The Pirate Bay.

Last week the case against Swedish BitTorrent tracker site The Pirate Bay heated up with reports that the lay judge for their appeal is employed by Spotify, a legal P2P music streaming service partly owned by the record companies suing it for copyright infringement.

Both The Pirate Bay and the lead attorneys for the music industry agreed that there is a conflict of interest and the Svea Court of Appeal decided to take up the case at their behest.

Today it ruled on the matter and found that his employment as a product developer and holder of stock options in Spotify, which is partially owned by record labels suing The Pirate Bay, “constitute grounds for questioning his impartiality in the mentioned case.”

It also notes that the business model of Spotify - i.e. provision of services which means legally available of copyright material on the Internet – means that he should have some interest in the outcomes of the case.

“These facts are according to the court of appeal such that they together constitute grounds for questioning his impartiality in the mentioned case,” reads a press release from the court. “Therefore, a conflict of interest exists.”

The decision was apparently a unanimous one and cannot be appealed.

It’s already been mentioned how the initial judge in the trial, Judge Tomas Norström, is an active member of several pro-copyright groups, but that after review was decided he was unbiased despite the obvious conflict of interest.

Peter Sunde, former spokesman for The Pirate Bay, didn’t hesitate in first criticizing the fact that once again it appeared they would be denied a free and fair trial, but later mused that a “Spotify-employee might actually not be bad.”

“I don’t know if he’s good or bad, but at least he’s technically very competent,” he added. “That’s probably why Peter Danowsky and Monique Wasted really wants him out of the case. It makes me wonder, maybe there’s something to it.”

“I am trying to get more information about the other people as well. Maybe it’s better to have a technically sane person in the court than one that is just annoyed and wants to sleep and rules whatever way the head judge does?”

It makes me wonder too. I don’t think the record industry would go out of its way to ensure The Pirate Bay, long the bane of existence, gets a fair trial. If it could gain an upper hand in a case with such far reaching consequences I’m sure it wouldn’t hesitate in doing so.

Stay tuned.

[email protected]

This is good news, however, it doesn't address the fact that the trial judge had a massive bias in the case.

3kB per person per torrent is extremely slow.

Imagine if you are trying to upload a dvd 9 at that speed.

If you use uTorrent, you can set it up for your connection speed and it does a pretty good job at seeding on it's own.

The last content change was 2 months ago.

We're thinking about seeing this next weekend.

There must be "top up" type cards in Ireland, like there are in other parts of the world.  They work similar to a credit card.

Then again, you were very explicit, you do not want us to mention that use of cards.  So no idea.

I love Michael Cera.

I can't think of a bad movie that he's done.