A huffy Canada shuts down ‘Yes Men’

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Byline

Harper has a hissy fit over environmental parody and shuts down 4,500 innocent websites in Germany

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the sheriff is taking down websites

Stung by a satire at the Copenhagen climate conference, Canada’s government has shut down two parody Web sites criticizing the Great White North’s glacial policy on global warming.

In the process, however, it has taken down 4,500 other Web sites that had nothing to do with the prank played two weeks ago at the global climate summit.

The two “offending” sites, developed by “Yes Men” pranksters, announced that Canada would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 40 percent from 1990 levels, and 80 percent by the year 2050.

The “announcement” came as Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government was privately circulating a plan to permit a 165 percent INCREASE in emissions from Alberta’s huge, dirty oil sands project.

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4 Minute Robot Attack Movie Cost $500 to make

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!) 2009

The question is how did they do it?

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Patti Smith on PBS arty but not entertaining

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Stream of consciousness bio-pic leaves my head swimming

Patti Smith dream of life

Steven Sebring’s documentary “Dream of Life” last night on PBS was underwhelming at best and truthfully annoying.

Perhaps it was the hour or I needed more or less mind altering substances in my body but I could not stay with the 2 hour program past 90 minutes.

I should have read the billing more carefully “Patti Smith: Dream of Life is an impressionistic journal of a multi-faceted artist that underscores her unique place in American culture.” PBS.

I am a fan of documentaries, black and white documentaries and have memorized Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back. I am a Canadian raised on the dry documentary style of the National Film Board.

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Anita

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Anita by KK+

By KK+ from Flickr

Disability suit targets University of Tennessee

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Lack of equal access at arena, stadium alleged

By News Sentinel staff, Knoxnews.com

A Tennessee man and a South Florida advocacy group for people with disabilities are suing the University of Tennessee in federal court over what they say is a lack of equal access for disabled people to events held at Thompson-Boling Arena and Neyland Stadium.

Michael McGrath, identified as having muscular dystrophy with limited use of his upper and lower extremities, requires a wheelchair for mobility.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 21 by McGrath, whose hometown is not specified, and Access Now Inc. in U.S. District Court in Knoxville by Birmingham, Ala., attorney Edward Zwilling.

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Leaked Google Nexus One Phone to Launch Jan 5th

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Leaked Nexus One Documents: $530 Unlocked, $180 With T-Mobile

Nexus One landing page

Today is the day for more leaks on the anticipated Google Android phone. It will be launched in San Francisco on January 5th, 2010 according to Seth Gordon.

Beyond the early adopters who want every gizmo released, the real draw of the Nexus One will be Google’s ability to delivery the variety of integrated Internet services like Google real time search, maps, street view and Near Me Now.

“It will be sold for $529.99 unsubsidized. That is actually less than an iPhone at $199 if you concede that AT&T is paying Apple (and you are subsequently paying them pack) $450 for the iPhone 3GS.

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Federal Minister Finlay’s Disability Report Bad News for PEI

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

PEI excludes seniors with disabilities from supports while Federal government points to growing problem

Social Services and Seniors Minister Doug Currie misplaced 8,900 Islanders with disabilities over 65

PRLog – The new Federal report “Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2009” points to an increasing rate of disability among aging Canadians. PEI recently ignored seniors with disabilities in its review and excludes them from disability supports.

The overall rate of disability among Canadians jumped from 12.4% in 2001 to 14.3% in 2006. Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finlay’s report “Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities 2009″ attributes that to the aging Canadian population.

The statistics from the 2006 Statistics Canada survey show the percentage of senior Canadians with disabilities rose to 43% of Canadian seniors in 2006. More than 2 out of five seniors have a disability.

The report says people with disabilities have needs related to assistive devices like wheelchairs and hearing aids, home modifications, caregivers and help with everyday activities, transportation and access to information.

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Just Like a Woman by Charlotte Gainsbourg

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Breathy, soft and almost inaudible

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Lips of an angel

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Byline

Downloading is now – Hits have traction and you want them now not later

Hinder Lips of an Angel

By Bob Lefsetz

“Honey why are you calling me so late?
It’s kinda hard to talk right now”

“Rolling Stone” got one thing right. They declared Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” song of the decade.

I remember exactly where I heard it. I remember coming home and going straight to the computer and stealing it. (At that point you couldn’t buy it, and even Jamie Cullum steals music

Ahmet Ertegun said a hit record was something you heard on the radio in bed that made you jump up, put on your clothes and run to the all night record shop to buy.

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Jamie Cullum: I Download Music Illegally Too

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Byline

Says best way to fight P2P is by offering services that are “so sophisticated and so comprehensive that people don’t need to download stuff for free.”

Jamie Callum

By Jared at ZeroPaid.com

UK pop singer Jamie Cullum had a few interesting comments to make about illegal file-sharing recently in an interview with the Mail Online.

Cullum, who has been making music since he was just 13yo, says that though he’s sympathetic to both sides of the debate being both a music fan as well as an artist, that there’s little society can do to fight it.

He oftentimes turns to P2P to get an album otherwise not available, but stresses that he buys a legal copy once it’s officially released.

“I’m a music consumer of the highest order, and I spend an awful lot of my time looking for music, buying music, downloading music legally and illegally,” he says. “I make no bones about it – if there’s some Thom Yorke EP floating around and it’s not out until next week, then I’ll download it illegally. However, the following week I’ll buy it because I want the artwork, and I want to see the notes and to find out where it was recorded and all the rest.”

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New scam promises employment in your town

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Stephen Pate

Wealth Connection uses almost real Internet newspaper front to extract $88.65 a month from your credit card

Intriguing story about 350 jobs in local area is advertisement

News 6 Insider appears to be a real news website with a story about companies hiring people to work from home. It actually is an advertisement for a program called “Wealth Connection”. It may be a phishing scam.

Employment is important. With a recession, lots of people are looking for work so stories that promote employment get read.

This one just doesn’t ring true.

None of the logos or reputable companies like AOL, CNN or MSNBC work. You can’t click them or the other references on the page.

Clicking on “Sports” or almost anywhere sends you to a second screen that asks for name, address and email information. The screen after that wanted a credit card for a small administration fee of$1.95 for a trial 3 day offer.

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