If you thought things looked bad for the internet in Australia, just be glad you're not in the United Kingdom. They're going for full on "log everything, find the crimes later" type internet monitoring system.
This is not good.
End Post
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Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Friday, November 07, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
A Blast From The Past
For Google's tenth birthday they've put up a search of their old index from 2001 (it's not ten years ago, but it's the oldest they've got). It's interesting to have a look at how some thins have changed.
One of the big changes is the absence of Wikipedia. Today Wikipedia turns up in nearly every search you make, but was barely heard of back then. The same applies to IMDB.
Kevin Rudd has gone from being number 3 on the first page to being the whole first page. John Howard went from just being number one to being number one to five. Paris Hilton was apparently a hotel in France. An iPod was on of these. The "neil" was not Neil Armstrong but Neil Young1. Wow had an entirely different meaning. Podcast was a word in czech but not any other languages.
Many terms relating to TV shows have had their results change a lot (Battlestar is a good example).
blog only returned about 76400 results in 2001, but now gives more than 3770000000.
Anyway, have a look and play around with it.
1 To be the "name" is to be the top result in google when you search for just the first name. E.g. Neil Armstrong is the Neil (it used to be Neil Gaiman), Sarah Palin is now the Sarah , and Kevin Rudd is the Kevin.
End Post
Writing time: longer than necessary
Time since last post: I think one day
Current media: The Hollowmen
One of the big changes is the absence of Wikipedia. Today Wikipedia turns up in nearly every search you make, but was barely heard of back then. The same applies to IMDB.
Kevin Rudd has gone from being number 3 on the first page to being the whole first page. John Howard went from just being number one to being number one to five. Paris Hilton was apparently a hotel in France. An iPod was on of these. The "neil" was not Neil Armstrong but Neil Young1. Wow had an entirely different meaning. Podcast was a word in czech but not any other languages.
Many terms relating to TV shows have had their results change a lot (Battlestar is a good example).
blog only returned about 76400 results in 2001, but now gives more than 3770000000.
Anyway, have a look and play around with it.
1 To be the "name" is to be the top result in google when you search for just the first name. E.g. Neil Armstrong is the Neil (it used to be Neil Gaiman), Sarah Palin is now the Sarah , and Kevin Rudd is the Kevin.
End Post
Writing time: longer than necessary
Time since last post: I think one day
Current media: The Hollowmen
Friday, July 04, 2008
Too Much Information
A while ago Viacom sued Google (well YouTube, which Google owns) over a bunch of clips that were posted which Viacom claims violated its copyrights1.
As part of the case they want to know how popular the clips of their material are compared to other non-infringing material. To do this they asked for, and the judge has ordered Google to provide them with a log of user IP addresses, login names and videos watched. These logs will include everyone who has ever watched a YouTube video2.
This is way too much information. And not just because it's about 12 terabytes worth of data. It's information that isn't needed by Viacom to prove it's claim. If they want to show that their content posted inappropriately is more popular than non-infringing content, they just need to compare the number of times each video was watched. They don't need to know who watched it. They don't need the IP address of who watched it. They just need the clip name and the number of times it was watched.
Another problem is that if Google hands over this information, they may violate privacy laws by giving people's personal information away.
The judge in this case should be doing a better job. He should realize that the information he ordered Google to provide is unnecessary for Viacom to make their claim, and should have given them only the information they need, not what they want. And he should know better to make an order that could require Google to break the law. This decision is bad and it sets a dangerous precedent for future cases.
Edit: Just after hitting post, the question came to me, why has YouTube been storing all this information? It would make life a lot easier for us if they could tell the judge "Well, we never really needed that detailed information so we never kept it. We might be able to get the last 24 hours worth for you if we try." The best way to keep information like this safe is to not store it.
1) I'm sure that there are many clips that violate Viacom (and others) copyrights on YouTube. However, under American law (the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA specifically) YouTube's liability is negligible if they rapidly respond to properly sent take down notices.
Also, I don't think companies should be getting upset by people liking their stuff so much that they want to share it with the world. Especially when said company isn't sharing it with the rest of the world.
2) I think that my definition of the civilized world could be those who have watched a YouTube video.
End Post
Writing time: 21 minutes
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: None
As part of the case they want to know how popular the clips of their material are compared to other non-infringing material. To do this they asked for, and the judge has ordered Google to provide them with a log of user IP addresses, login names and videos watched. These logs will include everyone who has ever watched a YouTube video2.
This is way too much information. And not just because it's about 12 terabytes worth of data. It's information that isn't needed by Viacom to prove it's claim. If they want to show that their content posted inappropriately is more popular than non-infringing content, they just need to compare the number of times each video was watched. They don't need to know who watched it. They don't need the IP address of who watched it. They just need the clip name and the number of times it was watched.
Another problem is that if Google hands over this information, they may violate privacy laws by giving people's personal information away.
The judge in this case should be doing a better job. He should realize that the information he ordered Google to provide is unnecessary for Viacom to make their claim, and should have given them only the information they need, not what they want. And he should know better to make an order that could require Google to break the law. This decision is bad and it sets a dangerous precedent for future cases.
Edit: Just after hitting post, the question came to me, why has YouTube been storing all this information? It would make life a lot easier for us if they could tell the judge "Well, we never really needed that detailed information so we never kept it. We might be able to get the last 24 hours worth for you if we try." The best way to keep information like this safe is to not store it.
1) I'm sure that there are many clips that violate Viacom (and others) copyrights on YouTube. However, under American law (the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA specifically) YouTube's liability is negligible if they rapidly respond to properly sent take down notices.
Also, I don't think companies should be getting upset by people liking their stuff so much that they want to share it with the world. Especially when said company isn't sharing it with the rest of the world.
2) I think that my definition of the civilized world could be those who have watched a YouTube video.
End Post
Writing time: 21 minutes
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: None
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Great Firewall of Korea
Yesterday I wanted to play online poker so I fired up my online poker program but it wouldn't connect. I tried a few times and it still wouldn't work. So then I tried to check the website. Which is when I was presented with this.
From the picture you can get the general idea of what is going on. I painstakingly typed (why do people put large chunks of important text in images) the Korean into Google translate and got told it meant this
From the picture you can get the general idea of what is going on. I painstakingly typed (why do people put large chunks of important text in images) the Korean into Google translate and got told it meant thisIllegal information (site) for blocking guide
Your party is trying to access illegal content sites are prohibited by law, and it has been blocked access to sites that let you know
This information is information and communication via the ethics committee's deliberation according to the Telecommunication Business Act, it is blocked due to questions regarding the sludge under the charge of the insti
(copied from a chat log from MSM which limits the size of messages, hence the abrupt cut off.)
This really annoys me for a few reasons. First, I haven't been stopped from doing this for the first five months I've been in Korea, so why is it a problem now. Second, nine out of the top ten Google results for "online poker" are not blocked (my site of choice is the only one blocked). Now one of those is Wikipedia, so probably wouldn't get blocked, but the others are sites to play poker and I have indeed since downloaded a different online poker program and used it without incident.
The main reason I'm upset is because I feel this is the action of an overreaching government reaching into an area they have no right to act in. The government is not a nanny meant to look out for each and every one of us. It is not the governments role to decide which web sites and which services I can and can not visit, just as it is not the governments role to decide who I can and can not talk to, nor what I can talk about with those people. I oppose this blocking of access to parts of the internet just as I'm opposed to the great firewall of China and the plans to try and implement such a system in Australia.
When a government creates such restrictions, it is restricting the freedom of it's citizens. It is denying them the freedom to choose what they want to do, who they want to associate with, how they want to associate with others. It is denying them their responsibility for their actions.
Also, when a government creates the means to enforce such restrictions, it is giving itself a great weapon that can be used against the people. Who gets to decide what is not appropriate for the people. The government. I think all would agree that China's massive restrictions on internet access are reprehensible. Why would any democracy want to take it's lead from China of all countries. To those who say that there are things that should be blocked, I tell you that they fall into one of three categories.
One, things that some people who like to enforce their world view on others find offensive, for example, Christians opposing online gambling or internet pornography. This is easily refuted by the fact that this is a free country, where people are free to do what they like. Or more childishly, you're not the boss of me (Senator Fielding please take note).
Two, things people claim are dangerous to some people, such as online gambling (again) or advice on how to commit suicide. This is ultimately a ridiculous argument that generally gets given an easy ride because of the emotions of the people making the claim. However its weakness is shown by changing its focus a little. Everyone would agree that hamburgers are unhealthy, contribute to high cholesterol and thus to increased chances of heart disease, heart attack, and other health risks. So for the benefit of us all, we should ban hamburgers. And while I would be glad to be rid of the red headed clown, I think we can all agree on the ridiculousness of such a claim. It is the responsibility of the individual to control themselves and not make excessively unwise choices, and only if they do, should we as a society then consider temporarily restricting the individual in question. And who knows, maybe someone contemplating suicide would be disturbed by the visceral description of how to slit your wrists and decide that life is worth enduring.
The third category of things that people want blocked on the internet are the truly terrible. Things like child pornography, snuff films and the like. These are terrible, and should be eradicated. However, never take opposing censorship with endorsing these things. The reason this should not be used as an argument for internet censorship is that we already have laws prohibiting this. These are the laws we should use when dealing with the purveyors and consumers of these atrocities. This is true of many situations where we already have laws covering things, and governments use emotional issues to convince people that giving them more power is a good and necessary thing where it is really unneeded and unwise.
On top of all these reasons based on principle, there is also the practical aspect that such restriction never cover everything. Note that I was easily able to visit other sites offering exactly the same services and was playing online poker again in under half an hour, although admittedly the new program is not as sleek as the one I used to use. Blocking only one site of its type is not only pointless, it's stupid. I mean really, when you block only one out of the top ten sites in Google, what's the point. You're really not trying. I'm tempted to try out Tor and see if I can get back onto Full Tilt poker that way.
End Rant
Writing time: 56 minutes
Time since last post: seven days
Current media: iTunes shuffle, currently Sleepy Seven by Bonobo
Monday, October 01, 2007
Some New Online Activities
Recently I've started doing two new things on the internet.
First, I've started playing internet poker. This started after a proposed poker night fell through due to lack of players, and a general increase in awareness of poker through playing in a few poker nights over here and watching the World Series of Poker. So far I'm only playing with play money, but after a little bit of getting used to things I'm doing OK. I've only got chips 5 or 6 times (you can get 1000 chips every 5 minutes if you need it, but if you have more than 1000 chips, you can't get more except by winning games), and currently have about 15k in chips, so I've been winning more than I've been losing. I'm thinking about starting to use real money if this trend continues, but right now I'm not sure that's a wise move to make with my money. Maybe if I get up to about 50000 chips of play money, I'll give it a go.
Secondly, I've caved and joined a social networking site. Not the infamous MySpace (lord have mercy on my soul if I ever do), instead I have joined Facebook. I joined mainly because a number of people I know over here have accounts, and as everything seems to be going to hell and the whole NOVA teacher community is being torn asunder, I thought it would be a good way to have at least one way of keeping in touch. So far though, I've had more communication with people from back in Australia than people in Japan through Facebook.
End Post
Writing time: 10 minutes
Time since last post: 10 hours
Current media: iTunes shuffle, currently Cry Baby by Janis Joplin
First, I've started playing internet poker. This started after a proposed poker night fell through due to lack of players, and a general increase in awareness of poker through playing in a few poker nights over here and watching the World Series of Poker. So far I'm only playing with play money, but after a little bit of getting used to things I'm doing OK. I've only got chips 5 or 6 times (you can get 1000 chips every 5 minutes if you need it, but if you have more than 1000 chips, you can't get more except by winning games), and currently have about 15k in chips, so I've been winning more than I've been losing. I'm thinking about starting to use real money if this trend continues, but right now I'm not sure that's a wise move to make with my money. Maybe if I get up to about 50000 chips of play money, I'll give it a go.
Secondly, I've caved and joined a social networking site. Not the infamous MySpace (lord have mercy on my soul if I ever do), instead I have joined Facebook. I joined mainly because a number of people I know over here have accounts, and as everything seems to be going to hell and the whole NOVA teacher community is being torn asunder, I thought it would be a good way to have at least one way of keeping in touch. So far though, I've had more communication with people from back in Australia than people in Japan through Facebook.
End Post
Writing time: 10 minutes
Time since last post: 10 hours
Current media: iTunes shuffle, currently Cry Baby by Janis Joplin
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Someone else does something right
Google has realized that countries other than America have elections, and have put together a number of tools to help people deal with the upcoming Australian Federal election which can be found here. Maps of electorates, searching MPs parliamentary records, youtube channels, and more. Looks like it'll be fun to play with.
End Post
Writing time: 2 minutes
Time since last post: a half hour or so
Current media: None
End Post
Writing time: 2 minutes
Time since last post: a half hour or so
Current media: None
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Joining In
For no particular reason I feel like stating the following:
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
End Post
Writing time: 5 minutes
Time since last post: 1 hour 19 minutes
Current media: Little Miss Sunshine
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
End Post
Writing time: 5 minutes
Time since last post: 1 hour 19 minutes
Current media: Little Miss Sunshine
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
More for EMACS
When it comes to VI vs Emacs I tend to sit in the Emacs camp, although I have been known to use VI on occasion. But today I found out something new that Emacs can do. You can now post to blogger using an Emacs extension. The text editor that can do everything can now do even more. Take that notepad.
I won't be making use of this, since I have only just installed Emacs on my macbook, and am still looking for my .emacs file, and where to put it since they've changed some things around for the mac version. I also am more than satisfied with the web browser interface so don't feel the need to mess around with this just for the heck of it.
End Post
Writing time: 14 minutes
Time since last post: 5 days
Current media: None
I won't be making use of this, since I have only just installed Emacs on my macbook, and am still looking for my .emacs file, and where to put it since they've changed some things around for the mac version. I also am more than satisfied with the web browser interface so don't feel the need to mess around with this just for the heck of it.
End Post
Writing time: 14 minutes
Time since last post: 5 days
Current media: None
Friday, March 02, 2007
Good Idea Coonan
I read in Crikey today that communications minister Helen Coonan has put forward the brilliant idea that all media in Australia should be classified in a scheme similar to that currently used for films. This includes newspapers, magazines, books and of course the Internet.
This idea has several problems, the main one philosophical, other logistical and jurisdictional. The main objection to this is that this censorship, which violates the principle of freedom of speech. Requiring every book, magazine, newspaper and website to be classified before publication is a massive act of prior restraint.
Logistically, this is a nightmare which would require a massive increase in the staff of the department. The number of books, magazines, newspapers and websites published dwarfs the number of films and games released each year, with a frequency and speed that a government department would be hard pressed to keep up with.
Finally there is the issue of jurisdiction on material published on the Internet. If I use an American service (oh, for example, Blogger) to host a blog that I write in Australia, am I required to submit it for classification, and how about the reverse situation. What if someone visits Australia and writes a few posts for there blog based in England. Others can come up with more convoluted situations that can be used to muddy the water and show how this cannot be implemented cleanly, clearly, fairly, and efficiently.
End Post
Writing time: 11 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: The Daily Show
This idea has several problems, the main one philosophical, other logistical and jurisdictional. The main objection to this is that this censorship, which violates the principle of freedom of speech. Requiring every book, magazine, newspaper and website to be classified before publication is a massive act of prior restraint.
Logistically, this is a nightmare which would require a massive increase in the staff of the department. The number of books, magazines, newspapers and websites published dwarfs the number of films and games released each year, with a frequency and speed that a government department would be hard pressed to keep up with.
Finally there is the issue of jurisdiction on material published on the Internet. If I use an American service (oh, for example, Blogger) to host a blog that I write in Australia, am I required to submit it for classification, and how about the reverse situation. What if someone visits Australia and writes a few posts for there blog based in England. Others can come up with more convoluted situations that can be used to muddy the water and show how this cannot be implemented cleanly, clearly, fairly, and efficiently.
End Post
Writing time: 11 minutes
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: The Daily Show
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Nostromo?
I've decided to help Chris in spreading the message that Nostromo Sucks. This is not a decision I haven't taken lightly, just for the entertainment.
End Post
Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: Geeknights
End Post
Writing time: 1 minute
Time since last post: 1 day
Current media: Geeknights
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Podcasts I Listen To
This is mainly so I can find the list of podcasts I listen to for when I acquire a new computer in the next month or so. A list of the podcasts I listen to can be downloaded from here.
The list is
A Brobdingnagian Minute, Jedi drinking songs and more.
Ask A Ninja, the only ninja who could beat a robot pirate monkey.
Battlestar Galactica commentary by Ron Moore.
Digital Debates, some American politics.
Galactica Sitrep, Battlestar Galactica news.
Galacticast, scifi comedy
Geeknights, late night talk show for geeks.
Hope is Emo, Emo kids are funny.
Mathgrad Maths is cool.
Media Watch, the best news show in Oz.
Military History Podcast, a little history about fights.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Americans lame ass attempt at a show like Good News Week. They have some success.
Penn Radio, the home of Monkey Tuesday.
Point of Inquiry, Yay secular humanists.
Briefly Patriotic, these are very scary people.
Slate Explainer, find out the stuff that you don't think to find out until you really have to.
The Chaser's War on Everything (here's hoping it comes back this year)
The Combat Information Center, more Battlestar Galactica talk.
The Onion Radio News
The Signal, after early cancellation several years ago, people are still talking about Firefly.
Sunday Night Safran, as the show says, late night discussion of religion, politics and hoochies.
End Post
Writing time: 21 minutes
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: Ask A Ninja
The list is
A Brobdingnagian Minute, Jedi drinking songs and more.
Ask A Ninja, the only ninja who could beat a robot pirate monkey.
Battlestar Galactica commentary by Ron Moore.
Digital Debates, some American politics.
Galactica Sitrep, Battlestar Galactica news.
Galacticast, scifi comedy
Geeknights, late night talk show for geeks.
Hope is Emo, Emo kids are funny.
Mathgrad Maths is cool.
Media Watch, the best news show in Oz.
Military History Podcast, a little history about fights.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Americans lame ass attempt at a show like Good News Week. They have some success.
Penn Radio, the home of Monkey Tuesday.
Point of Inquiry, Yay secular humanists.
Briefly Patriotic, these are very scary people.
Slate Explainer, find out the stuff that you don't think to find out until you really have to.
The Chaser's War on Everything (here's hoping it comes back this year)
The Combat Information Center, more Battlestar Galactica talk.
The Onion Radio News
The Signal, after early cancellation several years ago, people are still talking about Firefly.
Sunday Night Safran, as the show says, late night discussion of religion, politics and hoochies.
End Post
Writing time: 21 minutes
Time since last post: 3 days
Current media: Ask A Ninja
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Holy Shit That's Fast
I don't think I've truly realised how fast the Internet is over here in Japan. Now, I have some idea. Except for the blurring to prevent incriminating myself, this is an actual screen capture. Please note the speed. I will admit this only lasted for about 30 seconds, but it is still none-the-less impressive.
End Post
Writing time: 7 minutes (had to touch up the picture a little)
Time since last post: "go" days
Current media: none
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Is it spam?
Yesterday I got an email offering to sell me packs of carbon nanotubes of various types and qualities in quantities ranging from 2 grams to 1 kilo for a mere 500 euros per unit, with a special deal of 3 for the price of two. Since I have no need for carbon nanotubes, except for the fun of saying I have some, I'm going to pass up on the offer.
But I'm debating if it was spam or not. One the one hand, it is an unsolicited advertisement from a company I've had no previous dealings with, so by that measure it is spam.
However, the message was all correctly spelled, had proper grammar, only included numerals and symbols in appropriate places, had no exclamation marks, and links to what appears to be a legitimate website.
The company has used a mass mailing service to get it message out, but they did send it to my email address at the UQ Physics department, and it is vaguely related to the field of physics I was working in, maybe only one or two degrees of seperation. So while it is a bit indiscriminate, at least it's not like some things that are advertised in other spam (viagra, american mortgages, dodgy jobs involving making bank transfers, nigerian 411 scams, investment oportunities, depression medication, and other such things) they aiming a bit more narrowly.
So, it probably is spam, but it is not obnoxious spam, so I'm not going to mark it as spam in gmail, just archive it.
End Post
Writing time: 20 minutes
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: The Daily Show
But I'm debating if it was spam or not. One the one hand, it is an unsolicited advertisement from a company I've had no previous dealings with, so by that measure it is spam.
However, the message was all correctly spelled, had proper grammar, only included numerals and symbols in appropriate places, had no exclamation marks, and links to what appears to be a legitimate website.
The company has used a mass mailing service to get it message out, but they did send it to my email address at the UQ Physics department, and it is vaguely related to the field of physics I was working in, maybe only one or two degrees of seperation. So while it is a bit indiscriminate, at least it's not like some things that are advertised in other spam (viagra, american mortgages, dodgy jobs involving making bank transfers, nigerian 411 scams, investment oportunities, depression medication, and other such things) they aiming a bit more narrowly.
So, it probably is spam, but it is not obnoxious spam, so I'm not going to mark it as spam in gmail, just archive it.
End Post
Writing time: 20 minutes
Time since last post: 4 days
Current media: The Daily Show
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